HEALTH MENACES.

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 June 1936, Page 13

HEALTH MENACES.

[to the editor.] Sir. —Please allow me space (o comment on the open letter o£ Dr. Ulric Williams, of Wanganui on his investigations into the prevalence of can-; cer in New Zealand. This gentleman is of opinion that the type of dietetics prevailing in public hospitals is very ! Unity. and might tend to aggravate j in some cases, instead of cure. This may be correct. I am sorry I am not an authority on this subject, therefore I cannot offer an opinion, but I would t just like to suggest another reason which is just as detrimental to health as wrong food, if not more so, and that is the drinking of dirty, unfiltered water. Dr. Williams would do well to make an inspection of some of the dirty old water tanks which are in vogue in some of the “dry areas.” The prolonged dry spell, ending last weekend, would have been an ideal time for making the inspection. Thereafter, h'e Would probably not place the whole root cause in bad dietetics. Some of the aforementioned water tanks are as old as the hills, and through all [these years they have been exposed, land all sorts of germs and microbes have found a resting place therein, to say nothing of the glut and slime that collects at the bottom and round the sides of these tanks. Especially alter a dry spell of weather, when water carrying from some spring or creek is necessary, this tilth is very evident. lAs soon as the rain comes, it churns I all Ibis up from the bottom, and the family, in their eagerness commences to drink the water straight away, and one shudders to think ot the consequences. Now let us turn our attention to the question of sewerage I i should like to point out to Dr. Williams that more than 50 per cent, ol the houses are still “dry.” By this I mean that the “patent" is still unknown to them. This is a dreadful state of affairs, and is simply repulejve especially in the summer time. Indeed. 1 think it’s a reflection on the intelligence of the people oi New Zealand who are rearing families under such deplorable conditions and don t protest in some shape or form to have these shocking conditions changed. It isn’t fair to the children. J Regarding housing.—Speaking ol Greymouth? 1 can quote places where three families occupy the same house, ihc house being “let” in sections ol two rooms. I know of a case in point, where 17 people occupy the same house, and no fewer than 8 of thisj number occupy the same room. Othei | instances where large families aie, compelled through housing shortage to live in old places that are in some cases not even rainproof. Certainly not ideal places to rear children and expect them to be healthy. In conclusion, let me suggest that the practice of the selling of old, sec-ond-hand beds or bedding should bo legally prohibited, as these are unadulterated germ-carriers. Taking all those things into consideration, the wonder is there is not more disease. II have given sound fundamental reasons for the cause of disease, namely: impure water, lack of sanitation, bad housing conditions, and the practice of using second-hand beds, and until these have all been eliminated, we needn't hope or expect to make much, if any, headway, towards grappling with cancer or any other disease. Money spent in the elimination ot • these health menaces would be spent to better advantage than in building