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Reception Shelter: Camberwell, Chelsea, Fulham, Greenwich,
Hampstead, Islington, Lewisham. Poplar, Shoreditch, Southwark,
Stoke Newington, Stepney and Wandsworth.
In the following districts the administration of the Act has been
left to the Boards of Guardians: Battersea, Bermondsey, Bethnal
Green, Deptford, Finsbury, Hammersmith, Lambeth, City of
London, Kensington, Paddington and Woolwich. Dr. Wanklyn
finds that no persons have been cleansed under the Act in Battersea,
Bermondsey, Bethnal Green, Deptford, Hammersmith, Lambeth,
Paddington and Woolwich. In the City of London the number of
persons cleansed was about 20, in Kensington about 5, and in
Finsbury 1 or 2.
From the foregoing some idea may be formed as to the provisions
of the Act and of the extent to which those provisions have been
carried into effect in London. It now remains to consider whether
it is advisable for the Council to administer the Act in this Borough.
Since the last meeting of your Committee, I have visited the cleansing
stations at Marylebone and St. Pancras and have enquired into the
practical working of the Act, and I have no doubt that it affords
a Sanitary Authority a means for doing valuable work. The Act is
an important step in the right direction. The movement for sanitary
reform has hitherto been directed to the attainment of civic cleanliness,
that is to say, to the provision of better water supplies, improved
systems of drainage and refuse removal, &c. At the present time,
however, the reform movement is being extended to include questions
of personal hygiene, and as the foundation of personal hygiene is
personal cleanliness, an Act which has for its object the promotion
of personal cleanliness should be welcomed by Sanitary Authorities.
This Act affords the means whereby persons who, perhaps for no
fault of their own, have become infested with vermin, may be
cleansed without any stigma of pauperism, and to the great
advantage of the community.
I am informed that the Marylebone Cleansing Station has enabled
men to secure work which was refused them while they were in a
verminous condition. In St. Pancras a large number of school
children have been cleansed, and in this way a cleansing station
may be of great service.
Battersea at the present time is in a position to carry out the
provisions of the Act at small cost. The tenement of the Shelter
opening into Sheepcote Lane could be used for the purpose. It would
be advisable to paint on the door the words "Personal Cleansing