London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Kensington 1909

Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health 1909

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60
Provision in Kensington.—Under an arrangement with the Board of Guardians verminous
persons can be cleansed at the expense of the Council, at the Able-bodied Workhouse in Mary
Place. The number of persons cleansed under this arrangement is a negligible quantity, and only
amounted to 18 during the year 1909. The use of premises attached to a workhouse cannot be
properly offered except to the semi-destitute inmates of common lodging houses, and for school
children the use of such premises is needless to say out of the question. Should the Council erect
their own station, the facilities offered will become widely known to adults through the school
children who are sent to be cleansed, and the task of eradicating vermin will be dealt with
comprehensively by a single authority. Should the London County Council on the other hand be
driven, by the failure of the Borough Councils, to make their own provision for school children,
they cannot deal with adults, and the children will become re-infested after each cleansing by
contact in their homes with verminous members of their families who are not of school age, and
for this work which would be bound to fail in its object, the Borough Council would pay as
heavily through the Education Rate as they would through the Borough Rate in the event of a
station of their own being provided, with the added disadvantage of having no direct control over
the amount spent.
Verminous Rooms.—260 verminous rooms were cleansed during the year in response to notices
served under the powers conferred by the London County Council General Powers Act, 1904.
PUBLIC BATHS AND WASHHOUSES.

I am indebted to Mr. Buck, superintendent, for the subjoined particulars as to the use made of the Public Baths and Washhouses during 1909 and the two preceding years by washers and bathers:

Year.Washers.Bathers.
190773,302136,695
190871,321130,088
190970,472127,607

The diminution in the number of persons making use of the facilities provided is attributed
by the superintendent to the fact that new baths and washhouses have been opened at no great
distance in the neighbouring Borough of Hammersmith.
MORTUARY AND CHAPEL OF REST
During the year 263 bodies were deposited at the Mortuary under the following circumstances
: —
1. At the request of the relatives of the deceased 35
2. At the request of undertakers, mainly at the instance of the relieving
officers 45
3. At the request of the coroner (inquest cases):—
Cases of sudden death 84
Cases of violent death 78
162
4. Brought in by the Police—Persons found dead 15
Accident cases 4
19
5. On account of death due to infectious disease 2
Total number of bodies received 263
In 110 of the above cases post-mortem examinations were made under the coroner's warrant.