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cottages, which are back to back with houses in Barton's-buildings. A row of six houses, known as
Kentfield-place, have no back yards, and are without through ventilation. Most of these houses are
old and badly arranged, but some of them have been recently repaired, and the premises are at present
in fair condition. There is also a block, consisting of two houses with wooden outhouses at the rear,
which is badly situated at the southern end of Hughes-fields.
In the parish of St. Nicholas many of the houses are very old and worn out. This remark also
applies to some premises in the neighbouring part of St. Paul. Only a few wooden houses wore found
to exist.
Among the houses which I visited during the inspection, I found that in the majority of cases
the premises were let out in lodgings ; often as single-roomed tenements, which are mostly let as
furnished rooms, the rent for which is taken daily. In these houses defective conditions were frequently
found to exist, and in many single-tenemented rooms it was found that the amount of cubic space
per head for the number of inhabitants, ascertained to be residing in the tenement, was below the
minimum laid down in the model by-laws of the Local Government Board, and in the regulations of the
sanitary authority.
The following may be given as examples of the above remarks—
Addey-street House in clean condition and fair repair; let in furnished rooms. Ground
floor, back room, occupied by husband arid wife, as living and sleeping
room; cubic capacity, 398 feet. First floor, front room, occupied by father,
mother, girl (over 10) and a baby, as living and sleeping room; cubic
capacity, 781 feet (about).
Addey-street House in fair condition; let in furnished rooms. First floor, front room,
occupied by father, mother and two children, as living and sleeping
room; 756 cubic feet (about).
Addey-street House in fair condition; let in furnished rooms. Ground floor, front room,
occupied by father, mother and one child, as living and sleeping room ;
578 cubic feet.
Addey-street House in fair condition; let in furnished rooms. Ground floor, back room,
occupied by husband and wife, as living and sleeping room; 400 cubic feet.
Addey-street Yard badly paved. Drinking water cistern insufficiently covered and water
dirty. Dustbin no lid. Water-closet no water supply. House clean;,
let out in furnished lodgings. Ground floor, back room, occupied by
husband and wife, as living and sleeping room; 630 cubic feet. First
floor, front room, occupied by father, mother and two children, as living
and sleeping room; 920 cubic feet.
Regent-street A four-roomed house, occupied by four separate families. Ground floor,
back room, by man and wife. Ground floor, front room, by man and
wife. Top floor, front room, by father, mother, three children; 930 cubic
feet. Top floor, back room, by father, mother, one child; 630 cubic
feet.
Giffen-street Yard badly paved, water-closet pan foul, dustbin no lid. House in bad
repair. Let in furnished lodgings, each room occupied as a single
tenement. Ground floor, back room, by man, wife, and baby; 720 cubic
feet. Top floor, back room, by man and wife ; 680 cubic feet. Top floor,
front room, by man, wife, one adult, and two children ; 1,092 cubic feet.
Mill-lane (3 houses) In these houses the rooms are let out as furnished lodgings, which appear
to be numbered consecutively. There is a common back yard in which
are two water-closets for the three houses. Yard badly paved, two
drain inlets, one choked, the setting of the trap of the other was
defective. No water supply to the closets, but pans clean. Dustbin
dilapidated. No stackpipe to the back addition buildings. The passages
were clean, but the houses are old and worn out. Most of the rooms
were locked at the time of inspection, but one room was found to be
occupied by two women as a sleeping and living room. The size of this
room was 722 cubic feet.
There was no means of obtaining reliable information as to the total number of people living in
one house, but inasmuch as most of the houses contained not more than four to six rooms it is
probable that the one water-closet belonging to the house was generally adequate accommodation for the
number of residents.
As regards overcrowding in dwellings it is stated by the medical officer of health that up to the
present time cases of overcrowding have been abated on complaint, or whenever they come to the
knowledge of the inspectors in the course of their ordinary duties, but that it has not been considered
necessary to make special enquiry as to whether overcrowding exists in the district.
Bakehouses and workshops.—According to a list which was obtained from the medical
officer of health, there are altogether 93 bakehouses in the two parishes of St. Nicholas and St.
Paul; 66 were inspected. Of these I found that 22 were situated below the level of the adjoining
street. In 12 cases it was noticed that the walls or the floors required cleansing, while in 4 bakehouses
the building was in disrepair or unsuited for the purposes of a bakery, and in 17 the means of
ventilation were inadequate. In one case a stable was found to communicate directly with the bakehouse,
through which the horse had to pass on entering and leaving the stable. This bakehouse was
at the time under notice from the sanitary authority. In one case the dustbin was badly situated underneath
the window of the bakehouse. The remaining bakehouses were found to be well maintained, and
in a cleanly condition both as regards the periodical limewashiug of the walls and the sweeping of the
floors. With the exception of three instances, no drain inlet within a bakehouse was observed,
and the water supply in the majority was obtained direct from the rising main.
As regards workshops, Mr. Roberts, the medical officer of health, states that with the exception
of a small number of wood-choppers' premises situated in railway arches and some others, no inspection
of workshops has been made; indeed, up to the time of the commencement of this inquiry, no list of the
workshops in the district bad been obtained. One of the inspectors whose time is taken up with
duties connected with the occurrence of infectious disease and with the Food and Drugs Act had,
however, been instructed to give such time as he could spare for finding out and making a list of the
workshops in the district.