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74
Throughout the year, in the course of demolition of many old buildings, rats which
were disturbed found harbourage in neighbouring buildings, many of which had not been
previously infested. In some cases poison baits were laid before demolition began and
resulted in the destruction of large numbers of rats.
Messrs. William Dalton & Sons, rat-catchers, inform me that they caught 25,748 rats
in the City during 1928.
Even approximate figures of rat destruction cannot be given, but it can be said that
there is a great decrease in the number of rats infesting the City. Owing to constant attention
to drains and sewers, the brown rat is fast disappearing, and as new buildings replace
the old, a lessening of the smaller black rat will be apparent.
Mr. Engineer informs me that, during the year, the following sewerage and drainage
works, which reduced the breeding places for rats, were carried out by his department:—
Brick sewers reconstructed 7
Brick sewers constructed 7
Brick sewers in course of construction 3
Disued sewers filled in and abolished 6
Miscellaneous repairs to sewers 14
Various drains damaged by rats repaired in sewer 8
Sewers repaired and inverts rendered 3
Branch sewer bricked off 1
Brickwork repaired in manhole 1
Headwall of sewer relined 1
Sewer repaired 1
Disused brick shoot filled in 1
Hydrant pit repaired (Rats) 1
Disused barrel drain abolished 1
Side entrances filled in 2
Sewer connection repaired 1
New drains constructed in connection with new buildings 20
Drains of existing buildings reconstructed 26
House drains constructed and reconstructed in Cavendish Court, Middlesex
Street, Cornhill, and New Street and Button Street sewers 66
Gulley drains constructed and reconstructed in connection with the above 40
New gulleys constructed 6
Gulley drains reconstructed 52
House and gulley drains repaired 145
Disused drains bricked up 344
Rats killed by sewer foreman and his men 739
The number of drain reconstructions carried out under the supervision of the Inspectors
attached to this department is set out on page 76.
Rat-catchers and poisoners are engaged on contract in many of the tea-shops, restaurants,
hotels and business premises; several vacant building sites in the City were dealt with under
the supervision of this department, and all necessary information was given to representatives
who called for advice, and rat-proofing was carried out in 399 buildings. This last consisted
of wiring area gratings, ventilators and roof openings, and the stopping of rat holes in walls
and floors, the removal of wooden floors from basements, with substitution of concrete and/or
the stripping of internal walls of woodwork, which affords breeding places. The cementing
of walls and removal of ceilings was done in a few cases-a major proceeding which can
hardly be asked of the legally responsible occupier, who would naturally hesitate to report
his rat difficulties in face of possible requirements.
The Rats and Mice (Destruction) Act is, perhaps, more adapted to rural areas than to
larger towns, in that the onus falls on occupier rather than on owner.
Observations and records in the City suggest that the brown rat is outnumbered by
the black rat by about three to one. The black rat, a climbing rat by habit, is more difficult
to deal with, especially where large and high buildings are his field. The number of individual
occupiers in any given building or block, and the incidence of defestation, prevents the dealing
with a block as a whole, especially where structural work is required.
The construction of sound drainage is an important feature, and where the entry of rats
is sought, smoke or chemical testing of drains may be misleading. Recently, in Bush Lane,
sewer rats were found to be infesting a basement; the drains were water-tested and were
sound. Holes in the floor were opened and traced to an outside wall (through which rats
had gnawed a run), and thence to a defective sewer. Repair of the sewer and filling in of