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43
PROPOSAL BY THE GUARDIANS THAT
THEIR DISINFECTING WORK SHOULD BE
DONE BY THE BOROUGH COUNCIL.
(Special Report presented to the Council on 11th May, 1905.)
I have carefully considered the letter, dated April 4th, 1905,
addressed to the Lambeth Borough Council, through me, by the
Board of Guardians, asking if arrangements can be made for the
disinfecting work required in connection with the Norwood
Parochial Schools and School's Infirmary to be undertaken at
the Lambeth Borough Council's Disinfecting Station, Wanless
Road. I am of opinion that the request is a most serious one
administratively, and that it requires careful consideration by
the Council before acceding thereto.
It will be within the recollection of the Council that a serious
outbreak of Measles occurred at the Lambeth Schools, Elder
Road, West Norwood, at the end of 1902 and the beginning of
1903—a total number of 68 cases and 11 deaths, and that,
in connection therewith, a special investigation into the whole
of the circumstances was made, and a serious state of affairs was
disclosed, of which full details were furnished by me in a Special
Report, which was presented to the Guardians and to the
Borough Council. {Vide Council's Minutes, 1903, pp. 1149-1155.)
The drainage and sanitary arrangements of the Schools
were found to be in an unsatisfactory state, and the drains
have since been reconstructed, and the sanitary appliances
remodelled and brought up to modern requirements; whilst
other important administrative changes have also been made,
by which the danger of the spread of infectious disease
amongst the inmates of the Schools will be minimised, if not
entirely prevented. As the result of my investigations, I
offered to the Guardians a series of suggestions, which were
adopted by the Board, and amongst such suggestions was
one recommending the provision at the Schools of an efficient
disinfecting machine, in place of the old hot-air chamber in
use at the time of my inspections, a method of disinfection that
is now acknowledged to be old-fashioned, out-of-date, inefficient,
and, consequently, useless. Though all my other suggestions