THE SANITARY CONDITION OF LAWRENCE

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 413, 2 December 1874, Page 2

THE SANITARY CONDITION OF LAWRENCE

The following, report on the Sanitary condition,, of , presented by Dr. Stewart to the Chairman of the Local Board, -of Health, M. Hay^sq., Mayor, and read at the last meeting of the Town Council ;— . , '•a:„• „ , • .Gentlemen-,— According ' with your request that I should furnish you with a report as to the sanitary condition of your town A I ljaye- to; ,stat§~?that duriug ray "experience _of nearly twelve years, no cases of sickness, of an Epidemic type have occurred .tha]b » poulch Jbti , .traced to J any agency otherwise than natural. A few isolated cases of peculiar diseases have been presented,, bitf those, I' believe, Have been independent pf tjne another, and not caused by the same train of circumstances. The health of your town, in so far as it can be related; with sanitary efforts to keep it so, has not been oi the best description, There is no drainage at all within your municipality. I will begin with the most -important streets (popularly, so-called), viz. , Peel-street and Rosa Place. In the former, from the highest part from which" anything ' is 'discharged, no matter of what nature, there are" no Lpropen means of their' nbt f offending the smell and sight of those resident below them in altitude. These offensive uncovered matters, emitting ' effluvia of a not odoriferous character, discharge themselves into Ross Place,' or as far as the channel, and do • not lose power by the action of.Bun, heat, and exposure; so that to me it has for some years been a wonder how your, town, in. connection 1 with what T will further mention, has not become a seat- of pestilence of some nrd.er. About the outside of your town,- the hospital discharges quantities of effete matter in a drain outside its grounds, carried for a distance of 100 yards— probably more.— till it reaches a, L water channel. This channel winds through a large part of, the township, the contents of which)percolate through the soil. Some wells are dug, aucl for aught I know the water from these may be used for domestic purposes. ■ At' 1 its source, on a calm evening; the aroma 'is anything but good, although the outlets for water which directly connect with the race until its discharge outside the grotmds are regularly sluiced with water In White-haven-street,- the sides of the channel 'are are seldom if ever cleaned, the long abundant grass' in certain times of the season completely "covering the side channel, and, during the' decay of this, vegetable matter emitting deadly poisonous vapours, which, if confined in sufficient space, and inhaled, by people closely packed togeth'eiy would lead to cause 1 any epidemic disease. On the south side of Ross Place, from the want of drainage,- ' "and consequently - sluggishness of water, stenches are, there fejlt 'sufficient to create a plague anywhere — in fact" a disgrace to the "town, as almost every day % man/ may" be seen sweeping filthy liquid matter along, that would not otherwibe -find ita way to the engineering ■ On , tfcs sifle of ; Ross Place- an embankment"*^ ' lately been erected for :the benefit' of its inhabitants ;• but they seemingly, in most' instances, have forgotten to allow through the wall an exit for any r debris', thai they may have to discharge from their houses, thus retaining diseaaetproducing material at their very doors without an opportunity of freeing itself. Nothing bo much tends

toecleaaliness^aud K&tff&fts abundant supply of pure .dean Vwater^ This we unfortunately flo^not qp yet possess. The rain water runs through zino pipes and tubes,' and is collected in tanks ; it must th'etefore necessarily be ftevoid of ih» chemical elements that are thought to bo ! most 'healthful to ihe system. Pore water employed in different ways becomes, a source not only of health, but of keeping'a healthy person from, becoming diseased . I would strongly recommend your Council to attend to this matter in thebeat way consistent with their means. The cesspools (or water closets) are not arranged^ in, the .best way.. Wfeew water cannot be brought to bear, by far the[is dry earth closets, which are easily attended to and free from theobnoxious effluvia that often pertains in connection with these places. All stagnant pools of water should be removed,, wherever seen. All water channels, meandering through long grasses, preventing the free' running of streams, should be made to run as evenly as--possible, in order that no power of propagating .disease should be left in ita. nooks and corners. The building system in this township should be so arranged' that no person should leave an open spaceunderneath his house in order to- allow water to lodge there, and thereby communicate the germs of deadly disease. The extension and purity of your water system, and more than that, the improvemenc o£ the system of your drainage, is what will tend most to preserve? yourtownship in a salubrious state, and prevent what, according to the ordinary laws of hygiene, should have taken place some time ago, viz., an epidemic of somecharacteristic description. 1 would further strongly advise that no piga or cattle (great or small) shall be reared or Jkilled within' the more settled portions of thetownship. Of course, you will see thereason for this is obvious. I. am, &c, : Alex. Stewart, M.D..