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41
The street drains into an open tidal ditch; it appears that the
drainage of it might be advantageously carried into the Dodd's
Place sewer, and in this opinion I am happy to say that I meet the
ideas of the Surveyor of this Vestry.
To connect the drainage of Hanover Street with the Dodd's
Place sewer it will be necessary to traverse a piece of freehold land
belonging to myself. I shall offer no objection to this proceeding,
nor seek for any compensation, as I believe it to be the duty of
every man to put up with some inconvenience for a public benefit;
such sacrifices of individual interests for the advantage of the
many, being one of the fundamental principles, and the connecting
bond of society.
During the past month the reigning diseases in Rotherhithe have
been bronchitis, pneumonia, and other inflammatory affections of
the lungs and air passages, usually prevalent at this time of the
year. The parish still continues free from all epidemic diseases,
except scarlatina, from which cause three deaths have been registered.
I know of no case of small-pox; and typhus fever, once a
constant inhabitant of the place, seems to be fast disappearing from
among us, only six deaths from that malady having been registered
during the year 1856, forming a striking contrast with the facts
mentioned in Dr. Sutherland's report upon Rotherhithe. Thirtyseven
deaths from all causes were registered in January; deducting
therefrom three from accident, there remains thirty-four, the
average monthly mortality. The oldest person registered was
89 years of age, a female inmate of Rotherhithe Workhouse.
Yours respectfully,
February 1857. W. MURDOCH.
FOURTEENTH REPORT.
To the Vestry of the Parish of St. Mary, Rotherhithe.
Gentlemen,
"I do not exaggerate the sanitary importance of water" says a
writer on the subject, "when I affirm that its unrestricted supply
is the first essential of decency, of comfort, and of health, that no
civilization of the poorer classes can exist without it, and that any
limitation to its use in the metropolis is a barrier which must
maintain thousands in a state of the most unwholesome filth and
degradation." In Rotherhithe, the supply is not what it should be.
Whole streets, courts, and alleys, depend for that necessary article
either upon a single pump, or upon the still scantier flow from a
stand pipe, liable to be frozen during severe weather, and generally
running about half-an-hour each day, for a large population, who
are obliged to fctch the water in pailfuls for their household use.
I have already brought this matter under your notice, as in
the case of the cottages near China Hall, whose inmates have to
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