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Medical Officer's Report.
19
From the death returns of 1896, I find that there were 43 deaths of persons
belonging to this area, n of whom died from phthisis, or a death rate of 44.6,
and a phthisis death-rate of 11.4 per 1000.
But taking into consideration the houses and rooms that were closed,
the average population for the year was less than 900: taking it at 900 would
give a very high death-rate of 47.8, and a phthisis death-rate of 12.2 per 1000.
The above report was considered by the Sanitary Committee and the
Board, and it was decided that the sanitary defects should be dealt with under
the "Public Health (London) Act, 1891."
Notices, accordingly, for every house in the area, were served for the
abatement of the insanitary conditions that could be dealt with under that
Act
The proposed diversion of Dove Court, and erection of a warehouse on
part of the site, was abandoned; and instead all the eight houses have been
closed; and the four on the north side have been demolished and rebuilt.
Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, Half Moon Court, and Nos. 15 and 17, Portpool
Lane adjacent, have been closed and demolished, and a large warehouse is
now being built on the site.
The rooms in Union Buildings in which light and ventilation were
defective, are no longer used for human habitation.
Most of the back areas are small, and some have no back area at all.
The great majority of the houses are let in lodgings, and require constant
supervision to maintain in a sanitary state. They are houses which it is
desirable to have registered, as they require, at least, a thorough annual
cleansing, and the rooms ought to be measured and a record kept of their
cubic capacity, so that the landlord may know how many persons each room
may at most accommodate, and make it easier for an inspector to know when
a room is overcrowded.
In 1898, after the appointment of an additional Sanitary Inspector, many
of the houses in the area were registered and inspected monthly.
Last year preparations were made by the London County Council to
include this area, reported in 1896, extended by comprising also the remaining
premises in Leather Lane and Portpool Lane as far as the corner of these
lanes, and, in addition, Aylesbury Place, Clerkenwell area, in an improvement
scheme under Part I. of the Act.
The late Medical Officer of Health of Clerkenwell made the representation
of the part in that District, and the part in Holborn was represented by me.