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Martin of Fairbridge Road, and was with him when he examined M. He
certified the case as one of small pox. I went to the Town Hall, Upper
Street, and I saw Inspector Lawrence, to whom I gave the certificate.
William M. said he first heard that the family at Ystalyfera were down with
Small Pox on Monday, January 6th.
Signed,
EVAN RICHARDS,
January 11th, 1902.
Sanitary Inspector for the Borough of Betlinal Green.
It is suggested that E., the head of the family of which Miss M.
was a member, must have been aware of the infectious nature of his
assistant's illness, and that the object of his calling in an irregular
practitioner and passing him off to Miss M. as "a very clever doctor
from the London Hospital," was a dodge to avoid the statutory duty
of reporting the case to me; any way, if E. really was as ignorant as
he professes to be of the true nature of Miss M.'s illness, he shewed
gross carelessness, bordering on actual inhumanity, inasmuch as he
neglected to call in proper medical aid for a girl to whom he stood in
loco parentis.
I recommend that E. be prosecuted for failing to report to me
that an inmate of his house was suffering from small pox, as required
by Sec. 55 of the Public Health (Lond.) Act, 1891.
Also for unlawfully exposing Miss M., whilst she was suffering
from an infectious disease, in a public place, contrary to Sec. 68 of
the same Act.
Had Lewis recovered from his attack of small pox, I should have
felt it my duty to draw the attention of the Secretary of the
Apothecaries' Company to this man's conduct, as he appears to
have rendered himself liable to a penalty of £10 for illegally acting
as an apothecary.
I also suggest that the attention of the Asylums Board be drawn
to the difficulty at present experienced in obtaining the removal of a
patient suffering from an infectious disease late at night and oil
Sundays. The least the Board can do is to place the Ambulance
Stations in Telephonic communication with the Local Authorities,
as with a virulently infectious disease such as small pox is, every
moment's unnecessary delay in removing the patient is fraught with
danger to the public.