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55
are good and strong. There are several defects, mostly of a minor
character, slight dilapidations, dirty or verminous rooms, dark
rooms, broken floor boards and leaky ceilings.
Cupboards are provided for the storage of food, but in one
tenement the tenant complained that the cupboard could not be
used owing to the presence of blackbeetles, so that the food was
put out on the table every night.
Many of the tenants complained of bugs.
There are no baths provided by the owner.
Gas is available for lighting and for cooking.
There is no resident caretaker.
A water tap and sink are provided on each floor. There are
4 water closets and a washing copper and sink provided on the
ground floor. There is a flat roof to the buildings which gives
facilities for the drying of clothes. There does not appear to be a
sufficient number of washing coppers or of drying facilities. The
washed clothes are often to be seen drying in the passages of the
building.
The disposition of the various tenements is as follows :—
Ground floor : Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ;
First floor : Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ;
Second floor : Nos. 11, 12, 13, 14 ;
Third floor : Nos. 15, 16.
The case of No. 5 deserves special mention. It has one
window and the only outlook from this window is on to the three
water closets which lie about 6 feet from the window.
On the ground floor there are 2 small yards; the first, to a
person entering the buildings, faces the street entrance, and is
roughly 7 ft. 9 in. by 6 ft. 3 in. It contains a yard gulley, a water
closet, and a drain manhole cover. This water closet is, by the
unwritten code of the tenants, generally understood to be used for
men only.