HOSPITAL BOARD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 21, 19 July 1911, Page 4

HOSPITAL BOARD.

MONTHLY MEETIXO. The monthly meeting of the Taranaki Hospital and Charitable Aid Board was held yesterday. Present: Messrs. F. C. J. liellringer (chairman), Browne, Cutlield, Hill, Maxwell, Brown, Tate, McDonald. TYPHOID AMOXGST THE MAORIS.

The secretary reported that on July 17 Dr. Blackluy sent a Maori from Puniho with a certificate stating that his child was suffering from typhoid. He asked the Maori to send the child to the hospital, but without avail, The Maori had not seen Dr. Pomarc, who had been in the district but had not visited them. He rang np Dr. Blackley, who said the guardians refused to send the child to the hospital, on the ground that the child was too young and could' bo as well nursed at hom,e as at the hospital. The child was then taken, as far as Mr. Lepper knew, to Puniho the same evening. Mr. Lepper said the child was being carried out in the usual Maori fashion, on the mother's back. Dr. Valintine referred to the danger of spreading the infection in this way. The Board, he said, had power to compel the child to be admitted to the hospital. They had to fight the Maoris in this matter, and the sooner it was done the better. URENUI SCHOOL.

Mr. C. M. Lopper, health inspector, reported that on the 11th hist, he visited the Urenui school with the chairman of the Board, and in response to tiho wish of the Education Board. With regard to illness among the children he found that measles had been prevalent, and in many cases some of those children who had to come long distances had been suffering from colds, which would probably account for their absence from school. The school itself was clean, but the light in the infants' room wa« very glaring owing to the position of the windows, and must be very tryin" to the teachers' and children's eyes. °The school is supposed to hold 100 children. There are 130 on the roll, and an average attendance of 97.0. On the day of my visit the attendance was 109. The room for the elder children is ih size 23ft. by 24ft. by lift. 3in., and there were 43 children occupying this room. The size of the infants' room is 28ft. Oin. by 23ft. by lift. 3in„ and 81 infants aTc on the roll, though only 06 were present at the time of my visit. The room certainly was crowded, and the width of til* passage-ways between the desks ranged from 13in. <and lOin. to 19in. The chimney over the fireplace in this room is unsatisfactory, and smokes lwtd)y at all those times when a fire is most needed in the room. This smoking could be abated either by raising the chimney or fixing a lobster-back cowl on top ait a small expense. The most objectionable feature of the school was the two large.and' foul excreta pits which have been under the children's closets for many years past. These should certainly be filled in and the w.c.'a (closets) moved to new sites at greater distances apart than at present, and with more sanitary conveniences. < The drainage from the lavatory basins leaves much to be desired, as. it is carried into a large hole filled with stones only some 15ft. from the school building. I understand that the pines arc to be .topped, the noxious weeds to be cut, and iron fences erected! adjoining the sale yards and road. These are also necessary works, and I would strongly recommend that the Boani give instructions for the removal of all barbed-wire from front fences, and the repair of all fences around the school grounds. Settlers' poultry shouM be kept out of the school grounds, and adjoining pigsitys should be removed.

RECOMMENDATIONS RE WAITARA. Mr. Lepper also reported that lie visited Waitara on the 11th iust., and would recommend that the Waitara Borough Council invest its official with all the ipowers provided for in the Municipal Corporations and other Acts, and also in the borough by-laws, and see that the same are properly carried out.

MEDICAL SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.

Mr. Wylie, acting-medical superintendent, reported that the number of patients admitted to the hospital during the month was 30; 25 had been discharged; and (5 patients had died. The number of patients remaining in the hospital was 33. OLD PEOPLE'S HOME.

Mrs.. Bayly, matron of the Old People's Home, reported that everything was progressing satisfactorily. Tlie dis> ciplanc was * excellent. There had been two Admissions during the month. The number of inmates remaining in the home was 33 (28 males and 5 females).

UNSATISFACTORY CONDITIONS. The chairman stated that the Health Inspector was making an inspection of all the restaurants in the town, and Mr. Lepper furnished a report concerning one of these premises, stating that the present conditions under which cooking is carried on are most unsatisfactory. The kitchen is on the ground floor, which contains two bedrooms, one water closet, and a sink; the bedrooms are small and ill-ventilated, one particularly being without light and fresh air, and the other one is also without fresh air. The w.c. is- not in use, which increases the danger. The sink is in a dark corner of the room. The w.c. should be removed out of the kitchen at owe and re-fixed in a more suitable position, and the sink moved nearer the light, GENERAL. Proceedings are to be taken in court for the recovery of certain outstanding accounts for maintenance at the hospital. GENERAL. The name of Miss W. M. ForstTick, of Mt. Eden, Auckland, was on the probationers' list.