The Evening Mail. THURSDAY, DEC. 14, 1876.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 203, 14 December 1876, Page 2

The Evening Mail.

THURSDAY, DEC. 14, 1876.

♦ '• Wmrtfo are things. on«t a drop *>i ink fallinff npon a thortsrht may |>r«wttu:c that which make* chotuamL* thin!;. - "

The inctraae' of population, and the consequent crowding together of habitations in the town, should prove .1 very good reason why step# should be taken to preserve the health of its residents. Hitherto, Oamant lias happily enjoyed an immunity fn>ui those sconrges which have visited other towns of the Colony, a fact which no doubi is dtie to its healthy position, a r>d the invigorating sea-breeze which purifies its atmosphere. Notwithstanding, however, those benefits, it is not boyond

the range of possibility that the town may, in the future, be afflicted by epidemic diseases as other towns have in the past, a fact which we regret to say has been made most disagreeably apparent by the fatal case of scarlet fever during the past week. The citizens may congratulate themselves, however, that in the Municipal Council which, in this town, acts as the Local Board of Health, they have a body fully alive to the important trust placed in their hands ; and the manner in wl.ich, at the first sound of alarm, the Board met together to take precautionary measures is an excellent earnest of their zeal to grapple with the diSiculty, should it present itself in a more extended form. In our opinion the importance of the town now wan-ants that it should have a pro-pers-appointed medical man as Health O.iicer, whose duty it would be, in company with the Inspector of Nuisances, to thoroughly inspect tho3e dwellings where there is a probability of matter being allowed to accumulate, or businesses to be carried on, injurious to the public health. The Public Health Act, which was passed during the last Session of Parliament, after providing that every Local Board shall, within its respective limits and jurisdictions, be the Local Board of Health, goss on to give authority to such Boards for the canying out of tho Act. The seventeenth clausj says : —" Each Local Board of Health may, if it think fit, appoint a Gt and proper person, being a legallyqualified medical practitioner, to be called the ' Medical Officer,' who s'.all be immoveable l>y the said Local Board, and shall perform such manner as the Central Board of Health may, from time to time, by instructions issued by it, direct." It is just possible that the prompt preventitive measures taken by the Board at its emergency meeting may be the means of staving oif the threatened unwelcome visitor ; but to be forearmed and provided against contingencies is half the battle. It is just about twelve months since Cromwell paid a heavy penalty for its neglect of a due observance of the sanitary laws by which it should be governed, and although, as we before observed, we have reason to be thankful for the immunity which we hitherto have experienced from infectious diseases, we have no guarantee for the future, and an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. We trust then the Council, as the guardian of the health of the town, will follow up the steps it has so promptly taken, and cany out the full powers vested in it by the Act, by the appointment of a Medical Health Officer.