The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 1877.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 53, 2 March 1877, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 1877.

We understand that a reply has been received from the Government to the requisition made to them that they would provide funds for repairing the damages done to the roads and bridges by the late flood, thus providing labor for the sufferers. They express their sympathy with those who have been losers, but regret that they have no funds at their disposal for such a purpose. Attention has been frequently called to the existence of an abominable nuisance behind .the houses on the south side of Gloucester-street, but nothing has been done to remove or allay it. Already has it in one instance done its work fatally well, and assuredly it will claim more victims unless the City Council take some steps to prevent any further ill effects arising from it. It is not pleasant to have to write on such a topic, but in the interests of those who live in the .neighborhood we feel bound to call attention to and to, give a description of, this "fever pit," in order that the public may kiovv

how greatly the Local Board of Health is neglecting its duty. The open drain to which we refer appears to have been an old watercourse, varying from six to twelve or fourteen feet in width, and from two to three feet in depth. At the present time there is a quantity of stagnant slimy stinking water lying in it in places. On the bank are a number of privies, the contents of [some, if not all, of which are suffered to fall into the ditch, drain, or watercourse, whichever it may be called. In some parts the water lies longer and deeper than in others, and here the most filth is collected. In this reeking mass, geese and ducks, of which there are a number in the neighborhood, delight in congregating and wallowing, stirring up the foul sediment and filling the air with its horrible odour. " When the sea breeze is complains one who lives about fifty yards from the bank, " we dare not open our front door, or we should be suffocated with the stench." And this in a thickly populated partj|of the pretty, cleanly, tidy town of Nelson, as strangers delight to call it. That such an abominable nuisance should have been suffered to exist for so long is a disgrace to a civilised community, and we would remind the Council that their duty in this respect is clearly laid down in the 45th section of the "Public Health Act, 1876," Which states :— "Every Local Board shall provide that all drains, water closets, earth closets, privies, ashpits, and cesspools within its district be constructed and kept so as not to be a nuisance or injurious to health." We would ask those who are curious in such matters to visit the spot referred to, and see for themselves to what extent our ;Local Board has carried out the injunctions contained in the foregoing section of the Act. The following subscriptions have been collect u.i by Messrs Everett and Bird for the Motueka Relief Fund .— J. A. Packer, £1; W. Harper, ss; M. Crewdson, £1 Is; Sydney Dick, £1 is; H. Hounsell, £2 2s ; Edwards & Co, £10; P. Donald, £1; W. Wilkie, £5; W. H. West, £1 Is; Alex. Hunter £1 is; Wm. Holrae3, 10s 6d; T. Menary, £1; E. W. Dee, 10s 6d; G. Thompson, £1 ; T.Rowling, 10s; A. Leech, 10s; Coupland & Co. (Auckland), £1; R. Disher, £1 Is; Moutray & Crosbie, £1 Is; H. Warren, £1; J. Thornton, £2 2s; Healy and Son, £1 Is; Friend, ss; C. M'Gee, £1 Is; W. Brent, £1; Black & Son, £5; 11. D. Jackson, £2 2s ; E. Prichard, £1 Is; Stranger, £2; Thomas Cother, £3 3s ; W. Milner, £5; G. Harper, £1 Is; J. R. Mabin, £1 Is; Friend, *10s; John Scott, £1 Is; F. Nairn, £1 Is; W. Fletcher, £1 Is; Friend, ss ; W. Waters, £1; Gorrie, sen., 10s; W, Newman, 10s; J. Pratt £1 Is; D. Chisholm, 12s 6d; W. R. Parmenter, £1; H. V. Phillips, £1 ls ; J. Kelly, 2s ; W. V. Salter, £1 Is; J. Coutts, £1; Thomas Muncaster, 10s; Sympathy, 10s; Ann Bird, 10s ; A.8.J., ss; A. Trautvetter, 10s 6dS.C.F., ss; D. Grant, £1 Is; Mrs Grant, £1 Is; I. Johns, £2 2s; Friend, ss; 'Edwards and Co/s employes, £5; W. Gollop, 10s. Indolent and Luxurious Habits, exhausting disease, inactive occupations, old age, and other causes deprive the lining of the intestines of its vitality. When this is the case, the bowels become torpid. Slow digestion then ensues, accompanied by low spirits, loss of appetite and rest, fetid breath and dingy complexion. No such effects follow, however, when the debilitated stomach and bowels are vitalized with Udolpho Wolfe's Schiedam Aromatic Schnapps. — Advt.