The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1887. SMALIPOX.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1680, 6 October 1887, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1887. SMALIPOX.

A curious, undefined sensation, very nearly akin to a feeling of uneasiness, came over us this morning as we perused to-day's telegraphic news, and we are not sure that a similar feeling will not be experienced by our readers. First of all we meet with the information, wired from Hobart yesterday, that since the outbreak of smallpox m that colony twenty- two cases have been reported, of wnich four have proved fatal. Directly under this we read — "The R.M.S. Rimutaka arrived from Plymouth this morning and sailed again this afternoon for Wellington." This appeared rather ominous, as the first telegram certainly does not imply that the outbreak was confined to any particular town or district or that Hobart was exempt. Bat then came the reflection— " Well, the authorities will have taken every precaution to prevent the introduction of the dread scourge into this colony." But the feeling of immunity from danger was rudely dispelled when glancing over the Wellington telegrams we read a meeting of the Central Board of Health, held this morning, it was determined not to take any extra precautions on account of the outbreak of smallpox m Tasmania." Of course the Central Board of Health knows a great deal better than any others what is best to be done, still, for all that, "ill-informed people" like ourselves and other parents may entertain a very strong suspicion that the Central Board of Health has, m this instance, made a very grave mistake. It is true that our trade with Tasmania is not very great, and is confined chiefly to the Union Company's steamers, and the precau- ! tions so wisely taken by the Company may have induced the Board to think that any further action on the part of the authorities was unnecessary. But what about the mail steamers, the Rimutaka especially, whose commander could not by any probable means have known of the outbreak cf the epidemic m that colony? "What is to prevent her bringing to our shores passengers having the germs of the disease about them ? Owing to the length of time these germs take to develop, these passengers will have been scattered over the colony before any symptoms appear. We can only hope that the needful instructions have been forwarded to Hobart to prevent such a calamity.