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Only one case of Infectious Disease occurred within the Port.
On the 19th April, Diphtheria was reported on the " Elizabeth," of
Berkhampstead, No. 29, lying at Silvertown. The boat was at once visited,
and the patient, a child of four, after much difficulty with the parents, removed
to Homerton Hospital, where he unfortunately died.
The barge was then fumigated, and certificate thereof handed to the master.
Unfortunately, a second case from the same boat (also fatal) was reported
from Northampton, and the source of infection attributed to foul outfalls off
the Tower of London, where she was said to have been lying.
On enquiry it was found that no foul outfalls existed as stated, that no
cases of Diphtheria had occurred in any other vessels there, nor on shore in
the neighbourhood, and further that the "Elizabeth" had been lying at the
Tower Bridge Works in mid-stream, and not therefore within the influence
of any outfall.
The work of registration proceeds but slowly. Owners no longer care to
have men resident in their craft, and offer no inducements for them to
remain. In some instances masters have been turned out of their barges and
forbidden to permanently occupy them, hence these craft no longer come
strictly within the purview of the Acts.
Only 30 have been registered by this Authority within the 12 months, and
the actual number now on the register is 208.
With the exception of this failure to register, and the unfortunate cause,
the Acts have been satisfactorily complied with, and their beneficial effects
are steadily becoming manifest.
There is no evidence of any objections to their provisions on the part of
those whom one would most willingly and naturally consult, the inhabitants
themselves, and the very small amount of opposition that is manifest comes
only from a few owners who. from gross indifference to the comforts and
welfare of their employes, or a deliberate intention to avoid any possible
source of expense, systematically ignore or evade their legal duties and
responsibilities. These happily are but few in number, and are becoming
well known by their repeated offences, and the penal clauses of the Acts
provide for them a treatment of which they have been sufficiently warned,
and which must in the long run prove effectual.
In spite of all that has been done I can see no reason for altering my firm
conviction that Canal Boats are not (and cannot be made) fit and proper
places for young women and children.
To say nothing of the education question, the mere size of the cabins
utterly precludes the possibility of decency, and it certainly is a standing
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