View report page

25
District.
received from the managers of the Asylums' Board
stating that in spite of the provisions of the Public Health
Act, patients were occasionally taken to the hospital in
public cabs, and inquiring whether the Board would
undertake to disinfect them. After consideration by
your Sanitary Committee, an answer was sent suggesting
that it would be much more satisfactory that the disinfection
should be done before allowing the cab to leave
the hospital, as otherwise it would be very likely that the
driver would not trouble to take his vehicle to some
other place for the purpose, and offering to pay the cost
if it had been used for conveying an inhabitant of this
district. The managers, however, would not undertake
this, among other reasons, on the somewhat illogical
grounds that it could not be efficiently done, and also
that they had no power to enforce disinfection.
No instance of a cab infected in this way has occurred,
however, since this correspondence, but one or two that
arose in former years entailed a very great deal of labour
and time in tracing the vehicles, which were only found
and disinfected after many hours, and after they had
been used for other passengers. Such a thing might
occur again, and though the cabman might be punished,
yet disease would have meantime been spread. It would
be very much better, therefore, to make sure of disinfecting
it before it is allowed to leave the hospital.
Water Supply.
This district is supplied by two companies
drawing their water from the Thames. The
monthly reports of the Water Examiner show that the
water is efficiently filtered and, as compared with the raw
Thames water, is much improved as regards the number
of micro-organisms, and generally as to its chemical
composition. This latter is not always the case, however,
as in some of the Reports it appears that the water
delivered by these companies is little, if at all, better