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9
FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH.
TO THE BOARD OF WORKS, FULHAM DISTRICT.
GENTLEMEN,
In presenting to you this my fifteenth Annual Report, I have
the pleasure to state that nothing special has marked the year 1870.
The sanitary condition of the District shows a steady improvement,
and, when compared with the state of things which existed some
sixteen years ago, at the time your Board was formed, it may truly be
regarded as a matter for congratulation by the ratepayers of both
Fulham and Hammersmith.
When we take into consideration the enormous increase of our
population, and the fact that many large tracts of our formerly open
spaces have been rapidly covered, nay, densely packed, with buildings,
and some of them of the most objectionable description, we need not
have been surprised if the advantages of our improved drainage had
been neutralized by some of the concomitants of density of population.
It is a pity that the Sanitary Legislation for this Metropolis and its
Environs has never been accompanied by an amalgamation of the
Building Act with the general Sanitary Statutes. The act referred to
still works an independent course, and it is not too much to say of it
that, whilst its provisions deal strictly with the strength and quality of
bricks and mortar, they utterly fail to ensure for us dwellings,
especially for the working classes, which have the least pretentions to
perfection in Sanitary conditions. A large number of habitations of
this description have been completed and occupied during the last few
vears, both in Fulham and Hammersmith, and take the place of our
former fever dens in fostering disease. Unfortunately the Sanitary
Autherities see these wretched structures raised before their eyes,
and have no power to check their progress. It is truly to be hoped
that this anomaly will soon be remedied.
Since my last Annual Report was presented to you the Census