Two-seater privy at Swiss Gardens, Old Warden [CR-PH Old Warden]
Sunday 25th October 1914: The 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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