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

323
people - at Brighton in September 1876, at Sorell in February, 1878, at
Longley in October, 1879, and at Bellerive in June , 1880 .
In each of
these epidemics , Hall's unsparing, exhaustive enquiries were ab le to trace
the passage of infection ultimately to the pollution of drinking water
supp lies , or to some form of bad sanitation in the district.l S
considerab ly.
Two events of a widely different character heartened Hall
The first of these was the reorganization of a system of
public vaccination against smallpox owig to several cases occurring in
New South Wales, After being entirely suspended from 1868 to 1877 ,
vaccination was recommenced in February, 1877.
occasion for him.
The evening of May 14, 1878, was a particularly memorab le
Although his deafness prevented him from hearing all
that was said, Hall attended a lecture, 11Water Supply in Relation to
Disease11, given to the Royal Society by the Bishop of Tasmania.
lecturer quoted from Denison 's 11Report on the State of Woolwich and
As the
Salisbury, 184511 and Hall's own two lectures on 11Hydraulics11 given to the
Royal Society in 1863, 'the evening was full of memories .
In his 1 ast
pub lie speech on 11Sani tation11, Hall thanked the Bishop for supporting his
work as 11Health Officer11:
.... for when respected and int elligent gentlemen took up
sanitary subjects it would have much more weight with
Government and local authorities than anonymous letters in
the newspapers .
As he had predicted fifteen years ago the diseases in Hobart Town most
influenced by impure water supply had decreased.
wish dear to his heart:
Sadly he expressed a
.... Could other sanitary improvements be made to effect
a similar reduction in other diseases he would go to his
grave satisfied that his labours in the cause had not
been fruitless . l6
On March 29, 1880, Hall published a very special Health Report ,
part of which is included here as a tribute to his great friend and
co-worker, Abbott .
This month I have to deplore , for the first time in
twenty-five years, the want of the elaborate and valuab le
Monthly Meteorological Table, compiled from the daily
observations made during that long period by the
15
16
CSD 10/44/866, 10/58/1393, 10/75/1890, 10/76/1957, 10/79/2061,
11/2/1898 .
The Bishop of Tasmania, 11Water Supply in relation to Disease'1 ,
P.P.R.S. , May 1878.