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73
Rag Flock Act, 1911.
This Act was passed to prevent the use of material known
as rag flock, unless such material complies with the standard of
cleanliness laid down in the Act.
No proceedings were taken under the Act in Battersea during
1928.
The Rag Flock Act (1911) Amendment Act, 1928, was passed
into law during the year. Its purpose was to remove doubts as
to the meaning of the phrase " flock manufactured from rags"
used in the earlier Act, and it provides that this expression means
"flock which has been produced wholly or partly by tearing up
woven or knitted or felted materials, whether old or new, but does
not mean flock obtained wholly in the processes of the scouring
and finishing of newly woven or newly knitted or newly felted
fabrics."
Rats and Mice (Destruction) Act, 1919.
This Act, which became operative on the 1st January, 1920,
imposes on local authorities and occupiers of premises additional
responsibilities in connection with rat repression.

Drains were tested at 68 premises in connection with this
work, and in 35 cases were found to be defective. Most of these
defective drains were in private houses. The presence of rats
in houses is usually regarded as prima facie evidence of drain
defects. The work of the Rat Officer therefore is carried on in close
co-operation with that of the district Sanitary Inspectors.
The methods employed under the Rat Repression Scheme have
been described in previous Annual Reports. It is only necessary,
therefore, to state that as an inspection of the summarised figures
shows, the work done during the year under this head has been as
satisfactory as in previous years.