[Report 1898] / Medical Officer of Health, Salisbury R.D.C.

  • Salisbury (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1898
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1898] / Medical Officer of Health, Salisbury R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    New houses. Water analysis. Inspection work. mild until the end of the year. On December 18th I note that for the fifth time this month the temperature has not been below 50.° The warm summer, or the quarter ending September 30th, does not seem to have been favourable to health all over the country, for though the death-rate for Wiltshire was 12-6, the rate for England and Wales was 17-9 ; the mean rate being 16'6. Diarrhoea wTas, by a long way, the most fatal disease. The weather was unusually dry as well as hot, the rainfall being only 2'51 inches, or 4-77 below the average. Thirteen houses have been built in the district, and inspected before certificates as to water-supply were granted:—Morgan’s Yale 5, Milford 2, Winterslow 3, Downton, Redlynch, and East Harnham 1 each. Improvements may be classed as follows:— Drains made Wells Wells Cesspools Over¬ Pigs Parishes or Districts. or cleaned or sunk. and privies crowding. removed. re-laid. re-covered. improved. Stratford- s ub - Castle 2 — — — — — Waterloo ... — 1 — 2 — — East Harnham ... — 1 1 1 — — Morgan’s Yale ... — 1 1 — — — East Grimstead ... — — 1 — — — Downton 1 — — 1 — 1 Fisherton Without 1 — — 2 — — Nunton ... — 1 — — 1 — Laverstock — — — 1 — — West Harnham — 1 — — — — Winterslow — 3 — — — — Farley ... — — — — 1 — Nine samples of water have been analysed, of which only two were found really good. Four were con¬ sidered fair, and three bad. Action was taken to improve the sources from wdiich these came, and there has been improvement. The district has been thoroughly inspected by myself and the Sanitary Inspector, and a table supplied by him is appended. It has not been found necessary to close any of the schools on account of infectious diseases. In January the water supply of some cottages at East Grimstead was taken in hand. This had for a long time been a spring, the water of which was good, but was liable to pollution, specially by ducks. It might have been protected, but the owner decided to sink a wrell. The result has not been altogether successful. About the same time attention was called to the water supply of a group of cottages on the top of the hill at Redlynch. This was derived entirely from a pond, which was sometimes low and generally dirty. In the month of May a well was sunk ten feet deep, and this is now yielding a fair supply. In January there was a very limited outbreak of Scarlet Fever at Redlynch. A nuisance often complained of at Stratford was dealt with by laying a drain under the road and carrying the waste water to the meadows. In the month of March the old complaint was renewed that pigs kept at a distance of 300 yards from the reservoir were a danger to the water supplying the city of Salisbury. As on the former occasion, the people complaining had mistaken a shed for a pigsty, and were not aware that the odour, if any, was caused by manure placed inside the enclosure of the reservoir. In April there was a considerable nuisance and risk to health caused by overflowing cesspools at Finchley Cottages, West End, and at Waterloo Gardens. Frequent emptying is all that can be done at West End, but Waterloo, having wells, requires more radical measures. The owners here could, however, hardly be asked to do much while a sewerage scheme is hanging over their heads. In April and the early part of May slight cases of Erysipelas were common, probably owing to the cold winds. Several of the cases were notified, but it is difficult to see what is gained by notification of this disease. In July a fatal case of Membranous Croup occurred in Downton. Disinfection was carried out, and a slop-drain trapped and re-laid. There have been several minor improvements in Downton, not the least being the removal of the pigs at “ The Bull.” The Parish Council called our attention to the fact that some people had to go 150 to 200 yards to obtain water.