Dr. Blaxall's report to the local government board on an epidemic of scarlatina in the urban sanitary district of new and old Swindon, and on the sanitary condition of those towns.

  • Blaxall, F. H.
Date:
1879
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dr. Blaxall's report to the local government board on an epidemic of scarlatina in the urban sanitary district of new and old Swindon, and on the sanitary condition of those towns. 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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    -2?3 13 1,000 for the rest of Plymouth. Pneumonia and bronchitis were similarly in excess. Scarlatina and diphtheria, on the other hand, were specially noted as being diseases in respect of which the said streets did not compare un- favourably with the rest of Plymouth, the death-rate per 1,000 from scarlatina being 0 • 27 in the streets and 0 * 26 for Plymouth exclusive of the streets.] Other Conditions affecting Health. Excrement disposal is effected mainly by outdoor closets which discharge into the sewers, but have no means of flushing other than by hand; the pans are often filthy, and occasionally broken. In the better class of houses the closets are situated indoors, and are provided with service cisterns, but there is no special ventilation of the soil-pipes. As a consequence sewer-air escapes into the closets, rendering them very offensive, the danger thereby involved being increased when the closets are situated, as is sometimes the case, in the centre of the dwelling with no opening to the external air. Cesspit privies are found in various parts of the town, as, for instance, in Newport Street, Cricklade Street; also beyond the limits of the town in connexion with the various cottages. All exhibit in greater or less degree the same unwholesome conditions, the pits, as a rule, being of large size, and the contents allowed to accumulate for an indefinite period. One of the quarrymen informed me that when he cleared out his privy-pit about two and a half years ago, he removed two cart-loads of filth and left quite another load behind. The privies belonging to a cluster of some 10 cottages situated in the quarry, and known as Tout’s Folly, call for special mention. They are fitted with earthen- ware pans and communicate with one large covered cesspit situated at a short distance from the cottages. The cesspit (25 to 30 feet deep) is unventilated, and receives, in addition to the discharge of the privies, slop and waste water, and surface drainage. The contents are said to be removed about once a year and applied to the land. This cesspit arrangement is fraught with con- siderable danger to the health of the little community, and in the event of the specific contagium of enteric fever being introduced into the cesspit, a localised epidemic would probably result. The cottages, I believe, stand too low to admit of their draining into the sewers, but this difficulty might be met by providing properly-fitted earth-closets for the disposal of the excrement, while the waste water could be received into a well-ventilated catchpit, whence it could be removed at frequent intervals by pumping or other means, and applied to the land. The present system of sewers was commenced in 1872 and the work carried out at considerable cost, the money being provided by loan sanctioned by the Local Government Board. A tunnel was driven under the town from the north to the south side; new sewers were laid in certain localities, and in others the old sewers were utilised. The main sewer passes down the hill on the Marlborough Road, and measures 3x2 feet; arriving at the bottom of the hill it discharges into a 15-inch pipe which conveys the sewage to a farm, where it is disposed of on the land. I am informed that the houses on the Marlborough Road are subject to occasional flooding by sewage, and there is frequent complaint of blocking of the drains and sewers in various places, and of nuisance arising from the escape of sewer-air: conditions which plainly in- dicate faulty construction or want of efficient ventilation of the sewers, or both. As regards construction, I can add little to the inferences that arise from the foregoing dimensions; but the Inspector of Nuisances informed me that on one occasion when called upon to open up a sewer in consequence of a cellar on the north side of the town being flooded, he found the sewer laid at a dead level, and the joints of the pipes not cemented. But with regard to the ventilation I can speak more definitely, having myself noticed stinks in various places from the escape of sewer-air, specially on raising the valves of the closets. Further, a gentleman residing in the Marlborough Road gave me a graphic account of the manner in which his closet was affected by the entrance of storm water into the sewers, stating that the water in the pan of his closet situated indoors rose and fell in proportion to the amount of water in the sewer, and that occasionally the action was so violent as to blow the water out of the pan, thus affording conclusive evidence of the compressed air of the sewer forcing the trap of the closet. It should be stated that in the near vicinity of this house B 3 Old Swindon. Excrement disposal. Sewerage.