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in a double row at right angles to Beckett Street, the backs of the houses
being separated by a yard. This block also includes 31, which fronts into
the main street; 34, 35 and 36 have no backs, and are connected with
37 and 38, thus forming a block of back-to-back houses. Nos. 54, 55, 56
and 57 form another group of somewhat recent construction, these four
houses, however, have back yards.
Practically the remaining houses in the street will come under the
same description of property. They are for the most part brick-built, and
contain three rooms, one being generally used as a sort of wash-house.
Some are level with the street in front, while to enter others, it is necessary
to go down a step; almost invariably at the back, however, the approach
to the yard is up a step. The flooring is in many cases defective, having
probably rotted through the lack of proper ventilation underneath. The
walls are damp and the roof defective in a few instances. The upstairs,
rooms are, generally speaking, approached by a room leading from the living
room downstairs, which consequently acts as a ventilator to the lower
apartment. Some of the houses possess two bed-rooms, and in these there
is not sufficient light and ventilation, as there is only one small window
provided
The yards are almost invariably well paved. In many instances
there is a stable at the end of the yard, the access to it being through the
house. These stables are kept in a condition which much varies, according
to the cleanliness or otherwise of the tenant. A certain number of houses,
have smoke holes for smoking haddocks.
Throughout the street the water-closets are outside, but their
condition varied much according to the occupier. The water is, in
every instance, taken off the main. The dust receptacles are far from
satisfactory; in some there are none at all, while others have an old
dilapidated box. But here again the character of the inmates was shown,
a clean house almost certainly promised a satisfactory dust-bin.
The chief defects that exist in the street, apart from those clearly
attributable to the tenants, are:—
Dampness of certain of the houses.
Insufficient ventilation under the floors.
Insufficient light and ventilation to staircases and to certain rooms.
I have made no mention of the light and ventilation to the street
considered collectively, for I am satisfied with the amount of air that would
be given both to the front and back of the houses provided that obstructions
in the shape of smoke-holes to the current were removed. The newer
buildings, 54-57 and 20-26, to a certain extent, cut off the light and air
from their immediate neighbours, but not to an amount which would
render them unfit for habitation. The back-to-back block, Nos. 34-38, it
is impossible to light and ventilate, and standing as they do at right angles
to the street they cannot fail to exercise a prejudicial effect on the circulation
of air.
I now turn to the vital statistics.