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Street and Horseferry Road are still in good condition, though all are
old property, hut Marsham Street will be specially considered. The
hulk of the people in this district are of the poorer working-classes,
dwelling in old property throughout. There is a number of " Courts "
and " Places," of which Blue Anchor Court consists of about a dozen
dwellings of a worn-out character, which suggest strong doubts as to
the possibility of a longer service as human habitations.
It is satisfactory to notice that there has been a decided reduction
in the number of deaths occurring in several of the streets during 1904,
a reduction which has materially affected the death-rate of the district
as a whole. The rates for the four years have been 43.7, 43.2, 43.7, and
27.7 respectively.
Laundry Yard has an average of 5 deaths per annum, but several of
the houses therein have now been closed.
Marsham Street is situated in both Districts 3 and 5. The west
side (in District 5) has an average of 6.5 deaths yearly, occurring in
33 houses, while on the east side (in District 3) the annual number of
deaths in 34 houses is 9"25, or a total for the whole street of 16.75
deaths annually in 67 houses. If the average number of persons per
house in District 5 (excluding Chadwick Street), viz., 7'5, be applied to
Marsham Street, a population of 502 is arrived at, giving a mortality
rate of 33.3. The houses, however, in this street are of 3 storeys, while
about half in District 5 are only of 2 storeys, so that the population is
probably somewhat underestimated. Still, after allowing for this, the
rate must be excessive, probably nearer 30 than 20 per 1,000. The
street is a very old one, and narrow, for the height of the houses.