View report page

13
closed. This is done by an officer of the vestry. Notice is served in all cases on the owner to strip
and cleanse, but in practice the work is always carried out by a contractor engaged by the sanitary
authority.
No charge is ever made.
All disinfection in the district is carried out by the sanitary authority.
Temporary shelter.—A small two-storey house in Prospect-place at the rear of the vestry hall,
Cable-street, has been provided for this purpose. It is entered from the public recreation ground, and
contains four rooms, a washhouse and one water-closet. It is not furnished for habitation, though some
articles of crockery and cooking utensils are supplied. There is no bathroom. The premises are
never used.
Limehouse.
(a) Articles of clothing and bedding.—The Board of Works for Limehouse district have provided
a steam disinfecting apparatus (Washington Lyon) in a building specially erected for the purpose in a
well-arranged group of premises which comprise a coroner's court, a temporary shelter, a mortuary,
and a disinfecting station. The side for infected and that for disinfected articles are quite distinct,
and approached by separate gateways leading into two separate yards, and different men are engaged
in placing the infected articles into the disinfecting apparatus and in removing them from the disinfected
side.
There are two hand trucks for conveying articles to and from premises.
There is a crematorium on the infected side for the destruction of bedding.
(b) Rooms.—The practice adopted is fumigation by means of burning sulphur. Sulphur candles
are used, and the room is fumigated before any articles are removed. In nearly every case the sanitary
authority strip the walls, sprinkle them with a solution of carbolic acid, and wash the floors and woodwork.
The walls are not stripped in cases where the room has been recently cleansed and where the
case is speedily removed to hospital. In some cases where the room contains much brasswork, disinfection
with formalin by means of the Alformant lamp is done.
No charge is ever made for disinfection.
It is quite exceptional to receive certificates as to disinfection having been carried out to the
satisfaction of the medical practitioner, the sanitary authority practically carrying out all the disinfection
in the district.
Temporary shelter.—Accommodation for the use of families during disinfection has been provided
in a building erected at the side of the coroner's court in Horseferry-branch-road. In contains three
rooms, which can be used either as sleeping or day rooms, and are furnished with two beds and two
couches, and wash stands. There is a bathroom with lavatory basin, one water-closet, and a scullery.
On the upper floor there are in addition three other rooms, but these have not been furnished.
There is a resident caretaker, who is also mortuary keeper.
During last year 16 families, consisting of 29 adults and 39 children, availed themselves of the
use of the temporary shelter.
Mile-end Old-town.
(а) Articles for bedding and clothing.—The vestry have provided a dry heat disinfecting apparatus,
which has been adapted for steam disinfection since its erection. The apparatus is heated by a furnace
underneath, and steam, generated in a small pumping-engine, is forced into the chamber by means of
a steam jet. It is not successful, and the vestry have now decided to erect an Equifex steam disinfecting
stove, and this will be available for use shortly.
For conveying articles to and from premises two hand trucks are provided.
(b) Rooms.—In cases of scarlet fever, diphtheria and typhoid, fumigation of the room by
burning sulphur candles (1 lb. to each 1,000 cubic feet of space) is adopted, and this is followed by
notice to strip walls and cleanse if room be dirty. In cases of smallpox, after fumigation, the sanitary
authority strip the walls and wash with carbolic acid (1 in 10).
No charge is ever made for disinfection.
In a considerable proportion of the notified cases of infectious disease disinfection is done
privately and certified by the medical practitioner as having been carried out to his satisfaction. It
is stated that about 70 per cent. is done by the sanitary authority, and that much inducement is needed
to persuade householders to allow the authority to carry out the disinfection.
Temporary shelter.—Accommodation has been provided in a two-storey house at 47, Globe-road.
Here three rooms, two with fireplaces, one without, have been furnished as living and sleeping rooms
with beds, washstands, and necessary utensils and crockery. There is no bathroom. Persons using
the shelter can cook their food in the caretaker's kitchen.
Poplar.
(a) Articles of clothing and bedding.—A steam disinfecting apparatus (Washington Lyon) has
been provided by the sanitary authority at their depot in Glaucus-street. It is situated in a wellarranged
building, divided into two rooms by a partition wall, in which the apparatus is set, so that
the opening at either end opens into separate rooms, one for infected and one for disinfected articles.
The walls of each room are lined with glazed bricks, and there is a bathroom attached for the use of
the men engaged in the disinfection. This bathroom is approached from the chamber in which the
disinfected articles are removed from the apparatus.
There are two horse vans for fetching articles from and returning them to premises.
At the depot there is a dust destructor, and, when necessary, bedding or other articles are
destroyed in it.
"(b) Rooms.—Before any articles of clothing are removed from rooms they are sprayed by means
of an Equifex spraying machine with formalin in the strength of 3 ozs. to half-a-gallon of water.
The articles are then removed, and the ceilings, walls and floor are syringed with the disinfectant. In
practice it has been found that this is more effectively done by using an ordinary garden syringe
instead of the spraying machine.