charge of £1,846; which, supposing it to continue for five years, will amount to £9,230. There are twenty-eight poor children, from whom typhus has snatched away both father and mother, and who for many years will be chargeable to the relief fund. From these general data we may roughly estimate the cost to the community of the epidemic of typhus, from 1863 to 1866, at £20,000. As a further illustration of the cost of such diseases, we may state that during a previous epidemic of typhus in Newcastle, the number of persons receiving relief rose nearly 1,000, and the expenditure increased by £3,400 in one year. The year during and after the second visitation of cholera 7,140 persons received out-door relief at a cost of £21,826; the cost before the outbreak of these two epidemics having been £15,948. So much for epidemics. We have yet to estimate the cost of disease which goes slowly on but does not spring up suddenly into great proportions. During the last half-year, ending 29th September, 1866, there were 8,089 persons in the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Union who received outdoor relief, at a cost of £9,966 13s. 11d.; of these there were 450 adult males, who were relieved on account of their own sickness, and sixty-four relieved on account of the sickness of some member of their family. Dependent upon those two classes there were 359 wives and 913 children, who were paid £2,232 for the half-year, exclusive of medical relief. During the same period 737 widows with 1,707 fatherless children received outdoor relief, at a cost of £3,055 for the half-year. There were also 202 orphans receiving out-door relief at the same period, while 170 widows with 288 orphans who obtained relief in the Workhouse. From £13,000 to £15,000 per annum must be regarded as the amount which disease and death levy upon us in the shape of poor rate, and one-third of that must be placed to the account of zymotic disease; many constitutional diseases must, however, be traced up to their origin in zymotics, especially among the poor. Phthisis, for example, we find exceedingly fatal among the classes who receive parochial relief; and often the seeds of this terrible malady are laid in an attack of fever, or in the overcrowding and wretchedness which are its conditions and concomitants. In the regular course of the poor law administration in this union not less than £7,000 per year might be saved by giving the people who live in our unhealthy districts more light, more air, and more comfortable homes. Your committee would, in dealing with the fourth head of their inquiry, point out that in addition to the obvious want of accommodation found too prevalent among many of the tenemented dwellings, the existence of a great number of unpaved and unflagged streets probably have contributed to swell the list of evils which affect the public health. In Elswick, where this is most felt, diarrhoea, a disease fostered by decaying animal and vegetable matter, has been of frequent occurrence. In such circumstances the surface of the ground becomes impregnated with offensive matter, which continues for a long time, under the alternations of sunshine and wet, to emit exhalations of a very poisonous nature. During the collecting of the necessary data for giving a reply to the inquiries proposed to themselves by the committee, many cases of course were brought under their notice which required being promptly dealt with. In localities where drainage and other kinds of accommodation were defective, and the establishment of which would be a work requiring time, the temporary expedient of repeated and thorough cleansing, with the frequent application of disinfectants, were resorted to, particularly where fever was known to have located itself. Where overcrowding was shown to exist, it became requisite to fix some standard of minimum air space per individual. After ascertaining how deficient the town is in proper house accommodation for its inhabitants, it was a work of necessity not to fix this standard too high in the first instance. It was attempted to place it at 250 cubic feet per person; but the Home Office refused to sanction the code of regulations unless the space was increased to 300 feet, and this concession was only granted until 3rd November, 1867, when the standard will have to be re-considered. A rigid enforcement of this provision as to cubic capacity of lodging would lead to the displacement of 7,779 individuals from their places of residence, a calculation which is based on data giving results within the truth. In cases where the air space per individual was only 111 feet, as a temporary measure, it is proposed forthwith to commence a system of registration, and gradually apply the regulations sanctioned by the Government, which it is trusted will have a salutary effect on the habits and health of the inmates. The committee feel they are justified in this assumption by the success which has attended a similar kind of supervision in the case of the common lodging houses. The number of common lodging houses at present registered in Newcastle is 157, comprising 712 rooms, which during the past year had a daily average of 525 inmates. Although these houses are in some instances in very crowded localities, only nine deaths have occurred in them within the year 1866; and the number of cases of fever, or infectious diseases, treated in the lodging houses, amounted to only fourteen. During the past year the Lodging House Inspectors have found it necessary to serve 2,088 notices on defaulters, and in 174 cases to proceed by summons for breaches of sanitary law. The general condition of these houses indicates great care in their supervision and management. A return of rooms closed by the Magistrates, as unfit for human habitation, in the year ending 31st August last, shows a total of 347, to which must be added those closed by the preliminary notice of the Inspector-170, making a total of 517; almost the whole of which have been renovated by the owners, and adapted for human occupancy, so far as under existing circumstances can be done. Many of the rooms thus dealt with are in localities that have been visited by fever on more than one occasion; and this fact, together with the crowded state of the buildings and the dense population, seems to justify the committee in pointing to these districts for the exercise of legislative powers in removing the properties, which, in the committee's opinion, cannot, however, be done until more suitable residences have been provided for the present inmates. Your committee, in the present state of sanitary science, feel it would be rashness on their part to say the exact extent to which zymotic disease has been engendered by overcrowding, or by a disregard of those precautions upon the observance of which public health is unquestionably most closely connected. It may be alleged with reason that fevers and other fatal forms of sickness are to be found in every locality; but then, on the other hand, it is not less certain, that constitutional ailments and complaints, not considered as zymotic, are intensified by any circumstance tending to lower the general health of the individual. Immensely interesting as the classified return of the causes of death is, and important as such documents must, in the course of time, become, your committee think they must rest satisfied with giving a general but a strong confirmation of the opinion, that the mortality of the town has been increased by a disregard of those circumstances which are essential to the maintenance of public health. Undoubtedly it may be stated, that whereas the increase of deaths has been sudden, neither the increase of population, nor the increase of overcrowding, appear to have kept pace with the rapid rise in the rate of mortality. Any inference drawn from such a line of argument, however, would be highly fallacious. It must not be overlooked that in dwellings already crowded to an extent beyond that which experience has shown to be safe, every additional inmate aggravates by his presence the danger far exceeding that which a simple rateable addition to the population would account for. Besides, it is well known how mysterious, in our present state of knowledge, appearance of epidemics is. Influences may be at work possibly only requiring for the development of disease some peculiar atmospheric condition, when that which had hitherto been harmless suddenly becomes the source of pestilence and death. the Of influences within the control of inhabitants of tenemented property, the absence of habits of cleanliness, not only in their persons but in their dwellings, is but too apparent. The total disregard, too, of proper ventilation of their rooms, even when the means are within their reach, can only be accounted for by the ignorance of the inmates of the importance of breathing pure air. So far as cleanliness is concerned, some indulgence is due to the offenders from the extreme difficulty attending its observance, by the too frequent absence of all those conveniences which should never be wanting in any human dwelling. The Sanitary Committee hope that the Council will, after maturely examining the results disclosed, feel themselves justified in proceeding to apply the powers conferred upon them by the Legislature, towards the erection of dwellings for the labouring classes, better adapted to their wants, health, and comfort, than those which they are now able to secure. The necessary capital for a commencement can be obtained of the Public Works Loan Commissioners, at £4 per cent., the capital being paid in forty years, while an option is reserved to the Council at any time to sell the property should they feel so disposed. The information collected shows some of the poorer families to be sitting under very excessive rents, considering the accommodation afforded them; and the increasing population, with the demand for house property, leads to a reasonable assurance that the investment will be without loss, if not with considerable financial advantage to the Corporation. If an effort on a small scale, commenced by the Council with their own property, could be shown to be a sound speculation, the Committee trust that an impetus would be given to private capitalists in the same direction, and they are, therefore, unanimous in submitting the following resolution to the Council for their adoption, viz. :— That it be a recommendation to the Council to adopt "The Labouring Classes Dwelling Houses Act, 1866," and "The Labouring Classes Lodging House Act, 1851," incorporated therewith, within this borough, and that it be referred to the Town Improvement Committee and Finance Committee, to negotiate a loan from the Public Works Loan Commissioners, in compliance with the rules under date 4th August, 1866, laid down by the Lords of the Treasury for the erection of dwellings for the labouring classes under the first act. And, further, that the committee be authorised to prepare plans for such purpose, on a suitable site, the property of the Corporation, or to be otherwise acquired, and to submit the same to the Council for their approval. Your committee would further recommend that the utmost vigilance should be used in freeing the streets from every kind of matter likely to affect the health of the inhabitants; and that immediate steps should be taken to place the scavenging of the town upon the best possible footing. They would further suggest the appointment of a medical officer, who should be charged to report to the Council the occurrence of any zymotic disease, with any explanation as to its cause which his professional experience might be able to detect; and, when needful, to superintend any district hospitals which might be set apart for the reception of patients suffering from fever. The question of the propriety of appointing proper buildings to be used as slaughter houses has been frequently before the Council. Looking at the concentrated form in which matter of a very offensive and noxious character is liable to accumulate in the premises now in use, your committee would again call the attention of the Council to the importance of dealing in some practical way with this subject. Your committee would take this opportunity of pointing out the fact that, although the emission of black smoke from engine or other chimneys is an offence against your bye-laws, yet the provisions of the bye-law in question are very frequently disregarded. Without expressing any opinion as to the specific effect of black smoke on health, there can be no doubt of its proving a source of nuisance and expense to all living within its influence. Your committee would, therefore, strongly recommend the Council to direct the proper authorities to proceed against all found offending. As there exists more than one method by which all smoke is prevented, the means itself being at the same time attended with an absolute economy in fuel and labour, the Council need not hesitate in availing themselves of the power they possess under an Act of Parliament. In the sewers, a portion of organic matter, both vegetable and animal, no doubt lodges, where fermentation, more or less energetic according to the season, takes place. This action gives rise to the development of a greater or less quantity of very offensive effluvia, which find their way through untrapped gulleys into the public streets, or in some cases it is feared into the dwellings of the inhabitants. Your committee would suggest that some trials on an inexpensive scale should be made, having for their object the ventilation of one of the main sewers of the town. Your committee cannot deny themselves the satisfaction of publicly recording how materially they have been assisted in their work by Dr. Arnison, of the Fever Hospital, and equally so by the valuable services of Drs. Humble, Murray, Embleton, Charlton, Rayne, Hardcastle, Gibb, and Philipson. From those gentlemen who formed the deputation from the Board of Guardians the committee have received most cordial and able support. The Rev. Mr. Rutherford, in particular, has distinguished himself by great assiduity in the performance of his share of the duty. The committee, on a reference to the Contagious Diseases Prevention Act (to which the Council had their attention directed on the occasion of their meeting of December 4th), find its operation limited to certain towns named in the act. The success attending its application may lead to its provisions being extended by the Legislature. Until this is done the Council can take no action in the direction indicated. The committee, in conclusion, beg leave to refer the Council to some statistical tables, which are appended to this report, and to others given by the Town Improvement Committee. They would further state that the foregoing report is a mere abstract of one of a very voluminous and comprehensive character, which probably the Council would decide on printing, in order that all the data upon which the recommendations contained in this document are founded may be preserved in a convenient form. I. LOWTHIAN BELL, Chairman. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 6th March, 1867. |