FILTHY LUCRE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXV, Issue 9020, 16 December 1914, Page 4

FILTHY LUCRE.

Some months ago an old man. was found dead in a- wretchedly dirty house in Auckland, and when the police made a sc'arch of the premises they discovered many hundreds of one-pound notes and scores of five-pound notes stowed away in all. the. filthy comers and crevices of the stuffy,; ■ diseasev breeding room. An Auckland paper states that these notes ■ were later put into circulation by the banks; but whether they were or whether they found a fit and proper resting-place in the destructor, the fact remains that thousands' of bank notes of an equally vil-o character continue to exist as first-class mediums for carrying diseasel.' The banks cannot be exonerated

from blamo- for thi*. though they contend, with a good 'deal of truth, that many notes are never returned to them. At the same time, the banks daily issue thousands of notes that have seen better days—notes that form an endless chain of germ-collectors and disseminator*. The public are apt to overlook the difei-eputablo and odorous nature of those mediums of exchange owing to the fact that they pass from one to another so but medifcal men aver that many cases of disease might bo traced' to their temporary lodgment in pocket or purse. It might be coasidered a drastic remedy to suggest that it bo made an offence for a bank to issue a note that is in any way doubtful in appearance, or tho odour of which denotes its cosmopolitan ownership; but it is certain that the"'present"--'haphazard custom needs to be stopped. Our Health Department is solicitous almost to the point of embarrassment with regard "to

the cleanliness of our towns, our houses, and -our habits; yet lure is a factor more potent than. all else so, far as germ-carrying is concerned, and there is no one to say it nay.