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52
General Health of the District.
The general health of the district continues to be
excellent. The few cases of small-pox which occurred in the
Workhouse the previous month have not spread further and
the chief infectious diseases are well below the average.
There has been on the other hand a slight outbreak of
chicken-pox, 55 cases of that mild non-fatal disease having
been notified during the last four weeks.
No. 13, King's Place.
No. 13, King's Place was again before the Magistrate,
the occupier not having obeyed the Magistrates Order to
close the premises.
The Magistrate inflicted a penalty of £5 with £3 costs
and a continuing penalty of £1 per day,
The penalty not having been paid and the officer of the
Court reporting that there were no goods the defendant was
committed to prison.
The case, therefore, shows how defective the law is
with regard to the closing of admittedly insanitary premises.
After a month of legal proceedings and expenditure of
public money the notices of the Local Authority have not
been attended to, the premises are still occupied and the
ratepayers have to contribute to support the wrongdoer in
jail.
Appeal to London County Council under Public
Health (London) Act, 1891, Section 41.
It is the statutory duty of every Local Authority in the
Metropolis to enforce By-laws made under Section 41 as to
the construction of closets.
Plans were submitted to the Public Health Committee
with regard to 26 and 28, James Street, proposing to construct
closets below the surface of the ground, and showing
an open area more than 40 square feet in extent, but less
than 5 feet across. The By-law expressly provides that a
new closet in a basement must be approached "directly from