Report of Dr. Sidney Coupland on the outbreak of small-box in the Dewsbury Union in 1891-2.

  • Coupland, Sidney, 1849-1930.
Date:
1894
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of Dr. Sidney Coupland on the outbreak of small-box in the Dewsbury Union in 1891-2. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    Ab regards the sanitary condition of the houses whicli were invaded by small-pox, it is safe to say ihat it was neither better nor worse than houses situated in the same districts which were not so invaded. Indeed, as regards privy accommodation and ash-pits, the common practice of having one set of middens to a group of houses places many infected and non-infected houses in the same cate- gory of exposure to nuisance from defects in the construc- tion or maintenance of such outbuildings. It may, however, be stated that there were comparatively tew infected houses in one of the oldest and worst quarters of Dewsbury, viz.. Daw Green, where the streets and courts are r.arrow and irregular, old and dilapidated, and the sanitary accommodation equally defective. There have been some clearances in this neighbourhood, but it is still densely populated, especially by Irish folk. The neigh- bouring district of the Flatts, is more open, and covered (partly) by fairly wide paved streets of more modern con- struction (all, however, on the back-to-back system or in blocks of six, separated by narrow passages). Houses infected by small-pox were more numerous here than in the Daw Green quarter. There were two parts where the cases were numerous within a small area, and sanitary defects very obvious, viz., in Fall Lane, Thornhill Road— where the privy middens and ashpits were in a very neglected state, and common to many houses, are situated on a higher level than the houses in an unpaved yard—and Scout Hill, off the Huddersfield Road, adjoining Ravensthorpe, where there are water-closets and drains obviously defective. Mr. Hemingway, the Sanitary Inspector of Ravensthorpe, who at the request of the owner had examined this property, told me that he found defects in some of the connexions between the closet soil pipes and the drains, there being nine closets situated in a passage between the houses, and in each case the junction of the soil pipe with the drain was by means of a 4-inch pipe joining the drain obliquely, and merely cemented to the vertical soil pipe by clay. The cellars were saturated with water. At his suggestion these closets were replaced by a trough watercloset, and the drain connexions rectified. These improvements were made subsequently to the time at which the cases of small-pox occurred in this district. Of the 130 dwellings, of which we have notes, 30 were through houses, some being detached. Six were partly through, i.e., either having a back entry on the ground floor or a window at the back on the upper floor. Twenty-two were single houses, i.e., with a dead wall at the back. Seventy-one were back-to-back houses. One was a cellar-dwelhng. So that in at least 94, or more than 70 per cent., there was no through ventilation.* The proportion of cases was larger in those houses in which there was no through ventilation, for— Ninety-four dwellings (522 inmates) with no through ventilation yielded 162 cases, or 1'72 per house, and 31 per cent, of all inmates. Thirty-six dwellings (192 inmates) with partial or com- plete ventilation, yielded 55 cases, or 1*52 per house, and 286 per cent of all inmates; in other words, 100 houses of the first type would at this rate yield 172 cases, 100 houses of the second type 152 cases. It may be of interest to learn that out of 99 of these houses 64 had privy-middens (49 in number) with ash-pits in connexion, 14 of these being at the time of inspection in bad condition. The remaining 35 had waterclosets (26 in all), some on the trough system, others detached with automatic or voluntary flushing. Many of these were recently constructed, and few, if any, defects could be observed. The ash-pits in connexion were dry and covered. Indeed, there were but few open ash-pits observed. * The average num>)ers occupying one sleeping room were in houses ()or room. Table LII. Ta BLE showing Weekly Incidence of Cases of Small» POX at Dewsbury (Chart V.). Week of Epidemic. 1 Ending 1 Cases. Deaths. viii. 1891. June 20 - 2 ix. „ 27 - 2 1 X. July 4 - 3 „ 11 - 3 1 .. 18 - 2 xiii. „ 25 - 3 1 xiv. August 1 - - . — XV. „ 8 1 xvi. „ 15 2 xvii. M 22 2 xviii. „ 29 2 xix. September 5 - 3 XX. „ 12 - 1 xii. „ 19 - 1 „ 2(5 - 1 [xxiii. October 3 - - . 1 „ 10 . XXV. „ 17 . 1 1 xxvi. „ 24 - 4 xxvii. ,» 31 - xxviii. November 7 - 2 1 xxix. ., 14 - 1 — XXX. „ 21 ■ 2 1 xxxi. „ 28 - — ■ xxxii. December 5 - 2 — xxxiii. „ 12 - - xxxiv. „ 19 - — XXXV. „ 26 - 2 — xxxvi. ■ 1892. January 2 - - - 2 2 xxxvii. 9 - 6 xxxviii. ,. 16 - 2 zxxix. „ 2S - 6 xl. „ 30 - 8 All. February 6 - 7 1 xlii „ 13 - 10 2 xliii. ., 20 - 12 1 xliv. „ 27 - 13 1 xlv. March 5 - - - 9 xlvi. ..12 ... 9 1 xlvii. „ 19 ... 10 1 xlviii. ..26 ... 5 xlix. April 2 - 7 1 1. .. 9 - 7 1 li. „ 16 - 13 lii. „ 23 . 9 1 liii. ,. 30 - 14 3 liv. May 7 - 7 2 Iv. „ 14 - 4 Ivi. ., 21 - 10 2 28 - 10 Iviii. June 4 - 3 lix. „ 11 - 3 Ix. „ 18 - 2 Ixi. „ 25 - 2 Ixii. July 2 - 9 3 Ixiii. ,. 9 - 8 Ixiv. „ 16 - 2