Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 1900. The Plague.

Manawatu Herald, 30 June 1900, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 1900. The Plague.

# Ous readers will acknowledge that we have done all we can to arouse the apathy of the Mayor and Borough Councillors as to the sanitary condition of the town. We have had the farce of an Inspector of Nuisances reporting to his Council that the town had been inspected by him and that there existed only one nuisance, and that the town could thus be declared thoroughly clean, and then for the same official a month after- ■ wards, after the police had com- ! menced s a survey by instructions from Wellington, reporting upon a number of cases of offensive nuisances, none of which but existed at the time he had made a previous report. Under these circumstances i we have lost all faith in either the Council or its Inspector undertaking an inspection as it should be made, and the burgesses would be wise if ( they petitioned the government to « send up a duly qualified medical 1 man to report upon the town. We acknowledge that the office of Inspector of Nuisances is now held by ! some other person to the one whose ! reports were so unreliable, but his ! past training has not been one which fits in with the duties he is now < called on to fill, and his opinion, ,

honest enough in itself, lacks the authority of knowledge of the subject upon which it is given. In the House of on Wednesday the Hon. J. G. Ward officially announced that the plague had appeared in Auckland, and as we have all been tutored as to how the scourge can be spread by contact with the patient and by rats, its appearance in Auckland brings the danger of it very close home, as steamers trade regularly with Wanganui, and the same boats trade to this port. The railway connects us with New Plymouth* Waitara, and Wangamii. arid lri the carriage of merchandise rats have an easy way of visiting these parts of the col£~ It 13 a serious matter to assert thai the plague exists at Auckland and we therefore quote from the Hon. J. G, Ward's speech : —" The case which formed the occasion of this Bill was that of a man named Kelly, and he would read to the House the reports upon the matter from medical men, whose statements that it was a case of plague were confirmed by the Sanitary Commissioner (Dr Mason). After the death of Kelly, specimens taken from him were sent down to Wellington and bacteriologically examined by Dr Fyfte and Mr Gilruth. Mr Gilruth reported that he found large numbers of bacilli which had the characteristic appearance of the plague bacillus. He inoculated a number of culture tubes, and the next day some showed a growth characteristic to the naked eye and under the microscope of the plague bacillus. A guinea-pig inoculated at night was dying at noon the next day, and on it being killed by chloroform a post-mortem examination was made and a few characteristic bacilli were found. Other experiments were being made, but sufficient results were obtained to enable him to definitely state that the Auckland case was one of true plague Dr Fyffe concurred in Mr Gilruth's report. Dr Mason, who had been ordered to Auckland, wired that evening that he had taken the sworn statements from medical men who had been in contact, and they and Dr Purchas declared it to be bubonic plague." The Hon. the Premier has his misgiving about our preparedness to meet this enemy, as on the same occassion he said " the plague exists elsewhere than in Auckland—not in human beings." The plague is terrible visitor, but if each district will only wake up to the danger and so take prompt and effective measures to secure wholesale cleanliness, good will come of it. Sydney is a satisfactory instance of what can be done, for though in May last 88 persons died of the plague the total deaths for the month were 71 less than for the May previous, showing a great saving in life effected by greater municipal and private cleanliness. We clip the following from a leader in the N.Z Herald which is much to the point, though at present we are not permitted to punish the guilty carelessness of those placed in power, as is therein suggested : —" It has been repeatedly prophesied by philosophic theorists that in the future we shall treat sickness as a crime, and penalise the inhabitants of unwholesome cities. There is much food for thought in this suggestion. When we see that Plague perishes in antiseptic surroundings, and haa no standing saving alone in the cities that have implored its presence by their uucleanness, we can regard it as in a very real sense a punishment by the Supreme for denying and defying Him. The afflicted city is then no longer the accidental victim of a confused and malignant power which whelms alike the innocent and the guilty. It is being fittingly punished for its offences and taught by stern retribution to know and to obey the great natural laws. Instead of public pity and State aid being heaped upon such a community, the intelligence of the future may not improbab y visit its remissness with fine and disfranchisement, and even punish with penal servitude the criminal negligence of its officials