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25
During 1938 there has been no change in the methods adopted in relation to
the supply of milk and dinners to mothers and children. Up to 31st December, 1938,
the amount expended was £973 14s. 1d., as against £784 8s. 1d. in the year ended
31st December, 1937. The actual number of cases dealt with was 377, and the
number of orders issued 2,325, varying slightly from those for 1937, when the cases
numbered 358 and the orders 2,059.
The system, it may be said, has worked with absolute smoothness and has
done a very great deal of good. The efforts of the officers and of Councillor Mrs.
Davis, who has given most valuable help as representative of the Maternity and
Child Welfare Committee, to make a just assessment have continued to meet with
success.
Day Nurseries.
(a) Number of day nurseries: (i) provided by the Council, nil; (ii)
vided by voluntary associations, 3.
(b) Number of places for children under 5 years of age in the nurseries:
(i) provided by the Council, nil; (ii) provided by voluntary associations,
150.
(c) Total number of attendances of children at these nurseries during the
year, 20,445.
The situation of the three day nurseries in the Borough, together with details
of the attendances for the year, are shown in Table 19.

The St. Marylebone Health Society's new Portman Day Nursery in Salisbury
Street, erected on a freehold site presented by Capt. The Hon. G. B. Portman, was
formally opened by the Rt. Hon. The Viscount Stonehaven, P.C., G.C.M.G., D.S.O.,
LL.D., D.L., on the 13th July, 1938, and brought into use on the 29th August, 1938.
The scheme was designed and carried out by Mr. Howard Robertson, F.R.I.B.A.
The contractors were Messrs. Prestige & Co.
The Nursery is situated on the first and second floors of the new building. For
the infants, from one month to two years, there are two large nurseries, each accommodating
15 cots. There is also a small room between these two nurseries, where a
child who is fretful or unwell can be isolated. The infants' reception room is on
one side, with convenient bathing arrangements. On the other side of the landing
are the toddlers' reception rooms, where there are baths and small basins fixed at
a height for the children to wash their own faces and hands, and to clean their teeth.
From specially designed wall-fixtures each child's towel, face-cloth, comb and toothbrush
are suspended separately. Special racks are fixed in niches on the landing for