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Works, and that water jars and disinfectants could be obtained
free of charge. Nearly 800 2-lb. bags of Carbolic Acid Powder
were given away. Carts containing water and Carbolic Acid
were daily sent through the poorer districts to flush the waterclosets,
and the gulleys were flushed with water and Carbolic
Acid (1 in 1000).
HOUSING OF THE WORKING CLASSES ACT.
Chusan Place Area.— Towards the end of 1897, 1, 2, 3
and 4, Chusan Place, 1 to 8, Marchant's Row, and 2, 4 and 13,
St. Anne's Row, were closed by a Magistrate's order. The
houses in Marchant's Row were demolished, those in St. Anne's
Row were repaired and put in such a condition that when they
were inspected by the Sanitary Committee in June, it was
decided not to oppose the application of their owners to have
them re-opened. Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4, Chusan Place are still closed
and in the same condition.
After inspecting 1, ia and 2, Twine Court, and 1 to 12,
Newton Rents, I made an official representation to the Board
that these houses were in a state so dangerous to health as to
be unfit for human habitation. An order was obtained from the
Magistrate to have the houses in Twine Court closed, but after
visiting the houses in Newton Rents on three different occasions,
the last time after extensive alterations and repairs had been
completed, he decided not to close them and dismissed the
summons, but allowed the Board four guineas costs.
There is a slight difficulty in correctly stating the number
of people to each acre of land in the District. The area of the
District given by the Registrar-General is 465 acres, but the
Officials of this Board have always taken it to be 562 acres. The
discrepancy is probably due to the fact that the latter include the
space occupied by the docks and half of the river. Taking the
latter figures, the number of persons to an acre is 104. This
compares very favourably with the rest of London. Some parts
of the District are very much more populous than others. At
the request of the Board I had the census taken in certain streets
in order to find out whether there was gross overcrowding.