DRAINAGE AND FEVER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 4460, 31 May 1875, Page 3

DRAINAGE AND FEVER.

40 THE BDITO* OF TBJB LIXTELTOJT XIHBIJ. Sin,—A* I havebeen-a residentin Christ; ■. churchfor»coniiderftbletime,anc\imcogDizant, of numerous fever cases existing year after

year, no doubt' caused by miasma arising from defective drainage, and- the.money of. the ratepayers uselessly-spent without gaming the desired end, yiz., the inqprovement.of the’ sanitary conditipn of. the, city which bears out an analogy 'eiisfed io'me year* ,ago in Charlestodi Sbtith Oarohpa, ; t) r ,j3. that town, ItrSdito*; the Council were frequently devising sefaCines io order to render it ihoi;e healthy, aid.eiid|»fbuWd By various means to free it from the effetcls of! fever cases caused mostly through, > want , of underground deep drains ; consequently St particular seasons of the year, and-fn ’a certain , locality - where stagnant water existed; it oaused miaama tb arise therefrom, when ’huadredl, • of. deaths occurred at such times nntilat last the united wisdom of the Town Council'was concentrated, in order to aeoure the Jbrvicto of a;bompetent engineer to improve the sanitary'condition of the city, by systematic drainage.. Jhe gentleman arrived in due course, and as soon as he had made himself thoroughly acquainted with the locality; levels and' altjtubes of various parts, (as the town is but a few/faet above the sea. level), he commenced a system pf deep underground drainage, coni ctottol Cohered 'banal so deep as to 'admit ithe salt water to flow from the Bay into-the Central part' of the town,»o as. ft pppld stole direction' fcquiredr. aud that the whole of the raiabt-be washed elean aw&y every twelve hours j and the results were, -M* much moreheanbjr.thb first, '.'ytoi bf'thSeiis'tenoe

salnbnons and healthy, until fever oases were [all but isolated, and now, in the present day , the town is at healthy, as it can possibly be •rendered by the art of upon. ~r , , T ,, 1 I would, therefore,seriously recommend that I the very same system be adopted in the city | of Christchurch ; then we should soon hearof jthe beneficial * effects of deep underground [drainage as soon as ever the . saline water is •allowed to circulate and wash all the filth i clean away every twelfth hour, in combination with effectual surface drainage and the cleanly 1 habit# of the population of. the city and its ! suburbs.

Thanking you, Mr Editor, for the space afforded me in your valuable colunms, 1 remain, < Tour obedient servant, AN OLD RESIDENT OF CHARLESTON.