A HEALTHY CITY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 844, 16 June 1910, Page 2

A HEALTHY CITY.

SANITARY INSPECTOR'S REPORT. PROBLEMS OP TRAFFIC. The annual report of the chief sanl tary inspector to the City Council (Mr. J. Doyle) was made available for publication yesterday. After referring to the recent reorganisation of the sanitary report states that it was originally intended in order to prevent overlapping, that, in all eases whero it was found necessary to servo notices requiring repairs to sanitary fittings duplicate notices should be sent to the plumbing inspectors, and that they should undertake the duty of seeing that the work was carried out in accordance with the bylaws. It has, however, already become apparent that they are quite unable to cope with this extra work—some idea of tha volume of which may be obtained from tho following figures. Since January last 3345 inspections have been made and of the 27G8. notices served as a result of these inspections, 1083 were in respect of defective sanitary fittings or appliances. A ro-arransemeut of tht du. ties was therefore made, and the inspectors are now making second visits in cases where notices to repair have been served. Sanitary fittings and appliances are always liable to get out of order, and supervision ,in this direction is, o/ course, one of the most important duties of the Department. The disadvantage of the alteration is that it will not be possible to make as many inspections in the year as intended, otherwise—the same end —the completion of the work will be attained. The scheme has hardly been long enough in operation to justify an opinion as to its real value, but everything so-far points to the conclusion that when it has had a fuller trial substantial benoiit to the city may be reasonably expected. A Low Death-Rate. The death-rate is 9.10, the lowest of the four centres, and it is satisfactory to note that although approximately a fourth of the city has been inspected nnder the new system, nothing worse than what might be regarded as unavoidable in a city has been rovealed. There are 58 butchers' shops in the city. Under the abattoirs by-law these should be licensed after "the inspector or such other officer as the council may ' appoint has certified that they are proper shops." Mr. Doyle doubted whether it was the intention of the council to leave this entirely to the discretion of the inspector. Hβ thinks that some regulations should be drawn up for his guidance and tho matter of issuing licenses has therefore been held over pending advicb from the district health officer, Dr. l-'rengly. In the meantime the shops and also hotels, restaurants, fish-shops and other places where food stuffs are kept receive special 'attention and the use of proper metal receutacles for refuse is insisted upon.' Street Nuisances, : Attention has also been given to the oppression of various street nuisances such as sweeping footpaths'after 8.30 a.m., leaving vehicles unattended, spitting on footpaths, opening cases'on streets, etc. On several occasions the (inspectors have patrolled the main streets in the early morning and odd result was that a number of tradespeople were prosecuted for sweeping tho paths after ths time specified. They were convicted and ordered to pay costs, the Bench intimating that future offenders would be dealt with more severely. The inspectors had special instructions to secure the name and addresses of any person found committing a breach of the by-'iw dealing with spitting on footpaths. Mr. Doyle believes that lie is right in saying that this objectionable practice has been checked. Probably the result of the publicity given by tho press and sanitary staff, to the fact that offenders against the by-law are .liable lo a penalty of £20, is that the offenders are mostly strangers, and it would, lie thinks, be advisable to have more notices placed in conspicuous positions on the streets. The practice of opening case 3 in the streets or footpaths is one that not only obsh-iicts traffic, but the damage to footpaths'caused by heavy cases, etc., being dumped on them, must bo a very considerable item in the cost of upkeep. It is difficult to entirely prevent this because many places of business are not provided with back entrances. In such' cases inspectors endeavour to impress on business people the necessity of taking every reasonable means to avoid offending againit the by-law or causing damage to the footpaths. One of the most disagreeable features in connection with the streets is the collection of nondescript refuse receptacles to be seen, standing outside business premises in the ■morning, wooden boxes, kerosene tins, and even old baths are still used by many shopkeepers. They are rarely covered and during nigh winds the contents aro littered about the streets. Unfortunately onr powers to prevent this are somewhat limited, but we hope to be able to induce citizens to assist the Department by providing proper recptacles. Traffic. The advent of the taxi-cab has rendered it' advisable, to provide another stand and the west side of Lambton Quay between Bowen and Charlotte Streets ia suggested as a suitable position. The chief inspector is quite satisfied that something more than is contained in the Motors liegulation Act, 190S, is required to deal with the question of motor traffic in the city. It is obvious that motors are frequently driven through the streets nt a rate of speed which is not safe, but the wording of the Act makes proof of an offence unnaturally difficult. The wording is: "Every person commits'an offence who drives a motor in a public highway recklessly or negligently or at. a speed or in a manner which is dangerous to the public having regard to all the circumstances of the caso including the nature conditions and use of the highway and the amount of traffic which actually is at. the time or might reasonably be expected to be on the highway." Hecklessness and negligence are questions upon which opinions are. likely to differ,, and when a motor is travelling at, say, 25 milns an hour—not an uncommon occurrence—it is not easy to get evidence as to the identity/of the driver or the rate of speed. Mr. Doyle thinks that the Act should provide for a maximum rate of epeed in the city—say 15 miles an hour. Other Matters. Forty-two dairies and OS milk-carts were licensed. They are inspected regularly and the reports are satisfactory. Twenty-five buildings which" appeared to be insanitary were brought under the notice of the Department of Public Health; 16 were condemned and pulled down; two repaired, and tho others are in hand. One hundred and eight notices requiring repairs were also served, 100 being complied with. One thousand nine hundred and fiftythree dogs were registered, 135 waifs and strays were taken oif the streets, 117 of these were claimed, 117 sold for ,£33 165., and the rest destroyed. Six hundred and fifty-five complaints and 467 memoranda from the vorious Departments were received and dealt with as under:—Department of Public Health, 163; Town Clerk, 190; Tramways Department, 75; City Engineer, .86; City Solicitor. 3; total, JG7. Two thousand seven hundred and sixtyeight notices, umk'r the various by-laws and Local Government Acts, including 1083 sent to plumbing inspectors were served, 1473 were complied with and the others are in hand. Nineteen billiard rooms were licensed. No complaints have been received as to their conduct. Licenses produced £3166 Cs. Id., as under:—Auctioneers, .£IOOO 10s.; billiard rooms, ,435; carts and expresses, .£405 lls.; dangerous goods, £188 155.; dog registration foes, ,£9si Gs. Id.; dairies and milk-carts, £21 10s.; drivers, £40 25.; hackney earrings, including taxi-cabs, .£73 75.; hawkers, ,i'o 55.; motorcars, £29 10s.; motor-cycles, £13; niotorwagons, .£ls; pawn brokers, £f>o; porters £G 155.; public buildings, £117 IDs. 9d.; second-hand dealers, £17 155.; weighing machines, £50; stables,- £12; total £3168 6s. Id. There were ISO prosecutions at Court, and the fines, etc., amounted to £155 6s. Gd. License fees brought in £31GG Gs. Id Court fees £155 Gs. Gd., sale of dogs by auction £33 lGs., sale by auction of articles left in tramcars £19 165.; total £3375 4s. 7d. '