View report page

54
securing the cleanliness and freedom from pollution of tanks, cisterns,
and other receptacles used for storing of water used or likely to be
used by man for drinking.
The by-laws require such cisterns to be cleansed once at least in
every six months, and at such other times as may be necessary, and
contravention thereof renders the person liable to penalties.
Special attention should be given to such cleansing at the present
time, as, consequent on the heavy rainfall during last year, much of the
water supplied contained suspended matter, which has been deposited
at the bottom of cisterns.
John Hunt,
Town Clerk.
Westminster City Hall, W.C.,
It'll June, 1904.
Applications were received for 38 certificates that the water supply
of new buildings was sufficient, and were granted in each instance;
236 notices of the withdrawal of water supply were received from the
Water Companies, and in 126 instances it was reinstated; 17 houses
have been pulled down and 93 are empty. In 356 instances cisterns
were required to be cleansed; 473 cisterns were required to be
provided with proper covers, and 335 new cisterns were fixed, 203
being in places of defective cisterns.
A closing order was made in respect of one house (No. 8, Lancashire
Court), in consequence of the absence of water supply.
Housing of the Working Classes.
The building of the three blocks of dwellings in Regency Street,
built by the City Council, was finished in 1904, and are now occupied
by 344 families, comprising 1,138 persons. The number of applicants
was several times more than could be accommodated. Preference was
given to persons employed in the City.
Healthiness of Block Dwellings.
In order to ascertain the relative healthiness of dwellings erected in
blocks, I have extracted from the Registrar's Weekly Returns the deaths
of persons residing therein, and have compared the figures with the officials
of nearly all the companies owning such buildings in the City, to whom
I am indebted for the trouble they have taken.
The accompanying Table XVI. shows the number of births and
deaths in 1904, with the causes of death, and the number of deaths of
infants and persons over 65.