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23
RAG AND BONE DEALERS.
Some 22 premises to which the byelaws under Section 9 of the London County
Council (General Powers) Act, 1908, are applicable were on the Register at the end
of the year. Some 81 visits of inspection were made in connection with them and in
four instances written intimations on account of the need for cleanliness were required.
These were duly attended to.
VERMINOUS HOUSES.
The houses where it was necessary to take measures on account of the presence
of vermin numbered 279, and in connection with them some 444 rooms were dealt
with during the year. Sanitary notices were served where required and the usual
steps were taken. An appreciable number of the premises came under notice through
intimations from the School Authorities respecting children reported as being in a
verminous condition.
During the year the homes of some 692 children, 164 boys and 528 girls, notified
as verminous by the School Medical Officer, were reported with a view to the homes,
bedding, etc., where necessary, being dealt with by the Sanitary Authority, whilst the
children were cleaned and their clothing disinfected at the cleansing stations of the
London County Council in the neighbourhood. Intimations were received that 28 boys
and 23 girls had been given the opportunity of being cleansed at the cleansing stations,
that in the case of 136 boys and 497 girls Statutory Notices had been served upon the
parents to cleanse the children within 24 hours under Section 122 of the Children's Act,
1908, and that in the cases of 8 girls legal proceedings were pending for non-compliance
with the requirements of Statutory Notices under the Act mentioned. In some instances
the same children were more than once reported and their homes had to be visited
and dealt with accordingly. In 17 cases the addresses given were erroneous.
In practically all the cases reported the homes were visited by the Sanitary
Inspectors and the following summarises the results obtained:—In 649 the rooms
occupied were satisfactory, varying from fairly clean to very clean, in 24 they were
dirty, and in 2 buggy. In 642 the bedding was clean or fairly so, in 13 it was dirty, in
1 dirty and buggy, and in 7 bugs and in 12 fleas were noted. In 5 of the homes
evidence of poverty was marked. No evidence of lice was found in connection with
any of the homes.
Arising out of the visits of the Sanitary Inspectors some 15 Sanitary Notices
were served upon owners and one upon the occupier of verminous dwellings. These
were mostly for general repairs and cleansing.
The children reported by the School Authorities as suffering from scabies
numbered 52 of whom 32 were females. As a result of the enquiries made by the