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Report of the Medical Officer of Health. 137
(5.) Owing to complaints of owners of property abutting on this
ditch with regard to the flooding of the land in Wimbledon
for the purpose of a skating lake, I again on two separate
occasions inspected the neighbourhood, but I was unable to
find anything which could be dealt with under the Public
Health Act occasioned by the flooding of the land. Samples
of the water were taken for inspection, but these were
perfectly clear and inodorous.
(6.) Special inspections were made of the premises where offensive
trades are carried on in the Borough in consequence of the
new By-laws with respect to these trades proposed by the
London County Council, and which were allowed by the Local
Government Board during the year. In connection specially
with the ventilation of these premises, visits were made to
works of a similar character in Poplar and Bermondsey, and
the result of these inspections were reported to the Committee.
After the By-laws were confirmed the following report was
made to the Committee and a copy of this report was sent to
the Local Government Board:—
"27th November, 1907.
"With regard to the letter of the London County
Council to the Local Government Board I have to report
that I have not yet seen any factory in which a dual
system has been adopted where the exhaust system could
not be satisfactorily applied.
"The London County Council also state that failure
has again and again resulted in cases where reliance has
been solely placed upon extraction fans, and Messrs.
Harrison & Barber's premises are mentioned.
"With reference to these premises I may state that
it was not until inlet fans were provided that complaints
were received of offensive effluvia from these works, and
on several occasions I made inspections of the premises
and found that, owing to the greater amount of inlet air,
there was a strong rush of air outwards from the
premises whenever a door was opened. When the inlet
fan was stopped it was of course necessary to open the
door when the exhaust fan was working, as there was no