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8
MEDICAL OFFICER'S REPORT.
Gentlemen,
In presenting the 15th Annual Report of the Medical
Department of the St. Saviour's District of the Metropolitan
Board of Works, 1 feel some satisfaction in the consideration, that
so far as the purposes for which that Board was created are concerned,
this District has derived considerable benefit. What is
now one of the most improving streets of the Metropolis, was at
the period of the establishment of this Board, a portion of a district
crowded with unhealthy dwellings, and consequently an unhealthy
population.
One effect however of these improvements, is, that the poor
have either migrated into other crowded districts, or gone into portions
of this which were previously over populated. I am informed
that in one street alone, containing not more than fifty small
houses, it was ascertained that there was a resident population of
more than 600 persons, and that at least two-thirds of the houses
were occupied by old people whose apartment is at least six feet
below the level of the road. This class as a rule being the
subjects of some Chronic Affection, it should not surprise any that
disease among the rest should be concomitant. This Board will
no doubt remember that the evil of which I now speak has been
one to which I have referred in almost every report which I have
had the honour to present. It still remains unabated. Whether
or not it will be diminished by the magnificent buildings just
erected on the outskirts of this District from the bounty of the late
Mr. Peabody it is not for me to determine. What the labouring
class in such a District as this require, is at least one large plain
clean room at such a rent as will suit the circumstances of those
who depend day by day upon casual labour to keep their homes
and provide for their families.
It is satisfactory to be able to record that the water of this
District has on the whole considerably improved, and that the
Registrar-General does not relax his endeavours to procure for the
Metropolis not only a pure but a continuous supply. From personal
observations I have made, I am prepared to agree with Professor
Frankland, that while the Lambeth Company has made no
progress in the way of improvement, the Soutliwark Company
has made praiseworthy efforts to purify their water. The
instances of turbidity during the last year have, in comparison
with the past, been extremely few. The great want of the
Metropolis however, and this District especially, is a continuous in
the place of an intermittent supply. What is required is a means
of obtaining water without the use of tanks and butts. As a rule
these are used not only month by month but year after ye