Saturday, 25 October 2014

Protecting Public Health

Two-seater privy at Swiss Gardens, Old Warden [CR-PH Old Warden]

Sunday 25th October 1914The Medical Officer of Health for Bedford Borough is delighted with the success of the sanitary arrangements which have been put in place since the arrival of 17,000 Highlanders in the town in August. Many were billeted in unoccupied houses, sometimes with between fifty and one hundred men in a single property, creating what could easily have become a serious public health hazard. The town worked with the military authorities to provide suitable facilities. Fifty permanent latrine blocks with ten places each were built and connected with the town drainage system. The latrines are flushed twice daily by sewer men from the Borough Surveyor’s department, and a deodorant disinfectant is added after each flush. As a result they have all been kept clean and inoffensive. These arrangements have been extremely successful as not a single case of enteric fever has been reported, despite the almost 50% increase in the population of the town.

Source: Borough of Bedford: Report of the Medical Officer of Health for the Year 1914 [BorBB2/22/14]

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