Report by the Central Board of Health of Jamaica / presented to the legislature under the provisions of the 14th Vic. chap. 60, and printed by order of the Assembly.

Jamaica. Central Board of Health

Date:: 1852

Credit: Report by the Central Board of Health of Jamaica / presented to the legislature under the provisions of the 14th Vic. chap. 60, and printed by order of the Assembly. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

451/594 (page 141)

$JppcmUx... Hi innumerable tub.?, set in rows, will be found, nil con- taining stale soap-suds, or putrid soap-w^tcr, l;eeome so trom keeping' and dlowed to remain in that state for daijs, they are then upset or cast inio the public streets and lanes, where, amalgamating w ith mud and other offensive materials, it forms a most noisome and poisonous compound, generating in their neighbour- liood intractable fevers and other distempers, \^hich spread and inCect all who have tlie bad luck to be within the range of their banehd inHuence. There also will be seen lean iiogs, starved dogs, and fa- mished goats, (all like their owners and their family liuddlcd together,) the excreta oi which, scattered in ail directions, emit a most intolerable stench. The recent pestilence afforded iJe nn>j,\<i op:j(a^t)unities of entering all such peaces, and during my visits 1 was compelled to keep my pocket han;!kerchief applied to my nose. To these may be added the putrid ex- halations from their hogsties, (generally erected next to, and seldom iar from, their narrow sleeping rooms or cabins,) and also from their scanty confined shal- low privies, never purified, never cleansed, never emp- tied. The occupants of these low and filthy hovels live poorly and nastily. (As the foundation of ano- ther source o'l malaria, T shall have occasion to speak of the quality of their food soon.) They generally appear attired in rags, .and their persons are ever fil- thy and offensive. They are chiefly daily labourers, waslierwonien, house cleaners, coalers, fishermen, coolers, canoemen, grave-diggers, &c.; such are their occupations when they choose to exercise them.-— They beloiig to the class of inclependant paupers,— The next abomination to wiiich 1 shall call the atten- tion of tiie Board is the converting of some of the public streets into a market or mart, for the expo- sure and sale of putrid salted fishes, (cod, salmon^ mackere!, herrings,) pork, beef, hams, and rotten cheese ; all these articles of human food are four.d laid out in stalls or tal)]es at the west end of King- etou, and cliicwhere. One third of Princess street is$