Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hackney]
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69
Address No. of lodgers
for which
licensed
1 High Street, Homerton 100 men.
23 and 25 Well Street 174 „
At the annual census of homeless persons carried out during
the night of 19th-20th February, 1937, the following numbers of
lodgers were found at the two common lodging houses:—
1, High Street, Homerton 41 men.
23 and 25, Well Street 79 ,,
The number of visits paid by the Sanitary Inspectors to the
common lodging houses during the year was 45.
DESTRUCTION OF BED BUGS.
Information as to the action taken by the Public Health
Department for the eradication of vermin has appeared in my
Annual Reports for some years past, but the Ministry of Health
now ask all Medical Officers of Health to report on this subject
under the following four heads:—
(1) The number of (a) Council Houses, (b) other houses,
(i) found to be infested, (ii) disinfested.
There were in the possession of the Council at the end of the
year 808 dwellings. Bug infestation of varying degree was found
during 1936 in 95 of these dwellings. The belongings of the tenants
in these instances had not been dealt with in the cyanide chamber
prior to the tenants moving in. The destruction of vermin in these
dwellings was dealt with by the staff of the Public Health Department
in 20 instances and by the staff of the Housing Department
in a further 20 cases. The remaining 55 dwellings, in which only
slight infestation had occurred, were cleared of vermin by the
tenants as a result of visits by the Housing Welfare Visitors
employed in the Housing Department.
With the exception of six cases of slight infestation vermin
were found to exist only in Council dwellings which were occupied
prior to May, 1934, since which time it has been the practice of the
Borough Council to treat with hydrogen cyanide the belongings of
all persons removing from clearance areas before delivery to the