The Influenza Epidemic.

Taihape Daily Times, 27 November 1918, Page 4

The Influenza Epidemic.

IN AUCKLAND. CONSISTENT IMPBOVEMENT ONLY ONE DEATH. (Auckland "Star") The tenor of all the reports from the city, suburbs, and surrounding districts remain consistently good. Rapidly getting back to normal may be taken practically as the text of every report that is sent in. Since midnight there was only one death in all the hospitals. The Auckland Hospital is now taking all fresh oases, and in order given the various temporary institutions are to be closed as circumstances permit. The first to be closed will be that on the Avondale racecourse and' then the Ellerslie hospital, opposite the Town Board's office, which contains eleven beds. The Sailors' Home will be next, and then the Technical College, and Vermont Street hospitals. The convalescents now are mostly males, and these are all doing well. Twelve more children from the Myers Kindergaretn are going 'to the Ellerslie Home on the racecourse today, and about twenty adult cases. It is the intention of the authoriites to run "Killbryde" in conjunction with the hospital until the epidemic has disappeared, the Mayor having left the building at the disposal of the Board, as long as required. The cot cases among the convalescents are being removed to St. Joseph's, -while the walking cases are being taken to Ellerslie. CHARGES BY CHEMISTS. HIGH PRICES FOR DISPENSING. More remarks concerning the prices charged for medicine and medical requisites by certain chemists were made by Mr. W. Wallace, chairman of the Auckland Hospital Board on Thursday morning. The chairman dealt directly with the defence made by Mr. J. M. Jefferson, president of the Northern Pharmaceutical Association and a member of the. Pharmaceutical Board of New Zealand. This gentleman had said: "If Mr Wallace is a business man, he must know that the law of supply and demand regulates, to a large extent, the price of saleable commodities the world over." This is in direct reference to the fact that some chemists are charging 10/6 each for clinical thermometers, and to it Mr. Wallae replies:—"The fact remains that during the period of the war the highest prices paid by the Hospital Board for accurate clinical thermometers has been .3/4 each; and I -have heard since that some of the wholesale houses recently have . been charging as much for them as 7/6 and 8/ each." . / The chairman said quite a large number of complaints have been made to him about very high prices-charged by certain chemists for dispensing. "The law of supply and demand -was at one time supposed to rule the labour market," Mr. Wallace continued, but nobody had any right to trade on people's necessities. He considers it a criminal thing that, in a time of such national calamity as this, anything in the nature of extortionate prices should be charged. It was often a matter of life or death to the people. It was absolutely necessary that they should have remedies and certain simple medical appliances. Yet some chemists, made capital out of their sore need by profiteering. Some of the charges that had been made for dispensing were worse than extortionate; they were criminal. WHAT Or THE CHILDREN? The question as'to" what is to become of the little children rendered homeless and orphaned by the sourge of influenza in Auckland is one of the problems which will call for settlement shortly. At the present time there are about 60 children at the Y.W.C.A., and a somewhat larger number at the Myers hospital. The circumstances in some cases are such as to render it impossible to send them back to their former homes. Reports have been secured as to home conditions; this is one paragraph:— "From information gathered this man, his wife and four children, occupied one small, dark room in a lodging-house kept by a Maori. The room was extremely dirty; most of the clothing and bedding had to be burned. Both parents are now in hospital." Another briefly-told tragedy : "Mother died at her home on November 13, Father died in hospital on the 17th. Four children, two in Myers hospital. No friends or relatives in this, country.'' This is an actual record of another little baby's "home" conditions: — "Father, a Dalmatian, wife a British woman, the latter in hospital. They supply meals. The sleeping accommodation and back premises are undescribably filthy, quite unfit for human habitation. The rent is £2 5s a week." The landlord's name is also given. "These people are simply hopeless," states another report. "The mother

is extremely dirty and careless; she will create a slum wherever she goes.'* But a much brighter note is struck in other cases, and these lend a ray of hope to a dark horizon. "Nine children altogether. Father and mother ill, but improving.^, They will take children home as s(mi as possible. They l are most excellent people, a ver>#* happy family when well." In another case the mother died, leaving a grownup daughter to manage the house and care for three little children. "Homo conditions all that could be wished, "ah states the report. The next case is ' one where both parents are still ill. There are seven small chidren. "They have had a hard struggle with so largo a family, and the father is not strong. They arc very worthy people, and tho home is always scrupulously clean." AT WELLINGTON I BARBERS' SHOPS AND PICTURES I TO BE RE-OPENED. | WELLINGTON, this day The deaths of sixteen soldiers are reported. Barbers' shops are to be re-opene'd subject to fumigation and .disinfect" J Picture shows will all be re-opened ©n the same Saturday, but the Minister wishes to wait until further ahead with the fight against the epidemic. AT WANGANUI. The reports of the different committees were very cheerful, each one* | showing that admissions to had decreased (the total for Monday being 14, .against 51 a few days ago), while there was a general indication that the epidemic was now well in hand. At the same time, it was emphasised that the utmost efforts to prevent the disease getting a fresh hold should be continued. DAIRY INDUSTRY AFFECTED. WELLINGTON, this day. The dairy industry throughout the country has been most prejudicially affected by the epidemic. Numbers of factories have had to close down altogether owing to the whole of the , staffs being stricken with the disease. Dalefield, near Carterton, the factory being closed for five days, represented a loss of milk of about £200,. per day. . Cape Egmont factory, near New Plymouth, still closed; loss,, about £250 per day. 'fy Kaponga, still closed, loss £3so.peg; day." _' [ 3 The National Dairy Association has I been advised of similiar closings ai.i , various centres j j AT MASTERTON. ; I . MASTERTON, this day. j ............ : ....... 7 About 50 deaths have occurred since, the beginning of the month from influenza. There is a great decrease, in the number of. cases, .but still many are crtical. The shops re-opened to-, day. AT TAUMARUNUI. Taumarunui has passed through a black fortnight. All business has been disorganised, and practically the whole town closed up for several days. Good organisation by a central committee, led by the Ma3 r or, savod the situation, and a great improvement was reported to-day—only 28 cases, none serious, as against 57 last week in the temporary hosiptal, and 35 in the General Hospital. The total cases are 63, as against 104 a week ago. There must have been a thousand cases in the borough, and thveW thousand cases in the district. Deaths in the borough number 45 Europeans and 41 Maoris, including a number of leading citizens. The noble band of workers faced all odds to save life. ■ _ AT RAETIH!. SIGNS OF ABATEMENT. The Waimarino "County Call" of yesterday states:— The influenza scourge which has swept New Zealand from top to bottom is, we are pleased to say, not increasing in Raetihi. On the contrary, according to Mr. Luke, it is abating, and on Saturday last there were no admissions to the local hospital, while on Sunday and Monday there were only two each day. It is over two weeks since we received the first signs of the epidemic, and members of the Town Board and prominent citi* zens immediately set to work and die-! cussed ways and means of cEecking the outbreak here and preventing it getting a serious hold. The different suggestions were soon put into working order, with the result that a tem- * porary hospital was immediately established. It is a pity we are without a doctor, for no doubt if we had had one residing here in the first instance a good deal better work could been done. It was alsjK unf ortunatqF that Dr. Feltham, of Ohakune, should have been attacked with the epidemic just when the disease was coming to ; its height in Raetihi. However, Mr,:

Luke appeared on tie scene, and he and the nurses we have are still working like Trojans, as also are the local eommittjee and chemist. Too much praise cannot be given those citizens •who are spending their time and money in tending the sicjs during this time of trial. W 'fi>ere can now be no doubt whatever that the epidemic in Raetihi and district is on the wane, no deaths having been reported for nearly three days. The last was that of Mr. James Pifnch, son of Mrs. C. Punch, of the ;#aimarino Hotel. The death roll in Raetihi since the epidemic began is now thirteen. To-day the hospital reports are all satisfactory, and there are only one or two cases which might be regarded as serious. Even though the position at present is good, there should not be the least relaxation of the efforts of everyone until the epidemic is finally stamped out. AT. TAIHAPE. Though the epidemic, so far as the borough is concerned, is well in hand, a number of cases continue to come in from the country, and the deaths are "still mounting up. 'At the Public Hospital last night Miss Mary Fraser, aged 19 years, died. There were no more critical cases in that institution, and the Matron informs us that from present appearances any further deaths are unlikely. At the temporary hospital there was one death, that of Mrs. Shields, whose husband is also ill in the same building. A very sad case is recorded from Utiku, where Mrs .Helen Ferguson, aged 40, died yesterday, followed shortly after by her day-old baby. Several fresh cases have been reported an'd brought in, though they are not of a critical nature. The Relief Committee is unremitting in its efforts to attend to the afflicted, and is leaving nothing undone to cope with the malady. * The first of the volunteer workers to be attacked was Mr. Teddy Sheath, who went down yesterday. He is progressing satisfactorily, however, Mr. Sheath has been one of the most strenuous workers since the influenza broke out, and has been of very real assistance to the disease-fighters' committee. Two trained nurses arrived from Hawera last night, and at once got into harness. Their services will be a welcome relief to the devoted band of women who have been "carrying on" night and day since the outbreak iqgeurred. > jA. committee, consisting of Messrs EJI Neagle and S. Powell, has been formed, to care for and look after the children, who have been rendered fatherless or motherless by the epidemic, and are doing splendid work. The pressing need of the moment, so far as supplies are concerned, is a quantity of old linen in good condition. The Mayor will be pleased to receive any parcels of this useful commodity at the Town Hall. ' We are pleased to.be able to record a decided improvement in ,the condition of Constable Petit, whose condition has been very critical for some days. He took a turn for the better this morning, and it is hoped he is now out of danger. The latest case to be taken to the temporary hospital is that of Mr. Harry Russell, the well-known borough workman.