§ 77. Mr. HALLASasked the Minister of Health if he is aware that there have recently been two fatal cases of smallpox in Bolton, both victims being married women; whether all precautions are being taken against the spread of the disease; and whether he has any official Reports supporting the belief, locally held, that contact with cotton in a factory is the cause of the outbreak?
§ Mr. JAMES PARKER (Lord of the Treasury)Two cases of small-pox have recently occurred in Bolton, but I am informed that in only one case has there been a fatal issue. The answer to the second part of the Question is in the affirmative. As regards the last part, I have received a report from the medical officer of health which states that the first case attacked was that of a married woman employed at a cotton mill, and that it is possible that she contracted the disease from infected cotton.