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nourishing food and clothing. I find, from the last Quarterly Returns
of the Medical Officers of the Union, that out of 588 cases of sickness
among the out-door paupers, 105 or 17.8 per cent. are of inflammatory affections
of the lungs ; and, if we take the returns for the five weeks ending on
the 15th January, it will he seen that, out of the 239 cases of illness, 52 or
21.7 per cent. are from inflammatory diseases of the lungs.
The luxury of having clean streets is known only to those who are
compelled to walk along the thoroughfares in all kinds of weather; but, it
may be asked, where are clean streets to be found in London, except in the
City ? in which District, not only are the carriage-ways cleansed daily, but
also the foot-ways. If the foot-ways were cleansed daily by the District
Boards, and not left to be cleansed, as is the custom at present, by the
inhabitants, the frontage of whose houses abuts on the foot-pavement, the
work would be done much better than it is now, and in a more methodical
manner; and the pavement in front of dead walls, churches, and chapels, would
then receive the attention of the scavengers. Besides, from the perfunctory
manner in which the foot-pavements are now swept by the several inhabitants
when removing the loose Enow, the danger of pedestrians falling is greatly
increased; for, by so cleansing the pavement, the surface, instead of being
rough by the loose snow lying upon it, is rendered slippery, and consequently
dangerous, by pieces of ice being suffered to remain thereon.
Not only are clean streets a groat luxury, but as they contribute to the
preservation of the health and comfort of the people, the ratepayers should
cheerfully incur all reasonable expense in obtaining such a desirable result.
And while writing on this subject, I may remark that it is of more consequence
to the health of the District to have the narrow and back streets kept
dry and clean, than to have the main thoroughfares so kept; because, in the
former, the population is not only more dense, but poorer, than in the
latter, and consequently more liable to suffer from such diseases as are
caused by cold and damp.
The importance of thoroughly cleansing the streets has been forcibly
dwelt upon by the Registrar-General, in his Annual Report on the Mortality
of London, for the year 1864. He states that "London has acquired almost
as much fame for that highly agglutinative compound, its mud, as for its
fogs ; and perhaps there is more connexion than is generally supposed between
them. It would be a humble, but invaluable, sanitary work if the streets
were subject to a perfect system of purification; if they were frequently and
thoroughly cleansed and dried. The attention of Boards of Works may be
well directed to this end. Old persons, whose avocations compel them to be
much out of doors, in feebly urging their steps over filthy streets, waste
much of that strength which should be husbanded for the employments by
which they live. And how can poor people be expected to keep the inside
of their houses free from damp and dirt, when all the adjacent exterior is a