were very few instances in which I could at once get the information I
required. Even when the water-rates are paid by the residents, they can
seldom remember the name of the Water Company till they have looked for
the receipt. In the case of working people who pay weekly rents, the
rates are invariably paid by the landlord or his agent, who often lives
at a distance, and the residents know nothing about the matter. It
would, indeed, have been almost impossible for me to complete the
inquiry, if I had not found that I could distinguish the water of the
two companies with perfect certainty by a chemical test. The test I
employed was founded on the great difference in the quantity of chloride
of sodium contained in the two kinds of water, at the time I made the
inquiry. On adding solution of nitrate of silver to a gallon of the
water of the Lambeth Company, obtained at Thames Ditton, beyond the
reach of the sewage of London, only 2·28 grains of chloride of silver
were obtained, indicating the presence of ·95 grains of chloride of
sodium in the water. On treating the water of the Southwark and Vauxhall
Company in the same manner, 91 grains of chloride of silver were
obtained, showing the presence of 37·9 grains of common salt per gallon.
Indeed, the difference in appearance on adding nitrate of silver to the
two kinds of water was so great, that they could be at once
distinguished without any further trouble. Therefore when the resident
could not give clear and conclusive evidence about the Water Company, I
obtained some of the water in a small phial, and wrote the address on
the cover, when I could examine it after coming home. The mere
appearance of the water generally afforded a very good indication of its
source, especially if it was observed as it came in, before it had
entered the water-butt or cistern; and the time of its coming in also
afforded some evidence of the kind of water, after I had ascertained the
hours when the turncocks of both Companies visited any street. These
points were, however, not relied on, except as corroborating more
decisive proof, such as the chemical test, or the Company’s receipt for
the rates.
A return had been made to Parliament of the entire number of houses
supplied with water by each of the Water Companies, but as the number of
houses which they supplied in particular districts was not stated, I
found that it would be necessary to carry my inquiry into all the
districts to which the supply of either Company extends, in order to
show the full bearing of the facts brought out in those districts where
the supply is intermingled. I inquired myself respecting every death
from cholera in the districts to which the supply of the Lambeth Company
extends, and I was fortunate enough to obtain the assistance of a
medical man, Mr. John Joseph Whiting, L.A.C., to make inquiry in
Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, Wandsworth, and certain other districts, which
are supplied only by the Southwark and Vauxhall Company. Mr. Whiting
took great pains with his part of the inquiry, which was to ascertain
whether the houses in which the fatal attacks took place were supplied
with the Company’s water, or from a pump-well, or some other source.
Mr. Whiting’s part of the investigation extended over the first four
weeks of the epidemic, from 8th July to 5th August; and as inquiry was
made respecting every death from cholera during this part of the
epidemic, in all the districts to which the supply of either of the
Water Companies extends, it may be well to consider this period first.
There were three hundred and thirty-four deaths from cholera in these
four weeks, in the districts to which the water supply of the Southwark
and Vauxhall and the Lambeth Company extends. Of these it was
ascertained, that in two hundred and eighty-six cases the house where
the fatal attack of cholera took place was supplied with water by the
Southwark and Vauxhall Company, and in only fourteen cases was the house
supplied with the Lambeth Company’s water; in twenty-two cases the water
was obtained by dipping a pail directly into the Thames, in four
instances it was obtained from pump-wells, in four instances from
ditches, and in four cases the source of supply was not ascertained,
owing to the person being taken ill whilst travelling, or from some
similar cause. The particulars of all the deaths which were caused by
cholera in the first four weeks of the late epidemic, were published by
the Registrar-General in the “Weekly Returns of Births and Deaths in
London,” and I have had the three hundred and thirty-four above
enumerated reprinted in an appendix to this edition, as a guarantee that
the water supply was inquired into, and to afford any person who wishes
it an opportunity of verifying the result. Any one who should make the
inquiry must be careful to find the house where the attack took place,
for in many streets there are several houses having the same number.
According to a return which was made to Parliament, the Southwark and
Vauxhall Company supplied 40,046 houses from January 1st to December
31st, 1853, and the Lambeth Company supplied 26,107 houses during the
same period; consequently, as 286 fatal attacks of cholera took place,
in the first four weeks of the epidemic, in houses supplied by the
former Company, and only 14 in houses supplied by the latter, the
proportion of fatal attacks to each 10,000 houses was as follows.
Southwark and Vauxhall 71. Lambeth 5. The cholera was therefore fourteen
times as fatal at this period, amongst persons having the impure water
of the Southwark and Vauxhall Company, as amongst those having the purer
water from Thames Ditton.
It is extremely worthy of remark, that whilst only five hundred and
sixty-three deaths from cholera occurred in the whole of the metropolis,
in the four weeks ending 5th August, more than one half of them took
place amongst the customers of the Southwark and Vauxhall Company, and a
great portion of the remaining deaths were those of mariners and persons
employed amongst the shipping in the Thames, who almost invariably draw
their drinking water direct from the river.
It may, indeed, be confidently asserted, that if the Southwark and
Vauxhall Water Company had been able to use the same expedition as the
Lambeth Company in completing their new works, and obtaining water free
from the contents of sewers, the late epidemic of cholera would have
been confined in a great measure to persons employed among the shipping,
and to poor people who get water by pailsful direct from the Thames or
tidal ditches.
The number of houses in London at the time of the last census was
327,391. If the houses supplied with water by the Southwark and Vauxhall
Company, and the deaths from cholera occurring in these houses, be
deducted, we shall have in the remainder of London 287,345 houses, in
which 277 deaths from cholera took place in the first four weeks of the
epidemic. This is at the rate of nine deaths to each 10,000. But the
houses supplied with water by the Lambeth Company only suffered a
mortality of five in each 10,000 at this period; it follows, therefore,
that these houses, although intimately mixed with those of the Southwark
and Vauxhall Company, in which so great a proportional mortality
occurred, did not suffer even so much as the rest of London which was
not so situated.
In the beginning of the late epidemic of cholera in London, the Thames
water seems to have been the great means of its diffusion, either
through the pipes of the Southwark and Vauxhall Company, or more
directly by dipping a pail in the river. Cholera was prevailing in the
Baltic Fleet in the early part of summer, and the following passage from
the “Weekly Returns” of the Registrar-General shows that the disease was
probably imported thence to the Thames.
“Bermondsey, St. James. At 10, Marine Street, on 25th July, a mate
mariner, aged 34 years, Asiatic cholera 101 hours, after premonitory
diarrhœa 16¹⁄₂ hours. The medical attendant states: ‘This patient was
the chief mate to a steam-vessel taking stores to and bringing home
invalids from the Baltic Fleet. Three weeks ago he brought home in his
cabin the soiled linen of an officer who had been ill. The linen was
washed and returned.’”
The time when this steam-vessel arrived in the Thames with the soiled
linen on board, was a few days before the first cases of cholera
appeared in London, and these first cases were chiefly amongst persons
connected with the shipping in the river. It is not improbable therefore
that a few simple precautions, with respect to the communications with
the Baltic Fleet, might have saved London from the cholera this year, or
at all events greatly retarded its appearance.
As the epidemic advanced, the disproportion between the number of cases
in houses supplied by the Southwark and Vauxhall Company and those
supplied by the Lambeth Company, became not quite so great, although it
continued very striking. In the beginning of the epidemic the cases
appear to have been almost altogether produced through the agency of the
Thames water obtained amongst the sewers; and the small number of cases
occurring in houses not so supplied, might be accounted for by the fact
of persons not keeping always at home and taking all their meals in the
houses in which they live; but as the epidemic advanced it would
necessarily spread amongst the customers of the Lambeth Company, as in
parts of London where the water was not in fault, by all the usual means
of its communication. The two subjoined tables, VII and VIII, show the
number of fatal attacks in houses supplied respectively by the two
Companies, in all the sub-districts to which their water extends. The
cases in table VII, are again included in the larger number which appear
in the next table. The sub-districts are arranged in three groups, as
they were in table VI, illustrating the epidemic of 1853.
In table VIII, showing the mortality in the first seven weeks of the
epidemic, the water supply is the result of my own personal inquiry, in
every case, in all the sub-districts to which the supply of the Lambeth
Company extends; but in some of the sub-districts supplied only by the
Southwark and Vauxhall Company, the inquiry of Mr. Whiting having
extended only to 5th August, the water supply of the last three weeks is
calculated to have been in the same proportion by the Company, or by
pump wells, etc., as in the first four weeks,—a calculation which is
perfectly fair, and must be very near the truth. The sub-districts in
which the supply is partly founded on computation, are marked with an
asterisk.
The numbers in table VIII differ a very little from those of the table I
communicated to the _Medical Times and Gazette_ of 7th October, on
account of the water supply having since been ascertained in some cases
in which I did not then know it. The small number of instances in which
the water supply remains unascertained are chiefly those of persons
taken into a workhouse without their address being known.
=TABLE VII.=
The mortality from Cholera in the four weeks ending 5th August.
┌──────────────┬──────────┬───────┐
│ │ │Deaths │
│ │ │from in│
│ │ │ the │
│Sub-Districts.│Population│ four │
│ │ in 1851. │ weeks │
│ │ │ending │
│ │ │ 5th │
│ │ │August.│
├──────────────┼──────────┼───────┤
│ │ │ │
│ „ │ „ │ „ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ │
├──────────────┼──────────┼───────┤
│St. Saviour, │ 19,709│ 26│
│ Southwark │ │ │
│St. Olave, │ 8,015│ 19│
│ Southwark │ │ │
│St. John, │ 11,360│ 18│
│ Horsleydown │ │ │
│St. James, │ 18,899│ 29│
│ Bermondsey │ │ │
│St. Mary │ 13,934│ 20│
│ Magdalen │ │ │
│Leather Market│ 15,295│ 23│
│Rotherhithe │ 17,805│ 26│
│Battersea │ 10,560│ 13│
│Wandsworth │ 9,611│ 2│
│Putney │ 5,280│ 1│
│Camberwell │ 17,742│ 19│
│Peckham │ 19,444│ 4│
│ │ │ │
│Christchurch, │ 16,022│ 3│
│ Southwk. │ │ │
│Kent Road │ 18,126│ 8│
│Borough Road │ 15,862│ 21│
│London Road │ 17,836│ 9│
│Trinity, │ 20,922│ 14│
│ Newington │ │ │
│St. Peter, │ 29,861│ 20│
│ Walworth │ │ │
│St. Mary, │ 14,033│ 5│
│ Newington │ │ │
│Waterloo Road │ 14,088│ 5│
│ (1st) │ │ │
│Waterloo Road │ 18,348│ 5│
│ (2nd) │ │ │
│Lambeth Church│ 18,409│ 5│
│ (1st) │ │ │
│Lambeth Church│ 26,784│ 10│
│ (2nd) │ │ │
│Kennington │ 24,261│ 11│
│ (1st) │ │ │
│Kennington │ 18,848│ 3│
│ (2nd) │ │ │
│Brixton │ 14,610│ 1│
│Clapham │ 16,290│ 5│
│St. George, │ 15,849│ 9│
│ Camberwell │ │ │
│ │ │ │
│Norwood │ 3,977│ │
│Streatham │ 9,023│ │
│Dulwich │ 1,632│ │
│Sydenham │ 4,501│ │
├──────────────┼──────────┼───────┤
│ │ 486,936│ 334│
└──────────────┴──────────┴───────┘
┌──────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │ │
│ │ │
│ │ │
│Sub-Districts.│ Water Supply. │
│ │ │
│ │ │
│ │ │
│ │ │
├──────────────┼─────────┬────────┬───────────┬────────┬──────────────┤
│ │Southwark│ │ │ River │ │
│ „ │ & │Lambeth.│Pump-wells.│Thames, │Unascertained.│
│ │Vauxhall.│ │ │ditches,│ │
│ │ │ │ │ etc. │ │
├──────────────┼─────────┼────────┼───────────┼────────┼──────────────┤
│St. Saviour, │ 24│ │ │ 2│ │
│ Southwark │ │ │ │ │ │
│St. Olave, │ 15│ │ │ 2│ 2│
│ Southwark │ │ │ │ │ │
│St. John, │ 17│ │ │ 1│ │
│ Horsleydown │ │ │ │ │ │
│St. James, │ 23│ │ │ 6│ │
│ Bermondsey │ │ │ │ │ │
│St. Mary │ 19│ │ │ 1│ │
│ Magdalen │ │ │ │ │ │
│Leather Market│ 23│ │ │ │ │
│Rotherhithe │ 17│ │ │ 9│ │
│Battersea │ 10│ │ 1│ 2│ │
│Wandsworth │ │ │ │ 2│ │
│Putney │ │ │ 1│ │ │
│Camberwell │ 19│ │ │ │ │
│Peckham │ 4│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│Christchurch, │ 2│ 1│ │ │ │
│ Southwk. │ │ │ │ │ │
│Kent Road │ 7│ 1│ │ │ │
│Borough Road │ 20│ 1│ │ │ │
│London Road │ 5│ 4│ │ │ │
│Trinity, │ 14│ │ │ │ │
│ Newington │ │ │ │ │ │
│St. Peter, │ 20│ │ │ │ │
│ Walworth │ │ │ │ │ │
│St. Mary, │ 5│ │ │ │ │
│ Newington │ │ │ │ │ │
│Waterloo Road │ 5│ │ │ │ │
│ (1st) │ │ │ │ │ │
│Waterloo Road │ 5│ │ │ │ │
│ (2nd) │ │ │ │ │ │
│Lambeth Church│ 2│ 1│ │ 1│ 1│
│ (1st) │ │ │ │ │ │
│Lambeth Church│ 7│ 2│ │ │ 1│
│ (2nd) │ │ │ │ │ │
│Kennington │ 9│ 1│ 1│ │ │
│ (1st) │ │ │ │ │ │
│Kennington │ 3│ │ │ │ │
│ (2nd) │ │ │ │ │ │
│Brixton │ │ 1│ │ │ │
│Clapham │ 4│ │ 1│ │ │
│St. George, │ 7│ 2│ │ │ │
│ Camberwell │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│Norwood │ │ │ │ │ │
│Streatham │ │ │ │ │ │
│Dulwich │ │ │ │ │ │
│Sydenham │ │ │ │ │ │
├──────────────┼─────────┼────────┼───────────┼────────┼──────────────┤
│ │ 286│ 14│ 4│ 26│ 4│
└──────────────┴─────────┴────────┴───────────┴────────┴──────────────┘
=TABLE VIII.=
Mortality from Cholera in the seven weeks ending 26th August.
┌──────────────┬──────────┬───────┐
│ │ │Deaths │
│ │ │ from │
│ │ │Cholera│
│ │Population│in the │
│Sub-Districts.│ in 1851. │ seven │
│ │ │ weeks │
│ │ │ending │
│ │ │ 26th │
│ │ │August.│
├──────────────┼──────────┼───────┤
│ │ │ │
│ „ │ „ │ „ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ │
├──────────────┼──────────┼───────┤
│*St. Saviour, │ 19,709│ 125│
│ Southwark │ │ │
│*St. Olave, │ 8,015│ 53│
│ Southwark │ │ │
│*St. John, │ 11,360│ 51│
│ Horsleydown │ │ │
│*St. James, │ 18,899│ 123│
│ Bermondsey │ │ │
│*St. Mary │ 13,934│ 87│
│ Magdalen │ │ │
│*Leather │ 15,295│ 81│
│ Market │ │ │
│*Rotherhithe │ 17,805│ 103│
│*Battersea │ 10,560│ 54│
│Wandsworth │ 9,611│ 11│
│Putney │ 5,280│ 1│
│*Camberwell │ 17,742│ 96│
│*Peckham │ 19,444│ 59│
│ │ │ │
│Christchurch, │ 16,022│ 25│
│ Southwk. │ │ │
│Kent Road │ 18,126│ 57│
│Borough Road │ 15,862│ 71│
│London Road │ 17,836│ 29│
│Trinity, │ 20,922│ 58│
│ Newington │ │ │
│St. Peter, │ 29,861│ 90│
│ Walworth │ │ │
│St. Mary, │ 14,033│ 21│
│ Newington │ │ │
│Waterloo Road │ 14,088│ 10│
│ (1st) │ │ │
│Waterloo Road │ 18,348│ 36│
│ (2nd) │ │ │
│Lambeth Church│ 18,409│ 18│
│ (1st) │ │ │
│Lambeth Church│ 26,748│ 53│
│ (2nd) │ │ │
│Kennington │ 24,261│ 71│
│ (1st) │ │ │
│Kennington │ 18,848│ 38│
│ (2nd) │ │ │
│Brixton │ 14,610│ 9│
│*Clapham │ 16,290│ 24│
│St. George, │ 15,849│ 42│
│ Camberwell │ │ │
│ │ │ │
│Norwood │ 3,977│ 8│
│Streatham │ 9,023│ 6│
│Dulwich │ 1,632│ │
│Sydenham │ 4,501│ 4│
├──────────────┼──────────┼───────┤
│ │ 486,936│ 1514│
└──────────────┴──────────┴───────┘
┌──────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │ │
│ │ │
│ │ │
│ │ │
│Sub-Districts.│ Water Supply. │
│ │ │
│ │ │
│ │ │
│ │ │
├──────────────┼─────────┬────────┬───────────┬────────┬──────────────┤
│ │Southwark│ │ │ River │ │
│ „ │ & │Lambeth.│Pump-wells.│Thames, │Unascertained.│
│ │Vauxhall.│ │ │ditches,│ │
│ │ │ │ │ etc. │ │
├──────────────┼─────────┼────────┼───────────┼────────┼──────────────┤
│*St. Saviour, │ 115│ │ │ 10│ │
│ Southwark │ │ │ │ │ │
│*St. Olave, │ 43│ │ │ 5│ 5│
│ Southwark │ │ │ │ │ │
│*St. John, │ 48│ │ │ 3│ │
│ Horsleydown │ │ │ │ │ │
│*St. James, │ 102│ │ │ 21│ │
│ Bermondsey │ │ │ │ │ │
│*St. Mary │ 83│ │ │ 4│ │
│ Magdalen │ │ │ │ │ │
│*Leather │ 81│ │ │ │ │
│ Market │ │ │ │ │ │
│*Rotherhithe │ 68│ │ │ 35│ │
│*Battersea │ 42│ │ 4│ 8│ │
│Wandsworth │ 1│ │ 2│ 8│ │
│Putney │ │ │ 1│ │ │
│*Camberwell │ 96│ │ │ │ │
│*Peckham │ 59│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│Christchurch, │ 11│ 13│ │ │ 1│
│ Southwk. │ │ │ │ │ │
│Kent Road │ 52│ 5│ │ │ │
│Borough Road │ 61│ 7│ │ │ 3│
│London Road │ 21│ 8│ │ │ │
│Trinity, │ 52│ 6│ │ │ │
│ Newington │ │ │ │ │ │
│St. Peter, │ 84│ 4│ │ │ 2│
│ Walworth │ │ │ │ │ │
│St. Mary, │ 19│ 1│ 1│ │ │
│ Newington │ │ │ │ │ │
│Waterloo Road │ 9│ 1│ │ │ │
│ (1st) │ │ │ │ │ │
│Waterloo Road │ 25│ 8│ 1│ 2│ │
│ (2nd) │ │ │ │ │ │
│Lambeth Church│ 6│ 9│ │ 1│ 2│
│ (1st) │ │ │ │ │ │
│Lambeth Church│ 34│ 13│ 1│ │ 5│
│ (2nd) │ │ │ │ │ │
│Kennington │ 63│ 5│ 3│ │ │
│ (1st) │ │ │ │ │ │
│Kennington │ 34│ 3│ 1│ │ │
│ (2nd) │ │ │ │ │ │
│Brixton │ 5│ 2│ │ │ 2│
│*Clapham │ 19│ │ 5│ │ │
│St. George, │ 30│ 9│ 2│ │ 1│
│ Camberwell │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│Norwood │ │ 2│ 1│ 5│ │
│Streatham │ │ 1│ 5│ │ │
│Dulwich │ │ │ │ │ │
│Sydenham │ │ 1│ 2│ │ 1│
├──────────────┼─────────┼────────┼───────────┼────────┼──────────────┤
│ │ 1263│ 98│ 29│ 102│ 22│
└──────────────┴─────────┴────────┴───────────┴────────┴──────────────┘
The following is the proportion of deaths to 10,000 houses, during the
first seven weeks of the epidemic, in the population supplied by the
Southwark and Vauxhall Company, in that supplied by the Lambeth Company,
and in the rest of London.
=TABLE IX.=
┌──────────────────────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────────┐
│ │ Number of │Deaths from │ Deaths in │
│ │ houses. │ Cholera. │each 10,000 │
│ │ │ │ houses. │
├──────────────────────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼────────────┤
│Southwark and Vauxhall Company│ 40,046│ 1,263│ 315│
│Lambeth Company │ 26,107│ 98│ 37│
│Rest of London │ 256,423│ 1,422│ 59│
└──────────────────────────────┴────────────┴────────────┴────────────┘
The mortality in the houses supplied by the Southwark and Vauxhall
Company was therefore between eight and nine times as great as in the
houses supplied by the Lambeth Company; and it will be remarked that the
customers of the Lambeth Company continued to enjoy an immunity from
cholera greater than the rest of London which is not mixed up as they
are with the houses supplied by the Southwark and Vauxhall Company.
As regards the period of the epidemic subsequent to the 26th August to
which my inquiry extended, I have stated that the Registrar-General
requested the District Registrars to make a return of the water supply
of the house of attack in all cases of death from cholera. Owing to
difficulties such as I explained that I had met with in the beginning of
my inquiry, the Registrars could not make the return in all cases, and
as they could not be expected to seek out the landlord or his agent, or
to apply chemical tests to the water as I had done, the water supply
remained unascertained in a number of cases, but the numbers may
undoubtedly be considered to show the correct proportions as far as they
extend, and they agree entirely with the results of my inquiry
respecting the earlier part of the epidemic given above.
The Registrar-General published the returns of the water supply, which
he had obtained from the District Registrars, down to 14th October, in a
table which is subjoined. As the whole of the south districts of London
were included in the inquiry of the Registrar-General, the deaths in the
Greenwich and Lewisham districts, which are supplied by the Kent Water
Company, and did not enter into my inquiry, are included in the table,
but they do not in the least affect the numbers connected with the other
companies.
=TABLE X.=
┌────────────┬─────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │ Deaths │ │
│Week ending.│ from │ Water Supply. │
│ │Cholera. │ │
├────────────┼─────────┼─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬────────────┤
│ │ │Southwk. │ │ Kent │ Pumps, │ Not │
│ „ │ „ │ and │Lambeth. │Company. │and other│ascertained.│
│ │ │Vauxhall.│ │ │sources. │ │
├────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼────────────┤
│September 2.│ 670│ 399│ 45│ 38│ 72│ 116│
│ „ 9.│ 972│ 580│ 72│ 45│ 62│ 213│
│ „ 16.│ 856│ 524│ 66│ 48│ 44│ 174│
│ „ 23.│ 724│ 432│ 72│ 28│ 62│ 130│
│ „ 30.│ 383│ 228│ 25│ 19│ 24│ 87│
│October 7.│ 200│ 121│ 14│ 10│ 9│ 46│
│ „ 14.│ 115│ 69│ 8│ 3│ 6│ 29│
├────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼────────────┤
│ │ 3920│ 2353│ 302│ 191│ 279│ 795│
└────────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴────────────┘
Now 2,353 deaths in 40,046 houses, the number supplied by the Southwark
and Vauxhall Company, are 537 deaths to each 10,000 houses; and 302
deaths to 26,107, the number of houses supplied by the Lambeth Company,
are 115 deaths to each 10,000 houses; consequently, in the second seven
weeks of the epidemic, the population supplied by the Southwark and
Vauxhall Company continued to suffer nearly five times the mortality of
that supplied with water by the Lambeth Company. If the 795 deaths in
which the water supply was not ascertained be distributed equally over
the other sources of supply in the above table (No. X), the deaths in
houses supplied by the Southwark and Vauxhall Company would be 2,830,
and in houses supplied by the Lambeth Company would be 363. By adding
the number of deaths which occurred in the first seven weeks of the
epidemic, we get the numbers in the subjoined table (No. XI), where the
population of the houses supplied by the two water companies is that
estimated by the Registrar-General.[16]
=TABLE XI.=
┌─────────────────┬────────────────┬─────────────────┬────────────────┐
│ │ Population in │Deaths by Cholera│Deaths in 10,000│
│ │ 1851. │in 14 wks. ending│ living. │
│ │ │ Oct 14. │ │
├─────────────────┼────────────────┼─────────────────┼────────────────┤
│London │ 2,362,236│ 10,367│ 43│
│ │ │ │ │
│West Districts │ 376,427│ 1,992│ 53│
│North Districts │ 490,396│ 735│ 14│
│Central Districts│ 393,256│ 612│ 15│
│East Districts │ 485,522│ 1,461│ 30│
│South Districts │ 616,635│ 5,567│ 90│
│ │ │ │ │
│Houses supplied │ │ │ │
│ by Southwark │ 266,516│ 4,093│ 153│
│ and Vauxhall │ │ │ │
│ Company │ │ │ │
│Houses supplied │ │ │ │
│ by Lambeth │ 173,748│ 461│ 26│
│ Company │ │ │ │
└─────────────────┴────────────────┴─────────────────┴────────────────┘
We see by the above table that the houses supplied with the water from
Thames Ditton, by the Lambeth Company, continued throughout the epidemic
to enjoy an immunity from cholera, not only greater than London at
large, but greater than every group of districts, except the north and
central groups.
In the next table (No. XII), the mortality from cholera in 1849 is shown
side by side with that of 1854, in the various sub-districts to which
the supply of the two water companies with which we are particularly
interested extends. The mortality of 1854 is down to October 21, and is
extracted from a table published in the “Weekly Return of Births and
Deaths” of October 28; that of 1849 is from the “Report on Cholera” by
Dr. Farr, previously quoted. The sub-districts are arranged in three
groups as before, the first group being supplied only by the Southwark
and Vauxhall Company, the second group by this Company and the Lambeth,
and the third group by the Lambeth Company only. It is necessary to
observe, however, that the supply of the Lambeth Company has been
extended to Streatham, Norwood, and Sydenham, since 1849, in which year
these places were not supplied by any water company. The situation and
extent of the various sub-districts are shown, together with the nature
of the water supply, in Map 2, which accompanies this work.
=TABLE XII.=