[Report 1895] / Medical Officer of Health, Consett U.D.C.

  • Consett (England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: [Report 1895] / Medical Officer of Health, Consett U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    and a standing menace to the health of the tenants. In Pitt Street, John Stx-eet, Trafalgar Street, William Street, Eippon’s Lane, Raglan Street, and in other parts of the town the middens are in many in- stances most insanitary, and had much to do with the spread of enteric fever. There are also a number of water-closets in Oonsett (according to the estimate of the surveyor about 400). Some years ago the Local Authority insisted on water-closets being pro- vided to a number of houses in the crowded part of the town occupied by a bad class of tenants. Owing to neglect and wanton destruction on the part of the occupiers and w’ant of proper supervision by the owners and the Local Authority, many of these water-closets, especially in William Street and Trafalgar Street, have got into a bad sanitary con- dition owing to want of a water supply and dilapidation. While some form of water-closet is the only sanitary system of excrement dis- posal available in the small yards of crowded streets, it is essential, especially where the tenants are careless and destructive, that the conveniences should be regularly and frequently inspected by the officers of the Sanitary Authority ; and a few prosecutions of default- ing tenants under section 21 of the Public Health Acts Amendment Act would do much to impress on them the necessity of keeping the water-closets clean and in good condition. The cleansing of the ashpits and privies, and the removal of house refuse is not undertaken by the District Council. The Oonsett Iron Company undertake the removal of refuse from the houses owned by them, and appear to perform the work fairly satisfactorily ; but as regards the private property, the duty usually falls upon the tenants, who are unable to arrange for frequent and systematic scavenging, and the ashpit-privies frequently become too full and a nuisance. The medical officer of health has on many occasions urged the Local Authority to hold themselves responsible for the scavenging and removal of refuse, and till his advice is acted upon nuisances from filth accumulations are bound to occur. Cowsheds, Dairies, and Milkshops.—Regulations under the Dairies, Cowsheds, and Milkshops Order of 1885, were adopted by the Local Board in 1887, but they are of too general a character to be of much value, and they do not appear to have been very strictly enforced. A register is kept of the cowkeepers and milksellers, but judging by the condition of the cowsheds when inspected by me, they do not receive that attention from the Sanitary Authority which is desirable, as several of the byres were kept in a very dirty con- dition and were not fit to he used for the housing of milch cows owing to insufficient air space and defective lighting, ventilation, and drainage. Some of the circumstances connected with the sale of milk were also unsatisfactory, in one instance the milk was stored and sold in a butcher’s shop, while several other milkshops were from their condition or surroundings quite unfitted for the storage or sale