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73
the consideration of a recommendation that application should be made to Parliament for power to
bring additional supplies of water to London from the watersheds of the Usk and Llangorse.
Insufficiency of water supply.
In the reports of the medical officers of health of Hackney, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, St. Georgein-the
East, Limehouse, Mile-end Old-town and Poplar, reference is made to the failure of constant
water supply by the East London Waterworks Company during the summer months. From the 21st
of July to the 10th of September the company found it necessary to restrict the supply of water to
certain hours of the day; considerable inconvenience was caused owing to the absence of storage
cisterns in the houses. To meet the difficulty the company erected stand-pipes in the most desirable
places, and supplied earthenware receptacles for distribution among the inhabitants.
Constant water supply.
The annual report of the chief officer of the Council's Public Control department shows that
constant water supply was extended during the year ending March 31st, 1897, so that at that date 93 6
per cent.of the houses in London were thus receiving their water.
River pollution.
The condition of the river Lee is discussed at length in the report of the medical officer of
health of Hackney who states that, the summer being hot and dry the water became offensive, due
chiefly to the sewage effluents of Walthamstow and Leyton which are poured into the river at that part.
A memorial was presented by the sanitary committee of the Hackney Vestry asking the Council to
take immediate steps to obtain the appointment of a Select Committee by the House of Commons to
continue the evidence which was taken by a committee in 1886, on the pollution of the river Lee, which
committee was unable to complete its labour owing to the dissolution of Parliament. The memorial
was considered by the Rivers Committee and the following recommendation was adopted by the Council
on the 10th November, 1896—
" That the Council do ask Her Majesty's Government to take steps to appoint a Select
Committee in the next session of Parliament to inquire into the present condition of the river
Lee."
The medical officer of health of Poplar called attention to the condition of the banks of the river
Lea and suggested " that the Conservancy ought to cleanse the banks of Bow-creek, as at low tide
they were covered with thick black slimy mud and emitted odours no doubt dangerous to health." A
letter was addressed to the Lea Conservancy Board on the subject.
Disinfection.
In my last report I stated that 24 districts had provided themselves with apparatus in which
disinfection is effected by steam, and 6 districts, viz., Hammersmith. Marylebone, Clerkenwell, St.
Luke, Limehouse and St. Saviour, had dry heat apparatus. Since that time the sanitary authorities of
Marylebone, St. Luke and Limehouse have provided themselves with steam apparatus, and those of
Hammersmith, Clerkenwell and St. Saviour have decided to do so. Beyond these, the district of St.
Olave is now provided with its own disinfector, disinfection having previously been done in the
apparatus at Guy's Hospital. The Vestry of Lambeth has decided to provide a second steam
disinfecting machine, in order to avoid the expense incurred in the employment of a contractor whenever
the existing apparatus required repair. The Vestry of St. George-in-the-East has arranged for
infected articles to be disinfected in the apparatus of the London Hospital. Eight districts still rely
upon the services of contractors, steam apparatus being used. The medical officer of health of Kensington
reported that many hundreds of pounds per annum might be saved on the present cost of
disinfection were the vestry to undertake the work without the intervention of a contractor, but a
committee of the vestry decided not to make any change in the existing arrangements. On the other
hand, the medical officer of St. Martin-in-the-Fields finds the employment of a contractor the most
convenient arrangement for the district, no site being available for the erection of apparatus. The
steam apparatus in Mile-end Old-town is merely a converted Fraser's oven, which the medical officer
regards as unsatisfactory; he strongly urges the provision of efficient apparatus.
Nearly all the reports contain information as to the number of rooms and articles disinfected
after the occurrence of infectious disease, and in the report relating to Lambeth account is given in
some detail of the arrangements for disinfection made in that district. The subject of disinfection of
rooms was specially considered by a committee of the Vestry of St. George, Southwark, and was also
reported on by the medical officer of health, effort being made to secure efficiency in respect to each
detail. It appears that a shelter is especially required in this district for the accommodation of persons
during the disinfection of their rooms owing to the proportionately large number of persons living in
one and two rooms. The vestry has decided to make this provision. The method of disinfection of
rooms is mentioned in a few of the reports : In Whitechapel the wall and floor surfaces are washed
with a solution of corrosive sublimate, and the rooms are also fumigated with sulphur di-oxide; in
Fulham the walls are sprayed with sublimate, but fumigation cannot always be practised owing to the
absence of any shelter for the use of the inmates while excluded from their rooms. Difficulty is also
experienced in Kensington for the same reason. In two districts (Marylebone and Islington) cremators
have recently been constructed. The number of cabs and carriages disinfected are shown in the reports
of the City, Battersea and Lambeth.
Provision and use of shelters.
The provision of accommodation for persons during the disinfection of their homes makes but
slow progress, but the annual reports afford reason for thinking that where suitable accommodation
has been provided, this is increasingly used. In Paddington, in 1896, 41 families, comprising 350 persons,
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