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48 Parish of St. George the Martyr, Southwark.
Yorkshire Schools—drains improved.
Salvation Army Shelter, Blackfriars Road—a new system of drainage was carried
out, on the enlargement of the building.
Surrey Theatre and South London Music Hall—the sanitary arrangements of
these places of public resort were considerably improved.
Saint George's Workhouse, Mint Street—a defective state of the drains, as well
as of the general sanitary condition of these premises, was reported by me to your
Sanitary Authority. Among these defects, the drains, partly brick and partly pipe,
are old and defective, and are ventilated by means of rainwater pipes and bell-traps.
The whole system is, in my opinion, highly dangerous to the health of the inmates,
and requires the immediate attention of those responsible for so unsatisfactory a state
of affairs. So far nothing has been done to make the Workhouse habitable.
The Cowhouses.
The cowhouses (for list see page 61.) which are situated in populous back streets,
have been regularly inspected.
The following table gives the number of cows and cowhouses in 1882, 1892, and
1893:—

It is a well-known fact that stall-fed dairy cows in towns are very susceptible
to "tubercle," popularly known as the "grapes," and that the same infectious
cause produces this disease both in cows and in the human subject.
A strong confirmation of the view that the "grapes" is transmissible to young
children is contained in the fact that the mortality of children under five years of age
from consumption of the bowels is very high.
In the matter of dietary, there is one great distinguishing feature between this
age-period and all others. It is that unboiled cow's milk forms the staple food of
children under five years of age.
All this points to the need of a more vigorous regulation of dairies, such as
is in force in Copenhagen and Stockholm. It is hardly necessary to remark that the
proper place for keeping cows is in the country.
In July, 1893, I reported to the London County Council a breach of their
regulations by a dairy keeper. This keeper had twenty-four cows in a shed adjoining
his dairy and dwelling-house, and in the latter his child lay ill with fever. He
objected to the removal of the patient to an isolation hospital, and had failed to
report the infectious nature of the disease to the Council.
The necessary steps were subsequently taken by the Council for the prevention
of the contamination of the milk.