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7
crowding no longer exists. It has not been possible to ascertain in what way this
happened in all cases as 165 families have moved to unknown addresses. Overcrowding
has been abated in the other cases partly by reduction in the size of families
occasioned by marriage or death, partly by the adjustment of accommodation in the
same house, and partly by transfer to municipally owned houses. The 1936 survey,
however, disclosed that a further 261 families were overcrowded. At the end of
a year in which there was no systematic effort at abatement there was less
overcrowding.
Compared with 1935, the incidence of infectious disease showed an increase, due
mainly to the presence of a measles epidemic. There were fewer cases of diphtheria
(176 as against 313), of scarlet fever (609 as against 634), of erysipelas (68 as against
78), and of puerperal pyrexia and puerperal fever (28 as against 45). There was
an increase in the number of cases of ophthalmia neonatorum (26 as against 17),
epidemic diarrhoea (63 as against 5), and enteric fever (12 as against 9). The
number of cases of measles rose from 656 to 2,060.
The number of notifications of tuberculosis received during the year was 253,
compared with 242 in 1935. At the end of the year there were 789 persons suffering
from pulmonary tuberculosis, and 179 persons suffering from other forms of tuberculosis,
that is in all 968 persons (975 in 1935), living in the Borough. The number
of deaths from tuberculosis during the year was 116 compared with 136 in 1935.
The principal vital statistics for the year are as follows:—the birth rate was
13.8, a decrease of 0.2 on that of 1935; the infant mortality rate was 59, compared
with 44 in the previous year and 63 in 1934; the neo-natal mortality rate (deaths
under four weeks per thousand births) was 21.81, as against 19.5. The number
of maternal deaths was 5, two more than in 1935, the rate for the year per thousand
births being 2.47.
The population of the Borough is estimated by the Registrar General to be
146,500 at the middle of the year, an increase of 100 on 1935. This is the total
population and includes non-civilians, and it is on this figure that the rates of the
Borough are calculated.
For many years the Council have been very active in securing open spaces for
the perpetual enjoyment of the citizens of Woolwich and numerous small areas
have been acquired by them from time to time. The Council have always regarded
the "Green Belt" as of the greatest importance, and when larger areas were on
the market the County Council were urged to purchase these and generous financial
assistance was given by the Borough Council. Because of this policy Woolwich
is now more fortunate than most London Boroughs in its extent of public open
spaces. The County Council own 700 acres of such space in Woolwich to-day and
the Borough Council about 200 acres in no fewer than 143 areas of varying size,
from a small shrubbery to extensive playing fields.