A cLEAN-UP NEEDED

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 195, 13 May 1919, Page 6

A cLEAN-UP NEEDED

| INSANITARY CONDITIONS I DISCUSSED BY EPIDEMIC [■■■ :■•■ ' INSPECTORS r A, meeting, .of men and women who hisd I lerved as special sanitary inspectors dur- | tag . the : recent epidemic was yestorday } convened by; the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke)-, ! The Mayor said that he had called' i the moeting beoauso ho wished tho ooun- | , cil to get some idea of the presont sanij tary conditions in the city. Complaints !, of insanitary conditions had boen reaching him orally. Tho health of the city should be the paramount consideration with the civic authority.' ; There had been an impression abroad' that the sanij tary staff of the council; was' not suffij ciently; large to. cope with the. work in i. Wellington. He himself thought that | . the personnel of the staff should'be dug- |,- mented. In some of tho restaurants I and boardinghouses, and in some prii vate houses as well, insanitary condi-. J tions did exist. During twelve years 1 the sanitary, inspection of tho city Had i led'to 187 houses being pulled down, to ■ ■ thirty being' repaired, and' to 10S going j 3ut,of use as dwellings. The. work of \ the special inspectors during tho epi- | demic had done'much to save life. Ho !' jvould be'in favour of a "clean-up" weok 'in Wellington. At present' he was anxious to have a statement from'thepeople who had so loyally served the city, in : order that he might lay the information before the new council w;hen it ■', met: . During,the past year, said Mr. Luke, 89,551 sanitary inspections had been j; made, and 4704 notices served. Of tho ]. notices, 4555 had been complied with, j . and owners, who. had .been served with j notices and'had failed to comply'were ! being dealt .with. The number of comi plaints received and attended to was i, IiTO. , ' ■ ' ! • Mr. Doyle, City Inspector, stated that I in his opinion many of the complaints I. made about Lad sanitation were much r exaggerated.' One must remember, in j . thinking of sanitary inspection, that r there was really no law that compelled j people to' be absolutely clean.' Moreover, !■ the inspeotors worked under difficulties, i and had often occasion for the exercise j, ■of great tact.- They might not enter ! ~. r dwellinghouses between., the hours of I' : 11 a.m. and i p.m., and. their opportunii . tie 3 .were thus restricted. ... The council | had five inspectors just*-, now.. One was j sick, and another'wns on leave, so for the moment the effectives numbered only ; - /Mr. P. Green said_ that he, knew of a ! bakehouse from which nine dray-loads ' of rubbish had had to be carted away, and of a "lolly-shop" from the back of j which five' dray-loads ; had had to be I removed. The smell at the back of the ;"•-.- shop was exceedingly offensive. Why ! : wore such conditions permitted to exist? ( In.'many a place were; lying keros.ehei. tins that were mere harbouring-places for rats. Many tenants and landlords j . simply flouted the city by-laws. j ; Another speaker claimed to have inJ ' snected in Wellington South 1076 houses. ! .'•.. He had found conditions that called for j,-the most drastic action. Of about twenty , /houses in one street, not one. was fit to i live in. Some places in Wellington that i ho had ,'found to be very bad were .' owned by the city corooration. ~ Mr. W.. Kirker urged that tho council ;:.:,needed more'. inspectors and greater '.'powers. 'No five inspeotors could inspect : 'nil'the. houses in Wellington.' Women ■■' 'should'be among the inspectors, because ' they couldisometimes enter where a man could not. ~ ■ ; It was snggested tlrat the speoial inspectors should get together and draw up a report upon what they had seen. ' The Teport, with recommendations, could ! bo submitted to the. council. ': Mr. A. C. Lawrence thought that the :■' city sanitary inspectors had done well,. ' considering what they had to contend ' ; against. The trouble was that' everything was centred in the Health ] .. ment as tho final authority. What did j a doctor know'about buildings? Somei one moro practical ought to have the j final decision where there was a question I of condemning a house. A great obI staclo to reform was personal uncleanlii ■ ness. He had seen appalling uncleanli-_ ! ness in places the exterior of which'

;■ .would.never have aroused any suspicions. | It was for the sohools to train girls in : keeping places properly clean. There, ! ' in his opinion, lay the only hope of real remedy. • ■ ~ . The meeting resolved. that the council ; ought-to increase its staff of. inspectors, i prosecute an active cleansing campaign ! throughout • the ■ city, and ask the Gov- | '.. .eminent for. greater statutory powers to | remedy evils that were found to exist.