A PSEUDO INSPECTOR.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 92, 25 May 1914, Page 10

A PSEUDO INSPECTOR.

RESIDENTS TAKEN IN. PERTURBATION IN SYDENHAM. There was considerable perturbation among residents of Wordsworth Street, Sydenham, on Saturday, and in the afternoon several able-bodied maleNresidents in that street were to be seen industriously cleaning out fowlhouses anddrains, and tidying up their premises generally. The cause of all the bustle was a diminutive female armed with a notebook and pencil, who had threatened all sorts of pains and penalties if her instructions were not carried out. But there probably will be much abuse of the English language this evening, when j those industrious workers of Saturday afternoon find that they have been most roundly and completely fooled. As a matter of fact, there are several Government and municipal authorities who would like to know who the little lady who thus descended upon Sydenham is, for she has no authority to so disturb the peaceful residents of that district. To some people she has passed herself off as a health inspector, to others as a City Council inspector, and to others again as_ njerely a "City inspector." But she is none of. these thingS, for the municipal and health authorities of Christcliurch not only disclaimed any knowledge of tiie woman when questioned by a SUN representative this morning, but. were sUI-prised to fin?! that such an inspection had been made.

STRIPPING CHILDREN. It .seems that, the pseudo inspector 's mode of operation on Saturday was to call at houses .which appeared to her to be the residents of workmen, and to inform the people therein, rather peremptorily, that she had to inspect the house and those living in it. In ea'cfct; case she enquired whether there ; wefe any children, and, r if answered .in the a,ffirmative, shfe. demancled that they: be produced and eitlier partially or wholly stripped in order that she might examine their -bodies; for traces of rash pr, any other skin disease. In some:eases she prevailed upon adults to rbare tlveir arms or shoulders for inspection. How : ever, in hone of the hpiises .which, a SUN representative visited, this .morning did she firid cliiidren>Suffering from any disease, so what she intended to do when she discovered anv cannot be told. : -The woman's procedure varied somewhat. At some houses she was cpntent vHth seeing the children and the yards, but in others she insisted on being shown right through the dwellings. Where she found anything that did not suit her rather arbitrary taste she issufed orders that be effected within seven days, whefrshe would call again, and take proceedings against anyone who had not, complied-, with her instructions. In,one case she fbund a few fresh leaves, from a hedge, in a drain that really was in good order, and she informed the housewife that if the draiii was not- cleaned by 0.45 a.m.; to-day there-would:.be proceedings. She told "the lady of that house that the City Council had sent her out, an<f ' that since she had started her tour of- inspection .she.'had visited some 400 houses. NTMUROUS WAN Tit*. I -

Another housewife in Wordsworth Street was naturally rather. annoyed when the self-styled inspector descends ed upon her about noon, when the middiiy meal was cooking in tl'ie< oven, and insisted upon a, lengthy inspection of the i premises, and an eiit over • a little .grass, in the backyard. 3fn this case~the •alleged inspector's -wants were ''pretty numerous, > The fowlyard - was-to be cemented, the grass 'disposed of immediately, - the drains were to be cleaned, i and there- were various other ~requir.e- ] -ments. Even some celery. 4 which was just going into the soup-pot had to be j looked at. , The "inspector':' (iiseover- | ed that a new stove was required wi tlie i kitchen, that was, not safe—slie said that she had noticed ,tke state of .the chimney when passing in her motor car on the previous and.that two rooms were to be papered? And she i-iaiil that she see that all this was done.

• The requirements in the way- of cleaning and repairing drains, mending leaks in roofs, -re-papering' r6oms; keeping windows open, disinfecting premises,concreting fowl-runs, keeping, food ...re-, ceptaeles at least a foot above the ground, arid generally; bringing tlie places., "".right up. to were so numerous that THE SUN man was not surprised to find that the ''inspector'had,used shorthand to make all the entries in her little notebook. One housewife admitted this morning that one of the drains in her yard looked better than it clid on Saturday morning. But THE; SUN irian found that the places'" where the ' fin'- 5 spector'' made the most fuss are-really. rieat ami clean. THE WOMAN DESCRIBED. The "inspector'' was described as being about oft in height, and/of small, build, with small hands ftnd feet, and small features, with, ' however, a firm mouth. She- wore glasses,', and J;he consen siis of Opinion was that she"was ; between 35 and -i.> years of age:. - She -had frizzy hair, but whereas one or two people said she was. dark, and others that she was fair, the housewife who seeiiieA to be the most careful observer described her as being V between colours.*' She wi>re a long green coat,* a -silver fur, and a riavy felt -hat. Nearly every housewife on whom she had called stated that she was exceedingly sharp in detecting things. At one, house a little more information .was elicited. It was stated there that when the woman left she went off with a tall, dark man, about 50 years old, and with a dark moustache. * This man was said to have worn a felt hat and a soft shirt and collar without a tie. His appearance was forbidding. One feature of the affair was that in nearly every case the "inspector" left the impression that she was ecceiitric, to say the least.. Several of the housewives who were quietly engaged in their domestic duties were quite frightened by the woman's manner, and her insistence on inspecting every nook and corner of the house. She consistently declined to reveal her identity to any. of those on whom she called, but she insisted on being told the names of occupiers of houses where she did not think that her requirements would be met, in order that she might "put a mark against their names in her book."

, Anyone who opens the door to a lady "inspector" after this would be well advised to insist on the production of the inspector's authority before admitting her to the house.