[Report 1902] / Medical Officer of Health, Staffordshire County Council.

  • Staffordshire (England). County Council.
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1902] / Medical Officer of Health, Staffordshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    84 but that its ashpit removal, being bad, it was desirable that the Central and Walsall Wood Wards should be brought down to the Norton level, not that Norton should be raised to theirs. He also said that I, personally, had not pushed for removal by the Authority at Norton. On the contrary, I have pushed the matter almost ad nauseam for many years. I earnestly entreat you to pause ere making such a retrograde movement—a movement, I am sure, the Local Government Board and Stafford County Council will deeply deplore if it should be carried through.’’ It is satisfactory to note that the work of privy abolition in Burslem is progressing, 403 water-closets having been sub¬ stituted for privy cesspools during the year. In Handsworth, also, similar work is in progress, 349 privy-middens having been converted into water-closets and dry ashpits or receptacles during the year by order of the Authority, in addition to many which were so converted without notice, on the suggestion of the Sanitary Inspector. The Medical Officer of Health of Heath Town finds fault with the method of excrement and refuse removal in that district, and refers to the objectionable practice of depositing the refuse on the streets before removal. The Medical Officer of Health of Kidsgrove states that defects in the privy system have been remedied during the vear and that the removal has been conducted with greater regularity. The Medical Officer of Health of Leek Urban District calls attention to the difficulty which is experienced in finding suitable “ tips ” for refuse, and states that the want of a destructor is keenly felt. The Medical Officer of Health of Longton writes :—“ The new laws relating to ashpits and cesspools will work far too slowly ; you should devise some new scheme to do away with the old ones in a wholesale manner, and although the rates are high, you are morally bound to consider the death-rate before any other rate, and try to remove all influences prejudicial to the public health as quickly as possible.”