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an unnecessary and preventable nuisance was brought forcibly 

 home for the first time. 



During" the past year, by order of the Commissioner, the entire 

 sanitary inspection force of the Department of Health was used 

 in mosquito prevention work. A series of lectures on mosquito 

 extermination work were delivered to the inspection force early 

 in the spring. These lectures were made as practical as possible. 

 The men were told briefly where to look for possible trouble and 

 how to abate a nuisance when found. They were not asked or 

 expected to qualify as entomologists and learn the names and 

 peculiar distinguishing marks of all the known varieties. Their 

 duties confine them to a certain district in the City of New 

 York; therefore, only the prevalent varieties were described so 

 as to be easily recognized. 



It must be understood that to a majority of the inspection 

 force of the Department this work was not only new, but meant 

 an added burden. The regular work of a district inspector is at 

 all times sufficiently arduous without an additional drain upon 

 his strength and stamina. The cheerfulness with which this 

 duty was accepted and the intelligent manner in which it was 

 performed was as remarkable as it was gratifying, and speaks 

 volumes for the loyality of the inspection force and its sense O'f 

 public duty. 



I hope and confidently expect to see the drainage of the salt 

 marshes in Greater New York completed in the spring, and that 

 an additional maintenance force will be employed in the boroughs 

 of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. It will require no large 

 sum to maintain the work on the drained areas in Greater New 

 York, for the ditches are so constructed that stoppage will occur 

 in very few of them. The hay cutters, the small boy, the water- 

 fowl hunters and tidal influence will all contribute to place ob- 

 structions in the ditches, but will not completely block them. To 

 cause complete stoppage of these ditches would require time, 

 trouble and deliberate intent on the part of those doing it. Never- 

 theless, I want a sufficient force to keep all ditches in perfect 

 condition and I feel assured that when the people of Brooklyn, 

 Bronx and Queens experience the blessings of a mosquitoless 



