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6
INQUESTS.
Twenty Inquests were held during the year.
In connection with the outbreak of Smallpox in
St. Hugh's Road, it was necessary to issue an order
excluding scholars residing in this and neighbouring roads,
from attending School.
Although we have passed through a very trying time
owing to the epidemic of Small-pox, it is very satisfactory
to be able to draw attention to the very low death-rate of
12.5, as compared with 13.48 last year. It will be
remembered that we had one case of Small-pox during the
last few days of 1901, and it was decided that Chicken-pox
should be added to the list of Notifiable Diseases for six
months from January 4th, and this period was extended
for another six months by resolution of the Council on
June 2nd. Early in March I was instructed to visit all
cases of Chicken-pox notified in the district, and in the
discharge of this order visited over 200 children so notified,
and have to thank the Medical practitioners of my district
for the very kind help and assistance they gave me in
carrying out this duty. The early cases of Small-pox
caused us a vast amount of anxiety, and it often gave us
many hours' work before we were able to make arrangements
for the satisfactory removal of the patients; but
when the temporary arrangements were made with the
authorities of the Croydon and Wimbledon Joint Smallpox
Hospital to take our cases, a great deal of this anxiety
was removed. I am indeed relieved to know that this
arrangement is now a permanent one. In the management
of the small-pox cases, I believe I can claim that
a great part of the success that attended our efforts
to stay the spread of the disease was due to the promptness
with which we acted in every case and to the
early re-vaccination of all contacts, and I should like to
thank the public vaccinator, Mr. Sidney Turner, for the