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20
On 25th July the Chief Officer of the Coast Guard at Shoeburyness reported
a serious nuisance, caused by the deposit of refuse from London dust bins for
use in the brick fields at South church. This was being shot on the foreshore
and there sifted, causing an undoubted danger to the health of the station.
The Brick Company were called upon to remove the existing heap forthwith,
and for the future to cart the refuse direct into their own premises, and
by dealing with it there to minimise the nuisance.
This was at once agreed to, and no complaint has been since received.
Several tug-owners have been cautioned as to the emission of black smoke
from their funnels, and in all cases a marked improvement has been observed.
INFECTED CLOTHING.
The practice of sending home the effects of persons who have died from
infectious disease abroad is such a dangerous one that your officers have
endeavoured in every way to stop it altogether. Urged by your Committee,
the Board of Trade issued a circular letter to all Consuls and Shipping
Masters, calling upon them to destroy all infected clothing where practicable,
and in other cases to certify that proper fumigation had been carried out.
Notwithstanding this circular letter, instances still occur of clothing—the
property of persons who have died from infectious disease—being sent to this
country without any evidence of fumigation, and also the property of deceased
persons without information as to cause of death.
It is our rule to fumigate in both the above classes, and to notify the facts
to the Board of Trade, with a view to discouraging the practice.
The Board always assist your Medical Officer by calling upon the official
concerned for an explanation of the circumstances.
In all eight consignments of infected or suspected clothing have been thus
dealt with during the half-year, the causes being Yellow Fever (1),
Typhoid (1), Cholera (1), West Coast Fever (1), Typhus Fever (1), and
Unknown (3), a sufficiently formidable list to justify attention being paid to
the subject.
In one instance the patient had died from typhoid fever ; it was stated by
the forwarding Officer abroad that although the patient had died from this
disease, still it had only developed after his admission to Hospital, and that
therefore the clothing could not have become infected.
This is such a refinement, depending upon theories of incubation period,
habits, and spread of infection, that practically the only safe course to adopt
was to consider the goods as dangerous.