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89
ship of the apparatus. The Act is practically a dead letter, save in the Boroughs of St. Marylebone
and St. Pancras, where, proper equipments having been provided, several thousand cleansing
operations are carried out in the course of the year; much to the comfort, doubtless, of dirty and
verminous persons, who, in St. Marylebone, come, for the most part, from an adjacent Salvation
Army Shelter.
UNDERGROUND ROOMS ILLEGALLY OCCUPIED.
In a number of instances rooms "underground" were found to be illegally occupied. The
illegal occupation was in each case discontinued on the service of a written intimation or a statutory
notice.
NUISANCE FROM GAS WORKS.
Complaints were occasionally received of nuisance from the gas works at Kensal Green—a
subject that was fully dealt within the annual report for 1894 (page 166). There can be no doubt as to
the genuineness of the complaints, which receive confirmation from Willesden, the inhabitants of
that district suffering when Kensington people have no ground for complaint, and vice versd;
the incidence of nuisance varying with change in the direction of the wind. That the cause of
nuisance is more or less under control, would appear from the intermittency of the complaints;
and as the smells are at times not perceptible to any noxious degree in the vicinity of the works.
No proceedings, whether by an indictment, or for an injunction, have hitherto been taken.
DISINFECTION.
The Public Health (London) Act, 1891, imposed additional duties on the sanitary authority
in the matter of disinfection,* the practical effect of the legislation of late years having been to
throw upon the rates the cost of disinfecting houses, and of disinfecting and cleansing of bedding,
clothing, ate. The cost of this work has largely increased since the Act came into operation, in
1892; the amount expended in 1904 was £746, compared with £381 in 1891. In the latter year
the weight of the articles disinfected was under 20 tons, their number being about 9,400 only;
whereas in 1904 some 19,533 articles were dealt with, of an aggregate weight of 41 tons 4 cwt,
-whilst eight hundred and eighty-three rooms, in 786 houses, were disinfected after infectious
disease, compared with 364 in 1891.
The expenditure on disinfection, including cleansing of clothing, bedding, etc., varies from
year to year, with the prevalence of infectious disease. Very few disinfections are now done at
the cost of the occupiers of houses, or the owners of clothing, bedding, etc. I append a statement
of the monthly cost of this work in 1904, which is irrespective of the wages of the disinfecting
officer.
£ a. d.
January 57 8 8
February 52 8 10
March 59 8 10
April 46 1 0
May 86 17 8
June 71 1 10
July 71 12 0
August 59 6 7
September 57 5 8
October 73 9 1
November 64 6 11
December 47 0 3
In previous reports an opinion was expressed that the expenditure on disinfection might,
possibly, be reduced, were the work done without the intervention of a contractor: this opinion
will be subjected to the test of experience, when the Council's station at Wood Lane, Shepherd's
Bush, shall have been built and brought into operation.
*In the report for 1893 (pp. 215-217), under the heading "Duties of the Sanitary Authority with respect to Disinfection,"
I explained the state of the law, and described the late Vestry's practice in regard to the matter.