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1933]
64
The total licences granted was 28; during the year one was vacated, leaving
27 on the register. Visits of inspection.—488 visits were paid by male Inspectors
and 44 by women Inspectors, a total of 532 visits.
INFIRM PERSONS. LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL (GENERAL
POWERS) ACT, 1928.
During the year no action had eventually to be taken in Court respecting
infirm persons, as against 2 in 1932, but five cases were investigated and dealt with
without the necessity of proceedings.
NON-COMPLIANCE WITH STATUTORY NOTICES, AND APPEALS BY
" OWNER " TO QUARTER SESSIONS AND TO THE HIGH COURT.
(HANCOCK v. SEGAL).
A case of particular interest in which the owner appealed to both Quarter
Sessions and to the High Court occurred during this year. The person whose
name appeared on the rent book had called at the Public Health Department and
admitted to the Medical Officer of Health and Superintendent that he was acting
for the owner, whom he stated was "an old gentleman," but he would not divulge
anything further. He had likewise refused information to the Stipendiary Magistrate
at the North London Police Court. Quarter Sessions upheld the decision of
the Stipendiary Magistrate, and in the Divisional Court on the 1st November, 1933,
a "rule nisi" calling upon the Justices of the County of London to state a case
was discharged with costs. The Lord Chief Justice delivering judgment in favour
of the Council, stated that there was ample material on which the Justices could
find in the Council's favour. Despite the statement given to our department that
he was acting as agent, the "owner" denied this in Court and endeavoured to
prove that the property had been conveved to his daughter recently married, whose
husband had acted as agent for him. The High Court appears to have considered
the case on the common sense basis as to who was the real owner as eventually
benefiting from the rack rents. The Borough Council recovered the following
sums:—Costs of the Appeals to Quarter Sessions, £57 19s. 6d.; costs of application
to the Divisional Court, £62 8s. 3d. Total, £120 7s. 8d.
SEWER EMANATIONS.
No appreciable progress has been made as regards abatement of sewer emanations
in this Borough. The matter was dealt with in the Medical Officer of
Health's Annual Report for 1929, page 60, and on page 70 of the Report for 1930.
During 1932 and 1933, as in 1931, the London County Council were still conducting
experiments, and would appear as yet not to have found a feasible method of
sewer ventilation. The sewers are still ventilated, to avoid explosions and danger
to the sewermen, by openings in the covers in the streets. When there are veryserious
complaints and petitions from the inhabitants, the offending manhole is
sealed, and in due course complaint comes from the inhabitants near another. In
the year under review, the most serious complaints were regarding the manhole
opposite 15, Pleasant Place. In addition to the complaints from tenants of houses
adjacent, complaint was addressed to the Town Clerk by a medical practitioner,
and one was received from a district nurse, as a child was dangerously ill in a
house affected by the emanations. Some little difficulty was experienced in getting
immediate effective attention to the nuisance from this manhole.