Widnes Examiner. — 1907-01-12 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

SANITATION. management of its sanitaryl works at Longford,there are other aspects of the public health question in which th 3 town is miserably behind-hand. The worst system in vogue locally is that for the disposal of night-soil. Instead of beicg sent out in the small hours these noisome vehicles aro to be met in some districts quite early in the night poisoning the air and the unlucky•pedestrian at the same time. How much longer such relics of barbarism are to be tolerated we know not, but in any case the work might be carried out on less objectionable lines. Our sewerage system is I congested, and a legacy from the past. We cannot blame the Sanitary Committee of to-day, for they may well hesitate to enter upon a renewal scheme which would cost £lOO,OOO at least. But there are things which they have left undone, all the same. For instance, sewer ventilation in -War rington is obtained through the ordinary man-holes or street grids. Obviously it is inefficient for not long ago there was the distressing fatality caused by an accumulation of gases in one of the sewers. i Besides being inefficient it s unhealthy. Up-todate municipalities are constructing tall shafts which carry the sewer gases high above the streets and dissipate them in the open air. In some towns—even in Manchester—the hollow tramway standards have been connected with the sewers [and used as ventilating shafts. We believe this idea was suggested to the Warrington authorities long ago, but it has not been utilised. Manchester is tackling the question seriously and a suitable area is to be shortly ventilated by means of the trampoles. Is it not reasonable to suppose that we should never have had the Howley fatality if some such simple and efficient means of ventilation had been adopted? The idea is thoroughly practicable and we hope the health authorities of the town will show themselves to be alive to the necessities and improvements of the day.  Of all social organisations AN Aarrr-Surerne the Salvaticon Army is BURE certainly the one which gets down quickest to the bed rock of the needs of the in ISieg. Is scope and uplifting pewer are immense and moreover it is never " weary in well-doing." Tee latest Army venture is unique, and charactsristic of General Booth's unflinching resolve to feel a remedy wherever he locates a social disease. Until the dawn of the present year an " ti-Suicide Bureau " had never been heard of,, but thanks to "the General" and his capable organisers it already exists-and has begun wcrk. How necessary something of the kind is can be proved by a glance at the suicide statistics of this and other countries. The number of people who commit the rash act of self-destruction is increasing alarmingly, and if the " bureau " can do anything to check the evil it will be another feather in the cap of the S Ovation Army. We are hopeful that much will be possible. The sad story of the coroner's inquests too often reveals the fact that the suicide might have been deterred from his insane resolve had there been a helping hand or a friendly voice available when hope had fled. The "Anti-Suicide Bureau " invites the attention of all those who are bordering on the mad conviction that " there is only one way out of it." G )od advice,, moral and even material help are promised. but no financial assistance. If the scheme has its weak point it is this latter. Maney, we are told, is the root of all evil, and certainly it is often the want of it or the misuse of it which drives some poor creature to a cowardly despair. If one or two millionaires would take up the" AntiSuicide Bureau "instead of building libraries and endowing colleges they might be enabled to save valuable lives and earn the •indyiug gratitude of thousands of people. Financial assistance sensibly offered would turn many a foot from the grave, ,and we do not see what better use the teeming gold of the millionaire and multi-millionaire could he put to. Whether funds will ever be forthcoming -for such a purpose or not, the Salvation Army's new venture ought to be crowned with success. The Bureau is already at work in Lendon, and a branch Ilan been opened in Winchester. Two vast centres of industrial depression are thus tapped immediately, and in Lendoe a constant stream of " hepeless " callers has drifted in. There seems no doubt that the means of providing the "saving " grace in many a life nas been found. God speed to it!