The Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. TUESDAY, MAY 18, 1886. THE SPREAD OF DISEASE IN OUR TOWNS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1711, 18 May 1886, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. TUESDAY, MAY 18, 1886. THE SPREAD OF DISEASE IN OUR TOWNS.

As typhoid and other fevers make their appearance m one large town after another m New -Zealand, people who give the- matter due consideration, begiri td'^top^pif^Qie question of . cause and effect. The jpress has not been siieht on .this ailimportant question.' " In fact, it has spoken out at times very 'plainly, 1 and has been unjustly of trying to create a scare, and so damage the prospects of thje(" : place and injure business. This isa very narrow-minded and absurd mew to take of the matter. The Nie^ Zealand Herald points out that it is quite true, as stated, that we have no monopoly of typhoid fever, and it is a singular and painful' fact, that this particular malady has; appeared simultaneously and seems ; progressing as steadily m nearly all, the cities and suburbs and larger- towns throughout the whole of the Australasian colonies. We have long boasted of the comparative immunity from disease, and the exceeding salubrity of the climates of thVcblo/ nies, one of the principal c^USes jof which has been the absence of that accumulation of impure, matter, and - of that saturation of the ground u ft*.* der and around the dweTlirigiplacefr' of crowded populations which have been going on elsewhere for centuries. In our colonial horie^fte, are doing as our forefathers did •■■in the British Islands when they~preupared the soil for the " black death" and other dreadful pestilences that used to sweep whqle populations away, and we are only beginning here to recognise and grapple with the dangers which have been recognised, and to a large extent successfully grappled with at Home. The fact is that the high character which Jhe cities of the colonies have attained for healthfulness, appears to be generally passing away, the ground apparently haying attained that condition of super-saturation with impurity which was required to breed fevers. We have mo hesitation, m saying that most of our iarge cities' are very much ) m that ! condition, m which cholera found; the British Islands half a century ago. London, witJh*i|SK ji^#;pp;pu.. lation, through perfect drainage and stringent sanitary regulations, is one of the healthiest cities of the world ; there is a singular absence of smells m its streets ; notices are posted up inviting every person acquainted with the existence of any nuisßce, private or public, to send a no^jn confidence <•■> the sani

diluted 'carbolic acid of Condy's fluid, disseminated by the watering carts- are awakening to the imminence^of the danger, but the general colonist does not realise the magnitude of the effort that is necessary, and the increasing peril of delay. . There can be'tto doubt that, as our Auckland contemporary affirms, it is the indiscriminate throwing out of slops and refuse that has produced, and is continuing to produce, that saturation of the soil which is |so fatal to health m long-settled and dense centres of population. The same legacy of disease and death is being laid up too surely m this very Borough. Ask the Inspector of Nuisances, what he thinks of the sanitary habits of the great bulk of the residents, and his reply will make the most indifferent reflect on the inevitable consequences that., such systematic disregard of sanitary laws must m time- — and m a short time, if our population increases, undoubtedly bring about. Without any proper system of drainage or sewerage, and m the absence of a water supply, it is scarcely - possible to avoid endangering health by doing things which, under other conditions, would be criminally culpable m the highest degree. Meantime, the alarming fact has to h,e admitted that our soil is setting 1 saturated with sewage, and some day or other it will be found impossible to stay the rapid spread of epidemic fevers. Each individual should consider it a matter of conscience and principle to contribute m the least degree possible, (considering the entire absence of provision made for carrying away of sewage,) to „ the causes that must eventually produce the germs of disease m our town. Much can be done by individual . residents to reduce the present and prospective risk to a minimum. There is an old saying, that if every man swept before, his own door, there would be no need of scavengers. So m sanitary matters. If each person uses every reasonable exertion to preserve health, by the observance of 'scrupulous cleanliness, the sanitary Condition' of "the 'community must benefit. in. proportion. :