HH62/2/ROXBUR/29

Transcription

[Page] 28

efficient cleansing, not only of streets, but also of ashpits and
middens, the only resource under the law as it stands at
present is to issue notices under section 51, Public Health Act,
ordering the periodical removal of all refuse, or, if that fails,
to form the village into a special drainage district.
Other villages are in some respects in the same position as
Yetholm, but, owing to their small size, collections of refuse
are not so large, and the same difficulties do not occur in
securing their cleanliness.

MELROSE DISTRICT.
POPULATION. - The inhabitants of this District, the most
populous in the County, number 7549. The parish of Melrose
has 4321 persons, more than half the population of the district;
the other four parishes have under 1000 persons in each. Of
the 4321 in Melrose parish, 2000 live in the town of Melrose.
The density of the population is 101 persons to a square mile.
BIRTHS. - The birth-rate in this District for 1891 is 22·842
per 1000 persons living.
DEATHS.- In the last five months of 1891 there were 55
deaths, 29 of which were deaths of persons over 60 years of
age - a per centage on the deaths of nearly 53. The annual
death-rate, calculated on the deaths in five months, is 17·279,
and the rate for children under five years of age per 1000
persons living is 1·27. The general death-rate is higher than
in any district except Jedburgh. The excessive mortality
appears due to influenza; there were 12 deaths from influenza
and 9 from diseases of the respiratory system, giving a higher
rate from these two causes than in the other districts. Only
one death occurred from zymotic disease.
INFECTIOUS DISEASE. - A hospital or apparatus for the
disinfection of clothing not being available, there is no doubt
that shortly the whole subject of isolation of infectious cases
and disinfection of clothing must be considered by the
District Committee. The nearest burgh, Galashiels, not
being situated in the District, it is probable that more difficulty

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will be experienced in making suitable arrangements than in
Jedburgh, Hawick, or Kelso. A large part of the district is
within 8 miles of Galashiels, Hawick, or Selkirk, and if the
Local Authorities of these places provide for fever patients,
the relative advantage and cost of co-operation with the
Local Authorities of these places may be compared with the
erection of a cottage hospital in Melrose under the undivided
control of the District Committee. The District being the
most populous in the County, and having a considerable place
like Melrose in it, is in a better position to provide for itself
than any other.
DISTRIBUTION OF CASES. - An outbreak of scarlet fever near
Galashiels was of some interest, and caused some anxiety in
the burgh. Between the 6th and the 11th December, Dr.
Somerville, the Medical Officer of that town, received notice
of 41 cases of scarlet fever in families supplied with milk from
a dairy in the Melrose District, and no cases were notified by
families getting their milk from other sources. On the 11th
I received information and at once visited the place. The
dairyman had stopped the sale of milk on the 8th at Dr.
Somerville's request, and on the 12th promised not to recom-
mence until I certified that there was no further danger.
Altogether, 10 cases were found in the County, and every
precaution that suggested itself was taken to check the
spread of the epidemic, but there can be no doubt that its
cessation was chiefly due to the stoppage of the sale of milk.
Three children in the dairyman's family were infected, but
only took ill on the 6th, the same day that the first cases were
notified to the burgh. The original source of infection was
never satisfactorily accounted for, and the most probable
explanation is that a milk-can, left at a house in which there
was a case of scarlet fever, was returned to the dairy. In
bye-laws since brought into force, the practice of leaving cans
at houses has been prohibited. The question of compensation
has been raised, and in this case, as the milk was infected
through no fault of the dairyman, and as he immediately