View report page

18
prevalent during the whole month, and the fatal cases from these
maladies have considerably increased the mortality—fifty deaths
from all causes having been registered in November.
Yours respectfully,
December, 1858. W. MURDOCH.
THIRTY-SIXTH REPORT.
Gentlemen,
Between the private gardens at the back of the Infant School,
Deptford-road, and the adjacent land of Air. S. Brandon,
market-gardener, runs an open ditch, which served as a boundary
to the latter. The foul effluvia exhaled from that ditch have
often been a subject of complaint. On examination of the place,
it became evident that the flushing process was impeded by
several penstocks, some of which were entirely useless. One
has since been removed at my suggestion, and the ditch is in a
better state than it was a few weeks ago. The penstocks cannot,
however, be all removed, as there would be then no water supply
to the gardens. The filthiest part of the ditch is at the end of
Claremont-pluce, and although I could detect no drain-pipe, it
seemed to me from the nature of the stagnant fluid, that the surface
drainage from some of the houses found its way into it.
The simplest remedy would be to fill up the ditch, and if this be
not practicable, the tide ought to be allowed to sweep round as
often as possible.
Dunn's Cottages form a block of houses (five in number), near
the turnpike, Deptford-road, inhabited now by about 34 persons.
For the accommodation of these, there are two privies erected
over one cesspool, which is full and in a filthy state. I must
again express the opinion so often urged in my previous reports,
that no cause contributes more to the demoralisation of the
humbler classes than the habits of indecency and indelicacy on
gendered by want of proper water-closet convenience. Schools
may mould the intellect of the people, and inculcate principles
of religion and morality, but the social habits characteristic of
the civilized man, can only be gradually formed by proper sanitary
regulations and arrangements.
An open tidal ditch passed formerly by the yards of the houses
4, 5, 6, 7, George Street. It has been replaced by a closed
sewer. The drainage of these houses has not been connected
therewith, and the consequence is an accumulation of filth and
garbage, solid and liquid, on the top of the new sewer, which in
rather below the level of the neighbouring yards. When visiter
by the Inspector and myself, we found over the sewer one or two