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for crickets. In November, 1933, the destructor was closed down
and arrangements made for the refuse to be taken by barge to
dumps outside the borough.
Another vanished aspect of sanitary inspection is that of canal
boats, many of which in earlier years stopped at Hackney, and in
1920 and later years necessitated one of the sanitary inspectors
being approved as Canal Boat Inspector. This inspector visited
between 30 and 40 canal boats each year, but because of the increase
in road motor transport and the use of motor-driven and motorhauled
boats, instead of horse-drawn boats with their frequent
halts to rest and change the horses, these boats now pass through
Hackney without stopping.
One great change which will ultimately have considerable effect
on the work of the sanitary inspectors is the increase as compared
with earlier years in the number of houses occupied by more than
one family. Owing to the housing situation, almost all the houses
in the borough have been converted into tenements or houses let
in lodgings and, when circumstances permit, will have to be dealt
with under the byelaws applicable to such houses.
The reduction in the work arising out of the factors mentioned
above has, however, been more than offset by the increase in the
surveillance needed in connection with premises registered for the
preparation and preservation of food, including ice-cream, and
similar registration under the Food and Drugs Act, 1938, the new
standards for so many foods, the supervision of such trades as the
pasteurising and bottling of milk, and investigation arising from the
routine notification of food poisoning, and the deterioration of
dwelling accommodation and difficulty in securing the necessary
repairs.
One of the most striking changes in the borough has been the
improvement in the condition of the River Lea which for many
years was the cause of so many complaints from persons living in
the neighbourhood, from the boating clubs, and other persons who
endeavoured to use the river and which also attracted so much
comment in the Press. The pollution of the river was such that
deputations went to the Lee Conservancy Board and conferences
were held on many occasions—one such deputation to the Board
being headed by Mr. Herbert Morrison, at that time Mayor of the
borough.
For year after year the Medical Officer of Health's Annual
Reports contained reference to the river, usually beginning with
the following words: "The River Lea has remained in its usual
offensive condition during the year," and in my Annual Report
for 1921 I gave extracts from the Annual Reports of Dr. King
Warry on the state of the Lea from 1901 onwards.