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170
already been made possible in theory by the provision of adequate
air space and means of ventilation. In the absence of snch a
standard the machine may still do much to prevent the deliberate
neglect to use the means of ventilation with which the greater
number of workshops have been provided.*
(d) Drainage of Floors where wet processes are carried on.—The
only "wet processes" carried on in Finsbury, speaking generally,
are small laundries, of which there are 24 on the register. In three
instances it has been necessary to advise more adequate drainage.
(e) Provision of Suitable and Sufficient Sanitary Conveniences.—
In respect to this matter we have found it necessary to take considerable
action. Speaking of small workshops it must be said in
the first place that the sanitary conveniences are situated in the
back yards near the workshops as a rule, and do not gain in
suitability on that account in the second place, they were constructed
for the use of the residents in the house, at one time a
single family, and latterly several families living on the tenement
system, and now have to serve also as the sanitary convenience for
the workshop. Consequently Ave may have one sanitary convenience,
not infrequently ill-situated, acting for the house and workshop.
This is undesirable, but it is impracticable in many cases to arrange
otherwise. It is obvious how this state of things has come to be.
One family in former days occupied the whole house and possessed
a workshop, say, on the ground floor or in the back yard. Prosperity
of trade necessitated the engagement of one or two additional
workers not belonging to the family. Sometimes such workers lived
in the house, in oilier cases they lived elsewhere. Eventually,
perhaps, the owner himself moved out and sub-let his house in
tenements, retaining the ground floor and the workshop. Thus Ave
have the present position:—a tenement house containing three or
four families, a workshop in the back yard, the employes of which
come in from other districts. The sanitary convenience acts for
both parties, the residents and non-resident workers.
With regard to workshops, particularly in the Eastern Division
of the Borough, the chief difficulty is due to the fact that whole
* For details of experiments vide Appendix page 199.