View report page

81
persons infested with vermin or parasites will be attended to with consideration on applying at the cleansing station,
have been placed in common lodging-houses, Salvation Army shelters, police stations, public libraries, dispensaries,
out-patient departments of hospitals, and hospitals for the treatment of skin diseases, and copies of the notices have
also been supplied to school teachers.
It appears from Dr. Wanklyn's report that, when special accommodation is provided and the arrangements
made under the Act become known, a considerable number of persons are willing to avail themselves of the facilities
afforded for cleansing their clothing and persons.
For instance, in 1898 the St. Marylebone Metropolitan Borough Council began to administer the Act, and between
that time and November, 1904, the number of persons cleansed was 32,500, of whom 1,790 were females.
Again, in the Metropolitan Borough of St. Pancras, the Act was, prior to 1904, administered by the guardians,
and few applications were made for the use of the accommodation, but in May, 1904, the special provision made by
the Borough Council came into use, and during the six months ended October, 1904, about 1,400 persons were cleansed,
of whom 600 were women and children.
In the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney a special and complete cleansing station has been in use since March,
1902, and about 50 persons annually make use of the station.
The Metropolitan Borough Councils of Camberwell, Chelsea, Fulham, Greenwich, Hampstead, Lewisham, Poplar,
Shoreditch, Southwark, Stepney and Wandsworth make use of the ordinary reception house and the disinfection
station, and since the Act came into operation only about 10 persons have made use of the accommodation offered
in Chelsea, and about 20 have utilised the accommodation in Southwark, whilst no applications have been received
in the nine remaining boroughs. In Islington about 20 persons have been cleansed under the provisions of the Act.
The Corporation of the City of London and the Metropolitan Borough Councils of Battersea, Bermondsey,
Bethnal-green, Deptford, Finsbury, Hammersmith, Lambeth, Kensington. Paddington and Woolwich have made
arrangements with their respective boards of guardians for the cleansing of applicants at the various casual wards,
with the result that there have been 20 persons cleansed in the City of London under the provisions of the Act,
about five in Kensington, about two in Finsbury, and none in the remaining eight boroughs.
In the City of Westminster also, applicants are cleansed at the casual wards or at the disinfecting station, and
in the Metropolitan Borough of Holborn, the baths of the casual wards are used for cleansing the persons of applicants,
their clothes being disinfected in the disinfector of the metropolitan borough council.
The medical officer points out that the locality of the cleansing station probably has an important effect upon
the extent to which the accommodation provided under the Act is utilised.
Having regard to the fact that the provisions of the Act are effectively made known in two Metropolitan
Boroughs only, viz., St. Pancras and St. Marylebone, we think it advisable that the attention of the remaining Metropolitan
Borough"Councils should be directed to the report by the medical officer, and that they should be urged to avail
themselves more fully of the provisions of the Act and to give full publicity to the arrangements made thereunder.
We recommend—
That a copy of the report by the medical officer presenting a report by Dr. Wanklyn on the administration
in London of the Cleansing of Persons Act, 1897. be sent to each of the metropolitan borough councils, and
the attention of those authorities which have not made effective arrangements under the Act be called to
the desirableness of their availing themselves more fully of its provisions, and of giving full publicity to the
arrangements made thereunder; that a copy of the report be sent to the Departmental Committee on Vagrancy
for their information; also that the report be published and placed on sale.
This letter was accordingly sent.
In some of the annual reports for the year 1905 the subject of provision for persons thus
needing cleansing is discussed and information as to that which has been made and the extent of
its use is given. The following is extracted from these reports—
Kensington.—"Nominal effect was given to the Act soon after it passed, by an arrangement
made by the late vestry with the guardians whereby cleansing and disinfecting apparatus at the 'AbieBodied
Workhouse,' Mary-place, in the Potteries, was made available on payment of a small fee—an
unsatisfactory arrangement which is still in force. Little use has been made of the apparatus owing
probably to ignorance of the arrangement on the part of the poor intended to be benefited; and
possibly, to some extent, to the locality and ownership of the apparatus."
Westminster.—"Under the provisions of this Act seven persons received a free bath and had their
verminous clothing disinfected. Since the closing of the Denzell-street premises there has been no
accommodation for this work, but provision is to be made at the new central station, and as it will
be in the vicinity of most of the common lodging-houses, it is likely that greater use will be made of
it. The Guardians have dealt with frequenters of their casual wards at their own establishments."
St. Marylebone.—"Special provision has been made in this district and the baths were used in
1905 as follows :—Males from Salvation Army shelter 4,981, males from lodging-houses in the borough
3,000, females from private addresses 20, females working for Church Army 80, females with no
addresses 1,331—a total of 9,412. Special baths for school children—boys 107, girls 353, total 460."
St. Pancras.—"Special provision has been made in this district, the number of persons cleansed
was 2,126 males, 1,174 females, 101 children, total 3,401 persons, and 334 batches of articles in an
unwholesome condition were purified."
Islington.—"The bath in the shelter house was used by two persons. After consideration of a
report by the medical officer of health, the borough council resolved to extend the shelter premises
so as to provide the necessary accommodation, and applied to the Local Government for permission
to borrow the money, but the Act does not give power for this purpose. The matter was therefore
in abeyance, but Dr. Harris has recommended the Borough Council to make the necessary provision
out of current expenditure."
Stoke Newington.—"Opportunity was given by agreement with the Hackney Borough Council
for cleansing at the baths and disinfecting station in the lower part of Millfields-road, Lower Clapton,
an unsuitable position for Stoke Newington; only one person was cleansed."
Hackney.—"Baths are provided at the disinfecting station in Millfields-road, and 241 persons
were cleansed."
Holborn.—"Opportunity for cleansing is given at the baths at the casual wards, and 600 men
and 13 women were disinfected. On account of alterations it was necessary during the latter part
11476 L