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175
INQUESTS AND CORONER'S COURT.
During the past five years no inquest in this parish has
been held at a public house; and now all of the inquests are
held at the Town Hall, in a room placed at the service of the
Coroner by your Vestry, but which is unsuitable for the purpose.
Parliamentary powers for the purchase of two houses at the
rear of the Hall have been obtained by the County Council, at
the request of your Vestry, and it is intended to purchase the
property from the Council—when it shall have been acquired
by that body—and to provide thereon a Court for the Coroner,
for the use of which the Council will pay a rent—an arrangement
authorised by section 92 of the Public Health (London)
Act, 1891.
DISINFECTION.
The Public Health (London) Act, 1891, imposes additional
duties on the Sanitary Authority in the matter of disinfection,
the practical effect of the legislation of late years having been to
throw upon the rates the entire cost of disinfecting houses, and
cleansing and disinfecting bedding, clothing, &c. The cost of
this work has greatly increased since the Act came into operation
at the beginning of 1892 : the amount expended in 1896
was £1361 5s. 5d., as compared with £381 in 1891. In
the latter year the weight of the articles disinfected was under
twenty tons, and their number about 9,400 only, whereas in
1896, 29,206 articles were dealt with, the aggregate weight
being 72 tons 3 cwt. In the same year some 1,319 rooms, in
1,187 houses, were disinfected by your Vestry's staff, as compared
with 364 in 1891.
In my report for 1893 (pp. 215-217), under the heading
"Duties of the Sanitary Authority with respect to Disinfection,'
I explained the state of the law, and described your Vestry's
practice in regard to this matter. I need only observe now
that the expenditure on disinfection, including cleansing of
clothing, bedding, &c., will necessarily vary from year to year,
in proportion to the relative prevalence of infectious disease;
but under existing arrangements it is likely to increase as the