HH62/2/STIRLI/17

Transcription

[Page] 16

refers only to the census of 1881, and to Registration Districts*
as a whole, towns and villages not being differentiated. But for
comparison with the census of 1891, the report of which will
shortly be published, I have placed on record in the District
Reports the percentages which I have calculated from the Census
Report of 1881. It may be noted here that the parishes which
had, in regard to the size of the houses, the worst accommodation
in the county were Slamannan, Kilsyth, and Muiravonside. In
Slamannan 48 1/2 per cent. of the houses had only one room, and
37 per cent. had two rooms. In Kilsyth the corresponding figures
were 46 per cent. and 35 per cent., and in Muiravonside, 35 per
cent. and 41 1/2 per cent. At the other end of the list are Buchanan,
Kippen, and Drymen. In Buchanan there were less than 6 per
cent. of one-roomed houses, and 31 per cent. with two rooms. In
Kippen the corresponding figures were 8 per cent. and 32 1/2 per
cent., and in Drymen, 10 1/2 and 27 per cent.
The character of the accommodation varies greatly. A house
to house visitation throughout the County would doubtless reveal
a great deal of dampness in walls and floors, and some want of
ventilation, owing partly to fixed windows. In the District Reports
reference will be made to particular cases which have been
before the Committees. Time, however, has not permitted
the Inspectors to make a systematic examination of the house
property in their respective Districts. But under the Housing
of the Working Classes Act of 1890 the duty is laid on the
Medical Officer of reporting to the Local Authority dwelling-
houses unfit for habitation, and then, if after a proper interval
the houses be not made habitable, it becomes the duty of the
Local Authority to approach the Sheriff for a closing order.
This work will have to be gone into very soon, and is likely to
occupy a great deal of my attention and of that of the sanitary
inspectors.

*The Grangemouth Registration District includes parts of the parishes
of Bothkennar, Falkirk, and Polmont. The Stirling District includes part
of St. Ninians parish, and the rest of that parish is divided into two
districts, St. Ninians and Bannockburn; Farkirk parish includes two
districts, burgh and landward; and Denny parish also includes two dis-
tricts, Denny and Haggs. In the rest of the County the parishes coincide
with the Registration Districts.

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Water Supply. - In forming an opinion regarding the influence
on the public health of any particular water supply, a number of
facts have to be considered. But, speaking very generally, it may
be taken that the question which is likely to be of most consequence
from a sanitary point of view is, whether the source of supply is
surrounded by or is removed from human habitations; or, in other
words, whether it is liable to contamination from human beings
and their diseases. It is of use to know whether a water is hard
or soft, whether it has much or little solid matter, whether it
is filtered or not, and so on; but if one had to judge of the safety
or danger of any given supply from one single enquiry regarding
it, that enquiry would be, how does it stand as regards pro-
pinquity to or distance from inhabited dwelling-houses? In a
village supplied from local sources - from sunk wells on streets or
in back yards or gardens - a good deal will depend on whether
the wells are open dip wells or are properly covered and provided
with pumps; whether they are well puddled or otherwise rendered
impermeable to moisture near the surface of the ground; whether
there are any ashpits or drains close at hand; whether the wells
are in manured ground, &c. But in spite of all precautions to
the contrary, water from local sources will be liable to risks of con-
tamination, which may occasionally have very disastrous results
on the health of the consumers; and, with rare exceptions, an
open mountain stream, unprotected and unfiltered, will be found a
safer source of supply than the most carefully guarded water taken
from the soil of a populous village.
At the other end of the subject is the question of the facilities
provided for utilising the supply. Cleanliness should be made
easy to the population. Where village water has to be got, say, a
quarter of a mile away, the villagers are sure to be dirtier in their
houses and persons than if the water were piped into every individual
dwelling-house. There is even a difference between having to go
to a pillar well on the street, or to a water tap on a stair head,
and having the water led right into the kitchen sink. In so far,
therefore, as I have gone into the question of water supply in
the District Reports, I have followed these lines of enquiry.
Taking the County as a whole, it will be seen from the District
Reports that some parts of the Eastern District are by far the
worst off in regard to water supply. In the Central District,

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