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need of cleansing in order to prevent injury or the danger of injury
and is so enfeebled that he is unable to avail himself of any facilities
for cleansing himself provided by the authority or to cleanse himself
properly, the sanitary authority may on the application or with the
consent of that person (but not otherwise) cause him to be cleansed free
of charge at the place where he resides or at any other suitable place.
The authority is enabled to make such arrangements and provide any
apparatus required to exercise these powers.
It has not been necessary to arrange for the cleansing of any
person under this section.
Anti-fly and anti-mosquito campaign
In his report on the campaign for 1953, which was held from May 4
to October 1, Mr. Phillips, the deputy senior sanitary inspector who is
in charge of anti-pest work, says:—"As in previous years four men
were employed working as pairs. In 1953, however, a second light van
was available and so both pairs were equipped with light vans in place
of the motor cycles and sidecars which had been used previously. This
was found a big advantage as mattresses and other material in a very
wet condition could be placed in the van and taken direct to the wharf
for disposal instead of other transport having to be arranged for or the
material having to be disposed of on the site, resulting in the use of much
paraffin and the production of much smoke."
527 bombed sites, grass verges and rear garage ways were visited on
6 occasions each and necessary treatment was carried out by spraying
or the use of powder. The bombed sites showed a marked decline in
number from the previous year due to re-development, but of those
remaining some were in a much worse condition than previously, due
possibly to the fact that dealers are loth to collect materials which have
little or no salvage value. There is no doubt that some of the materials
emanate from disreputable dealers who sort their vans near a bombed
site and discard what is of no value. The following were collected
from bombed sites or destroyed on the site :—
145 mattresses; 7 pillows; 6 cushions; 12 carpets; 10 feather
beds; 22 articles of furniture; and a quantity of flock, rags,
clothing and linoleum.
24 gallons of paraffin were used in the destruction of this material
on the sites. A remarkably large quantity of bread was found on sites,
no doubt an encouragement for rats.
The cooperation of the Borough Engineer's department was
once again available for the treatment of dustbins with a powder
supplied by the health department. The powder contained gammexane
and was applied to dustbins at the time of refuse collection. Altogether
3½ tons of powder containing 0.5 percent gamma benzene hexachloride
was used.
8 stables or piggeries, 9 allotment sites, and one plot of land known
to be particularly bad as a rubbish tip were treated as special sites and
visited on 20 occasions each, particular attention being paid to the manure
receptacles at the stables and piggeries and the compost heaps on the
allotments. Throughout the campaign daily visits were paid to
Lewisham Hospital to spray the refuse container there and also the
site of the kitchen waste bins.