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66
housing

* Per 1,000 deaths at all ages. ‡ Per 100 deaths. ‡ Per 100 deaths, 0—10 years.
and the principal mortality rates. The most noticeable points are the increases in the rates
from scarlet fever (morbidity), in the mortality at ages above 10 years, and in percentage of
deaths in institutions. Generally, however, the rates for last year compare not unfavourably
with the mean rates for the five years 1896-1900, but not so well with those for the second
quinquennium (1901-05).
Verminous Rooms.—The number of rooms dealt with under Sec. 20 of the London County
Council (General Powers) Act, 1904, increased from 99 in 1905 to 227 last year. Only 14 of
those rooms were in unregistered houses. The work was mainly done at the time of the
annual cleansing, which, coming at the commencement of the warm weather, coincides with
the breeding time of the vermin. Although so much was done, in two instances only was it
necessary to resort to legal proceedings to secure compliance with the notices.
It is, or was, a common practice to put a clean paper on walls without stripping off the
dirty. This was done in one house last year and a summons for failure to properly "cleanse"
the room was dismissed. It was noteworthy that a few months later it became necessary to
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deal with that particular room as verminous, thereby demonstrating the need of stripping
walls before re-papering, and the risks run by not doing so of the breeding of vermin.*
II.—Common Lodging Houses.
These are registered annually by the County Council under their General Powers Act
of 1902. That Council exercises complete supervision over such houses, the only matters
dealt with by the Department being the abatement of nuisances and the re-construction of
sanitary fittings.
* All landlords of registered houses have this year been formally notified that any rooms which are re-papered
without preliminary stripping will not be deemed to have been "cleansed " as required by the by-law.