INFLUENZA DEATHS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17145, 26 April 1919, Page 9

INFLUENZA DEATHS.

NEW SOUTH WALES FIGURES. 777 DIE SINCE JANUARY 1. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Reed. 10.20 p.m.) SYDNEY, April «5. The official figures regarding deaths from influenza in New South Wales since January 1 show that 516 males and "A females fell victim to tho disease. : CONDITIONS IN SYDNEY. MANY WSES NOT REPORTED.. own correspondent.] SYDNEY, April If. The monev cost of the vry nnwe'eome and expensive visitor which Sydney is just now eptertaininir most run into millions. There is widespread and serious dislocation of ord : nary trade, and there is absolute stagna'ion of travel. Tho Easter which is jurt now dawning promises to be the dullest Sydney has ever known. Easter is Sydney's carnival, and with the ohow, the races, all the theatres, and countless side attractions, it « a vtry merry and profitable time. Hundreds of thousands of people make this their annual holiday, a"d crowd the c'ty. It is the holiday of the countryman and the harvest of the trader. This year there, is no carnival, no theatre open, no crowd in the city. The only eictra traffic in the place are the übinnit.ona ambulances, and the on'y busy people the doctors and the undertaken. The money loss to the Sydney traders is enormous. The average of tho cases and deaths reported daily is about 150 and 30. The death rate is not nearly" as high as that because only the worst casfe are taken to the overcrowded hospitals and reported. Thousands of them are being nursed in their own homes; a proportion of them die, but these deaths are not " officiary" reported. The e; demio is sufficient to paralyse all public activities which are not absolutely necefsary, but otherwise one sees little of the tragic side of it. The nursing organisation is good. Business is dead and tho stroets are gloomy— is all. The medical' fraternity continues to eearch for a preventive or cure. Hundreds of thousands were inoculated. Then tho doctors urged inhalation, and chambers whore sulphate of zinc was atomised and inha'ed were installed everywhere, particularly by firms with big staffs. Yesterday the doctors' council reversed their decision, and inhalation ie now taboo as harmful. So now we are left with lihe wretched masks, which many doctors are already condemning as useless. It all emphasises the helplessness of the medical fraternity before this new disease. The embargo by the New Zealand Government on passenger steamers from Australia caused something like a panic among New Zealanders here. The Union Company's office was literally mobbed today by people clamouring for accommodation on the Moerr.ki, which is to Bail tomorrow, and which may be the last ship for some time, A warning that there might be seven days' quarantine at the other end discouraged nobody. Hundreds were turned away, and the Moerakii will sail in the morning—an absolutely full ship.

The bookings on the Moeraki werci cancelled and no passengers were taken.