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7
In looking over these tables side by side with those which
I submitted to you last year, you will be surprised, at fii st
sight, by the considerable increase in the number of deaths- —
an increase which amounts 011 the whole to 71 in St. Saviour's
parish, and to 56 in the parish of Christchurch. Much, however,
of this apparent increase will be found in an examination
of particulars, not truly to belong to the mortality of the
district. Of the aggregate it will be seen, that as many as
96 deaths occurrcd in the workhouse in Christchurch, and no
fewer than 135 in the hospitals in St. Saviour's. Indeed, a
closer observation of details will satisfy you of the interesting
fact that, in spite of the greater general mortality of the year,
our losses have been absolutely and not inconsiderably less
from those diseases which are held to be preventible by
sanitary means—that we have, in truth, recorded in our
favour from these maladies the important gain of 23 lives.
This gratifying result, as well as that of the greater
though less exactly calculable number of persons who may
have been preserved from disease, has, at least, been sought
for by a patient pains-taking enforcement of the sanitary
regulations which both science and experience recommend.
In our department of the work—and here I am glad of the
opportunity of bringing under your notice, the unwearying
industry, and indefatigable perseverance of your Inspector of
Nuisances—we have inspected 720 houses, and made nearly
3,000 visits, during the past year.
What the seeds of mischief were which were detected
on these occasions, and what the steps which were adopted
to destroy them, are particulars, so various that it would to
tedious to relate them, but, at the same time, so important
that the knowledge of them should be made accessible to
the Board. On this account, I have classified the detail into
two tables, referring respectively to proceedings in the two
parishes of which the district is composed.