View report page

99
with in your District, by way of isolation or otherwise. I may add
that I am communicating to each Medical Officer of Health in
London a letter similar to this one.
I am,
Very faithfully yours,
R. THORNE-THORNE.
Your Vestry being in vacation at the time of the receipt of
this letter, I was at first at a loss how to act; however, I called
upon two of your members, and showed them this communication,
with the result that a Special Meeting of the Vestry was convened,
and, at this Meeting, a Special Vigilance Cholera Committee was
appointed to meet as often as circumstances required. This
Committee recommended the following precautionary measures,
which were faithfully carried out by your officers:—The surface of
all the courts to be more frequently flushed also the pipe-sewers in
the courts; the free use of disinfectants; all vacant plots of buildingland
to be cleansed and disinfected; all offensive dust-bins to be
disinfected after the removal of the dust; the public urinals to be
cleansed and disinfected three times daily; and the Sanitary
Inspector to use extra vigilance in the detection of nuisances.
In the meantime, I had an interview with an official of
St. Thomas' Hospital, to ask him if the authorities of that institution
would admit any case of cholera occurring in the Parish before
arrangements could be made on a larger scale for the accommodation
of such cases. This gentleman kindly informed me that he
thought there would be no difficulty in the matter. I made inquiries
also at the Charing Cross Hospital, but being entirely closed for
repairs, it was hopeless to expect any immediate help from that
institution; they, however, as will be seen further on, allotted beds
for our use. Subsequently, inquiries and negotiations were carried
on with the authorities of the following institutions tor the purpose
of ascertaining what accommodation they could afford us in the
event of an outbreak of cholera. The result was as follows:—
Cleveland Street Infirmary of the Strand Union 56 beds.
Bear Yard Casual Ward „ „ 40 „
Charing Cross Hospital 20 „
King's College Hospital 24 „
St. Thomas' Hospital 30 „
G2