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the open space provided at the rear of a small two-storey house was measured, it was found to consist
of two small spaces on either side of the back addition, one of which measured 24 superficial feet, and
the other some 12 superficial feet.
A marked feature which attracted attention in this district is the inferior character of the
building which has taken place in some parts. Houses, which I found had only been built within
recent years, were already becoming defective, owing apparently to the inferior quality of material used
in their construction and to inferior workmanship. As illustrating these remarks, I quote the following
facts, which I noticed in houses situated in one street, all of which I understand have been built within
the last ten years or so :—
Moolltin-street.—The houses in this street are two-storey buildings. The brickwork is bad and the
pointing defective, especially at the rear. The houses, generally speaking, show signs of damp; the
window frames have apparently in several cases been taken from other buildings and made to serve
for these houses; the front doors have warped and are ill-fitting; the soil pipes are ventilated by unsubstantial-looking
zinc piping.
The following defects found in particular houses are illustrative of conditions generally existing in
this street.
(а) Fore-court unpaved, passage-wall damp, front room wall damp, stack pipe defective, watercloset
pan dirty. The rear wall of back addition is within four feet of building at rear.
(b) Fore-court unpaved, front room wall damp, brickwork defective, wash-house plaster broken,
yard paving bad, soil-pipe ventilator defective, water-closet pan cracked, rear stack-pipe defective,
roof defective.
(c) Roof of back addition building defective, window defective and framework dilapidated, rear
brickwork defective.
(d) Fore-court and yard unpaved, wall of ground floor front and back rooms very damp, rear
brickwork defective, painting defective, rear doorway framework dilapidated.
In another part of the district houses of somewhat older date were seen which were of the same
character as the above, but in these, owing to action on the part of the sanitary authority, detects
have been rectified and alterations effected, and most of the houses at the time of my visit were in a
fair state of repair.
During the course of my inspection of the district I visited 406 dwellings, and at 283 of them
I found one or more defects existing. I made notes of the following :—
Defective roofs In the case of 33 houses.
Defective drains or drain inlets „ 26 „
Defective water-closets or foul pans „ 102 „
Defective paving of yards and forecourts ,, 92 „
,, domestic water cisterns ,, 36 „
„ or absence of, dustbins „ 100 „
Dirty or dilapidated walls and defective flooring „ 100 „
Damp walls „ 86 „
Defective brickwork „ 30 „
Defective stack pipes and gutterings „ 17 „
Accumulations of house refuse „ 4 ,,
Generally speaking I found drain inlets to be well trapped, and water-closets provided with
separate cisterns for flushing purposes. In many houses the drains were ventilated, properly trapped
and disconnected from the sewers, though in a few cases it was noticed that ventilation of the soil pipe
had been effected by means of a rain-water stack pipe in such a way as to be liable to cause nuisance,
owing to the proximity of its upper end to an adjoining window.
With reference to the existence of overcrowding in dwellings, instances were not wanting where
this was found to exist as judged by the standard adopted in the model by-laws of the Local Government
Board. These by-laws require that every room used both as day and sleeping room shall be of
such cubic capacity as to allow 400 cubic feet, and every room used solely for sleeping, 300 cubic feet
per person, two children under ten years of age being regarded as equivalent to one adult.
The following are notes which I made in connection with this subject during my inspections—
A top floor room of about 1,120 cubic feet, occupied as a living and sleeping room by a
family consisting of father, mother, one adult, and three children.
A room of about 988 cubic feet, used both for sleeping and living by a family of father,
mother, and three children.
A family, consisting of father, mother, one adult child, and five children, occupying three
small rooms, all sleep in one room of about 864 cubic feet. This house was in a very defective
condition.
A two-storey house of four rooms, occupicd by four separate families. In one room of about
1,080 cubic feet, father, mother, and one child, aged ten years, live and sleep. House dirty
throughout.
Three rooms occupied by a family consisting of father, mother, four children over ten years
and three under that age. Two rooms were occupied as bedrooms, one by the father and
mother and one child, the other by the rest of the family. The size of this room was about
1,080 cubic feet.
There are four licensed cowsheds and six licensed slaughterhouses in Fulham. At the time of
my visit to these premises I found that they were in a good state of repair, and that the by-laws and
regulations were duly observed. The milk shops which were inspected were also found to be well
kept, and with few exceptions the utensils were in a cleanly condition. There are no registered
offensive businesses in the district.
I also inspected thirty-four bakehouses. The majority of these were situated in the basement
of the premises, either partially or wholly below the level of the adjoining roadway. In some cases
these were bakehouses which had only recently been constructed, and the means of light and ventilation
were, generally speaking, fairly good. As regards seven bakehouses, however, the provisions for
ventilation did not appear to me to be adequate. Cleanliness was well observed in each, and there is
evidence that periodical limewashing of the walls is enforced by the sanitary authority. In only a few
instances did I notice a drain inlet situated inside the bakehouse. In all these cases the inlet was
fitted with a proper trap.