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16
SANITARY CHRONICLES, 1898.
CLEANSING OF PERSONS ACT.
The temporary baths established under the Act in
the neighbourhood of the Stoneyard have been, during
nine months, that is from March to December, in full
activity. When it is considered that the arrangements
at present are confessedly primitive, it is somewhat
astonishing to find that no less than 3,306 persons have
availed themselves of the privilege. Without doubt,
the numbers do not represent 3,306 separate individuals;
those whoever are known to have taken a second or third
bath bear no very large proportion to the whole, and it
is well within the mark to assert that 3,000 extremely
dirty males have cleansed themselves in the St. Marylebone
Cleansing Bath during 1898.
Plans are being prepared for a better structure,
which will also give facilities for the cleansing of females.
There have been under a dozen applications from women.
The few who have applied have had to wait until the
males had finished their baths. The present arrangement
has been practically confined to males.
SANITARY WORK, 1898.
At page 31 will be found a summary of the details
of the work carried out by the Sanitary Inspectors.
Complaints of insanitary conditions in 1895
amounted to 1,633, in 1896 to 1,658, in 1897 to 1,129,
and in 1898 to 1,198. The number of inspections during
the year of all kinds amounted to 16,242—about the
same as in the previous year. The number of Vestry
notices was only 278, most of the insanitary conditions
being attended to after a simple written communication;
1,231 of these written communications have been sent
relative to various nuisances.
The Sanitary Inspectors have attended to their
duties regularly and efficiently. There have been no
changes of staff during the year.