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36 workshops.
Sickness.—The cases of infectious disease reported to the Department during the five
years numbered 8, viz.—
Erysipelas 3 Diphtheria, Chickenpox . ,
Scarlet Fever 2 Measles 1each.
Deaths.—No deaths among the boat population were known to the Department in 1914
and 1918. During the three years, 1915-17, 14 deaths were reported, the causes of death
being—
Whooping Cough 1 Bronchitis 2
Diarrhoea and Enteritis 1 Pneumonia 5
Heart Disease 1 Drowning 3
Other cause 1
11.—WORKSHOPS.
Registration.—There was very little change in the number of factories, workshops, &c.,
on the Register during the war, the entries at the end of 1918 being only 21 fewer than at
the end of 1913—a reduction of 1.5 per cent. The fluctuations from year to year are shown
below.
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
On Register, January 1
1,421
1,446
1,410
1,436
1,416
Removed from Register
138
214
51
75
41
Added to Register
163
178
77
55
25
On Register, December 31
1,446
1,410
1,436
1,416
1,400
The small numbers of new workshops, &c., opened during 1916-18 is striking. Another
notable feature is the increase in number of factories in the Borough, which numbered 137 at
the end of 1914 and 163 at the end of 1918. The figures for domestic workshops, workplaces
and single workers (mostly outworkers) have not been extracted since 1916. The
numbers of each of those classes of work-places in 1914 and 1916 are shown below.
Domestic
Workshops.
Work-places.
Single Workers.
(Outworkers)*.
1914 19
1916 17
32
20
295 (259)
234 (230)
There was a corresponding reduction in the number of notices of new workshops
received each year from the Home Office, viz., in 1914, 73 (65); in 1915, 52 (49); in 1916,
27 (22); in 1917, 18 (16); and in 1918, 12 (10). The figures in parentheses indicate the
number of instances in which registration of the workshops had been effected in the Department
before receipt of the notice from the Home Office.
Out-Workers.— The number of this class of workers at the end of the year rose from 294
in 1913 to 373 in 1918—an increase of over 26 per cent.—but the out-workers for local
employers (i.e., those on Out-workers' Lists received from Paddington employers) showed a
reduction of 17*2 per cent. The total number on the Register increased to the end of
1916 and then fell. The annual figures of Lists received, &c., are shown below.
OUT-WORKERS.
No. of Lists recived from
Local Employers-
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
February
58
56
47
44
39
August
59
49
45
46
40
Total for year
117
105
92
90
79
Local Workers
214
286
180
262
155
Outlying „
361
273
374
230
328
Other Authorities
55
66
69
65
68
Workers therein
379
359
341
356
372
No. of Out-Workers on Register,
Decmber 31
343
386
394
381
373
Home Office Complaints.—As might be expected these decreased as the war continued,
owing to the calls on the Department for work other than the inspection of workshops.
Whereas in 1914 and 1915 9 and 14 complaints were received, in 1917 and 1918 they
numbered only 6 in each year. The total number of complaints received in the five years
was 45, dealing with the following defects, &c.:—
Workrooms dirty 12
„ overcrowded 4
„ insufficiently ventilated 3
W.C. accommodation inadequate 8
„ apparatus defective 17
„ apartment dirty 1