THE SEWAGE DIFFICULTY IN MANCHESTER AND SALFORD.

407 end the military and nursing staff of the Hospital, and a distinguished company.

Royal

Victoria

The report, which was read by Surgeon-Colonel J. Lane Notter, Professor of Hygiene, stated that the work of the session had been satisfactory, all the surgeons on ,probation who had undergone the final examination had proved themselves fitted to receive Her Majesty’s commission. After distributing the prizes Major-General Sir Wm. Butler delivered an address, which will be found in another column, to the young officers. The Director - General in complimentary terms expressed their indebtedness to Sir William Butler for presenting the prizes and for his valuable and interesting address. Sir Joseph Fayrer then offered his congratulations to the surgeons on probation upon the successes which they had achieved, and specially addressing himself to the young ’Indian officers spoke of the grand career before them in a service which had produced so many brilliant men, a service which he thought would be even better in the future than it had been in the past. The Principal Medical Qfficer proposed a vote of thanks to Sir Joseph Fayrer for his valuable remarks and this brought the proceedings to a close. The company was afterwards entertained at luncheon by the officers of the Army Medical Staff. The following lists show the positions of the young officers recommended for commissions in their respective services :—

SEWAGE DIFFICULTY IN MANCHESTER AND SALFORD.

THE

THE treatment and disposal of sewage is a very serious all cities and towns, and now that the county councils have power to appoint committees to look after the pollution of rivers and streams we may expect progress in this important matter. The pollution of our rivers ought to be and must be prevented, and whether the effluent be obtained by filtration through land or by treatment with chemicals or both, it must be of such a nature as to be fit to enter these rivers. The time, however, has arrived when it may be considered which is the best method for a particular district. A deputation recently waited on the Parliamentary Secretary of the Local Government Board, their object being to obtain a relaxation of the rule according to which sewage purification must be carried out by means of filtration through land. The deputation wished that artificial filtration should be allowed. The members of the deputation were representatives of the Mersey and Irwell Joint Committee-namely, Sir J. T. Hibbert (chairman), Sir Henry Roscoe (chemical adviser), Mr. R. A. Tatton (chief inspector), Dr. Hewitt, and Mr. J. Brierley. Sir J. T. Hibbert pointed out the great importance of ARMY MEDICAL SERVICE. the subject to the Mersey and Irwell districts, which contained seven county boroughs, with a population of 1,148,000; eleven non-county boroughs, with 249,000 inhabitants ; sixty-two urban district councils, ruling 620,000 persons ; and ten rural district councils under whose jurisdiction were 127,000 inhabitants. The total rateable value of the district was .69,731,000. The Joint Committee dealt with four rivers-the Mersey, Irwell, Irk, and Medlock-on the banks of which were 394 manufactories. The committee formed under the Act of 1888 and had almost succeeded was in keeping solid matters out of the streams. The committee congratulated themselves that there were schemes everywhere for preventing the pollution of rivers. The policy of the committee was to deal with every authority, large or small, on the same principles. Action had been taken both Manchester and Salford, but as yet against * Gained the Herbert Prize of E20, the Martin Memorial Medal, and neither had laid a satisfactory scheme before the committee. the Pathology Prize presented by !Sir Joseph Fayrer, Bart., K.C.S.I. The committee, knowing the difficulties of Manchester and t Gained the Maclean Prize for Clinical and Ward Work. Salford in getting suitable land for filtration purposes, 1 Gained the Parkes’ Memorial Medal. § Gained the first Montefiore Prize of 20 guineas and Bronze Medal. instructed their chemical adviser (Sir Henry Roscoe) and their chief engineer (Mr. Tatton) to report on the subject of precipitation and filtration. Mir Henry Roscoe reported : "II am of opinion that the adoption of artificial filters THE AMERICAN VICTORIA is a move in the right direction, especially in the case of laree towns having difficulties in acauirins sufficient JUBILEE FUND. area of land and of a suitable character for the purification of its sewage. Land filtration, so far as the WE have received the following with a request for its chemical results are concerned, is superior to artificial publication. filtration. Unfortunately, however, the volume of effluent The Executive Committee of the American Victoria that can be treated permanently on land is small as comJubilee Fund bega to inform the subscribers that the lists pared with the volume that can be filtered by artificial filters." for endowing beds in hospitals are now closed, and the Mr. Tatton stated: I I There seems, therefore, to be ample evidence to show that if filters are constructed to conform total obtained amounts to more than .64300. The surplus to with the principles which have been laid down satisfactory be given to the Prince of Wales’s Fund will remain open for results may be obtained. The reasonable view to be taken of the present, and donations to this will be acknowledged by the matter seems to be that, instead of any hard and fast the hon. treasurer, Mr. Walter H. Barns, 22, Old Broadrule being laid down, each case should be treated on its own atireet. Mrs. Ralph Vivian having written to Sir Fleetwood ; that if suitable land can be obtained it should be Edwards asking him to bring to the notice of the Queen the merits but that if it cauaot be got artiiicial niters should be Fund which had been collected in her honour, and to but with restrictions as to the volume sanctioned, participate in commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of of sewage allowed onstringent a given area." The committee thereHer Majesty’s reign, has received the following replyfore, on the strength of these reports, approached the Local Government Board to have a more open mind on the treatOsborne, July 28th, 1897. "DEAR MRS. ViviAN,—I have laid your letter of the I ment of sewage. 25sh inst. before the Queen, who desires me to say I Sir Henry Roscoe also pointed out that the only land that how touched she is, and also how grateful to your- Manchester could purchase was not fit for a sewage filter self and to all those who have contributed to and and that Salford and other Lancashire towns were in the collected the American Victoria Jubilee Fund. Her same fix. In addition to the want of a sufficiently porous Majesty is deeply sensible of the kindness thus evinced, and soil the climate was against land filtration, and the most greatly pleased that the handsome sum thus realised is to be suitable land became waterlogged. He argued that each devoted to so good and useful a purpose as the endowment of case should be treated on its merits. the beds in the hospitals you name, while the surplus is to be Dr. Hewitt stated that Salford’s experts said that a devoted to the Prince of Wales’s Fund. The Queen trusts satisfactory effluent could be obtained from the sewage by Oldham and Rochyou will be kind enough to express her sincere thanks to all precipitation and artificial filtration. those concerned for their very kind action. dale had taken land only to find it unfit for the purposes of Believe me, yours very faithfully, filtration. The Parliamentary Secretary (Mr. T. W. Russell, M.P.) " (Signed FLE:E.TWOOD J. EDWARDS."

luestion for

used,

"

408 stated that he had given personal attention to the matter, and been able to remain for two years and more south of Cairo had visited Radcliffe and Royton among other places in order without any leave. When the whole country is quieted down to see purification works. The difficulties mentioned had, he it is difficult to see who is going to people it. Slavery is no said, placed on the Local Government Board a responsibility longer permitted, the original inhabitants were killed off by to examine the whole question afresh. The President (Mr. the incursions of Wad el Njuny or have retreated south Chaplin) had authorised him to say that the views of the with the Mahdists. The Egyptian Government has been deputation would receive immediate consideration. It might advised to send pensioners to Dongola, where they might be necessary to make a full inquiry into the whole subject; receive land in exchange for part of tneir pensions. The but however that might be he could guarantee that the cultivable portion of Dongola province is 79,000 acres, but President and officers of the Board would promptly and fully the surface under cultivation to-day is only 27,000 acres, and consider everything that had been urged, and, in his opinion, even this can only be worked by old men, women, and children, because the adult males are exceedingly scarce. rightly urged. The importance of sewage disposal in towns and urban According to the latest intelligence, the loss sustained by districts cannot be concealed. The pollution of rivers must the Dervishes in their defence of Abu Hamed was con. and ought to cease, but to enable public authorities to do siderable, while the casualties on the Egyptian side were, as. this efficiently the Local Government Board must relax its we have said, relatively indgnincant. Two British officers. rule as to land filtration and allow such methods to be used were killed. It is rumoured that the Khalifa is preparing as will enable an effluent to be produced that is fit to enter for retreat and is sending his stores from Omdurman in There is no doubt about case of the advance of the Egyptian force and the capture of our streams and watercourses. land filtration giving the best effluent, but precipitation and that place. artificial filtration ought to produce an effluent fit to enter our rivers, and where suitable land is not available local authorities ought to be permitted to adopt such a scheme.

Public Health

THE SOUDAN CAMPAIGN. SIR H. KITCHENER knows his

own

mind and manages to

keep his knowledge to himself, in order that the enemy may be quite unprepared for the event until it actually happens. We have been expecting to hear any day that the Nile had risen high enough to permit the continuation of the march from Dongola and its neighbourhood towards the south. The news has now arrived of the capture of Abu Hamed on the morning of the 7th inst. after severe house-to-house fighting with relatively small loss to Major-General Hunter’s column, and it is rumoured that the expedition may push straight on to Berber. Life for the English officers has been very trying since Dongola was captured last September, there has been very little leave granted, and the work has been chiefly that of making railroads and forwarding transport. As they go forward on their campaign let us hope that the elements will be kinder to them than last year, and that they may be saved the unnecessary discomforts of dust storms and rain torrents. Cholera is not likely to delay them this summer, for Egypt has been free from it since the autumn. Abu Hamed is rapidly being connected with Wady Halfa by railway, and there will be no difficulty about forwarding transport of all kinds. By the Nile the army is over 1200 miles from Cairo; and it says something for the efficiency of a handful of British officers that this journey can now be made in two weeks. Fifteen thousand Egyptian soldiers have now been quartered for ten months in the province of Dongola. Most of the food and the whole of the army’s equipment and stores have been supplied from Cairo; and while all the necessary supply and transport work has been going on time has been found to lay two railways of a length of nearly 500 miles, and all this without any apparent fuss or trouble. In Egypt the work has been done by three staff officers at Assouan, two at Wady Halfa, and three between Wady Halfa and Dongola; one of these is a colonel and all the others are captains or subalterns, all picked men, certain to be good-tempered under trying circumstances and with that love of responsibility which is the special attribute of so many Englishmen. The health of the troops is uniformly good in the Soudan, in spite of hot days, when every one looks forward to sunset because of the comparatively cool night which braces the men up for the morrow’s heat. In the Dongola province the hot months are from May to December, but life is more bearable when the Nile rises and the nights become cooler. The really ccol months are from January to April, and then the chief plague is a small black fly, which some of the natives fear so much that they wear on their heads wisps of straw slowly burning to keep off the pest. Another peculiarity of that part of the Soudan is that the Nile is half a mile wide at Debbeh, and seems to get wider instead of narrower as the traveller ascends it. The climate is healthy enough except for malaria when the Nile is high and later when it is sinking again. If it were not for the healthiness of the desert English officers would hardly have

and

Poor Law.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT.

I

REPORTS OF MEDICAL OFFICERS OF HEALTH.

Oheltenham Urban Distriet.-The Cheltenham publk abattoir appears gradually to be growing in favour, and, the Council have now obtained a provisional order giving them considerable powers in respect to the closure of existing slaughter-houses. Dr. Garrett furnishes in his report a very interesting account of the colouration of the water in one of the storage reservoirs, that at Dowdeswell, by the growth of an alga (Crenothrix polyspora var. Cheltonensis), which gave to the water a markedly red appearance and an unpleasant odour. The water in the reservoir at the time was in a state of considerable stagnation, there being but little fresh water entering it. The filters were unable to separate the organisms, which appear also to have multiplied in the mains. Beyond the red colouration and the disagreeable odour which the" organism occasioned no bad results followed, and Dr. Garrett was unable to trace any illness to its consumption. It may be observed that the colouration of the water was most marked during the months of March, April, and May, The colouration of water which occurs from time to time in, reservoirs causes much alarm amongst the consumers, and nolittle anxiety to those who have the management of the waterworks, and those of our readers who are interested in this subject will find in Publi{’ Health for October, 1896, a very instructive article by Dr. Garrett upon the Cheltenham manifestations, and also a reference to certain occurrences of It may be added that in some cases a similar nature. the covering in of the reservoirs will probably be found a useful preventive measure, and careful filtration i& calculated to improve matters. The prevalence of small.pox in Gloucester caused the Cheltenham Sanitary Authority much anxiety, more especially as the baneful influence of Gloucester in the matter of vaccination had not been without its effects in Cheltenham, the guardianshaving taken up a deplorably weak position in the matter and refused to prosecute defaulters. The sanitary authority, however, took the matter into their own hands and appointed numerous medical practitioners to perform vaccinations in the town free of expense. As a result of this step a very large number of persons were vaccinated or re-vaccinated, and eventually the expenditure thus entailed was allowed, after petitions to the Local Government Board on the matter, to be defrayed by the board of guardians, who in the first instance seem to have been either incapable or undesirous of doing what was obviously their duty. It seems to us that the inhabitants of Cheltenham are much indebted to the medical men of that town for insisting upon the necessity for some prompt action. The justices as well as theguardians of Cheltenham are apparently unwilling to carry out the law in respect to vaccination. Eccles Urban .1Jist’J’ict.-Dr. J. H. Crocker thinks it not improbable that the pollution of the soil by excrement may be a means by which scarlet fever is spread. He refers to the intestinal and urinary complications of the disease, anlÌ