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all the rest of the parish. The population of the two
districts is so nearly equal, that a comparison of the
number, ages, and causes of death will be instructive, especially
as to the influences which give so large a preponderance
of deaths to the Long Acre District ever that of
Charing Cross. If we examine the two divisions, we
shall see that in the Long Acre District there is a
larger proportion of habitations for the poorer classes.
By adding to the number of deaths in each district 20
deaths for parishioners dying in Charing Cross and
other hospitals, and dividing the deaths in the workhouse
equally between the two districts, we find the
death rate of the Charing Cross division for 1857 and
1858 to be 20 per 1000 persons living in each year,
while in the Long Acre Division it was 27 per 1000 in
1857, and 25 per 1000 in 1858.
With the valuable assistance of our indefatigable Inspector,
upwards of 200 nuisances, more or less injurious to
health, have been brought under my notice ; the greater
part of these have been remedied without the necessity
of reporting them to the Vestry. Of the 67
which have been reported, 59 have been rectified by a
notice to the landlord or his agent; in only 13 cases has
it been necessary to call in the aid of the law. In relation
to cesspools, by this time they should have been all
filled up, and pipe drains carried through from every
house into the sewers; but I am afraid many still
escape discovery from their concealment by means of a
pan and trap. Before the operation of the Metropolis
Management Act, it was too common to convert a privy
into a so-called water-closet by merely putting in a pan
and trap with a supply of water, the old drainage into
a cesspool remaining as before. One of these sham
improvements occasionally turns up, and I fear there are
still many. Unquestionably the drainage of our houses
has improved, and is improving, but much yet remains