THE EPIDEMIC.

MORE THAN 100 DEATHS. RAILWAY SERVICE OURTAILEI KELIEF WORKERS STILL RUSHED. SITUATION MORE HOPEFUL. Jt would bp wrong to say that thp pic valent epidemic shows signs of abate nicnt to-day, but the position justifies ( certain amount of optimism. The holt day over the city is general. Thosi places Unit have not been forced to closi have closed voluntarily fur purposes ojubilation concerning the npparent em of the war. Volunteers t<. assist tht great organisation to combat tlu malady nre offering themselves ir greater numbers now, though a great many inure are required before the t-er vi<c uill be ellicient. All available ac modation, both permanent anil tein porary. was rushed lust night, but to day moru beds have been made ready by to-night still more will be available ami by to-morrow there will bo yet greater accommodation. The greatest ob-tacle in the way of giving attendance to cases, and removing the people, more seriously ill tv the institutions ivudy for them. is the lack of motor cars, and the appeal goes out to private owners to step into the breach. To date there have been more than a hundred deaths from the. disease, and the numbers ul applications for assistiii:-!' , and. attendance have not diminish. !. A fnirly huge proportion of the. private practitioners have contracted the ni'iuent. but the medical and nursing scrvicps controlled by the Health Office are l>eing methodically plotted out. About forty pxperieiicnd voluntary \ nurtics are working in the. various districts, about a hundred other lady volunteers are at work, some drafted to the hospital, uhere the stalling ijuc*tion is still a dilemma, come sent to the tern porary hospitals, and others on visiting rounds. The \oliintary BtalT is still below re.|Uirr>meiiiH us regards strength of numbers, but it i» hopefully expected that many mure volunteers will offer their services to-day. The very large majority of appeals for assistance fume from the crowded plncee, within the city area, the lowlying districts off Kiiranpahapeßoad,and out at Kingslanil. and ironi ieveral of the outlying suburbs come reports that the ej)idemii: is eproading. Again today there i-. very great demand for assistance, and the central bureau in the Hospital Hoard Oflice is being kept on the rush. (ireat is the demand for the standard remedy distributed there, and the applications for attendance arc still keeping every available telephone in tlio office in full U.-.C. Ullt there is evidence in the ordered hurry that the organisation is in much better trim than ever before. Doctors My in, take a list of cases from the big genpral list of applications, fly out again. The congestion of hplpers paused by insufficiency of conveyances takes time to clear away. The demand for equippagc and general hospital npcessities v more urgent today, been use most place* of business are doped. The Telephone Exchange slill work* on the system in operation yesterday. Kxep.pt for wires whose number? were given yesterday, the Exchange i» closed from noon till :1. In the Post Office. 144 of the statV of 3:10 nre off duty. The staff shortage on the railways stands practically as it wne, and more curtail- i menta of the suburban service are an- I nounced for Monday and Tuesday. The telegraph staff is also very short. It seems that the general holiday came at an opportune time, so far as the work of the Governmental services it< concerned. In the tin- situation ie still bad. Accommodation is at r premium, and more nurses are going down. Volunteers arc being sent there by twos and threes as their services are offered. There is v call for men as -well n * women to assist there, and spveral applicants to rlo duty as male attendants and porters have been placed in the institution. Men are offering themselves for general | relief work, too, and they nre being ac-

eept.-d eagerly and sent out to various f places. The authorities could use many r more of them, Some of the factory employees are a.l--tending to fellow-workers ' who have « been laid up. They are doing very t good work. From all directions come ' a praises of the work being done by the s St. John Ambulance brigade. ' The c members of this organisation are mak- t ing ceaseless rounds of visits, and are i conveying all serious eases to whatever c places there are for their reception. The i Women's National Reserve i.s doing t equally good work. Both the Ambu- a lance and the Reserve require more ' I motor cars. The Citizens" Committee f and its sub-coninuttees have organised t themselves further so as to relieve the ' doctors and nurses of unnecessary work, j n Altogether, the bu/tinesfi of relief is I a still being rushed, most parties arc | ° being strenuously over-worked, but the ■ t situation is rosy compared with its ap- 1 pearance yesterday. The epidemic has c not abated, it is scarcely at a standstill, but ■with the much'larger staff of c voluntary assistants who will surolv' a offer themselves now. much can be done ° to cheek the ravages of the disease. ° which still starts in a mild form and J affect, the lungs of the patient seriously ' unless every care is taken and the san i-: h I ''° ,KiitiOns " f tho '""■roundings arc n ROMAN CATHOLIC CO-OPERATION. "> There were fifty beds made available p for patients in the Technical College yes- y terdiiy, and before the evening was well v advanced they were all filled. Fifty mom patients were provided with acconi- c: modution today. One of the Vermont l tl Street schools was opened as an auxiliary c; hospital, nn'd was soon tilled yesterday. ' it I>ishop (leary himself spent the after- i h noon visiting patients and taking them ! e< when necessary to the school in his «' motor ear. Today the other school in p< Vermont Street is being prepared. The ■ f< Bishop is making appeals to the Roman ; •"< Catholic community to assist by rolun-jl" teerirtg their services, and the precept to I P' the congregations is being given point | in by.the fact that all the Sisters of Mercy j Xl are offering themselves as nursing staffs ' ol nt the hospitals. The new brick school j of the Sisters of St. Joseph, at Gro.v , s > Lynn, has been placed :it the disposal of at the authorities, and thirty of the Sisters w of at. Joseph have volunteered as a nurs- fii injj staff there. , Ci Kilbryde will he available for con- in vulescent cases tomorrow. ) St COMMITTEK ROOMS OPEN* > th TO-MORROW. ! I" ' be The Citizens' Committee rooms will be vn open to-im.irow at tin- Town Hall build- p r ings, as well n< other parts of the ]J, city and suburbs, also the offices of the t . o Health Department, the Hospital j AJ Board and Ambulance. m ,

THE RAILWAYS. The position with regard to tbc railway staffs showe no signs of improvement, and the. number down with the complaint remains about the same. Conqucntly it has been found necessary to restrict the railway services on Monday and Tuesday nest. The goods eheds at i Auckland and Newmarket were closed jat 2 p.m. to-day, and will be similarly . dosed on Monday and Tuesday. The j following trains will be cancelled on Monday and Tuesday:—Auckland-Hen-jde.-son line: 6.22 a.m. Auckland to New I Lynn 7.12 a.m.; Henderson to Auckland : 17.12 a.m. New Lynn to Auckland: 11.50 |a.m. Auckland to Henderson; 12.52 p.m. Henderson to Auckland; 4.12 p.m. Auckland to Henderson; 8.5 p.m. Auckland to New Lynn; 9.0 p.m. New Lynn to Auckland : 10.15 p.m. Auckland' tn Henderson. Autkland-Papakura-Onehunga line: 1i.42 a.m. Onphunga to Auckland: <>.."« a.m. Papatoetoe to Auckland; 7.4-i a.m. Otahuhu to Auckland; 6.42 p.m. I'apaknrn to Auckland; 0.45 p.m. Auckland to Papakura. POSTAL SERVICES KEPT L'P. Despite big inroads on the staffs the postal authorities have been able tn keep the postal services going. Out of a staff of 330 about 144 arc down with the malady, and the remainder is working at high pressure. An offer has been made by school teachers to come down and assist the postal staffs in whatever capacity may be necessary, and the authorities arc .hopeful of being able to continue practically all the services. To-morrow thp whole of the General Post Office Building is to bn fumigated throughout, including the department? occupied by the railway and postal authorities. INHALATION' CHAMBERS. The inhalation chambers in the Customs Buildings, Customs Street, will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Health Department's inhalation chamber will also bn open. STILL PREVALENT ON THE WATERFRONT.

j Uα the waterfront the epidemic ie still prevalent, and shipping arrangements have been dislocated by the shortage of • the .Tews. The Arahura, on her arrival here, had to land the master, chief oflicer and four other members of the crew, who were suffering from the disease. The departure of the Northern Chief j for Tonga hae been postponed owing to the illness of the mate. Other sailing have had to be postponed. The ferry services have also been disorganised, and lix more masters went off duty yesterday. ' ' ! One death took place at the Sailors' Home yesterday, and two more patients fame in to-day. There arc now about 26 patients in the home. OVERSEAS PASSENGER,?. Dr. ]. 1 , . Frengley advises again that ! paeeengei-.s for Australia must pet a certilicate from the Public Health Depart- . ment thut they have passed through the lumifMtion chamber on three consecutive day., immediately prior to departure of ! filup. Necessary forms are to be had at shipping companies' office;".

ATTENDING CASES.

MEDICAL AND XURSIN'f; SERVICES. MORE BEDS READY TODAY. AfOTORS WANTED. The number of calls for assistance decreased during yesterday, but this was certainly due to the fact that the people were celebrating the peace new< for

! appeals came in heavily again in the j evening and they continue to come in I hundreds to-dny. All through the night the service of nurses and doctors "to visit rases and giv c attendance was very hard pressed. The strength of the force of visiting assistant* was very, very far below requirements, and the consequence was tiiat many urgent messages, some ut them for practically lifeand-death cases could not be attended. All that could be (done was to give hurried instructions for treatment. Calls early in the evening showed the hopeless position, for then it

wa* often found that no doctor could come before the morning, and there was not a scrap of hope of petting a conveyance to take the patient away, or to have a bed anywhere ready for him. All the institutions opened yesterday were working under extreme .11

"V-. ~.u K uiiutT eitreme preseure alii through the night, but they could not accommodate anything like "the number of cases appealed for. To-day the situation is well in hand so far as organisation ie concerned, but thorp arc now two obstacles greater than all other?. They are the lack of conveyances, and lack of facilities for acquirin" equipment. The services have been centralised as much as possible, Mjss Baglev is installed now a t the Hospital Board office, whom she is enrolling and organising volunteers. Dr. Hughe*, chief ot the Auckland Health Department etalT, also hae an oflice now in the Hospital I Board building i n Kitchener Street, and! from here he is directing the doctore in their visits. On the volunteer ladieslist there, are now forty experienced nurses, and they are out giving assistance in the various districts. Over 100 other ladies are giving their services, and they have been placed in the hospital, Ihe temporary hospital, and wherever else their services can best .be used. The utter inadequacy of means for conveyance—motor cars—had yeaterdav a great deterrent effect on the efficiency of the attendance o n easeri. A good deal of delay has been occasioned to volunteers eager to give assistance by this ack of vehicles, and the people "at tiie Head of this very complete organisation make it clear that the. efficiency o f the result* will be largely increased when more ears become available. This i fi intended as an appeal to the ownere o> private cans, who have not responded to yesterday's request for their services so well as they might. The war news yesterday, and the general Doliday that is following has I,ad i this effect upon the fight against the epidemic. It makes for meat difficulty ' in getting equipment for the temporary hospitals that are being prepared to re- ; •eivo patients. Until yesterday the! luthorities were getting general hospital! equipment, such a* bedding and disill . j extant, food and Nothing. from all i ■ouree*. chiefly the shops and warehouses where it could be obtained. These I Jlactw are closed now. The authorities i leed -iome arrangement whereby (tie Mipplioß from these places mnv still be >btained. All available atvommodatiou Ht tlio i M'ddon Memorial Technical College anrl' it one of the Vermont Street Schools. ma taken last night. But this morning • ifty more beds were made ready at the ollege building, and these are 'now beng taken. The other school in Vermont Street is being equipped now. and will nn hrown open this evening or tomorrow norniiig. It will probably be to-morrow ■efore Kilbryde can be opened, and conalescent oases will be sent in there. U irearnt the nurses from the Cicneral lospital. as they become recovered and onvalcvient. are briiifr sent out to the.; ilexandra Homo at Ellerelie. There arc] lore than thirty nurses out there now.)

I EIGHT INHALATION ROOMS, j REMAIN OPEN ON SUNDAY. Eight inhalation rooms are now at the service of the public. They will aJI be open to-morrow (Sunday) from 10 in the morning till 4 o'clock in the afteri noon. These rooms are situated: — Customs Street, Government Buildings. Queen's wharf. Public Trust Buildings, Albert Street. Defence Drill Hall. Rutland Street. i Birkenhead. I Devonport. | General Post Office. I Town Hall. I | .CLOSING THE HOTELS. 1 The request of the authorities foi people not to congregate in big crowds , was entirely set at naught during the celebrations yesterday. Throughotil the day the hotel bars were packed b\ a dense throng, bent on celebrating It was felt by the authorities thai there, was a 6erious danger in this o! the infection spreading, and at 4.30 p.m an urder wa.s issued by Dr. Frengloy Acting-Chief Health Officer, that al hotels had to be closed. These instruc tions were carried out as quickly a; possible. The orders issued provided that the hotels were to remain closed to-day, except between the hours of ] and 2 p.m. These orders were issued under the authority of section 18 of the Public Health Act. POSITION AT TOWN HALX. -At the Town Hall yesterday the nam ber of applications for assistance went , down from u'Bo to 35(1. This, however must not be taken as a sign that the demand for assistance is abating. II is pointed out that the Town Hall ha* been a kind of final port of call, and that people who have been unable tc get assistance elsewhere have been re ferred to the central office at the Towr Hall. Inquiries teem to indicate thai the decrease in the number of applica tions at this place is due to the fact that the organisation of the various commit I tees is now more complete -and tbey arc ' better able, to deal with the cases thai come before them. EXLERSLIE. EUerslie has Buffered comparatively lightly from the epidemic so far. It was reported yesterday that there was not an alarming number of cases in the suburb, and no deaths had occurred. The relief committee, which includes the chairman and members of the Town Board, considers that it has the situa tion well in hand, as its nurses and other helpers have been quite able, tc cope with all emergencies so far. and all the medical assistance required has beer forthcoming. NORTHCOTE. At Northcote the new infant schoo' i* being arranged as a temporary hospital. | pital. and Mr. J. B. Tonar, the Mayoi there, is directing arrangements tc equip ij to-day. The committee there with volunteers, are doing relief work and the organisation has now caught up with the epidemic. The situation there is not nearly so bad as it might be. DEVONPORT. The inhalation plant te now in full working order at the Council Chambers in Devonport. The Technical School is being used as the central depot for food, and tlie Boy Scouts have agreed to deliver food in any part of the borough. The medical men, nurses, and voluntary workers have all matters pertaining to the epidemic well in hand, and the ministers of the various churches are doing valuable work in taking temperatures, getting medicines and helping in a hundred different ways. PAPAKITRA. Tlie influenza epidemic is very prevalent in the township of Papaknra and surrounding districts at present, many fresh cases being reported daily. The disease is in a very bad form, and several deaths have been reported. The local doctoT and chemist's staff are ! working long hours trying to cope with the trouble, and have enlistee! the help of volunteer assistants. The Parish Hall has been requisitioned and fitted up as a temporary hospital. All Sun-

I aay scuoois are closed lor the timebeing, and the various churches are only holding one service on Sunday next. INCREASE AT NEW LYNN. There has been an increase in the number of cases reported at New Lynn during the past two days, and it is conj sidered there are at least 100 people 1 affected in the district. The demand for the standard medicine at the Town Board's office has been in excess of the supply, although the number of bottles was increased each day. One death has I occurred and other cases are known to jbe serious. There are instances where ! single men living alone have been down to the disease for several days without assistance, and these would probably have escaped notice had it not been for the local tradesmen on their rounds becoming suspicious. The Board's office will be open on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 12 noon, and from 2 p.m. to 3.30 p.m., for the supply of medicine and to receive calls for assistance. THE TRAINING CAMPS. FIFTEEN HUNDRED CASES. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Friday. A statement regarding influenza in the camps was made in tbe House of Representatives this afternoon by the Minister for Defence. He said" there were at present 1,500 cases in hospital. There were 20 serious cases at Fentberston, and he regretted to say there had been three deaths there last, night. The total deaths there to date were six. At Trentham. he was glad to say, there had been no deaths, and the epidemic appeared to be well in hand. At Awapuni there was also an improvement. At Narrow Neck there were 20 cases of pneumonia, and there had been three deaths there, but the House could rest assured that everything possible was being done to cope with the outbreak. DEATHS IN CAMP. RESULT OF INFLUENZA. A Pres< Association message from Wellington gives the names and next-of-kin of the soldiers who, have died from complications following influenza in the Feathcrston and Awapuni military hospitals:— WOOD. OEORfIE F.., L.-Cpl.—G. E. Wood, Aberdeen. BARBER. E. lI.—I. Barber. Waikiwi. ! Inverearjril!. IXVNIELS. RICHARD K. -.Mrs. R. F. Daniels, Epsom, Auckland fw.) PERRY, ROBERT W.-Mrs. R. .1. Perry, Waimate (m.). WINTER. PERCY, Cpl.-Mrs. P. Winter, 'Wellington (w.).