The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-13 00:00:00

THE CHOLERA.

Yesterday, at a meeting of the committee, the
Lord Mayor presiding, grants were made to the
amount of £350 in all, viz., to Poplar, £lOO ; St.
Nicholas, Deptford, £lOO, with nine gallons port
wine ; Mile-end Old Town, 1100, and a similar
quantity of port ; the Rev. Dr. Cappel, for the
poor Germans who had suffered from the disease,
£25 ; and the Aldersgate Dispensary, £25. Besides
the Lord Mayor, the. members of the committee
present were Sir Mordaunt Wells, Rev. F. G.
Mr. IL W. Ripley, kr. R. N. Fowler,
BMI or fi l ,
Richard Hoare, and Mr. Robert Wigram.
The following is the official return of deaths from
cholera and diarrhoea registered on Tuesday, 11th
Sept.:—
Cholera. 'Diarrhom.
West districts 2 2
North districts 8 2
Central districts ..• 2
4
East districts ... 10 ... 3
South districts ..• •.. 4 ... 5

Total in London ... ... 26 16

The Metropolitan Poor Law Medical Officers.

The Association of the Poor Law Medical Officers
of London have had under their consideration the
report of Dr. Smith upon the London Workhouse
Infirmaries, and have just issued an elaborate criti-
cism upon this remarkable document. In the first
place,. the Medical officers controvert Dr. Smith's
opinions with respect to the minimum of cubical and
floor space, and they say if the space given by Dr.
Smith were to be taken in opposition to the opinion
and experiments of eminent men in all parts of the
world the London hospitals might be called upon to
house three times as many patients as they now find
room for. With respect to Dr. Smith's experiments,
the medical officers show that wards cannot with 500
cubical feet of space to each patient be properly ven-
tilated, for the amount of air requisite to be kept
passing through the wards would be injurious in the
highest degree to all the patients, and even fatal to
the subjects of bronchitis, pneumonia, and kidney
disease, and many other diseases commonly seen in
workhouse wards. The only point upon which the
medical officers agree with Dr. Smith, is in his ad-
mission that there is a necessity for the abolition of
pauper nursing, but they consider that more paid
nurses than the number laid down by Dr. Smith are
necessary. Nearly all the nursing, if it may be so
called in the London workhouse was carried out
until very lately by paupers, who had an extra ra-
tion of beer or gin for the performanee of this respon-
sible duty, and even now night nurses are unknown
iri many London workhouses, where there are several
hundred sick and infirm. At present there are
about 'l3O paid nurses distributed over the 40 me-
tropolitan workhouses, and of those nearly one-half
have been appointed for the first time during the
last year. Dr. Smith considers that 130• more are
immediately needed, making 260 altogether for the
day and night superintendence of at least 6,000 ac-
tually sick persons. The Poor-law medical officers
say, in conclusion, that they " cannot refrain from
an expression of deep regret, and even pain, that
they should have been under the necessity of reflect-
ing upon the fairness and sound judgment of their
confrere, the medical officer to the Poor Law Board.
They cannot, however, but feel that while his report
is in many respects wanting in justice to the medi-
cal officers as a body, they also have reason, • from
facts brought to their knowledge, to object to the
manner in which some, at least, of his personal in-
spections were conducted ; and the persistency, and
in some instances the scant courtesy, with which his
peculiar views as to cubic space and ventilation
were pressed upon individual medical officers.
They regret that he shotild have so completely
ignored the extreme difficulties, disadvantages, and
discouragernents under which medical officers have
hitherto laboured in carrying out their arduous and
ill-requitted duties. Finding themselves now, for
the first time, openly consulted upon questions of
management and hygiene, and the Poor-law Board
having manifested a disposition to open afresh those
general principles which they had previously laid
down as guides, by calling for the opinions of the
medical officers, they cannot consent without pro-
test to see their opinions uncourteously dismissed as
of no value because they do not agree with those of
Dr. Smith. They appeal with confidence against the
unfavourable verdict he has given, without adequate
knowledge of the extremely unsatisfactory nature of
their position for many years past to the judgment
pronounced by Mr. Farnall in his report, which runs
as follows Upon the whole, I am enabled with
satisfaction to report to you that the medical officers
of the metropolitan workhouses appear to me to do
their duty to the best of their ability ; but lam
obliged to add that in many instances their duties
are very arduous, and their salaries inadequate.'"
This report is signed by Dr. Rogers, the president,
Dr. Andrews, Mr. C. M. Frost, Mr. T. Godrich,
and Dr. T. Orme Dudfield.

Liverpool Cot ton Market.— T his Day.

-

The market unaltered. Sales probably 10,000
bales.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE—This Day.

---4-

BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.
GRAVESEND, Thursday Morning.
Arrived, Sept. 12.—Percy, from Algoa Bay; City of
Bombay, from Calcutta.
Arrived, Sept. 13.—Jane Elizabeth, from Guernsey;
Helene, from Archangel; Amor, from Petersburg; Ardent,
from Wyborg ; Vissery, from Worcum ; Sir R. Pee
(steamer), from Dunkirk; Elder (steamer), from Hamburg
Holland (steamer), from Ostend,
DEAL, Thursday Iff
• Witch
Anchored.—Valencia, from London, for Havre •
of the Tees, from London, for Hobart Town..aan ;
Agnes
Passed.—Johanna, from London,
for
A:the west, for
from New York, for London ; Tantivy, orning.
for the north ;
for Loudon
the north ; Prince Alfred, from Rwv.nftc:irn,
Shepherd, of Shields, for London ; Royal
Enfield, schooner, from
the
west, for the nortl► ; Uranus, of
Victoria, barque,
from
tluf'l-Zisthe north, for the roost.
from the midst,
Prince Edward's Island,

Englandyesterday.
000, including 4,000 sovereigns,
was taken
NORWICH —A. Reform
Mk:I:TING AT •
REFOR3I
Thesu-itoofthi!7B,
Bank of
demonstration" took place at Norwich on Monday
evening,„g, Edmond B • les being the lion of the evening.
Beaks was met at the Victoria station of the town by
a few of the Radical politicians of the town, and was es- 4
corted through the principal streets by a procession, the
general object of the promoters of the gathering being evi-
denced by the motto on one of the banners displayed,
" Reform, and no more shuffling." In the evening Mr.
Beales attended a meeting in the Corn-exchange, which
was pretty well filled, although the building was never
crowded. The attendance on the platform was almost en-
tirely restricted to the Radical section of the Norwich
Liberals, a fact which is not at all surprising seeing that the
resolutions adopted nem. con. declared for residential regis•
tered manhood suffrage protected by the ballot. Mr.
Beales, who was, of course, warmly received, addressed
the meeting. He appears, however, to have fairly talked
himself hoarse ; in fact, he does not seem to possess eithJr
the physical strength or the oratorical powers requisite for
a popular speaker. The meeting closed amid some con-
fusion, some persons having succeeded in creating a
considerable amount of discord, although the exact cause
of the disturbance was not very intelligible.