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have also been 746 articles of bedding and clothing disinfected
against 395 in 1874. Very many of these articles were removed
from the houses of inhabitants in a good position, so that in a
majority of cases the amount paid for the disinfection at the hotair
chamber covered the cost of the men's wages and the fuel
used. In other cases, where people were too poor to pay, no
charge was made. As the men are engaged on other work when
not employed at the disinfecting chamber the cost to the District
has been but small, as £13 14s. were received and £11 1s. paid
for overtime and fuel. In addition to this the wages for ordinary
time would have amounted to £9 10s., so that the work has been
cheaply as well as efficiently carried out. The comparative rarity
with which this disease rages severely in a given locality at the
present time as compared with what it did a year or two ago,
before disinfection was so thoroughly carried out, goes, I think,
to a considerable extent to show that the spreading of these
zymotic diseases may be materially diminished if proper means of
disinfection be generally used. It is, however, somewhat singular
that the mortality per 1000 population varies so little from time
to time, but I hope that better results will be obtained hereafter.
This subject will be more fully considered in the latter part of
my report.
The sanitary work performed has been in excess of that
in any previous year, although only 8 more premises were
inspected than in 1874. The number of houses inspected under
the provisions of the Sanitary Act, 1866, was 6137, and
nuisances were found in no less than 2993, so that 50 per cent.
of the houses were in a more or less bad sanitary state, either
from defective paving or drainage, deficient water supply and
water supply apparatus, want of proper repair, or from overcrowding.
Every room in these houses was examined, and
entries made in the inspection books as to their condition, as well
as of the dust-bins, water butts, cisterns and water-supply
apparatus; also as to the drainage of the houses, yards and outhouses,
and the condition of the eaves-gutters and rain-water
pipes. There were also 159 greengrocers and 74 fishmongers'