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Housing (Scotland) Act, 1925, which empowers local authorities to make byelaws as to the accommodation for seasonal workers, were adjusted with the two local authorities concerned, and these came into force in the landward district on 1st April, 1925, and in Lerwick burgh on 9th June, 1926.

During the fishing season of 1926 two of our officers made a detailed inspection of the accommodation provided. The byelaws require that for a period of five years after the date when the byelaws come into force the accommodation shall be at a standard of 250 cubic feet per person, and that thereafter 300 cubic feet per person shall be provided. In only one instance was the standard of 250 cubic feet not attained. The huts as a whole are described as "shining examples of the proverbial cleanliness of the fisher class," but there was a general failure to use the means of ventilation provided, inadequate as these were in some cases. The byelaws require that within two years adequate facilities for ablution and for the washing of clothes shall be provided, and the officers reported that for those purposes an improved water supply to the outlying stations in the Lerwick landward district was necessary.

The subjects arising on the report are being discussed with the local authorities. A scheme for the augmentation of the water supply in the landward area was under the local authority's consideration at the close of the year.

11. Squatters on the Foreshore.-During recent years many local authorities have experienced considerable difficulty with persons who erect tents or shacks within their areas. The local authorities concerned are mostly those on the seaboard, and the great majority of the campers are summer holiday-makers. The local authorities, in the interests of the public health, naturally desire to secure a measure of control over these camps to ensure that they will not be established on sites where there is not an adequate water supply available, and that adequate arrangements are made for the disposal of refuse and the prevention of nuisance. Byelaws under Section 73 of the Public Health (Scotland) Act, 1897, for regulating tents, vans, sheds and similar structures have in some areas been strengthened to cope with the situation, and on the whole it is believed that an appreciable measure of control has been attained. In one area, owing to wise action on the part of the owner of the camping-ground, admirable conditions have been established, but unfortunately a few miles away, and in the area of another local authority, there are conditions that offer a sharp contrast. In the former case the campers are mostly respectable summer visitors, occupying tents on ground that has been rented. In the latter case, the campers are mainly of a different type, occupying quasi-permanent sheds and shacks on the foreshore, where they have "squatted" without permission. In many cases these are the only homes of the campers and are occupied all the year round. As these campers have given a great deal of trouble and have caused damage to the estate, the proprietor requested the local authority to take steps to have the

huts removed. Proceedings were instituted against the occupiers of two huts for erecting buildings without first submitting plans to the local authority. This did not have the desired effect of causing the removal of the structures, and the proprietor again pressed the local authority to follow up the prosecution. But after consideration of the nature of the structures, the local authority came to the conclusion that the building byelaws did not apply to them, and that they came within the scope of the byelaws for tents, vans and sheds made in terms of Section 73 of the Public Health Act, which do not contain any provision for demolition. The local authority also concluded that any steps to be taken for the demolition of the huts should be taken by the proprietor of the ground himself. With this view we concurred. The powers of the local authority under the byelaws framed in terms of Section 73 of the Public Health Act are merely to secure that, when tents, vans and sheds are erected, they shall be kept in a clean and habitable condition. In the event of a nuisance arising under the Public Health Act the local authority would have a duty to take steps to have the nuisance removed.

In this case the water supply to the camping ground was insufficient for the demands made on it in the summer months; it was of doubtful quality, and at considerable distance from many of the huts. Sanitary conveniences and provision for the disposal of refuse did not exist, so the risk to public health was obviously great. Yet such camps are very difficult to regulate, the occupants being frequently poor and improvident, and entirely regardless of any public duty or responsibility. At present the local authority have no power to prevent such squatting, or to cause the huts to be removed until they actually become a nuisance.

12. Discoloration of the Shore of the Clyde Estuary.-The Clyde Navigation Trustees had, in 1925, made application to the Board of Trade for authority to deposit dredgings from the upper reaches of the Clyde at a point in the Firth of Clyde known as Roseneath Patch. After a public inquiry this authority was granted, subject to certain conditions; and, at the request of the Board of Trade, it was arranged that the Board's technical staff should make periodical inspections to see that these conditions. were fulfilled. Inspections of the foreshores were made to ascertain their condition before depositing proceeded, and what effect, if any, the deposits might have in course of time upon the foreshores, particularly from a public health point of view.

Shortly after the inspection had proceeded it was noticed that worm casts thrown up on the white or grey sand were black or of a neutral tint, and this led to digging into the sand to ascertain whence the blackness came.

It was found that at practically every part of the foreshore in the upper estuary, where sand existed, a black deposit underlay the clean surface sand at a depth of one inch or more. On being dug up the black sand smelt faintly of sulphuretted

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hydrogen, but on exposure to the atmosphere the odour rapidly disappeared.

Pollution by sewage seemed at first sight to be a probable explanation of the discoloration, but on further examination it was found that the black deposit was too widespread to be thus accounted for. An alternative theory considered was that the blackness was due to the deposit of dredgings at the mouth of Loch Long years previously, at the time when the upper reaches of the river were not so clean as they are now, and that these dredgings had been covered by a layer of clean sand washed up by the tide. On reflection, however, it became obvious that had such a deposit of dredgings been so extensive as the presence of the black sand indicated, the nuisance would have been intoler able, and records of such a nuisance would certainly have been in existence.

It was evident that this was not the solution, and accordingly it was decided to have samples of the black material taken for chemical analysis and for bacteriological examination. These investigations were carried out over a considerable period. Contrary to expectations the bacillus coli communis, the index of sewage pollution, was not found in the samples except in three or four cases, which were traced to local causes inland and not to the water in the estuary.

The samples submitted for bacteriological examination con tained a total number of bacteria varying in different samples from 10,000 to 3,000,000 per gramme. The bacteriologist

considered that the number of bacteria found in the sand shewed that decomposition of animal and vegetable matter was taking place, and that this accounted for the fairly large number of bacteria. None of these was of the intestinal group which characterises pollution by sewage. About 90 per cent. of them were composed of one of the soil bacteria which is the dominant microbe on the estuary. The bacterium is saprophytic, nonintestinal, non-mobile, spore-forming, liquefies gelatin, is gramme-positive and forms colonies of a filamentous character on agar-plates and finally forms sulphuretted hydrogen. Examination under the microscope revealed various remains of animal and plant life in a state of decomposition, and it was noted that the numbers of bacteria per gramme varied in proportion to the amount of vegetation on the surface.

Microscopical examination did not reveal the presence of fauna and flora in any way inconsistent with what would be expected in the sand of any shore on which seaweeds and similar objects were growing and subsequently decomposing.

The chemical analysis shewed :

Iron estimated as ferric oxide 1.5 per cent. to
Total organic matter

[blocks in formation]

2-3 per cent.

... 0.8 per cent. to
... 93.7 per cent. to

40 per cent. 97.6 per cent.

The iron was estimated as ferric oxide in the analysis, but in the actual material this iron is combined in the form of

sulphide which is black in colour. It was observed that on exposure to light and air the samples of black sand lost their dark colour, the sulphide being oxidised to some stable form of sulphate of iron. The iron present in the sand in the form of black sulphide of iron could be seen by treating the sand with hydrochloric acid, when the odour of sulphuretted hydrogen was observed.

The presence of iron in the sand on the shore is explained by the fact that iron enters into the constitution of the rocks, the decomposition of which gives rise to the production of the sand. The chemical analysis shews that organic matter is present in sufficient amounts to support the numbers of bacteria found in the samples examined, and these bacteria liberate sulphuretted hydrogen. Combination takes place between the iron and the sulphuretted hydrogen to form ferrous sulphide. The black substance in the sand is thus an inorganic and not an organic compound.

On the assumption of the correctness of these facts it becomes evident that such blackening of the substratum of sand on a shore would not be confined to the Clyde estuary, but would take place where there was sufficient iron present in the rocks. This assumption has been confirmed, as a black substratum has been found in the Island of Arran and on the west and east coasts of Scotland far removed from sources of pollution.

Ferrous sulphide in a reservoir.-An interesting detail was revealed by the technical staff in connection with the inspection of a storage reservoir for water used for domestic purposes. A black sandy layer was noticed on the pitching of the embankment of the reservoir, and as the purity of the gathering ground was considered doubtful, the presence of this black layer was naturally regarded with suspicion. Samples of the discoloured material were examined bacteriologically and chemically, and it was found that the blackening was due to the presence of ferrous sulphide, the iron being contained in the water pumped from a deep bore hole in the rocks. This discovery points to the necessity for careful investigation of the causes of pollution.

13. Housing Conditions at Talisker, Skye.-In the last Report reference was made to the difficulty that had arisen at North Talisker and Satran, Isle of Skye, where temporary wooden huts used as dwelling-houses had been reported by the local authority's sanitary officers as overcrowded and in such a state of disrepair as to be unsuitable for further human habitation, although each settler had bound himself to maintain his hut. in good repair and to erect a permanent dwelling-house within two years after settlement. The Board had suggested to the local authority that they should warn the settlers that at the end of the summer of 1926 closing orders would be made in respect of all huts then appearing to be in a state so dangerous or injurious to health as to be unfit for human habitation, and that they should meantime endeavour to induce the holders to fulfil their obligation to build permanent houses. The local

authority, however, did not see their way to accept that suggestion.

At the end of the year the position of matters shewed considerable improvement. Of the 59 settlers whose huts had been adversely reported on, one had already completed a stone-andlime house. In the remaining 58 cases two stone-and-lime houses were in course of completion; 50 settlers had undertaken to erect houses of a composite type, and of these 14 had been completed and 17 were in course of construction. We understand that every effort is being made by the Board of Agriculture for Scotland to impress on defaulting holders the necessity in their own interests of implementing their undertaking to build permanent houses.

14. Offensive Trades.-It was mentioned in the last Report that there was under consideration the report submitted by the special Commissioner appointed to inquire into the appeal against the withholding of sanction by the Lower Deeside District Committee of the County Council of Kincardineshire and by the County Council of Kincardine County to the establishment of a fish meal factory at Clashfarquhar, Portlethen, Kincardineshire. Undertakings regarding the erection and construction of the premises and plant and the working-up of raw material having been obtained from the appellant, we sustained the appeal, and granted sanction to the establishment of the proposed business.

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