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I would like, at this juncture, to gratefully acknowledge
the kind assistance which I have received, individually and
collectively, at the hands of the Members of the Council, and
all its officials.
The Statistical Tables—including those required by the
Local Government Board—usually given in an Annual Report
will appear in the report or appendix thereto of my successor,
Dr. Elwin H. T. Nash. It is obvious that such Tables cannot
well be divided into two periods, one from January 1st to
October 12th, and the other for the remainder of the year, and
it might be pointed out that such an arrangement would entail
a large amount of clerical labour, the results of which would
not justify the time expended upon such work.
Vital Statistics.—During the period embraced in this
report, the births numbered 1,196 and the deaths 439, of
which 87 were of children under one year of age. Taking the
population as 57,000 (as estimated by the Borough Engineer),
the birth and death rates per 1,000 of the population are found
to be 22.1 and 8.1 respectively, whilst the infantile mortality
rate is 72 per 1,000 births. These rates compare most favourably
with those of the past ten years.
Scarlet Fever.—Two hundred and thirty cases of Scarlet
Fever were notified from one hundred and ninety-nine houses;
of these one hundred and forty-eight, or 64 per cent., were
removed to the Isolation Hospital.
The number of cases in the early months of the year was
about the average, with a slight rise in the month of May. In
June a large increase occurred attributable to infected milk
received by three Wimbledon dairymen as a portion of their
daily supply from a depot of a wholesale firm in the country.
This outbreak commenced on Thursday, June 17th, and
continued until Wednesday, the 23rd, but one case was notified
as late as Saturday, the 26th, the Doctor on this Notification
writing:—"This patient was never unwell, but is now peeling;
he was undoubtedly infected at the same time as the
others."
About half the cases were at houses in North Wimbledon
where, generally speaking, adequate home isolation could be
provided and the necessary precautionary measures taken
against the spread of the disease. This was indeed a most
fortunate factor, for it permitted more accommodation being
reserved in the Hospital for cases occurring in South Wimbledon,
where, in many instances, satisfactory home isolation is
quite impossible.
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