CITY COUNCIL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4861, 20 October 1876, Page 2

CITY COUNCIL.

A special meeting of the City Council was held yesterday afternoon—his Worship the Mayor in the chair. FEVER IN TARANAKI-STREET, The following correspondence was laid upon the table:— Wellington, 13th October. Sm,—l have the honor to bring under your notice the following statement,winch occurs in a letter, dated the 12th inst., received by me from Mr, T. Kennedy Macdonald“ I have just heard that the Hospital authorities have been guilty of sending fever blankets, linen, &c., to be Washed by residents in this very street”—referring to Little Taranaki-street—the back yards of which abut upon those of Taranaki-street proper, in which Mr. Macdonald resides. Such a practice ns that mentioned, I respectfully submit to you, would be most objectionable, and if it has occurred, I should think it can only hare done so through inadvertence or without your knowledge ; but I should be glad, in the interests of the public health, to receive an assurance from you that no such thing will be permitted by the Hospital officers in future.--! have, &o;, ' . William Hutchison. Provincial Hospital, Wellington, October 16. Sir, —I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Worship’s letter of the 14th inst., referring to a communication addressed to your Worship by Mr. T. Kennedy Macdonald, In which he states that he has heard that the Hospital authorities have been guilty of sending fever blankets, linen, etc., to be washed by residents in Little Taranaki-street, immediately at the rear of his (Mr. Macdonald's) premises, and to which cause he attributes the malignity of the scarlet fever which has so desolated his home. This is a serious statement, and should have not been made without due inquiry; but as I truly sympathise with Mr. Macdonald in his sore affliction, I will not remark further upon this point; but in order to dispel any uneasiness that your AVorship may feel upon this subject, will proceed to inform you—--Ist. That no fever blankets, linen, or clothes are ever sent from the Hospital to be washed. 2nd. That only one case of scarlet fever has been admitted into the Hospital for more than a year past, and in this case all rags, kerchiefs, and small linen used about the patient were burnt, and other clothing disinfected by boiling for live hours before being washed within the bounds of the Hospital. 3rd. That although in 1875 fifty cases of typhoid fever, and, so far, eight cases in 1876, were treated in the Hospital, in consequence of strict measures, even under most adverse and Inconvenient circumstances, 1 am happy to say that in no-instance has this fever taken hold, or the cases spread to persons in the institution, or elsewhere. 4th. That no washing connected In any way with the Hospital has been done in the neighborhood of Mr. Macdonald’s premises at all. that nec issary work being performed in an open situation on the rising ;round under Mount Victoria, where the Hospital laundress has resided, to my knowledge, since January last.—l have, Sc., Alexander Johnsion.M.D., Provincial Surgeon, Wellington. To His AVorship the Mayor,. Wellington. BENDERS ACCEPTED. , The tender of Mr. J. Saunders for constructing a drain in Taranaki-street at £477 10s. was accepted. There were eight tenders sent in, the highest being £897. BUILDING REGULATIONS. There was a lengthened discussion on the suggestions of the city architects, drawn up with the view of improviSg the building regulations at present in force. Various motions and amendments were proposed, the result of which was that the city was divided into four districts;. The first or commercial district—(including all the present reclaimed land, land in process of reclamation, and the Te Aro proposed reclamation; also, Thorndonquay from its junction with Syduey-street, going south along Lambton-quay and Willisstreet to its - junction with Boulcott-atraet, thence east along Manners-street to its junction with Taranaki-street)—it was agreed that all buildings to be erected therein, after a date to be fixed, shall be wholly covered with iron,slates or other incombustible material—street fronts excepted—and shall have boundary walls of suitable thioknessesj-constimcted of brick, atene,.

concrete or incombustible material, carried not' less than thirty inches above the roof measured at right angles with the pitch of the roof. In the second district—(including all properties fronting Charlotte-street to a depth of 150 links not included in District No. 1 ; also, to alike depth, all properties fronting Holesworth- , street to a point 150 links (right and left) beyond the north side of Hawkestone-street m Thorndon Ward ; also, to the depth aforementioned along the line of the following streets, and including all properties 80 . by such boundaries and No. 1 District. Willis-street from District No. 1, going south to 150 links beyond its junction with Ingestrestreet ; going east along Ingestre-street and Vivian-street to a point 150 links beyond Tory-street, going north along Tory-street, and east along Courtenay-place, closing with No. 1 District on the properties fronting Courtenayplace on the north side)-it a f f reed all buildings to be erected therein after a date to be fixed, shall, when raised within 36 inches from the boundary line of the adjoining property be covered externally with iron or approved incombustible materials, street frontage alone excepted. in , t In the third district —(including all lands not hereinbefore mentioned within the Lambton and Thomdon Wards and so much of the Te Aro Ward north and west of a boundary line commencing at a point in Abel-Smith-street by the Gaol Reserve, along such street to Johnsstreet, thence through Johns-street to Words-worth-street from thence going east to Nairnstreet, through such street to Webb-street, thence going east through Webb-street, Bucklestreet, and north side,of Sussex-square to Kentterraoe, and from thence going north along Kent-terrace to District I)—it was agreed that all buildings to be erected therein, after a date to be fixed, shall in all cases have roofs covered with iron, slates, or other incombustible materials, provided the distance between the buildings shall not be less than six feet._ In the fourth district, which comprises all lands not hereinbefore mentioned, it is not deemed advisable to place any restrictions on building. It was resolved that these regulations should come into force on the Ist day of June, 1877 ; and it was further resolved that shingled roofs at present existing be replaced with iron, slates, or other incombustible materials, within the following periods : —ln No. 1 District, within two years ; in No. 2 District, within five years ; and in No. 3 District, within ten years, dating from the Ist June next. The Council then adjourned.