[Report 1897] / Medical Officer of Health, Barnsley (Union) R.D.C.

  • Barnsley (England : Unitary authority). Rural District Council.
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1897] / Medical Officer of Health, Barnsley (Union) R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    County Council and Local Government Board. The month you afterwards prolonged to 6 weeks, with the result that by the end of that time the outbreak had ceased. There was only one death from the complaint in the township. Whooping Cough was somewhat prevalent in Cudworth in February and March, but the only fatal case was in the adjoining township of Carlton. Diarrhoea was prevalent in July, August and September, when the temperature of the ground, 4 ft. below the surface, was for 50 days at, or above a temperature of 5G°. There were in all 11 deaths from that disease, or at the rate of 1-G5 per thousand persons living. Of these 8 were during August and September, and 6 of the whole number were in Cudworth. III.—The usual systematic inspection of the various townships of your district have been made during the year, and the results reported at your monthly meetings. In March, and on subse- quent occasions, I had to report serious defects in the sewerage and water supply of the Staincross Police Station, in the town- ship of Notton ; the sewerage was considerably amended, but more difficulty was found in getting a proper water supply, which was the more needed, as here there were water-closets connected with the cells which could not be put into a satisfactory state without an ample supply of water. Unfortunately, you have in that part of the district no source of supply under your own control, though there are water-mains under the control of another authority, within a short distance. Difficulties were raised about obtaining a supply from this source, and eventually we were told that as a Sanitary Authority you had no power to interfere with Police Stations. In April and on other occasions, I had to report the various difficulties arising out of the fact that Cudworth, a rapidly increasing place, has not yet a complete system of sewerage, but has to depend to a large extent on cesspools, which soon fill and become a nuisance. Considerable difficulty was found in selecting a suitable system for the disposal of the sewage, without which sanction could not be obtained for the necessary network of sewers, but a plan has now been adopted which it is hoped tlmt the Local Government Board will be able to sanction, and in the meantime a contractor has been engaged to empty the cesspools at frequent intervals.