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one. Any necessary apparatus such as bedsteads and bedding is
loaned to the schools for the purpose of demonstration and the
practical examination is held at the schools personally by the
Medical Officer of Health, assisted by one of the nurses in the
department.
Forty-four elementary certificates have been presented to
successful students. The first examination for the intermediate
certificate has just been held and next year the course for the
advanced girls will be prepared.
The certificates are specially printed for the purpose and
signed on behalf of the Council by the Mayor and the Medical
Officer of Health, the occasion of the presentation being used for
further propaganda. The children are very keen to possess
these certificates and a good deal of really sound work is being
done. The answers to the questions are often surprisingly good
and many of the children in the Borough are leaving school with
at least some elementary knowledge of hygiene.
Open-Air Demonstrations. From the commencement of the
Propaganda Department, it was recognised that the scheme could
not be complete without street preaching, and to conform to the
general plan, this had to be illustrated by lantern and films.
Many difficulties had to be overcome and it was only after a good
deal of careful thought and experiment, sometimes unsuccessful,
that this was managed. It is not proposed here to set these out
in detail. For the first twelve months the motor van used for
returning disinfected bedding was converted at night into a
cinema van by fitting a glass screen at the rear and using the
driver's seat as a stand for the projector.
In July 1925 the Council decided that a van specially constructed
for the purpose was necessary and instructions were
given for one to be built. This van is still in use and although
this form of street advertising is commonplace to-day and the
modern commercial cinema van is an elaborate and wonderful
machine compared to the one we have, we are still able to draw
crowds. The electricity required for the projector is obtained