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until such time as the shelter was made habitable and furnished, since when it has been occupied
three times by six persons. In Woolwich, the shelter was used by 32 persons, in most instances
owing to the occurrence of cases of smallpox in their homes. In Lambeth the shelter was not used,
and the medical officers of health of that district and of Paddington are of opinion that disinfection
can be effected in such a way as to render the removal of the inmates from a tenement unnecessary.
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The Cleansing of Persons.
The arrangements made under the Cleansing of Persons Act are referred to in only a few
of the reports of the medical officers of health. In Chelsea, at the disinfecting station a bath-room
has been provided for the use of persons who wish to have a hot bath while their wearing apparel
is being disinfected. In Marylebone, special provision has existed since 1898, and since that date
19,888 baths have been supplied. There has been a considerable increase in the number
of women using the baths; in 1902 there were 278 women cleansed, whereas in 1900 there
were only 28. In St. Pancras the medical officer of health states that he ascertained that
applicants at the workhouse gate were referred to the relieving officers, and that since 1898 there
had been four or five such applicants; he therefore recommended baths should be placed in the
building adjoining the disinfecting station so that persons inadmissible to the public baths could
use them while their clothes were being disinfected; he also recommended that a notice concerning
these arrangements should be placarded in all public places in the borough. In Holborn 32
persons were cleansed. In Finsbury the only arrangements for cleansing have been those made by
the Holborn Board of Guardians, who instructed the officers at the City-road Workhouse to give
facilities to any persons applying to be cleansed and their clothes disinfected.
Mortuaries.
The following information relating to mortuaries is supplied by the reports of the medical
officers of health. In Paddington the new mortuary was to be opened early in 1903; it is situated at
Paddington-green. The erection of a mortuary chapel for North Kensington has been begun on a
site at the north-east corner of Avondale-park, the inhabitants being unwilling to use the mortuary
in the parish churchyard, either owing to its distance from their homes or for other reasons. In
Lambeth there are still only two mortuaries, no site for Norwood Ward, having, as yet, been
found ; the High-street mortuary is not separately provided with any special accommodation
for bodies of persons who have died from infectious disease, so that such bodies from all parts of
Lambeth have to be taken to the Wanless-road mortuary. The new Battersea mortuary was
opened in April; the medical officer of health states that this has long been needed, the old
building having proved quite inadequate for the purpose for which it was intended. In the
Borough of Wandsworth the Putney mortuary has been closed, and since the end of April the
mortuary in Wandsworth Parish has been used ; nothing further has been done with reference
to the erection of the new m.ortuary in Wandswortn, as the land on which it had been decided to
build is not yet available. The Public Health Committee of the Deptford Borough Council have
had under consideration the site for a mortuary and a coroner's court, which they have reason to
believe will be acquired during 1903, and plans have been submitted by the surveyor which will
be presented to the Council in due course. In Greenwich the question of the provision of suitable
mortuary accommodation is being considered by the Public Health Committee ; the ground has
been purchased, plans were adopted by the Committee, and await the sanction of the Council to
the proposed scheme.

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