[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Clerkenwell, St. James and St. John].

  • St. James and St. John (Clerkenwell, London, England). Parish Council.
Date:
1867
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Clerkenwell, St. James and St. John]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: City of London, London Metropolitan Archives

    44/70 (page 36)
    80 St. Helena Place, which is a long, narrow, and overcrowded street, and where 6 deaths occurred, the disease began at a coal-shed, where vegetables were sold. These were kept in a yard, which was badly paved, with an open offensive privy and an open drain. The disease spread to the two next houses, and some cases occurred in two other houses on the opposite side of the street, but all pretty near together. The probability is that the Cholera evacuations were emptied into the yard,and splashed over the vegetables, which thus conveyed the disease to the neighbouring customers. One instance is worth special notice: a clockmaker went to a house where some nurses lived who attended upon Cholera patients; soon afterwards his wife was attacked and died, and subsequently his sister, who temporarily resided there—he him self escaping. The preponderance of evidence is in favor of the idea, that the Cholera is propagated by a person taking with his drink or food the matter composing the vomit or intestinal discharges of a patient suffering from the disease. Hence the great im portance of destroying or decomposing by disinfectants every trace of these matters, and of extreme care in protecting the drink water or food from any possible contamination with them. The importance of attending to the purity of water is generally admitted; but we have but little control over the manner in which the fruit, vegetables, and fish, so largely distributed by the costermongers to the poorer classes, are kept—mostly in very small backyards, in close proximity to closets where there is no water, and where the slops are carelessly thrown. It might be argued that cooking will destroy the poison; but there is no doubt that the slight and imperfect boiling to which these provisions are subjected is inefficient for the purpose. The last case which occurred in the Parish, was that of a man who went to Petticoat Lane, and in good health. He partook freely of mussels at a stall in the street, came home, and died of Cholera within 24 hours. In one visitation to a house where there were two cases of Cholera, I found some washed clothes hung to dry on the margin of a water-butt, which had no lid! The courts in Turnmill Street, as I have stated, yielded just l-7th of the entire mortality from Cholera; the population being about 450. The inhabitants are mostly costermongers, and roughs in their habits. Many of the houses are realty not fit for human habitation, being very small and dark, and the courts very narrow, without back ventilations. Horses and