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ANNUAL REPORT
of the
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH.
The Health Statistics of the Parish of St. Mary,
Newington, for the year 1898.
The year has been marked by a steady and satisfactory progress
in all sanitary matters. It will be seen on reference to table 14
that excellent work has been carried out by the sanitary staff in
improving the sanitary condition of a large number of the houses
in the district. The system of inspection, instituted four years ago,
has largely contributed to the lowering of the death-rate, which
now stands at a point, 3 or 4 per 1,000 less, than in 1895 and
preceding years. Drain reconstruction or amendment is proceeding
at the rate of 1,000 houses a year. Floor ventilation and
permanent ventilation to the staircases of houses, together with
better paving of forecourts and yards, have tended greatly to
benefit the public health. Very few houses in the parish are
without a supply of water taken directly from the main. The dust
collection has much improved during the year, and but a very small
number of houses are without a metal bin. Associated with this
improvement in house drainage, it is only fair that I should mention
the public-spirited policy of the Vestry in reconstructing, at a very
large expense, considerable portions of defective sewers. I may
mention, as an illustration, one district, viz.: the Surrey Gardens
Estate which had a very bad reputation for Diphtheria and general
unhealthiness, and which was a standing danger a few years ago to
the better portions of the parish. Since the re-construction of its