HH62/1/FIFE/5

Transcription

[page] 4
(4.)
1891.

[table inserted]

(5.)
DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION IN SCOTLAND.
[table inserted]

Table I. needs no comment, except that, as in almost every
place, the female is in excess of the male population.
Table II. requires this note, that the population given for the
census 1891 does not include that of Culross and Tulliallan.
In Table III., it will be seen that the census 1891 shows the
greatest increase of all, and the census 1861 the smallest.
In Table IV. are given certain important figures bearing on the
sanitary condition of the population.
In Fifeshire there are fewer persons to the room with one window
than for all Scotland or Clackmannan. There are fewer persons per
family, and the population has increased 9 per cent., while for all Scot-
land it has only increased 7.96. Sixteen counties show a decrease.
Table V. is introduced for a special reason, viz., to show that there
is a tendency all over the country for the population to leave rural dis-
tricts and migrate to large towns. The connection between these
figures and this report will be seen in the vital statistics of the District
Reports for Cupar and St Andrews.
The last Tables I shall introduce into the preliminary part of this
report are to show in (No. 1) the increase or decrease of the populations
of Fife and the contiguous counties of Kinross and Clackmannan.
(No.2) In this are shown the families, houses and rooms, and persons
per room in the same counties.

RATES OF INCREASE OF POPULATION IN FIFE, KINROSS, AND
CLACKMANNAN from 1831 to 1891.
INCREASE OR DECREASE PER CENT.
[table inserted]


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TABLE SHOWING FAMILIES, HOUSES, ROOMS IN FIFE, KINROSS,
AND CLACKMANNAN - 1891.
[table inserted)

GENERAL SANITARY STATE OF COUNTY.
In a county of the extent of Fife - with 62 parishes, and contain-
ing 322,195 acres - it is by no means an easy matter to give even a
condensed summary of the main sanitary features of each parish.
Another difficulty occurs in a County Report as regards the relation-
ship of the County Medical Officer to Police Burghs: Is the County
Medical Officer expected or entitled to report on the Sanitary Condition
of Police Burghs to the County Council? The opinion of Lord-Advo-
cate Robertson was, that the County Medical Officer is appointed to
take a general supervision af the sanitary condition of the whole county,
including both urban and rural districts. In the absence of a more
specific definition of my relationship to Burghs, I shall not make any
reference in this Report to any Burgh; and I may point out at the same
time that the demands on my time in attending to matters peculiar to
my office have left me no time for other work.
In this section of my Report I shall deal very generally with certain
specific matters, but fuller references to these, however, will be found in
the various District Reports.

WATER SUPPLY.
In every District in Fifeshire this all-important question of water
supply has been before the Local Authority, time after time; and while
not desiring to enter into full particulars of the subject, as it affects
individual Districts, still some of the circumstances in these are of
interest to the whole County. The first report made by me as to water
supply was to Dunfermline District Committee, and in this report I
referred to the water supply of all the villages in the District. In some
of the villages water is supplied by gravitation, both of excellent quality
and quantity, but in many others the supply is from shallow wells in
close proximity to houses, and hence liable to danger of serious pollution.
In the case of the village of Torryburn, my remarks were disputed - that
the wells there were dangerous sources of water supply, being quite close
to houses and close to ashpits and pig-styes; and the inhabitants, by
their members of committee, represented this to the District Committee,
who then authorised me to get the wells analysed and shut up if they
were found bad. Two samples taken were declared unfit for use, and
the wells were shut up; but the matter did not end here, and two more
samples were analysed. The analyst's report of these waters was that
one was quite unfit for domestic use and should be discontinued, and
that the other, although not so impure, was not a high class water, and