DRAINAGE AND HEALTH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14249, 21 December 1909, Page 6

DRAINAGE AND HEALTH.

~; * SCHEME FOR ELLERSLIE. In addressing a meeting of Ellerelie ratepayers, at" the request of , the local town board, last night, the district health officer (Dr. J. S. Purdy) (said- the only solution of the drainage question was to replace the ■ present unsatisfactory dJry-earth system, with a water carriage scheme. The best means of securing this end would be, ; in the doctors opinion, for ■ Ellerelie to amalgamate with Onehunga in the formulation of a mutually satisfactory scheme. Adequate drainage was essential from a health point of view, as an instance of which it might be stated that, whereas the borough of Devonport was formerly as subject to typhoid fever as the remaining parte of Auckland—which as a whole recorded 20 cases out of every 10,000 of- populationthere had not been a single case since the introduction of the Devonport drainage scheme in 1904. Furthermore, the values of land in that borough had since trebled. These illustrations emphasised the wisdom of going in for efficient drainage. Mr. M. M. McCallum. expressed cordial approval of the remarks of Dr. Purdy, to whom a vote of thanks was passed.