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25
Factories and Workshops Act.
The premises under the regulations of the above Acts have
been periodically visited, and, speaking generally, may be considered
in a satisfactory condition; in a few cases a word of
warning had to be administered. The Laundries and Bakehouses
have received attention, and where any infringement of the Acts
were discovered, Notices were served and their provisions complied
with.
Drain-testing.
During the year, 829 drains were tested by chemicals, smoke,
and water, and in 178 cases defects were discovered to exist,
principally in the traps. In each case steps were immediately
taken to procure the amendment of such defects. Much good
work continues to be done in this direction.
Complaints.
Four hundred and twenty-nine complaints have been received
— 311 written and 118 verbal. Many of them proved, on examination,
to be frivolous, and others beyond the jurisdiction of the
Sanitary Authority; others had been made from sheer vindictiveness,
whilst many were perfectly justifiable. There are many
persons with confused ideas as to what are the functions of a
Sanitary Inspector, applications being frequently made for the
ejectment of an undesirable lodger or neighbour, &c.
A large number of anonymous letters containing various
complaints have been received, and in a few instances neither the
name nor the number of any street was given, in consequence of
which they could not be traced. The rule of the Department is
to investigate every complaint made, and personally I think that
it is preferable that a few anonymous, frivolous complaints should
be investigated, than run the risk of neglecting one that may turn
out to be of a serious character.