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stress on this side of the problem in a report I submitted to the Council
in January, 1946, and what I have seen and heard since then has satisfied
me that what I wrote was in no way exaggerated.
The work in connection with rat repression was continued energetically
throughout the year. The important word in this connection is
"repression": no one who pauses to think for a moment will consider
that complete extermination is either possible or likely, no matter how
many agents are employed or how much public money is expended. In
point of fact the rat is not a danger to the Public Health, though in areas
where the food of the people is stored in considerable bulk, his depredations
may be formidable. From time to time, men who work in sewers
suffer from a severe form of jaundice as the result of rat bites, and in the
remote event of the introduction of Oriental Plague into the country the
ship-rat—which does not appear to exist in Beckenham—may become a
vector of the disease. As a result of regular attention the rat population
of the sewers in Beckenham has been reduced to extremely small proportions
: but since, as the Chief Sanitary Inspector has repeatedly
pointed out, the rat infestation in Beckenham is a surface one and not to
any extent connected with the sewers, the clearing of the sewers will have
little effect on the general distribution.
The transfer of services naturally entailed the transfer of staff.
In addition to this, other members of the staff have obtained appointments
under the new Authorities set up under the National Health Service
Act. In consequence there have been considerable periods when the work
has had to be done by a depleted staff. The fact that the work has been
kept up to date and carried out so efficiently is a tribute to the loyalty,
energy and devotion of the staff, and I am glad to take this opportunity
of expressing my appreciation of their whole-hearted support.
I should like to thank the members of the Council and of the Public
Health Committee for the consideration which they have shown to me
personally during the last year. To have, after twenty-one years,
services in which one took a deep personal interest removed from ones
immediate control and supervision is an unhappy and rather unsettling
experience, and I am grateful for much sympathy and understanding.
T. PHILIPS COLE,
Medical Officer of Health.
SUMMARY OF VITAL STATISTICS, 1948.
Area of District in acres 5,935
Civilian Population as estimated by Registrar-General at 30th
June, 1948 75,050
Civilian Population per acre 12.6
Rateable Value at 1/10/48 848,156
Births Registered: male female
Legitimate 554 497
Illegitimate 14 8 Total 1,073
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