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58 Annual Report of the London County Council, 1914.
the existence of an interval of some three or four weeks (see Part II. of this report, p. 127) between the
occurrence of the maximum for fleas and that for scarlet fever in each of the last six years is a noteworthy
phenomenon. The further considerations above outlined and those discussed in Part II. of this
report should also be borne in mind. Furthermore a flea hypothesis deserves to be examined closely
in connection with study of the general behaviour during the last 50 years of scarlet fever in relation
with hospital isolation in one and another part of the country, and also in connection with the enquiries
which have been made from time to time with regard to the " return case phenomenon."
Water supply to tenement houses.
Sanitary authorities have made considerable use of the powers provided by section 78 of the
London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1907, for requiring the provision of a water supply to
the upper floors of tenement houses ; for instance, in St. Pancras notices were served in regard to 871
houses, and a most important improvement was thus brought about.
So far as can be gathered from the information contained in the reports of medical omcers of
health, the following table shows the extent to which the powers referred to have been applied during
1914 :—
Metropolitan borough.
No. of premises
caused to be
supplied.
No. of legal
proceedings.
Battersea
80
1
Bethnal Green
—
—
Chelsea
54
—
Deptford
Not stated
Finsbury
—
—
Fulham
46
Hackney
24
. —
Hammersmith
1
—
Hampstead
101
—
Holborn
10
—
Islington
228
-
Kensington
80
—
Lewisham
1
—
Paddington
29
—
Poplar
—
—
St. Marylebone
152
4
St. Pancras
871
19
Shoreditch
26
—
Southwark
42
1
Stepney
3
—
Stoke Newington
10
—
Westminster, City of
18
—
Woolwich
1
—
Total for 21 boroughs
1,777
25
Revenue Act, 1903.
Under section 11 of the Revenue Act, 1903, on the certificate of the medical officer of health
that the house is so constructed as to afford suitable accommodation for each of the families or
persons inhabiting it, with due provision for their sanitary requirements, there is exemption from or
reduction of inhabited house duty, as follows:—
Where a house, so far as it is used as a dwelling house, is used for the sole purpose of
providing separate dwellings —
(a) The value of any dwelling in the house which is of an annual value below twenty
pounds shall be excluded from the annual value of the house for the purposes of inhabited
house duty; and
(b) The rate of inhabited house duty, in respect of any dwelling in the house of an
annual value of twenty pounds, but not exceeding forty pounds, shall be reduced to threepence
; and
(c) The rate of inhabited house duty, in respect of any dwelling in the house of
an annual value exceeding forty pounds, but not exceeding sixty pounds, shall be reduced
to sixpence.
For the purposes of these provisions medical officers of health were called upon to certify
numerous houses during the year, and in some instances the application was granted, in others it was
refused, while in others, again, it was only granted after alterations had been made to meet the conditions
necessary, before certification. The Act appears to be instrumental in ensuring a higher standard
of dwelling accommodation than before.
Revenue
Act, 1903.