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9
published to meet the expected demand. How has the
result justified all this? Fifteen months have elapsed
since these offers were made, and practically there have
been no appeals for help, excepting in those cases where
notifiable illness has occurred and set householders in
search of a cause, and not one single copy of Dr. Seaton's
report has been applied for.
I do not infer from this that there is an absolute
indifference on the part of occupiers to the state of their
houses, because I know there is not, but it may be fair to
assume that a belief is prevalent that things are not by any
means so bad as was sought to be made out, and that there
exists a confidence, based upon results, that the Sanitary
Authority are aware of their responsibilities and alive to
the duties devolving on them.
In connection with this and in furtherance of a desire
to do all that was in my power to promote the well being of
the district I stated that I purposed making an inspection
of certain classes of houses where I believed it was likely
reforms were required, and to that end made an application
to your Board for temporary extra sanitary assistance, but
to this proposal the surveyor demurred stating that it had
not yet been shown he could not give the necessary time,
and the chairman asked me to present a more detailed
statement of what I proposed to do. This I should have
done in due course, but about this time the notifications of
infectious diseases were rapidly coming in, necessitating
such a considerable increase of work that I first postponed,
and then ultimately had to abandon the idea of carrying it
out that summer. I hope however to devote some time to
it this year.
Minaiedale.
The question of Minniedale should surely come before
your Board this year. This part of the district receives
visits from the Sanitary Inspector and myself from
time to time, but nothing satisfactory can be done until an
efficient system of drainage is devised and proper access
provided.