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260
with them. The extension of our hospital in order that it may
accommodate 200 patients, so long delayed by reasons which it is
unnecessary to detail here, is now proceeding with vigour, and will,
we hope, in a few months prove its value in relieving the countless
homes where now an attack of infectious disease becomes an overwhelming
incubus, and will largely diminish the secondary cases
which now are so common.
In connection with the hospital extension will be the central
disinfecting station, fitted with a large Washington Lyon's Steam
Disinfector.
The inspection and repair of house drains throughout the Borough
is systematically and, I believe, satisfactorily carried out by the
Inspectors of Nuisances.
The Borough Engineer from time to time reports and obtains
sanction to relay defective sewers. Several have been dealt with
during the past year, and the current report of the Public Health
Committee contains a recommendation to relay two sewers in Clova
Road and Chestnut Avenue.
With reference to the complaints of foul smells from street grids,
the Council some time back obtained reports by the Borough Engineer
and Medical Officer of Health, and have instructed the Borough
Engineer to carry out a series of experiments, suggested by him, in
the Forest Gate Ward. His report will probably be submitted to the
Council early in the New Year.
Several points usually considered in connection with diphtheria
have been omitted or only hinted at in the foregoing report, as they
did not give on examination any evidence of materially affecting the
incidence of the disease in West Ham during the past year. For
instance, the milk supply has been watched, and the source of supply
used at each house invaded with diphtheria has been noted, without
offering grounds for believing that any particular milk service was
influencing the spread of the disease.