Dr. E.P. Manby's report to the Local Government Board upon the sanitary circumstances and administration of the County Borough of West Hartlepool.

  • Manby, E. P.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Dr. E.P. Manby's report to the Local Government Board upon the sanitary circumstances and administration of the County Borough of West Hartlepool. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    received, a most uodesirable arraiigement. The bedding in one of the common lodging houses was indescribably filthy. Several of the sub-let houses were found to be dirty, and it was obvious that these houses had not in the past received an adequate amount of attention from the sanitary inspector. Dwellings of this type in West Hartle])ool are often tenanted by people of the lowest class, and in many instances the chief tenant owns the furniture of the rooms and charges the sub-tenants an exorbitant rent for very inferior accommodation. The corporation possess a PuUic Abattoir^ and there are no private slaughter houses in West Hartlepool. The abattoir was built some 16 years ago. It comprises two slaughtering halls and a cooling house. It has no arrangements for cold storage. I visited a number of butchers’shops and premises where sausage making is carried on, and I found several of them to be in a dark, dirty, and untidy condition. I was informed that the conditions had improved considerably of late, as the medical officer of health had given special attention to the premises. There is room for much further improvement, and more frequent inspections by the medical officer of health and by the inspector are called for. D airies^ Cowsheds and Milkshops.—There are eight cowsheds and about 140 milkshops in West Hartlepool. I visited most of the former and many of the latter. Several of the cowsheds were found to be dark, dirty, or indifferently paved. In some instances all of these defects existed together. The medical officer of health has devoted but little time at present to the important matter of cowshed inspection. In the milkshops visited I found it very exceptional for the milk vessels to be covered, so as to prevent the entry of dust into the milk. In one instance I found that the ash pan of an adjoining house had to be conveyed through a milkshop for the purpose of emptying it. The council have not arranged for a veterinary surgeon to make systematic inspection of milch cows, but upon one or two occasions the medical officer of health has called one in specially. Some defective and dirty pigperies were met with on the outskirts of the borough, but otherwise I met with no nuisance in connection with the keeping of swine. Bakehouses were mostly found to be in satisfactory condition, except that one underground bakehouse was dark, and two were untidy and dirty. Upon one of these premises there was a foul old privy which should have been converted to a water-closet long ago. There are a large number of Ice-cream Vendors in West Hart- lepool, and they have been lately under special supervision by the medical officer of health, who submitted a report to the council and to the Board, upon the very unsatisfactory condition of many of the premises. Several of those visited by me were not well kept, and at one of them ice-cream and biscuits were stored in a small yard in close proximity to the closet. There can be no doubt that considerable advantage would be gained if the town council were in possession of powers, such as have frequently been obtained by other municipalities in local Acts, to prevent danger to health from the manner of preparation and sale of ice-cream.