The Sun. — 1870-10-15 (London, England)

THE ST. PANCRAS GUARDIANS AGAIN. After a short interval of peace the St. Pancras Guardians have once more got at loggerheads. At the last meeting of the board a report was read from the Visiting Committee, who had been requested to inquire into alleged cases of unnecessary inquests being held.—Dr. Ellis, on being called on, said one of the cases was an accidental death ; in the second the jury returned a verdict that the person died from natural causes ; and the third was that of a child, who died the day after vaccination.—With regard to the second case, which was that of a young woman who had died in her confinement, some of the jury thought the inquest unnecessary, when the coroner read a letter from her two brothers desiring an inquiry, as they alleged their sister had been tampered with by the young man with whom she kept company to procure abortion prior to being admitted to the workhouse. As to the child Perry, it was admitted with the mother about ten days before it died, which was on the 15th August, and the mother being found insane was sent to the insane ward, where she still was. On the regular vaccination day (Wednesday) he (Dr. Ellis) vaccinated the child. It was weakly from being fed by hand, but it was healthy. On the following day it died suddenly, and at the time not being unmindful of the grave charges which had been made and were then hanging over.the head of his colleague, Dr. Hill, in reference to the vaccination of children, and thinking he might be the object of similar charges and thus subject vaccination again to be brought into unmerited disrepute, he wrote to Mr. Fildew, the clerk to the board, and stated there had better be an inquest. The inquest took place, and he gave it as his opinion that the child had died from congestion of the lungs and brain, arising from want of breast milk. No suggestion whatever was made before the coroner that there had been any improper vaccination. The board having considered the whole subject, reported that they were of opinion that there was no reason to question the correctness of the verdict of the jury in this case. Mr. Parson thought it a most barefaced thing for Dr. Ellis to charge in the book Is. 6d. for the vaccination of this child as a successful case, dying as it did the next day, whereas it required nine days to test if a vaccination was successful or not. He considered the report unsatisfactlry, and moved that it be referred back to the committee.— Mr. Furniss, in allusion to some quack handbills distributed among the board against vaccination, said these affairs were got up by the opponents of vaccination, but the course adopted had been ratified by the coroner and jury. (Oh, oh.) Had they no faith in that ?—Mr. Watkins : No ; not in a jury with Dr. Lankester for coroner. (Oh, oh.)—Mr. Furniss : Why a jury is called the " palladium of English liberty." (Laughter. ) Mr. Yolland charged the medical officer with vaccinating these children, not alone for the fee of eighteenpence, but for the larger fee attendant upon post-mortem examination. (Oh, oh.)—Mr. Chandler entered his protest against such dis graceful assertions. It was actually charging the medical men with the wilful murder of children to obtain the fees. Mr. Joseph Salter considered it the duty of the board to protect their medical officers against these slanders. After further discussion the amendment was put and negatived.—Mr. Parson moved and Mr. Watkins seconded a further amendment, to send a report of the case to the Poor-law Board and call for an inquiry. This was also rejected, and the original motion ultimately carried.