Mr. Spear's report to the Local Government Board upon the fatality from "croup", and other throat affections, in the Horwich regestration sub-district / [John Spear].

  • Spear, John.
Date:
[1889]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Mr. Spear's report to the Local Government Board upon the fatality from "croup", and other throat affections, in the Horwich regestration sub-district / [John Spear]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    dilapidated floor. Iii certain cases, also, nuisance was caused by the accu¬ mulation of manure and offal. Sanitary Administration.—The Medical Officer of Health, who is in private practice in the district, receives a salary of 20?. only, half of which is repayable out of the county fund. His reports show a fair appreciation of the wants of the locality ; but in important respects his advice has not been acted upon. The Inspector of Nuisances is also collector of the general district rate and of water rates. His salary of 20/. per annum as Inspec¬ tor of Nuisances is insufficient for the now largely increased duties. The Authority have not been successful in securing the due execution of contracts as to private and street improvements; and their administration of their own byelaws has, in important particulars already referred to, been lamentably inefficient. The district is wanting in organised methods for dealing with spreading diseases. Beyond the recording of fatal cases, no system of notification of infectious disease is in force ; and the Medical Officer of Health receives little voluntary assistance in this respect from the other medical practitioners. The Authority have no hospital or disinfecting apparatus. On two or three occasions small-pox patients, and on two or three other occasions cases of scarlatina, have been sent to the workhouse hospital at Bolton ; and infected clothing has occasionally been sent to the same town for disinfection. The Authority supply chemical disinfectants gratuitously; and in certain cases the Inspector of Nuisances has himself fumigated houses. The Westhoughton Urban Sanitary District. This district is situated for the most part upon the clay of the coal measures, the inhabitants being engaged chiefly in mining industries, and also in cotton and silk factories. The district differs from Horwich in being one of much slower growth. In 1871 the population was 6,609 ; in 1881, 9,197 ; and for 1888 it is estimated at 10,400. The houses, too, are more scattered, and a larger proportion of them are situated along the paved (although very rough) highways. The by-streets, like those in Horwich, are mostly unmade, but they are altogether less considerable in number and extent, and very much less cut up by heavy traffic resulting in the other district from building opera¬ tions. Their condition, nevertheless, leads to much discomfort and un¬ necessary dampness, and calls for the speedy attention of the Authority. A scheme for their improvement was abandoned some few years ago owing to the opposition, I am told, of owners of property, and this very necessary work has since received no attention. By far the greater part of the district is sewered, and a scheme is on foot for completing the work throughout. The sewers, which have been con¬ structed at intervals since 1873, are mainly of pipes. They are reported to have a fair gradient, and, on the whole, are fairly ventilated. They con¬ verge to two separate outfalls, and the small scheme in contemplation necessitates a third. The south farm outlet serves the town itself and three fourths of the whole district. Here, after passing through settling tanks, the sewage is run over land. A considerable quantity appears to remain on the surface, owing, no doubt, to the stiff clay of the soil, but the land is well removed from houses and is of considerable extent. I heard of no complaints either of the farm or of the brook into which the effluent water flows. The second farm, to the south-west, receives comparatively little sewage. Private drains are stated to be nearly all of socketed pipes. Very few internal connexions (by kitchen slop-stone or by cellar gullies) now exist; but the work of disconnexion has been carried out in such a way that considerable soakage of liquid sewage on to the unpaved yard surfaces about gullies is apparent. The ventilation of private drains is insufficiently provided for. As at Horwich, large privy middens are almost universal, and are still being erected. They are deep as well as large, often open and sloppy, and some of them are said to be connected by drains with the sewers. The Authority make no provision for the removal of solid excreta and refuse, and