Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 11 April 2019

Tales from 1919: Tuberculosis and the City Dispensary

    One hundred years ago this week on 14 April 1919 a conference of representatives of the medical profession in Cork, the Public Health Committee of the Corporation, and the City Insurance Committee, was held to consider a scheme of how the Tuberculosis Act could be advanced further in Cork. The Tuberculosis Act was passed in 1908 but was not overtly followed through on primarily due to inadequate treatment facilities and a general lack of obligation by the public to declare infection if contracted.

   Nationally since 1904, there had been a reduction of tuberculosis mortality amounting to about 25 per cent and noticeably found amongst persons between 25 and 35 years old. In Dublin the death rate in 1917 from tuberculosis was 23.3 per cent under that of 1907. In his report on the health of Cork City in 1917 Dr Denis O’Donovan, Medical Officer of Health noted high rates of contraction of tuberculosis; “the city of Cork possesses the unenviable notoriety of having the highest consumptive death rate of any town in Great Britain and Ireland. There were 202 or about 1/7 of the total number of deaths registered during the year, showing a slight diminution when compared to the previous year”.

   In late March 1919, the scheme of the National Health Insurance Commission set out that the Corporation of Cork should be asked to commit themselves only to such expenditure as would enable a beginning to be made, to roll out a tentative scheme. There was no suggestion made that the Corporation were responsible and should incur any capital expenditure to the erection of a new dispensary or to the purchase of beds in institutions. An argument was presented that the existing premises on Liberty Street should be revamped and adapted for tuberculosis treatment and that beds in local hospitals should be secured at a certain sum per week, as and when required.

   At the Cork conference of April 1919 Mr John Horgan presided with Doctors Crosbie, Rahilly and O’Donovan. The proposals made at the meeting and published in the minutes of the meeting in the Cork Examiner include calls for: (1) the appointment of a tuberculosis officer; (2) the establishment of a central dispensary; (3) the appointment of a whole-time nurse in connection with the dispensary, and the appointment of a part time nurse to assist her in visiting domiciliary patients; (4) beds in a sanitorium; (5) facilities for hospital treatment of surgical cases of tuberculosis; (6) the treatment as far as possible of advanced cases of tuberculosis and (7) the payment of fees to doctors in connection with the treatment in their own homes of those patients who would be unable to attend at a dispensary. The net cost of the scheme with such latter elements after deducting the contribution of the Insurance Committee, would be £1,547 13s 4d of which one half £773 16s 3d would be paid by the Treasury, leaving £773 16s 3d to be borne the rates of the city.

   The secretary of the Conference Mr M O’Keeffe read a briefing received from the honorary secretary, Philip G Lee of the Cork medical profession. The unanimous feeling of the profession was that the proposed scheme was useless, as regards the prevention, detection and treatment of tuberculosis. They deemed that it was drawn up without technical knowledge of methods likely to be of service to check how tuberculosis was spreading in the district and what combination of local factors was leading to a relevant high deaths rate. The medical profession outlined that elements needed to be taken more into account such as overcrowding, insufficient ventilation within dwellings, insufficient scientific inspection of the dairies, cattle and milk supply outside the borough. The disease was spread amongst children through the ingestion of infected milk and non-medical inspection of schools. Compulsory notification and isolation of advance cases were needed. In 1916, it was estimated that there were 1960 cases of phthisis or tuberculosis in the city but only 15 cases were notified.

   Central to any treatment of disease was the City Dispensary on Liberty Street. Built in 1878 it replaced a dispensary on Hanover Street. Minutes of the Cork Corporation’s Improvement Department for 8 March 1878 reveal that it aided in the widening of Liberty Street as the Deeble’s Mills were demolished and new buildings put further back as a result. The running of the Dispensary was overseen by the Corporation’s Dispensary Committee in association with the City’s Board of Guardians. Its early years was plagued by reports that such was the use of the services that conditions within the building were unsatisfactory and unsanitary.

   Fast forward to 27 February 1917 and the Superintendent Medical Officer of Health Dr Denis O’Donovan reported he visited the dispensary on 25 February and found 45 persons, including men, women and children, standing in the hallway, outside the two rooms occupied by the doctors of numbers six  and seven dispensary districts – the most populous ones in the city. The hallway was narrow, badly lighted, and not well ventilated, and there was a water closet situated at the far end in what was deemed a “most unsuitable position”. There was only seating accommodation provided in the hallway for ten persons, and if a case of infectious disease was found there in its early stages – a danger existed of it spreading rapidly. The poor conditions within the dispensary building was regularly critiqued in the Cork media. The building itself was sold in 1946 for new uses.

Kieran is also showcasing some of the older column series on the River Lee on his heritage facebook page at the moment, Cork Our City, Our Town.

Upcoming Tours:

Sunday 14 April, Stories from Cork Docklands, historical walking tour with Kieran, learn about the evolution of Cork’s Docklands from its early days through its historical maps, 19^th & 20^th century industrialisation to housing and community building; meet at Kennedy Park, Victoria Road 2.30pm (free, duration, two hours, area tour, part of the Cork Lifelong Learning Festival, finishes nearby).

Sunday 21 April 2019, Ballinlough Historical Walking Tour with Kieran, learn about nineteenth century market gardens, schools, industries, and Cork’s suburban standing stone, meet outside Beaumont BNS, Beaumont 2.30pm (free, duration: two hours, finishes on Ballinlough Road).

Captions:

992a. Arched windows of the former Cork City Central Dispensary on  Liberty Street, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

992b. Map of Liberty Street with Cork City Central Dispensary, 1915 from Goad’s Insurance Map (source: Cork City Library)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 28 March 2019

Tales from 1919: The Booth and Fox Empire

    On 25 March 1919 an outbreak of fire was discovered in what was known as the drying chamber in the establishment of Messrs Booth and Foxes, Feather Merchants – a premises, which spanned Lavitt’s Quay and Emmett Place. The discovery was made by an employee of the firm who was engaged with others on the premises at the time, and he immediately gave the alarm. All the “hands” then set themselves the task of fighting the fire, and the Fire Brigade at Sullivan’s Quay station were telephoned for from Cork Opera House. The staff of the Opera House led by Mr Pitt, the manager, formed into a willing band of helpers. Water was poured on the burning chamber, in which was stored a quantity of jute – a very flammable material. This work executed by the combined staffs of Messrs Booth and Fox and the Cork Opera House under the able guidance of Captain Hudson of the Fire Brigade, who chanced to be on the scene when the alarm was given, limited the damage from the outset.

    Founded in 1825, Messrs Booth & Fox was one of the oldest businesses in the City being founded by John Peter booth and John Fox. The original Booth and Fox acquired their first site in much the same position as the 1919 factory occupied. Within a comparatively short span of years they became owners of practically the entire block of the property, which is today bounded by Emmett Place, Lavitt’s Quay, Perry Street and including the private dwellings onto Drawbridge Street.

   When the company began operation, it was chiefly interested in the collection and manual grading of feathers. The manufacture of down quilts and bedding generally came later. The down quilt was patented by the firm in 1841. In 1867 a royal patent was received for the processing of horse hair and similar material. Horsehair and like materials had been used for stuffing couches and cushions. Booth and Fox’s first sewing machines were very large and three men were required to operate each one – the motive power being supplied by a belt drive.

   Messrs Booth and Fox were able to command a world market for their goods manufactured in Cork. Agencies were established in South Africa (Cape Town), Australia (Sydney and Melbourne). South America (Buenos Aires) as well as nearer home – Dublin, Belfast and Glasgow, while another factory was started by the firm in Manchester.

   An account in 1892 by publishers Stratten and Stratten called Dublin, Cork and South of Ireland: A Literary, Commercial, and Social Review described an extensive operation. The premises in Cork comprised a very fine and spacious block of buildings of varying elevations and comprised one of the most prominent architectural features of the City. Apart from its well-designed exterior, the works were equipped with no expense being spared to bring the establishment up to the highest possible standard of efficiency. Three hundred people were employed in the various departments and during the busiest season of the year, the number of employees increased.

   In the Stratten and Stratten publication, the special feature of the firm’s operations was the manufacture of eider-down quilts. They were known for their “economy, lightness, warmth, durability, beauty, and purity” and were said to be unrivalled in the market. Messrs Booth & Fox were also extensive manufacturers of Victorian ladies’ down underskirts, the advantages of which mainly consisted in the fact that they respectively weighed from 18 to 24 ounces. They were as soft as cushions and could be washed with the “down inside as readily as a quilt”.

   The firm’s successes at the various international Exhibitions in the latter half of the nineteenth century indicated the superiority of their goods over rival houses – from the great London Exhibition in 1862 to Dublin in 1865, Cork in 1883, Melbourne in 1881 and Dublin in 1882.

   In 1892, the firm had a very large and influential connection in all parts of the world.  At 81, Hatton Garden (London), and Piccadilly (Manchester) Messrs Booth & Fox had extensive branch establishments.

   The managing director who oversaw the rebuilding after the fire in March in 1919 was Mr Herbert Charles Fox. He was born in Monkstown, County Cork in 1875 and was the son of Mr John T Fox, one of the founders of the firm. For many years Henry travelled the world as a representative of the firm and his business acumen ensured that Cork manufactured down quilts reached many corners of the globe. In 1922, when the British Government placed a control on Irish products, he was quick to devise a method of overcoming the restriction when he established what is now a flourishing factory outside London. Henry was also a most popular figure in the yachting world in which he had long experience. He cruised and raced in Cork Harbour as well as all round Britain and Ireland.

   After the March 1919 fire, the damaged part of the building was re-constructed and was put up according to the most modern specification. All the machinery was completely automatic, the wiring was all fire proof.  In August. 1949, the old factory which took in a portion of Emmett Place and Lavitt’s Quay was destroyed in large part by another fire and reconstructed and opened with eighty staff. A third fire also took place on 23 October 1956, which also caused thousands of pounds worth of damage. The building was put on sale in 1961 with the company continuing for at least another decade and half at another City location (any info give me an email).

Kieran is also showcasing some of the older column series on the River Lee on his heritage facebook page at the moment, Cork Our City, Our Town.

Kieran’s Lifelong Learning Festival Week

Sunday 7 April, The City Workhouse, historical walking tour with Kieran; meet just inside the gates of St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 2.30pm (free, duration: two hours, on site tour).

Sunday 14 April, Stories from Cork Docklands, historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, meet at Kennedy Park, Victoria Road 2.30pm (free, duration, two hours, finishes nearby).

Captions:

990a. Booth and Fox, Lavitt’s Quay 1892 from Stratten and Stratten’s Commercial Directory of the South of Ireland (source: Cork City Library).

990b. Goad’s ground floor insurance plan of Booth and Fox, Lavitt’s Quay and Emmett Place, 1915 (source: Cork City Library)

990c. Luigi Malones Restaurant, Emmett Place, former Booth and Fox Premises, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)