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PDF (Whole thesis) - UTas ePrints - University of Tasmania

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167<br />

establishment <strong>of</strong> a new cemetery on a peninsula in the Sandy Bay area;<br />

the use <strong>of</strong> charcoal for packing round corpses -<br />

.... it will absorb the fluids and prevent such horrib le<br />

sights as have been witnessed in the streets <strong>of</strong> Hobart Town ;<br />

the use <strong>of</strong>··glazed earthenware or strong green glass for pipes (lead to<br />

be avoided) ;<br />

the building <strong>of</strong> fountains at every turn to purify the air;<br />

the construction <strong>of</strong> large high reservoirs to enable water to be piped to<br />

the highest storey i a tenement;<br />

that<br />

the establishment <strong>of</strong> public baths so<br />

.... the \veary and begrimed labourer or mechanic would<br />

readily take at least weekly a cleans ing, refreshing<br />

salutary bath, hot or cold . .... Surely it is a disgrace<br />

to this city under its more sunny- influences and with its<br />

upwards <strong>of</strong> 20,000 inhab itants that such a provision has<br />

not long-since been made here . In such a climate bathing<br />

becomes not only a luxury but almost a necessity . The<br />

few sea sheds for cold sea-bathing at Sandy Bay are<br />

miserably inadequate for a community like this . We<br />

ought to have baths - hot, cold, vapor and medicated,<br />

shower , slipper and swimming - <strong>of</strong> sea water and fresh water,<br />

numerous and ch eap enough to be accessib le to all ....<br />

Needless to say, these ten articles were a fascinating<br />

indictment <strong>of</strong> Hobart Town in 1856 and the urge to quote at length is<br />

almost irresistible. However, to many residents <strong>of</strong> the city ·the ·<br />

subj ect <strong>of</strong> Pub lie Health \vas a bore \vhich arous ed their impatience and<br />

annoyance;<br />

Hall was accused <strong>of</strong> being a very well-meaning man, but too<br />

busy, too meddling , too interfering;<br />

in fact, he was riding his<br />

hobby-horse to death . But still he persisted; the memory <strong>of</strong><br />

three carts, one after the other , laden with the most<br />

<strong>of</strong>fensive manure, annoying , disgusting , nauseating<br />

every wyfarer in that busy street and leaving a<br />

poisonous train <strong>of</strong> stench <strong>of</strong> great strength and<br />

persistence ·<br />

still in his nostrils;<br />

and the sight <strong>of</strong><br />

.... the bearers <strong>of</strong> c<strong>of</strong>fins from one <strong>of</strong> our pub lic institutions<br />

covered with streams <strong>of</strong> disgusting and most <strong>of</strong>fensive matter,<br />

as they were carrying the dead to their last home ....<br />

still in his eyes;<br />

and that figure, that shocking figure <strong>of</strong> more than<br />

two hundred lives sacrificed last year in Hobart Town , still in his mind -<br />

all due to the neglect <strong>of</strong> the mo st ordinary laws <strong>of</strong> sanitary science , which<br />

for many years past had been satisfactorily demonstrated by the great<br />

scientists <strong>of</strong> Europe.<br />

Busy as he was with his medical practice, his writing, his<br />

fami ly , his participation in the affairs <strong>of</strong> his church , Hall yet found time<br />

to consider other aspects <strong>of</strong> the health and welfare <strong>of</strong> the people.<br />

July 16 he attended a meeting at the Mechanics ' Institute, held in aid <strong>of</strong><br />

On

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