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14
Infant Mortality.
The figure obtained under this heading is regarded as a valuable
index of the sanitary conditions of a district. Furthermore,
as it is based on ascertained facts (i.e., the actual numbers of births
and infant deaths), it is more reliable that the death-rate which is
calculated on an estimated population.
The rate for 1928 is 55.88 per 1,000 births. The rates for
England and Wales and for London during the same period were
65 and 67 respectively.
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE DISTRICT.
The Urban District comprises an irregularly rectangular district
of approximately eleven square miles, the average elevation
lying between 16 and 104 above ordnance datum, the higher part
being Osterley and Heston, and the lower part along the margin
of the river from Brentford to the boundary at Twickenham. The
Western end is also low lying and the water level comparatively near
the surface, this part of the district being bounded by the River
Crane. The greater part of the district is on valley gravel with
pockets of clay at the Western end. The district is bounded on the
Eastern side by the River Thames, the Grand Junction Canal and
the River Brent, and crossed from West to South East by the River
Crane.
The district is roughly divided into two by the main Bath Road
which intersects it from East to West. Large tracts of the district
are occupied by market gardens, which are being rapidly cut into by
new housing schemes. There are two large parks, one surrounding
the residence of the Earl of Jersey at Osterley Park, and one at Syon
House, the property of the Duke of Northumberland.
The greater part of the rest of the district is largely a dormitory
for workers in London.
The industries are few, the chief being :—
(1) Beer, etc., brewing.
(2) Boat building and repairing.