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43
Schools were obtained by circular letter to the head
teachers in February, 1896. According to present information,
it appears that in the Board Schools in
Paddington, 3,402 places are available, with 3,078
children in attendance. Among such of the children
as reside in Paddington, 93 cases of scarlet fever, and
19 cases of diphtheria, were recorded during the year,
which figures are equal to rates of 31 and 6 per 1,000
children respectively. The Voluntary Schools provide
some 14,373 places, and are attended by (say) 10,730
children. Among these, or such of them as reside in
Paddington, 266 cases of scarlet fever, and 50 cases
of diphtheria, were recorded, equal to rates of 24 and
4 per 1,000 children respectively. In the second
category, i.e., in cases where children not being the
patient attend these schools, the rates for scarlet fever
were 27 per 1,000 children in Board Schools, and 22
per 1,000 in Voluntary Schools, those for diphtheria
being 9 in the former class and 8 in the latter.
It would appear, therefore, that there was, during the
past year, a somewhat greater incidence of these
diseases among the Board School children than among
those attending Voluntary Schools. This does not
imply that all the cases were due to infection spread
through the schools. It is impossible to define exactly
the source of infection in most cases.
In the foregoing Table (Table 12), it will be
noticed that three schools, namely, St. Mary Magdalene's,
St. Paul's, and the Saltram Crescent High