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61
Seamen's Lodging-houses.
Under the provisions of section 214 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, the Council has
made by-laws for the regulation of houses accommodating seamen. These by.laws came into
force on the 1st of October, 1901. During the year 1902, 114 houses had been measured and
apportioned, and this number at the end of 1903 had been increased to 133. At the end of the
year there were 102 houses under regulation. These houses are divided among the several
metropolitan boroughs, as follows—
Metropolitan borough. Houses. Lodgers.
Poplar 31 452
Stepney 70 1,270
Woolwich 1 26
Total 102 1,748
During the year 1,956 day and 4 night visits were made to these houses by the Council's
inspectors, and in a few instances notices were served for the remedying of dirty or defective
conditions.
Proceedings before the magistrates were instituted in two instances. In one case the
summons was dismissed, and in the other the keeper was fined £1 10s., with 6s. costs.
The number of cases of notifiable infectious disease reported in seamen's lodging.houses was
as follows— Smallpox, 1; diphtheria, 2; measles, 1; erysipelas, 2; enteric fever, 1; total, 7.
Customs and Inland Revenue Acts, 1890 and 1891.
The following information as to proceedings under the Customs and Inland Revenue Act is
contained in the annual reports of medical officers of health—
Paddington.— Very few applications for certificate of exemption from inhabited house duty
have been received for some years. One application was received in 1903 relating to four blocks
of flats in Wymering-road, each block containing ten flats. The medical officer of health states
that "it has been ascertained that before flats can come under the provisions of the section, they
must be rated separately. It is not certain whether the same rule does not apply to tenement
houses."
Fulham.— Applications were made for certificates in respect of 605 dwellings, of which
455 were granted, 66 were given after certain specified works had been completed, and 84 were
refused.
Chelsea.— Applications were received in respect of 5 houses, comprising 103 dwellings, and
1 certificate was granted.
Hampstead.— Certificates were granted in respect of 2 premises, comprising 26 dwellings,
and refused in respect of 4 other premises, comprising 15 dwellings.
Islington.— Applications were received in respect of 14 houses, comprising 113 dwellings,
and 4 certificates were granted.
Stoke Newington.— Applications were received and granted in respect of 3 houses, comprising
25 tenements.
Hackney.— There were 19 applications for certificates of exemption of properties comprising
228 tenements, all of which were granted after any necessary works had been executed.
Holborn.— Applications were received in respect of 13 premises, comprising 322 dwellings,
and were granted in respect of 13 premises. In some premises works were required to be done
antecedent to a certificate being granted, and in the case of Leather.lane.buildings the certificate
was refused.
Finsbury.— There were applications for certificates for 5 houses, comprising 60 dwellings,
all of which were granted.
Shoreditch.— Applications were received in respect of 24 houses, comprising 72 dwellings,
and were granted for 42 dwellings.
Southwark.— Applications were received and granted in respect of 15 houses, comprising
318 tenements.
Bermondsey.— Applications were received and granted in respect of 6 houses, comprising
91 tenements.
Lambeth.— Certificates were granted unconditionally in respect of 25 blocks of houses,
comprising 355 tenements, and conditionally in respect of 20 blocks of houses comprising 360
tenements. In no instance was the certificate refused.
Battersea.— Applications were received and granted in respect of 97 houses, comprising 105
dwellings.
Wandsworth.— Applications were received in respect of 359 houses, comprising 508
dwellings. In 14 instances certificates were granted and in one instance refused.
Camberwell.— Applications were received in respect of 9 houses, comprising 24 dwellings,
and 5 certificates were granted.
Deptford.— Applications were received in respect of 55 houses, comprising 97 tenements,
and 93 certificates were granted.
Greenwich.— No applications for certificates were received during the year.
Lewisham.— Applications were received and granted in respect of 140 houses, comprising
280 tenements.
Woolwich.— There was one application, viz., in respect of a house comprising 16 dwellings.
This application was refused, as several of the dwellings were insufficiently lighted, and in none
of the dwellings was there a bedroom containing 900 cubic feet, i.e., large enough for a father,
mother, and two infants to sleep.