View report page

11
Inquests. —The number of inquests held was 79 ; the deaths in 47
cases were caused by violence; 5 infants perished by infanticide, or
by neglect at birth ; 4 were suffocated whilst in bod with their mothers
during the winter months. Burns and scalds caused the death of 4
children. Fractures of skull, &c, and contusions by falls caused
8 deaths ; 2 persons were run over by trains; 2 perished by drowning
The death of a man under the influence of alcohol was caused by the band
of his shirt inducing asphyxia. Suicide cases numbered 10; death in
these latter was caused by wounds in throat (2), by bullet wound in
head, by drowning, by hanging, and by poisoning by nitric and carbolic
acids.
Mortuary. —The total number of bodies received during the year
was 77, an increase of 2 on the previous year. Fifty of these were
admitted on the coroner's order, 20 were brought in by the police, and
7at the request of friends and relatives. The number of post mortem
examinations made was 42.
Work of the Public Health Department. —Table No. 4 contains full
details of the work carried out by the District Inspectors.
Three thousand one hundred and five inspections of houses and
premises were made during the year, and 5710 re-inspections were
made after order or notice had been served ; 462 orders were for tho
cleansing, whitewashing, and repair of houses; 278 for the repair
and 321 for the reconstruction of house drains. The number of closets
requiring attention, such as repair to water supply and cleansing, ventilation,
&c, was 370, and 347 required to be reconstructed ; 102 dustbins
required renewal or repair ; 131 yard pavings required repairing, and in
42 instances to bo renewed.
It was necessary to make 264 orders for cleansing, repairing, or
covering of cisterns ; 13 new cisterns were ordered to be provided. The
worst instances of neglected cisterns were found in private houses of
good class; in one instance the cistern had not been cleansed for three
years, and contained a deposit of three inches of mud. The bye-laws
under the provisions of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, for
securing the cleanliness and freedom from pollution of cisterns and
other receptacles for storing of water used, or likely to be used by man