View report page

Court Proceedings.
Legal proceedings were instituted under the Public Health Act for the
following infringements:—
Exchange of rags for toys: Defendant was fined £1 and 40s. costs.
Filling milk bottles on unregistered premises.
Fouling of the footpath by dogs.
Chimney firing under Town Police Clauses Act: the Defendant was
fined 5s. and costs.
Verminous Persons and their Belongings.
The department has under consideration the possibility of using naphtha
in routine disinfestation work. Experiments are still being carried out and
carefully watched with a view of determining the relative value of this process
of disinfestation.
Eradication of Bed Bugs.
Statistics for the year:—
(a) Number of Council houses
(1) found to be infested 59
(2) disinfested during the year 59
(b) Number of other houses
(1) found to be infested 39
(2) disinfested during the year 39
Methods employed for Disinfestation.
For houses it is considered that fumigation by hydrocyanic acid gas
is the only really effective method of dealing with the serious degrees of
infestation. With slighter degrees of infestation general cleanliness only may
be sufficient, but in any case which comes to the knowledge of the department
some form of spray with insecticide is used. HCN gas for use in the ordinary
concentration of 11½ to 2 per cent. for six hours will penetrate the egg capsule
and kill the germ inside. HCN gas is extremely poisonous to all animals,
including man, so great care has to be exercised in the management of this
gas. When HCN gas is used in a house, all the furniture excepting bedding
is allowed to remain inside the house. The bedding is removed to the Isolation
Hospital and disinfested by steam. This is in order to avoid any localised
accumulation of gas in the bedding.
40