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Slaughter Houses. 75. There is less slaughtering now done in tho
district than formerly. Tho slaughter-house in Duke-street, which has
been a constant subject of complaint, has been at length closed. The
number of cattle killed annually in the various slaughter-houses, is 359,
and of sheep 7436.
Bake-houses, 76. These have been kept in a clean and wholesome
state.
Condemned Houses. 77. Owing to a communication from the Local
Government Board, your Board desired me to report on the condition of
Church-lane and the adjacent courts. After a careful inspection of the
whole of the houses, I certified to your Board, in pursuance of the 5tli
section of the " Artizans' and Labourers' Dwellings' Act, 1868," that
they were unfit for human habitation. The subject is now under the
consideration of the Surveyor.
78. A similar inspection was made of Coram-place and Russell-place,
adjacent to Little Coram-street, and finding that the whole of these houses
were built in a pit, eight feet below the surface of the roadway of Little
Coram-street, that several of the houses were in a ruinous state, that
the ground floors of all the houses were below the surface of the soil of
the yard on which they stood, that several of them had no room for
necessary domestic accommodations, that the ventilation was bad, partly
and primarily owing to the site, and partly to faults of construction, that
the drainage was inadequate, and that, finally, the general mortality was
50 per cent, greater than that of the parish, whilst that of cholera was
four times greater, I certified that these two courts were unfit for human
habitation ; and your Board is now engaged with the necessary measures
for carrying out the Act. I may observe that the District Surveyor has,
since my Report, condemned several of the houses, and they are either
closed or are in course of demolition.
79. I have also reported, during the year, on the condition of the
Parochial Alms-houses, in Smart's-buildings; of Barley-court; and of
King's Arms-yard. The parochial authorities are, I am informed, considering
the subject of the alms-houses, and the District Surveyor has
condemned Barley-court, the. whole of the houses in which are now
demolished.
Princes Court, Drury Lane. 80. This court was also certified by me
to be unfit for human habitation, and has since been demolished by the
District Surveyor.
81. It is very much to be desired that the law gave more stringent
powers to local authorities, to prevent the re-erection of buildings upon the
old sites, so that the new buildings might not become as unfavorable to
health as the old ones. Houses built back to back, for example, like those
in Princes-court, or with very small yards, are insusceptible of thorough
ventilation; their staircases are always dark ; and as their domestic accommodations,
water-closets, dust-bins, &c., are almost of necessity in the
basement, the air in them is always impure and noxious. Such a perpetuation
of mischief ought not to be permitted; and the rights of landlords