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39
of my requirements have been complied with and the houses
thoroughly cleansed and renovated. Notices have also been
issued, in reference to the insanitary internal condition of seventeen
houses (excluding houses cleansed and renovated after
infectious disease), several occupied by more than one family, and
the necessary works carried out. I attach considerable importance
to this branch of the work, as the execution of costly works to
secure perfect external sanitation is of little benefit if the
internal conditions are injurious to health. It is a common
experience to find the walls of old dwelling houses in the poorer
class districts plastered with large numbers of inferior wall papers,
held together with putrid layers of decomposing paste and
accumulated filth, imparting to the rooms, often ill-ventilated and
occupied by many persons, a very objectionable smell. In carrying
out cleansing works I have found no less than thirteen separate
papers on the walls of a room, and the change in the atmosphere
after removal and cleansing has been remarkable. The Housing
and Town Planning Act of 1909 confers on the Sanitary Authority
power to exercise control over the state of repair of houses let to
the working classes, which will assist in dealing with injurious
conditions of the nature referred to.
Factory and Workshops Act 1901.
As indicated in my last report the registers of factories and
workshops which must be kept by the Sanitary Authority in
accordance with the provisions of the above Act were greatly in
need of revision, only four factories and twenty-five workshops being
recorded. I have now ascertained the number of these premises
actually in existence to be : Factories 15 ; Workshops 56; and a
new register has accordingly been prepared.
Inspections of these premises have been made throughout the
year, and notices issued for:—cleansing and lime washing where