HH62/2/PEEBLE/9

Transcription

[page] 8

The only case where I tried to put the Food and
Drugs Act into operation was where a consignment
of kippered herrings very badly tainted was made
from Edinburgh by a fishmonger (well known for his
dealings in food unfitted for human consumption) to
a hawker in Peeblesshire, who disposed of them to at
least two shop-keepers outside the Burghs. Informa-
tion of the consignment was kindly given me in
Edinburgh. I wired to Mr. Anderson, Sanitary
Inspector, who found the fish in two shops in West
Linton, and he had the intended food destroyed.
Further proceedings were not taken, but the warning
the shop-keepers have had will, I trust, make them
more careful of their purchases in future.
With regard to the Rivers Pollution Act, I have to
state that I see no reason for applying it at the present
time. No doubt the River Tweed receives pollution
from factories on its banks, but those are com-
paratively inconsiderable, taking into account the
volume of the stream. It is likewise contaminated
by town and village sewage, but it is to be noted
that its water is not used for potable purposes. The
water of the river and of most of its tributaries is
well stocked with fish, and for all purposes for
which it is absolutely necessary it is sufficiently pure.
I made special inquiry into three outbreaks of
infectious disease - (1) of scarlet fever at Stobo, which
was imported from either Edinburgh or Berwick; (2)

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of an influenza attack at a farm, where it caused some
anxiety; and (3) of typhoid fever at Traquair. At
Traquair there were four cases convalescent at the time
of my visit, right opposite to large dairy premises, and
one of the workers in these premises at the moment I
called resided in the house where the fever existed.
This led me to make inquiry as to the health
condition of those supplied with the milk. I found
that nearly the whole of the milk from this dairy
was disposed of in the Burgh of Innerleithen, and
that in this Burgh, among those supplied during the
same period as the cases were down with the disease
in Traquair, there were at least 10 with the same
sickness. This seemed more than a mere coin-
cidence. The discovery of the four cases was quite
accidental, and made while engaged in inspecting the
dairy premises along with the Sanitary Inspector,
and it well illustrates the importance of ' Notifica-
tion,' which, had it been in force, might have led
to measures which perhaps would have prevented
most of these illnesses.
I strongly advised the Local Authority to lose no
time in adopting the Notification of Diseases Act of
1889, with the result that this Act comes into force
on the 1st day of February. The next question of
importance to occupy the attention of the Committee
will be Hospital accommodation. I have laid a letter
before them asking its immediate consideration. One