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At the end of the year there were no fewer than 571
premises on the registers which are subject to periodical inspection.
Systematic inspection of the district has been maintained
with a view to improving the sanitary condition of
house property and other premises, and this work should prove
a material aid in improving the healthiness of the inhabitants
and diminishing outbreaks of preventable disease. House-tohouse
inspection, supervision aud testing drainage and other
sanitary work, inspection of cowsheds, dairies, milkshops,
factories, workshops, slaughterhouses, bakehouses, restaurants,
butchers', fruiterers' and fishmongers' shops; the inspection of
meat and other foods and of premises where foodstuff undergoes
some special preparation for sale, have each and all
received the attention of your inspectors. A large number of
visits have also been made under the direction of your Medical
Officer of Health to investigate cases of infectious disease, and
to carry out the necessary work of disinfection.
It will be seen from the matters already enumerated
that the activities of the department cover a wide field,
which is being rapidly extended by the development of Public
Health Legislation. Every endeavour has, however, been
made to devote sufficient time to each particular section of
our work. Matters of technical difficulty and questions requiring
careful negotiation arise, but, having regard to the
considerable expense involved in complying with the demands
for the sanitary improvement of property, it is extremely
gratifying to record that only on two occasions was it necessary
to resort to legal proceedings to enforce compliance with
statutory notices. In fact there is continued evidence to show
that property owners, their agents and professional advisers,
are, in the majority of cases, quite willing to comply with any
reasonable requirements which are made from time to time
respecting the property under their control. The usual practice
has been continued of communicating with the responsible