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13
selected for his standard an average of two persons
per room as the maximum permissible for
healthy occupation. In so doing he was obliged to
neglect the effects of ventilation, light, cleanliness, &c.,
all of which are of the utmost' importance in deciding
whether a given room be overcrowded or not. Adopting
the standard just named, it appears that at the date
of the last Census, 16.82 percent, of the whole population
of the Parish lived in an overcrowded condition. In
the District of St. Mary 20.76 percent, of the inhabitants
were similarly housed, whilst in that of St. John
only 6.97. For purely local purposes, the figures of
the two sub-districts are the more instructive. Considering
them, it appears that of the inhabitants of
one-room tenements, 50.5 percent, were overcrowded
in St. Mary's, and 34.0 in St. John's ; of the inhabitants
of two-room tenements, 50.4 and 40.4; of those
in three rooms, 22.7 and 17.0; and of those in four
rooms, 14.5 and 13.1.
If the housing of the population be an important
factor qua health, it may well be expected that there
will be marked differences in the incidence of disease
and death among the inhabitants of the two districts.
Evidence will be put forward of such differences as
regards both infectious disease and death among the
younger inhabitants. The facts set out in the
preceding paragraphs are recapitulated and emphasised
in Tables 3a, 3b, and 3c.