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and saying that the Borough Council must be held responsible for
the deaths of various children.
The following letter would also give the idea that they were
continuing their application later on in the year to the Local Government
Board, whose letter (which follows) had evidently been written
after a visit to the siding:—
Local Government Board, Whitehall, S.W.
July 2nd, 1914.
Sir,—I am directed by the Local Government Board to advert to previous
correspondence and to state that the Board have caused a visit to be paid to the
East Dulwich Railway Siding and to the Glengall Road Wharf by their Inspector,
Dr. Hutchinson, in connection with the complaints that have been made as to the
disposal of the refuse of the Borough of Camberwell.
On the day of Dr. Hutchinson's visit there was no wind, and he could detect
no smell from the refuse at the railway siding in the grounds of the Southwark
Union Infirmary. The smell in the immediate vicinity of the sidings was, however,
Very offensive, and there was a considerable amount of house refuse and horse
manure littered about, forming a continuous line of rubbish on both sides of the
trucks. Dr. Hutchinson found that the trucks are now half screened during the
process of filling and are sheeted over when filled. These steps would tend to
mitigate any nuisance arising from them, but Dr. Hutchinson had no doubt that
there was a nuisance at the time of his visit in the immediate neighbourhood of the
refuse, which, with the wind in the right direction, might have been carried into
the grounds of the Infirmary. It would appear to the Board desirable that the
Borough Council should make arrangements for the disposal of their refuse which
would not involve the use of this siding. Until this can be done the greatest care
Should be taken to obviate as far as possible the spilling of refuse ill loading, and to
collect and dispose of any refuse that is spilled.
Dr. Hutchinson found no nuisance at the Glengall Road Wharf at the time of
his visit, and in his opinion the loading of the refuse into barges at the wharf was
being done expeditiously and efficiently.
I am to request that the Borough Council will give this letter their early
consideration and will inform the Board of the result.
I am, Sir
(Secretary.)
The reference to the Glengall Wharf, where dust is handled, is
rather interesting, as showing the sheep-like tendency of so many
people in this world. A complaint was received concerning this
Wharf about the same time as the anonymous article Subsequently
referred to appeared in the Press. Observations were kept by the
Sanitary Inspectors and by myself, and I was able to report that
no nuisance existed, an opinion which was evidently shared by the
Local Government Board Inspector.
In the middle of the year an article from an anonymous Correspondent
appeared in a newspaper of large circulation. The article
appeared exaggerated where it was not absolutely misleading.
To many people who take a newspaper as their gospel, and do
not trouble to analyse what they read, a letter so absolutely onesided
would give a wrong idea of the facts, and especially if the
foregoing letter from the Local Government Board had not been
read.
Indeed, the attacks on this Council have been so bitter and
persistent that had they been made by a private individual, instead
of by a responsible administrative body, they might well have been