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The density of the area was therefore about 630 persons per acre, in comparison
with 147 for the Holborn Borough, and 61 for the whole of London.
A few of the principal changes that have been made are the following:—
In 1901, soon after the representation was made, Nos. 26 to 31, inclusive,
Eyre Street Hill, were demolished and rebuilt as factories, and in January, 1904,
all the houses in Summers Court were voluntarily closed. Daring 1905, Nos.
7 and 8, Summers Street were voluntarily closed, when legal proceedings for
their closure under Part II. of the Act were being initiated, and notwithstanding
repeated promises of development of the area, the houses were repaired and
re-occupied by October, 1905. Nos. 1 and 2, Eyre Terrace were closed by
Magistrate's order under Part II. of the Act. During 1905 the front walls of
the majority of the houses facing the principal streets in the area were repointed.
Before the Inquiry I again made a detailed inspection and report of all the
houses and premises in the area, and prepared statistics and various death-rates
for the preceding ten years; also details of sanitary notices that had been served
for the year 1901 to the date of the Inquiry, inclusive; details respecting Italians
in London, and various other statistics.
I may briefly say that this detailed report showed:—
(1) That a very large majority of the houses, courts, and alleys within the
said area were more or less unfit for human habitation.
(2) That the streets and houses, and groups of houses within the area were
generally narrow, close, and badly arranged, and of bad condition, that many had
want of light, air, and ventilation; that the great majority had no proper conveniences,
and that a very large number of notices were yearly being served for
sanitary defects, and I was of opinion that such causes were dangerous or
injurious to the health of the inhabitants of the buildings in the said area.
(3) The following evils and sanitary defects connected with such houses,
courts, or alleys, were thus briefly summarised.
In the area the houses generally were old and worn, and many were dangerously
dilapidated.
In many the landings and floors were slanting, sunken, and uneven, the
walls were bulged, uneven, and out of the perpendicular, in some cases so
dangerously so that they had to be supported by iron stays or ties.
Many of the houses had no through ventilation, nor ventilation under the
ground floors, many had no back areas, and many others but very small ones.
Many of the rooms were dark and badly ventilated, and many were very low.
The efficient ventilation of many of the rooms was very much impeded or prevented
by the defective or broken window frames, sashes, and sashlines; many of