Sessional_Paper_1887-1888 — Page 481

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913.-Will you be kind enough to state it?

A.-I think the primary cause was the burning of rubbish at Lap-sap-wan.

914.-How long has that burning been going on?

A. Three or four years.

915.

How far is it from the site of the fever?

A. From a mile to a mile and a quarter.

916.

Are the smells perceptible?

A. Yes. They are very strong. I have smelt them above No. 1 Tank. 917.-Have you seen fever result from a similar cause in any other town?

A. Yes.

918. Tell us, please.

Camp" at Aldershot.

A.-At Mauritius and in the neighbourhood of the "Camp

919.-What were the circumstances at Mauritius?

A.-The whole of the rubbish and filth collected in the City were conveyed to one spot dumped into a heap and burnt, or rather distilled, the fire only smouldering, liberated and vapourised the noxious gases, forming malaria the temperature being too low to decompose and resolve them, into their simpler, or primary elements. The fever broke out about three miles to the leeward of the spot where the rubbish was burnt.

920.--And prior to this was Mauritius healthy?

A.--Yes. At one time it was considered a Sanitarium, Invalids being sent there from India.

921.--And the sickness that became epidemic started at the same time as the burn- ing of the rubbish?

A.-No; the burning of the rubbish commenced about ten years before.

922. Have they discontinued burning the rubbish?

A. No.

923.-And Mauritius is still unhealthy?

A. Yes.

924.-Then the people don't believe in that theory?

A.--I don't think the subject has been broached.

925. And what about Aldershot?

A.-Soon after the formation of the camp at Aldershot, about 1856 or 57 a system, for drying the filth and refuse in ovens to convert it into a portable manure, was estab- lished by a company; and within a short time the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages to the leeward of the ovens, were more than decimated by fever.

926. What sort of fever was it?

A. I think it was intermittent Fever similar to the fever we had in Mauritius.

927. Was the practice discontinued at Aldershot?

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A. Yes. It was stopped by injunction. The fever abating almost immediately, and finally ceased within 12 months or so, on the abatement of the nuisance.