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41
PUBLIC HEALTH (LONDON) ACT, 1891.
Nuisances. (a) Complaints.—During the year 1902 we received
no less than 2,410 complaints as to the existence of nuisances.
These were enquired into by the inspectors of the various districts.
In addition 188 workshops were inspected for the detection of
nuisances. Notices were served for the abatement of any nuisances
found and these were subsequently abated during the year.
(b) House to House Inspection.—The number of these inspections
made during the year was 629, and were made in the more
populous and insanitary parts of the district.
The greater bulk of the nuisances found, viz., 3,466, were abated
during the year. Of these 3,138 were abated on the service of an
intimation notice alone, 293 on the service of statutory notices, and
35 required legal proceedings to be initiated before they were abated.
In addition to the above inspections no less than 32,865 re-inspections
of premises had to be made, either during the progress of the
work or before the work was commenced. This amounts to an
average of nearly six visits, taking one nuisance with the other,
before the nuisance is abated. In the majority of cases the number
of visits largely exceeds this. The Register of Sanitary Work in
another part of this report gives further details of the work carried
out by the inspectors.
Infctious Disease.—The number of inspections made on this
account was largely in excess of those made in 1901. The prevalence
of small-pox added largely to the inspections. The number of
inspections made after the notification of infectious disease was 3,687.
In each of these cases the drains of the house were tested and the
premises examined for any other nuisance. If the patient were
nursed at home, the inspector saw that there was sufficient accommodation
and that the patient was properly isolated.
The rooms fumigated reached the number of 2,838, and of these
1,009 were cleaned ; i.e., the walls were stripped of their paper, the
walls, ceilings, and floors, and woodwork washed with disinfecting
fluid, and the ceiling whitewashed.