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fluid in the tank has been racked off into casks, the smell has gradually
diminished, and at my last visit it was confined to the precincts of the
building.
In the month of January, the mortality is usually large, nor has the year
1862 differed in this respect from its predecessors. Fifty deaths were
recorded. They are from various causes, there being no particular disease
at present prevalent in Rotherhithe.
Yours respectfully,
February, 1862. W. MURDOCH)
SEVENTY-FOURTH REPORT.
Gentlemen,
Complaint having been made of the state of the back-yard of Mr.
Haarer, pork-butcher, Rotherhithe Wall, his premises were several times
duriug the elapsed month, visited by the Sanitary Officers. The yard is
about 35 feet long and 14 wide, and on its west side stands a large pig-stye.
The drainage is good, the drains having been recently opened and cleared.
The stye is at present tenanted by eight half-grown swine, which the proprietor
declares that he keeps there for slaughter, in the legitimate pursuit
of his calling. The place is now clean and orderly, and there is no small
The weather, however, being very cold at the time of the examinations, I
interrogated the neighbours whether they had at any time been inconvenienced
by the effluvia arising from Mr. Haarer's yard. They answered
no; one person, however, stated that he was frequently disturbed during the
night by the pigs grunting and squeaking.
At No. 5, Swan Lane, the yard is flooded with sewage from some imperfection
in the drain. A notice has been served.
The drainage of Riches Place, and part of that of Orange Place, run into
an open ditch, which is in a very foul condition. A notice has been served
to the effect that the drainage be carried into the Deptford Road Sewer. The
ditch in the rear of Dartmouth Terrace, Rotherhithe New Road, notwithstanding
the attention bestowed upon it, emits, when the water is low, noxious
effluvia. Two unsightly privies discharge themselves into that ditch.
On Mr. Shepherd's ground, at the back of Dunn's Cottages, a factory is
being erected. The owner purposes purifying salt cake (sulphate of soda)
and manufacturing artificial manure. The first operation will not occasion
any nuisance. A complicated apparatus is being set up, to prevent the evo-