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Nature of accommodation provided at the various classes of premises visited.
The Church Army labour-homes, and St. John's lodging-house.—The Church Army maintain
in the metropolis some eight labour-homes for tramps, criminals, inebriates and deserving unemployed,
a boys' labour-home, and St. John's lodging-house for men, as well as a women's lodging-house
and laundry and home.
At the three labour-homes for men, which were visited, both day room and sleeping room
accommodation is provided. The number of men at these homes is, as a rule, limited to twenty-five,
and the premises are practically large-sized dwelling-houses, some of the rooms of which are used
either as common dormitories, or are divided up into cubicles, each capable of accommodating one
person. The sleeping accommodation consists of ordinary bedsteads and bedding. The day rooms
are fitted up as ordinary sitting rooms furnished with tables upon which meals are served at fixed
hours, food being prepared by one of the permanent staff in a separate kitchen. In addition to these
day rooms there is at each house a workshop in which the men are engaged during the greater part of
the day. The means of light and ventilation at the homes visited was found to be good. At each of
these homes lavatories and bathrooms are provided. The water-closets were found to be in sufficient
proportion to the number of men in the home.
St. John's lodging-house for men has accommodation for fifty lodgers. Separate day and
sleeping rooms are provided. The day room space has been divided by wood and glass partitions into
three parts. One part is used as a room for meals for the boarders in the home, namely, men who
are engaged in clerical work at the offices of the Church Army, and are provided with board and
lodging at the lodging-house. Another part is reserved as a reading room, and the remaining part,
which is fitted with a fireplace, is used as a common kitchen in which the ordinary lodgers cook and
prepare their food. These premises, originally used as a public hall, are not well adapted in all
respects for their present purpose.
The provision made for lavatory accommodation is adequate if judged by the requirements which
are demanded in the case of new common lodging-houses, but the room is badly lighted and ventilated.
A bathroom is also provided, and both hot and cold water are obtainable. The water-closet accommodation
is also adequately provided for, but is unsatisfactory as regards light and ventilation, and the position
of one water-closet is decidedly objectionable, owing to its proximity to one of the dormitories and the
absence of proper light and ventilation. A drying cupboard for the use of lodgers is also provided.
The Bessbrooh Homes and Agency.—There are two of these homes, which are situated within
a short distance of each other, and work is carried on at one only, where the superintendent resides,
and where all applications for admission have to be made. The total accommodation is for one hundred
and three men, there being sixty-nine beds at one set of premises and thirty-four at the other. At
both homes day rooms apart from the dormitories are provided, but in neither case were these rooms
found to be well lighted and ventilated. The dormitories are ordinary sized rooms capable of holding
a small number of beds only, and the sleeping accommodation consists of ordinary bedsteads and bedding.
The dormitories, generally speaking, are provided with good means of light and ventilation. At both
of these homes the lavatory accommodation is badly situated and not well fitted up. The water-closet
accommodation is also insufficient, and at one home badly situated.
The refuges.—The premises included under this heading which have been visited are—
Field-lane refuge (for men and women).
Ham-yard hospice.
Providence (row) night refuge (for men and women).
House of shelter, Bagallay-street, Stepney.
Newport market refuge (for men and women).
At the refuges in Field-lane (male side) and Ham-yard no separate sitting room accommodation
is provided, but at both these the lodgers have the use of rooms not used as dormitories in which they
can sit before retiring to bed. Thus at the former they are allowed to use one of the rooms in the
building which is used at other times for meetings and other purposes in connection with the work of
the institution, at the latter they have their food and are allowed to sit in a room on the ground floor
which during the daytime is used as a soup kitchen for people in the neighbourhood.
At Providence-row large day room accommodation is provided. At the House of Shelter and
Newport-market refuge (male side) there is no separate day room apart from the sleeping rooms.
The sleeping accommodation provided at these places consists of—
(1) Beds provided with ordinary bedding, in the case of Field-lane refuge, and Hamyard
hospice.
(2) Wooden bunks provided with mattresses, lined with American cloth, and a covering
for the sleeper of American cloth generally padded with felt, in the case of Providence-row
and the House of Shelter.
(3) Swing hammocks provided with a small pillow and blankets in the case of Newportmarket
refuge. There are also a few cubicles here.
At all these premises, with the exception of Providence (row) refuge, the dormitories are of
moderate size, capable of accommodating about thirty persons or under. At Providence (row) refuge
two dormitories have accommodation for seventy persons each, and the third for one hundred and twelve
persons. In all these premises the means of light and ventilation are well provided. In these
respects the dormitories at Providence (row) refuge are specially well arranged. They consist of long
narrow rooms having windows on either side, thus securing cross ventilation. The lavatory and watercloset
accommodation, generally speaking, is also adequate in proportion to the number of persons who
can be sheltered, and in all cases baths supplied with hot and cold water are provided.
Medland Hall.—This building was built for and originally used as a chapel, and consists of a
large hall with side galleries, a room over the entrance to chapel, and another room over the
hall in the roof of the building. No part of the building is used separately for kitchen or sitting
room as distinct from that used for sleeping. The hall and galleries are provided with chairs and