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49
providing for the water-carriage system of sewage removal from houses
and for remedying defects in existing drains and sewers. Yet, picture
what was suffered to exist in London by the supervising sanitary
authority. A state of things which not only leads to the flooding of
dwellings with sewage, hut also to a very large amount of avoidable
pollution to the soil and subsoil.
In the North of London, as the result of this intolerable state
of things, numerous complaints and applications for compensation
reach the sanitary authorities. Washhouses, workrooms, living and
sleeping rooms, underground bakehouses, and cellars are flooded from
time to time with from an inch to a foot or two of sewage, and carpets
oilcloths, linoleums, mats, bedding, furniture, and stored goods are
injured or spoilt. The flood-waters leave behind a coating of evilsmelling
sewage-mud over and under the floors, thus seriously endangering
the health of occupants of the dwellings, and necessitating
much outlay for repairs and considerable distress among the poorer
inhabitants. Compensation is often prayed for and sometimes demanded
by the helpless victims. Landlords complain that in some
cases it is necessary to keep the lower rooms empty, that tenants refuse
to pay rent, and that tenants leave their houses. In one case a complaint
was made that a fowl-house had been started upon a cruise,
and that nine fowls had been drowned. Sometimes it occurs to the
sufferers to take the step of attempting to deduct his expenses from
the rates, and here is an extract from a letter received quite
recently by our Town Clerk: "Dear Sir,—I herewith enclose cheque
for the rates on above house, less £1 1s. 8d. I wrote to the Medical
Officer of Health in June last, up to which time we had the overflow
from the sewers out in the house three times. As no prompt measures
were taken I took them myself, the only other course being to leave
the house. The money was spent in having watertight boards put up
back and front, with a set of blocks for the maids to get in and out;
also for two heavy blocks of lead cast to fit the gullies and prevent
the sewage from coming up like a fountain."
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