RAVAGES OF CHOLERA.
Cholera at the Infant Pauper Asylum, Tooting.
The members of the boards of guardians of the various metropolitan parishes and unions, who farm out their pauper children at Mr. Drouet’s infant poor establishment, at Tooting, have been considerably alarmed at the receipt of information, that cholera of a malignant character had broken out amongst the children. It appears that Mr. Drouet has under his care from 1,400 to 1,500 children of both sexes, farmed out to him, under the sanction of the Poor-law Commissioners, for whom each parish pays 3s 6d per head per week.
The children exhibited their usual healthy appearance up to Friday se’nnight, when, in some of the wards, several children were attacked with severe diarrhoea; and, in two or three instances, the cases assumed the formof Asiatic cholera, and were treated by the Messrs. Chapman accordingly, but in some few cases death ensued in three hours. Every hour brought under the care of the medical gentlemen new patients.
Mr. Drouet, under the advice of his resident medical staff, lost no time in communicating with the authorities of the various metropolitan parishes and unions, and also sent to London for Dr. Addison, of Guy’s Hospital. An inquiry was instituted into the general habits of the children, and not only the food, but even the materials used in serving it, were minutely inspected, as was also the water used and drank by the children. All these were pronounced to be excellent.
The next point of investigation was the drainage, which, so far as the buildings themselves were concerned, was excellent, but that the drains of the buildings emptied themselves into an extensive ditch abutting on the grounds, and which, it was believed, might have a prejudicial effect.
The united opinion of all the medical gentlemen assembled concurred in stating the disease to have arisen from atmospheric poison, and not from the food they had taken. The St. Pancras board of guardians held an extraordinary special general meeting on Wednesday, for the purpose of receiving the report of the committee. Mr. M‘Gahey read the report, which set forth that on their arrival at Tooting: they found that fifty-seven children had been taken ill of cholera, or a similar disease, since Friday, and that twelve had died.
Of those who had died, two belonged to St. Pancras; and there were seven or eight others ill with the disorder. There were also several others in an apparently dying state. Information of the occurrence has been forwarded to the Poor-law Board, Somerset-house, as also to Mr. Carter, the coroner for Surrey, but it is not known whether any official inquiry will be instituted into the matter.
Thirteen more of the children in this asylum were seized with cholera on Thursday, making a total of 118 cases since the disease broke out on Friday se’nnight. Mr. Kite, the resident surgeon, states that the strong and healthy, as well as the delicate, have been indiscriminately attacked, the fatality being as great among the healthy, and as sudden, as among the delicate and previously diseased.
In almost every instance, instead of the usual premonitory symptoms to cholera, the first indication of attack has been the sudden vomiting of the patient, and immediately after the symptoms of confirmed cholera ensue. The indication in each case of approaching death is a plaintive cry on the part of the child attacked for water, after which the patient apparently goes off into a sound sleep — a sleep from which he or she never awakes.
Finding the tendency to vomiting the first symptom in every case, Mr. Kite despatched a portion of what was thrown up to Professor Taylor, of Guy's Hospital, who, after inspecting what was transmitted to him, and hearing the description of the symptoms, expressed his firm belief that they were not due to any poison being taken in the food, but that the cases were of epidemic cholera in a malignant form, and he recommended the use of animal food daily, less gruel and liquid food, and isolation of the attacked.
Several medical and other gentlemen, deputed by the metropolitan parishes and unions, have visited the establishment and made various suggestions. The general health of the inmates who not been attacked was described as apparently excellent, but it was recommended that the apartments be Kept warmer, that flannel clothing be worn, that rice and sago pudding be substituted for suet, the peas-soup changed for Scotch barley, and that the children should have meat four days in the week.
The coroner, it is said, does not propose to institute any judicial inquiry into the cause of the deaths.
On Friday, Mr. Grainger, one of the medical inspectors of the General Board of Health, as also Mr. Hall, Poor-law inspector, visited the asylum, for the purpose of instituting an inquiry. From the report made by Mr. Kite, the resident medical officer, it appears that so far from the fatal malady showing a tendency to decline, it is on the increase, there being in the aggregate 189 cases; an increase since four o'clock on Thursday afternoon of 71 cases. The number of cases which occurred during Friday was 25, and the number of deaths 39, leaving 114 cases now under medical treatment, some of which are in a fair way of recovery. Mr. Grainger expressed his concurrence that the evidences of Asiatic cholera were indisputable.
The inspectors had their attention directed not only to the large open stagnant ditch which passes along the rear of the asylum grounds, but to the nuisance arising from the Surrey Lunatic Asylum, situate about a quarter of a mile to the north-east of the establishment. A gentleman, who attended on the part of the trustees of the Holborn Estate Charity belonging to the parish of St. Clement Danes, stated that all the filth and refuse of the Lunatic Asylum, which stood on a hill, were carried by a large barrel drain towards Mr. Drouet’s establishment, and deposit themselves in a large tank and open ditches passing through the fields.
The following recommendations were made by Mr.Grainger:
That the immediate attendance of a resident physician and of the assistant-surgeons be procured, so that there may be a medical officer in constant attendance on the sick both by night and day, and that on each new case, as soon as it presented itself, a consultation should be held; that additional nurses be employed; and that everybody after death be interred within twenty-four hours. No dissatisfaction has. in the slightest degree, been manifested in the treatment of the children Ry Mr. Drouet.
The girls of Newington parish were removed on Friday evening in omnibuses, and the boys were to follow yesterday. The other parishes which have resolved on the removal of their children, are stated to be the Holborn Union, Chelsea, and Islington. It is a remarkable fact that, whilst all this is going on, Mr. Drouet on Friday received communications from two parishes, know if he could accommodate about 20 children from one and about 150 from the other. Mr. Drouet has of course declined taking them at present, under any circumstances.
[para 1: Not 3s 6d but 4s 6d.]
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