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113
Verminous and Dirty Homes.
In last year's report I described a few of the difficulties
encountered in the work of visiting verminous and
dirty homes. The number of children who have
been sent to the Cleansing Station during this year
has again much increased, probably owing to the
continued vigilance of the school authorities, the
working of the Children Act, and the frequent infliction
of fines for non-attendance at school. When
vermin is found on a child's body or clothing, the
child is excluded from school until a certificate is
produced signed by the Cleansing Station Officer
to the effect that the child has had a bath fend
has had his or her clothing disinfected. It must not
be thought that the increased number of children
using the station and the increased number of visits
paid to the homes indicate that matters instead of
improving are getting worse. The truth is that
the standard of cleanliness required is gradually
getting higher. Of course in some cases one finds
it very difficult to effect an improvement, especially
where the sense of decency and self-respect is
lacking, but in spite of many disappointments we
are, I feel assured, gaining ground rapidly.
Owing to the great difficulty experienced in some
cases of getting verminous bedding and articles
delivered up for disinfection, a Statutory Notice
form was drafted requiring the owner of the verminous
articles to allow the Disinfecting Officer to
enter and remove the articles for disinfection. To
each notice is appended a certificate of the Medical
Officer of Health. The notice is used with good