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13
Outworkers.
No list of outworkers was received during the year. The
link between the Factory Inspector of the Home Office and the
Health Department must be a close one. There is another aspect
where the Local Health Department could be of value to the
welfare of the employee, and there is the relation between the
home circumstances of the employee and the factory management.
Much of the illness and the periodic loss of employment of
the worker is related to the home environment.
Smoke Abatement.
It seems desirable to point out the importance of what is
bound to be considered a somewhat dull and uninteresting
subject. A smoke-laden atmosphere reduces the amount of sunlight
and increases the tendency to fog, which is, in itself, almost
certainly conducive to a big increase in the seasonal incidence of
all catarrhal conditions of the naso-pharyngeal and bronchial
mucous membranes. Nor must one overlook the bad psychological
effect produced by chimneys belching forth smoke and
grit and the damage inflicted on buildings thereby. In view of
all this, the deposit gauge at St. Mary Cray fulfils a useful
function in informing us of any drastic alterations in the amount
of smoke produced monthly. But it is only by comparing the
figures for the corresponding months of successive years that we
can deduce any concrete facts, and observations over a number
of years will be necessary before we can reach any useful
conclusions.
272 observations were made by the Sanitary Inspectors during
the year.
Shops Acts.
An increase in the work of the Inspectors under the Shops
Acts occurred during the year and a complete survey began at
the year's end.

The necessary statutory notices were issued to comply with
the Acts.
Cleansing of Persons.
The cleansing unit was closed wThen the Health Department
transferred from Downe House. The 17 cases of verminous
premises were corrected by the Sanitary Inspectors.