View report page

62
residing near or having to pass, the mortuary from the presence
therein of the bodies of those who had died of infectious diseases?
To which question I replied in the negative. The area of infection
of the most infectious disease is comparatively limited; and there
would be practically no danger if living persons suffering' from any
such disease, or the bodies of persons who had died of the same
disease, were exposed at such a distance as the proposed mortuary
would be from the nearest inhabited dwelling. In practice,
however, such bodies would be disinfected, and the coffins
screwed down before removal to the mortuary. A further question
having been raised, Whether the mortuary would be used? I may
state that time would be required to educate the poor into a
knowledge of the value of such an establishment; but I have no
doubt that any aversion, from prejudice or custom, against the
removal of the dead from amongst sorrowing survivors would be
greatly mitigated by the sacred associations of the proposed site,
especially if these should be sustained, as I advise, by the erection
of a quasi-ecclesiastical structure. The funerals of poor persons
conducted at the cost of the ratepayers, through the agency of the
Board of Guardians, number some three hundred annually, and as a
family often lives in a single room it would necessarily be a great
relief to them—if they could be brought to see it—to be able to
put their dead out of their sight pending the arrangements for
interment. In course of time the natural feeling of unwillingness
to use the mortuary would subside, and I hope give place to a spirit
of thankfulness at such a provision having been made. This at
any rate has been the course of events in other districts where, after
a period of neglect, the mortuary has come to be more and more
appreciated With respect to one class of cases, the infectious,
the law safeguards public health by a provision which should
be duly exercised, viz., by authorising a justice of the peace
to order the removal of the body of any person who has died of
an infectious disease, on the certificate of a duly qualified medical
man showing that the retention of the dead body in the midst of
the living is calculated to spread disease.
My opinion having been asked, Whether more than one mortuary
is necessary ? I have not hesitated to reply in the negative. The
expense of the removal of a body to any part of the parish, would
be practically the same, and as sufficient accommodation can be
provided in one mortuary, it would be needless to go to the
expense of a second, which would involve an annual charge for
attendance, &c, to say nothing of the outlay on the site and the
building.* It is no inconsiderable part of the advantage of the
churchyard site that if your Vestry should see fit, the
*The disused churchyard of Holy Trinity, Brompton, has been proposed as the
site of a second mortuary. To this site no objection could be raised should it be
found practicable to provide and maintain a mortuary for the local use of parishioners
in Brompton.