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reinstated premises shall be completed by the Strand Board
and ready for use as aforesaid with all reasonable despatch
after possession of the new site is given by the Council to the
Strand Board, and the Council have paid to the Strand Board,
or secured to the satisfaction of the Strand Board the sums
which the Strand Board require to have paid before they
commence the buildings:
" (4) If any question shall arise under this section as to
the site, or as to the sums to be paid, or as to the sufficiency
of the reinstatement, the same shall in default of agreement
be determined by arbitration in manner provided by the
Lands Clauses Acts."
By this action of the Strand Board, the City Corporation may be
able to obtain such a properly equipped disinfecting station as is
required.
I have been in communication with the officers of the London
County Council with reference to the provision of a centrallysituated
site on which to erect a disinfecting station, and the
matter is engaging their attention.
During 1901, 1,287 rooms, in 834 houses, were disinfected by the
staff of the Department, and 32,218 articles were subjected to
steam disinfection in the City disinfecting stations. In addition, a
number of rooms and their contents were disinfected to the satisfaction
of a medical man by private firms. Fifty-eight articles
were destroyed by fire (in most instances this was done at the
request of the owner), in the remainder the articles were replaced,
or compensation was given, at a cost of £3 7s. Forty-five books were
disinfected and returned to public libraries, and a number of books,
which were in smallpox houses, were destroyed at the request of
the Libraries Committee.
Disinfection was carried out after all cases of the notifiable
diseases, except as regards erysipelas (in which disinfection was
only performed where the circumstances of the case required it),
and also after 2 cases of chickenpox, 2 whooping-cough, 5 cancer,
11 measles, 2 German measles, and 29 phthisis.
The method of disinfecting rooms has now been made uniform
throughout the City, and consists ordinarily of spraying walls and
floors and furniture with a 2 per cent. solution of formic aldehyde,
all textile articles having been first removed in special vans to
undergo disinfection by steam. This method of disinfecting has
given very satisfactory results, for besides being effective, it is