The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-17 00:00:00

visited the hulks at Woolwich, where he had seeu some '
cases of cholera; and also that he had, in two previous
situations, bad the charge of pauper patients.
It appears that a significant warning of the approach-
ing outbri ak was given 14 days belore a smgie cuse
of
cholera had occurred. Tim e girls were on Friday, De-
cember 15, attacked with vomiting, diarrheas, and col-
lapse; but this warning was not understor d by the resi-
dent medical officer, who supposed the cases were
dependent on cold and dampness; and thus, no suspicion
being awakened of the true character of the attack, none
of those preventive measures which experience has
proved to be most effective were adopted; no inquiry
was instituted as to the prevalence of diarrhoea among
the children; no alteration was made in their diet, and
no means were adopted to guard them from the noxious
effect of overcrowded and unventilated rooms. If at
this time, 14 days before the fatal outbreak, due and
proper measures had been carried into effect, a large
part of the evil that has since occurred, it is certain,
would have been averted.
It further appears from the evidence, that after the
attack of cholera no efficient means wore adopted either
to discover the existence of the premonitory diarrhoea,
or for its treatment, when it was brought under the no-
tice of the resident medical officer. Thus, the mistress
of the girls says, " she had received no dirt,ction to
question the children whether they have diarrhoea," and
a similar statement is made by the master and one of
tt,e under-masters, the only officials of this class ques-
tioned by me: whilst, as regards the medical officer, he
could not undertake this duty if it had ever been con-
templated, being overcharged with attendance on the
sick. With respect to the treatment of the premonitory
diarrhoea, although all the medical authorities connected
with the Board of Health in England, Ireland, and
Scotland, have, in their published instructions, advised
the use of some preparation of opium, that medicine
has not been administered in a single case of diarrhoea
up to my visit on Friday, the medical officer relying on

astringents.
That there has been, as in all similar circumstances, a
large amount of diarrhoea prevailing among the children
at this establishment, both previous to and since the out-
break of cholera, is abundantly proved. One of the
assistant-masters stated to me, " he had observed that
the boys had been purged during the last fortnight, and
especially since yesterday week."*
The schoolmistress also states, that " many of the
children have been taken with pain in the bowels." The
resident medical officer says, many of the children at-
tacked by cholera had informed him that they had
suffered from diarrhea before the attack, some for a day
or two, and others longer. The inquiry instituted at
my suggestion by the several medical gentlemen now in
attendance, led to the discovery of 38 cases of diarrhea.
on Saturday and a part of Sunday, although the number
of children had then been diminished one-half by re-
movals ; among these cases only one child had on Sun-
day passed into cholera.
On examining the buildings and premises appropriated
to the children in general, I found that the boys' dor-
mitories had only windows on one side—a most unfavour-
able arrangement both as regards light and air; the
same observations also apply to the schoolrooms. The
dormitories are greatly overcrowded, and in those for thd
younger children the arrangement was that three chil-
dren should sleep in one bed. In the schoolroom for
boys the master informed me there were, when all were
present, 500; the length of this room being 94 feet, the
width 21 feet, and the height 11 feet.
The ventilation is most defective, and entirely incom-
patible with the maintenance of health, even in the case
of a much smaller number of boys than that above speci-
fied. The girls' schoolroom is used for 260 children, it
is lighter than that of the boys, but the ventilation is
equally defective as in the preceding case.
In connexion with these schoolrooms, it is necessary
to state that Mr. Hall, the Assistant Poor-law Commis-
sioner, informed me that in the beginning of the month
of November last he and Mr. Tutnell gave Mr. Drouet
a written order, limiting the number to be received in the
boys' schoolroom to 400, and in the girls' schoolroom to
160. This order, which ought, under the ordinary cir-
cumstances of health, to have been immediately carried
into operation, was neglected, and, as it must be pre-
sumed, to the injury of the children's health.
The yard or playground was damp and wet, owing, as
it appeared, to its limited size, and to the buildings by
which it is more or less surrounded. Mr. Semple, one
of the medical officers of Islington, stated to me that he
had complained of the wet and damp condition of the
premises. All this is most unfavourable to the health of
oung children, for, as there are no day rooms, the
children must ither go into this damp yard or remain in
the schoolrooms or dormitories, which, on other grounds,
is equally objectionable.
One part of the buildings requires a special notice.
About five or six months ago, according to the evidence
of Mr. Walter Chapman, one of the late medical atten-
dants of this establishment, a low range of buildings,
constituting one long room, was,.erected in the imme-
diate vicinity of a yard, in which a large number of
animals, pigs, cows, horses, and poultry. are kept. These
premises are, moreover, in a most objectionable situation,
as they are placed very near to the two foul open
ditches or drains described in the evidence of M. r. Lovick,
of the Sewers Commission. When this building was
erected, and before any children had been placed iu it,
Mr. Walter Chapman, then the professional medical ad-
viser of Mr. Drouet, " expressed his opinion that the
Commissioners of the Poor or of the Board of Health
would insist on the removal of the pigstyes and animals
if the children were to live there." Notwithstanding
this representation, 150 children were placed in this
room. The present medical officer has also expressed
to the proprietor his opinion that the locality was
not suitable. In consequence, as it is believed, of these
representations, some of the animals have been removed,
but I saw a large number of poultry still in the yard, and
some pigs also remain. One of the ditches was also
cleaned out about a fortnight ago, but in so ignorant a
manner, the offensive mud being thrown upon the banks,
as to increase the evil by extending the evaporating sur-
face. (See Report of Mr. Lovick.)
In the immediate neighbourhood of this establishment,
and intersecting the land in all directions, are numerous
open ditches, canals, and pieces of water, of the most
offensive character. The condition of these foul streams,
and their relation to the premises of Mr. Drouet, are
very clearly and correctly described in the report of Mr.
Lorick. It is only requisite, therefore, in this place, to
state that no locality more unfit for the lodgment of a
large number of children could possibly have been se-
lected, and the fact that the inmates of this establish-
ment have heretofore escaped violent epidemic disease,
can only be attributed to the dilution, by the pure air of
the country, of the poisonous effluvia constantly poured
forth by the vast extent of exhaling surface described in
Mr. Lovick's report.
In considering the causes of this awful visitation, the
more important circumstances requiring notice are—
firstly, the locality; secondly, the diet and clothing of
the children; and lastly, the number of children in
the establishment. As regards the locality, there can
be no doubt that it has exerted a most injurious in-
fluence on the children; for, although, according to
the evidence of Mr. Walter Chapman, the amount of
actual sickness in the establishment has not been high,
yet the experience of the present epidemic has plainly
demonstrated that the constitution and health, in a large
number of instances, must have been seriously deterio-
rated. Thus far I have no hesitation in stating my
opinion that the foul waters surrounding Mr. Drouet's
premises have, by their exhalations, acted mOst delete-
riously, and by thus inducing a high degree of suscepti-
bility to disease, have greatly aggravated the intensity
of the attack and augmented the mortality.
But it is certain that the injurious locality has only
played a secondary and indirect part in this epidemic,
and for this obvious reason—that whilst a large number
of :persons inhabitants of Tooting and of the poorer
classes, have been exposed to the same noxious effluvia,
though probably not in the same degree, not one of them,
either adult or child, has hitherto given any indications
of being affected by the cholera poison. Under such
perilous circumstances, it was, of course, my duty to in-
stitute a searching inquiry into the present state of
health of this populous village ; and I therefore re-
quested the medical officer of the district to ascertain
if any of the inhabitants, and especially the children
of the poor, were labouring under diarrhoea or other
affection indicative of cholera. The result of this inves-
tigation, I am rejoiced to say, h:Gaeicssemelont.fbroedera.beanent most satisfac-
tory, by showing in a conclusive manner that up to the
present date there has been no excess of disease above
the average. This being the case, the essential causes
of the outbreak must be sought in the establishment it-
self ; and, first, as regards the diet—
‘. This consists of meat three times a week, pudding
once, and pea-soup three times a week. On inquiry,
and questioning a considerable number of children, I am
bound to state that in many instances the food has been
defective in quality : the kind and quality of the diet also
have been of an obj actionable character, and liable,
a t
Under especially
t:
injuriousne
isanedseceeiarescet:enmolaintkaetnheetehseei.
it.
resent, to have exerted
ethoamtmtheeedpertoioporsietoisreededid
bnyot,tihne accordance
efiuowdcaihrt
Board,
regrettedthediscon-
tinue re
these children so often on a kind,
the use of a vegetable diet
of
fstfeoaod of feeding
(knowu. to exert in many cases a relaxingmion:fleupeeefaees7opd
the alimentary canal), a diet consisting
and dry and farinaceous food, had been substituted for
greens vegetables when the cholera approached the me-
tropolis, there are sufficient grounds for inferring that
the stamina of the children would have been better
maintained, and that consequently more resistance
would have been offered to the attack of the epidemic
influence of cholera.
With respect to the clothing, this is insufficient, parti-
cularly as concerns the provision of flannel next the skin,
a point in primary importance in maintaining the health
of all young children.
neeAteftderwmithattubreelpyacinofnuslidoeerolungrreanlleteh, the caimrcrndsutacnedcestoceoxn:
press my firm conviction that the essential cause of all
the mischief has been the inordinate overcrowding. of this
establishment. Dangerous as I conceive the effluvia from
the foul sewers and stagnant ditches to be, yet, diluted
as they are by the winds, they might not alone have been
sufficient to produce this outbreak, as may be presumed
by the immunity up to this time of the inmates of other
houses near these moats and ponds. But the state of
overcrowding was such as must have lowered the health
of the inmates in ordinary times, and was almost certain
to produce disease under the depressing influence of an
epidemic condition of the atmosphere. Without doubt,
both the noxious effluvia and the overcrowding contri-
buted to the calamitous result; but of these two causes I
attach the utmost importance to the overcrowding,
which, on any site, when carried to such an extent as
will be immediately shown to have prevailed in this
establishment, must have lowered the health of the in-
mates and predisposed them to disease.
It appears from information derived from the Poor-
law Commission, that on the 23d of December, the
total number of children under Mr. Drouet's charge
amounted to 1,372. The original premises were totally

• This evidence was taken on Friday, Jan. 5.