The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-04
DIR. LIE HARDY DISAPPOINTED.
The City Councils Opposition to His
Measures.


! When DIR. LeHardy learned the result
of the meeting of the city council Wednes-
day afternoon and night he felt very
much like resigning his position as health
officer, On every matter before council,
in which he was interested, he had been
turned down. as il were.
The ordinance to relieve the health Of
| ficer of the duty of attending emergency
calls at the police barracks was defeated.
| Ihis is a sore point with the doctor, and
! he was disappointed at the action of coun-
Gil. The re-establishing of the city dis
pensary was another disappointment to
the health officer. He was opposed to this
because he did not believe that the dis
pensary could render as efficient and sat
lsfactory service as six or eight drug
stores scattered throughout the city. He
had gone to considerable trouble in plac-
ing the system of furnishing free pre-
scriptions to the poor by the drug stores
on different basis and at a lower rate,
as the result of which he believed the cost
to the city would be greatly reduced. The
decision of council to re-establsh the dis
pensary renders this work of no value.
Inc sorest disappointment of all, how
ever, was the failure to adopt the pail sys-
TEN and its renewal of the o. e. NJ con-
tract, thereby continuing the present OBJ
hoXlouS vault system. DIR. LeHardy had set
his heart upon doing away with these
vaults, of which there are about 1000 in
the city, and substituting the pail system
as the first important step towards a sys-
TEN of house drainage. The vaults once
filed in he felt that this menace to the
city's health would be removed forever
ana the public prepared for the introduce
ton of house drainage. He had discussed
this question with members of the sani-
tary board and council and had reason
to hope that his views met their approval
Consequently 1t was a great disappoint-
ment to him when council decided to con-
tinue the vault system.
Three disappointments coming together
made a pretty bad dose for man of DR..
LeHardy's temperament and it is
likely that he did more thinking than
sleeping Wednesday night. The new
health officer is not man to be downed
easily, however, and when he reached his
office yesterday morning he was cool and
determined. He had decided that he would
not tender his resignation, but that he
would perseVere in his efforts to make Sa-
Vannah the cleanest city in the country,
which he considers it far from being now.
My idea in accepting the position of
health officer was to make Savannah so
clean that we need no longer have any
fear of yellow fever" he said to
Morning News reporter yesterday.
Il am very sorry that council
does not agree with me in some of the
means, which I have devised towards this
end. consider it especially important
that these filthy, pestilential privy vaults
should be cleaned, and the last one of
them filled and close up. l believed this to
be the first step towards a system of house
drainage, the greatest need of the city to-
day. If the people of Savannah were
aware of the existence of the thousands of
these vaults and of the horrible condition
of their sewers, they would demand such
a system at once. If l live l expect, with
the cooperation of the members of the
sanitary board and of coun-
ell, to secure such sys-
tenn for the city before my term expires
Then I will be willing to give up the Of
flee. 1t is costing me 5000 year to hold
the position of health officer. That is
nothing to the people of Savannah, but it
at least entities me to their cooperation"
If DIR. LeHardy accomplshes the work
which he has laid out for himself, and it
is to be hoped that he will, he will have
solved most difficult question and earned
the right to be called a public benefactor.