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13
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IN CONNECTION WITH NUISANCES.
No summonses were issued during the year.
Smoke Nuisances.
During the year 1934, 336 observations were made and 11 complaints were
received and dealt with. In each case the attention of the offender was drawn to
the matter.
Complaints as to fumes from furnaces burning oil-fuel were fewer than in
1933. As a result of frequent observations and co-operation with the owners of
the property, the trouble in practically every case was greatly mitigated.
Rat Repression.
Though activity in this connection continues unabated, the number of complaints
received varies little year by year. In 1930 it reached 60, in 1931, 74, in
1932, 52, 1933, 49, and in 1934, 44. The investigation of these complaints necessitated
the inspection of 57 premises, 17 of which were found to be rat infested.
Included in this latter number were 6 business premises (3 of these for the preparation
or storage of food), the remaining 11 being private or tenement houses. In 5
of the cases investigated the infestation was directly attributable to defects in the
drainage system, and the nuisance disappeared when repair or reconstruction was
carried out. In every instance all advice and assistance was given to the owner or
occupier by Inspector Willis, who acted as Rat Officer, and secured excellent results
from the methods advocated.
The following report submitted to the Public Health Committee on the 1934
Rat Week held in the Borough contains a certain amount of information that may
be found interesting.
National Rat Week (the sixteenth of the series) was held in the Borough
during the week commencing November 5th, the Ministry of Agriculture again
urging upon all local authorities responsible for the execution and enforcement of
the Rats and Mice (Destruction) Act, 1919, the desirability of making special
efforts during that week to secure concerted action with a view to the destruction
of rats and mice.
A campaign on lines found to be successful in previous years was carried out,
and special communications were addressed to the large property owners and
agents and to the occupiers of food and other premises, drawing attention to their
responsibilities under the Act and offering to arrange for the Inspector (Mr. E. E.
Willis), who has the matter specially in hand, to visit any rat-infested premises in
the Borough for the purpose of suggesting suitable methods for adoption in getting
rid of the vermin. The response to these invitations was particularly gratifying
and is evidence of the greater willingness on the part of the public to co-operate in
dealing with property infested with rats. On this occasion an unusually large
number of enquiries and requests for assistance were received, and this may be
claimed to be due to the publicity given by the Council to the aims and objects of
National Rat Week. In this connection, in addition to the usual practice of distributing
the latest literature, bait recipes, etc., use was made this year of a
particularly striking poster in colour, copies of which were displayed throughout
the Borough and on the Council's vehicles.
Particular attention was again paid to the various railway sidings, warehouses,
etc., in the Borough, and among the authorities actively co-operating with
the Department may be mentioned the London Passenger Transport Board.
Though their railway stations at Edgware Road, Baker Street, Great Portland
Street, Regent's Park, Marlborough Road and St. John's Wood Road are regularly
visited by the Board's staff for the purpose of catching rats, special investigations
were carried out during Rat Week. The open spaces in the Borough also received
close attention. In the Zoological Gardens, where every week, it is claimed, is a
Rat Week, and all known methods of destruction are tried, efforts directed against
the rat menace were intensified.
As an experiment, traps of the wire cage and break-back pattern were purchased
for use in the sewers. After a period of trial it was found that break-back
traps of an improved type were more efficient than any other varieties, and in view