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64
SHELTER.
By section (60) of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, every
London Local Sanitary Authority is bound to provide, free of charge,
temporary house accommodation, with the necessary attendants, for
persons who have been compelled to leave their dwellings for the
purpose of having them disinfected by the Sanitary Authority.
So long ago as 1891 I advised the local authority to provide a
shelter for this purpose. It was not until early in last year that the
local authority saw their way to make this provision. It was then
included in the scheme of a new disinfecting station. Dp till last
year payment was made to persons who were obliged to leave their
home during the disinfection, for the accommodation they had been
obliged to procure elsewhere. This payment was made on the scale
of 2/6 per room each night. The arrangement was very unsatisfactory.
No control could be exercised over the choice of
accommodation made by the displaced tenants. Probably they
obtained access to families who were already crowded, and may in
some cases have carried infection with them. My reason for this last
assumption is based upon my experience of the use of the new
shelter provided. Since it has been opened I have been called twice
to see the members of the families housed, and have on each
occasion found a person suffering from infectious disease. This
would under the old system have led to an extension of disease in
the Borough. These cases alone quite apart from a priori reasoning
are in my opinion a triumphant justification of the action of the
local authority in providing this accommodation.
The shelter has been described in my last year's report; but I may
here repeat, that it consists of four tenements capable of accommodating
a similar number of families at one time. Each tenement
consists of two living rooms, a scullery, bath-room and w.c. The
building was ready for use in March, 1902. Below is given a table
of the number of persons housed there during the year.