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Common Lodging-houses.—There are nineteen registered houses in Lambeth, only four* of them,
however, are large houses with more than fifty beds. In several instances one or two rooms only are
registered in the small houses. The lodging-house at the rear of No. 108, Lambeth-walk was found
to be a very old, two-storey, mainly wooden structure, only separated by a narrow passage from
No. 108, Lambeth-walk. The stairs to the upper room were very steep, the floor of the downstairs
room was dirty, only one water-closet was provided, although 35 lodgers were said to be sometimes
accommodated at one time, and there were no fixed washing-basins. The question of re-constructing
these premises was under consideration.
Keeping animals in such a way as to constitute a nuisance.—I met with no nuisance from pigkeeping
in the course of my inspection. A few of the licensed slaughterhouse premises appeared to be
somewhat extensively used for the slaughter of pigs. The licensee of a small slaughterhouse in an
outlying portion of the parish informed me that he had killed 20 pigs on the previous day. The
practice which is said to occasionally obtain of keeping pigs upon slaughterhouse premises for a
number of days before they are slaughtered is very objectionable. The Council's inspector found it
necessary to make careful inquiry into this question a year or two ago, and since then there seems to
have been greater care exercised with regard to the matter.
A great many animals of one kind or another are kept in the back yards of the poorer class
houses in Lambeth. In cases where the yard space is very confined, the hutch, cage or kennel is
sometimes placed in the living room, and I have seen rabbits, in default of better accommodation,
relegated to the water-closet.
In the small yard of a two-storey cottage I found a goat, three dogs, a cock, six hens, four
chickens, four ducks, a cat and six rabbits. This yard was littered with grain and peapods, and it was
stated that it was the practice of the neighbours on either side to throw all kitchen refuse over the
fence for the animals to eat.
Disinfection.—The disinfecting chamber is situated at the Vestry wharf, near Westminsterbridge.
It has been at work some years, and is said to give satisfactory results. Hot water pressure
pipes heat the chamber, and steam at 10 lb. pressure is then introduced. The steam is after a time shut
off, and the chamber kept closed until the goods are dry. There is only one entrance to the chamber,
separate vans are, however, used for conveying infected and disinfected articles to and from the depot.
A second disinfecting station appears to be needed; at present infected material from
Norwood has to be conveyed all the way to Westminster before it can be dealt with.
No shelter for the accommodation of persons compelled to leave their dwellings for the purpose
of enabling such dwellings to be disinfected has been provided in Lambeth, as required by sec. 60 (4)
of the Public Health London Act, 1891. North Lambeth is a part of London in which such a shelter
is particularly needed.
Mortuary.—There is a mortuary, with post-mortem room attached, in High-street, Lambeth,
which is conveniently situated for serving the needs of the northern part of the district. The lack of
accommodation for the southern part of the parish has led to the acquirement of a site in Wanlessroad,
Herne-hill, on which it is proposed to erect another mortuary.
Dust removal.—In the portion of the parish north of Lambeth-road, a large number of pails
(uncovered) have been provided by the vestry, this practice, however, has been discontinued. In the
inner wards, or northern part of the parish, the removal of dust is carried out by the vestry itself, and
a weekly call is made at each house. The number of accumulations of dust noted in this part of the
parish was small. In the outer wards, or southern part of the parish, the removal is carried out by
contractors; the streets are said to be perambulated once a week, but it is not the custom to make a
house-to-house call. In this part of the parish many accumulations of dust were noted.
Lambeth presenting as it does a considerable river frontage with wharf accommodation, affords
special facilities for the removal of dust, and a number of depots have been established in the parish.
The City Commissioners of Sewers, the Strand Board of Works, and the Clerkenwell Vestry, all have
lust depots in Commercial-road. The Lambeth Vestry's depot is situated in Belvedere-road, and in
this road there is also a wharf, Gabriel's-wharf, to which house dust from St. Martin-in-the-Fields is
aken. There are, moreover, two wharves on the Albert-embankment—Providence-wharf from which
manure is removed, and Cookson's-wharf, to which house dust from St. Giles and Holborn districts is
brought to be barged away. There are further, three yards in Tinworth-street, a street communicating
with Albert-embankment, which are said to be used in connection with refuse removal. One of these,
on the north side of the street, was not in use and was locked up at the time of my visit. A second is
a yard adjoining the railway, also on the north side of Tinworth-street, and here some manure was
deposited. Opposite this yard, on the south side of the street, is a yard known as Cookson's dust yard.
Here house dust from St. Giles and Holborn districts is received and stable manure is deposited.
Sorting was being carried on at the time of my visit by 13 women and 7 men. It is stated that as a
rule the offensive portions of the refuse brought upon the premises are removed within 24 hours. On
the day of my visit, stable manure was being deposited on the roughly-paved yard, and was being
watered in order that the manure might " be ready by the time it reached the farmer." Pools of water
were standing in the yard, and water was in part soaking into the ground, and in part finding an
escape by means of a drain inlet. The time required for banking up the manure and leaving it to
stand after watering was said to be "a day or two." The yard is objectionably situated within 100
yards of inhabited houses, and complaints of nuisance from time to time arise. There is need for more
careful supervision of this yard, the situation of which is unsuitable for the purposes for which it is
used. The existing arrangement, which provides for the material being deposited and manipulated in
the yard in Tinworth-street before it is conveyed to the wharf situated on the other side of the Albertembankment
for removal from the county, is a bad one, and for health reasons there would be
advantage in the refuse being tipped directly into the barges at the wharf.
* In this number the large lodging-house, "Rowton House," at Vauxhall, is not included.