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Headstone of Robert Adams
Wesleyan Division A, Row 6, Plot 10.
Photo: Cathy Currie |
The talented young musician Robert
Adams succumbed to Typhoid which ravaged Auckland during the summer of 1888, plunging
communities into fear with the uncertainty of not knowing whom would next be
afflicted, and praying it would not strike down a loved one.
The outbreak hit
the Ponsonby area hardest, where Bob resided in Ponsonby Road, and was involved in running the
music shop ‘Adams Brothers’. [1] [2] [3] Although the cause of the dramatic
increase in numbers of citizens suffering with the fever was not officially
established by the health inspector despite complaints regarding practices of the
local tramways and abattoir businesses, it was a widely accepted view that the
spread of the disease was due to the Auckland stinks – poor drainage and
hygiene practices that caused an abhorrent smell which was intensified by the
summer heat and contaminated the water supply. [4] [5] [6]
It was reported in the New Zealand
Herald that during March the Auckland Hospital was accommodating over 50
percent more typhoid cases than they had done previously that year and the
numbers were expected to continue to rise until Auckland’s sanitation was improved.
[7]
