Dr Airy's report to the local government board on diphtheria and fever in the Grays sub-district of the Orsett registration district in 1889.

  • Airy, Hubert.
Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dr Airy's report to the local government board on diphtheria and fever in the Grays sub-district of the Orsett registration district in 1889. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    In the northern part of the town there is great want of proper surface drainage. A large piece of waste ground is converted into a swamp by the accumulation of rain, for which no available escape is provided. A tramway embankment appears to be the main obstacle to the escape of this surface water. It is proposed to fill up the hollows in which the water lies. Care should be taken that the material employed for this purpose is not putrescible. The want of sewerage is especially apparent in the southern part of the town, where the dwellings have been pushed forward on to the alluvial marsh land which lies below the level of high water in the river. Perhaps the worst spot in Grays when I first saw it, was Trafalgar Scpiare, a row of houses built about 18 years since, on the marsh level, at rijjht angles to another row which stands along the edge of the sound ground. The houses were so damp as to be unfit for habitation. On taking up a floorboard in one of them, on the ground floor, the water was found standing within a few inches of the floor level. [I am informed that this state of things has I)een I'emedied since my visit.] A cowyard occupies the open space between these rows, which receives the surface drainage and a quantity of the slop-drainage of the neighbourhood together with the overflow from a cess- pool, which, at that level, cannot be kept from overflowing. This fluid filth accumulates in a stagnant ditch at one side of the cowyard immediately in front of Trafalgar -Square. A hand-pump has been placed by the owner of the property at the further end of the ditch for the purpose of lifting the fluid to a raised wooden trougli, along which it runs to another ditch communicating with the Thames. This pumping goes a very little way towards abating the nuisance. In the yard at the back of Trafalgar Square, which is below the surrounding level, there were two privies for six houses. A nuisance was caused by the overflow from one of tiie privy-pits. In an adjoining plot of grass where clothes were hung to dry there was a filth-swamp from an over- flowing cesspool. At the back of the row on the north side of the square tliere were large open middens, one of them leaking at the base. Here also was a blocked slop-drain, which, in default of other remedy, had been dealt with by covering over the slop-gully at its head with a mass of earth. [At a recent visit on June 7th, I found improvement going on. The floors were raised and concre'.ed. and the privies were under repair, but the arrangements for slop disposal were still unsatisfactory.] At No. 18, Church Eoad, there was an pffeusive nuisance from an overflowing cesspool. The nuisance is a recurring one. Four children in the house wei-e under medical treatment for ulcerated throa<. The owner has had notice from the Sanitary Authority to abate the nuisance, hnt tiie only real remedy would be a properly constructed sewer. Water Supphj.—Grays is almost entirely supplied by the South Essex Waterworks from wells and adits in the chalk, as described by Mr. Spear. At my visit it was stated that there were only three private wells remaining in the district. A clause in the private Act (South Essex Waterworks Act, Ilth July 1861, section 19), providing that the water to be supplied by the company need not be constantly laid on under pressure, permits an inter- mission of the supply, which involves a certain amount of danger from foul air being drawn into the pipes when they run empty. The company's water is pure and good, but naturally very hard. Excrement and Befuse Disposal.—The houses generally have waterclosets with soil drains leading to cesspools in the chalk. These are attended with the danger due to imperfect ventilation or defective trapping. In places like Trafalgar Square, already described, the privies, partly from their situation and partly from neglect, become dangerous nuisances. There are a few earth-closets, with moveable seats. These are emptied once a week. House refuse for the most part is deposited in dustbins, which are emptied, under contract, once a week. The contents are taken to a depot at some brickfields in the eastern outskirts of the town, where much of the refuse is used in brick-making. Manure Trade.—Having spoken of refuse taken out of the town, I may here mention that a considerable quantity of London refuse is brought into the town, by barges which land their cargoes at the wharves flanking the dock. This refuse is principally brought from the Deptford cattle yards, and is carted from the clock, through the narrow streets of Grays, to various farms in the neighbourhood. London manure has often been suspected of causing disease in districts to which it has been imported. I did not find evidence of such result in Grays, but there was complaint of nuisance from the smell. Inspection of Milk-Shops, 8fc.—Milk-shops and dairies are registered and inspected. No steps appear to have been taken for the licensing and