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occurred until February 22nd, when a young woman, living at Forest Gate, was removed suffering from
Small-pox. She had contracted the disease by visiting her mother who lived at Bow, and who, being ill
at the time, was shortly afterwards removed to the hospital ships of the Metropolital Asylums Board. On
the same day a tramp was removed from the West Ham Workhouse to the Small-pox Hospital, but not
before he had seriously infected the southern end of the Borough. He came from a common lodging-house
in Poplar, evidently in an infectious condition, stayed two days in a common lodging-house in Canning
Town, and then went to the workhouse, where he was discovered to be suffering from small-pox. The
absolute impossibility of tracing and following up the denizens of this lodging-house is apparent, and the
disease spread quickly among the unprotected and imperfectly vaccinated members of the population. One
good has arisen out of the small-pox epidemic, namely, the fact that our temporary Cottage Small-pox
Hospital has been closed, never to be opened again. In the height of the last epidemic of 1885-86, twelve
cottages were acquired and hastily fitted for the reception of small-pox cases, and it may have been of
some service to the Borough as a whole in dealing with the disease, but it certainly has proved a deadly
enemy to the district of Plaistow in which it stood. Dr. Henry Power, Assistant Medical Officer of the
Local Government Board, associated this hospital with its neighbour the hospital of the West Ham
Guardians as potent factors in the spread of small-pox in Plaistow and Canning Town in 1886, and the
circumstances connected with the late epidemic appear to bear out Dr. Power's contention. As noted
above, the disease was introduced into the three wards of Stratford, Forest Gate, and Canning Town, but
not into Plaistow Ward where the hospital is situate. It was not long, however, before Plaistow became
invaded, suffering up till towards the close of the epidemic (as will be noticed presently) much more
severely than either of the other wards—a fact very patent to those who have studied the monthly maps
which I submitted to you during the period. Again, although the character of the various wards of the
Borough (with the exception of one corner) does not materially differ, and although the hospital is situate
close to the boundary of the Borough (the area of which is seven square miles), and is consequently only
surrounded by population on three sides, yet three-fifths nearly of the whole cases of small-pox occurred
within the hospital area formed by a half-mile radius from the hospital.