View report page

34
linos, and the drains were subsequently frequently stopped, and
on his leaving, it was found that the butt-end of the post had
been driven into the main 9-inch pipe." Instances such as
these are not so frequent now as they used to be, but are by no
means uncommon, as the assistance of the Inspector is often
invoked three or four times a year to release the same drain, or
closet-pan, which has been blocked up by articles thrown down
the closet by children or others, sometimes accidentally, as 011
washing days.
Mortuary—I have already stated that the number of bodies
deposited in the Mortuary was 76, which is about the ordinary
number. Most of the deaths were sudden, either from accident
or disease, but some occurred after an ordinary illness, and the
bodies were removed because there was not proper accommodation
in the houses where the death occurred ; indeed, in some
instances, there was only one room for the living and dead. The
entrance to the Mortuary, although improved, is by no means
good, and the size of the rooms too small, so that a new
Mortuary is urgently required. There was not any body
removed there during the year where the death was caused
by an infectious disease, as most of the poor who die from
infectious diseases, expire in the Asylums Board's Hospitals,
and are removed from thence for burial to a cemetery instead
of being brought back to their late homes.
The applications for disinfectants has not been so large as
in former years, as cases of infectious diseases have not been
so numerous, but as many as 2,948 packets of powder, and 495
bottles of carbolic acid have been given away. The latter were
given for mixing with water in a tub, for steeping infected body
and bed linen in before washing, so as to prevent infection, and
the former not oidy for infectious cases, but for drains and for
washing the floors. I believe they are still used to a slight
extent for sprinkling floors, and placing in saucers in rooms
whore the sick are treated, but used in this way can be of