§ MR. ROUND (Essex, N. E., Harwich)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether there is any foundation for the statement made in some newspapers to the effect that the precautions taken by the Port Sanitary Authorities of Harwich against cholera have failed?
§ MR. HANBURY (Preston)May I, at the same time, ask whether the right hon. Gentleman has any information with regard to an alleged outbreak of cholera in Ashbourne, Derbyshire?
§ MR. H. H. FOWLERIn answer to the first question, I am not aware that there is any justification for the statement which has appeared in the public Press. I believe that the Port Sanitary 1154 Authority of Harwich have appointed a Sanitary Inspector for the special duty of boarding ships coming within the limits of the port, and that the Orders of the Local Government Board are being carried out. I am in communication with the Port Sanitary Authority, and I see no reason for charging them with any neglect of duty. They are incurring a heavy expense, as all the authorities in the Kingdom are, with reference to this unfortunate outbreak. The case of Ashbourne is, I am sorry to say, a serious one. Thirteen persons have been attacked with choleraic diarrhœa, and eight deaths have occurred. That is an extraordinary proportion, even in severe cases of the disorder, but I find upon investigation that the whole of the persons attacked lived in one courtyard and drank from one well. The water is, I am afraid, very suspicious. The Local Authority have stopped the use of it, and are taking all the precautions they can. We have no information of any spread of the disease outside the courtyard. Perhaps the House will allow me to take this opportunity of stating that the general report to-day from all parts of the Kingdom is satisfactory. There are no cases whatever at Cleethorpes; and at Hull there have been no deaths, and there are only two cases in hospital. A case is reported in the papers this afternoon—and I am sorry to say the report is correct—of a person living at Ashton-under-Lyne who went on a trip to Cleethorpes, and on his return was attacked with cholera or choleraic diarrhœa, to which he has succumbed. I asked Dr. Thorne Thorne to give his opinion on the present state of the epidemic, and he writes to me as follows:—
Having regard to the time of year through which we have passed since fatal attacks of choleraic character first commenced at one point of our Eastern Coast, the comparatively sporadic character of the disease is a distinctly hopeful feature, and the activity of Sanitary Authorities is even more hopeful as regards the future.I think, on the whole, that the House may rest satisfied that affairs are mending—not to put it any stronger at the present time—and that they are not retrograding at all.
§ MR. POWELL WILLIAMS (Birmingham, S.)Are steps being taken to 1155 have a thorough scientific examination into the character of the outbreak at Ashbourne?
§ MR. H. H. FOWLERSteps will be taken. The Local Government Board will make a thorough inquiry into the matter.
§ MR. BRUNNER (Cheshire, Northwich)May I ask whether medical men all over the country have been invited to assist the Local Government Board in ascertaining the exact character of the disease where it has appeared throughout the country?
§ MR. H. H. FOWLEREvery district has a Medical Officer of Health, and in no case has any outbreak taken place without our sending down a Medical Inspector to make an examination specially for ourselves. I am quite sure that the Medical Profession will be now, as they always have been, ready to give the greatest help to the Local Government Board.