Mr. John Spear's report to the Local Government Board on the prevalence of "fever" in the urban sanitary district of Maryport.

  • Spear, John.
Date:
[1882]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Mr. John Spear's report to the Local Government Board on the prevalence of "fever" in the urban sanitary district of Maryport. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the late outbreak that the little hospital belonging to the Guardians, as now made use of, cannot be regarded as in any sense a substitute for this necessary provision. The sanitary condition, moreover, of this hospital, is, it must be added, most defective. It consists of the upper story of what was originally a brewery ; the rooms beneath being now used as store-rooms by a rag and bone dealer. The effluvia from his collections penetrate, it is said, to the wards of the hospital; and the dealer in his turn complains that, owing to leakage from the hospital drains, sewage percolates to his stores. The privy-midden of the hospital, used for the reception of the excreta of fever patients, is built against the boundary wall of a public thoroughfare. The hospital, at the time of the last outbreak, was greatly overcrowded; and, as consequently might be expected, the nurse and her husband in attending upon the patients contracted the fever. Sanitary Administration.—The sanitary affairs of Maryport are in the hands of the “ Town and Harbour Trustees,”—a body consisting of eighteen representatives, elected in equal proportion by the ratepayers and shipowners of the town and port on the one hand, and by the Lady of the Manor, and the coal-owners of the district, on the other. In the active pursuit of a policy, described as a liberal and far-sighted one, in respect of harbour and dock interests, it would seem that the sanitary interests of the town have been sadly overlooked. It is certain that beyond the provision of a water supply fourteen years ago, the provision of some means of scavenging, and the making of the bye-laws, there is nothing of note to be recorded as having been effected by the Authority. A Medical Officer of Health was appointed in 1870, he being paid at first by fee, latterly by a salary of 251. per annum, for his services. The Inspector of Nuisances, who is also surveyor and waterworks manager, receives a salary, fas Inspector, of 301. a year ; and lately an Inspector of Lodging-houses, at a salary of 151., has been appointed. The records show, however, that the ordinary work of abate¬ ment of nuisances and of the removal of conditions injurious to health, which in a town like Maryport should never be allowed to flag, has been almost totally in abeyance. Difficulties, legal and other, in this regard, have frequently been referred to in the reports of the Medical Officer of Health; but such difficulties, so far as I am able to judge, might easily have been surmounted. I will give an instance of this. On July 5th, 1881, the Inspector of Nuisances reported that in a cellar dwelling at 22^ King Street, consisting of two rooms, 13 persons were living, so that the dwelling was overcrowded. The 'cellars, as such, were occupied unlawfully; together they afforded only some 2,200 cubic feet of air space ; an insufficient space, taking the requirements of the Authority’s own Act as a basis of computation, for six indi¬ viduals. Not one single requirement of section 72 of the Public Health Act, with respect to existing cellars, was observed; the cellars were dark and damp; the ceilings at an average height of only 14 inches above the level of the adjacent ground ; the window of the front cellar was not made to open, and in that at the back a tiny pane of glass, about 8 inches square, was on hinges,—and that was all. The report of the Inspector was referred to the Medical Officer of Health; and that officer, it is recorded, “ did not consider this overcrowding.” The Authority accepted this decision; and the cellar, with several others equally unfit for human occupation, is inhabited to this day. For a long time the Authority have resisted the wishes of the Local Government Board that they should provide themselves with information respecting the mortality of their district; but this information is in future, I understand, to be obtained. John SrEAR. Recommendations. 1. The Authority should without delay cause a house-to-house inspection of their district to be instituted, with a view to ascertain the nuisances that call for abatement under the Public Health Act. For this purpose the town should be divided into sections (a very easy matter in Maryport), and the record of such an inspection as above, with respect to one or other of these sections, should be presented at each monthly meeting of the Authority, until the whole work is completed. The record should show (a) the houses overcrowded; (b) the cellars occupied unlawfully as dwellings; (c) the houses that from various causes are unfit for habitation ; (d) other nuisances arising from structural defects of houses or premises ; e.g., from dilapidation, want of light or ventilation, dampness, absence of privy accommodation or defective character of the same, absence or inadequacy of paving and channelling of yards and other open surfaces. And this information being before them, action should be taken by the Authority under section 94, section 97, section 73, or section 150 of the Public