Dec. 2, 1901.] ^HE THO^IOAL AGRICULTURISt. 
431 
" This is a qaeation the importance of which is 
not sufficiently realised by a good many people. 
" We can all remember the terrible death-rate 
through disease among our troops at one period 
of the war in Soutli Africa. In response to tlie 
popular outcry, a Commission was appointed by 
Government to inquire into the working of tlie 
hospitals at the front. The results of the in- 
vestigations of the Commission went to show- 
that a large proportion of the deaths must have 
been due to tlie neglect of proper sanitary 
precautions. 
" I think we rcight take this lesson home to 
ourselves. This and last year there has been a 
great deal of sickness amongst our coolies, and 
the death-rate has been higher than usual, and 
we have all been rather alarmed at the prevalence 
in our midst of enteric fever, an epidemic \\ hicli, 
medical men tell us, is directly due to in^sanitary 
conditions of some sort. Tiiis abnormal sickness 
is no doubt due in a great measure to the 
seasons, but perhaps some of it is also due to the 
neglect of proper sanitary precautious in cooly 
lines. Anyhow we should see to it that every- 
thing is done that can be done to keep lines and 
surroundings clean, and prevent all sickness that 
is preventable, for our own sakes as well as the 
coolies. Having to pass and re-i)ass dirty lines 
might very ea?'ily affect Superintendents" health 
too. There may be contamination in the atmos- 
phere as well as in water or milk. 
" It has seemed to me that greater efforts might 
be made to try and get our coolies to show a 
little more attention to cleaulinejis. lb is uphill 
work I know. I don't suppose there is a single 
planter, wiio has the welfare of his coolies at 
heart, who has not at one period of his career, 
made an honest effort to induce his coolies to 
keep their linps and surroundings cleaner, but 
spasmodic efforts are not enough. We must keep 
pegging away, and in time you will find coolies 
begin to appreciate the efforts, and show their 
appreciation by comphiinitig of dirty neighbours, 
suggesting that they should be lined. I know 
a good many men look upon it as a 
hopeless and thankless task to try and instil any 
ideas of cleanliness into the cooly. Let us not 
forget that it is not so very many years ago 
when the lower classes in our own country were 
every bit as careless, and sanitary officers found 
the same indifference and even obstruction. It 
may be a disagreeable duty, bat it is none the 
less a duty to ' see that our coolies live decently. 
The Superintendent who takes some trouble has 
his reward in better behaved coolies, not to men- 
tion the pleasure it would be to him in passing 
and re-passing his lines to see them swept and 
garnished. It they are allowed to live like pigs, 
coolies will behave like pigs. 
"And now if lam not wearying you and you 
will forgive me for my little lecture, I will trv 
an<l give you the results of my experience and 
effyrts, — in the hope that they may be some little 
help to the younger generation of planters 
amongst us. 
"The Snperintendenb should see to it that there 
is ample line accommodation fov his labour force, 
crowded lines are a most fruitful source "t dis- 
ease. Better to have too much than too little 
line room. I am sure proprietors or directors 
would never be so blind to their own interests 
as to refuse to sanction necessary expenditure on 
lines. We all know what an important thing 
it is in the busy naonths to get our coolies tp 
illturn out to work, and how the outturn depends 
on the condition of the coolies as regards 
health. A room of 10' x 10' or 10' x 12' sliould 
be provided for, at most, every 5 labourers. Coolies 
should not be allowed to build in their veramlahs ; 
this excludes light and air iroin the rooms. If ihere 
is not suiKcient rooi>i without the verandah.-, tli(?n 
additional accommodation should be built. Nor 
should they be allowed to erect their garden 
fences bang up to their lines ; there .-sli'iuld be a 
gofid open space between lines ann udeii fence. 
" In building a new set of line- the llrst essential 
is a plentiful supply of good water. I have some 
lines near a good supply of water, and others 
where the supply is rather scanty, the difference- 
in health is most marked, and yet such is the 
callousness of the coolies that they prefer the 
less healthy lines, as they are on flat land, the 
others are on the hillside. 
" If a plentiful supply of good water be not avail- 
able, I will tell you how a rough and cheap but 
effective filter may be improvised. A cooly mason 
could make one in a few days. Build four walls 
of rough masonry, enclnsing a space of 4' x 4* 
walls, say 3 ft. high ; no mud or" mortar should 
be used, it must be dry masonry ; then at the 
bottom of the enclosure lay down charcoal, broken 
into small pieces, to the depth of about 1 ft. ; 
then on the top oi the charcoal put say 2 ft. of 
clean river sand. The water supply "should be 
•onducted in spouting or pipes on to the top of 
the sand. It will percolate through the sand, 
then througli the charcoal, and find its way through 
the stone walls ituo the drai.'j or spouting con- 
veying it to th^ lines. It should be made as 
near the lines as possible, and if should not. be 
put in the natural bed of the stream, or Hoods 
will carry it away. 
"Care should be taken when applying artificial 
or othermanure, not to put it anywhere near 
the sources of the water supply. 
"Next in importance to the water supply are 
clean surroundings, and with a lot of dirty and 
indifferent coolies this is hard to get, biit not 
impossible. The cooly is a selfish creature 
and will do nothing for the general good, so a 
certain amount of compulsion must be used. 
Regular line-sweepers are I believe a mistake. 
Left to tliemselves as they are, they do little or 
nothing, and chat lir,tle is useless.' I believe the 
best system is to make each line occupant res- 
ponsible for the space, immediely in front of of his 
room, and periodically to put on a small gano- of 
coolies to clean up round about burning all rub- 
bish that will burn, and burying the rest. This 
is the system in South India where the ^climate 
necessitates very strict attention to sanitation. 
" I have walked through some of the viilaces 
there,tandgl was surprised to find how clean tliey 
were. What they can do there we can surely do 
here. Coolies who do not keep the space in front of 
ttheir houses clean are, find, I have found a 
system of rough latrines to work fairly satis- 
factorily, but they must be niiuleeasy of access 
and kept clean. It is a comnioo sii^ht to see 
a woman come out to the door of her room with 
a chatty full of rice watLr, !indSju.st throw ifc 
down right in fiont of the door.! This should not 
be allowed. A good p'an, for 'these wiio have 
a drain and running water round their lines, is 
to make paved reccptacK s, s/.y one lo every two 
rjoras, into which the dirty water c in be thrown 
For those lines that have no runiiing water, the 
sE^rae kind of thing can be made, some distance 
