Welsh Newspapers

Search 15 million Welsh newspaper articles

Hide Articles List

21 articles on this Page

FOREIGN INTELLIGENC E.

GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. -_-'._

,J(. T, _ CWMAVON.

Advertising

CARDIFF.

SWANSEA.

- NEWPORT.

TROEDYRHIW.

LLANELLY.

I.CLYDACH.

- MAESTEG.

GELLIGAER.

PEMBROKE DOCK.

BLAINA.

YNISOWEN.

LLANDYSSUL.

MERTHYR.

CARDIFF BOARD OF GUARDIANS.

News
Cite
Share

CARDIFF BOARD OF GUARDIANS. The weekly meeting of the Board was held on Satur- day, Mr. E. W. David (chairman), presiding. There were also present Messrs. P. Bird, W. H. Martin, R. Cory, J. Cory, C. French, J. Pride, J. Evans, E. Davies, W. Williams, Eli Evans, H. J. Paine, M.D., &c. The report of the Master of the Workhouse showed that there had been 19 admissions, one birth, 28 dis- charges, and two deaths, leaving 303 in the House, being a decrease of 14 upon the corresponding week of last year. Mr. Harris reported that there had been no admission, aud seven discharges, at the school the num- ber remaining being 264, an increase of nine upon the corresponding week of last year. The number of tramps relieved was 43, at a cost of 4s. 10di The appointment of Mr. Thomas Baker as collector of Rumney was deferred. THE APPROACH OF SMALL-POX. The Clerk read the following report of the Sanitary Committee held on February 28th, which was attended by the Chairman, Dr. Paine, Messrs. John Evans, Eli Evans, G. Phillips, C. French, J. Evans, Edmund Davies, T. L. Gleaves, W. Evans Drs. Miiward, Jones, Grainger, and Sheen, medical officers; Messrs. Watkins, Hopkins, and Eagleton, vaccination officers :— The Committee have met and considered the question re- ferred to them by the Board of Guardians as to the measures to be taken in view of the threatened approach of small-pox. It is satisfactory to them to know that up to the present time no serious outbreak of the disease has occurred in the Union, most of the cases having been removed to the Hospital provided by the Borough authorities in connection with the Hamadryad ship, where about 60 cases, chiefly seamen, have been received and treated, each of which might, if permitted to remain in the midst of a dense population, have become a centre of infection, from which the disease would have spread, until it assumed an epidemic character. The vast advan- tages arising from prompt isolation is thus convincingly illustrated. Happily this danger has been so far averted, but the intensity with which the malady now prevails in districts immediately continguous to this Union, and with which its inhabitants have daily and hourly intercourse leaves little reason to hope that the comparative immunity we have hitherto enjoyed can be of much longer con- tinuance, and it appears to the committee that the time has arrived when it is the duty of all local authori- ties having jurisdiction in the Union to energetically put in action all the powers which are vested in them by law, in order to meet the impending visitation, to the mitiga- tion of its evils. The building erected by the Local Board of Health has sufficed for existing requirements; but from its restricted accommodation, the limit of its ca- pacity will probably soon be reached, and the committee, recognising it to be the duty of the Board of Guardians to provide proper accommodation for the treatment of all cases of the pauper class, recommend that the House of Refuge be converted to the purpose of a small-pox hospi- tal, and cleared of its present inmates, if the necessity should arise. The committee are of opinion that this may be done without serious inconvenience, if the present inmates of the House be carefully scrutinised, and out- door relief given where practicable, so as to reduce the number of inmates. They feel, however, that the emer- gency is one which must be met even at the risk of incur- ring the lesser evil of temporary over-crowding. Ample provision for cases of the pauper class being thus afforded by the proposed adaptation of the Refuge as a hospital, the Hamadryad small-pox hospital will be reserved for the cases of seamen, and for cases other than paupers which may occur in the town. The borough authorities, under the advice of their able and experienced Sanitary Officers, will determine how far such provision is adequate, and the means of increasing it, if nececssary. The question of hospital accommodation having been dealt with as far as regards the borough of Cardiff, it re- mains to be considered if any and what further provisions should be made for other portions of the Union. The Refuge Hospital may be assumed to be sufficient for pauper cases within the town and suburbs; but no fur- ther provision exists for the removal to hospital of other cases which may occur outside the limits of the municipal borough, and the Committee cannot but feel alarm as to the result of any serious outbreak which might occur in a populous district in the absence of the means of isolation, so important in checking the spread of infection. The duty of providing hospital accommodation is imposed by law upon the "sewer authority," which is the local govern- ment board in places where such bodies exist, and else- where the parish vestry, and the committee recommend that communications should be addressed by the Board of Guardians to the sewer authorities, pointing out to them the necessity of exercising their powers, either indepen- dently or by combination with other sewer authorities, for the establishment of temporary hospitals at the undermen- tioned places-Canton, Roath, Lancarvan, Penarth, Penmark, Pentyrch, Whitchurch. The Committee re- commend that a suitable covered conveyance for the removal of infected cases to hospital, be forthwith pro- cured. The Committee are informed that primary vaccination is being duly carried out, but they recommend that every practicable means be taken to urge on the public, by the distribution of handbills and otherwise, the importance of revaccination. They recommend that the inmates of the workhouse be at once revaccinated. The Committee re- commend that authority and instructions be given to the public vaccinators to give more frequent attendance at the various stations to perform vaccination and revacci- nation in localities where small-pox cases have broken out, and to the other medical officers who are not public vac- cinators, te revaccinate the inmates of any house where they may be attending cases of small-pox. The CHAIRMAN moved that the report of the commit- tee, which had been drawn up by Mr. Stephenson, should be confirmed, and the recommendations carried out. Mr. J. EVANS asked if there was a case of small-pox at Roath, could the authorities compel the removal of the case to the Union. The CHAIRMAN thought, in the event of a solitary case, the hospital which now received them would continue to receive them, and it would be unnecessary to erect a special hospital until the numbers of cases became larger. Mr. ELI EVANS asked under what circumstances cases of small-pox not being pauper cases could be removed. Dr. PAINE, in seconding the Chairman's motion, re- plied to the question. The powers of removal existed only to a limited extent, and there was no power of re- moval from a private house; but the sanitary authori- ties had power to remove from a common lodging-house, in order that that house should not become the centre of danger. In the experience he had had in Cardiff he rarely found difficulty in getting patients removed to a place where they might be more efficiently treated. So long as the disease was limited in extent the private small-pox hospital was of sufficient capacity to deal with it, and in the event of cases arising in Roath or Canton that hospital would no doubt receive the cases, pro- vided arrangements were made by the local authorities of those places to meet the expense of cases sent in there from those districts. The question broached in the committee's report was a wide one, and would have to be met. There had been since the 1st of February thirteen cases of small-pox in that hospital-six of them from ships, four imported cases from neighbouring districts, and the other three arose as far as he could ascertain, through contagion. There was another matter which was a serious one, to his mind, and one that the Board should have in view in making 'a good basis of operations. He had received information from the Custom House that cholera had broken out in Revely. The communication between Cardiff and that place was frequent, and if it had broken out there, some cases would very probably be carried to this port. The sanitary precautions observed before would soon be put in operation again, and it was neces- sary that steps should bo taken in order to deal with cases brought into the town. The danger was not yet imminent, but it was very desirable to be prepared. Ho had obtained information as to what would be the cost of an iron building to accommodate sixty patients, which could be erected in the course of a fortnight, and that would entail a cost of 4750. Mr. ELI EVANS The building alone ? Dr. PAINE Yes, to put it up but it would be an in- stitution which would last for years, and would be always ready for the reception of cases of infectious disease, t) the importation of which the port was always liable. He warmly supported the paragraph of the report deal- ing with vaccination and re-vaccination. After some further discussion the report was adopted. J V I" • ✓ "r r t i J f. PUBLIC BEDIGIOUS SERVICES IN THE WORKHOUSE. The Visiting Committee met last Wednesday, and I was attended by the Chairman, Dr. Paine, Messrs. R. Cory, John Evans, T. L. Glaveu, C. French, Eli Evans, G. Phillips, and W. Evans. Their report was ?.s fol- lows That n6 unlicensed person Twr allowed to read the Scrip- tures to the inmates of the Workhouse. Proposed by Mf. F/li Evans, seconded by Mr. R. Cory —That the Catholic ptiest had no ground for the com- plaint made by him to the Board of Guardians on Satur- day last.—Carried on a division by four to' one. Proposed by the Chairman, seconded by Mr. T. L. Glaves :—That a screen be provided f«vr' the purpose of separating all sick persons who may be receiving religious ministrations from the other patients in the Xard. Proposed by Mr. Eli Evans, and seconded by Mr. Edmund Davies, as an amendment—" That the yuestiou of providing a screen be deferred. Amendment earned by four to three. The CHAIRMAN in moving the adoption of the first clause of the report,- stated that the orders of the Poor Law Board allowed none but licensed ministers to minister in workhouses. He therefore proposed that those gentlemen, not being licensed ministers, who attended the workhouse should have his attention called to the fact. Mr. ELI EVANS moved as an amendment that the report should be adopted with the omission of the first clause, which was unfairly and irregularly inserted. It was laid before the committee by the chairman and was not carried, and ought not to have been inserted. lie had enquired of the Catholic inmates of the house and refuge what their opinions were upon the matter of which Mr. Maguire complained, and they all told him in effect, that the ministrations of those who read the Scripture to them were very acceptable; that nothing of a controversial nature was introduced, and that they were only too glad to find that people would come and read to them, for very few outside the house took any notice of them, and when the priest came he passed through the room without speaking to them. As to liceassd ministers," he did not know what a license meant, and that they would not find a minister in Cardiff who had what could be called a license. Mr. EDMUND DAVIES seconded the amendment, and remarked that he thought the consolidated orders men- tioned licensed ministers in connection with religious service, and not scripture reading, The CHAIRMAN stated that the first clause to which Mr. Evans took exception was put and agreed to as a substantive resolution, and was introduced into the report as a substantive resolution by Mr. Stephenson at his (the chairman's) request. Mr. ELI EVANS denied that it had been agreed to by the committee, and complained that it bad since been imported into the report. The CHAIRMAN said it was put and agreed to-that was his impression and he was responsible for intro- ducing it into the report. It was a thing, he thought, upon which there could not be two opinions, for if the Poor Law Board bad forbidden the practice it could not be legal, and did not require a resolution to declare it to be illegal. A question arose as to whether it was illegal, and it was resolved that the Clerk should ask the opinion of the Poor Law Board upon the point. With the exception of the first clause, the report was adopted.

A NONCONFORMIST ON THE DECORATION…

SHIP AND MAIL NEWS.

[No title]