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46
with sewer gas was not only misleading, but
something worse. The fresh air inlets referred
to were fixed under the area gratings in the
pavement to protect them from wilful damage.
Respecting the public sewer in the centre of
the court, I suggested that a ventilating shaft
be inserted at its distal end and carried up to
the top of the nearest building.
The water service may be also improved by
the erection of cisterns for storage in addition to
the domestic hydrants in the centre of the court;
the present supply, derived from the East
London Company, is intermittent.
The present appearance of the court is
prejudiced by the state of the houses condemned
in 1894, which are becoming so dilapidated as
to be almost unsafe; moreover, this effect is
intensified by the ruinous condition of the backs
of the premises fronting in Bishopsgate Street,
which are as bad as any in Montague Court.
Having regard to these facts, the Committee
hesitated to confiscate this property as permanently
unwholesome and unfit for human.