[Report 1925] / Medical Officer of Health, Burnley County Borough.

  • Burnley (England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1925
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1925] / Medical Officer of Health, Burnley County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    15/218 (page 11)
    pollution of the air which is due to household hres will not be present to any great extent. Ihe only elfort we are at present able to take in the direction of improving the state of the atmosphere is the supervision of the chimneys of the factories and workshops, and the only legal offence that can be committed by these is the exhibition of black smoke. Noxious fumes from certain chemical manufactories may be dealt with under certain Acts of Parliament, but these do not concern us greatly. In short, the pollution of the atmosphere in Burnley comes almost entirely from the imperfect combustion of coal and of this coal at least half is consumed on the household fire. Open ashpits, of which we have an excessive number, is another source of pollution of our atmosphere, and so far the substitution of ashbins for ashpits has proceeded very slowly. The local Act of Parliament of 1925 contains a Section which should enable the Local Authority to speed up this substitution of ashbins for ashpits. The completion and filling with water of the new Hurstwood Reservoir provides us with an ample supply of good water. This is an important event in our history, for we have been living on the danger line for the last 20 years as regards the available supply during dry seasons. For years to come there should be no necessity to restrict the use of the water or to ask consumers to exercise economy. This has had to be done, with very few exceptions, every year for the last 20 years. The Local Act of Parliament passed in 1925 contains many Sections dealing with sanitary matters ; these are given in the Appendix to the Report. The one referring to the provision of dustbins in place of ashpits has been referred to, other sections refer to measures for the prevention of the spread of. Infectious Diseases. There are also sections which give us extended powers in dealing with food, both as to its sale and its storage. It has often been pointed out the comparative failure of Sanatorium Treatment for Tuberculosis is due to the fact that the patient arrives at the Sanatorium when the disease has advanced too far for hope to be entertained of recovery. It has also been stated that the powers of recovery froni the disease appears to be much greater in children than in adults. As an experi- ment in getting cases early, Crown Point Hospital was opened during the summer months for children of school age who were sulfering from Tuberculosis, and