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tbese 2342 houses were inspected re Infectious Disease and
Complaints, making a total of 4424. 1884 intimation notices
were served, and following on them and the subsequent 555
statutory notices, there were 5720 re-inspections, making an
average of over 3 re-inspections for each notice.
But we may take it that approximately 1329 cases in which
no statutory notice was served only required one re-inspection,
and consequently there were 4391 re-inspection3 for the remaining
555 houses, or 8 a-piece.
78. Of course there are certain nuisances of a difficult and
complicated nature which require repeated visits to determine
the nature of the remedy to be applied, but after due allowance
is made for these there Will remain a large number in which it
is evident, from the above figures, that the Inspectors' time
and consequently the ratepayers' money is grossly wasted by
the neglect of certain landlords, to attend to the notices they
receive. It will be noticed that 191 cases were reported to the
Clerk for proceedings, but only in 42 of them were summonses
taken out (the work being done in the other cases after a letter
from the Clerk), only in one case was a fine inflicted, and only
in two cases did the costs obtained exceed 3/- (there was a
conviction in every case but one). Now I cannot but think
that if proceedings had been taken in every one of the 191
cases, and the Magistrates pressed to impose a penalty and
costs which would cover the Officer's loss of time, there would
ensue a very marked increase of attention to the notices which
the Vestry serves, a great advantage to the public health, and
a great saving in Officers' time.
79. The sole occasion of a fine being inflicted was when a
caretaker obstructed a Sanitary Inspector by refusing entry
after due notice. The penalty paid for this offence was 20/-.