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15
The Committee has considered the provision of a Reception
House, where families from one, two, or three-roomed tenements may
temporarily be housed while their rooms are being disinfected. A
piece of land has been acquired abutting on the Stone Yard in King
James Street, and plans have been passed for the erection of a
suitable building. Some delay has been occasioned by the change of
Surveyors, but tenders for the erection will shortly be issued.
The condition of the trees in the Parish has frequently
received attention. They do not flourish for a variety of reasons.
In one instance it was discovered that owing to a serious leak in the
gas mains some well established trees were poisoned. This is but an
illustration of the risks to which these trees are exposed, and it is
remarkable that they should have done as well as they have. At the
same time, the Yestry would take this opportunity of appealing to
the Parishioners to spare no pains to protect their own property.
There is no doubt that if the trees had a fair chance, in five-andtwenty
years' time they would improve considerably the appearance
of the Parish, and might improve somewhat its sanitary condition.
As regards the open spaces of the Parish, they continue to be
used by large numbers of people, but their total area amounts to
less than half-an-acre for 60,000 people. The Churchyard, however,
presents many difficulties to this Committee ; and, popular as this
small ground is, want of air, light, and good soil prevent the growth
of flowers. But a proposal is now before the London County Council
which may tend considerably to the improvement of this ground.
The sanitary condition of Wilmot's Buildings and Bangor Court has
been brought under the notice of the Yestry by the Medical Officer,
and a considerable number of houses in the former have been closed.
There has been also, for many years, a generally expressed desire
that the Borough, as a thoroughfare, should be improved. Traffic
not unfrequently becomes congested opposite St. George's Church,
and there is reason to expect that when the new approaches to
the Tower Bridge are complete, and when the Tower Bridge
becomes more generally used, the traffic in Long Lane will
further increase. The condition of Tabard Street—the Kent
Street of old days—has also received frequently the consideration of
the Yestry. A scheme, therefore, has been laid before the 'County