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69
The total number of houses inspected in house-to-house
inspection was 4,503. This is the greatest number of houses
inspected in this way in any one year in Battersea. The
following figures show the number of houses inspected in each
year since 1899:—
1899 3,400
1900 3,009
1901 3,116
1902 1,740
1903 2,670
1904 3,020
1905 4,503
The falling-off in the house-to-house inspection in the year
1902 was due to the small-pox outbreak, which provided plenty
of work for the sanitary staff in other directions. The total
number of houses in Battersea at the present time is about
24,500, and if the rate of house-to-house inspection that obtained
in 1905 were maintained in subsequent years, it would be
possible to inspect every house in the borough once in every five
and a half years. It is not the practice in Battersea, however, to
visit each street one after another, irrespective of sanitary conditions,
until every street in the borough has been inspected.
It is necessary to inspect some streets every year, many require
inspection at least once in two years, while others may be left
for a longer interval. It may be said, however, that no house
in the borough should be left unvisited for a longer period than
five years, and if this standard be adopted, and if at the same
time the more frequent inspection of streets demanding special
attention be continued, it is obvious that house-to-house
inspection must be carried on with even greater vigour than
in 1905.
Mrs. Young and Miss Dawson made a considerable number
of house-to-house inspections, and Inspector Baxter in addition
to his work in his own district carried out a special inspection
of certain selected streets in No. 2 district.