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93
The service of this notice has been found to be an utter waste of
time, for in 999 out of every 1,000 cases either no notice is taken of
the intimation, or else a reply is received calling on the Vestry to do
the necessary work. Nevertheless, the law has been complied with, for
the Act says the sanitary authority shall serve the notice; but such
compliance has caused delay in carrying out the fumigation, stripping
and cleansing.
The stripping of walls has frequently been attended with difficulty,
owing to the fact that in old houses it has often been found that the
old paper, sometimes six layers thick, had been the support of the
plaster, and consequently when that support was removed the plaster
came down.
There is no work that the Public Health Department is engaged
on which is so expensive to the ratepayer as the stripping and cleansing
of rooms after infectious disease.
At best a man can strip only one room in a day, often not so much,
as a great deal depends not only on the number of papers on the walls,
but also on the condition of the walls themselves.
Even with the staff of men that were constantly employed during
the year the work was not as expeditiously done as I should wish, for
frequently there were considerable delays owing to the rushes that were
made on the Department during the height of the epidemic.
This question is at present engaging my serious attention, and I
hope before long to submit a report which will deal fully with it.
INCREASE IN THE STAFF OF THE SANITARY INSPECTORS.
When 1892 was coming to a close the Public Health Committee
had under consideration the pressing necessity of increasing the number
of Sanitary Inspectors in the employment of the Vestry. This question
arose on a report which I had presented, and on which the Committee
made a report to the Vestry on January 23rd, 1893.