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The Public Health Committee and the Council have recently agreed for this
to be supplied at the Company's depots in and near the Borough, on the production
of a certificate to be obtained from the Medical Officer of Health.
On the 12th July, 1905, the Council agreed to the following recommendation of
the Public Health Committee:—"That in order that their services may be readily
"available in cases of emergency, the three male Sanitary Inspectors in the employ
"of the Council be required to reside within the Borough, and that in order to
"enable them to comply with the foregoing requirement, their salaries be increased
"£25 per annum."
Prior to this, although inspections were made of the market streets on Saturday
evenings and Sunday mornings no arrangements had been agreed to for the
attendance of the Sanitary Inspectors at the Municipal Offices on Saturday evenings
and Sundays to deal with infectious disease notifications or other matters of urgency.
During the year there was a very large increase in the number of persons who
were cleansed under the Cleansing of Persons Act, 1897. As many as 600 men and
13 women had free baths at the Casual Wards, and their articles of clothing,
amounting to 3,470 articles were disinfected in the Council's steam apparatus.
During the previous three years the number of persons cleansed under the
Cleansing of Persons Act, 1897, were:—1902, 22; 1903, 16; and 1904, 9.
The reason for this great increase was the publicity by means of hand-bills,
announcing that free baths for men and women and facilities for the disinfection of
clothing are provided by the Council. These hand-bills were issued in the month
of June, and were placed in common lodging houses, Salvation Army shelters,
underground conveniences, police stations, public libraries, dispensaries, and the
out-patient departments of hospitals, including hospitals for the treatment of skin
diseases.
In consequence of the decision of the magistrate at the Woolwich Police Court,
further steps were taken to secure the provision of a proper and sufficient supply of
water for the tenants of houses let in lodgings. It was decided to deal in the first
instance with the worst houses in which the only water supply was in the basement,
and legal proceedings were not taken if an additional water supply was provided
about midway between the ground and top floors. In only two cases legal
proceedings had to be taken, and in each case the magistrate made an order for the
work to be carried out.
AREA, HOUSES AND POPULATION.
Area.
From the report of the Census, 1901, the area of the Borough is 405.l acres.