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9
probability will be a much larger and more perfect institution
than the conjoint Hospital which it is proposed to erect. It is a
well-known fact, that the cost of construction per bed is greater
in a small than it is in a large Hospital, whilst the administrative
charge per bod are also more excessive. An Isolation Hospital
some miles distant from Chingford cannot possibly be so convenient
as one in our midst. The cost of transporting patients
to and fro must necessarily be more expensive, whilst the patients
themselves would be entirely removed from the supervision of
your Medical Officer of Health. When we consider that the two
sexes must be separated, and each form of infectious disease
rigidly isolated from all other forms in such an institution, it
is obvious that a small Hospital labours under serious disadvantages
where patients of different sexes and different infectious
diseases have to be treated at the same time.
Drainage-
There is good reason to believe the pollution of the Ching by
drainage from the houses at Chingford Hatch will soon be a thing
of the past. Mr. Walter Stair, the Surveyor, has, at the instance
of the Urban District Council, drawn up a comprehensive
drainage scheme for the district in question, which in all
probability will be carried out during the present year, to the no
small advantage of the least healthy locality in Chingford.
Should the Ching continue impure after the completion of this
work, our Woodford and Buckhurst Hill neighbours cannot
allege we are ourselves the cause of the pollution, which we
have attributed to their sewage effluent in times past.
As some of the sewers are rather flat, energetic flushing in
dry weather is very necessary to prevent those occasional
blockages, which are somewhat difficult to remove, besides exercising
a prejudicial influence upon the health of persons living
in their vicinity.