CO129-297 - Governor Sir Blake - 1900 [1-3] — Page 523

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8. Although there appeared to me to he some risk

of encouraging the importation or breeding of rats by the

offer of a reward for them, I sanctioned the proposals of the Board as the previous efforts at extermination had not met with any marked success.

9. Action was taken in accordance with the sug- gestions of the Board in the beginning of January. Bird lime was issued to applicants in lieu of trapçif desired, but ap- plications for these means of catching rats have not been very numerous, only 204 traps and 67 lbs. of bird lime having been

issued to date.

Many of the inhabitants have however adopted means of their own to catch the vermin and 1136 rats have been paid for in Victoria and 25 in Kowloon.

10. The rats are now collected by the Sanitary Inspectors on their morning rounds with the rubbish carts and paid for on the spot, and I am informed that so far there has been no cause to suspect that the rats are not caught in and about the houses,

I have communicated a copy of your despatch

to the Sanitary Board and experiments are about to be made by its officers to see whether it is possible in this city with its small glazed pipe sewers and large stone storm water drains to kill rats by filling the sewers and drains with poi- sonous gas,

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