HH62/1/BANFF/25

Transcription

[Page] 6

amongst them, and their vital statistics - Birth and Death Rates.
Information on several of these points can be derived from books,
annual returns and reports, but the information thus obtained
we must look upon more as a hint or a guide to personal ob-
servation and investigation
In this District we have two very different sets of conditions
to deal with, both as regards the density of the population, their
occupation, and their surroundings. This is due to the geo-
graphical position of the district. Its northern boundary is a
coast line of about 30 miles in a straight line. Along this are
situated a series of towns and villages varying in population from
300 to 6000. In all, 5 burghs and 8 villages are so situated, with
a population of over 25,000. The villages, with which we are
only concerned, contain a population of 7457, engaged principally
in fishing. The rest of the district is purely agricultural, and
contains only 3 or 4 small villages or hamlets, the majority of the
inhabitants occupying isolated dwellings.
As insanitary conditions and disease generally exist in direct
ratio to the density of the population, my attention has been prin-
cipally directed to the coast villages. Twenty years ago the sani-
tary condition of such villages was, I believe, generally speaking,
deplorable. Much remains to be done, but from what I have
seen and heard, I think the condition of the fishing villages on
the Banffshire coast will bear favourable comparison with those
in many other parts of the country. Thanks to the action of the
late Local Authorities, all those villages have been supplied with
water. The old objectionable middens and ash-pits have been
almost entirely done away with, public receptacles for refuse have
been provided, and a system of removal instituted. Thanks to
the recent action of the District Council, efficient scavengers have
been appointed under the control of the Sanitary Inspector.
But though much has been done, there still remains a great
deal to do, especially in two or three of the villages. When first
built, no regular plan seems to have been adopted, and the houses
have been set down anyhow, many of them being built into the
bank, badly constructed, damp, and too closely crowded together.
Though water has been introduced, sufficient provision in most
cases has not been made for getting rid of the waste water and
for drainage. Drains of sorts have been constructed - stone-
built as a rule, untrapped, and on no regular plan. I was more
particularly struck by this state of matters in the villages above
referred to. The operation of the Notification Act during the
last six months, and the returns received from the Registrars
for the past year, bear me out in the opinion I then formed,
especially with regard to the village of Whitehills, in Boyndie
Parish, where cases of infectious disease have been numerous.
These data, however, for such a short period, might be considered
insufficient.

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Judged from its vital statistics alone for the past year, the
sanitary state of the District should be good.
The Birth Rate = 31.506 per 1000 of Population.
The Death Rate = 14.17 per 1000 of Population.
The Infantile Death Rate = 85.9 per 1000 Births.
The Infectious Disease (Notification) Act was adopted by
the Local Authority, and came into force on the 10th of July
last. Between that date and the 31st December, 91 cases of
Infectious Disease were notified, equal to 8.215 cases per 1000 of
population for the year.
The foregoing data, however, for one year only, are insuffi-
cient to enable one to form a definite opinion, though, taken in
conjunction with personal observation and investigation, they
may help one to a tolerably accurate conclusion as to the sanitary
state of a particular locality. We require similar data for a
series of years to enable us to judge decidedly. The time at my
disposal has not permitted me to enquire particularly into the
history of disease in certain localities, but I hope to do something
in this direction this year.
The following table, which includes the urban as well as the
rural population of the District, I have compiled from the annual
reports of the Registrar-General for the past five years:-

[Table inserted]

2. - General and Specific Inquiries.
Since my appointment I have inquired into the sanitary
state of the District generally, and more especially into that of
the coast villages.

3. Advice Certificates and Offensive Trades.
I have granted no advice certificates, and no action has been taken
regarding offensive trades, or the sanitary condition of factories
and workshops.

4. - Bakehouses.
I have inspected eight Bakehouses situated within the Dis-
trict. Lime washing is, as a rule, being regularly attended to.
In the majority of cases, the water supply and sink are outside