The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1868.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 359, 24 September 1868, Page 2

The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1868.

Not very long ago, at a meeting held in the Court House, Dr. Giles publicly predicted serious disease after the hot weather set in, in the forth-coming summer. The causes were twofold, first, the created nuisances in the shape of pig-styes, filthy yards, &c, and secondly, the un drained swamp, on which dwellings are thickly built, and from which malaria, causing epidemics of various kinds, must of necessity be evolved by heat acting on the decomposed vegetable matter, that forms the chief portion of the surface. Already in the brief experience of fine weather that we have had, the fulfilment has in a great measure come, and a large amount of illness now exists, in some shape or other, both in the pigstye neighborhoods, and on the unimproved portions of Bright, Wallaby, and other low-lying streets. Those suffering from the effects of the created nuisances have, as we have previously stated a remedy at their hands, and on lodging a complaint with the police, offenders in this respect will be prosecuted by the authorities, If therefore people choose to he poisoned rather than complain, the fault is their own, for unneighbourly as it may be, it is a great deal more unneighbourly for persons to keep animals, in such an offensive condition, as to scatter fever and dysentery round their pens. But with regard to the residents in the swamps, their case is altogether different. In the first place, a large proportion of them occupy their own little bits of holdings, and pay a handsome ground rent to the Government, in the shape of business license money. They cannot abandon their ground, without what is to them heavy loss, and they have no other place to which they can move. They naturally expect that at least some portion of the money they have paid, should be returned to them, in the shape of improvements, but in this expectation, up to the present time, they are singularly mistaken. They cannot see why one or two favored streets should be cleared and made, and drained, where the section-holders have not one whit better or greater claim on the Government than themselves, whilst their locations are left just as unimproved as when they first took possession of them. Not a stump has been taken out, not a drain has been cut, not a load of gravel has been laid down in many where the sections are occupied from end to end, where hundreds of men, women, and children live, and from which the Government derive a large annual income. Huge festering black pools reek before their doors, stumps of all sizes, added to the mud holes and roots and other obstacles, utterly preclude all traffic, and yet not one atom of change has been yet attempted in them. Hotbeds of disease are permitted to remain untouched, whilst at the same time the most glaring injustice is done by forming some streets, it may almost be said, at the expense of others. In the last Provincial Estimates a sum of £7OO was set down for the streets of Westport, but up to the present time, and the vote passed the Council months ago, we have s-een no sign of improvement whatever. That amount could not be appropriated to the wharf protection, we should imagine, and if not, why has so long a time been allowed to elapse before necessary works are undertaken ? Certainly some sand has been put in the hollow opposite the Camp by the hard-labor gang, but this is all that has been done. Apropos of the hard labor gang, could not their services be utilised towards the end indicated, in either clearing some of the swamp streets, or in at least cutting drains. They would certainly be as well engaged

as tliey have been of late. It most unfortunately happens that Government work is generally undertaken at a most inopportune time, and instead of takiug advantage of any seasonable change in the weather everything must be done by routine and in order, whether surrounding circumstances are favorable or not. This is strongly shown at the present time in the present instance. The last week's fine weather, though it has by no means dried the swamp, has at least evaporated the chief part of the water lying on it, and it would be a work of comparative ease to cut drains from end to end, as long as the dry days last. More work could be accomplished just at present probably in a day, than could be done in three, after rain again falls, and surely it would be well, if it is intended to do anything in the matter, to do so at once. The money has been voted, the District Engineer is appointed, and, irrespective of prison labour, there are any amount of men to be got if required. No doubt Mr Lowe's hands will be full of work, but there is no part of the district that can claim immediate attention more justly than the streets referred to, and though it is hardly reasonable to expect them to be completed as other streets have been, a drain on either side might at least be cut, and a cartway cleared of stumps in their centre. This would have the effect of rendering the houses habitable and healthy, as the moisture that now lodges till the sun picks it up, would be drawn away. Regarded therefore, whether in a sanitary, or an equitable light, but niore especially the former, it is clear that these neglected streets should have attention bestowed on them, and we have every hope that the District Engineer will not, under the circumstances, allow them to remain as they are for any longer time.