THE EPIDEMIC.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 November 1918, Page 5

THE EPIDEMIC.

f_ - ; | -- ABLY. ; J W<gington, Last Sight. . *f ■<Mcf ifeatth Officer, aaiu go-c&y■that,..«>&r as he washable to see, .tnc-.possKion regarding the epidemic was vemmenHjr satlrfactory. Some reports ■*ad come in-from country districts and were very satisfactory on the whole. Other j-eporfc go to shew -ftafc-the cases ■new Deing dealt with arc -less severe tfhan the cases of several davs back, 'and that the death-sate is-'-fajling confflideraHy. , &■■ general 'laiPEavjarEST. ' mi Wellington, Last iNight. jT-he-Minister jrf Public Health saysfffliat reports to-uay indicate an improveJ'ment in-all parts where the disease first '■took a firm hold.

Walter i. (Dawson, personal clerk to. Hhe Secretary of tho Post and. Telegraph (Department, and John Archibald Carrie, «of the (Money Order branch of the Wellington Chief Pout Office, died-to-dajj, •from influenza.'

.'CREEPiWG .■NBW».EROM;:!AtH3ELAm>;

'Auckland, EaefesNight. The>influenza position is improving* One ward in the temporary ihospital is empty, and theTe are vacancies.in ethers.

The Talime arrived to-day. There-waa influenza throughout tho round trip, and all were more or less attacked in a mild form. The tMrd officer was taken to -the hospital and two passengers, who .are convalescent, will, remain on boardThe passengers and crew were allowed 'to land after inlm.fe.tion treatment. Twosoldiers died, on, Sunday,, not from influenza, and weTo Juried at sea on Monday.

A against the closing, of the ba»ks has 'been made by tire*; t-Mayo'r and^e*C3iaTnl>eT'of*Comm<erce.

WATERSHMJES RESTJME 'AT iWELLTNiGTON.

Wellington, Last Night.

The Waterside Workers' Union has agreed to resume operations on vessels which the Health Committee have certified as not likely to foe a menace to the health of the men employed about them. Work, therefore, was resumed at 1 pjn. on boats which have been- thoroughly disinfected.

;BUNEDIN APPROACHING TUKNMG ■POINT.

(Dunedin, Last"Night.

The influenza cases being admitted to i the hospital are still increasing, ibut the - authorities consider the turning point ■will be reached, in a few days. The v num_ her of recoveries from severe'attacks of •pneumonia have greatly increased. Dr. Bowie states that bacteriologicalinvestigations have definitely established the disease, and show the-same organ-' 'ism as in practically all authenticated' reports from Britain, Europe, and Aus-« tralia. The germ is known and the medical authorities know how to deal'' with it.

The number of notifications of pneu- j mania, cases to the Health Department is 32, for- tha Otago Hospital district, a' decrease of throe compared' with "the ] previous day. CONETriONS AT GISBORNE. Giisborne, Last. 'Night, j The- irifluenza'-epidemic shows-an-abatS-mentin serious 1 cases, though the-41seaa& is still rampant. The disease ia present in a milder form on the east coast Thirty deaths have occurred at Gisborne* during the past BO days. At the request of the borough aathori" ■ ties, business places are closing at S'p.m. daily for fumigation purposes. Regular passenger steamer services at Giabora© are- still in abeyance. The tram service is to cease from to-day for a week. The town is thoroughly organised, and additional inhalation chambers are to be installed in town and at -the freezing; works- ' v GENERAL. Don't< be scared; be cautious! Be* also cheerful and courageous. There are only nine cases ia ifcheeEMK" am'hospital at present, and all-axe'doing as -well-as can be expected. A laconic and somewhat expressive report was handed in on Wednesday by one of the Eltham scouting parties sent* out to a supposed bad case: 'Temperature normal, feet cold."—Argus. The epidemic in the immediate- vicinty of Kaponga <ihas, to date, not been of apartienlarly severe nature, though im other parts of the district there are a?' number of severe cases; in one or two instances those contracting the disease have succumbed. The-effective.forces for fighting the malady sustained a severe loss by tike only resident medical attendant, Dr. Buist, contracting the complaint during last week. The report of the Manaia"hospital isthat there is a slight improvement in the serious cases. A few additional cases are reported from the country districts. The nursing staff and voluntary helpers are doing excellent service. The Hawera Star has-been hard hitiby j the influenza epidemic. No less than; fourteen of the hands are down and that paper is being brought out under-igreat" difficulties.

Some ideaof the -work done by workers in the country may be gleaned from the fact that a Tarik'i motor-car owner did over **oo miles with hi3--car owtSaturday in the good cause. On Wednesday the New 'Plymouth Committee received a ring'from> a country district a few miles out requesting assistance to milk his cows. Calls for volunteers were at once responded to, one of the volunteers being a man who said he had not touched a cow for 12 years, but he was willing to buckle to. Hurriedly they motored out to the farm, but, on arrival, found that all the cows had been milked and everything attended to. To their astonished queries, the farmer-stated that what-he iad required was a permanent hand,-and he had'rung up the bureau, evidently think that it was a Labor Registry office. Arrangements weTc made last night for sending full supplies of medicine, with instructions, to Tongaporutu,Okau, Ahititi (Mount Messenger), Mokau, and Awakino. These districts have not so far, been seriously affected, though a Maori died at Mokau yesterday, but •measures are being taken" to> stave off the danger. Thelaaies' committed-are being splendidly assisted by Business houses. P-or instance, Messrs "Sole Bros, are supply-in<w«mea-(r"and .undertaking the dressing ' <of° poultry that is being sent in- Mr. < Wftllawvof the Waratah Dining Booms,

BOSETIOKjINfiNEW;]JKSHQIIIH. , |(

pA^COSfSTDEKABLE. - IMItE&^EME

staafiai frnjiroveraeni ah foe .position iTte-tfiuinber of. fresh for; jAhe <iay was Iffl, asiagainst 18!* *!< i! d,iy, ! - , ottl!uEsday J ,ands2W on Mjoiijday. Ist would appear that the discs sejisstJaat being disked. There woie 58< jßew Itouses wttfc infection, against 58 •on. the prexious day. The proportion of .fceeoverics is a. satisfactory feature, the: number beingr-65. Altogether there haw been 1684 cases in. Jfew Plymouth, U9 being serious aiid the recoveries 171. The following taMeia instructive. It shows the- position since the committee! commenced operations. For the firsts three-days particulara-of the-new houses,, vtlie serious eases, and' the TecoverieSj-were: | not collected:

'.' November VI 18 18 20 ,21-total: ■ [Total -rases <...„.. 197,-287'208 19&161 IGS4 Now homes _ 55 58 - 66 180 .serious cases ~».„ ;ilecovaries ...._, ; 17 21 62 65 171 As reported ekawhere, it was decided, yesterday to convert Kamaroa' Park; pavilion into- a, convalescent home, and; Bine cases were transferred from the public hospital. This will ease the-'worfc of the staff at the hospital a good l deal > '•Mr. I\ S. Johns has charge of the ar3 rangements, and asks us to stale tha-fe he would be glad to hare books, maga-. -aines,.etc, for the patients. Mr. .Bidgley,, , of the Terminus Hotel, has -very kmdiy feoffered to provide food for the inmates, and he is also willing to devote a part of his building to the committee if th»i pavilion accommodation, becomes over-* taxed. His-kindly offer is..nracir-appre-' piated.

Over ek hundred hottles of medicine*' were sent out yesterday, -which, offordir »aii idea of the need there exists for theorganisation. One-«hemist,,in anticipation of the needs of the district, made up 112G bottles of medicine yesterday. This explains the shortage of bottles and the need for further sup- , piies.

. Tho cars were very busy again yes-* tfewiay, going over the whole of the district, inspecting and rendering help. In •town the nsual house-to-house-visitation •was made, and all cases reported uponAll the particulars are carefully filed, and the work distributed amongst the ■various departments. The system in iorce is admirable, it being almost impossible for-any case to Ibe overlooked. Yesterday morning, Dr. Walker instructed twenty of the committeemen to. act as medical assistants. They were, given forms in which to nil particulars, of the condition of eifch patient, and' ,shown how to examine a patient, taker temperature, pulsation, respiration, etc. iLater in the day they made examinations, and their reports were exceedinglyf helpful ta the doctors, who with, such= informatioij, before them, can tell atones what ies needed in each caseThere are now twelve babies at the" "creche" which has been established inthe Good Templar Hall. Here the little? onesi are-doing well under the charge of? Plunket Nnrse Williams.

/ AT THE HOSPITAI,. ■ ? ~ THIRTY ADMISSIONS. MEDICAL SUPERINTENDENT MOKE. HOPEEIUI). There were thirty admissions to th&i New Plymouth Hospital yesterday, of which 11 came from Inglewood, nine frqnTNew Plymouth, two fromOpunake, iworfront Tarata, and one-each from Ra-'-hwtn, Waitara, Kaimiio, Tariki, RataIpiko, and Hawera. Three Maoris were also admitted to-the fecial Maori Hos-. pital established at the -hostelry! near; 'Kkwaroa Park.

This brings the- number/of-fatients inf ; the Sospitai to+lß3, of Which) '146 are influenza. Thirty-one are pneumonici cases, most of which are very serious. WMst the Sospitai had had another trying day yesterday, Dr. Walker rejported'at midnight, the proportion of re•cowries was cheering. He was satisfied, on analysing the figures, that the position was now well in hand in New Ply-. month, and that the zenith had iheen passed here, and that with a>continuanceof the organised workthey could expect' ■a great reduction in the figures- Then* both the organisers and the-medical men could devote their attention to the-coun-try, where it was and, ho feared,, be more needed ia the near future. The bad cases that were coming in from In.glewood proved that mastery over the : epidemic had not been gained'there yet, but he hoped the organisation' wouldovercome it by the end of tW week. Ralh'otu, Dr. Walker explained, was do-ing-well. Theliall'had heen tnrned'into' a hospital, and 1& nurses were being ac•commodated. Mrs. Groom, a trained! nurse, was ih-charge, and Mr. Hughuon was-Tendering valuable help. Pnngarehu was improving. There were a lot of cases there, and the Ihiall was-being-turn-ed into a hospital. The settlers werenow taking a teener interest in-the pre- •' ventative-and relief work. Nursa ; Oanip- ■ bell was in charge. A ! number of the •■ men districtwere-down WTrh-'the disease. At Warea v *hepublio(Jhiallhad , been turned- into a hospital under -thedirection- 'of Mrs. Parker and' Mrs.Clothier.

CONDITION 03? THE NATIVES. A HOSPITAL ESTABLISHED. The Medical Superintendent decided yestenfeyiito coayert the Maori; Hostelry, near Hawaroa 'Park, into a hospitalfor •Maori-caises. The place <was>-quiekly put in order, under the-direction ofilVfr. K. S r Johns and*'Mr, A> iS. Johnstone, and -in thcaftenroon three cases from the coast 'were-'lbroTight in- The todian, with Mr. Sam Jackson and his wife,, are undertaking the care of the patients, who will Ibe under the *ye of the MedieaPSnperintendentandTiave-'the ■help of a trained nurse from the hospital when required. Conditions at Tito's house the Egmont Road show an improvement- Two Natives who were reported very ill on Wednesday night and were to have been taken into the hospital, were decidedly tetter yesterday morning, so much so that it was not considered necessary to Temove them. The Kaipakapaka Pah, Bell Block, was visited hy two committeemen yesterday. They found one woman dead and four others foacL, They saw to their needs and lpft medicine, etc. At TTone Tekekn's place on the Smart' Road, it was found'that a* woman and' a down. They were given medicine.

fe WORK OP THE -"WQSP«S\ 1 I OOiDtHTTBE. '", J

' ibi?iodic-, had* another :ibusy "<&3pnt • teasty mom tilfflaEto JSr J l^toß*is <, £ijMOjj<iffioe* oK 'bßtwap( rToaffh 'Women's Committer, aM*Aierfe«*aiM tmj? laireeli adimra}%. Une family sent iir-jßßta-dSßr&ltfdßflt staffs. On arrival-if>was principal patient lad nad *, sntefeßtfa •meal of potatoes and roast Dog, nHjjE showed that&e was-well <OTsfc&e*raadKß (recovery. Enrtber <Micacie» flSflUß* a«am be .left at this'-ibonse.

Sufferers- who have had a- normal ternf : ■peratoje for 'look-after themselves andefeeir KeiattnK ,and it should: not Ibe ■necesaacp •forSatifc * *idfes' committee- v*en aaeffi ismj 9$ inandas-aie- beir.g-«-m^de».TiptntTiata»aa'' VQCeS. , "r The: committee ,are provide lemons for' ptaaarta~firt fflS limes-are very>short. YestcriterfendS were given ton. patient, "wte - WsraEotef •werp oranges, wot lemonsf lEUL flfarf ■ • exacting-. ae*ld*:inaividTnd. The mereasing mnnßcr snntteo in the provision *ff IteefifeS ' jeflieiv eta, t«e organisation is not 'taroogh sheer >can *en4 for i<pjickly!aa-;possaie. ' Ra '

PJHKT " '* « u. iYestoday.-.'the»chainnaiMTfaiaii«aa6A. W"Board "(Mr M. TfasetflaKW .medical superintendent .{Drl IB&wUB •conferred with the Mayor ariSTS 'the.PaHMeaJth Committee,an&fiTwS ■decided to prepare the Eswaroa Etai •ttwih.on.-at <Jnce,-a&iav«maJesoei*«oft awtaL where aH,cases,..as- soon as tim are well enough, can-!» sent, and «S congestion, at fa£ cjHtal as much as passrHa, The (ttsfe . lion. wilLiawcmnnodSfcßr® and- arrangementa,arefDoanßdf in 4and towards fitting, if-up. Everything- that is possible wHI be -done for the*com&i*/ " and convenience of inmates, and itiacertain that <jhe. choice of & site-i*** very wise one. It-is any dwelling-places, and gets th» serf breezes all day long. Arangemenfawnw -heing made to utilise the hatha, wherw patients will be able to have* to* batffei ■Cookmg for'the inmates' wilßSbe:ianasrf&| .°the»-pavilion. . -m \ ' The Mayoress has-associatetfcwiiEiSenJ a., hand of devoted -workers that aTewdiSl ■ mg- invaluable work in -the relief of sthaj afflicted. Nothing is toomask.fwGieaQ to undertake,. from washing <Bslh* in;] <.the; Booms to going out into-, dfeease-l ' Stricken homes*and^rittmg'qip-all-jirig&d witii the patients, caring meantime. *>e3 (their bodily wants, attending to iSfc ,household dntieH,,.<and- «vea«do£ngffflfiS twaahing. Some of the. younger aessed of thetheir brothers on fhe> fcatefefleids of ' 'Prance and Belgium. Temperature* have to be. taken—fflfe fe.a. vital necessity, for it accurately show fhe*>«mdi-> tiow of a patient, and' whBQMr-a ■Boa< ■ tor's services, are requires ornbt. Mferar do they heaftate. Instruction is girejkb and they sally forth and enter fJte ««■« ease-riddenv homes, quit* ofclstonß of tJ* d risk and determined! **<<&> their ""BBS" Ht is truly.a fine,*pm6 R wonder that the epidemS^^Stto6ia , i ?fought.andWbeaten. i i A representafiro mesßng' of the Olkato distriefc"WßS!heia-ont\vw • nesday night in thai sapper rwn»<*Bffl. Hempton. Hall, Mr_X S. tEfos, w&VnM voted to the chair,, ■woria' <ing of the New Plymouth Bfißio Heaffl?! Committee. A man and a woman -oafi appointed .to" look after each; toad. TSm will visit each house on tha road ewsry morning, and send: in their lepoxta** the centre at Mr. J- S. FoxWoreJßg&jf o'clock. " '. Yesterday morningi»eachV..i*porfj|»T«aa received well up to -Hiinejrija flnjfafc ports showed that only four new-caserf ■ had occunred. as yefcifoeen*Tepcrted,vand l .tthera«aretari: 'Maori* cases. ; '^2 .'BrtsamsftooiiiCTESß• "*' * Inconnectionwith tsation,. Mi. E. Ellis, .coTnxtjs.-cleik, ,m»2 tored to various districts yesterday. It] vwas reported thafcmatters were very bad* <at Huirangi, hut Mr. Ellis states that. 1 ! ■they are not 60/-very had. There hawJ •been some four deaths of Maoris- in-the 4 jpah beyond Hnirangi, butaMaoriisauw; I taking strong-steps to disinfect the«.pafe.j At Lepperton the district has been] well organised, And thererfs ver^iewau-i' fluenza cases there, BeyondringlewootL-thingss are-very had., At Maketawa there'hOTe-.ibeen. numewxw,.; .cases. Hero Mr. Alfred Marshalli-hasi worked very haTd. ' Atjlugbg Soad, Tariki, and Batapiko.. there are some very serious cases., jMeasrs-J. Therideson,„Hoskin, and A. E. ,• 'tawience have >bcen indefatigable, asi jhave Mesdames Therkieson and Jemi-i sson, Tho-'-laek of a<doetwr-arid medicine ' ',has "been-severely felt in the district. Yesterday evening the New Plymouth t'Committco sent out Sergeant W. Soujtham,. a retumed soldier, with consider,'ahle hospital .experience, and he will take charge of temperature reading, ete. A" supply of medicine was also sent out. The committee are also* endeavoring to put up a cottage hospital at TarDd for' mild cases. An' inhalation chamber wjll' be established at the Tariki-station. In spector Day of New Plymouth, having improvised a machine for the purpose. THE SITUATION AT HAWKRA. While a number of cases have become serious, the .position generallv is appar- ■ ently no worse (says the Star). Numbers of patients in the temporary hospital have recovered sufficiently to" be able to be removed to tho convalescent hospital in St. Mary's Hall. There are two or three rather bad cases in the public hospital, particularly among the Maori patients in the fever ward. . Upon inquiry at the temporary hospital, it was ascertained that there were ■ still a number of serious cases in the institution. One of the patients, Mr. Harry Walker; single. 24 years of age, died last night. His brother prede-, ceasedhim the previous day. Tfoich sym-' pathy will be felt for the "parents, who reside at Riverlea, in their double bereavement. Mr ; <i. (TjongstafF. nrom.inent.-in Ifcuid" circles'in HawerOv died from the epidemic on- WednesdaynightThe Hawera'. Jlosp'ta.V'Boa.Td is* mak- ■ mg a strong appeal to the manhbotNlJid womanhood of the town and* distriefcrto.* i ■