View report page

drains, appropriate steps were taken by the Sanitary Inspectors.
In other instances, occupiers of infested premises were offered
advice as to the most effective means to secure the abatement of
the nuisance.
The issue of poison baits from the Public Health Department
was continued without charge.
National Rat Week was observed from November 1st to 6th,
1937. The Council directed that measures similar to those employed
in previous years be adopted to comply with the request of
the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for a special effort to be
made to deal with the rats and mice nuisance during the period of
the campaign.
The following report on the steps taken by the Council in this
matter was subsequently forwarded to the Ministry.
NATIONAL RAT WEEK.
The activities of the Officers of the Public Health Department of the Council
in response to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries request to local authorities
to make a special effort to secure the destruction of rats and mice during National
Rat Week, which was observed this year from 1st to 6th November, 1937, were as
follows:—
1. The display of double-crown posters on the notice boards of the
Municipal buildings and Council's sand-bins throughout the
Borough.
2. The distribution of leaflets from the Public Libraries, Baths and
Infant Welfare Centres on the duties of the public under the provisions
of the Rats and Mice (Destruction) Act, 1919.
3. Circularising proprietors of factories, workshops, workplaces,
butchers, provision dealers, bakehouses, fish shops, eating-houses,
milk shops, offensive trades, and rag and bone dealers premises
in the Borough, directing attention to the importance of rat destruction
and inviting them to seek the co-operation of the Council's
Officers in dealing with nuisances from this cause. The number
of letters despatched for this purpose was 2,617.
4. The free distribution from the Public Health Department of rat
poison baits.
5. Rat poison was laid in the various sewers owned by the Council,
which work was carried out in conjunction with the main drainage
department of the London County Council.
Public Mortuary.
The Council's mortuary adjoins the Coroner's Court at St.
George's Road, Peckham, and is equipped with a preservation
chamber containing nine compartments.
A monthly summary of the bodies received at the mortuary
during 1937 appears on the following page.