HH62/1/FIFE/59

Transcription

[page] 58

ST ANDREWS DISTRICT.

The District is bounded on the East by the German Ocean, on the
South by the Firth of Forth, on the North by the Firth of Tay, and on
the West by Kirkcaldy and Cupar Districts.
In the District are the royal burghs of St Andrews, Crail,
Anstruther, Pittenweem, and Earlsferry; and the police burghs of Elie,
Tayport, and Newport.
The District consists of eighteen parishes, and has an area of
90,414 acres.
At the census 1881, there were in all 36,422 persons in the District,
and at 1891 census there were 36,463, showing an increase of only 41.
In 12 parishes there is an increase of population since 1881, and in 6 a
decrease.
In Anstruther Easter, Kilrenny, and Pittenweem the decrease is
greatest, and in Forgan the greatest increase occurs. Ferryport is next,
and after this comes Leuchars.
In the section of the Report dealing with statistics of births and
deaths, the population on which the rates are calculated does not include
the populations of royal burghs, as these are not under the supervision
of the District Committee.
In the following table are shown the total acreage of the District,
and for each parish, with the population of each parish and whole Dis-
trict, and mean of acres per person.

[table inserted]

The greatest ratio of acres to person is in the parish of Cameron,
and the lowest in Anstruther Easter.
The mean for the whole District gives 2.4 acres to each person.
These figures are of interest in connection with death-rates, and will be
again referred to under the section dealing with these.

[page] 59

GENERAL SANITARY CONDITION OF DISTRICT AND
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ITS IMPROVEMENT.

In accordance with the regulations of the Board of Supervision,
this Report has to be made under certain headings, and in a prescribed
order; and in accordance with these the general sanitary condition of
the District has to be described, and the measures which, in my opinion,
should be adopted for its improvement.
To give even a very general account of the whole sanitary condi-
tion of the District would be a task of no small difficulty, after full
opportunity had been given for ascertaining these; but as the time at
my disposal has been so limited, I thought it better to deal with
certain specific matters, and to direct my attention to the important
questions of water supply and drainage of the various villages and
hamlets in the District. To be in a position to describe fully the
sanitary condition of the whole District, and all the circumstances that
are comprehended under the term sanitary, will only be attained after
several years experience, and even then only generally.
The subjects I have taken up to be specially dealt with, are really
those elementary conditions, without the possession of which no house,
village, or town can be considered to be in a sanitary condition. I
purpose, therefore, in the following pages, to take up individually the
various villages and hamlets in the District, and describe, in as short a
manner as possible, their condition as to water supply and drainage.
The most convenient order for reference will be to take the parishes in
alphabetical order rather than in their order of importance.
Cameron Parish contains 9325 acres, and at the last census 886 people.
The soil is mostly moorland, clay, and black earth, and the climate is
cold and damp. In this parish are the hamlets of Denhead, Lathones,
and Radernie. In these the water supply is from shallow wells close to
houses, and of suspicious quality in consequence. At Lathones water
is got from a ditch running alongside the public road. There is no
attempt at drainage of these hamlets. Many of the houses in this parish
derive their water supply from shallow wells, which run dry in summer,
and then great difficulty is experienced to get the needful supply.
Carbee contains the hamlets of Arncroach and Carnbee. The soil
generally is poor. The surface is irregular, heights varying from 100 to
500 and 600 feet above sea level.
Arncroach derives its water supply from a shallow well, supplied with
a pump, situated in a sort of punch-bowl depression, and at a lower level
than the houses generally, and becomes thus a centre to which drainage
from the hamlet gravitates. The water, under these circumstances, is
of a very doubtful nature. There is no proper drainage of the village;
any soil water that gravitates out of the place finds its way into a ditch,
which runs through the village. In connection with this village, and its
insanitary state, it is desirable to point out that there were several cases
of typhoid fever in it this past summer. The condition of the school
premises is not very satisfactory, due in great part to the want of a water
supply. The urinals have no water to flush them except after rain,
and the closets are rude forms of earth closets.