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15
the Medical Officer of Health to provide for prompt examination
in every case of Cholera by Dr. Barraclough, appointed for the
time to assist him, and who visited the cases of Cholera to see the
Disinfectants freely supplied, viz:-McDougall's Disinfecting
Powder, Smith's Disinfecting Powder, and Carbolic Acid were
properly used; examining articles of bedding or clothing, which,
if infected with Cholera discharges, were ordered to be taken away
and burnt, new articles being usually supplied in their place;
and, in the event of death, causing the immediate removal of the
corpse to the Dead-house previous to interment, which was
accomplished in almost every instance. The cleansing and limewhiting
rooms, and removal of nuisances were promptly attended
to, and the Inspectors of Nuisances removed and burnt the soiled
bedding.
A considerable number of cases might be traced to infection,
and arose either in the same house in which other cases occurred,
or the disease was contracted in nursing persons suffering from it.
In several instances Cholera appeared to be imported into the
Parish from other localities. In two fatal cases it was said to
have arisen after eating stale crab, and in one after eating
decomposed meat. An outbreak occurred in the Workhouse
in No. 19 Ward, in the beginning of November. No case of
Cholera had been admitted into the house for more than a
fortnight previously, or any case into that part where the outbreak
occurred. The Ward which was not a Sick Ward was clean, but
at the time overcrowded, its cubical capacity being 6,725 feet, it
contained 17 persons, of whom 2 were children, when Cholera
broke out in it. Between the 3rd and 5th of November, five out
of the seventeen inmates were attacked and died. The disease
was supposed to have been introduced by a person described as a
hawker, without any home, who appeared unwell when she was
admitted on the 31st October, but did not apply for medical
advice. She died on the 4th November, after 12 hours decide