HH62/1/KIRKCU/27

Transcription

[Page] 26

I must refer. The same general defects of situation, water supply,
drainage, and scavenging are common. The one point calling for
special remark is the water supply.
The difficulty of finding a good and constant water supply is
greater in the high lands of the Northern than in the low lands of the
other districts. The summer of 1891 has put every locality to the test.
Lochs there are, but for the main centres not available without great
relative expense, and when available not without need of filtration
from peaty extract and débris. Springs there are, too, in plenty; but,
unfortunately, they have been, as a rule, little protected; and in one
village, where need was of the greatest, the wells had been polluted by
sewage, proximity to dung-heaps, or other contamination. This village
- Dalry - was early after my appointment made the subject of a special
report, and was ultimately formed into a special Water and Drainage
District. A plan for water and sewage was submitted to the District
Committee, but rejected on financial grounds; and now the matter is
again in the hands of a sub-Committee, which is instructed to make
further research into the available water sources of the district, and
prepare a further report. It is my hope that in the next annual report
for the district I shall be able to put on record an accomplished scheme.
Some time ago the Royal Burgh of New-Galloway completed a
scheme for a gravitation supply. This burgh has just appointed me as
their Medical Officer; but I am not yet in a position to report on any-
thing connected with the burgh.
If the difficulties at Dalry can be successfully overcome, the
District Committee will be encouraged to proceed with the lesser
places.

C. - MEASURES FOR IMPROVEMENT.
The District Committee should forthwith order reports on the
following:-
(a.) Housing of the working classes in each parish, exclusive of
villages.
(b.) The health and sanitation of every village in the district.
(c.) The school and public institutions in the district.
The reports should be given in month by month, and after
approval by a small committee, should be made public. In no other
way will the inhabitants of the district be better roused to do all that
individuals can to better the sanitary state of the district, and
ultimately to relieve the Committee of responsibility. There is
much that can be done by the small localities, if only the facts are
brought home to them. My primary object in urging this mode of making
reports public is the education of the people. A secondary result will

[Page] 27

be the economising of time and labour to the District Committee. I
propose, therefore, a drafting of a programme of special reports in the
above sense.

II. - INQUIRIES DURING THE YEAR.
(a.) General. - I have made a general inspection of part of the
parishes of Parton, Balmaclellan, Dalry, and Kells. Carsphairn I
propose to visit early in the present year.
(b.) Special. - I have made special inquiries regarding the follow-
ing: - The Ringbane scarlet fever outbreak, which had almost passed
away when I began duty; water and drainage of Dalry, referred to
above; whooping cough in parts of the parishes of Balmaclellan, Dalry,
and Kells.

III. - CERTIFICATES GRANTED.
There is nothing to report under this head.

IV. - BAKEHOUSES.
I have not found any condition demanding the interference of the
law.

V. - HOSPITAL SUPERVISION.
The only hospital available for the district is the Dumfries Royal
Infirmary. Apart from the inadequacy of the accommodation there,
the impossibility of safe transit would make this hospital practically
useless. The experience of the last year points to the desirability of a
special hospital for the district, and the sooner the matter is seriously
grappled with the better. I do not here propose any special place, but
I advise the District Committee to appoint a sub-Committee to inquire
into the whole case for hospital isolation, and to report. This sub-
Committee might consult with the Royal Burgh of New-Galloway, with
a view to organising a conjoint hospital. I shall advise the Local
Authority of New-Galloway to the same effect. I may add that scarlet
fever has again broken out in the burgh of New-Galloway. With
the present district sanitary staff it is simply impossible to grapple
effectively even with minor outbreaks of fever, and I, therefore, set
down this matter of an isolation hospital as urgent.

VI. - ACTION TO PREVENT SPREAD OF INFECTIOUS
DISEASE.
With the object of more efficient service, the District Committee
has empowered the Public Health Office to employ assistance in the