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12
Proceedings in Connection with Nuisances.
The number of summonses issued in respect of nuisances during the year
was one.

Rat Repression.
The number of complaints received during the year, viz., 50, was lower by
4 than the 1928 figure. The investigation of these complaints necessitated the
inspection of 62 premises, 22 of which were used for business purposes (4 of
these for the preparation or storage of food), the remaining 40 being private or
tenement houses. In 4 of the cases investigated the infestation was directly
attributable to defects in the drainage system and disappeared immediately these
were remedied. In every instance all advice and assistance was given to the
owner or occupier by Inspector Draper, who continued to act as Rat Officer, and
to obtain excellent results from the methods advocated.
A Rat Week was held during the year from the 4th to the 9th November,
1929, and attracted a considerable amount of attention to the subject. Great
assistance was obtained from the Borough Engineer and his staff, and also from
a number of large firms in the borough. The result, it is safe to state, was a
considerable reduction in the rat population of the sewers and other places affected
by these vermin.
The accompanying report submitted to the Public Health Committee in connection
therewith contains a certain amount of information that may be found
interesting.
"Rat Week this year was, at the suggestion of the Ministry of Agriculture,
held in the Borough during the week commencing Monday, November 4th, and
the special steps which have been found to meet the needs of the district in other
years in relation to this campaign were taken on this occasion.
Rats and mice, as the Ministry point out, are responsible for an immense loss
(said to fall little short of £10,000,000) to the country each year both directly, in
the destruction of foodstuffs and materials, and indirectly as the agents and
carriers of disease germs, and it is only by systematic action on the part of all
occupiers of lands and premises and by the local authorities vested with powers
under the Rats and Mice (Destruction) Act, 1919, that any marked improvement
in the position can be looked for.
In St. Marylebone, though there has been no slackening of effort to deal with
the problem, I think it may safely be said that improvement sufficient to be called
" marked " is taking place. Complaints of nuisance from rats are fewer in
number than formerly, and from careful observations made by Inspector Draper,
who has the matter specially in hand, and by other members of the staff of the
Department over a period of some years, it appears that the majority of the people
in the Borough—from the large railway and commercial concerns to the individual
householder—as a result of the publicity given to the matter and the persistent
propaganda of the Council, are fully alive to the nuisance and possible danger
from rats and mice, and to their responsibility for getting rid of the vermin.
As an instance of the success attending continuous efforts to deal with rat
infestation, mention may be made of a communication received from the Civil
Engineer of the Group comprising the Metropolitan District Railway Company,