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52
INSPECTION OF CANAL BOATS.
During the year, 1918, there were not any inspections of Canal
Boats. This was due to the facts that, on account of the great
war, the staff of the sanitary inspectors was greatly depleted,
and unable to cope with all the work; that the two inspectors
specially detailed for Canal Boat Inspection were both absent on
military service; and that the Government had commandeered
very nearly all the canal boats for use us lighters.
WORK OF THE STAFF OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH
DEPARTMENT.
It was the custom of the late Dr. King Warry to make in his
Annual Reports some reference as to the performance of their duties
by members of the staff of the Public Health Department; and,
believing that any expression of appreciation on the part of the
Head of a Department is valued by, and is an encouragement to,
the staff, I feel that before closing this Report for the year, 1918,
I ought to make some statement with respect to the manner in
which the staff of this Department performed during the year
mentioned the many and various duties which have to be dealt with,
usually promptly and efficiently if full benefit is to be secured.
My difficulty lies in the fact that I did not come into office here
until the end of March, 1919, and, therefore, I cannot write of my
own direct knowledge of events which occurred during 1918; but,
if I may base a judgment upon the following facts—
(a) That all the information, figures, statistics and records,
with respect to the multiplicity of subjects dealt with in this
report were promptly produced by the clerical staff when
required;
(b) That the clerical staff could not have collated the
information required unless the Sanitary Inspectors, Health