OYSTERS AND HEALTH.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 982, 24 November 1910, Page 2

OYSTERS AND HEALTH.

BEDS TO BE MOVED.' HAEBOUR BOARD'S ACTION. ' ' The Harbour Board has been considering the question of the location of oyster storage beds from the public ■ health point of'view, and, after taking counsel, with its engineer' and with the District Health Officer, has, decided on a policy which, it is hoped, .will remove the popular apprehension as to the possible, connection between oysters and typhoid ' "fever. . ;The engineer (Jlr. J. Marchbanks), in a report which was before the board at its meeting last night, stated that he had inspected Balena Bay and WekaBay .with Dr. Frengley, District Health Officer, and was of opinion that Balena Bay was not a suitable place for oyster beds, inasmuch as there was a number of people living in the vicinity, and. '• foreshore licenses had. been issued to 'others'who frequented the' locality. Fur- ■ .ther, there was an ejector overflow at Point Jerningham, which might have to,, be used in times of need, (he dis- ' oharge from which might possibly reach :the bay. AVeka Bay, situated about 20 • .chains south- of Balena Bay, was apparently free from such objections. - It ■was, however, probably only a question , of a. few years when the same conditions, would exist. He suggested the eastern shore of Evans Baj, about one mile be•yond the Jliramar Wharf, as a suitableplace for oyster ,-beds. The only disadvantage was its distance from the centre of the city. The District Health Officer (Dr. J. P. Frengley), in. a letter to the board, expressed agreement with the engineer's recommendations, and added:—"lt is perhaps only fair that I should iconclude .that while my investigation of the-out-break of enteric fever in March and April last pointed to the disease having in many cases been developed by tho ingestion of infected oysters, yet such evidence as I could obtain—which* ■ however, I admit was not conclusive—pointed to the oysters having been so infected before they reached Wellington. Nevertheless, there exists in Wellington b!- strong feeling against the eating of oysters stored under present conditions, and I feel sure tho vendors of this food .will be best serving their own interests : by selecting storage beds, and there relaying the oystefs under conditions approved, by your board and this Dpartment." The board considered the subject in committee, and resolved as follows:— "That the ..foreshore licensees, Messrs. Unvin and i?oderique, -Balena Bay. be informed- that their lease will be determined after six months, as from January 1, 1911." A proviso was added that ail application for a new site, on the eastern J side of Evans Bay would be favourably considered by the board.