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15
Sanitation.— An epitome of the work done by the
surveyors, &c., is given in Table VI. in the Appendix.
An increase is to be noted in all the items of sanitary
work, but more especially in house inspection. The true
kindness of this system of sanitary supervision will by-andbye
be appreciated by the poor who complain much less
than their betters, and whose sanitary requirements
would never be discovered but for the zeal of the Inspector
or Medical Officer. A matter of importance to the entire
community is referred to especially in the Summary for
Battersea. The sewers built many years ago, and made
to do duty for twice as many houses as they were built
for, failed to carry off the storm water from our streets, &c.,
of which we had many experiences during 1878, and
filled the cellars, &c., of low lying houses with liquid of a
most disagreeable nature. In several cases in the parish
of Putney the owners of the houses were summoned to
fill up the cellars or otherwise protect themselves from
this overflow, but feeling injured enough by the water,
they naturally declined to be at the expense of doing what
they conceived to be the work of those to whom the sewer
belonged. The magistrate agreed with them, and so it
stands. This matter has been exhaustively treated of by
the Surveyors of the Board in the special reports drawn
up by them during the year and laid, together with a
memorial, before the Home Secretary. The Medical
Officers are strongly of opinion that such floodings are
highly dangerous to the health of the occupants of the
houses in which they occur.
Another subject of great public importance is fully
discussed in the Putney Summary, page 85, the trapping
of house drains. Nothing is more essential to the
healthiness of our population than the separation of the
house pipes and sewer from any gaseous connection with
each other. A trap should be placed on every house
drain outside the house, and opening on the house-side
freely to the air, as well as, if possible, ventilated by a
suitable pipe on the sewer-side. This is a matter of