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110
Overcrowding, of course, cannot be accurately defined,
as cleanliness and open windows make all the
difference, but having regard to the size of the rooms
and the habits of the occupiers, tenements with more
than two occupiers to a room must be considered overcrowded,
and the proportion of the population living
under these conditions is given in the first table of
this report.
The condition of these various tenements and that
of the people themselves has been carefully noted
and three divisions have been made—(1) clean, (2)
medium, (3) dirty.
Under Division (1) clean, were 34 tenements.
Under Division (2) medium, were 78 tenements.
Under Division (3) dirty, were 90 tenements, of which 9 were
especially filthy.
Some of the tenements at the time of the Enquiry
were comparatively clean, yet subsequently the children
from them were found to have been more than
once compulsorily cleansed. These tenements, therefore,
have been re-classified as dirty. Where, however,
most of the houses are verminous, it is not possible
to make any arbitrary standard.
Structurally, the houses are not so bad, though all
wanting in open space at the rear, but owing to the
habits of the tenants, and to the dirt and vermin, some
have become almost uninhabitable. In these circumstances
it is difficult for the landlords to keep their
property in any state of repair, and premises put in
order in the course of this enquiry have already
become as bad as before.
Employments.
Although in some cases it has not been easy to
determine the past or present occupations of some