MAY 10.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 913

discharge from such hospital or place of reception, or from
his estate in the event of his dying in such hospital or place.

Power to provide temporary supply of medicine.

37. Any Local Board may, with the sanction of the Central
    Board, itself provide or contract with any person to provide
    a temporary supply of medicine and medical assistance for
    the poorer inhabitants of its district.

Mortuaries, &c.

Power of Local Board to provide mortuaries.

38. Any Local Board may, and if required by the Central
    Board shall, provide and fit up a proper place for the
    reception of dead bodies before interment (in this Part of
    this Act called a mortuary), and may make by-laws with
    respect to the management and charges for use of the same;
    it may also provide for the decent and economical interment,
    at charges to be fixed by such by-laws, of any dead body
    which may be received into a mortuary.

Justice may in certain cases order removal of dead body to
mortuary.

39. Where the body of one who has died of any infectious
    disease is retained in a room in which persons live or
    sleep, or any dead body which is in such a state as to
    endanger the health of the inmates of the same house
    or room is retained in such house or room, any Justice
    may, on a certificate signed by a legally qualified medical
    practitioner, order the body to be removed, at the cost
    of the Local Board, to any mortuary provided by such
    Board, and direct the same to be buried within a time
    to be limited in such order; and unless the friends or rela-
    tions of the deceased undertake to bury the body within the
    time so limited, and do bury the same, it shall be the duty
    of the Board to cause such body to be buried; but any
    expense so incurred may be recovered by the Board in a
    summary manner from any person legally liable to pay the
    expense of such burial.

Any person obstructing the execution of an order made
by a Justice under this section shall be liable to a
penalty not exceeding five pounds.

Power of Local Board to provide places for post-mortem examina-
tions.

40. Any Local Board may provide and maintain a proper
    place (otherwise than at a mortuary) for the reception of
    dead bodies during the time required to conduct any post-
    mortem examination ordered by a Coroner or other consti-
    tuted authority, and may make regulations with respect to
    the management of such place.

Where any such place has been provided, a Coroner or
other constituted authority may order the removal of the
body to and from such place for carrying out such post-
mortem examination, such costs of removal to be paid in
the same manner and out of the same fund as the costs
and fees for post-mortem examinations when ordered by the
Coroner.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Conference of Sanitary Commissioners.

Colonial Secretary’s Office,
Wellington, 9th May, 1900.

THE following resolutions, passed at a Conference of
Sanitary Commissioners, are published for general
information.

J. G. WARD,
Colonial Secretary.

——————————————————————————————————————————

A CONFERENCE was held at the Government Buildings,
Wellington, on the 3rd May, 1900, when the following
gentlemen—who have recently been appointed to be Com-
missioners for the purpose of inquiring into and reporting
upon the sanitary condition of the colony—were present,
namely: Dr. J. M. Mason, Otaki, and J. A. Gilruth, Esq.,
Wellington, Commissioners for the colony; Dr. Kington
Fyffe, Wellington, Commissioner for the Provincial District
of Wellington; Dr. Symes, Christchurch, Commissioner for
the Provincial District of Canterbury; Dr. W. S. W. Roberts,
Dunedin, Commissioner for the Provincial District of Otago;
Dr. Torrance, Invercargill, Commissioner for the District of
Southland.

The Hon. J. G. Ward, Colonial Secretary, presided.

The following resolutions were passed by the Confer-
ence:—

INSPECTION OF VESSELS, ETC.

Oversea Ships.—That oversea vessels arriving in New Zea-
land be kept in quarantine for twenty-four hours for the pur-
poses of inspection.

Examinations of Passengers and Crews.—That, if the
period of quarantine be lessened, the examination of pas-
sengers and crew be made stricter.

Passengers by Oversea Vessels.—That, if the period of
quarantine be lessened, passengers arriving by oversea vessels
be under medical supervision for five days after landing, and
that they enter into a bond to report themselves twice during
that period, namely, on the second and fifth days.

Vessels in Quarantine.—That oversea vessels and their
cargo may be fumigated during their detention in quaran-
tine.

Fumigating Apparatus.—That, for the purpose of fumigat-
ing vessels and general cargo, the Conference advises ship-
ping companies to use the fumigator designed by Dr. Mason,
and manufactured by Messrs. Dunn, Smith, and Co., of
Auckland.

Duration of Fumigation.—That the period of fumigation
of vessels and cargo by approved pumping apparatus be
eight hours.

Preventing Rats from landing.—That a bond in regard to
preventing rats from coming ashore from vessels, on the lines
of that required in Victoria, be entered into by the owners
or masters of vessels.

Wharf-sheds.—That wharf-sheds in which cargo is stored
be fumigated from Saturday evening till Monday morning, a
pound of sulphur to be burned for every thousand cubic feet
of space.

Formalin.—That cargo likely to be injured by sulphur-
fumes be disinfected by means of formalin.

Trade between New Zealand Ports.—That, where it is con-
sidered that vessels leaving one port in New Zealand for
another port in the colony require special treatment, the
fumigation or other process required be carried out at the
port of departure.

Vessels calling at Infected Ports.—That, in the case of
vessels arriving from non-infected countries, but which have
called at an infected port en voyage, the Health Officer at
the port of arrival have a discretionary power in the appli-
cation of quarantine regulations.

Bluff Quarantine Station.—That it is desirable that a
quarantine station should be erected at the Bluff, to replace
that recently burned down, and that the former site be used
for the purpose.

MAILS.

Landing of Mails.—That, upon a Health Officer reporting
a ship as being free from infectious disease, Her Majesty’s
mails be permitted to be landed when they have been pro-
perly fumigated in accordance with the general regulations,
and to the satisfaction of the Health Officer.

Where Mails may be fumigated.—That the fumigation of
mails be permitted at the various quarantine stations, or
upon vessels in harbour.

Postal Officials.—That, where postal officials are called
upon, in the execution of their duty, to fumigate mails from
infected places, no danger would follow their being allowed
to return to duty from vessels which a Health Officer clears
as free from infectious disease, providing that the officials
and their clothing have been thoroughly disinfected to the
satisfaction of the Health Officer.

San Francisco Mail-steamers.—That the Auckland
Sanitary Commissioner and the Auckland Health Officer be
a Board to act as they think desirable so far as outward
passengers, mails, and cargo for the San Francisco mail-
steamers are concerned.

Motuihi Island.—That it is not necessary to burn the
clothes of the men who land mails at Motuihi Island, the
Auckland quarantine station.

RATS.

Destruction of Rats.—That the destruction of rats is of
vital importance; that local bodies are earnestly urged to
take all means possible to that end; that, in addition to
resorting to poisoning, a price per head be offered for the
dead bodies of the animals; that rat-poison be supplied
gratuitously by local bodies.

Rat-poison.—That as an efficient rat-poison the following
be adopted: Two parts of white arsenic to one of pollard,
scented with oil of rhodium or oil of aniseed.

A Day for Rat-killing.—That a day be set apart for the
destruction of rats by the general laying of poison and other
methods, and that the local bodies throughout the colony be
recommended to observe for that purpose a day hereafter to
be fixed.

Handling of Rats.—That, as it is dangerous to have rats
carried indiscriminately through towns, the Conference
strongly urges that local bodies should make arrangements
to have them conveyed in the early morning by scavengers
to the place of cremation, and that where this method is
impracticable the Conference suggests, but does not recom-
mend, that the dead rats be dipped in boiling water or kero-
sene, or some other disinfectant, and then wrapped in a
cloth and taken to the place of cremation.

Disease among Rats.—That all cases of rats dying from
unexplained causes be reported by the public to the police,
who should in turn at once report them to the Health Com-
missioner for the district, who will immediately give instruc-
tions in the matter.

Rat-guards.—That rat-guards on ships’ hawsers be from
12 in. to 24 in. in diameter.