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31
Disinfector.
I append Inspector Boyce's detailed report, with plan.
copy. April 18th, 1893.
Sir,-
The apparatus in use in your District for disinfecting bedding,
&c., is one known as "Fraser's Patent." It consists of a brick oven,
with doors in front; in the lower portion of this is a covered furnace,
with flues, capable of raising the air inside the chamber after from
three to five hours, to a temperature of 200° F., sulphur fumes being
used at the same time. The flues mentioned above were originally
of iron, but owing to their worn condition have been taken out and
brick flues substituted. These latter flues, although good in their
way if built under a drying closet, are of no use for the object in view
at this apparatus. The doors are ill-fitting, and permit much of the
heat to escape from the chamber when in use, so that I have to
depend more upon sulphurous acid as a disinfecting agent than dry
heat, as the disinfecting heat can rarely be got, and from a reference
to reports which I made to you in the years of 1891 and 1892
respectively, you will note that in the cases of feather beds which
were subjected to an average temperature of 230° F. for a period of
three hours, the temperature of the interior of the beds did not reach
100° F., and in the case of flock beds did not exceed 112º F., and
other detail matter. The foregoing experiments were made before
the iron flues were taken out.
The ground on which the disinfecting chamber is built has an area
of 2,955 square feet, and slopes towards the river Lee. The stokehole
is below the level of the adjoining ground, and at its lowest
point much of the surface water from the Old Ford Road accumulates
here, and has to be baled out before work can be commenced. High
tides also occasion much worry. An attempt was made about 18
months ago to keep the tidal water out by driving sheet piling along
the font of the canal bank, but this has proved ineffectual.