DIRTY GISBORNE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2445, 9 March 1909, Page 4

DIRTY GISBORNE.

A CLEAN-UP NEEDED.

A COMMENCEMENT MADE. Following upon the article which appeared in yesterday’s i Times drawing attention to the uncleanly condition of the town, some efforts are being made to place the streets in better order. A number of . borough workmen were busy yesterday using the broom upon the water \< channels of the main streets. Jho / 'arge heap of manure lying on the , footpath near a stable had cleared away before the afternoon, ind a general cleaning-up has been m.titiited near the post office, t he article a question has been warmly commended by many business men. A gentleman holding an influential business position in the town waited upon the •ditor and expressed himself thus: “I am glad to see that you are drawing attention to the is retched condition of the town. I have been here for over 20 years, and I’ve never «en it f;o had as it is at the present ;ime: I know of a number of waterclosets in the centre of the town the pans of which have not been emptied for three weeks. What is the use of ldvertising in the newspapers that people should he clean and sanitary, Ivhen the-Council’s own work is neglected so shockingly r v\ hat little is done seems never to lie done properv, and even the sweeping or the gutfcers in Gladstone Road is done so badly that in little hollows the same dirt and filth -reposes comfortably for % weeks together. . “What I should like to see is the appointment of a local health officer. At present we are dependent upon the occasional visits of a- gentleman from Napier, who spends a few days here and then saunters back again to Flawke’s Bay, We should have some, one here whose duty it would be to ,-isit the business premises and household dwellings of the town and suband give personal advice to the •esidents upon sanitary methods. Surelv there is amongst our local medical men someone who.,would unlertake this work! I keep, my own Place as clean as I can, but it is quite possible that if a sanitary expert called in he could show me how l could, in a simple manner, avoid some vital errors that I may be making at the present time.” . . Another business man, m speaking to a “Times” reporter, said that cleanliness, like charity, should, begin at home, and before the Council published advice to householders-to cultivate cleanliness, the borough health authorities should set the examp.e. “It is of no use making war against i flies,” he said, “if the filth is left to lie about to breed them. The whole trouble,” he continued, “is that the Council has, for . the past twelve months, been indifferent to the condition of things, until now an epidemic of diesase is among the peopie. In fact, the town can almost be said to be without a Council, for there lias been no unanimity of policy since trie ast mayoral election, and where the Mayor pulls one way and the Council the' other, there could only Ire chaos, as there has been here, and the towu has been left to run itself, wicn a trust in a merciful Providence for the -best result. The result has men cS cases of typhoid in the public muniaE independent of those in private hospitals and homes. Things have been allowed to go on in the old wav sojL long that the Council tinea me entfto the approach af the dry season, ' and now the people' are- paying the p rice.' J The reporter, in having a look around yesterday, found many examples of indifference to sanitation by householders, hotelkeepers, and board-ing-house proprietors. The hotel- , keepers, generally, freely use a- hose —-4 on their premises, but sanitation requires more than that, and nothing is more effective than the free use ot chloride of lime in all closets, and quick-lime to destroy stable and household refuse. Down near the wharf are some stables where a number of horses are kept. In the centre of the yard adjacent to the stalls is a big hollow, and when the reporter looked iu this was full of stagnant water. There was absolutely no outlet for it, and it looked as though it- ■ had lain there since the last rains. Into this urine from the stables dribfiled, and as the sun streamed down ' with full force the pool seemed to.be chockful of pestilential possibilities. With his handkerchief to his nose the reporter quickly hurried away from this germ-laden spot. DR. MASON TO VISIT GISBORNE. The Mayor yesterday received the following telegram from Dr. Mason, Chief Health Officer: “I hope to he in Gisborne on Wednesday, when I should like to discuss the epidemic of enteric with you. In the face of. such a number of cases of this disease, it is absolutely necessary that some system of drainage should ho adopted as soon as possible.”