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57
address in Westminster, to which they stated they were proceeding,
nine persons were also notified from other Metropolitan Boroughs
These addresses have been visited by me; in eleven instances (18
persons) the persons were not found at the address given, but three of
these were eventually traced to other addresses, and kept under
observation. In addition, two families (6 persons) newly arrived vid
Hamburg were discovered. One came from New York, and had merely
changed boats there; the other came from Poland, and a child, who
had been suffering from diarrhoea for a fortnight, died on the day after
their arrival. As all deaths of infants are inquired into, the facts were
discovered within four days of the arrival of the family. The infant's
body had been buried by that time. No one else in the family had»
been ill, but, as a precautionary measure, I had the premises, &c.
disinfected.
The ports were declared free from infection about the middle of
November, but it is more than likely that cholera will re-appear in the
spring.
Regulations of the Local Government Board.—The system whereby a
person coming from an infected port is allowed to land on giving an
address to which he states he is going is not at all satisfactory. In the
case of many of the persons notified as intending to proceed to
Westminster, it turns out on inquiry that the address given is that of
some neighbour who has settled here, and who, it is hoped, may be able
to take them in, or it may be an address that they have heard some one
else was going to. In the result they may possibly get a bed for a
night, even if they are unknown; in other cases they never turn up at
the address given. As it takes several days to come from the Baltic
ports, addresses might be ascertained before embarkation and forwarded
to the Port Sanitary Authority, who could communicate with the various
local authorities, and have the addresses confirmed by the time the
passengers arrived in port.
This matter came before the Council by reason of a communication
from the Council of the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich, dated the
6th May, 1905, stating that that Council have had under consideration
the circumstances arising out of a case of small-pox which had occurred
in that borough.
From inquiries made in respect thereof it was found that the patient
came from the West Coast of Africa by the s.s. "Nile;" that during
the voyage at least one case of small-pox occurred on the ship, one
person having died from the disease; that on the arrival of the vessel
at Southampton the names and addresses of the passengers were taken
as is customary, and the person referred to gave to the Port Medical
Officer of Health an address at Bermondsey, which proved to be