Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Report of the County Medical Officer—General. 69
The number of cleansings at the several stations as shown in the following table has been obtained from this source:—
Metropolitan borough. | Adults. | Children. | Metropolitan borough. | Adults. | Children. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
City of London | Islington | 15 | 893 | ||
1,323 | 1,090 | Poplar | 302 | 2,237 | |
Bermondsey | 35 | 2,649 | St. Marylebone | 8,005 | 2,076 |
Bethnal Green | 19 | - | St. Pancras | 1,091 | 3,127 |
Camberwell | - | *2,714 | Southwark | 72 | 2,532 |
Deptford | - | 1,975 | Stepney | 1,780 | 4 |
Greenwich | -• | 173 | Stoke Newington | 2 | 415 |
Hackney | 38 | 2,328 | Wandsworth | 2 | - |
Hampstead | 7 | 178 | Westminster, City of | 46 | 1,418 |
Holborn | 42 | - | Woolwich | 132 | 519 |
Number of
cleansings
during the
year 1913,
As mentioned in the annual report for 1910, the principle adopted by the Council with regard to Cleansing
the cleansing of adults from common lodging-houses was that the sanitary authorities should cleanse, adults.
free of charge, any persons sent for that purpose to the cleansing station by the County Council from
common lodging-houses within their respective districts, and that a fee should be paid for cleansing all
persons sent from common lodging-houses not within the district where the cleansing was performed.
Agreements to this effect have been made with the borough councils of Bermondsey, Camberwell,
Hackney, Poplar, St. Marylebone, St. Pancras, and Woolwich.
From the information supplied by the Council s inspectors it appears that during the year 1913,
1,433 men and 40 women were, by reason of their beds having been found verminous, sent to have
their clothing cleansed. Of these numbers 1,297 men and 37 women were known to have been
cleansed, 125 men and 3 women went away and could not be traced.
In nearly all the London boroughs, whether personal cleansing is undertaken or not, considerable
effort is made to deal with verminous homes notified as the result of action by the school authority, and
many of the reports refer to the large amount of work involved in this connection. This additional visiting,
moreover, has had an influence for good far beyond its immediate aim, and many other defects have
been found and remedied as the result of the special inquiries made by the sanitary inspector or health
visitor. In addition, many thousands of articles have been purified and thousands of rooms cleansed, and
this work alone cannot be regarded as unprofitable, affecting as it does the welfare of the whole community.
The details obtainable from the annual reports concerning the cleansing of rooms are shown in the following table:—
Metropolitan borough. | Number of rooms or premises cleansed. | Metropolitan borough. | Number of rooms or premises cleansed. |
---|---|---|---|
City of London | 1 | Lambeth | 927 rooms. |
Battersea | Not stated | Lewisham | 27 rooms. |
Bermondsey | Not stated | Paddington | 280 premises. |
Bethnal Green | 143 premises | Poplar | 251 rooms. |
Camberwell | 103 premises | St. Marylebone | 303 rooms. |
Chelsea | 265 rooms | St. Pancras | 252 rooms |
Deptford | 125 rooms | Shoreditch | 601 rooms. |
Finsbury | 47 premises | Southwark | †2,590 rooms. |
r Fulham | 232 rooms | Stepney | 2,420 rooms. |
Greenwich | 94 premises | Stoke Newington | 163 rooms. |
Hackney | 446 premises | Wandsworth | 618 rooms. |
Hammersmith | Not stated | Westminster | 228 premises. |
Hampstead | 67 rooms | Woolwich | - |
Holborn | 57 premises | Total for 24 boroughs | 8,841 rooms |
Islington | 233 premises | ||
Kensington | 271 premises | 1,799 premises |
Cleansing of
verminous
rooms or
premises.
Vermin Inquiry.
On pages G2 and 63 of the annual report of the medical officer of health for the year 1911, the
question of the seasonal prevalence of three particular kinds of vermin (fleas, lice, and bugs), is discussed
at some length, and diagrams were prepared illustrating the subject. The diagram included in this
report gives the result of five years' work in connection with the observation of the seasonal prevalence
* Including adults. † 1,366 of these cleansed by owners.