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GENERAL REPORT. 15
In December, 1900, Mr. Morgan, when nearly ninety
years of age, had a fall, and on January 2nd, 1901, he
died at his house, No. 23, Priory Road, Kew, where—
owing to the pension granted by the late Vestry of St.
James's—the old gentleman had passed a fine old age in
modest comfort. Mr. Morgan served the district of St.
James's in his responsible post for 18 years under my
predecessor, Dr. Edwin Lankester, F.R.S., and for nine
years under myself. Mr. Morgan was fond of science and
was devoted to the sanitary work of St. James's. He
was a man of good judgment, a most able, assiduous, and
absolutely trustworthy officer. No better selection could
have been made for this important office.
In closing my last Annual Report upon a department in
which, for so many years, I have been the Chief Officer, it
only remains for me to express my regret at the many
short-comings and defects which will be observed by
those who may refer to the last twenty-seven Annual
Reports for the Sanitary Department of the district of
St. James's, Westminster. In estimating these shortcomings
and defects, I ask that the reader take into
account the difficulties and obstructions which have
attended the application of Sanitary Science to an old
city in which almost every backyard had long been built
over; and in which questions of light, air, and mechanical
sanitation encountered a combination of difficulties-—the
period, moreover, having been one in which the motive
power of public conviction has only been slowly aroused.
I have the honour to remain,
Mr. Mayor, My Lords, and Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servant,
JAMES EDMUNDS.
26, Manchester Square, W.