View report page

190
employed therein. Still there remains much to be done, more especially as to the
overcrowding of workshops, but also in reference to ventilation and drainage.
The inspector for this district has also imposed upon him the duty of taking
samples under the Food and Drugs Act, while the three junior inspectors divide
among them the supervision of the street markets.
The assistant disinfector, who had been engaged casually, was placed upon the
staff, and drives the van with the bedding, &c., to and from the disinfecting oven.
Mr. Barclay, who was employed in distributing disinfectants during the
summer, has been detained in the office to assist the clerk (Mr. Barr) upon whom
much of the large increase in clerical work has necessarily fallen He also assists
the inspector in taking samples of food.
Finally, in regard to the Medical Officer, it was felt by the General Purposes
Committee that if he was to have that control over the work of the department as
the Vestry desired he should, he must attend more than the minimum half-hour a
day, which on his appointment was thought to be sufficient, and eventually, with
this object, the salary was raised to £350 per annum.
The supervision of the health of a parish of the size of Shoreditch, with its
crowded population and numerous industries, requires undoubtedly the whole time
of a medical officer of health, and it is also evident that the increased duties
imposed by recent Acts will necessitate some further increase in the staff of the
department. For there are yet several matters which await settlement, chief
among these will be the execution of the bye-laws passed by the London County
Council and by the Vestry, which are still under the consideration of the Local
Government Board. Especially in regard to those relating to houses let in
lodgings will the work at tirst be heavy, as each room in houses which are to be
registered must be measured and brought into compliance with the bye-laws.
The Public Health Act further increased the duties of sanitary authorities by
making them responsible for the prevention of the smoke nuisance. The inspectors
have frequently cautioned persons using furnaces which did not consume their own
smoke, but more severe measures are evidently required to abate this nuisance.
The Control Department of the County Council send down from time to time
complaints of chimneys its officers have seen smoking, but when the Vestry proposed
to prosecute the offending owners, the County Council refused to allow the officer
who had witnessed the offence to give evidence.
It is desirable that a record be kept of the various works which are carried
out in the parish with more detail than is at present done. By a reference to the
counterfoils of notices which have been served in past years, it is possible to