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15
is appended, shows in detail that during the eight months
since his appointment he has got through a large amount
of very useful work. It will be satisfactory for the Council
to learn that in this period alone some 70 houses were
re-drained under his supervision. The occasions that
necessitated these works were in many instances the result
of sanitary inspections required by incoming tenants, in
others, obstructions of house drains leading up to the
thorough over-hauling of the sanitary system of the house,
drain testings consequent upon nuisances complained of,
and those following cases of infectious illness. It was
found that re-drainage was mostly required, some from the
systems in use being antiquated and not complying with
the primary principles of latter-day drainage, some from
faulty construction, and others from fair wear and tear.
No less than 124 houses were provided with dust bins and
there are many more that will yet have to obtain them.
These are mainly of course in the Tolworth and Southborough
districts.
Since the houses of the working classes are now
mostly fitted with water closets and flushing cisterns, there
is a greater need for close and frequent inspections of them,
owing to their getting out of repair and remaining so.
For instance, as a consequence of frost, flushing pipes get
frozen and burst, and the tenants' complaints—when they
do complain—often remain unattended to at the hands of
their landlords for many weeks together, or the flushing
apparatus or closet mechanism gets out of order, and to
get these repaired, pressure on the part of the Inspector is
frequently besought, in fact, to some extent, the Sanitary
Inspector stands between the working man tenant and the
landlord and his assistance is constantly invoked for that
very object. In many instances, however, these defects