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benches, upon which the men lie down when sleeping, each man being provided with a small wooden
block to serve as a pillow. In the room over the hall there are no chairs, and the men sleep on the
ground. At the time when the hall was visited, wooden bunks, similar to those used in the Salvation
Army shelters and described later on, were being constructed for the use of the men.* The number
of men admitted is limited to three hundred. This number was fixed as a maximum after proceedings
had been taken by the local sanitary authority for the occurrence of overcrowding at the shelter.
The means of light and ventilation here is such as is usually found in a building of this
character, namely, windows on either side. The room in the roof is provided with skylights.
The lavatory and water closet accommodation is provided in a narrow covered passage at one
side of the building, which is approached directly from the hall. At one end of this there is a slate
slab with four loose basins, the remainder of the passage being fitted up with a long trough closet
divided into twelve seats, and a urinal. The separate seats of the closet are not provided with doors or
sufficiently partitioned off from each other to secure privacy. In the sleeping room over the hall there
is an old zinc tankf in which the men are allowed to urinate at night time should they require to do so.
Dr. Barnardo's shelters for women and children.—At these two shelters both day rooms and
dormitories are provided. At each of the two sets of premises visited, the day room accommodation
was found to be a room in the basement. It is stated that one of these buildings was formerly used
temporarily as a general hospital, and that the other was once a common lodging-house. At the
former there are three dormitories, each consisting of a big room with windows on two sides, and
accommodating from thirty-three to thirty-seven persons each. These dormitories are furnished with
iron bedsteads, each provided with a seaweed and straw mattress, a pillow, and rugs. At the latter
set of premises the dormitories are rooms of a size ordinarily found in dwelling-houses, and were
found to have accommodation for either five or six persons, or as many as twenty. The sleeping
accommodation here consists of raised platforms divided off into bunks by wooden partitions, each
bunk being supplied with a mattress, pillow and rugs. The wooden partition between each sleeper is
about fourteen inches high. At both these premises a chamber utensil for each bed is supplied.
These dormitories were well-lighted and ventilated.
The total number of beds at these two houses is one hundred and sixty-four, but thirty-six were
not in use at time of my inspection.
Lavatory accommodation with hot and cold water has been provided in connection with the day
rooms, and at one house there is a bathroom. Tubs and soap are supplied to enable the women to
wash their clothing. The water-closet accommodation in one case is inadequate and badly situated.
The Salvation Army shelters, met/ropoles or lodging-houses, and elevators or labour homes.—The
Salvation Army has fifteen sets of premises. This number includes one boys' home and one women's
shelter. The army also maintains a home in which criminals are received on their discharge from
prison. Excluding the last mentioned there was, at the time of my inspection accommodation in the
dormitories at these premises for 3,481 persons; but I was informed that at the shelter in St. John'ssquare,
Clerkenwell, some thirty bunks are on occasion placed in the day room for the use of late
applicants, and that at Blackfriars-road shelter the day room affords accommodation to some 350 to 400
men, who pay one penny for the night's lodging. These numbers are not included in the above total.
Further, since the date of my inspection, the shelter in Burne-street, Marylebone, has been enlarged,
and as I was informed by one of the officers of the Salvation Army that alteration was contemplated as
regards the numbers accommodated at some of the other shelters, the above figures must be taken as
indicating approximately only the number of persons who can be housed in the premises of the
Salvation Army. At all the premises separate and distinct accommodation for the purpose of
sitting rooms and sleeping rooms is provided, except at the two shelters mentioned above, in which the
day room space is also made use of for sleeping.
The sleeping accommodation provided in the different shelters is as follows:—
(1) Floor bunks. These consist of a four-sided wooden frame about one foot in depth,
without a bottom, and about six feet long by two feet broad. These are put on the floor,
and inside is placed a seaweed mattress lined with American cloth. Each bunk is also provided
with a pillow and a covering consisting of two layers of American cloth with an intervening
layer of felt. In a few instances the covering consisted of aprons of leather. In some cases,
generally the threepenny bunks, in addition to the above an ordinary sheet is also provided.
(2) "Jubilee" bunks. These consist of iron frames having two, three, or even four
tiers of bunks, one above the other, and separated from each other by a height of some
three feet, the lowest tier being raised about one foot above the floor level. Each tier may
contain a single bunk, two bunks side by side, separated by a wooden partition a few
inches high, or four bunks in pairs of two placed head to head. The bedding is similar in
character to that of the floor bunks, except that the mattress rests upon a spring mattress.
(3) Ordinary beds and bedding.
The dormitories or sleeping rooms in the different shelters vary considerably, as may be
anticipated from the fact that various kinds of premises have been adapted to their present use, such
as ordinary houses, business premises and warehouses, and public halls or places originally erected for
the assemblage of large numbers of persons, bat not with any view to their use as habitations.
In most instances the dormitories are large and lofty rooms, accommodating a large number of
persons. In the case of the metropoles or lodging-houses the dormitories are either rooms of average
size capable of accommodating a few beds, as at the premises in Stanhope-street, Strand, or are large
rooms which have been divided into cubicles for one or more beds, by the erection of galvanised iron
partitions some seven or eight feet high.
*Since the date of inspection of Medland Hall shelter, wooden bunks, each provided with a pillow and
mattress covered with leather cloth, and with a covering of similar material for the sleeper, have been furnished
for all the lodgers.
†This zinc tank has been removed since first inspection and chamber utensils provided.