A report on the hygienic condition of the mercantile marine in the Port of London / by Harry Leach.

  • Leach, Harry.
Date:
1871
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A report on the hygienic condition of the mercantile marine in the Port of London / by Harry Leach. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    seeing that this clause is faithfully carried out, the comfort of the seaman is a secondary consideration, unless the owner chooses to make any necessary alte- rations, whereby he becomes entitled to have the crew- space deducted from the registered tonnage. It is- also provided that no such deduction from tonnage shall be authorised, unless 4 there is permanently cut in a beam, and cut in, or painted on or over, the door- way or hatchway of every such place, the number of men which it is constructed to accommodate.’ II have very recently visited a number of vessels moored in the Port of London; and, with one excejftion, no outward or visible sign existed in compliance with the , above requirements of the Act :* this, too, fourteen months after the Act has become law, and in the case of vessels that pass in and out of the Thames week by week ! Next, as to ventilation. The Act enjoins that; every place (i.e. used for the accommodation of sea- men) shall be 4 securely constructed, properly lighted and ventilated, properly protected from weather and sea, and, as far as practicable, properly shut off and protected from effluvium which may be caused by cargo or bilge water.’ I inspected four vessels, none of which had any provision for light or ventila- tion, except by means of the hatchway. Another forecastle, divided longitudinally for the accommoda- tion of crew and firemen, had no outlet from above; and great complaints are made as to the hawsepipe, which in this case, as always, causes a chronic state of wet bunks whenever the cables are bent. The men employed on board this ship begged me to have this source of discomfort remedied. They averred that the * I believe that the requirements of this section of the Act are now fairly fulfilled.