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to appeal to the magistrate, at Marlborough Street, and
to ask him to pronounce them unfit for human habitation.
A summons was accordingly taken out, and the owner
appeared, on the 5th March, in answer to it, by his agent,
Mr. Berry. He admitted the statements made on behalf
of the local authority by the Medical Officer of Health
and Inspector, and consented that an order should be
made by the magistrate, in the terms of the 13th section
of the Nuisances' Removal Act, that the houses were unfit
for human habitation, and that should not be used again
as habitations until rendered fit for that purpose. The
Medical Officer of Health particularly called the attention
of the Magistrate to the rotten state of the floors, on the
plea that they were altogether unfavourable to cleanliness,
for they could not be washed, and harboured
vermin and filth underneath. The magistrate expressed
great regret at not being competent to order these houses
to be pulled down ; but he gave orders that they should be
cleared of their occupants, and disused as habitations, as
he was requested. The notice embodying his order was
drawn up with some difficulty by the aid of Mr. Capron.
The houses have since been entirely cleansed, painted, and
coloured ; decayed flooring removed, and the spaces under
the floors of the upper rooms cleared out and dosed with
chloride of lime. A new water-closet and cistern has
been erected for each house, and the inlets trapped. The
drains had been made good by a previous magistrate's order.
Thomas-street, No. 36. The whole of this house was
in a very dilapidated condition: ceilings cracked and
threatening to come down, drains stopped up, front area
covered with filth, floor of kitchen rotten, house universally
dirty, and damp from the overflowing of a rainwater
pipe at the back. Proceedings were taken, and the