NAPIER SANITATION.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 11580, 5 July 1900, Page 4

NAPIER SANITATION.

HEALTH COMMISSIONER'S REPORTS. In continuation of his reports to the Borough Council, Dr. de Lisle, Government Health Commissioner, last night l wrote to the Council as follows: — I have' the honor to report that in, Carly]e-Btreet the eeotions opposite the infant sohool are below the level of tho road and need raising. That nothing 1 has been done to the cottages opposite tho Exchange Hotol that I mentioned as needing to be raised in a former report. White-road.— The houses past Salestreet are still in the same condition as when I sent in my first report more than six weeks ago. Thackeray-street. — The house at the corner of this street and Millar-street requires raieing, and the section must be filled in to the level of the road. Some of the -sections above this one are below tho proper lnval, and must be filled in. Wellesloy-road. — Some of the houses at the bacK if the railway station are bolow the road lovel and must be raised. The sections - n which they stand ate so low that the >) rain-pipes are uncovered. They must be filled in at ones. Several sections, some of them vaoant, and one on which Messrs I vtoas and Humphries' shop stands, are below the road level, and must be ruolaimed. Edwards-street. — The fowl yard behind the Napier Hotel is not clean. Food is thrown out on the ground for the fowls and the surplus decomposes and is offensive. The nnmber of poultry kept of all kinds is excessive for the area. The filth must be scraped up and buried with roach lime, the yard must be disinfected by having a good coating of roach lime, and then covered with fcesh earth or gravel. Tho food muat be placed in proper receptables, that can be removed, cleaned, and disinfected as occasion requires. Bower-Btreet. — There is a deep hole under Mr Bull's residence, whioh harbors garbage and filth. In damp weather it is a receptable for water which renders th" house damp, foul-smelling, and insanitary It must be. filled in at once, and the cottage would be better if it was raised somewhat. Dickens-street.— Mr Sorrell'a house is too low to permit of proper ventilation. It should be raised, The right-of-way by the side ia low and damp, and the. yard as well. They must be raised to the proper level. Tbg storm water from the roofs of this and the adjoining house falls into the right-of-way. The spouting should be carried to the drain that the water m-iy serve a useful purpose instead of being a nuisance, beveral of the cottages on the South side, from the corner of Daltonstreet towards Tait and Mills' propertyare below the level of the road, and must be raised and the sections filled in. The house at the corner has the <ira : n sink in the kitchen. This is a most dangerous matter, the heat of the kitohen being liable to Muse mephitio vapors to rise into the room and be inhaled by, and to the detriment of the occupants.' The third house above Tait and Mills' hns a deep hole beneath it, whioh emits a disagreeable and unhealthy smell. When the cottage is raised this hole should be freely treated wiih roach lime before being filled in. The spouting of Borne of fchese cottages run the water in to the yard at the back of the buildings, under wbich it soaks, rendering them damp and unhealthy. The spouting should be made to discharge into the drain.

Station-street.— Several sections in this street are below the road level, and must be raised. Those near the corner of Palton-etreet. Also those from the oorner of Munroe-street, as far as Messrs Conroy and Co.'s shop, nnd the one reaching by the side of it to Thaobery-street.

Napier-terrace. — There are five houses opposite Mr Douglas M'Lean's residence that are not conneoted with the drainage system. ' This must be remedied at once.

Milton-road.— l observe that nothing has been done with reference to the nuisances that I pointed out in a former report. I would also call your attention to the cottages in this road, below the Adventißt's Church, which are below the road level. The cottages and the ground on whioh they stand, must be raised.

Churoh-lane. — The premises known as the Cathedral Chambers have never been oonnected with the drainage system. I communicated with the owner, requesting him to have the matter rectified at once on the 11th May, and requested you in my report of the 25th May to take such steps as might be necessary to compel him to comply with my instructions. I request that you will at once institute proceedings to enforce the owner to conform to the sanitary byelaws, I do not observe that any steps have been taken to raise the cottages known as "Dog-kennel Row," opposite the London Hotel, in Waghorne-street, Spit, alluded to in my first report. I must request that you move in the matter at once.

I have the honor to call your attention to my report of the 24th May with reference to two shops in Hastings-street, and to inform you that no effect has been given to my i ecommendations. Ihe yard behind Mr Prebble's shop in Hastingsstreet has not been provided with drainage, nor has the wash-house been raised to the proper level, as recommended in my report of the 24th May. The yard behind Mr Lascelles' auction mart has not been provided with drainage, nor have conveniences been erected as rucom mended in my report of the 24th May. Nothing has been done towards raising Lever and Campbell streets, Spit, as -recommended in my report of the 2nd ult.

In my report of the 4th ult. I commented on the condition of certain cottages in Hardiuge-road, Spit — notably, two in Mr Prebble's yard that have held a bad sanitary record for Beveral years, but no notice appears to have been taken. I would respectfully suggest that the duties of a Board of Health should not be confined to titivating Hastings-street and adorning the Marine-parade. Regarding Dr. de Lisle's report on the insanitary condition of certain buildings in Shakespeare-road, and Dr. Jarvis' report also thereon, the Counoil- had instructed Mr W. Miller to further report as to what was required to be dqne. Mr Miller recommended:— (l.) House and ship occupied by Mr Warren : That the building be raised to a sufficient height to admit ventilation under the lower floor, and decayed timber removed ; yard to be cleaned and drains attended to. (2.) Bootmaker's shop adjoining Mr Warren's : That the house be removed, as it is past repair and unfit for habitation. (3.) Chinaman's shop adjoining: The building should be removed, as it is very rotten and past repair (4.) Old billiardroom adjoining: Totally unfit for habitation, being in a very dilapidated condition, damp, and without drainage; and past repair. (5.) BujldiDg lately occupied by Mr Lovelock i This is over 40 years old. It is entirely unfit for habitation, and should be removed.

[ The Mayor said that 33 notioes had i been sent out to persons whose properties had been reported on by the Health Comi missioner. Many of the demands had ; been complied with, and others had not. I Some of the demands of the Commis- ; eioner, the overseer had informed him, i it was impossible to carry out. Demands ; to remedy insanitary condition of prei mise3 had not been seat to the owners of properties in Shakespeare-rqad, the reason i being that the municipal solicitor would not take aotion until, as the law directed, i there had been a report by two medical men. Dr. Jarvis had reported on the Commissioners recommendations, and ; these had been sent to Dr. de Lisle, and i it was suggested that an expert builder should report. Mr Millar's report was now before them. Cr. M'Vay moved that all the reports, which were very voluminous, covering ns they did S3 pages, be considered at a special meeting of the Board of Health. They would take a whole night to deal with properly, and also that they have the advice of their solicitors before them as to what power the Counoil possessed in regard to carrying out the recommendations of the commissioner, a number of the demands in the report of Dr. de Lisle he (Cr. M'Vay) entirely differed from. For instance, in regard to the seotion adjoining the Viotoria Lodge, Station-Btreet. This property waa certainly not level with the road, but in his judgment there was nothing insanitary about it. When it rained there was a little water on id, but he did not think that this created a nuisance. He thought a special meeting of the Board of Health should be held to deal with the whole Qf the reports. The Mayor said some of the demands had already been dealt wi;h. Cr. M'Vay said at any rate at the special meeting they would be fully acquainted with what action had been taken up to the present. Cr. Brown seconded. While agreeing in the main with what Cr. M'Vay had said, he pointed out that the Council had ordered a number of people to rajse thejr properties to the level gf thp roa<?, and why make an exception in this instance ? Cr, M'Vay : Yes j -where they were Jnsanitary. Cr. Brown said it was possible for the water on the. seotion to become stagnant. Cr. Cohen did not agree that a seotion below the level of thp road was necessarily insanitary. He had lived in a house in Tennyson-street for 14 years below the level of the road, and suffered no ill consequences therefrom. He only raised the house beoanse the flood brought three feet of water into it. Cr. M'Vay siid that if they went on the lines reported by the commissioner they might just as well say that the whole of the land on the west side of Hastingß-street was insanitary because it was below the level of the road. The motion was carried, and the spatial meeting was fixed for Friday evening,