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with an inadequate flush of water, and in a foul condition in 76 cases, and 21 cisterns for the storage
of drinking water were not provided with a proper cover. Yards, generally speaking, were well paved,
and the drain inlets properly trapped; but notes were made as regards 44 houses where defects
in these respects existed. Of frequent occurrence was the existence of unsuitable dust-bins. In
the majority of premises there are fixed wooden or brick receptacles, which are difficult to cleanse
properly, and in 64 instances the receptacle was found to be either unprovided with a cover or in a
dilapidated condition.
The majority of the houses which were visited were found to be let in tenements, consisting
mostly of one or two rooms. The occupation of houses by members of more than one family exists to
a large extent throughout the district; the figures obtained at the census of 1891 showing that nearly
half the total population (49.78) live in tenements of one or two rooms, while 74,l per cent, live in
tenements of one to four rooms. Many of these houses originally were, no doubt, not built with a view
to such usage, and are frequently not well adapted for occupation by a large number of families. In
most instances it was found that there was either no washhouse accommodation at all, or that it was
provided in a badly-lighted and unsuitable position on the basement floor, which most of the houses in
the district contain. These basements are well paved or concreted, but the dirty and neglected condition
in which many of them were found, and the frequent occurrence of dilapidated staircases leading
down to them, indicate that but little use is made of them by the residents for purposes of washing.
They are unsuitable for occupation as living rooms, and appear to be reserved for storerooms and washhouses,
but in four cases the illegal occupation of basement rooms was met with during the inspection.
In a few tenemented houses the water-closet accommodation in proportion to the number of
lodgers was inadequate.
The defects enumerated above are chiefly of such a character as to admit readily of abatement,
and in the majority of the premises visited, the conditions found to exist do not need more than the
supervision necessary for maintaining them in a satisfactory condition of cleanliness and repair. In
other cases, however, owing to the old age and state of decay of the premises, or the inadequate means
of light and ventilation of houses or tenements, the conditions are not so readily capable of remedy.
Further, there are some narrow courts and alleys as regards which, owing to the bad arrangement and
closeness of the houses, little short of demolition and re-arrangement can be productive of any
satisfactory result.
The following are instances to which these remarks apply—
Houses in Emerald-street, Falkner's-alley, Richbell-place, Boswell-court, Little Saffron-hill, Robin
Hood-yard, and tenements in Leather-lane-buildings and Evelyn-buildings.
Mitre-court.—A narrow court, approached by a covered archway under a house in St. John's-streetroad.
Four three-storey houses. Width of court ft. Three of the houses are overshadowed by a tall
building, and the rooms are very dark. The fourth has in front of it the three water-closets for use of
court, and the uncovered common dustbin. The bouses are old and worn out, have no back yards, and
no through ventilation.
Hat and Mitre-court.—This consists of fifteen houses, two storeys high, placed in a confined space
between the houses on the east side of St. John's-street-road, and the western boundary wall of the
Charterhouse. With the exception of the houses in the central block, none have through ventilation, and
have no back yards. There is a fair amount of open space between the buildings, and the rooms are
fairly light. The houses are old, and some show signs of dampness of walls, but are otherwise maintained
in a fair state of repair.
There are four water-closets for the use of all the houses, one of these, a wooden structure, is situated
at the end of a narrow passage immediately outside entrance of one of the houses. The remaining
three, together with the common dustbin, are objectionally placed in a covered space (which originally
appears to have been the ground floor of one of the houses), immediately underneath a first-floor room
of No. 3, used as a sleeping-room. There are two water taps in the court for the use of the residents,
one of these draws direct from the main, the other from a large and insufficiently-covered cistern.
Sumner-court.—A row of four two-storey houses with one large two-storey house in centre, situated
in a confined space between Back-hill, Sumner-street, and Eyre-street-hill. The houses in the row have
no means of through ventilation; the ground floor of one has been converted into an open shed for
barrows. The ground is not paved or concreted, and the flooring is in a rotten condition. Houses are
old and worn out, and the walls of centre house bulge. There are two water-closets for the use of the
five houses. Occupants chiefly Italians, and there is evidence of overcrowding.
Eyre-place.—This abuts on to Sumner-court, from which it is separated by railings. It contains
two houses in a shut-in position approached by a covered way from Eyre-street-hill. Houses have no
back yards and no through ventilation.
Eyre-court and Eyre-terrace.—A narrow shut-in court situated between the houses on west side of
Eyre-street-hill and some high warehouse premises, and approached by an archway from Eyre-street-hill.
It contains twelve houses, three storeys high. Some of the houses have no back yards and no through
ventilation. The court is about 15 ft. wide, closed at one end by a wall, at the other by a row of three
water-closets and a building which serves as the dust receptacle. The roof of the last-named buildings
forms yard level of Eyre-terrace, which has a separate approach from Eyre-street-hill and contains three
houses (one lately rebuilt). Many of the houses are old and worn out.
Elm-place.—Three two-storey cottages, approached by a covered way from Elm-street. No back
yards and no through ventilation. There is a common dustbin (cover broken), a common water-tap and a
common water-closet for the use of the three cottages. Two houses are in a dirty condition, and one is
overcrowded.
Union buildings and terrace.—A narrow passage leading off Leather-lane, and containing three-storey
houses let in tenements. At the lower end it widens out into a square space known as Union-terrace,
with buildings on three sides, which on the ground floor are used as stables and a cowshed. The upper
floors, reached by an external staircase and balconies, are used as dwellings, each of which consists
practically of a single room which has been divided by a wooden partition into two rooms. Some of the
tenements have no through ventilation, the worst have been closed. These dwellings have a large common
dustbin in the yard, and the water-closets are placed together in one corner of the buildings.
Dove-court.—A narrow court, approached by a covered way from Leather-lane, and communicating
with Leopard-court at the other end. Houses on the north side are in the rear of houses in Union-