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159 Carriage of Disease

"Copeman (1906), In a report to the Local Government Board dealing with epidemic prevalence of infantile diarrhoea at Wigan, says: 'At the Miry Lane Depot there is always stored (awaiting removal by farmers) an enormous amount of night-soil mixed with ashes which, in hot weather especially, is not only exceedingly offensive, but is beset by myriads of house flies. As the result of personal enquiry at the various houses in the neighbourhood in which, during the year 1905, deaths from diarrhea had occurred, I learnt that considerable nuisance from the foul odours was apt to be experienced during the prevalence of hot weather, especially with the wind in the south or southwest, blowing from the Depot to the special area, so much so on occasions as to render it necessary to shut all the windows, while the inhabitants of houses nearest the Corporation Depot stated that at certain times of the year their rooms were apt to be invaded by a veritable plague of flies, which swarmed over everything of an edible nature on the premises. This being so, it would appear not improbable that these flies, some of which have doubtless had opportunity of feeding on and be-coming contaminated with excremental material of human origin, may have been a means of carrying infected material to certain foodstuffs, such, more particularly, as milk and sugar, and so, indirectly, of bringing about infection of the human subject.'