[Report 1924] / Chief Sanitary Inspector, Aberdeen City.

  • Aberdeen (Scotland). City Council.
Date:
1924
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1924] / Chief Sanitary Inspector, Aberdeen City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    or their families. Children, through want of a suitable playground, are allowed to play in the lobbies and staircases, with the lesult that staircase windows are frequently broken and the paper torn. In 632 houses the plaster on the walls and ceilings of lobbies and staircases required to be repaired. The number for the previous year was 639. It is particularly aggravating to a proprietor to find that, after being put to considerable expense in re-decorating the lobbies and staircases, the walls are scratched or the plaster damaged by the use of some sharp instrument such as a knife. In 51 cases, I was so satisfied that the damage was caused by acts of malicious mischief that I considered it my duty to write the tenants on the subject. Paving of Bach Courts and Passages. There are now comparatively few properties in the City where the back courts are not paved or otherwise suitably surfaced. There is, however, a large number of houses where the passages leading to the outhouses have never been paved, and have been allowed to get into an unsatisfactory condition. During the year, 14 courts and 103 passages were paved, while 52 courts and 50 passages were repaired. The paving of these courts and passages adds greatly to the comfort of the tenants. Repairing of Private Lanes. There is now little cause for complaint as regards the manner in which these lanes are kept. Verminous Persons and Houses. Under the agreement between the Education Authority and the Town Council for dealing with verminous persons and houses, 112 families, comprising 751 persons, were removed to the Cleansing Station for treatment. In the previous year the numbers were, respectively, 78 and 471; and in 1922, 80 and 480. In addition to the foregoing, 46 persons suffering from scabies and 51 ver- minous persons were treated at the Cleansing Station. These persons belonged to households in which there were no school children, and, therefore, did not fall to be dealt with under the agreement with the Education Authority. In the previous year, the numbers were, respectively, 52 and 73. The number of bug-infested houses dealt with during the year was 61, as compared with 45 in the preceding year. As stated in previous reports, it is the | practice of the Department to serve notices under Section 40 of the Public Health I (Scotland) Act, 1897, on both owner and occupier in all such cases. Along with the I notice to the owner is enclosed a letter informing him that if all the paper is removed j from the walls and the skirtings and door facings stripped, the Department is pre- pared to fumigate thoroughly with sulphur all the infested rooms. It is also made a condition that after fumigation all broken plaster should be properly repaired, the woodwork washed with a disinfectant solution which is supplied gratuitously, and i the walls distempered in place of being repapered. The occupier is also informed that if he is prepared to treat all the furniture and furnishings in a similar manner, the Department would supply the necessary disinfectant, and would also remove for j steam disinfection all articles of clothing and bedding which could not be boiled.