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29
SMOKE EMISSION AND HOUSING.
At the request of the National Smoke Abatement Society, support was given to the
following resolutions passed at the Annual General Meeting of that Society, and the Ministry
of Health informed accordingly.
Grit Emission.—" Resolved that this Conference of the National Smoke Abatement
Society recommends that the Government set up a Committee to investigate and report
upon measures to be employed to abate nuisances arising from the use of pulverised fuel,
and that special consideration be given to the abatement of nuisances arising in connection
with generating stations or other statutory undertakings.
" That all Local Authorities be circulated, asking them to pass a resolution on similar
lines, and that such resolution be sent to the Minister of Health and their respective Members
of Parliament."
House Fires.—" Resolved that this Conference views with grave concern the slow
progress made towards the solution of the domestic smoke problem, and urges the Government,
in any new housing legislation, to insist, as a condition of subsidy, that the heating
arrangements in all houses to be erected under such legislation shall be of such design as
will obviate atmospheric pollution."
During the discussion reference was made to the use of electricity and gas for heating
purposes and also the desirability of retaining the open fire grate of the type which will
burn smokeless solid fuels without difficulty.
CONGRESSES.
The Congress of the Royal Institute of Public Health, at Harrogate, from the 4th
to the 9th June ; the Congress of the Royal Sanitary Institute, at Bournemouth, from the
15th to the 20th July ; the Congress of the British Social Hygiene Council, in London,
from the 8th to the 12th July ; the Congress of the National Association for the Prevention
of Infant Mortality, in London, from the 1st to the 3rd July ; the Congress of the National
Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis, at Southport, from the 27th to the 29th June,
were all attended by representatives of the City Corporation, and again provided evidence
of the value of these meetings.
One of my staff also attended, by permission of the Public Health Committee, the
Congress of the Sanitary Inspectors' Association, held at Weymouth, from the 2nd to the
7th September.
SWIMMING BATHS.
In accordance with the suggestion of the Ministry of Health, that the winter months
would form a fitting opportunity for local authorities to ensure an appropriate standard
of cleanliness and purity of water in swimming baths, a special inspection was made of the
only baths situate in the City—that is St. Bride's Bath. It was found that the purification
system in this bath is identical with that suggested in the report of the Ministry of Health,
" The Purification of the Water in Swimming Baths." This purification system is regarded
as a model, and is visited by borough engineers prior to the construction of improved baths
in their own areas.
CREMATION.
Cremation as a means of disposal of the dead is making slow but steady progress. This
is clearly indicated by the regular increase in the numbers of persons cremated year by year.
The total of 9,614 cremations which took place during 1935 in all the crematoria established
throughout the country shows an increase of 1,277 over that for 1934. Two hundred and
fifteen of these cremations took place at the Corporation's Crematorium, at Ilford.
During the year one new crematorium was established in Blackpool, and four others
are, at the time of writing this Report, in process of construction. They will, in all probability,
become operative during 1936.
An attempt to popularise cremation amongst working classes is indicated by the establishment
of a cremation insurance scheme, much on the same lines as the burial insurance
which has been in operation for many years past.
During 1933-1934 I communicated with medical officers of health of areas which might
be regarded as within reasonable distance of the City of London Cemetery, at Ilford, asking
them whether they would be good enough in one way or another to direct attention to the
facilities available for cremation at Ilford, and as a consequence, some of these gentlemen
made reference to the matter in their annual reports.
I know that the Corporation would very much appreciate any similar reference which
might be made should this paragraph be noted by any of my medical colleagues.
The following is a summary of the cremations carried out in Great Britain to the end
of 1935, since the date of the erection of the first cremation at Woking, in 1885.
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