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76
The yards on the East side are small and measure from
16 feet in the smallest to 23 feet in the largest from the rear
wall of house to the boundary wall behind.
They abut on the premises of the Motor Car Works and
the Telephone Exchange, which is on this side bounded by a
wall varying in height from 18 to 20 feet. The smallness of
the yards, together with the obstruction of light and ventilation
by the above-mentioned boundary wall, renders these yards
very unhealthy.
Each house has a separate water closet, but in most
houses more than one family live and the water closets are
used in common. The water closets with few exceptions are
in a fair condition of construction. The yards are paved, but
they are worn and uneven.
At the rear of the houses on the West side there are small
yards more or less inefficiently paved. Each house has a
separate water closet which is used generally by more than one
family. They are 13 feet from the house.
The water closets are badly constructed with a low roof
which compels those entering to stoop. They are all out of
the perpendicular and some lean over in a dangerous manner.
Some have been buttressed with brickwork. A heavy slate
cistern is placed on the roof of the water closet and adds to
danger of its collapsing. Behind the small paved yard
there is a garden to each house about 45 feet long. These
gardens are worn down hard, the ground is uneven and they
are generally in a dirty condition. Most contain fowls and
various kinds of accumulation, which add to its insanitary
condition.
In addition to the foregoing, I should like to draw the
attention of the Committee to two houses known as Nos. 1
and 2, Hermitage Cottages. These are situated on the West
side of the Creek, and are approached through an archway
under No. 7, Upper Mall. These houses consist of two rooms
each, the ground floor level is 2 feet 6 inches below the
adjoining garden. The walls have no damp proof course and
are damp. There is no ventilation under floor. The rooms
are very small and badly lighted.
There is no through ventilation in No. 1, but in No 2 the
occupier has cut holes through the walls of the first floor
room. The stairs are defective and unsafe and the ceiling is
unsound. There is one water closet for the two houses.