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129
Health in England" taken from the London Morning Post the Colonist
\'lrote:
The \'lay in \'lhich many localities in this city are choked \'lith
filth is positively frightful as regards public health, and
on this subject it is the duty of the press to speak out, so
that steps may be taken to remedy the evil .
On December 15 , the Courier, too, caustically condemned the Hobart To\m
Corporation for its failure to take action over the last t\oJelve month s,
The Corporation have nothing to sho\'1. They have met sel dom ,
proposed little and done nothing .
Three \'leek s later , on January 9, 1854, the Colonist called for a public
meeting to consider whether the Rivulet should be covered over .
The stench in some parts of the city is occasionally almost
suffo cating, in consequence of the hot, dry winds .
Something must be done, regardless of cost, to prevent the
nauseous collections of filth remaining longer or some
fatal disease may be expected to visit Hobart To\m .
During the summer months the prevalence of a severe drought greatly
increased fears of a \'lor se outbreak of disease;
already measles was
affecting many children .
But , suddenly, the situation changed
dramat ically;
like other freaks of nature which occur unexpectedly from
time to time, there nm-1 happened in Hobart Town a series of calami ties
which, though personally and economically disastrous , were undoubtedly
beneficial to the Public Health .
To\oJards the end of January , a fire
broke out in one of the sheds encroaching over the Rivulet in Liverpool
Street and destroyed many houses and other buildings abutting on the
creek.
Again, on February 26 , after months of hot, dry weather , the
drought broke \'lith four inches of rain falling during a night and
morning .
Al tho_ugh all the houses at the lo\oJer end of Collins Street
wer flooded, two houses carried away , cellars inundated, much
merchandise lost and t\oJO prisoners drowned, the flood \'las beneficial in
that it removed accumulated rubb ish, scoured and cleaned drains , and
removed obstructions to the Rivulet .
Once again, on March 4, Denison
stood at the lecture desk of the Royal Society to address the memb ers
and the Public "On the Heavy Fall of Rain in Hobart Town on the 26th
and 27th of February , 1854, \'lith reference to the Sewerage and Drainage
of the city. " 4
Ho\oJever , no sooner were the citizens recovered than the
rains came again on March 23 \'lith even greater intensity .
The present inundat ion \'las prefaced by an inces sant shower
which fell from Saturday night and the sub sequent day .
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4 W. Denison, "On the Heavy Fall of Rain in Hobart Town on the 26th and
27th of February ,- 1854, with reference to the Sewerage and Drainage
of the city11, P.P.R.S. , 1855 , pp . 1-5 .