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children alleged to be verminous. Inasmuch as there was no evidence of lice in the
sreat majority of the dwellings visited, it cannot but be admitted that in many
instances there were grounds for the resentment manifested.
The following are the results of the visits in 260 instances which were specially
noted : In 30 cases there was evidence of the existence of lice in the bedding or
clothing found in the dwelling; in the remaining 230 no such evidence was obtained.
In 186 the dwelling-rooms were described as being clean or fairly so, in 35 as being
dirty in 22 there was marked evidence of bugs, and in 17 instances the rooms were
both dirty and infested with bugs. In 160 instances the bedding was described as
clean or fairly so; in 60 it was dirty; in 23 evidence of lice was observed; in 3 it
was dirty and also contained lice; in 10 it was dirty and contained bugs, and in 4
instances lice were observed in both bedding and clothing. In 18 instances the
dwellings were markedly infested with fleas, and in 8 cases overcrowding was noted.
It may be mentioned that in several cases evidence of extreme poverty was manifest.
HOUSES CLOSED.
The following houses were closed upon the service of sanitary notices, either
no account of being unfit for habitation or in order to enable the works necessary
to put them in a satisfactory sanitary condition to be carried out in a proper and
efficient manner, which would have been difficult or impossible whilst the houses
were in occupation:—
Avebury Street, No. 9. Earl Street, No 30.
Barrett's Buildings, No. 7. Holywell Place, Nos 2, 4 and 5
Bevenden Street, No. 27. Westmoreland Place, Nos. 45 and 70.
Dereham Place. Nos. 16 and 20. Walmer Gardens. No. 77.
Devizes Street. Nos 3. 6, 7 and 11.
No. 9, Avebury Street, a 4.-roomed dwelling, was in a very dirty and dilapidated
state, the roof, eaves, guttering, stairs, window frames and flooring wore defective
the yard paving was also in a defective condition, and there was an absence of a
proper receptacle for house refuse. The house was brought to the notice of the
Health Committee, who gave instructions for it to be inspected under the Housing
and Town Planning Act, 1909, and an intimation notice was served by Inspector
Langstone upon the owner setting forth the existing defects and calling upon him to
remedy them. The house became empty, and in a few days was stripped of its
sanitary fittings, so that it became totally unfit for human habitation. Nothing
was done to deal with it, and it remained closed at the end of the year, the windows
having been boarded up.
No. 7, Barrett's Buildings, a two-roomed dwelling-house, was dirty, dilapidated,
overcrowded and verminous. It was closed by the owner on receipt of a statutory