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with convenient sanitary arrangements. Detailed attention has been given to these provisions. The
spaces are afforded adequate natural and electric lighting at all times and they are heated by radiators
of hot water, steam or electric pattern. Ventilators too, are sufficient, with a better planned distribution.
Heating and ventilation combined with insulation of external steel plating considerably
reduces dampness and condensation. In some quarters where the cabins are situated directly over
the afterpeak tank and the tank top is insulated with composite cement, greater care is now taken
to arrest condensation which would eventually cause dampness, corrosion and subsequent disturbance
of the insulation.
The cabins are comfortably furnished and no "tongue and groove" timber is used on the
structure and furnishings, a factor which reduces breeding sites for insect pests and has contributed
to the drastic reduction of insect nuisances. Properly sprung bunks with electric head lights, wardrobe
lockers, chests of drawers, settees, writing facilities, seats, mirrors and in some cases washbasins
are fitted in each cabin. Among soft furnishings provided are mattresses, linen, blankets, towels
and floor covering. Many ships are now supplied with bunk and port curtains.
Hot and cold fresh water is now generally available for washing purposes at appropriate places
in the accommodation.
Lavatory basins and w.c. pedestals of the glazed stoneware type have replaced the washing
bucket and trough closet and are amply supplied with water.
Washing and drying of clothes has not been overlooked and provision has been made where
reasonably possible.
Turning to the catering department and its amenities, the messrooms pantry and storerooms
have been fitted with food lockers, hot presses, hot water wash-up sinks, refrigerators and adequate
messing accommodation. Some of the galleys are still unsatisfactory; too many have old-fashioned
wooden fixtures, stoves and coal bunkers which spread coal dust about the deck.
The days when crews provided their own foodstuffs have gone and provision storerooms and
ancillary equipment together with full facilities for preparing hot meals is made even in the smaller
vessels where the number of crew does not warrant a whole-time cook.
Now that blankets, linen and towels have become a regular provision for the crew, there is need
to find storage space for clean and soiled changes and such articles should never be stowed in the
provision room or living accommodation.
Summarising the foregoing, it is evident that much progress has already been made in providing
a higher standard of sanitation aboard coastwise ships and, judging by the developments aboard
new vessels, there is good reason to believe that conditions will continue to improve throughout the
coastwise fleet as old tonnage is scrapped and new vessels are built to replace them. Obviously,
there are difficulties when planning satisfactory accommodation in the smaller vessels, but there are
signs of success, and in any case, the basic principles of sanitation should be applied to all sizes of ships.
Finally, it is noteworthy that a considerable proportion of the coastwise trade is operated by a
few fleets of ships which offer a good standard of living and other attractive concessions to the crews.
These incentives have stimulated the recruitment of seamen who are prepared to remain in the
service of the fleet.
HOUSEBOATS.
Essex County Council Act, 1952.
Part VII of this Act is devoted to Houseboats. The Part is adoptive, and the Riparian Authorities
in Essex mainly concerned with Houseboats in the lower reaches of the Estuary have already adopted
it.
They have fixed the "Appointed Day" from which date the provisions of this Part of the Act
apply within their respective districts and one Riparian Authority is already operating the appropriate
sections.
Briefly the provisions are that a Riparian Authority (known as a "Controlling Authority") has
the power to order the removal of a houseboat placed on the saltings in their district, even though
the houseboat may have been there before the coming into force of the Act.
There are stipulations as to the Notice to be served, costs, advertising, appeals and compensation
to the owners of the foreshore. There is also a provision that a Controlling Authority may not give
consent to the placing of a houseboat within the Port of London without the previous written assent
of the Port of London Authority or the Port Health Authority.
Thus a more complete control of houseboats on the Essex foreshore is now in sight, but the
control will be by the "Controlling Authority" and not by the Port Health Authority. It may well
be that houseboats will disappear from the area completely within the next few years.
The disastrous floods of February, 1953, gave the Riparian Authorities much anxiety and much
extra work coping with the emergency and with re-habilitation problems afterwards. Happily that
is now over and the Authorities concerned have now more time to attend to their normal functions.
As part of the Government's scheme to prevent a recurrence of the floods, Smallgains Creek
and Tewkes Creek, both on Canvey Island, have been dammed across at a point about half way
between the head of the Creek and the outlet to the sea in each case. Consequently the effective
length of these two Creeks has been reduced from about a mile in each case to about half a mile.
The portion of each Creek above the dam being no longer connected with the sea is not within
the Port Health Authority's district.
In Tewkes Creek there is only one houseboat but in Smallgains Creek there are 26 houseboats,
above the dam. Consequently these houseboats are no longer within the Port Health Authority's area.
In the near future it is probable that Benfleet Small Creek will be similarly dammed. This will
result in the removal of a quarter of a mile of Creek and about 20 houseboats from the Port Health
Authority's area.
PUBLIC HEALTH (SHELLFISH) REGULATIONS, 1934.
The following report has been prepared by Mr. D. E. Madeley, the Sanitary Inspector in charge
of the area:—
Under the Public Health (Shellfish) Regulations, 1934, the Port Health Authority, then the
Port Sanitary Authority, made an Order dated 23rd April, 1936, listing as a " Prescribed Area " all
the sands on the Essex shores of the Estuary from Holehaven in the West to the Northern Boundary
of the parish of North Shoebury in the East.
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