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4
I regret to state, that having, at the request of the Nuisances
Removal Committee, conferred with the Solicitor respecting
the overcrowding of rooms, I find there is no power of interference,
excepting where the house is so over-crowded as to be
detrimental to health, and that any room in a house may be
dangerously over-crowded, and the sexes disgracefully intermixed
without the possibility of a remedy.
Complaints having been made to Mr. Wood, the Sanitary
Inspector by two of the rate-payers in Marsham Street, that
in consequence of the manufacture of Candles, and the making
of Fire-bricks from clay retorts, at the Chartered Gas Works,
a greater nuisance was experienced than heretofore; I again
inspected the premises, and was immediately conducted by
Mr. Evans to the portion of the works complained of.
With regard to the manufacture of Bricks, I found that the
useless clay retorts were first broken and then ground, and
mixed with fresh clay, this being afterwards wheeled into a
shed for the purpose of being moulded; and adjoining this
shed was a kiln in which the bricks were burned.
I carefully examined the retort, and the admixture, but
without detecting anything injurious to health ; from the kiln
there escaped a transparent vapour, such as is incidental to
the burning of coke, but that was confined to its immediate
vicinity. Mr. Evans also showed me were a few Paraphine
Candles had been made, but assured me it was only as an
experiment, and the practice had been discontinued.
Being desirous of ascertaining the state of the surrounding
atmosphere, I inspected the area of the factory, but failed to
detect at that time, any thing which could either be considered
a nuisance, or detrimental to health : not being satisfied with
this examination, I interrogated the inhabitants, but the replies
I obtained were so unsatisfactory, and so utterly worthless,
that no reliance could be placed upon them. During this
examination, I detected a most offensive effluvium from Mr.
Mitchell's Bone Depot, and upon examination, found a considerable
quantity of Bones, emitting a most offensive odour,