View report page

40
ding after fever. Rooms were cleansed and repaired in 65
instances, and staircases and passages in 16 others, in
many cases after the recurrence of infectious disase.
Drains were cleansed and repaired in 332 instances,
syphons were fixed to 244, and 222 sinks altered to discharge
over gullies, thus getting rid of direct communication
with the sewer. Water closets were cleansed, and a
water supply to closets provided in the large number of
522 instances. Four cesspools were abolished, their existence
though unused being a fertile source of disease,
often of a fatal type. In 328 houses requiring repair and
cleansing the necessary works have been carried out by
the owners; sixty-five leaky roofs and gutters have been
repaired; twenty-five houses supplied with water; 409
cisterns covered and repaired ; affording strong presumptive
evidence that their abolition, with a constant water
supply would be of great benefit, both as saving expense
and by preventing damp and therefore unwholesome
houses.
One hundred and eighty-one dust bins have been provided.
It is to bs hoped that the collection and disposal
of household refuse by the parish authorities will shortly
render these unsightly and evil smelling receptacles superfluous,
and that a frequent collection will render a small
metal pail or bin sufficient in capacity for each house.
Both from an aesthetic and a sanitary aspect the gain
would be great.
Three cases in which pigs were kept were promptly
dealt with. The population is far too dense in Battersea to
allow pigs to be kept in its midst.
Accumulations of manure have been removed in 27
cases and stables drained and paved in 13 otheTs, while
yards have been drained and paved in 26 instances.