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25
The water supply is direct from the mains of the New River Company, no
cisterns being used except for the flushing of water-closets
From inquiries into the histories of the cases it appeared that in most of them
the patients had been ill for several days before medical advice was obtained, and in
some instances they were not notified as typhoid fever until about three weeks after the
beginning of the illness. The symptoms in the cases notified on August 24th appear
to have commenced about the same date; the cases notified on September 27th and
28th, and on October 7th, also began about the same time; and the symptoms in the
two cases notified on October 26th and November 4th seem to have begun about the
same date.
With regard to the prevalence of typhoid fever in these houses, the evidence as
to the causation was not conclusive. The milk used in the several households
attacked was from various sources, and there was nothing pointing to it being in any
way implicated. Some of the houses invaded were overcrowded, and they were all
more or less dirty, but the cases were removed to hospital as soon as possible after
the receipt of the notification, and steps were promptly taken as to disinfection and
cleansing. The drainage of the houses on the south side of Watson's Place was
extremely defective, but that of the houses in Louisa Street and on the north tide of
Watson's Place was satisfactory. The first case on August 6th occurred at a house
on the south side of Watson's Place, where the drain had been opened to remove a
stoppage, but of the three cases notified on August 24th, two of them were in the
houses in Louisa Street which are drained satisfactorily by a separate drain, and of
the whole thirteen cases seven were in houses in Louisa Street, and on the north
side of Watson's Place, which were in no way connected with the defective drain, so
that whatever part the defective drain may have played in connection with the cases,
there would appear to be some other factor to be taken into account.
The defective drain was re-laid throughout the whole of its course, and intercepted
from the Vestry's sewer, the work being finished in October. Where it passed
under the roadway to join the sewer in Watson's Place, the depth was found to be
between 9 and 10 feet below the crown of the road.
I am informed that the water main supplying the houses passes down Watson's
Place from east to west, and then turns round to supply the houses in Louisa Street.
It is about two feet below the crown of the road, and where it crosses the defective
drain there is a distance of about eight feet between them. The water main is a
four-inch iron pipe. It was found to be broken, and was repaired in September, 1896.
As to the length of time the fracture had existed before it was discovered I have no
knowledge. The distance of the fracture in the water main from the defective drain
passing under the roadway was about 23 feet. Although the evidence as to the
implication of the water supply through the defective drain is not conclusive, it is
quite within the bounds of possibility that such was the case, and that this is the
other factor in connection with the occurrences of these cases of typhoid fever.