permanent reduction of rats. After a long delay, and appeals for further assistance to the United States Public Health Service, the municipal council of St. Thomas and St. John belatedly adopted an ordinance to protect the public health by controlling the spread of endemic typhus fever and authorized a fund of $15,000 to finance its operation and the purchase of necessary materials. This ordinance generally provides that all business places in the city of Charlotte Amalie shall be ratproofed, freed of rats, and maintained in a ratproof and rat-free condition under the supervision of the department of health. Actual ratproofing is expected to commence in the fall of 1945 as soon as materials which have been ordered are received. The Public Health Service bas stated that when endemic typhus fever breaks out in a community, its advance is not spectacular, but it advances like a steam roller and kills between 5 to 30 percent of its victims. Two cases were reported in St. Thomas in 1942, 8 cases in 1943, 23 cases with 1 death in 1944, and 7 cases up to June 30, 1945.

UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH GRANTS

In keeping with the provisions of the Venereal Disease Control Act of 1938, the United States Public Health Service, Federal Security Agency, allocated the sum of $14,000 for the support and expansion of the program to suppress venereal diseases in the Virgin Islands during the fiscal year 1945. The fight against these diseases has been waged since 1939 with regular annual Federal aid, each year bringing an increase in the appropriation.

Noteworthy projects out of these funds have been the enlarging and supplementing of the clinic rooms at the municipal hospital in St. Thomas to provide more space for examination and privacy, and the training of a supervising public health nurse for the municipality, of St. Croix.

Under the provisions of subsection (b) of section 314 of the Public Health Service Act for the fiscal year 1945, the Virgin Islands likewise received the sum of $4,025 for months of May and June, to be expended in the control of tuberculosis.

It is anticipated that a general health appropriation will be given in addition to the venereal disease and tuberculosis appropriations for the next fiscal year to initiate the training of sanitation inspectors and operate a program to eradicate endemic typhus fever.

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE

Improved finances permitted this department to render more adequate assistance to the poor in the form of cash assistance, community grants, services of various kinds, and institutionalization of the aged.

about 25 prospective homesteaders, most of whom have deposited approximately one-fifth of the total selling price. There will be approximately 150 house plots to be allocated on these estates. The St. John homesteads will range from a low of 2 acres to a high of 15 acres, or an average of 5 acres; with prices ranging from $25 to $375, or an average of approximately $125.

PUBLIC UTILITIES

During the year under review, considerable attention was given to the major problem of electric light and power conversion as a postwar necessity. In St. Thomas, the electric current used is 220 volts direct current, and is supplied by a private company under the supervision of the public utilities commission. In St. Croix, the towns of Christiansted and Frederiksted are equipped with 110 volts direct current systems furnished by a private company under supervision of the light and power commission. Operating costs are high, resulting in abnormally high rates to consumers. The rural districts of St. Croix however, are supplied with a low rate 110 volts alternating current service by the rural electrification division of the Virgin Islands Co. In St. Thomas, the private company which has been furnishing electric light and power to the consuming public over a great many years, requested a long-term franchise as a condition precedent to obligating itself to convert to alternating current. This company secured the services of consulting engineers from the United States and made an exhaustive report on new generating facilities and distribution system conversion. Because the proposed investment and resultant estimated rates were considered abnormal, the public utilities commission of the municipality of St. Thomas and St. John, with the approval of the municipal council and the Governor, appealed to the Secretary of the Interior for professional assistance for the purpose of making an independent survey, The chief engineer of the Division of Power, Department of the Interior, was assigned to investigate the power supply situation of Charlotte Amalie. His report, submitted shortly after the close of the fiscal year, recommended that cheap alternating current service be made available to the people of St. Thomas by a municipal electric system to be supervised by a power board. The estimated investment was given at $371,500 with an average return of 3.39 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is less than one-half the 7.5-cent return called for by the consulting engineers of the private utility.

On the island of St. Croix, the municipal council was in process of considering a report from its light and power commission recommend ing the renewal for 25 years of the private franchise for light and power for the two towns with slightly reduced rates, when the chief

In St. Thomas and St. John, cash aid to the poor increased from $23,583.15 in the fiscal year 1944 to $28,600.51 this year. In St. Croix, regular cash aid to the poor was increased from $9,000 in the last fiscal year to $15,000 this year. It is interesting to note that in the municipality of St. Croix, grants which were once made as low as $1 per month were increased to a minimum of $2.50 and distributed to more than 400 indigents; while in St. Thomas the comparable minimum grant is $5 and is distributed to a similar number of unemployables.

In both municipalities there was a gratifying improvement in the social services, and especially in child welfare work. Approximately 20 juvenile delinquent boys were satisfactorily institutionalized under competent educational and social guidance. The boys' home was removed from its inadequate and remote quarters on the island of St. John to more commodious and satisfactory quarters on the island of St. Thomas, formerly occupied by the Civilian Conservation Corps and subsequently as an Army camp.

Community recreation was improved through the development of new programs, and the construction of new recreational facilities in St. Thomas. The municipal housing authorities in both municipalities submitted formal applications to the Federal Housing Authority for postwar low-rent housing projects, and it is hoped that these applications will meet with success in order to relieve the congested housing situation now existing.

The most serious problem throughout the year was that of unemployment. This situation was aggrevated by the cessation of military projects, and the decline of private industries as a result of decreased rum shipments and general business decline. Some relief was afforded in both municipalities by the appropriation of funds by the municipal councils for employment on needed public works projects.

SELECTIVE SERVICE

By June 30, 1945, there were 688 inductees from the Virgin Islands in the armed forces. In most instances, their military pay plus allowances to dependents exceeded previous family incomes and constituted a substantial improvement in the islands' economy.

THE AGRICULTURAL STATION

The program of the agricultural station this year was retarded by personnel shortages. The director and the agronomist resigned during the year and have not yet been replaced. These vacancies left the already small staff considerably handicapped.

The Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives

recently reported, in connection with the appropriation for the station for the next fiscal year, that there has been a marked improvement in conditions and change of policy. Research and experimental work has been eliminated and emphasis has been placed on that phase of agricultural extension work which is intended to give direct aid to farmers of the islands in an effort to improve farm practices.

The work of the extension agent in St. Croix involved visiting small farmers, distributing slips, assisting in the planning and laying out of garden plots, and giving instruction in planting, cultivation, and management. In St. Thomas, the agricultural station furnished advice and assistance to the local farmers and distributed seeds and slips. A program of poultry and livestock development was continued.

ST. JOHN

A catchment area and water-storage reservoir were built at one district on the island of St. John. Additional facilities of this character, for the purpose of obtaining increased water supplies for the people, are urgently needed in other districts. A homesteading program was established, and about 50 persons have taken advantage of the opportunity, and are working with enthusiasm to clear their lands and prepare them for habitation.

A home for delinquent boys was established in a remote section of the island in the early part of the fiscal year. Later the building was abandoned, and the boys were moved to St. Thomas. It is planned to use this building as a clinic in the coming fiscal year.

The general health of the island was satisfactory. Although there has been no outbreak of typhoid fever, 379 inoculations were given. The administrator's office continued to encourage island-wide participation in projects such as the Boy Scout movement, study groups, branch libraries, and various national drives.

HOMESTEADS

On the island of St. Thomas, the municipal homestead commission surveyed and allocated 37 parcels or lots ranging, in the city area, from a minimum of 1,400 square feet to a maximum of 7,000 square feet, and in price from a minimum of $10 to a maximum of $25. In the rural area, the lots range from a minimum of 1 acre to a maximum of 6 acres, the minimum price being $130 and the maximum $530. Sixty-three additional plots were surveyed and subdivided, and are in the process of allocation to eligible applicants. All but 3 applicants paid cash for their plots.

On St. John, steady progress was made in the survey of 2 estates purchased for homesteading. Tentative allocations were made to