THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M Resurrexi. THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1877.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2590, 26 April 1877, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M Resurrexi. THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1877.

In reverting to the question which formed the subject of the few. remarks .we made in our leading column yesterday, we wish to call the attention of the Borough Council to the state of the drainage of the Borough and the water supply. The Borough Council, as is pretty well known, constitutes the Local Board of Health, and as Borough Councillors, can deal with questions affecting the health of the burgesses much more effectively than as members of the Board of Health. In their capacity as members of the latter body their powers" are circumscribed in a financial sense r and in .other ways; but as Borough Councillors they have the power to do a great deal towards improving the sanitary condition of the district—which is in a bad state just now—and so lessen the chances of an infectious disease obtaining a hold. We have some idea of the difficulties to be contended with in draining a township like the low-lying portions of Shortland and Grahamstown: these are apparent to the meanest capacity. The Borough Council, however, in carrying out their municipal functions, must see that there are duties and responsibilities above and beyond the mere formation of roads and footpaths. We give the Council credit for recognising this fact. It is not the fault of Councillors that the income of the Borough is not equal to their expansive notions of requirements in making and improving our highways, but it will be a serious charge-against them if the health of the inhabitants is to be sacrificed to comfort and convenience, by making new and maintaining old roads, when the equally important question of drainage is ignored, or treated as only a secondary consideration. To take the Borough from the beach line to the boundary in Bolleston street as regards Shortland, and from the same starting point to the base of the hills in

Grahamstown, wo presume no one will contend for a moment that tbo district is properly drained. What is the consequence P At every bit of a flood the residences of burgesses are inundated, and after overcoming the first rush of water, many residents are subjected to the danger and annoyance of stagnant water. Then there is the more offensive form of insufficient drainage caused by the flow of water or " slops " from private houses into the water tables, which from want of outlet, remains on the streets and becomes a fertile source of disease. Anyone who is at all observant, or the least sensitive in the olfactory nerves, can verify what is here stated. Some of the so-called water tables are little better than reservoirs of filth, daily and hourly emitting what may prove to be the germs of disease and death. The question of expense is a serious one, no doubt; but it would be better to leave the roads and footpaths as they are for a time, than suffer the generation of malaria in its worst form through deficient drainage. It is a duty the Council have to grapple with at once, this question of drainage; and we hope that they will tackle it in a becoming spirit. The worst season is now coming on—the wet season, and if some prompt measures are not adopted by the Borough Council, we very much fear that as a Board of. Health they will have to combat with a worse evil than an overdraft at the bank. As to the water supply, the Borough Council have the largest representation in that matter. The use of bad water, it is well known, is a prolific source of. disease, and it would be advisable to extend the domestic supply as far as possible, so as to render unnecessary the use of well water in localities where the latter is of doubtful purity. The Water Committee are not expected to make,a profit of the supply at their disposal; and it would be well to extend it as far as the means at their command will admit. We would urge ■ upon the local bodies generally the necessity of precautionary measures to avert disease, and we think we have indicated directions in which their efforts may be rendered available for the public good.

I The meeting of the Thames County Council which was to have been held toI day was adjourned. We notice that Mr E. Honiss has been appointed agent at the Thames for the New Zealand Insurance Company, in place of Mr H. H. Wright resigned. A Pbess Agency telegram from Wellington last night says:—The Premier speaks at a banquet at New Plymouth to-morrow night. His speech will be wired to your paper the same night. Messrs Bkodie, (County Chairman) L. .1. Bagnall, (County Councillor) and Alexander Aitken (County Engineer) proceeded to Hikutaia yesterday for the pur- ! pose of inspecting works in progress or completed, and to arrange for further works. They returned to-day at noon, and no time has been lost in calling for fresh tenders, as will be seen by an advertisement in another column. The tenders are required for draining the swamps between Puriri and Hikutaia, a work that will greatly improve the main road, and the adjacent land. We have to-day prosecuted our enquiries into the matter referred to in yesterday's issue, namely, the rumoured existence of an infectious disease in our midst, and so far as we can gather there is no foundation for the rumour. >At the Health Office no report of any kind has yet been received on the matter, which there probably would have been had the rumour been well founded. We find on 'enquiry at the office of the [Registrar of births, marriages and deaths, that one death was registered this month the cause of which was stated to be. " enteric fever.". So far we are glad to say that there does not appear to be any cause for alarm. The N.Z. Herald publishes an extract from a letter received from a passenger who left Auckland last month'by the City of New York for San Francisco. He says, that for a first class mail line he believes it is the worst provided in the world. They spread "a miserable table, and-the attendance is simply abominable. The wines and spirits are very poor and very dear. The writer says a luncheon put on the table the day he was writing could be equalled by any coasting schooner sailing but of Auckland. Every soul on board was thoroughly disgusted, and the universal cry was "No more Yankee J steamers for me." A telegbam to the Auckland Star from Napier says :—Several natives of Porangahau state that a European, named Sierney or Kane, has left that district for Wellington after exhibiting specimens of nuggety gold which he alleged had been found on their land. Henare Matua, who states: he has seen the specimens, complains that the men borrowed tools from his people, and said he had pegged off 100 feet where he obtained the gold. The natives are particularly anxious that if he shows gold at Wellington he will be seized and made to tell from where he obtained it. Amongst the changes which are said to have been decided upon by the Go-. j vernment in the distribution of officers of the Armed Constabulary is the appointment of Mr Shearman, Chief Inspector of the Canterbury Provincial police, to I be visiting Superintendent, and the removal of Mr T. Broham from Auckland to succeed Mr Shearman as Inspector in i Canterbury. Mr Broham's successor will be Mr Thompson, who has for some years held a roving commission as Inspector under the Arms Act. ■ Mind how you "write out" or "fill in " your cheques. His Honor Mr Justice Eichmond, when summing up in a forgery case tried at Wellington, pointed out that the drawer of the cheque, which had been altered from £2 2s to £20 2s, by leaving blank spaces between the words specifying the sum of money, had literally left the opening for the fraud to be attempted. His Honor wished the attention of all writers of cheques to be directed to this point, and urged the advisability of- always writing words describing the sum without taking off the pen, but running it on from one word to another, as that would make it very much more difficult to perpetrate any fraudulent alteration.

The London correspondent of a southern paper, referring to the projected visit of the Prince of Wales to Australia and New Zealand, says colonists will find the Prince much more genial and pleasant than his brother the Duke of Edinburgh, and advises the laying in of a good stock of Schweppe's besfc soda water, with its usual concomitant. A certain passenger who left Lyfctelton by the Taranaki soon after the race meeting iv Canterbury, who had won £200 which he received, and lost £200 j which he refused to pay, is reported to have, been attended for some distance by a .steam launch, from which was displayed a large banner bearing the words, in large letters, " Farewell ~ ——-—, the de« faulter." Pleasant for the ".- ■ ■' ■■. The Thames is becoming quite a moral community as far as drunkenness is concerned. The number of " clean sheets " presented for the Resident Magistrate's edification shows conclusively that the washing of dirty linen has been performed at home and in a less expensive manner than it would have been in open court. Whether this is owing to a relaxation in the vigilance of the police, or a peculiar caution on the part of the inebriates, we cannot say, but as long as the parties who get overcome escape, it is unnecessary to go into particulars. It is certain, however, that occasionally men are seen who make decided " tacks " in the road, who cannot trust themselves to the narrow limits of the footpath ; but when they get home safely they deserve the immunity from exposure and fine which they evidently secure. : A cobbespondent of an Australian contemporary says:—" Squatters should collect all bones, crush them into pieces, from half to three -ounces, and lay them in heaps on the camping grounds of sheep and cattle. These animals will consume the bones largely for the lime they contain at all times.. This will be found more especially serviceable against acidity. On the same principle the island blacks eat ground coral as a corrective, when suffering from the effects of eating young cocoa nuts." An enterprising Chinaman lately commenced the growth of tobacco and chicory on a small farm, close to the Pentridge Stockade, Melbourne. A stream of water passes through the farm, and dams hare been made so that the lower portion of the ground is well watered, and the crops will look healthy in the driest season of the year. In the preparation of the ground the proprietor says the expense was very great; but as a reward for his trouble he expects to realise over £600 from tobacco alone this season. Under the heading. " Fashions and Fancies," the Dunedm Star contains the following:—The London papers are filled with descriptions of the scenes at the recent opening of Parliament by the Queen in person. They accord special notice to the dresses of the ladies present on the occasion. The costume of the Queen herself is thus described:—" The Queen's costume was of black velvet trimmed with miniver fur, a square neck corsage and long flowing sleeves. On her head was a widow's cap surmounted by a diamond crown. The Koh-i-noor, or ' Mountain Light,' that great diamond which has a history almost as old as Christianity, which glittered on the turbans of Indian, emperors five centuries ago, and was more than once a king's ransom, blazed on the Imperial bosom, supposed to indicate in its marvellous brilliancy the Imperial addition to the English crown." The Princess Louise wore a garnet velvet slashed with white satin and. trimmed with steel; Princess Beatrice a cardinal velvet, and that fairest of all the royal family, the Princess of Wales, still fair and beautiful in spite of domestic sorrows more than hinted at in public, wore a cream-colored brocade, over cream satin, and trimmed with pearls and diamonds. Her entrance was the signal for the company to throw aside their wraps, and the most dazzling costumes were displayed. The Countess of Dudley, a tall, stately woman, some thirty years of age, with auburn hair, violet eyes, and delicate features, is considered the handsomest woman in great Britain. Her dress was of violet velvet, garnished with Chantilly lace; her ornaments, sapphires and diamonds." A pbovincial chemist has recently been applying to Mrs Bravo for the payment of the £500 reward which she offered to any one.who would prove the sale of antimony by which her husband was poisoned. The chemist in question positively states that he supplied Mr Bravo with the exact poison, and on that ground claims the money. Mrs Bravo's solicitor has recommended her not to pay it, as the chemist cannot show any entry in his book of any such sale.