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HEALTH EDUCATION AT THE CIVIC EXHIBITION
It is extremely difficult to gauge with certainty the reaction of members
of the public to the Health Committee's exhibit at the Civic Exhibition,
but the following impressions were obtained by the staff of the Health
Department who were in attendance on the exhibit.
Many visitors commented on the variety of the responsibilities of
the Committee and were surprised at the comparatively recent introduction
of some of the services.
Special interest was shown in the safety devices now enforced in
respect of electric, gas and oil heating apparatus and many commented
that it was overdue and should save a great deal of injury and loss of life.
The exhibits on atmospheric pollution aroused interest and general
approval to the work of obtaining accurate information on the deposits
in different parts of the Borough. Many people stated that they would
use smokeless fuels if they were cheaper and were obtainable regularly
in sufficient quantities. People who had installed special grates for allnight
burning did not seem to realise that they were contributing to
the "smog" when they banked the fires up at night with dust and waste
material ; only a few of them habitually burned smokeless fuels in
these grates. The "smog" mask and its limitations were explained to
the public and some of the elderly people showed impatience in the
inability to do away with "smog" altogether but still expressed their
wishes to have open coal fires so that "they could see the flames"!
One visitor to the stand took a great deal of convincing that the houses
shown in the photographs on slum clearance and sanitary defects had
existed in Hornsey during the past 50 years.
Great satisfaction was shown at the success of measures for the control
of infectious diseases although it was felt by some people that too
little progress had been made in the eradication of tuberculosis.
Improvements in the working conditions of shop assistants were
appreciated and much surprise was shown that the Health Committee
was responsible for welfare of shop assistants and the control of employment
of young people. Approval was given to the licensing of pet shops
and the supervision of the conditions under which pet animals are
displayed for sale.
The public seemed to be food-hygiene conscious far more than would
have been evident say five years ago and the collection of foods containing
foreign bodies and the comparison of milk handling methods
created great interest.
Schoolchildren found the display of live insect parasites the most
interesting exhibit.
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