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in accordancc with the magistrate's order. I had pronounced
the house as unfit for human habitation several months before,
at a time when there was a number of families residing in it.
It was necessary, therefore, as no owner of the premises could be
found, that the house should be closed in order to protect the
lives of the persons who were occupying it. There can be no
doubt that other lives would have been sacrificed but for the
action taken. Had it been legally possible to remove Frank
Isworth at the time when I first condemned the house his
life might also have been saved. He determined, however, to
defy the law, regardless of consequences, and persistently
refused to leave. Numerous applications were made to the
magistrates to enforce the order, but owing to the great press
of business at the Court and the reluctance on the part of
the magistrates to enforce the law, further action was delayed
from time to time for several months. All this time the defendant,
his wife and children, were residing in the vitiated
atmosphere of the house. On one occasion I applied personally
to the magistrate, and informed him that it was a
question of human life, and that the children looked as if
they were dying. The press of business at the Court outweighed
my statements, and the result was, that at length, when
the defendant was removed, he had become so ill from the
combined effects of poverty and a vitiated atmosphere, that he
died three days after he was taken to prison. A great sensation
was created because he died in prison, but surely the comfortable
ward of a prison infirmary was preferable to a house
containing nothing but an atmosphere recking with stench.
It was not known as a fact that he was ill. Had he complained
to the warrant officer he would have been at once taken
to a hospital or the workhouse.
Dust Heaps.
During last year there were many complaints made of nuisances
occasioned by large accumulations of house refuse deposited
in fields for the purpose of brick making. No legal action was
taken by your Board in these cases. It was found that the
contractors were willing, as far as was practicable, to carry out
the regulations that were issued. They were required not to
burn, but to at once bury all the soft core. The precautions had
the effect of so far lessening the nuisance that the inhabitants
ceased to complain.
Sanitary Work.
A very large amount of sanitary work was got through in the