Evening Post. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1904. A DREAD ENEMY.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 79, 30 September 1904, Page 4

Evening Post. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1904. A DREAD ENEMY.

Consumption occupies tho second plnco in tho Report of tho Chief Health OUlcer, though in actual importance os distinguished from dramatic in tores t it is ontitlcd to precedence even ovor so deadly a Hcourgo aa siruUlpox. Being alwayti with us, and making its advances by slow nnd stealthy but never ccoaing steps, this ditieaso hat noror impressed tho popular imagination like tho other; yet, following tho lines of mi American estimate, which puU a value of £300 upon each life Jit the average age at which death* from conmimpUon occur, and allows for- tho previous loss through incapacity for work, cost of medical utteudancc, mining, etc., Dr. Mason says that "thero ib no difflcuUy iv showing that tho eight hundred deaths which took plnco Jnst year cost New Zealand the appalling sum of £304,800." Tho cost would appear more appalling still if ie were capitalised, but u« it stands it is onite enough lo dwarf tho num. of £28,583, which rfpix-seiita tho vote for the whole department for the current year. Dr. Mason npc»kit in the hig-huHt terms of the Cnmbridgo Sanatorium, which in now fast approaching completion, and concurs in tho statement of Dr. Pontrojitli, tho Resident Modicnl Superintendent, that tho results already realised "aro quite as good tv Uiosa, obUtincd in somo of tixo best institutions in tho older countries/ Hut of course ho rccoguiuett that Government sanatoria, multiply them o» wo may, can nover settle tho problem. The vigorous cooperation of tho Hospital Boards is needed, and ho hopes to hoc them till oot.n following tho good example set by Wellington and a low other places, nnd taking advantage of the legislation of Inst year, which gavo them greater powers to erect annexes for tl>o treatment of sulfcrers from tho disease. Such patients cannot of course be admitted to tho ordinary wards, but to reject them 'means cruelty to tho patients thoniselvcs and tho certainty of infection for others, and there is not oven a laving to the taxpayer, for tho indigent sufferer musk be maintained by tho Cbaritablo Aid Board oven if hi» poverty is ono ground for his rejection from the hospital. But the .best of cumtivo treatment enn novor grapple adequately with the disonao unless at w reinforced by provontivo measureti, unri these- must bo the work of individual care and knowlodgo rather than of direct State action. "I'ho SUito can do ! much," «nid Dr. Mason in lqst year's report, "tat it k to tho individual that wo must look for reforms which will bo permoncnb and for progreos that will bo sound ;" and tliis year ho again proclaims tho sumo loason, finding that oven a course •at a sanatorium may havo as high an educative «» a curative- value. "Bearing jn mind," ho nuys, "that tho vast majority of tho casca .of consumption .contracted during adolescence and tho later periods of lifo aro duo to infection by means of tho sputa of infected persons, until wo are to control and educate th«w unfortunates littlo hope of stemming tho tido can bo rooked for. A bojouto in a oanatorium or a spall of treatment in an institution means more than tho euro or comfort of tho patient. The training ho receives will Jjonr fruit in many ways. Ho will bo taught tho greatness of tho danger which Ires in the apparently harmless practice of spitting anywhere but in a auitablo vessel j ho will learn that a reversion to a more natural modo of lifo meaius increased health j that cleanliness and temperance aro the- greatest snfegimrds agniiutt aiaeuse.s In any form. These lessons learnt, ho will go forth to the world again nn npostlo of fresh air, winning converts by that beat of all agencies — exumple." Thia Is quite truo, but the eductition would be much less expensively and piAnfully learnt if it were administered boforo the patient had como perilously near to death o door, before, indeed, lie hud become a pationt at ull, and at an age when tho teaching ot a few elementary truth*, «» aiinple us thereof arithmetic, and far more cosily mndo palatable to tho youthful mind, would stamp out the conditions most favourable, if not absolutely enscntial, to tho spread of tho dlHcnoo. In tho report of Dr. Valintino, tho Assistant Chief Health Officer for tho Wellington District, wo aro ploasod lo sco that ho speaks vory oncouragtngly of tho prospects of popular education on tho subject. "Exporionco gained as a (loprw-twontnl officer,' 1 ho says, "fairly ronvincoß mo that a groat donl can bo don© by popular instruction. Of tlio many unfortunalos who havo consulted mo concerning the possibility of obtaining admission to the Cambridge Sanatorium, vary fojv wero tw>ro of tho. Un«

porlunco of livnrg in well- ventilated rooms, nnd of disinfecting oxpeefcomtion. It is hard to kill okl traditions, and the popular idea of 'catching' cojd by means of an open bodroom window is vory hard to break down. . . Lectures on tho olemonts of healthy homes and healthy living are likely to boar fruit, as evidenced by the excellent attendance whenover they have boon given." Lectures to adults who aro not yet tho victims, of drseasn aro of gceat value,, but tho suporstitions to winch tho doctor rdors can bo best brokon down if taken young, ana the elements of vontilatkin can bo inoro effectively taught at school than anywhere elso. Our school education has at prosont too littlo to say upon tho point, and far too many schoolrooms are painful object-lessons in dofoctivo ventilation. Of snocial interest to Wellington aro Dr. Valinfcfno's remarks on the dangers of promiscuous expectoration and of overcrowding. On tho former point, the City Council passed a bylaw to keep the footpaths clean, but it has novor had tho onorgy to enforce itj and as to tho labfcer, it is remarkable that, while tho dt>ath-rato for tho city from consumption averages 9.4 por 10,000, it runs as high as 17 per 10,000 in tho more crowdod portions. Thoro is much besides in this valuable report to strengthen tho hands of tho social reformer, and if no spocial ca^ise, as smallpox or plague, arises during mo year to monopoliso tho onorgios of the Department, wo hope to sco them increasingly devoted to tho more pormanent work of public cduca? tion.