The Sun.
London, England, 1869-11-16 00:00:00

THE ST. PANCRAS GUARDIANS.

Mr. Goschen is one of the three Ministers who
remain in town, and it is not difficult to surmise that
the doings in the parish of St. Pancras have had some
share in retaining him. The guardians are not yet
satisfied. The shocking disclosures at the late
inquests, which many people fancied would prove
a " settler " for these parish dignitaries, have
turned out to be nothing of the kind. The
guardians have thrown open the workhouse in order
that the public may come and see for itself as to the
management of the . infirmary. They have held a
meeting to protest against the statements made of them-
selves and their doings. Hero they affirmed that they
had been grossly vilified. The conspiracy which all tho
world was forming against the peace of St. Pancras
had thickened. In brief, the guardians lay the whole
blame of the disclosures made at the inquests upon
the medical officer, Dr. Ellis. They do not hesitate
to officially affirm that this gentleman contrived and
brought about the state of things which has caused
such public indignation, for the express purpose
of discrediting the guardians. One of them
said they "were in a position to prove that
orders had been given to stop up every means
of ventilation, every crevice, for two hours before Mr.
Solly and Dr. Brundenell Carter visited the wards.
If the deaths had resulted from breathing the atmos-
phere described by those gentlemen in the infirmary,
the medical officer, and no one else, was answerable
for such deaths." The sum and substance of the
defence is that the medical man who has so
frequently protested against the present management
of the St. Pancras workhouse, and who affirmed at the
ina nest that ho had vainly pleaded with the guardians
for better provision, is just the person who
is responsible for the horrors which, according to his
account, he strove to avert. And the only remedy
the guardians propose is that the Poor-law Board
should dismiss Dr. Ellis. Then everything will go on
swimmingly.
Dr. Ellis has written a letter, in which he states his
view of the case. He says that so far back as last
July ho sent a half-yearly report to the guardians in
which he described the state of the sick wards pre-
cisely as they were found a few days ago by
Solly. In July ho affirmed that the accommodation
was insufficient, and that the wards were so small that
the beds were far too overcrowded. The close
proximity of one patient to another was unhealthy,
inconvenient, and indecent

The water-closets practically ventilate themselves into
the wards, and the sinks in which the patients wash do
the same. During the first quarter of the year there was
). weekly average of 156 patients in the workhouse who,
from sickness, ought to have been in the infirmary.
During the second quarter there was a weekly average of
72 patients who ought to have been, from the same cause,
in the infirmary. The female itch, men's itoh, and men's
foul ward would have to be better lighted and better ven-
tilated before they could be used as stables for horses.
With these irrefutable facts it is self-evident that the exist-
.

tng accommodation foTtitesiccfsinsufficient.
Such are Dr. Ellis's expressions in July, and
such were the opinions of his predecessor. How,
then, could he
have concocted this state of things ?
It remains to be soon which view of the case Mr.
Goschen will adopt. It is rumoured that ho intends
to take the management of the workhouse out of the
ifuardians' hands. The Daily News and Spectator
advocate this course.
OUT-DOOR WOMEN PAUPERS.

The Poplar guardians are considering the advisa-
bility of giving a needle-work task to able-bodied
women in receipt of out-door relief. This heavily-
burdened parish has on its hands 468 widows
between the ages of 20 and' 60, together with
1,207 children under 16. It is not proposed to em-
ploy the women on needlework for persons outside
the workhouse, and thus enter into competition with
traders, but simply to engage them upon the labour
of making clothing and repairing, &T., as may be
required in the "house." On these terms a committee
has decided that able-bodied women ought to have
a task given them in return for relief, provided that
not more than three days' work in the week be
enforced.