AUSTRALIA'S FAR NORTH.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1886, 21 October 1913, Page 11

AUSTRALIA'S FAR NORTH.

DR. GILRUTH'S IMPRESSIONS. QUESTIONS OP HEALTH AND ISOLATION. Dr. Gilruth, tho Administrator of the Northern Territory, in, his annual report, which covers a period up to March, says that during tho previous year he travelled nearly 2000 miles by motorcar mid liorse. As ix result of his wanderings ho was favourably impressed, with the potentialities of tlio country, and is satisfied by his persona! observations and rienco that, neither by reason, of the climato nor of the poverty of tho soil does tlio development of tho Territory by whito peoplo present insuperable difficulties, or oven difficulties of an extraordinary naturo. One of tlio chief obstacles, and especially to the introduction of wliito women and children, may prove to be the hostility shown by a la-rgo section of the medical profession to the attempted development of any part of the world's tropics by white labour, and their insistence that 110 tropical climato is suitablo for. wliito women and children. The Administrator admits that the average man cannot accomplish in the Torritorv mere than about 80 per cent, of the work ho could do in a temperate climate in th« same time, but ho naively remarks that more work can bo accomplished in a cool day anywhere than on an unusually hot one Dr. Gilruth is in favour of all workers in tlio Territory indulging in the noonday siesta. On the experimental farms employees have been induced to begin work earlier and finish later, so that four •free, hours for rest may be allowed during; the heat of the day. Ho hopes that the practice will be extended. The adds that personally ho has never enjoyed better health than during his year in'the Territory, and 1 he has boon entirely freo_ from recurrent attacks of colds. His experiences have shown, that the appetite, instead of behtg diminished by the change to heat, had increased, and this was tho experience of the majority of the residents. - One drawback to the settlement ol.tho Territory is that the isolation is keenly felt by all newcomers, 'this is aggravated bv the infrequent .communication with "the south.by tho length of time occupra! with the journey—nearly a fortnight each way —by tho expense of the journey—the return faro is £32— and especially by tho absence of the daily newspaper. Dr. Gilrnth contends that the publication of a Government paper, containm? news of tho outside world, is worthy of serious consideration. The mails, ho states, might by somo arrangement bo delivered more frequently, and instead of three steamers all arriving within tho ono week; ha suggests that somo representations should bo made to the shipping companies to divide their calls into equal spaces of timo. "Another cause of _ irritation to newcomers," the Administrator proceeds, "is tho difficulty of finding accommodation. At one timo a number of men arrived by boat and could find no sleep-ing-place, cither in boarding-houses or hotels, and had to bo content with tak- ■ ing up their residence in a shed at the Government stables." In his opinion, tho commercial community of Darwin has hardly shown ordinary business acumen, let alone enterprise. Nono of tlio hotels havo rnado an attempt to extend tlioir accommodation, though thoy havo not failed to raise their tariffs, , Dr. Gilruth pointed out that an admirable opportunity' iB hero presented for the institution of a State hotel, _ equipped Mid conducted on up-to-date lines. Amongst' tho' improvements wlilcji have been effected in Darwin was the removal of a number of dilapidated shanties occupied by Chinese. These wero constructed of battered iron and worm-eaten posts and it was believed that these insanitary hovels had been much fvoquentod by natives,, who were supplied with opium by the Chinese occupants. Possibly the most .important want throughout the whole Northorn Territory now, as in tho past, was the society of woman to the newcomer ih Darwin. The Administrator believes this lack of female companionship was more productive of unrest and frctfulness than any other causo while, it was also conducive to much greater evils. Referring to public Health, Dr. Gilruth says that- while a cursory glance at tho vital statistics would lead to tho conclusion that the conditions wero not good, a careful study of the facts indicated that the prepomlernneb of Chinese adversely affected the figures. Tho health of tho European population was distinqtly good, and that of tiro children excellent. After referring ill detail to the various activities of the Territory, Dr. Gilruth concludes: "That may difficulties in the realisation of our hopes will have to bo faced, some known and many unknown, is undoubted, but these difficulties can only be removed by Scientific knowledge), by persistent effort, and by undaunted courage."