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Yet in spite of these facts it appears that in 1896 only in 18, and in 1897 only in 6 cases,
was the use of underground rooms let separately as dwellings discontinued at the instance of the
sanitary authority.
In the absence of systematic inspection of the district it is of course impossible to adequately
deal with this matter. I found in the course of my inspection that one of the underground rooms
which had recently been closed by the vestry was occupied again, and I moreover found illegally
occupied underground rooms in houses on the vestry's register of houses let in lodgings, houses
which were nominally, therefore, subject to periodical inspection.
Workshops.—Much progress has been made in the inspection of laundries and of places in which
women are employed. As regards the general inspection of factories and workshops, however, of which
it is estimated there are between 2,000 and 3,000 in the parish, it transpires that the officer who is
concerned with them, has much of his time taken up by the inspection of bakehouses, and is further
entirely responsible for dealing with smoke nuisance and for any duties that may arise in connection
with the abatement of nuisance caused by steam whistles and steam trumpets. Under
these circumstances he has only been able hitherto to inspect about a quarter of the total number of
factories and workshops in the parish, the workshops inspected being situated for the most part in the
south division of St. Pancras, although those in Euston-road, and a few streets immediately to the north
of Euston-road, have also been visited. The workshops of north, east and west St. Pancras have thus,
of necessity, up to the present time been to a large extent neglected.
Slaughterhouses, cowsheds and. offensive trad.es.—There are 23 licensed slaughterhouses, 15
licensed cowhouse premises, and two noxious trade premises in St. Pancras Most of these are in close
proximity to inhabited houses. I visited a number of them and found them in fair condition as regards
cleanliness and state of repair, the by-laws as a rule being complied with. In some of the slaughterhouses
the only means of access is through a butcher's shop, and it may be through the passage of an
adjoining dwelling-house. Several of the cowhouses too are closely hemmed in by buildings, and there is
therefore special liability for nuisance to be caused, more particularly in connection with the removal
of dung. The dung receptacles provided are not, moreover, all in compliance with the by-laws made
under the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, regulating the construction of receptacles for dung.
The two sets of premises upon which offensive trades within the meaning of section 19 of the
Public Health (London) Act, 1891, are carried on are those of a tripe-boiler and premises upon which
the businesses of tallow-melting and soap-boiling are conducted.
Common lodging-homes.—There were 20 separate establishments, including 27 houses, upon the
Council's register of common lodging-houses when I commenced my inspection in St. Pancras. I
visited all these premises and found the regulations, generally speaking, observed. The condition, as
regards cleanliness and freedom from vermin, of these houses compared on the whole favourably with
that of many of the tenement houses not subject to the Common Lodging Houses Acts in the parish.
Bakehouses.—Of these there were last year 196 in St. Pancras. They are periodically inspected,
and those I visited were in a clean condition, and the special provisions relating to bakehouses
were carefully observed.
Insanitary areas.—Following upon representations made by Dr. Sykes with regard to three areas
in St. Pancras under Part I. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, an inquiry was instituted
by the Home Secretary which was commenced in October, 1891, and resumed in February, 1893.
On the 27th June, 1893, the decision of the Home Secretary was received. As regards the first of the
three areas, it imposed the duty of dealing with the portion now known as the Churchway area upon the
London County Council under Part I. of the Act, a smaller part of the represented area was to be dealt
with by the vestry under Part II. of the Act, and a third portion lying to the east of Chalton-street
was to be dealt with by the vestry under Part II. of the Act, the Council contributing one-third of the
expense.
The other represented areas, the "Prospect-terrace and Derry-street area "and the" Brantomeplace
area " were to be dealt with by the vestry under Part II. of the Act, the Council contributing
one-half the expense.
At the present time the Council is carrying out a scheme dealing with the Churchway area
which includes houses in Churchway, Wellesley-street, Elizabeth-court, and York-buildings,
accommodating a population of rather more than 1,000 persons. The Council has already obtained
possession of many of the properties, and when the site has been cleared about 568 persons are to be
re-housed there.
The Vestry of St. Pancras prepared schemes for dealing with the Prospect-terrace area and the
Brantome-place area. In the case of the former 581 persons were to be displaced and 140 re-housed,
in that of the latter 719 persons were to be displaced and 228 persons were to be re-housed. A local
inquiry was held by the Local Government Board in March, 1897, and objection was taken by the
Board to the arrangements proposed with regard to re-housing, and the vestry were asked to submit
proposals for the re-housing of a greater number of persons.* There is urgent need for the speedy
clearance of these areas, so unsatisfactory are the conditions under which people are now living in them.
It remains to note with regard to the area east of Chalton-street that a scheme for its improvement
has been adopted by the vestry.
Refuse removal.—I found a considerable number of accumulations of house refuse upon the
premises which I visited. Just prior, however, to the commencement of my inspection there appears
to have been a break down in the vestry's arrangements, and it may be that the conditions at the
time of my inspection should not be regarded as typical of those which in general obtain. Again,
difficulty is still experienced with some householders who even in the height of summer prefer to
retain refuse upon their premises for two or three weeks rather than allow the dustman to have
regular access to the premises once a week. There are still a great many defective or dilapidated
wooden dust bins in St. Pancras. The house refuse from two of the four divisions of the parish is
burnt in the vestry's destructor. The working of the furnaces there is not at the present time
conducted in such a way as to altogether prevent nuisance.
*Tue vestry has now agreed to the .Local Government Board's proposal to re-house 800 of the 1,300 persons displaced from the
two areas.