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14
in administration: one laundry, one disinfecting
apparatus, one ambulance, and one mortuary would
suffice. In the matter of disinfection one good
apparatus would amply suffice for the proposed
district, and the charges, to such as could afford to
pay, would materially help towards defraying the
expenses. From figures in Dr. I horne Thome's
report it may be deduced that, up to a certain size,
the greater the number of beds the less the cost per
bed per annum. Beyond a certain number the
aggregation of cases seems to intensify individual
attacks, so that costly expenditure in providing
precautions are necessary, but such are only
warranted where land is of high value, and distance
from the home prevents going further afield. With
any number of beds up to 100 I do not think these
considerations would apply.
The Dairies and Milkshops Act could be more
efficiently administered by a single authority, for
strict regulations seem verv onerous to a milk seller
who finds persons from the surrounding districts
coming into the town with milk from an unregistered
dairy a mile or two away. Such a case recently
came under my notice, the vendor using his cart as
a shop. Unfortunately the administration of the
Food and Drugs Act is not in the hands of the
Corporation, or it would probably have been found
that this person was selling separated milk deprived
of its cream, a most necessary part of the milk and
essential to the growth and welfare of young
children. Parents tempted by the low price of the
so-called milk provide their children with what is
little better than water, and in some measure this
accounts for the heavy child mortality amongst the
poor.
Public abattoirs, with skilled veterinary inspection
of all meat to be sold to the public, are
necessities of the near future. Tuberculosis is