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One speaks strongly on the matter, but having worked so hard to obtain a really satisfactory
protection for food, and having got it, it is disappointing in the extreme to see all one's,
efforts ignored.
It is so curious because in the same premises as those referred to above, and I say it without
fear of contradiction, is the finest food counter I have ever seen. The display of food under
the glass covered counters together with the refrigerator make up a unit which is as near perfection
as it can be. Its perfection is such that it has introduced an entirely new class of customer
into the store by the enticing character of the food already cut and displayed in an attractive
fashion.
Such is the tale of one's pioneering efforts and the results one has been able to accomplish
thereby, which one leaves behind with satisfaction as a result of 17 years' work for an Authority
who latterly have given me every encouragement that any Medical Officer of Health could have
to ensure that the Ratepayers of the District do get a Public Health Service which means to
them the improvement in their health if it has been lost, and the retention of it if it is good.
1 he importance of this is only apparent when one realises that for the vast majority of our
ratepayers, as it is also for the citizens of the country as a whole, their health is their capital
and with the loss of health come those miseries and disasters which ruin the happiness of so
many families.
So I take farewell of a staff which has been hardworking, loyal and very efficient. The
younger members have re-acted very well to my office motto " There is only room at the top,
any fool can be at the bottom." They have worked hard in their evenings and taken their
certificates which mean promotion, either with us or elsewhere. At times the rapidity with
which the staff changed by outside promotions was embarrassing, and made the work of those
remaining unduly burdensome.
To Dr. Roberts, my special thanks. She has always upheld in my absence the high standard
we have set and has done splendid work in the regions of defective vision, work that is
without equal in its efficiency so far as I know. Members of the Council and Committees are
perhaps not fully aware of the excellent results which have been obtained by Dr. Roberts in this
field. She is accustomed to getting on with the work for its own sake and like many a flower
" it blushes unseen " except to those who know its real value. As an anaesthetist she is very
far above the average. This again is not work which is seen by the public, but I know its value.
To Mr. Butler again I want to express my gratitude to the full. The years when his
deafness confined him to the office made things difficult. The possession of one of the new
hearing aids has enabled him to resume to the full his duties as Chief Sanitary Inspector. His
absolute integrity, straight as a gun barrel, has been so long as I have known him, an asset of
incalculable value to the Council.
Then to Mr. Kilby, my Chief Qerk. I am not usually stumped for words, but I find it
difficult indeed to express my gratitude for the most efficient and loyal service that any chief
could ask and receive for years on end.
One other person to whom I must pay special tribute is Dr. Bousfield, whose meticulously
careful work in the immunisation section has enabled us to make a substantial contribution to
the science of diphtheria immunisation. The meticulous care with which the work has been
done has left us with a record which cannot be surpassed anywhere.
In relinquishing my post as Medical Officer, I knew that there are many many mothers
of the children of the Clinics and Schools who cherish memories of the fat doctor who ministered
to their little ones, the while they sat on his knee, ate his biscuits, kissed him when they went,
and trusted him and were fond of him. The growth of administration work that took me from
the children was a sad parting indeed.
And so farewell.
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