View report page

10
I own I am slow to indulge in great expectations. In all probability
those diseases that have been noticed taking the course of the river
will take the course of the river still: but only because the water finds
its way along the valley, among swamps, as better illustrated on the
south side of the Thames, and where there will always be found the
conditions favourable to the development of disease. I here will, as a
matter of course, be a less perfect drainage, the surface will always be
more heavily charged with moisture, giving rise to miasmatic exhalations,
and there will be a corresponding deficiency of ventilation;
these will rank foremost among the elements for the propagation of
disease, and which no purification of the water can wholly remove.
But as a great deodorizing system, in which the people of
London are concerned, as respects their cleanliness and comfort, I
take a deep interest, bearing in mind the large extent in which this
District is involved along shore.
Yet, though I felt it impossible to forbear making an allusion to
what must be regarded at present as a speculation, it cannot bo
forgotten that my business after all is with facts as they come under
my daily notice. It has been seen, from causes which have been
pointed out, that this District is not in a comparatively sound sanatory
condition, while a question naturally springs from it, "How can this
be remedied ?"
This can only be done, from time to time, by a systematic
inspection. During the past year some hundred houses have fallen
under my notice, the particulars of which have been brought forward
at your fortnightly meetings. In numerous cases defective drainage
has been found, in others deficient ventilation as the source of disease,
and occasionally overcrowding, &c., all of which evils have, more or
less, found a remedy. And my experience makes it a matter of
certainty, that only by pursuing this rigid course of sanatory operations
can I hope to see it placed on a better footing with the more favoured
Districts of the Metropolis.
I am, Gentlemen,
Your most obedient Servant,
THOMAS ORTON,
Medical Officer of Health for the Limehouse District.