View report page

69
the end of 1905 the number was 1,641, 12 were added in 1906, and
46 removed, leaving 1,602 at the end of the year. 1,905 visits were
paid, nearly all by the women Inspectors. Overcrowding was found in
10 instances, and other defects 240.
Housing of the Working Classes.
Marshall Street Dwellings.—The City Council have added to the
dwellings under their control a block of 20 tenements on a site of about
3,255 square feet in their possession in Marshall Street, which was
lately occupied by three small houses.
The cost of the buildings (exclusive of the value of the site, £2,700)
amounted to £4,635. The building is five storeys in height, including
half basement and attic storey. There are 10 three room tenements and
ten two room tenements; the former being let at 1 1s. to 1 1s. 6d. per
week, the latter at 8s. to 8s. 6d. per week. These rents include chimney
sweeping and the free use of Venetian blinds. The living rooms are
148 feet super., and the bedrooms vary from 103 feet to 113 feet super.
The height being 8 feet 6 inches.
All the tenements are self-contained, i.e., each has a separate scullery
and w.c. Every tenement is entered from a lobby so as to give absolute
privacy to the respective tenants, and from this lobby access is obtained
to the scullery and w.c., which are completely cut off from the living
room. These lobbies are provided with shelves, hat and coat hooks, &c.
Each kitchen is supplied with a self-setting close range fitted with
removable oven, a cupboard divided into two parts, the upper part for
the storage of food and properly ventilated, the lower part as a receptacle
for household utensils. A dresser or rows of shelves has also been
provided. All the bedrooms have been fitted with a mantel register
and supplied with a good sized cupboard with hooks for hanging clothes.
Each scullery is fitted with a copper for boiling linen, a glazed stoneware
washing trough, and a gas cooking stove. There is also a large
coal bunk next the sink, the top of which serves as a draining board to
the sink.
Every tenement is lighted by gas on the penny-in-the-slot system.
The staircase walls have been faced with marble mosaic to ensure an
absolutely smooth and clean surface requiring no annual expense for
distempering, and the staircase is made attractive by the use of ornamental
panelled balusters instead of plain bars. The floors throughout
are of fireproof construction, and the pavings and landings are formed of
granolithic materia). The lavatories are paved with mosaic, and the
walls thereof have a dado of similar material.
The dwellings have been occupied since early in August by
20 families, comprising 72 persons. The terms of letting require that