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Balclutha. —Owing to the low-lying site of the town, drainage presents a considerable problem, which is intensified by the fact that any comprehensive sewerage scheme would of necessity include pumping-stations, and therefore be expensive. The position has to some extent been met by the recent provision of several miles of carefully graded concrete street-channelling. As far as possible, these channels are kept flushed out by running water from the town supply. The drainage systems of Winton and Nightcaps have been extended, and in these districts practically every street now has a sewer. The need for some scheme of drainage is apparent in Ohai and The Rocks. The latter is becoming a popular seaside resort, and conditions in respect of sanitation are yearly becoming worse. An improvement is being attempted in the direction or persuading the ratepayers to form a special-rating area ixnder the Counties Act for drainage purposes. With this end in view, the County Engineer is at present preparing an estimate of the cost. Port Chalmers Borough Council is negotiating with the Otago Harbour Board for the reclamation of Mussel Bay. This particular inlet is at present offensive by reason of the numerous sewer outfalls which discharge on to its foreshore. Under the proposed scheme these will be connected by an intercepting sewer, which will be carried out to comparatively deep water at the reclamation wall. As regards the hygienic condition of the locality, this will effect a vast improvement. Riverton is very backward in matters of public conveniences and drainage generally. Refuse-disposal. The universal method is by tipping, which is almost universally badly done. It is difficult to persuade local authorities to give sufficient supervision and to insist on correct methods being adopted. The chief faults are failure to flatten empty tins, failure to work to a restricted face and to cover daily, and the failure to control unauthorized tipping. An experiment may shortly be tried in the centre of Dunedin in the controlled tipping of refuse in an area of low-lying ground in Caversham. If the work is carried out efficiently it should create no nuisance, and may serve as a useful object-lesson for other local authorities. Insanitary Dwellings. Following the Dunedin flood in March, 1929, a number of dwellings were rendered so insanitary that their demolition was rendered necessary. In this connection demolition certificates were issued in respect of some thirty or forty houses. Private Hospitals. Regular inspections have been carried out during the year, and, with one or two minor exceptions, the hospitals have all been conducted in an efficient manner. In one hospital three cases of puerperal fever arose, the second and third being due probably to failure in securing effective isolation. General. By-laws. —Stewart Island County has during the year adopted a comprehensive set of by-laws, which are at present in the printer's hands. They are on the lines of those adopted recently by the combined counties of Otago, and should meet their needs for many years to come. Southland and Wallace Counties, after long preparation, have completed their joint by-laws, and these will shortly be adopted. Bluff Borough Council is engaged in preparing new by-laws. It is hoped that these will serve as combined by-laws for a number of boroughs in the district, some ten or twelve having agreed to be associated for that purpose. Soda-fountain. —Considerable attention has been paid during the year to the possibility of lead contamination in soda-water. Well over one hundred samples have been tested for lead, which in a high proportion has been found to be present in amounts varying from Ito 20 parts per million. Some carbonators still continue to show lead contamination after repeated alterations. In this connection it is interesting to refer to an article in the Medical Journal of Australia of the 3rd August, 1929. The writer, Dr. L. J. J. Nye, draws attention to the large number of young persons in Queensland who have died from chronic nephritis. He attributes this to the chronic lead poisoning of children by white-lead paint from house-walls and verandas which has become dry and powdery and contaminated their hands. He points out that the daily poisonous dose for a child may well be under grain. One wonders whether a similar process may not be at work in this country by the absorption of lead from soda-water out of defective carbonators. Investigations in this district show that 1 part per million of lead in soda-water is quite common, and much larger amounts are fairly frequent. One part per million represents very nearly T A n grain per pint, and this amount might easily be consumed daily during the summer months. It has been shown, moreover, that lead may be stored up in the bones out of harm's way,, but that under certain conditions of diet or shock this lead may be released and cause severe intoxication. These facts show it to be a most insidious poison, capable of inducing disease of such a nature and at such a time that the true cause may remain unrevealed. Because a child imbibing lead-contaminated soda-water does not exhibit wrist-drop or a blue-line, there is no certainty that he is not receiving poison which may cause serious illness at a later date. The danger appears to be a real one, and not sufficiently recognized by the importers and users of carbonators. Construction Camps. —A close watch is being kept on all construction camps in the district, with special reference to their general hygiene. The largest camp in Otago, and probably in New Zealand, is that at Kurow in connection with the Public Works Department's hydro-electric development of