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PART 11. A. GENERAL REPORTS OF THK DISTRICT HEALTH OFFICERS I'OI! THE YEAR 1911. Auckland. To the Chief Health Officer. I have the honour to present the eleventh annual report for the Auckland Health District for the year 1911. . The work of the Department during the year 19.12 was exceptionally heavy owing to the outbreak of plague in Auckland, the many epidemics among the Maoris, the transfer of Native-health supervision from the Native Department to the Health Department, and the inauguration of the new system of inspection whereby the Hospital Boards became sanitary authorities in charge of infectious outbreaks. The correspondence in connection with the latter item alone was very large, and, further, it entailed many trips to lay the scheme before the various Boards. Had it not been for the appointment of an assistant so experienced in sanitary questions as Dr. H. G. H. Monk it would have been impossible to deal with the work. It has, however, been a useful year in many respects, and one which is marked by the establishment of several important reforms. The change in the method of administering the clauses of the Public Health Act relating to infectious disease (section 5 of the Hospitals Amendment Act, 1910), the establishment of Inspectors in the several hospital districts, and the various negotiations and arrangements with Hospital Boards, all of whom (except the Waihi and Coromandel Boards) have delegated their powers thereunder to the Department for execution, the outbreak of plague, the various outbreaks of typhoid, &c, in Native settlements, and the very numerous orders made in relation to repair or removal or cleansing of insanitary buildings, have largely increased the work of the office, necessitating the employment of an additional typiste and a messenger. Details of the office-work include : Letters outwards, 4,803 ; circular letters, 506 ; telegrams, 1,374 ; parcels, 48 ; 145 orders for admission to the infectious-disease hospital; 984 tubes of vaccine lymph were distributed to public vaccinators and medical practitioners; 324 accounts were made out in favour of medical practitioners for notifying infectious diseases. Mr. Taylor has continued to have charge of the accounts of St. Helens Hospital as of those of the district office. Appendices are attached giving tables and data upon the following matters : Notifiable infectious diseases, plague, provision for infectious diseases, water-supplies and sewage systems, sanitary condition of the Maoris. I have, &c, R. H. MAKGitL, M.D., D.P.H., District Health Officer. Napier. To the Chief Health Officer. I have the honour to lay before you the annual report of the Borough of Napier Health District. Infectious Diseases notified. — Scarlatina, 10; diphtheria, 15; enteric, 9; tuberculosis, 15; erysipelas and blood-poisoning, 2. Dangerous Infectious Diseases. —None under this heading, such as plague, leprosy, or small-pox, have occurred in this health district. Provisions made for the Accommodation of those suffering from. Infectious Diseases. —At the Napier Hospital there are isolation wards for the treatment of cases of diphtheria and scarlatina ; also, in the same institution there are shelters provided for consumptive patients. On an island in the Inner Harbour, situated about four miles from Napier, is an isolated hospital for the reception of dangerous infectious diseases, such as plague, smallpox, &c. Midwives Act. —No women have been suspended from practice. Disinfection of Oversea Goods. —Two packages of second-hand clothes ex " Indragari." Water-supplies and Sewage Systems. —Napier has a population of between nine and ten thousand. The water-supply is derived from artesian wells, and the water is pumped up on to the hills from a central pumping-station, and distributed by gravitation. The sewage-disposal is by water-carriage. At present there are several outfall sewers, the main one being into the Tutaekuri River, others into the Inner Harbour and the open sea. The improvements in the drainage scheme suggested by Mr. Midgley Taylor some years ago are now being given effect to. This system provides for main and intercepting sewers combined with a central pumpingstation and ejector-tanks. The sewage is to be carried to a large receiving-tank near the western pier, where it will be released at ebb tide. The works are being carried out in such a manner as to allow of considerable improvements being made in the gradients of all the contributing sewers, which are being relaid more in accord with modern views. The collection of all sewage towards one outfall into the open sea, where it will be subject to a swift tide race which will carry it out to sea expeditioiisly. is also a very great advantage. Tenders have been accepted by the Council for the work in connection with a refuse-destructor. Sanitary Inspections. —These have already been sent in under the heading of the Hawke's Bay Hospital District as a whole, so it appears superfluous to duplicate them here. Section 83, Hospital and Charitable Institutions Act, 1909. —The Napier Borough, having a population of over nine thousand, and its own staff dealing with sanitation, this section would appear inapplicable.