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17
During the year, the Sanitary Committee have authorised the issue of 59
summonses; of these five were heard at the Clerkenwell Police Court. In
three of them orders for the abatement of nuisances arising from defective
drainage, were made and carried out. The fourth was a case of a man
who was keeping Cows without a licence, in Gifford Street; in this a penalty
of 40s. was inflicted; and in the fifth a conviction was not obtained, the
Magistrate declining to grant an order.
The remaining 54 summonses were heard before the Justices of the Peace
sitting in Petty Sessions at the Vestry Hall, where they commenced to
meet in June, 1871. It may here be stated that this arrangement has been
found to be extremely convenient, and a great saving of time in the facilities
which it offers for the transaction of this portion of the work of your
Sanitary Officers. Out of these 54, sixteen were issued for the recovery of
money expended for disinfection, and have been previously referred to.
Twenty-eight were consequent upon either defective drainage or the generally
bad condition of premises, and in some instances upon both. Pour
were taken out for disobeying the orders of the Justices, which, however,
have been generally complied with. Two others were for overcrowding,
since abated. One was for the removal of an animal improperly kept. Of
the three left, two were for the letting without previous disinfection of
rooms which had been inhabited by persons suffering from infectious
disorders, contrary to the 39th Section of the Sanitary Act, 1866.
In one of these two a Medical Practitioner had given a certificate that
the necessary disinfection had been carried out, but on being called as a witness
for the prosecution, his explanation as to the certificate was not deemed to be
satisfactory by the Justices, and a penalty was inflicted in both cases. The
last summons to be mentioned was one in which a conviction was obtained
and a penalty inflicted against a Master and Mistress residing in an adjoining
parish (under the 38th section of the Sanitary Act, 1866) for sending
home through the streets, into Islington, their servant, while she was actually-suffering
from Small Pox, the girl when well being called as a witness,
It will be seen that the 211 Bakehouses and the 178 Slaughter and CowHouses
were not so frequently visited as usual during the year; this was
owing to the great amount of extra work devolving upon the Inspectors
during the pressure of the Small Pox epidemic, and was the case last year
also.