[Report 1905] / Medical Officer of Health, Leek U.D.C.

  • Leek (England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1905] / Medical Officer of Health, Leek U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    unexpected result that no appreciable difference could be demonstrated. Further comparative investigations relating to other diseases would be interesting and instructive. The population is mainly composed of artisans, the chief trade being silk manufacture and silk dyeing. House Accommodation. The house accommodation is fairly good, both as regards its adequacy, and fitness for habitation. Two cases of overcrowding have been investigated and reported on, and after notices had been served, the condition was biought within legal limits, prosecution being rendered unnecessary. I fear there are many cases best described as border¬ land cases, which I should heartily rejoice to get rid of, but the dearth of houses having good-sized rooms at a low rent makes it impossible, for wages are always comparatively low in many branches of silk manufacture, and especially low now that the trade is bad and many workers are making short time. The injurious effects in these borderland cases would be largely counteracted if the people would learn to open the windows more freely and to unstop the chimneys which are stuffed with bags of shavings, etc., or blocked by boards which are frequently papered over to look clean and pretty. I hese conditions, which plainly mean want of fresh air and accumulation of bad air in the bedrooms, have an important bearing on our infant mortality, for infants are most susceptible to the poisonous atmosphere,