H.—3l.

Nightsoil-removal. My attention having been in many instances drawn to the careless way in which nightsoilremoval has been conducted, I have had to write to local authorities calling on them to exercise a closer supervision over their contractors. I have also had on several occasions to find fault with the state of the places at which the nightsoil was being deposited. The nightsoil-depot at Tomahawk, about which Dr. Mason was consulted, and which formed the subject of litigation, is now being carefully kept, and has not been the cause of any complaint ot late, as it is being treated with greater precautions than formerly. The ground available is now almost exhausted, and a new place will have to be found, or a new system adopted. Defects in House-drainage. I have noted fifth-two cases in which house-drains were defective, and which I have seen personally, ordering their repair or replacement by a better system, and Inspector Donaldson has reported to me that he has caused eighty houses to be connected with the sewers. Over three hundred nuisances of a miscellaneous nature have been seen to by myself and Inspectors m town and country, and Inspector Donaldson has inspected over two thousand premises, to some of which he has called my attention, and requested assistance in effecting improvedistricts peCt ° rS Cameron and Gunn have als ° been active in the same direction in their _ Complaints having been made to me that our theatre was being neglected, I, after examining it interviewed the manager and requested that a more efficient means be adopted for keeping it clean m future. The state of some other of our public halls has received attention having been much needed. ' D Railway-carriages and Meat-vans. The imperfect way in which the railway-vans for the carriage of fish were being cleansed at Fort Chalmers attracted my notice, and I wrote you asking you to call the attention of the Bail way Department to it, with the result that it is now being looked after, water for the purpose having been obtained from the town's supply, and being used to wash out the vans. I examined the meat-vans at the Bluff on one occasion, and found the same reason to complain of neglect In travelling around I have observed that the closets at some of the rail way-stations "are b'adlv looked after, and allowed to get into a filthy mess. I have spoken to some of the Stationmasters about this, and have thus effected a little improvement; but I consider a more general supervision is necessary. I have also had complaints about the uncleanliness of some of the closets in the railway-carriages, which require more careful supervision, especially those of the second-class Public Baths. The City Council having decided that public baths in a central part of the city were desirable I was asked to examine that at Pelichet Bay, and reported that, from the fact that it was in a position where the sea-water had to be retained at high tide by a lock, and that it received the drainage of a portion of the town, it was unfit for use, and might be dangerous to those bathing in it. It has in consequence been pulled down, and is no longer in use. x> i u A " U , b ? titut , e being desirable > {t was suggested that the enclosed' baths known as " Morgan's Baths, fed with water from the bay which had passed through the boilers of the adjacent cementworks, should be bought for public use. I was requested to examine and report on their fitness On doing so, and perusing the analysis of the water which had been made by Mr Kidston Hunter' I was satisfied that they might with safety be used, and that their water was free from any dan' gerous element. The scheme of taking over these baths was thrown out by a maioritv of the City Council when it was brought before them. y Manufactories possibly specially Dangerous to Health. At the request of the Chief Health Officer, I made a special examination of several of the factories in which processes involving a greater amount of danger to the workers than usual might Of cement-works the only one in my district is the Milburn Lime and Cement Works near Pelichet Bay. Here I found that ventilation was free, all the sheds being practically open and the danger from lime-dust minimised to the utmost degree. • ' In the wax-vesta manufactory at Caversham all possible precautions were taken to protect workers. Since then new works have been erected, with all possible provision for ventilation and attention to the safety of the employees. ' Pollution of the Kaikorai Stream. The condition of the stream which flows through the Kaikorai Valley, and on which many factories are situated, has engaged much of my attention, as it was being subjected to considerable pollution from these. I found, however, that its pollution was to some degree unavoidable unless a mam dram was laid down along the whole course of the valley, some four or five miles in length and provision were made for the purification of the effluent at its lowest point no easy matter from the shghtness of the fall in the valley; and that, further, a sufficient water-supply-were brought along the valley to take the place of the stream, the water of which though not clean, was good enough for the use of many of the works. This would be necessitated by the fact that several of the factories had water-rights which would be interefered with by the construction of a sewer to carry away the water they had to depend upon. This question was therefore left in abeyance till the scheme for providing a more abundant supply of water to the city and suburbs

68