BOARD OP HEALTH.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3609, 4 November 1879, Page 3

BOARD OP HEALTH.

A.meeiing of the Local Board- of Health was -held! at the close of the Diainage Bbard meeting? present— Messrs R. Jj S> Harman •|(in,the chair), F. Hobbs, Hall. A. Duncan, !Hl J. Tancred, J. E. Brown, Blakiston, and jJI/tf: Boss. ;' INSPECTOB'B EBPQEI.. i Tha Inspector of Nuisancas reported as. £ot~ lows j — "1. Acting on the instructions offthe Chair;mau>l have inspected the premises mentioned j in, connection with, a repotted case of typhoid fever in a report of the acting»medical officer, and have caused the removal of;' the nuisance therein referred to, asdi have visited the homes of the children absent from the ' Philipstown school on, sick leave, and reported result to thfr acting-medical officer. The tap recently pl*3*d on the artesian well at the school premises to, prevent th» jard being flooded has been injured by being battered with stones. The school grounds, and consequently the closets, are at present very much exposed to the intrusion of mischievous and improper persons. "2. As the open ditches on St. Alban's lane are being fjlled up upcn the completion of the storm-water sewer, I have visited from house to houpe to prevent nuisances that might arise, failure to make the necessary house aonnections with the sower. "3. The. nuisances arising from stagnant water in hi?, places on land owned by Mr Brown, Creek street, Philipstown, and Mr Banks, Banbour street, have been abated by filling up, the hollow places with earth." Clause 1 was considered satisfactory, and in connection therewith the Inspector stated that it was. intended to fenoe in a portion of the ground as a private yard. The Inspector was requested to communicate with the Chairman of the School Committee on the subject. Clauses 2 and 3 of the report were approved. The Chairman stated that the district was altogether in a satisfactory state from a sanitary point of view. INFECTIOUS DISEASES. Only two oases of infectious disease— typhoid fever — were reported as having occurred, dv ing the fortnight.In reply to a question, the Chairman said this report included the whole of the district. MEDICAL OFFICER'S HEFOET. Dr Nedwill, the Acting Health Officer, reported aB follows : — " I had not intended to make any written reports unless absolutely necessary during my temporary occupancy of the medical appointment to your Board, but I find that I should be failing in my duty if I did not immediately bring the following cases under your notice. On the 21st of this month I visited for the Charitable Aid Board a house at the corner of St Asaph street continuation and Nursery road, which is occupied by Mrs Houghton. There I found a little girl laid up with a rather severe attack of typhoid fever. I inspected the premises carefully, but found everything clean and tidy, with good artesian overflow. As there waa another girl in the same family taken ill yesterday, I resolved today to try to find out the cause of the disease. As Mrs Houghton's two little girls now ill have for some time past been in the habit of cleaning out the Philipstown school and out-offices, I proceeded to this place, and found that the initial consists of a piece of corrugated iron bent into a trough shape ; that it is attached to a fonco, and that it has neither drain nor receptacle. The ground underneath it is therefore saturated with urine, and smelt abominably ammoniacal. The boys' closet and pans were clean j the girls' closet, however, smelt very badly, and the ground behind it is moist with liquid excreta. The locks of the closets are out of order, consequently any tramp can use them. I. would advise that the school be shut up at once for a day' or two, until the ground around the girls' closet is removed, or covered over to tome depth with earth, the closet taken to another place, and a proper] urinal supplied for the boys. I afterwards proceeded to the premises of Mr James Moore, at the corner of Stanmore road and Hereford street, where Mrs Houghton obtains her milk. He has no artesian well, and has therefore to carry water for all purposes from a neighbour's, 50 yards away. There is a dirty creek running through the paddock where the cows are kept, close to the house. Mr Moore's cloßet is a sunken pit, which is so full that the liquid contents are oozing through the earth at the back of the closet. I was told they had not had any sickness or diarrhcoa in the house. I thought at first that the fever from which Mrs Houghton's children are suffering had certainly originated at the Philipstown school; but for the present, the state of affairs at Mr Moore's, induces an element of doubt. I shall, however, further investigate the matter. Whilst writing on this subject, I would BUggest the propriety of the Board having all dairies periodically inspected, and insisting that each be well supplied with pure water. I think it should bo notified to the public in somo way that they must not use open drains to carry away night-soil. I make this suggestion as I found to-day that on cautioning a householder against throwing the contents of a chamber used by a suspected typhoid patient into the closet frequented by tho reat of the family, she told me she threw it into the drain. " Couetnet Nedwill, " Acting Health Officer." The Chairman said members would be aware that the Board had at present no power of dealing with the milk question, though of course samples might be obtained for analysis. Mr Hall did not see how analysis could do any good in the direction indicated. The Chairman referred to English cases of milk infection, which had been reported upon. ; The subject was permitted to drop. COBHBBPONDENOB. A letter of complaint was referred to the Inspector. ACCOUNTS. Accounts amounting to £44 15s lOd were 'passed for paj'ment. ■'...' APPOINTMENT OF MBDICAI OFFICES. The Board went into Committee to consider eeyen applications for the appointment of medical officer to the Board. On resuming tho appointment of Dr Nedwill was recommended and confirmed. The Board then adjourned.