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162
The expenditure under this head is too great, and, as I
have reported on several occasions, might be reduced by some
hundreds of pounds per annum, were the work done without
the intervention of a contractor, as recommended by the
London County Council and by the Metropolitan Asylums
Board.
Disinfecting Station.—The question of the "desirability
of erecting a disinfecting station, and providing a
Shelter for persons displaced from their homes during the
progress of disinfecting work," was referred for consideration
to the Sanitary Committee, who reported thereon in July,
1896. A sub-committee had been appointed to view stations
and shelters. One of the places visited was Islington,
where, as the sub-committee reported, "the Vestry have
provided a most complete station, comprising two Nottingham
disinfectors, and ample laundry accommodation for
washing and cleansing articles when necessary. A shelterhouse
to accommodate four families has also been provided,
and a small house erected for the use of the engineer
and his wife, who are in charge of the station. The
total cost of this station," it was added, "without charge
for land, amounted to about £4,500, made up as follows:—
Disinfectors, Laundry, Chimney Shaft. Paving and Drainage,
£3,500; Shelter and Caretaker's House £1,000; and the
annual expenditure amounts to £350 per annum." The
report further stated that the cost of disinfecting and cleansing
of infected articles in Kensington in the three years 1893-95,
had been £2,988, or on an average about £1,000 a year, (irrespective
of the wages of disinfecting officers); a sum which
was largely exceeded in 1896,$1,361 having been paid to the
contractor in that year. Information which I laid before the
Committee went to show that a station and a shelter could be
erected for a less amount than had been expended at Islington,
and that many hundreds of pounds per annum might be saved
on the present cost of disinfection. But "as a result of the