The rates for malaria among employees only for the past 10 years are shown below:

There were three deaths from malaria among employees during the past year.

HOSPITALS

The number of patient days in Panama Canal hospitals for the past three fiscal years has been as follows:

The increase in air traffic from all directions during the past year necessitated continued vigilance to prevent the introduction into the Canal Zone of yellow fever, typhus fever, and other dangerous quarantinable diseases. No cases of these diseases were encountered among air passengers although the voyage of one passenger was interrupted on account of typhoid fever and several others were detained until a determination could be made of the nature of their infections. Quarantine procedure in connection with aircraft will be carried out

with increased efficiency with the opening of the new air terminal in July of this year.

Three cases of cerebrospinal meningitis were removed from vessels passing through the Canal. No other cases of quarantinable diseases were encountered during the year.

The jungle type of yellow fever continues to be endemic in several countries of South America. All planes arriving from such areas were thoroughly sprayed and the temperatures of passengers and crew members were recorded upon arrival.

An increase in the incidence of typhus fever in certain parts of Mexico and Guatemala was observed during the past several months. While the prevalence of this disease in the Western Hemisphere does not approach the problem which exists in Eurasia and Africa, The Panama Canal is exercising vigilance to prevent its introduction here. In spite of the decrease in shipping, a sizable increase occurred in the number of fumigations of vessels in the Canal Zone.

Immigration procedures during the past year were revised to improve our permanent records. On June 1, 1943, the Balboa Quarantine Station was moved to its new location at Corozal. The old location at the entrance to the Canal was leased to the Fifteenth Naval District for the duration of the war. Personnel of the armed services were excluded from civilian immigration records and departure control clearances for such personnel were discontinued March 13, 1943.

The following is a summary of transactions for the fiscal year 1943, together with the figures for the two preceding years:

MUNICIPAL ENGINEERING

Municipal work carried on during the year included the construction and maintenance of roads, streets, sidewalks, and the maintenance and operation of water and sewer systems, and miscellaneous construction jobs. In the past few years, there has been a large increase in the amount of construction work performed by the municipal engineering division of The Panama Canal for the Army and Navy, private contractors, and for The divisions of The Panama Canal and Panama Railroad Co. Only the major items of this work are covered in this report, although the aggregate value of the large number of smaller items runs into many hundreds of thousands of dollars.

TESTING LABORATORY

A well-equipped laboratory was maintained for the making of chemical and bacteriological analyses of water, chemical analyses of different materials, concrete tests for selection of suitable aggregates for concrete, tests to determine the stability of different materials and supplies for Canal uses, the issuance of permits for work in the holds of ships and oil tanks, soil and permeability tests, etc.

During the year the testing laboratory carried on a variety of work, making a total of 10,156 tests in connection with 8,618 varied samples. This included 927 tests on water and 5,923 on concrete for various purposes. Other tests were made on building materials, petroleum products, various metals, etc., while inspections were made of swimming pools, ships, tanks, etc.

WATER SYSTEM

Consumption of water for municipal uses during the past 3 fiscal years was as follows:

The following statement shows the quantity of water pumped at each of the pumping stations during the year, average per month, and the cost of pumping per thousand gallons:

A small filtration plant was operated at Madden Dam to supply water for users in that locality. A total of 19,990,000 gallons were filtered and distributed. Raw water for this plant is pumped from Madden Lake.

Omitting the water which was repumped from the total listed above, 12,137,042,000 gallons of raw water, an average of 33,252,000 gallons per day, were pumped by the municipal water system during the past fiscal year. All pumps are electrically driven except those at Frijoles, Monte Lirio, and Agua Clara which are driven by gasoline engines. The usual maintenance work was performed on the pipe lines, reservoirs, filtration plants, and pumping stations during the year. In addition, regular maintenance work was performed on a number of special projects.

EXPANSION OF WATER SUPPLY FACILITIES

Work on the expansion of water supply facilities as described in the annual reports for 1941 and 1942 was carried forward to practical completion during 1943. The total expenditure on this expansion of the water facilities will be approximately $4,170,000, which is being financed by The Panama Canal, Army, and Navy. The enlarged water system increases the rated water capacity from 15,500,000 gallons per day to 23,000,000 gallons per day on the Pacific side, and from 10,500,000 gallons per day to 14,500,000 gallons per day on the Atlantic side.

On the Pacific side of the Isthmus the principal work accomplished during the year on this water supply program included the completion of the Gamboa raw water pump station; a new intake structure at Gamboa to permit the most efficient use of the new pumps; and completion of the Miraflores filtration plant and pump station, including the purchase and installation of pumps, switchgear, flucculators, and

modification of the existing buildings. For two new reservoirs on the Army posts of Fort Clayton and Albrook Field there were installed during the 1943 telemark instruments and motor-operated valves to facilitate operation of the water system by remote control, with the necessary 12-inch water lines involved. On the Atlantic side of the Isthmus, work was confined to two principal projects, namely (a) installation of a 30-inch cast-iron pipe and the construction of a new raw water intake on Gatun Lake, to provide a supplementary source of raw water for the Mount Hope filtration plant and to augment the present supply to provide the necessary raw water to meet the demands of activities on the Atlantic side of the Isthmus; and (b) the alteration and extension of the Mount Hope filtration plant and pump station. The 2,500,000-gallon reservoir at Fort Gulick, which was 80 percent complete at the end of the fiscal year 1942, was completed early in 1943, and has been in operation as a part of the Atlantic side water system for almost a year. A separate 20-inch cast-iron pipe line was laid from the reservoir to the Mount Hope pump station, and special pumps and switchgear were incorporated in the changes made in the Mount Hope pump station, to provide for such operation.

SEWER SYSTEM

In addition to the regular maintenance work performed on the sewer system, the principal special project completed during the year was the installation of the Colon Beach intercepting sewer, which involved the construction of sump, installation of motors and electrical equipment, and construction of a discharge line.

ROADS, STREETS, AND SIDEWALKS

In addition to the regular maintenance work performed on roads, streets, and sidewalks in the Canal Zone, a number of special projects were carried out during the year. Aside from road work performed under the annual Panama Canal allotments, the Bureau of Public Roads furnished $1,326,700 for the construction of five highways: Gaillard Highway relocation, Corozal-Diablo Road, an express highway between Ancon and Balboa, Coral Road at Mount Hope, and Diversion and Randolph Roads. Three of these roads were completed by the end of the fiscal year 1943, while two (the express highway between Ancon and Balboa and the Diversion-Randolph Roads) will be finished during 1944. A description of the work performed follows:

Gaillard Highway relocation. This project involved relocating and paving a section of Gaillard Highway from a new junction with Madden Road, just north of the underpass beneath the Panama Railroad, to the south approach apron of the Gamboa Bridge, a distance of 64 miles. The pavement consists of a reinforced concrete