Mr W.H. Power's report to the Local Government Board on an outbreak of fever at Bedale in the North Riding of Yorkshire.

  • Power, William Henry, Sir, 1842-1916.
Date:
[1877]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Mr W.H. Power's report to the Local Government Board on an outbreak of fever at Bedale in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    an Outbreak of Fever at Bedale, in the North Riding of Yorkshire. George Buchanan, ^ Assistant Medical Officer, September 24, 1877. In accordance with instructions I have visited Bedale, in the Bedale Bural Sanitary District, and have there inquired respecting certain occurrences of fever reeently reported to this Board. Upon arriving in the place (on August 29), I learned that the “ fever,” had been mainly enteric in character, had been restrieted to Bedale town, and also that, since August 15, there had not been any further extension of the disease. The chief facts of the outbreak, as regards inception, progress, and fatality, are given in the following table:— Week ending. Newly attacked in each Week. Deaths. Households. Persons. June 23, 1877 - 1 1 „ 30, - — July 7, >> - — 1 — „ 14, - 1 1 — » 21, - 2 2 „ 28, - 5 7 Aug. 4, M - 9 13 — „ lb 55 - 2 10 — „ 18, 55 • — 1 5 Totals in 9 weeks - 20 36 5 Sanitary Circumstances.—The market town of Bedale, with a population of some 1,000 persons on 27 acres, is situate on the western bank of a tributary (Bedale brook) of the river Swale. The site of the town is well elevated above the brook level, and the sur- face has a general slope to the east and south. The soil here is said to be gravel and sandy loam overlying to a variable depth a bed of clay. The town consists of a wide and open High Street (in which is situated the Market Place), and of two narrow sub- sidiary streets crossing it nearly at right angles. The High Street is bordered on either side by dwellings most of which have in their rear a long narrow strip of yard and garden. These yards, commonly contain, often in proximity to the dwelling, outbuildings of many sorts, such as stables, workshops, wash-houses, lumber sheds, privy middens, pigsties, and the like. Oceasionally the yards or gardens have been utilised for building purposes, and cottages have been erected thereon. Thus it has happened that certain parts of the town have become very elosely built; notably in this the case in the Wynd and about Emgate. Here, dwellings of the poorer sort are much shut in by other buildings; frequently they have very small back yards, the latter sometimes without outlet except through the dwelling. Houses of the better sort are, as a rule, fairly ventilated. But many cottages, especially the older ones, are deficient in this respect; back windows are small and not unfrequently they are not made to open. In some instances dwellings are without back doors or back windows. The Water Supply is wholly from wells, public and private. The public wells, five in number, are situated as follows :—in the Market Place, two ; in Emgate, one ; at Southend, one ; and at Wycar, one. Private wells are usually in the back yards of better elass houses; sometimes they are under the dwelling. The public wells are largely used by all elasses of inhabitants, both by persons (and they are numerous) without other supply and also by householders having private wells of their own. All wells are sunk in the porous water-bearing soil overlying the clay substratum. They are therefore merely surface wells, and as such are liable to pollution with matters fouling the soil in their neighbourhood. As illustrating the fact that well water in Bedale is mainly soil water, it should be noted that it is fully understood in the place that the flooding of cellars, not uncommon in certain parts of the town, may in some measure be controlled by continued pumping of water from neighbouring wells. In several