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(3)
7. Diarrhoea caused three deaths, all of which were among children under five years of age.
The total deaths from the Seven Principal Zymotic Diseases were 6 in number, viz.: One from
Measles, one from Diphtheria, three from Diarrhoea, and one from Enteric Fever, and were at the rate of
1.05 per 1,000 of the population. In other portions of the Surrey Combined Sanitary District the
highest Zymotic Death-rate was 1.5, and the lowest was 0.23.
(See also Tables III., IV., and VI. at the end of the Report.)
As regards the other infectious diseases which have to be notified under the above-mentioned Act:
No case of Erysipelas or of Puerperal Fever was reported.
The following is a summary of the further action which was taken for preventing the spread of some
of these diseases:—The houses infected with Enteric Fever, Scarlet Fever, or Diphtheria were visited by
the Inspector and myself; isolation of the sick was inculcated; disinfectants for use during illness were
supplied and their proper use explained; all nuisances and sanitary defects discovered upon the premises
were remedied as far as was practicable; and, after the death, removal, or recovery of the sick, formal
notices to cleanse and disinfect the infected rooms and their contents were, in most instances, served on
the owners or occupiers. From the houses of the poor, the infected bedding was removed and was
disinfected by Mr. R. F. Holloway, of Hackbridge, at the expense of the District Council.
As to the Joint Isolation Hospital on Cuddington Downs, for the use of persons residing in this
district, and in the Epsom Rural, the Sutton Urban, and the Leatherhead Urban, Districts: Early in the year
the Local Government Board approved of the plans, which had been submitted to them, of the buildings
and other works necessary to the erection and equipment of the hospital, on condition that the sewage
should be treated by chemical precipitation aud filtration over a specially prepared plot of land,
without under-drainage, of half-an-acre in extent, and with four feet of sarface-soil over the
chalk. The Joint Hospital Board accepted these conditions, and the work was begun in May, and is now
nearly completed.
III.—Summary of other Sanitary Proceedings, &c., which were taken
during the year.
1. As in previous years, the Council contracted for the removal of house refuse from premises in
their district.
2. The slaughterhouses, the bakehouses, and the premises of the registered cow-keepers, dairymen,
and purveyors of milk were inspected.

4. Proceedings under Sees. 150 and 152 of the Public Health Act, 1875, and under the Private Street
Work* Act, 1892. The Surveyor informs me that the number of streets (not being highways repairable
by the inhabitants at large), which were sewered, levelled, paved, metalled, flagged, channelled, or
lighted, during the year, after notice to their respective frontagers, under these Acts, with a view to their
being declared to be highways, were four, as against three in 1884, two in 1886, two in 1887, four in
1888, two in 1889, four in 1890, two in 1891, three in 1892, one in 1893, none in 1894, and none in
1895.
5. As to Works of Sewerage and Sewage Disposal. At the beginning of the year, Mr. Baldwin
Latham, C.E., presented another scheme for the sewerage of the district, and for the treatment of the sewage
upon an area of land in Wrythe Green Lane, which the owner was willing to sell for that purpose.
Under this scheme, two-thirds of the sewage would be passed on to the land by gravitation, and the
remaining third would have to be pumped to a height of 45 feet; and the treatment would consist of
chemical precipitation, followed by filtration, partly through artificial filters and partly through the land,
of which over twelve acres are available for the purpose, and which is sandy to a depth of two feet. The
Council adopted the scheme, and applied to the Local Government Board for permission to borrow £37,000
for carrying it out, and in April an Enquiry was held. The application was opposed by owners of
property in the neighbourhood and others, upon various grounds, but in July the sanction of the Local
Government Board was obtained, and the Council decided to proceed. In due course, the land was
purchased, and the contract for the work was let to Messrs. Cunliffe, who are now engaged in carrying it out.