87

H.—3l

In the Gisborne district the old Waerenga-a-Hlka Hotel has been pulled down as the result of my representations, and a house conforming to the needs of the district and the requirements of sanitation has been built. A portion of the Ormond Hotel was defective, and, on my representations, has been pulled down, and that portion rebuilt. A new hotel is being erected at Pakarae in the place of the old structure, which has served the public for its full time. The new hotel is badty needed. Prosecutions. A prosecution was instituted by the Napier Borough Council, at the instigation of the Department, against a resident at the Port for having his premises in an insanitary condition, and another, by the same body at the request of the Department, against a Chinese fruiterer for storing fruit in and near a bedroom. A prosecution was instituted by the Department, at the expense of the Wairoa Town Board, who refused to act, against a resident for a breach of section 47 of " The Public Health Act, 1900." Convictions were obtained in all cases. Several prosecutions have been threatened, and in some cases preliminary steps taken against persons responsible for nuisances of various kinds, who, when they found that business was meant, climbed down and abated the nuisances to my satisfaction. Seizure of Unsound Food. Eighteen dozen tins of salmon were seized and condemned at a store at the Port. The tins were blown, and the contents were quite unfit for food. They were all destroyed. Seventy 1 lb. boxes of preserved figs, which had been consigned to an auctioneer in Napier by a firm in Wellington, were seized and condemned as unfit for food. These were also destroyed. I communicated with the District Health Officer in Wellington on the subject. He informed me that he had investigated the matter, and that the firm had destroyed the balance on their hands as soon as they became aware that the consignment sent to 'Napier had been condemned. Houses Condemned. Napier, 4; Hastings, 1; Farndon, 1; Waipukurau, 1; Woodville, 2; Gisborne, 2; Cook County, 1. Medical Inspection of Schools. During the year, with your permission, I had some correspondence with the Inspector of Schools, in which I offered to give lectures to the teachers in the various centres in this district for the purpose of instructing them in the method of detecting eye-strain and obscure forms of deafness and other matters affecting the health of the pupils. The Education Board found that there were difficulties in the way, and for the present the matter is in abeyance. But I have heard rumours from an unauthoritative source that the question is to be revived, and that I may be approached with reference to the subject. If this is done I shall be happy to respond, and give the matter my serious attention. The isolated positions of Wairoa, Gisborne, and the settlements north of that town, all of which require attention, are another heavy tax on the staff, and augments my anxiety and responsibility. I regret that in Napier the milk is still, with the exception of one distributor, baled out of cans at the customers' doors instead of being drawn off by properly constructed taps. I have time and again brought the matter before the Napier Borough Council, but that body remains obdurate, and fails to see the need of reform. The public might do much for themselves in this matter by refusing to take milk that was not clean, or handled in such a manner as to invite pollution. I have, &c, Fred, de Lisle, L.R.C.P., D.P.H., District Health Officer. J. Malcolm Mason, Esq., M.D., D.P.H., Chief Health Officer, Wellington. WELLINGTON DISTRICT. Sir, — Department of Public Health, District Office, Wellington, 30th June, 1908. I have the honour to present my annual report of the Wellington Health District for the year ending 31st March, 1908. Much time has been unavoidably spent during the year in making a general acquaintance with the towns and conditions of this, to me, new and very extensive district, and the largest in population of the six health districts. In grasping the details of the sanitary work in the various parts of my district, I have been greatly helped by the assiduity of the District Inspectors. Chief Inspector Schauer being now attached to Head Office, and Inspectors Bennett and Franklin having been transferred to the Auckland Health District, it has been no light task to endeavour with seven Inspectors—one of whom, Mr. Gray, recently appointed, is new to the work—to cope with the duties which last year amply occupied the time and ability of Chief