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The above remarks refer chiefly to the case of unfurnished lodgings. The furnished
tenement of the poorer class, with but a few exceptions, does not exist in the district.
A result of the application of the by-laws in some cases has been that the rents which
were slightly below the limit of exemption before, have been raised so as to avoid registration
under the by-laws.
Common lodging-houses.— There are nine houses registered as common lodging-houses, with
accommodation for a total of 550 persons. Five of these houses are virtually one set of premises,
consisting of five two-storey cottages, the yards of which have been converted into one single yard.
These premises are registered for single men, single women and married couples. The remaining
are all for single men. One of them has accommodation for 334 lodgers. At the time of my
inspection in two instances the condition of the bedding was not satisfactory.*
House refuse collection and disposal.— The collection of house refuse is carried out by men
employed for this purpose by the sanitary authority. The work is done under the supervision of
one of the sanitary inspectors, who also devotes part of his time to obtaining samples under the
ood and Drugs Act, but the staff engaged in the collection forms part of the Surveyors department.
Ash-bins are cleared once a week, except in the case of institutions such as Wormwoodscrubs
Prison and Nazareth House, at which collection is made more frequently.
The carts when loaded convey the refuse to the wharf in Chancellors-road, whence it is
removed by barges down the river Thames.
Water supply.— Hammersmith is supplied by the West Middlesex Water Company and the
Grand Junction Water Company, and a constant supply is provided throughout the district.
Nearly all houses are supplied with storage cisterns—it is quite exceptional to find cases where
they do not exist, and where the water is drawn direct from the main. The cisterns are mostly
situated outside the premises, placed on the roof of back additions or of the external water closet.
In some cases they are situated inside the house, and in some of these they are placed under the
floor of rooms used either for living or more often for sleeping purposes. In such cases the
cistern is immediately under the joists supporting the floor, and attempt has been made to comply
with the requirement of the by-laws as to providing an adequate cover bv placing pieces of boarding
in the intervals between the joists. This position is an extremely objectionable one for a
cistern containing drinking water, and is one which renders the risk of fouling of the water almost
a matter of certainty when the floor is washed. The storage cisterns are in nearly all cases
separated from water closets by means of separate flushing cisterns, but in a few instances I found
that the supply for flushing the water closet was obtained direct from the drinking water cistern.
Factories and workshops, including bakehouses.— The total number of industrial premises
which have been visited and entered on the register is 1,188, including 63 bakehouse
premises. In addition to this number, the addresses of 78 outworkers, which have been
forwarded by other sanitary authorities or by tie inspectors of the Home Office, have been
placed in a register kept for this purpose, and the premises have been visited and kept under
observation. A considerable proportion of the workplaces in this district are laundries, ranging
from large factory laundries to small businesses carried on at private houses, where only three
or four persons are employed.
I visited throughout the district many of these workshop premises and found them generally
in satisfactory condition. The bakehouses were also cleanly and well kept. Of these
premises 40 are underground bakehouses.
The above number of workshops is thought to comprise the bulk of such premises existing
at the present time in the district, but the list of outworkers' addresses is being continually
increased. During recent years a great number of workshops and factories have been erected
on land in the neighbourhood of Willesden-junction, and it is possible that others may be built
in the future. If this should occur, the amount of work involved in looking after these
premises by the sanitary authority will be much augmented.
Slaughterhouses, cowsheds and offensive trades.— There are thirteen slaughterhouses and
one cowshed in the district. These premises, at the time of visit, were found to be in compliance
with the by-laws. The cowshed is not made use of to any extent, and when inspected
only two cows were found there. There are two hundred and thirty-one registered milkshops
and dairies. The only offensive trade carried on in the district is that of fat extraction. This is
done at four premises on a small scale. They are situated in an open position in Old Oak-lane,
adjoining Wormwood-scrubs on one side and fields in Acton on the other. At each set of premises
there are also piggeries, and in at least one the piggery is within the prescribed distance of forty
yards of a public way or open space, in contravention of the Act. All the premises are old, and
are, I believe, held by weekly tenants.
Disinfection—(a) For articles of clothing and bedding.—For this purpose a steam disinfecting
apparatus (Goddard, Massey and Warner) has been provided in a building specially erected
for the purpose at the wharf in Chancellors-road. This building contains two rooms, into each
of which one door of the apparatus opens, this affording the only means of communication between
them. The infected articles are placed in the apparatus in one room, and after the process is
complete are removed from it into the other. Communicating with each loom is a shed for the
vans, one of which is reserved for bringing the infected articles, the other for returning them after
disinfection.
* In one of these cases the keeper has since been prosecuted and fined £5 10s. and costs, in the other a notice had at the time been
served and the b ds hare since been disinfected and cleansed.