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77
increasingly welcomed as an honest attempt to carry
out the intention of all sanitary legislation—the protection
of life and health.
In most cases the verbal suggestion or first written
notice serves to have any defect remedied. First notices
were issued to the number of 370, and in all but 15
no second notice was required. Only one case had to
be brought to the notice of the magistrate and a
compulsory order obtained and complied with. It is
but right to say however that many glaring faults were
found, which, though detrimental to health, could not be
remedied owing to insufficient legislative power. I
specially refer to overcrowding, to dilapidations
(especially those causing damp), and to bad sanitary
apparatus. Regarding the first mentioned, we can only
interfere in the case of two families occupying one house
and when the total air space of the house is deficient,
regardless of the number of people occupying one room
say at night or during the day. In the second the wall
of a house may be streaming with moisture and the only
remedy is to leave the house. In the third case we
have no power to abolish pan-closets, D-traps, and
bell-traps, though we are convinced that they are
usually injurious to health.
The removal of Dust is a very important branch of
sanitary work. I believe it will never be satisfactorily
accomplished until it is done by the Sanitary Authorities
themselves. I cannot see why the daily removal of
house-refuse at an early hour in the morning could not
be accomplished as done in Edinburgh and many other