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63
PUBLIC CONVENIENCES.
The Council provide six public lavatories containing water-closets; two are for men only,
and in four accommodation is provided for both sexes. In addition there are 12 urinals for men
under the charge of the Council. In the women's lavatories there is free accommodation for
those who are unable to pay. There are also conveniences for men and women at eleven railway
stations in the Borough. The public-house urinals entered from the street and available to the
public number 75. The public conveniences in the Borough have been regularly inspected during
the year, those for women in stations and elsewhere having been kept under observation by the
Women Health Officers.
BACTERIOLOGICAL WORK.
The Council have an arrangement with the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine,
Chelsea Gardens, S.W.1, for the bacteriological examination, at the expense of the Council, of
specimens from Kensington cases sent to them by medical practitioners in regard to
diphtheria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, syphilis and other diseases. The examinations in 1923
were as follows:—
Disease
suspected.
No. of
examinations.
No. of
positive results.
Diphtheria 559 79
Tuberculosis 140 22
Typhoid Fever 8 2
Gonorrhoea 6 2
Dysentery 3 —
In addition to these examinations at the Lister Institute, 596 specimens of sputum were
examined at the Tuberculosis Dispensaries.
Facilities for the examination of cerebro-spinal fluid in suspected cases of cerebro-spinal fever,
etc., are available to the Council's Public Health Department through the London County
Council's Laboratory and for the examination of suspected foodstuffs and of blood in suspected
malaria cases through the Ministry of Health.
PUBLIC BATHS AND WASH-HOUSES.
There are at the Public Baths, a Men's First Class Swimming Bath with a capacity of 120,000
gallons, a Women's First Class Swimming Bath with a capacity of 45,000 gallons, and a Second
Class Men's Bath and Second Class Women's Bath each of which holds 45,000 gallons.
The charge for admission to the First Class Baths is 8d.; 3d. is charged for admission to
the Second Class Baths, children being admitted at half price.
There are 13 Men's and 7 Women's First Class Slipper Baths and 34 Men's and 20 Women's
Second Class Slipper Baths. The charge for a First Class Warm Slipper Bath is 8d., and for a
Second Class, 3d., whilst the charges for a First Class Cold Slipper Bath and for a Second Class
Cold Slipper Bath are 4d. and l½d. respectively. There are 6 special Warm Baths for the use of
which a charge of 1/- is made.
The number of bathers using the Swimming Baths and Slipper Baths in the last five years
is shown in the following table:—
Year.
Bathers.
1919
259,200
1920
319,991
1921
292,464
1922
245,374
1923
251,069
In the Wash-house or Laundry Department, there were 90 wash-tubs in use in 1923. In order
to prevent the wash-tubs being used by professional laundry-women, to the exclusion of women
doing their own family washing, the charges were amended during the year. The revised prices
to be paid by a user of a wash-tub are as follows:—
2d. for each of the first four hours on any one day.
4d. for the fifth hour on any one day, and
6d. for the sixth and every succeeding hour on any one day.
The number of women using the wash-tubs in the last five years is shown in the following
table:—
Year.
Washers.
1919
82,002
1920
88,207
1921
103,207
1922
100,546
1923
110,252