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58
HOUSE TO HOUSE INSPECTIONS.
The total number of house to house inspections made
was 382. This number is scarcely as high as might be desired,
but owing to constant pressure in other directions, it was not
possible to devote more time to this work. Of the 382 houses
visited, only 51 were found to be free from nuisances, a fact
which proves that it is essential that these systematic house
to house inspections should be regularly carried out if the
District is to be kept in a thoroughly sanitary condition.
After one inspection has been made, however, it does not
necessarily follow that other defects will not occur, since the
lapse of time must needs bring about a recurrence of those
dilapidations which cause discomfort and ultimate danger to
health.
The nuisances discovered were of a miscellaneous char
acter, and although many premises were found to be in a
most insanitary and dangerous condition, in the majority of
cases the defects were of a somewhat trivial nature.
It is difficult to imagine why some property owners allow
their premises to get into such a dilapidated condition as that
frequently found by the Inspectors. It would prove much
more economical to have the defects remedied as they arise,
than to allow them to exist until the Sanitary Authoritv
intervenes, as the delay often renders the necessary repairs
a much more expeusive matter than it would otherwise have
been.
HOUSE DRAINAGE.
During the year the drains of 186 houses were tested or
examined under Section 41 of the Public Health Act, 1875.
and in every case were found to be more or less defective.