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81
Report of the County Medical Officer—General.
against the borough council. Thirteen samples were examined in Stepney, of which four exceeded
the limit of pollution. In Wandsworth, 14 samples were taken, and prosecutions were instituted in
five cases. Some of these cases present special points of interest:
(1) A sample of black shoddy flock was purchased from a shop where bedding was sold.
The vendor having no loose flock in stock supplied the inspector with some from a new pillow.
The flock was found to contain 340 parts of chlorine in 100,000. The defendant pleaded that
had he sold the pillow no proceedings could follow, as the sale would be of a pillow and not of
flock. The magistrate in convicting said that it was immaterial whether the flock was in a
case or loose, and if it failed to comply with the standard the defendant was liable for having
it in his possession.
(2 and 3) The defence in both these cases was ignorance of the fact that the Act applied
to the remaking of old bedding. The magistrate held that it was unlawful to make or remake
bedding if the flock was unsatisfactory.
(4) A woman had bought an old bed for 2s. and was using the filling for upholstering
a couch. A sample of the flock was found on analysis to contain 326 parts of chlorine in 100,000.
The magistrate severely condemned the practice of using old bedding in this way, and convicted
the defendant.
(5) In the last case a sample of flock containing 329 parts of chlorine per 100,000 was
taken from a workshop. The defence was that it was not intended for use for bedding or
upholstery, but the magistrate convicted.
Water Supply.
In his annual report for 1912, Dr Houston again refers to the importance of efficient storage of
raw river water and commends the policy of the Metropolitan Water Board, which has been not only to
provide adequate storage, but to secure the circulation of all the river water through all the storage
reservoirs for the purpose of equalisation. This policy is referred to not only as being economically
sound, but as tending to secure epidemiological safety. In support of this argument, Dr.. Houston
comments once more on experiments made on the vitality of the typhoid bacillus in samples of raw
Thames, Lee, and New River waters, and points out that in practically all the 18 experiments made,
99.9 per cent. of the typhoid bacilli could not be recovered after one week. He urges, therefore, that
although as a counsel of perfection, storage of water for one or two months may be desirable, the advantages
of a few days' storage are so material that there is no justification for the use of raw unstored river
water. In this connection Dr. Houston states that "the safety, apparently conferred by filtration, even
when the filter beds are in good working order, is probably merely relative, and depends mainly on the
comparatively innocuous character of the water antecedent to filtration."
Reference is made in the report to the large number of complaints received during the year,
restricted, however, almost entirely to the districts supplied from the Staines reservoirs. It is stated
that the complaints were justifiable and that on a number of occasions, but chiefly on Mondays, the water
had a most unpleasant "geranium" taste and smell due to the excessive development of Tabellaria.
The trouble was augmented by restorage of the water at Barnes and Barn Elms; sudden marked
increases in the rate of filtration on Mondays as compared with Sundays; and on one, if not more
occasions, by the dragging of filter beds on Sundays. The water, though unpleasant, was always
innocuous.
On March 15th, 1913, the Chingford reservoir, now known as King George's reservoir, having a
capacity of about 3,000 million gallons was opened by His Majesty the King. Dr. Houston points out that
there is already a chain of reservoirs having a combined capacity of 2,400 million gallons, which draw their
water from the River Lee, and adds that it is a little difficult to see how all these reserviors are to be
utilised for storage purposes unless on the assumption that it is proposed to use flood water. For this
and other reasons he is experimenting upon supplementary processes of water purification which will
convert the worst river water into water of passable purity, and by the use of which on special occasions
the yield of the Thames and the Lee may be drawn upon to an extent not hitherto contemplated.
Dr. Houston forms the conclusion that the safety of London's water supply is being secured to
a progressively increasing extent. He urges, however, that every effort should be made to guard against
accident, not only sudden accidental gross infection, but more constant, highly diluted pollution, which
the most perfect and costly system of water examination might fail altogether to detect.
Intercepting traps to house drains.
In 1908 a departmental committee was appointed by the Local Government Board to inquire
into the use of intercepting traps in house drains, and the report of the Committee was issued towards
the end of 1912.
The inquiry was instituted as the result of an application by the Willesden Urban District Council
asking the Board to sanction new drainage bylaws from which the requirement to provide an intercepting
trap had been omitted. The Board refused sanction to the bylaws as drafted, but appointed
a special committee to inquire into the whole matter.
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