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It contains some 2,500 inhabitants, including a small number of North 
Americans engaged in business. The port is the terminus of the proposed 
Interoceanic Railroad, about a third of which has been constructed. Thanks to 
the railroad, to the depth of water in the bay, and to the fact that the steamers 
can come alongside the railway wharf, there is a very large traffic in bananas 
brought from the interior, both Puerto Barrios and Puerto Cortes on these 
accounts far outstripping British Honduras. 
The coasting trade is principally with Belize, Barrios and Livingston in 
Guatemala, and occasionally with Cuba. There does not appear to be trade 
with Panama. 
The town is similar to the other coast towns ; the houses of the principal 
traders are congregated toward one end of the town, but small native houses are 
mixed up with them, and there is no effective segregation. There is a British 
and an American Consul, the former issuing the Bills of Health, for ships 
destined for British ports. There is a Honduranian Government Medical Officer, 
a local Spanish doctor, and two American medical men, one of whom represents 
the United States Marine Hospital Service. Both these doctors took the 
principal share in preventing the spread of the recent epidemic in Puerto Cortes, 
the Honduranian Government first followed their good advice and helped 
them to carry out fumigation, screening and oiling, but their support did not 
last long. The water supply consists of rain water stored in the usual large 
wooden vats in the case of the larger houses, and in numerous barrels in 
the poorer lots, the receptacles are unscreened, and I found Stegomyia larvae 
very abundant here as in other places. The houses are arranged in a row 
on each side of the line, on one side they project into the sea, on the other 
they are bounded by swamp. The town ought to be healthy, and with efficient 
sanitary control, recurrences of Yellow fever could be prevented. At the 
present time the place has an unkempt appearance, and there is no effective 
sanitary board. 
The first notification of Yellow fever in Cortes was made May 25th, 
but there had been a very suspicious case May 22nd. Up to September the 
total number of cases reached 146 with 50 deaths. These figures must be 
taken with reserve, as it is not evident that all cases were reported, notably 
those amongst the soldiers. The disease first made itself manifest amongst 
the new arrivals, that is the non-immune white population, it then passed 
through the native non-immunes. Before the announcement of Yellow fever 
there had been very little sickness. 
P'rom Puerto Cortes it is supposed that the disease spread up the 
line, for there is the history of a woman who carried the infection to San 
Pedro, where the first secondary infection occurred. The fever started at 
this place on the 1 8th June, and the total recorded number of cases to 
December was 621, with 153 deaths. 
San Pedro is a large city of 10,000 inhabitants, some 30 miles 
up the line. The medical authorities, both American (Drs. Austin and 
Carter) and local, have worked upon modern lines to clean up the town and 
limit the disease. Close to San Pedro on the line, two cases occurred at Rio 
Blanco. The next town farther up on the line to become badly infected 
9 
