The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, MAY 29, 1874.

Dunstan Times, Issue 632, 29 May 1874, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 1874.

Beneath the Rule of ileu es'itiie r,Y -i kst the i'EX is mightier than theswouD.

The fro and easy stye our Municipal authorities have of doing things—neglecting everything that ■would give them the least trouble—leads us to the belief that the positions of Mayor and Councillors were sought merely Hor the honor of the thing. As a rule, the duties of the oflico are not onerous ; and, saving attendance once a month, merely to assent to what is already cut and dried, signing petitions alreadyjprepared, or attaching their autographs to a few cheques for salaries and other unavoidable expenses, there is little or nothing to do. However, when the necessity for action does arise, we think the usual apathy should he thrown aside, the honors shelvid ten - a tim°. and the energy which was brought forward when seeking office should he resussitated and placed in the fore to combat with the difficulty that presents itself. The time has now arrived fn* action ; and, as the matter i > one of possible life and death, we advance that as a reason for these special remarks. The work at present before the Council, and demanding their immediate attention, is “.Sanitary RoFo.m,” and, for ihat reform to bo of any use, it must-be made promptly. Tun Council, as a body, have no great; r desire, wo imagine, than ourselves for the town in he laid down with typhoid or any other fever, and have therefore a good and valid reason for taking immediate preventive measures. 'J ho following extracts from Dr Ooughtrey’s vr.nr.r ks to the Cromwell Town Council, alter his pn fevsional examination of that towiriuto the causes of the epedemie lately raging there, tally explains what. is to he feared and what fought, lie said : “ There was no doubt at all that “ the character of the fever was “ typhoid, and that of a pure type ; “while there could he as little doubt “ that it arose, from Ihe had sanitary “ condition of the town. The drainage “ and water supply were matters need“mg immediate attention “ The water, however, was not the “ primary cause of tho epidemic, hut “no doubt helped it on. The drain- “ age was wliat he would most pnrtic- “ ulavly call attention to. From “ most ot the houses, the sewago run “ underneath the building, thence in- “ to a gutterrnnningalongside, thence “ across the pavement into tho open “ street-gutter, thence down to the bridge. The hank of (lie Ivawarau, “ was full of animal matter, and the “infiltration had gone on so long, “ and tn such an extent, that the soil “ was now overcharged, and could ue- “ odoviso no more In one place on “ the hank, he saw sheep-hones and “ otial, which had no doubt been “ thrown there when the flesh was “ on them. No single place in the town: “ he believed he was correct in say “ ing, contained any privy accommo- “ dation except of a cesspool nature, “andall excrement and such fetid matter soaked into the ground. If “ these were cleaned nut, the matter “ was thrown down tho bank, or per- “ haps buried, in as close and convo- “ merit a spot as possible. This kind of thing had been allowed to gn on

“ and the result was the breaking out “of an epidemic. The general term “ for typhoid was autumnal or cess- “ pool lever. It generated from efflu- “ v.a and tilth, in the tb.vj instance ; “ and no doubt spread by being carried “from ope part oft be town to another “ in the clothes of persons, and so ‘on. “The fever was not brought into the “the town; it arose spontaneously, “because contagious, and so Lad “spread.” Now we hold that every fever breeding cause enumerated above ex ists in a greater or lesser degree in ‘-Hyde; and it is obvious, unless careful and unremitting attention is given by the the Msnicipi'd Council towurids abating, if not entirely removing some cl the existing nuisances, we may have cause for. regret. We do not say or wish it to be inferred that the existin'? Councillor an-v preceding one has been the cause of the growth of the lever-breeding pits and hummocks that are to be met with at every turn. They arc doubtless,the outcome of a defective system that Las been at work for years | ast; but, in concluding our icmarxs, wc t;<\:;re to ary ine duty o! the Coui.cn is to remove the ca uses ot danger, and tine, ii they neglect this ouiy, they, alone will be answeiable lor the result.