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58
REMOVAL OF AGED, INFIRM AND PHYSICALLY INCAPACITATED PERSONS
During the year twenty-three aged, infirm and physically incapacitated persons were kept
under observation by the woman sanitary inspector and sixteen of them were dealt with as follows:—
Removed voluntarily to hospital 12
Placed in care of friends 3
Court order for compulsory removal obtained 1
In one case, after three months of strenuous but unsuccessful endeavour by the woman sanitary
inspector, relieving officer, district medical officer and myself, to persuade a single woman of 60
living alone in one room of a house, the subject of a clearance order, and in my judgment incapable
of devoting proper care to herself, to accept institutional care, application was made to the Court
for an order for her removal to hospital under Section 224 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1936.
The woman was enabled, by the good offices of the Council, herself to attend Court.
The Bench gave very close and patient attention to this application, but found that the requirements
of Section 224 were not proved to their satisfaction. They did not, therefore, make the order.
The ending proved unexpectedly satisfactory, as some weeks later it was possible to persuade the
woman to enter an institution voluntarily. She has now enjoyed some months of comfort and
kindness, has been visited on several occasions by members of the Council, as well as the staff, and
shows no desire to return to her former semi-starved existence.
In connection with aged and infirm persons, the inspector paid 92 visits.
RAT REPRESSION AND DESTRUCTION
The Borough Council employs a whole-time Rat Officer, who also devotes some time to destruction
of pigeons. During the year 136 formal complaints were received compared with 152 in the
previous year. The Rat Officer made 1,479 visits to dwelling-houses and 633 visits to business
premises and also laid poison in 620 sewers in the Borough. In 38.3 per cent. (52 instances) of the
formal complaints it was found that the rats gained admission to the premises owing to defective
drains. The type of drainage defect was:—
Defective drains under premises19
Defective connections under footway 33
Rats were caught as follows during the year:—
In cage traps in sewers 69
In dustbin traps in sewers 282
By ferrets and break-back traps in premises 357
The amount received by the Council from property owners for the services of the Rat Officer
during the year ended 31st March, 1939, was £25 and, in addition, £15 was credited to the department
for the services of the Rat Officer to other departments of the Council.
NATIONAL RAT WEEK
During National Rat Week, held from 7th—12th November, an intensive campaign against
rats in the small sewers in the Borough was carried out A total of 15,400 baits were laid in the stunt
ends of 12-inch pipe sewers in 108 streets and upon re-inspection it was found that all these baits had
been taken The propaganda carried out during Rat Week, as for several years past, was that enumerated
in my Report for last year.
NUISANCES FROM PIGEONS
The Council have continued their efforts to reduce the number of wild pigeons in the Borough,
and the special traps which were set up in 1937 on the roof of the Town Hall and in the belfry of a
Church in the northern part of the Borough were operated throughout the year. As a result, 340