Adelaide - Public Health
Miscellany
Insanitary Adelaide
(Taken from Geoffrey H. Manning's A Colonial Experience)
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[In 1846 it] lay panting and sweating..., hot as Hades and as wicked. Stifling
smoke from bush fires on the hills, plenty of dust, sand flies, cockroaches,
flat insects and fleas numerous and big enough to lift one off the ground.
(Register, 25 June 1904, page 6.)
There are, in the multitude of social reformers, some who seem anxious to go backwards, and who speak with reverent enthusiasm of the simple serenity of our forbears, which looks so attractive when compared with the complicated urgencies of the twentieth century. People who feel genuinely distressed that they did not live the best years of their life more than half a century ago will, I trust, find solace when they read about the horrible nuisances in Adelaide in the latter half of the 1840s.
Today, Adelaide is famed for its cleanliness. However, in 1848, the year I removed to Norwood, its condition was not only highly disgusting, but a menace to any one who was so unfortunate as to breathe its fetid air. Its miserable hovels cried in vain for the intervention of any pretence of municipal government between the rapacity of the landlord and the helpless dependency of the tenant.
The general state of the city was filthy in the extreme; nor is it to be wondered at, when you consider the fact that deposits of every description, emanating from the ever-increasing population, had been allowed to remain and accumulate on the surface ever since the year 1836 - we literally lived on a dunghill of nearly thirteen years standing. Carcases of horses and bullocks lay exposed, garnished with heaps of putrescent animal and vegetable matter of every description.
In the neighbourhood of East Terrace, on the north side of Peacock's tanyard, a row of eight habitations (I cannot call them houses), were divided into 16 tenements, the upper of which were accessible only by means of open stairs, or rather stepladders, in the rear. Their dimensions were only 10 feet by 12 feet and had 100 persons occupying them, all of whom were compelled to use the same convenience, which adjoined one of the ladders, and stood within two feet of the house. Many died there from fever. On the west side of this structure stood 12 houses belonging to the same landlord, all thickly inhabited and having but one privy among them.
The substandard dwellings occupied by the working class were described in the following descriptive prose:
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There are scores of large families that exist and transact all the mysteries
of cooking, washing, sleeping, etc., in two small rooms - in these two aromatic
rooms where sick and healthy, not forgetting pigs, goats and poultry, are
squeezed together, and quarrelling in heat, rum and dirt, a large number
of infants are brought crying into the world.
No wonder they weep, poor little things, but few remain long to enjoy life under such disadvantages - their little lights are soon put out like candles down foul wells - they soon find themselves in West Terrace Cemetery...
It is a custom on Christmas Day for the rich to wake up and remember the poor and hungry, just as some people think of religion that, like fine clothes, must be put on only on Sundays, or as we were only Christians on Christmas Day...
The same correspondent was to write again with further insight and compassion:
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If the poor had clean healthy houses to live in there would be less sickness,
misery, drunkenness and crime, better morals and consequent increased happiness
and prosperity... All wealth is wasted that does not honour God and benefit
man ... but no real good can be accomplished until the poor have improved
houses to dwell in; for as a clean soul cannot exist in a vicious body, neither
can religion or morality thrive in filthy hovels.
Home is, as it were, a sacred well, whose waters give life and happiness... Building grand churches or recklessly giving alms does little good, because so many of the poor make the public house their church...'
An abominable nuisance emanated from Mr Clarke's brewery in Gilles Street. There was a natural hollow intersecting the public thoroughfare and the largest part of this depression was filled with beer drainings and slush from the brewery and covered an area from 60 to 100 yards. This nuisance, bad enough in itself, was aggravated by carbonic acid gas given off from fermenting vats. This was a favourite pool for the daily wallowing of pigs which were attracted by the odour.
Perhaps I should explain that domestic animals roamed freely throughout the city and environs. For instance, an individual seeing his neighbours pig astray, took down his gun and deliberately shot it. He was, apparently, unaware that under such circumstances he exposed himself not only to a fine of £5 for shooting in the public streets, but to an action for damages in the Magistrates' Court. The law stated that should pigs be found on a neighbour's ground, they had the liberty to impound them and could claim damages for trespass.
There was a narrow street opposite Wakeham's public house in Grenfell Street leading to Pirie Street, where several tenements were huddled together in such a manner as to defy cleanliness and ventilation. Owing to the total absence of drainage, in winter the roadway was a mass of mud, while a slaughter house and piggery extended one half the way and the abominations from the brewery poisoned the other. Combined, they occasioned an abominable stench at all seasons. And that was not all, for in the same vicinity were a tannery and chandlery which poured their foul emissions on the luckless inhabitants whenever the wind blowed from certain quarters.
The glorious Park Lands were also subjected to human degradation as day by day, from natural decay, hastened by imperfect attention, from the fires of wandering natives and the midnight axe of lawless depredators, the old native timber gradually disappeared. You, the reader, may well ask as to what solutions were brought forward to counter these evils - I append them in tabular form:
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Empty the cesspools, cleanse the yards, and streets,
Banish fellmongers and pigs, burn or bury all filth,
Do not allow two butchers, greengrocers or candle-makers to carry on trade on the same acre,
Cause the eaves of the houses to be furnished with gutters, the footways to be paved,
The cesspools to be covered over and provided with stink-traps,
Allow no slaughtering of any description within the town, and,
Until proper sewers can be constructed let wells be sunk at the corners of each streets, into which gutters containing the refuse water should be directed,
Water should be laid on to each house as early as possible - the Torrens water from near the Frome Bridge would be found the best and cheapest,
Appoint an officer with power to inspect premises and enforce cleanliness, repairs of drains and gutters and burial of filth, etc.,
Appoint public scavengers and nightmen to act under him,
1Require all future erections to have back, as well as front entrances, and to have at least one window and a chimney in each room,
Houses to be roofed with slate and be furnished with proper drains, closets, etc.
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On leaving Gilles Arcade, make all sail northward, and beat around to the west
at the opposite corner. Here a practicable fence in about one fathom of mud
will carry the active voyager safely to Solomon's. Cross to the blacksmith's
shop, which is a favourite spot, the mud shoaling to about half a fathom...
A short distance ahead is a little church, in which if you reach it in safety,
you may return thanks and offer alms.
Finally, man's 'best friend' was the subject for complaint from a long-suffering citizen:
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As I know you love a nuisance, permit me to introduce one to you in the shape
of a dead dog, swollen to about four feet in circumference, now lying between
North Terrace and the Railway Terminus. Should you be passing either the
corner of Morphett Street or King William Street, your exquisite sense of
smell will at once lead you to the exact spot.
General Notes
"Insanitary Adelaide - Horrible Nuisances of the Early Days [1840s]" is
in the Observer,
16 April 1921, page 11d.
Under the heading "The Public Health" the Register of
4 June 1845, page 2f and
4 September 1847, page 2a says:
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It is lamentable to know that up to this moment no attention has been paid
to [sewerage] arrangements so indispensable to the health, the cleanliness
and the comfort of our rising capital.
Now upwards of ten years have elapsed since Adelaide became a city, and
we believe that scarcely one attempt has been made to empty a cesspool
or sweep a yard... As jackals, hyenas, vultures, pelicans et id genus omnes
in some measure cleanse the large towns of the East, so goats and pigs
were at one time the scavengers of Adelaide; imperfect operators it is
true, but still better than none, and it is remarkable that our wise legislators
should have banished these animals until they were prepared to substitute
a better and more efficient corps.
(Also see Register, 22 December 1847, page 2c.)
"Improvements in Adelaide - Its Sanatory Condition" is in the South Australian,
5 March 1847, page 4c.
A letter about street drainage appears on
18 May 1847, page 3d.
"The Public Health" is in the Observer,
22 May 1847, page 4b.
"The Cholera, The Plague and Public Nuisances" is in the South Australian,
10 March 1848, page 2e.
"The Sanitary Meeting" is in the Register,
10 and 24 February 1849, pages 2e-3a and 4a,
"The Sanitary Question" on
7 March 1849, page 4d; also see
Observer,
10 February 1849, page 1d.
"Health of the City" is in the South Australian,
9 February 1849, page 2:
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The general state of the city is filthy in the extreme; nor is it to be wondered
at, when you consider the fact that deposits of every description, emanating
from our ever-increasing population, have been allowed to remain and accumulate
on the surface ever since the year 1836; so that we are literally living
on a dunghill of nearly thirteen years standing... Carcasses of horses and
bullocks lie exposed, garnished with heaps of putrescent animal and vegetable
matter of every description.
(Also see South Australian, 11 June 1850, page 2c.)
"Bathing and Baths" is in the Register,
30 January 1851, page 3e:
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The importance of bathing is now generally admitted; not only as a powerful
means of preserving health, but in many cases, under advice, efficient in
restoring it...
Proposed Turkish baths are discussed in the Register,
5 March 1867, page 3a.
Catholic Herald,
19 October 1867, page 16.
Also see South Australia - Swimming.
"Municipal and Sanitary Improvements" is in the Register,
20 September 1853, page 2e; also see
29 September 1854, page 3g,
8 December 1854, page 2d.
"The City Drainage" is in the Observer,
10 December 1853, page 1a (supp.),
Register,
14 August 1856, page 2c,
"The Drainage of Adelaide" on
26 December 1857, page 2e,
"Sanitary Condition of Adelaide" on
20 and 27 January 1859, pages 3e and 3b.
"The Corporation Amendment Act" is in the Observer,
13 January 1855, page 6d.
"Summer Odours" is in the Observer,
15 December 1855, page 1f (supp.).
"Sanitary Movements" is in the Register,
2 January 1856, page 3c.
"City Drainage and Water Works" is in the Observer,
14 June 1856, pages 5f-6e,
16 August 1856, page 6b.
"The City Butchers" is in the Observer,
27 September 1856, page 6g.
"The Public Health" is in the Observer,
20 November 1858, page 5f.
"Primitive Drainage [of the 1860s]" is in the Register,
21 June 1926, page 11d.
"City Drainage" is in the Register,
24 February 1863, page 2c,
17 August 1865, page 2g,
24 August 1865, page 3c,
2 September 1865, page 3b,
2 August 1866, page 2e,
25 September 1866, page 3g,
8 October 1866, page 3f,
8 November 1866, page 2c.
"Sanitary Measures" is in the Register,
28 November 1863, page 2f-3d:
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The unusual mortality which has prevailed justifies, if it does not demand,
our calling attention to those preventative measures which are within our
power, and which in other parts of the world have been found so effective.
Also see Register,
28 November 1863, page 3d,
1 and 8 December 1863, pages 3e and 3g,
28 January 1864, page 3e,
5 February 1864, page 2f,
Advertiser,
28 November 1863, page 2g,
11 December 1863, page 2d.
"The Mortality of the City" is in the Register,
21 March 1864, page 3f,
9 April 1864, page 3b:
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The town of Adelaide is twice as unhealthy as the country... Each house in
[Russell Street] has a garden at the back and most of their inhabitants keep
pigs... Let not the inhabitants of Adelaide rest supine in the belief that
they inhabit an airy, well-built town, supplied with the purest water, for
death may be rising up out of some neglected surface drain at their very
doors, to strike down, perhaps, the fairest of their little flock.
Also see Register,
30 April 1864, page 3e,
5 and 6 September 1865, pages 3d and 2d,
9, 19, 24, 25 and 26 April 1866, pages 2e, 3h, 2d, 3a and 2e,
5 May 1866, page 3a.
"The Drainage of Adelaide Considered and Its Scientific Aspects" is in the Observer,
26 August 1865, page 4f.
The need for a medical board is discussed in the Observer,
9 April 1864, page 1a (supp.).
"Public Health and Sanitation" is in the Advertiser,
1 June 1864, page 2e,
"City Drainage" on
22 January 1866, page 2g.
"The Power of Corporations Over Nuisances" is in the Express,
23 May 1865, page 2b.
"Preventable Diseases" is in the Register,
23 July 1866, page 2e.
The foul condition of some housing is described in the Register,
27 August 1866, page 2g:
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On entering [the house] I became sensible of a most offensive smell... I was
told that it was occasioned by the closets at the back; that there were only
two belonging to the row of five houses, in which dwelt eight families, consisting
in all of about 20 souls... In wet weather this place overflowed and that
the water, etc, flowed in at the back door...
An editorial titled "The Health of the City" is in the Register,
26 January 1867, page 2d; also see
10 April 1867, page 2b:
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At present we are simply allowing dirt to accumulate, thus justifying the remark
that the whole town is being built on a foot or two of dung.
You look for the gay villa and you see a butcher's yard or candle factory. You expect the smell of new-mown hay and your nostrils receive an odour as from forty dead bullocks - such being the calculation made sometime ago in the Supreme Court by one who spoke from experience...
"The Health of the City" is in the Observer,
27 April 1867, page 6d,
4 January 1868, page 12c.
A homoeopathic dispensary is discussed in the Express,
8 May 1867, page 2d,
17 June 1868, page 3b,
11 August 1869, page 2b,
Observer,
1 April 1871, page 3d,
24 August 1872, page 8c.
"Cleansing the City" is in the Register,
26 December 1867, page 2d,
17 February 1868, page 2f.
"The Public Health and Its Municipal Guardians" is in the Register,
3 July 1868, page 2d:
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The ducts in the East Parklands, which were to save and utilise sewage, only
added another to the growing list of nuisances. The surface drainage which
has been made, under the impression that it would soon be superseded, only
concentrates the filth it is intended to remove... For a city possessed of
sanitary laws and sanitary appliances, Adelaide is cruelly deceiving itself.
"Sanitary Reform" is in the Advertiser,
23 September 1868, page 2d:
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Cesspools, rubbish heaps, putrefying matter - vegetable and animal - stagnant
puddles, and a surface soil charged with the elements of malaria are to be
found in this city...
"Draining the City" is in the Observer,
31 December 1870, page 12c,
"Sewage and Drainage" on
11 February 1871, pages 13d-14f,
"Utilizing Sewage" on
21 October 1871, page 9a.
"Nuisances in the City and Suburbs" is in the Register,
17 and 28 January 1871, pages 6b and 6c.
An occurrence of diseased meat in the City is discussed at length in the Register -
19 and 28 April 1871, pages 5b and 6c,
5, 6, 8 and 9 May 1871, pages 5f-6e, 5f, 6b and 3f.
"Poisoned Meat" is in the Register,
12 and 19 April 1871, pages 5b and 5b,
5 May 1871, page 6e,
Observer,
15 and 22 April 1871, pages 3a-f and 13g,
13 May 1871, page 10c-g,
"Butchers' Meat" in the Express,
25 and 28 May 1880, pages 2b and 2g.
"City Sanitation" is in the Express,
17 December 1872, page 2c.
"Typhoid Fever in the City" is in the Register,
10 December 1872, page 4e.
"Typhoid Fever Nuisances" is in the Observer, ,
21 December 1878, page 11f, 4 January 1879, page 3d.
A report on typhoid fever is in the Register, ,
17 April 1882, page 4f;
also see 18 and 21 April 1882, pages 4d and 2 May 1882, page 4g, 14 March 1884,
pages 4g-7c,
30 May 1884, page 4f, 27 June 1884, page 4g, 23 March 1887, page 5a, 8,
10 and 13 January 1896, pages 5a, 5d and 4f-6d, 12 February 1897, page 6g,
Express, ,
12 January 1898, page 4a,
Register, ,
6 May 1898, page 4f, 25 March 1901, page 4d, 3 December 1913, page 13c.
"Typhoid and Drainage" is in the Register, ,
20 May 1895, page 4e.
Also see South Australia - Health.
"The Sanitary Condition of the City" is in the Observer,
23 and 30 March 1872, pages 3g and 13c,
"The Sanitary State of Adelaide" in the Register on
11 December 1872, page 5b.
"Sewage and Drainage" is in the Register,
3 February 1871, page 4f; also see
8 February 1871, page 4f,
Observer,
16 March 1872, page 10c,
Register,
12 July 1875, page 4f,
18, 22 and 27 June 1877, pages 6e, 4e and 4d,
2, 4, 9, 14, 16, 17, 19, 27, 31 July 1877, pages 4d, 7c-g, 7b, 6g, 4e, 6c,
4c, 4f, and 5a,
17 August 1877, page 4f,
Observer
19 January 1878, page 18f and
Parliamentary Paper 63/1878.
Nuisances in the form of "regular Arabs" are reported in the Observer,
20 July 1872, page 15c.
"Imperfect Drainage" is in the Advertiser,
14 February 1873, page 3c.
"The Health of Towns Question" is in the Observer,
15 March 1873, page 13f:
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The sources of those foul odours with which citizens of Adelaide have perforce
become familiar still remain untouched. There is scarcely a breeze that blows
from the suburbs but comes laden with noxious vapours... But this is not
all or even the worst of the evil... The effluvium arising from watertables,
cesspits, and vegetable refuse left to rot in backyards or in the open streets
bears constant and pungent witness to the defective scavenging arrangements
of the Corporation.
Scavenging is discussed in the Observer,
5 April 1873, page 13c,
3 May 1873, page 13b,
14 February 1874, page 13g,
17 and 24 April 1875, pages 8a and 13d,
Register,
3 July 1877, page 4d,
Express,
19 November 1886, page 4a,
6 February 1895, page 3f.
The subject of "Public Health" is discussed by a citizen and the editor of
the Register - see
30 September 1873, page 7a and
11 October 1873, page 4f,
9 April 1874, page 4e,
28 July 1875, pages 4f-5d,
19 August 1875, page 4d.
"Health of Towns" is in the Express,
13 October 1873, page 2c.
"Town Sewers" is in the Observer,
3 January 1874, page 2g; also see
10 January 1874, page 9f,
7 and 21 February 1874, pages 12e and 11a-13c.
"The Public Health Act and the Adelaide Corporation" is in the Observer,
17 and 31 January 1874, pages 13b and 13e,
18 April 1874, page 2e.
"The Adelaide Local Board of Health" is in the Observer,
7 March 1874, page 13b.
"The Adelaide Health Regulations" is in the Observer,
21 March 1874, page 13b-c,
"Sanitary Affairs" on
21 November 1874, page 6f,
"The Milk Supply of the City" on
28 August 1875, page 13d,
"Adulteration of Milk" in the Chronicle,
21 August 1875, page 5; also see
Express,
17 August 1875, page 2b,
18 April 1884, page 3d.
"Deep Drainage" is in the Express,
21 and 26 April 1875, pages 3b and 3b,
"Death Rate in Adelaide" in the Express,
27 April 1875, page 2a.
"A Song for the City", a poem dedicated to the opponents of sanitary reform,
is in the Observer,
5 May 1877, page 14b.
A "moral remonstrance" aimed at city councillors is in the Observer,
28 July 1877, page 13e.
A poem entitled "The South Park Drain" is in the Observer,
22 December 1877, page 13f.
"The Drainage of Adelaide" is in the Observer,
19 January 1878, page 18f,
"Sanitary Legislation" on
31 May 1879, page 10d.
"The Disposal of Sewage" is in the Register,
22 October 1878, page 4e,
12 April 1879, page 4d.
"Sanitary Legislation" is in the Register,
23 May 1879, page 4e,
23 May 1879, page 1f (supp.).
"The Sanitary Condition of Adelaide" is in the Register,
12 January 1884, page 4e.
"The Sewer-Gas Nuisance and Its Reality" is in the Register,
9 May 1884, page 6b.
"The Board of Health Report" is in the Register,
22 July 1880, pages 4f-6c; also see
9 June 1885, page 4h.
"What Are Our Health Officers Doing?" is in the Register,
31 July 1880, page 4f.
Information on the sewage farm is in the Register,
2 March 1881, page 4g,
11 January 1892, page 6d.
"The Health of the People" is in the Register, ,
23 May 1884, page 4e.
"Sanitation" is in the Express, ,
7 January 1875, page 2b.
"City Drainage" is in the Chronicle, ,
1 May 1875, page 13a-e.
The formation of a Sanitation Committee is announced in the Register, ,
23 September 1875, page 5a.
"The Health of the City" is in the Observer, ,
24 June 1876, page 7f.
A report of the Sanitation Commission appears on 1 July 1876, page 19b,
"The City Drainage Bill" on 8 July 1876, page 13b, 31 March 1877, page 16a.
"The Central Board of Health and the Corporation" is in the Register, ,
1 August 1876, page 4d.
"The Health of the City" is in the Advertiser, ,
20 December 1876, page 1f (supp.).
"Mortality in Adelaide" is in the Observer, ,
9 and 30 December 1876, pages 13d and 2g-5a.
"The Corporation and Sanitary Affairs" is in the Observer,,
10 February 1877, page 13b.
"The Deep Drainage Question" is in the Register, ,
26 June 1877, page 6g, 2, 4, 17 and 27 July 1877, pages 4d, 7c, 4c and 4d.
"City Mortality and Drainage" is in the Register,
13, 16, 17 and 26 November 1877, pages 4c-6e-g, 4e, 6a and 6d,
10 and 12 December 1877, pages 6e and 5g; also see
Advertiser, ,
8 December 1884, page 6e.
Comment on the city's mortality rate is in the Observer, ,
13 August 1881, page 33b.
"The Drainage of Adelaide" is in the Chronicle,,
7 July 1877, page 10b,
Observer, ,
19 January 1878, page 18f.
Editorials on sanitation are in the Advertiser, ,
28 January 1878, page 4f, 28 February 1878, page 4d.
Information on health societies is in the Express, ,
28 January 1878, page 3b.
"Mr Clark's Drainage Scheme" is in the Chronicle,,
2 February 1878, page 5b, 22 June 1878, page 5f.
A lecture on "Healthy Households" is in the Register,,
22 June 1878 (supp.), page 1;
also see Express, , 22 and 25 June 1878, pages 3c and 2c.
"The Central Board of Health" is in the Observer,,
9 August 1879, page 11g.
The proposed sewage farm is discussed in the Register,,
18 July 1879, page 5g, 8 August 1879, pages 4f-5b, 11 October 1879, page 4e.
A visit to it is reported on 2 September 1882, page 6f.
Sketches are in the Pictorial Australian, in July 1885, page 124.
Also see Observer, ,
10 September 1887, page 7c,
Express,,
23 and 26 July 1888, pages 3g and 3d, 1 February 1895, page 4c and under Islington.
Sanitary conditions are discussed in the Register,,
24 January 1879, pages 4g and 5f, 5 February 1879, page 6e,
12 February 1879, page 1d (supp.), 2 April 1879, page 4b, 8 May 1879, page
4e.
On 13 February 1879, page 4d the editor proclaims:
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Day after day we receive letters complaining of pestilence-breeding pools of
stagnant water, of foul drains and gutters, of accumulations of putrefying
rubbish in the streets and of sickening stenches proceeding from a hundred
other noxious sources.
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It may have been thought that Adelaide's stinks had been pretty well purged
but [this report] will dispel the delusion. This smell may be recommended
as a distinctive straight forward stink about which there is no guile. It
rises in the air in a bold, comprehensive manner, and can be recognised at
once without any previous introduction...
18 July 1879, page 5g;
also see 21 July 1879, page 6e, 8 and 16 (supp.) August 1879, pages 5b and 2d, 2 March 1881, page 4g.
"Healthy Dwellings" is in the Register, ,
24 April 1880 (supp.), page 1g;
also see 3 and 5 May 1880, pages 4f-6g and 7b, 29 June (supp.) 1880, page 1f.
The drainage of the city is discussed in the Observer, ,
29 May 1880, page 893e.
"The Adelaide Sewers" is in the Advertiser, ,
22 May 1880, page 6f,
Register,
24 October 1881, page 1a (supp.), 27 February 1892, page 4f.
"Health of the City" is in the Observer, ,
11 December 1880, page 989a.
"Modern Progress in Sanitation" is in the Register,,
15 December 1880, page 4f.
"City Drainage Scheme" is in the Register, ,
10 January 1881, page 5g.
"The Public Health" is in the Register, ,
5 August 1881, page 4f.
"The Adelaide Eye Infirmary" is in the Register, ,
4 September 1880, page 4c,
Express,,
22 August 1881, page 2f,
Chronicle, ,
26 August 1882, page 21f,
Observer, ,
26 August 1882, page 34b, 11 July 1885, page 23d, 1 August 1885, page 29c.
A sketch is in the Pictorial Australian, in December 1880;
also see Frearson's Weekly,,
11 December 1880, pages 596-597 and under "Goodwood".
"Public Baths and Wash-Houses" is in the Express, ,
24 February 1881, page 2g.
"The Sanitary Charge of the City" is in the Register, ,
7 and 9 February 1882, pages 4g and 4d.
"The Sanitary Condition of the City" is in the Register, ,
22 and 23 February 1882, pages 4d and 4e,
Observer, , 22 April 1882, page 24d,
Register, , 1 November 1883, pages 4e-7a, 12 January 1884, page 4e:
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We venture to ask the Corporation that, instead of spending months in fruitless
discussion about the city baths, they should set to work promptly and vigorously
to improve the sanitary condition of Adelaide and to place the streets in
a fit state for traffic.
(Also see Register, 23 March 1887, page 5a.)
7 March 1882, page 4e.
"Sanitary Reform" is in the Register,,
25 April 1882, page 6f.
"The Deep Drainage System" is in the Register, ,
3 May 1882, page 4d.
A poem titled "Ye Odours of Adelaide" is in the Observer, ,
3 February 1883, page 25d; one verse reads:
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Oh! Ye who corporations run,
And hold the civic chair;
Now dread a people's deep revolt,
Of tortured souls beware.
5 and 11 October 1883, pages 4e-5a and 4g.
"Low Life in the City" in Rosina Street is described in the Advertiser, ,
11 October 1883, page 6a;
also see 20 and 23 October 1883, pages 6b and 6d, 1 November 1883, page 4d.
"The Central Board of Health" is in the Register, ,
13 October 1883, page 4g.
"Health of the City" is in the Chronicle,
8 December 1883, page 4d.
"The Health of the People" in the Register,
23 May 1884, page 4e.
"Public Health" is in the Register,,
30 July 1884, page 4c.
A proposal to form a branch of the St John's Ambulance Association is reported
in the Register, ,
13, 16 and 20 December 1884, pages 5a, 4h-7c and 5c,
Observer, ,
20 December 1884, page 36a.
Photographs are in the Chronicle, ,
1 December 1932, page 32.
Also see Saint John's Ambulance.
"A Visit to the Sewage Farm" is in the Advertiser,
4 July 1885, page 6b;
also see Observer, ,
9 January 1886, page 38b.
"The Sewage Farm" is in the Express, ,
8 February 1887, page 4b,
Register, ,
2 September 1887, page 6f,
Chronicle,,
22 March 1890, page 13d,
"The Sewage Farm and Sanitation" in the Observer,,
28 July 1888, pages 4d and 31b, 13 July 1895, page 29e, 16 March 1901, page
30a.
Also see under Islington.
"Sanitary Matters" is in the Register, ,
18 February 1886, page 4h.
"Condemning City Property" is in the Register, ,
21 April 1886, page 5b.
"The Health of Adelaide" is in the Register, ,
8 December 1886, page 4g,
"The Health of the City" on 15 May 1888, page 4g;
also see 31 August 1889, page 6h, 5 December 1891, page 4e, 29 January 1892,
page 7b, 11 March 1892, page 7g.
"City Sanitation" is in the Advertiser, ,
8 January 1894, page 4f.
"Foul Air, Drainage and Our Food Supply"is in the Register, 27 June
1895, page 4e;
also see 10, 13, 14 and 17 March 1896, pages 3h, 4h-7a, 6f and 7c, 3 and 9
February 1897, pages 7h and 7g.
"The Sanitary Condition of the City" is in the Register, ,
11 March 1892, page 7g.
"Diseased Meat for Food" is in the Register,
2 and 14 March 1896, pages 4e-5h and 6f.
"The Health Board on Their Rounds" is in the Register,
4 July 1896, page 7i.
"Protecting the Public Health" is in the Register,
8 October 1896, page 4e.
"Inspecting the City" is in the Register, ,
8 July 1897, page 6a.
"War Against Rats" is in the Express,
11 May 1900, page 2h,
"Rough on Rats - A Vigorous Campaign Suggested" is in the Register,
10 April 1900, page 6g.
"With the Sanitary Inspectors" on
17 May 1900, page 3e.
"Crusade Against Rats, Flies and Mosquitoes" is in the Register,
26 November 1912, page 6g.
"Rats an Enduring Problem" is in the Advertiser,
25 July 1914, page 19e,
"The Black Rat in Adelaide" in the Observer,
9 February 1916, page 43c,
Register,
30 March 1917, page 9a,
"Rats! - Keeping the City Clean" in the Register,
6 July 1918, page 7c,
"Adelaide for Health" on
26 November 1918, page 4d,
"Destruction of Rats" in the Register,
20 January 1920, page 6f,
6 February 1920, page 7e,
"Destroying Rats" in the Observer,
3 July 1920, page 5a,
"War on Rats" in the Register,
22 September 1921, page 7c; also see
2 December 1921, page 10f,
4 October 1922, page 7c,
2 December 1925, page 11g,
"Ridding the City of Rats" in The News,
29 April 1937, page 7d.
Also see under SA - Flora & Fauna.
"The Plague in Adelaide" is in the Advertiser, ,
15, 16, 17, 18 and 20 January 1900, pages 4d, 4f, 4e, 6g and 8f, 28 March 1900,
page 4d, 11 and 14 April 1900, pages 4d and 5e,
Express, ,
10 May 1900, page 2b.
"A New Sewage Scheme" is in the Register,
24 January 1900, page 4g.
"Bubonic Plague in Adelaide" is in the Register,
15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 23 January 1900, pages 4i, 4f-6c, 7c, 6f, 4d and 7e.
"The Fight With Filth" is in the Register,
2 April 1900, page 4h.
"Greater Adelaide - Its Relation to Public Health" is in the Register,
14 July 1900, page 9h.
"Dust and Disease" is in the Register,
10 October 1900, page 4h.
"Greater Adelaide Dairies" is in the Register,
23 March 1901, page 6h.
Also see under Milk Supply.
"Fighting Microbes - Purifying the Streets" is in the Advertiser,
14 and 16 December 1901, pages 10a and 4d:
-
Spitting on the pavements, or anywhere else, so that the sun can desiccate
the discharge and liberate the germs it perhaps contains, must be discouraged.
"Dress and Disease" is in the Register,
28 December 1901, page 4e.
An editorial on public health under the heading "Confidence and Common Sense" is
in the Advertiser,
19 February 1902.
"Cleansing the Capital - Tour Through the City" is in the Register,
9 September 1902, page 6d.
"The Health of Adelaide - Work of the City Authorities" is in the Register,
25 November 1902, page 8e.
A cartoon concerning "the spread of disease by municipal neglect" is in the Chronicle,
15 March 1902, page 33.
"A Metropolitan Board for Adelaide" is in the Register,
5 August 1902, page 6c.
"Sanitary Regulations for Barber Shops" is in the Register,
18 February 1903, page 6b.
A poem titled "The Barber" is in The Lantern,
6 November 1886, page 19.
"Plague Precautions" is in the Register,
3 March 1903, page 8b.
"Suburban Sanitation" is in the Register on
16 June 1903, page 8d,
18 August 1909, page 4f.
"Dirty Dwellings' is in the Register,
27 June 1903, pages 4g-6h.
"Annual Health Inspection" is in the Register,
25 June 1904, page 8h.
"Protecting the Public Health" is in the Register,
28 March 1905, page 7g,
28 June 1905, page 7g,
30 June 1906, page 11a.
"Simple Cures [for cancer, consumption, etc]" is in the Register,
30 March 1905, page 6c.
A photograph of the Adelaide committee of the Anti-Opium League is in the Chronicle,
5 August 1905, page 26,
Observer,
12 August 1905, page 27.
Also see under Adelaide - Chinese
Population.
"Scarlet Fever in the City" is in the Register,
26 April 1906, page 3a.
Also see under SA - Health.
"Black Spots of the City" is in the Register,
30 June 1906, page 11a.
"Health of Adelaide" is in the Register,
27 November 1906, page 7c.
"Behind the Scenes with the Sausage - A Disgrace to Civilisation" is in the Express,
8 and 13 August 1907, pages 4d and 3g.
"The Rehabilitation of the Sausage" is in the Advertiser,
13 February 1908, page 6d.
"Public Health" is in the Register,
18 November 1907, page 6c.
"Health of the Capital" is in the Register,
26 November 1907, page 10a.
"Revolting Conditions - In Bakeries and Butcheries" is in the Register,
18 May 1911, page 5a,
"Filthy Food Shops" on
15 June 1911, page 7e.
A photograph of a horse ambulance is in the Observer,
2 September 1911, page 32.
"Revolting, Dirty and Filthy - An Adelaide Butcher's Premises" is in the Register,
21 February 1912, page 7c.
"Protecting Public Health - Corporation Carters on Strike" is in the Register,
26 and 30 March 1912, pages 5c and 13d; also see
4, 5, 8, 10, 18 and 30 April 1912, pages 6c-8e, 5f, 4i, 6b, 4h and 6a,
1, 2 and 3 May 1912, pages 9c, 3c and 4f.
"Smallpox in Adelaide" is in the Register,
25 July 1913, pages 12d-13b-15b.
Also see under SA - Health.
"Supplying Fresh Foods - Hygienic Distributing Methods" is in the Register,
9 May 1914, page 11c.
"Calling the Ambulance" is in the Express,
24 September 1914, page 3f.
Also see under Saint John's Ambulance.
"Night Clinics" is in the Register,
25 October 1918, page 6c.
"Smells and - Smells!" is in the Register,
5 March 1919, page 6d.
"Health Menace - Dustbins That Breed Disease" is in The Mail,
18 November 1922, page 7g.
"Free from Dope Fiends" is in The News,
8 March 1924, page 6e.
"Cells of Death in the City - North Terrace Consumptive Home" is in The
News,
21, 24 and 26 November 1924, pages 11a, 5e and 1c.
Also see South Australia - Health.
"Treatment of Adelaide Sewage" is in the Advertiser,
2 May 1929, page 14h.
"Food Sleuths Guard the City's Health" is in The News,
4 January 1937, page 4g.
