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92
ST. SAVIOUR'S DOCK.
A letter was received from the Town Clerk of the Metropolitan Borough of
Bermondsey, enclosing reports by the Medical Officer of Health and Borough
Surveyor with respect to the condition of St. Saviour's Dock.
The report of the Medical Officer of Health did not state that there was a
definite nuisance existing, but he saw in the mud of the dock a potential
source of grave nuisance, with possible injury to health in the summer months.
The Surveyor's complaint apparently was that there was an inadequate
supply of water to the tidal main used by the tanners for their trade, and by
the Council for flushing the sewers.
The mud in the Dock is of the same description as the ordinary Thames mud
lining the banks of the River, and it is covered twice in the day by the
flowing tide.
I have visited the Dock on many occasions, and I have never noticed any
smell coming therefrom, and enquiries were made of the persons on the
wharves bordering on the Dock, and the general expression of opinion, was
that they had never seen the Dock so clear as it was then.
There was therefore no reason for taking any further steps beyond keeping
the Dock under observation, so that if any nuisance had arisen it could be
dealt with as the law directs.
OFFENSIVE CARGOES.
On the 14th June, the barge "Ada," of London, 52,935, was found at
Regent's Dock laden with a cargo of bones intended for the Sheppy Glue Works.
These bones were refuse, and very offensive.
The bulkhead, separating the cabin from the hold, was found to be
defective, permitting stench from the bones to enter the cabin, thus causing a
serious nuisance therein.
I called the attention of the owners of the barge to the extremely offensive
nature of a cargo of this kind, and to the provisions of the Bye-laws of the
Port of London Sanitary Authority with reference to the carriage of offensive
cargoes in the Port.