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6
which they stand when tested in various ways in connection with poverty. In the result St. Pancras
is found to stand 11th on a list of 27 districts. In Mr. Booth's work on the Lite and Labour of the
People, the figures relating to poverty in divisions of London each containing some 30,000 inhabitants
are given, and much information as to the degree of poverty and the manner of occupation of different
parts of St. Pancras ie thus rendered available.
On distinguishing between the two classes of population which Mr. Booth found to be living
"in poverty" and living "in comfort," the percentage of the former in St. Pancras is found to be 30*4
as compared with 30'7 for all London; the corresponding percentages for St. Pancras and London of
those living "incomfort" being 69.6 and 69.3. In particular divisions of St. Pancras the percentage
of poverty is much higher than that recorded for the entire parish. Thus in a block which includes
that part ofHigligate New-town which is situated in St. Pancras, the percentage is 48.7. In a block
bounded on the south by Prince of Wales-road there is 38.7, and in an adjoining block which includes
Haverstock-hill station 41.3 per cent, of poverty. In three of the four blocks included by Mr. Booth in
"Somers-town" the percentages are high, 35.9, 42.8 and (in the area bounded by Ossulston-street,
Aldenham-street, Seymour-street and Euston-road), 60'3. Again in two of the four blocks included in
the division " Gray's-inn-road," the percentages of poverty are given as 45.3 and 49.8.

The variations shown in the above table, on comparing the sub-districts one with another, are considerable.
As regards death rates it will be found on taking the average of the three years that the position
occupied by Somers-town is the most unfavourable, G ray's-inn-lane coming next in order and then
Camden-town. In the order of diminishing rates Tottenham-court and Regent's-park follow next,
while Kentish-town is the sub-district with the lowest death rate. If the "deaths under one
year per 1,000 births" be similarly considered the order of the sub-districts, beginning with that with
the highest rate, will be found to be Gray's-inn-lane, Somers-town, Tottenham-court, Camden-town,
Regent's-park, Kentish-town. The position taken up by the sub-districts agrees fairly well with the
order assumed by them when the overcrowding figures already referred to are considered. On a
summary view of the several tests applied, Somers-town and Gray's-inn-lane stand in marked contrast
with Regent's-park and Kentish-town, while Tottenham-court and Camden-town occupy an intermediate
position. The figures for Somers Town and Gray's-inn-lane must be regarded as eminently
unsatisfactory, those for Tottenham-court and Camden-town as somewhat less unsatisfactory, while
those of Kentish-town and Regent's-park do not compare favourably with the figures furnished during
the years under consideration by several entire sanitary districts included within the County of London.
Sanitary circumstances.
I have recently inspected some 800 sets of premises in St. Pancras, 633 of these being dwelling
houses occupied for the most part by persons belonging to the working class. Sixty-six of the latter
were inspected in connection with the scheme under the Housing of the Working Classes Act now
being carried out in Somers-town by the Council. The remaining 567 houses were distributed over
the whole parish, and defects of one kind or another were found in 397, or 70 per cent. of them. This
is a higher percentage than I have hitherto found as the result of inspecting an entire sanitary district,
but it is not quite so high as the percentage obtained in an inspection of a portion of Plumstead (the
Reidhaven-road district) made at the beginning of this year.
The following defective conditions were noted in St. Pancras—
Dampness of walls of rooms in 16 instances; dirty condition of rooms in 191 instances;
conditions of dilapidation in 110 instances; defective yard paving in 36 instances; defective
roofs in 17 instances; defective traps in yards and cellars in 39 instances; defective sink waste
pipes in four instances; defective rain-water pipes in 16 instances; eaves guttering absent or
defective in five instances. Eighteen water-closets were found to be "choked"; 15 watercloset
pans were cracked or broken; in 44 cases the flushing apparatus was out of order; 54
water-closet pans were found in a foul condition; in 10 instances the flush of water was
specially noted as inadequate; and in six instances the seat of the closet was broken.
In no fewer than 72 instances the entire absence of a dust receptacle or the broken or defective
condition of the receptacle provided was noted, and an undue accumulation of house refuse was found
at as many as 54 houses.
* The populations used in calculating these rates differ slightly from those used in the table on page 4, the main difference being
that correction has been made by Dr. Sykes for extra-[ arcchial institutions.