View report page

Although the total infantile mortality last year was much
lower than the decennial average or the rate in 1901, the
reduction did not effect all causes of death ; the mortality
from premature birth was higher in 1903 than in 1902 or
1901. The chief reduction was in diarrhœa, the mortality
rate falling from 35.2 in 1901 to 15.7 in 1903. This result
was chiefly due to the wet, cold weather which prevailed
during the summer of the latter year. From the point of
view of the holiday-maker the weather was deplorable, but it
undoubtedly saved the lives of thousands of children in our
urban districts. Summer diarrhœa is largely due to the
contamination of food by bacteria-polluted dust, and a
copious rain-fall washes the atmosphere and lays the dust.
The question arises whether nature's method of reducing
diarrhoea mortality by wet cleansing could not with advantage
be imitated by Sanitary Authorities. It is not necessary to
wait for a wet summer to carry out our cleansing for us any
more than it was necessary for Charles Lamb's Chinaman to
burn down his house to roast his pig. Systematic frequent
hosing of yards and streets in the poorer districts during the
summer is a practicable measure, and would do much
towards the prevention of diarrhoea. But to reap the full
benefit of this procedure impermeable surfaces are necessary,
and in this respect much remains to be done in Battersea.
The condition of many of the back-yards recalls the time,
not far distant, when Battersea was a district of marketgardens
; and the keeping of a large number of fowls, ducks
or rabbits in the yard is still a highly popular pursuit in the
district. In an urban district such as Battersea now is, these
animals are out of place in close proximity to dwelling houses,
and back-yards should as far as possible be paved with an
impermeable material over their whole area. In 1903 a good
deal of work was done in improving the paving and general
sanitation of back-yards, and operations will be carried on
more energetically during the present year.
Much could be done to improve the paving of the carriageway
in side streets and culs-de-sac such as Carpenter Street,
which are used as play-grounds by children. The substitution
of impermeable material such as asphalte for macadam would