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to bring pressure to bear upon all other persons making, storing, or collecting and removing this material in an
improper manner ; this pressure has had the very satisfactory result of causing competing firms to discard their old
method, and adopt this newer and more satisfactory form.
Nuisance from sewers.
Nuisance from sewer ventilators is discussed in several of the annual reports and particularly in
respect of a proposal which has been made that the intercepting trap of house drains should be abolished
and that the sewers should be ventilated through the house drains. In the annual reports for Paddington,
Kensington and Fulham, the flooding of basements is mentioned, a condition which works
undertaken in connection with sewers should eventually remedy-
Nuisance from rivers and canals.
Nuisance from the River Lea is still subject of serious complaint and the medical officer
of health of Hackney thus refers to the condition of this river in that borough: " The
river as it passes through the borough remains in its usual filthy condition, causing a nuisance
during the hot summer months of the year to persons frequenting the large open space
adjoining it, as also to persons living in its vicinity." The medical officer of health of Poplar
states that with the object of preventing nuisance from the dead bodies of dogs and cats, of which
1,102 were taken from the river between Hackney-marshes and the Thames, notices were published
stating that the dead bodies of such animals could be given to the dust collectors at their calls at houses,
with a view to their destruction in the dust destructor. The Regents and Grand Junction Canals were
kept under observation, as in previous years, by the officers of the London County Council and the
sanitary authorities concerned and samples of the water were analysed at the instance of the London
County Council and the St. Pancras Borough Council.
Housing of the Working Classes Act.
The following is a summary of the principal proceedings in 1905 of the London County Council
and of the Metropolitan Borough Councils under the Housing of the Working Classes Act.
Ptoreedings under Part I. of the Act.
Webber-row, King's Bench-walk and Wellington-place scheme, Southwarlc.—On the 4th April,
1905, the Council resolved to make application to the Local Government Board for a provisional order
authorising the Council to provide accommodation in connection with this scheme for 2,186 persons
instead of 903, which the scheme originally required, and in June the Council accepted an estimate
of £51,500 for the erection on this estate of five blocks of buildings for 1,130 persons in 120 tenements
of three rooms, 96 of two rooms, and 4 of one room, and 18 cubicles, the block of building fronting
Waterloo-road to contain ten shops with store rooms.
Garden-row scheme, St. Luke.—On the 1st August the Council sanctioned expenditure not exceeding
£40,135 for the erection on this site of Chadworth-buildings for 728 persons in 58 tenements of two
rooms, 67 of three rooms, 9 of four rooms, and 2 cottages of 3 and 4 rooms respectively. With these
buildings were to be provided 19 shops.
Aylesbury-place, Clerkenwell, and Union-buildings, Holborn scheme.—On the 19th December the
Council sanctioned expenditure not exceeding £80,050 for the accommodation, on the Union-buildings
area comprised in this scheme, of 1,250 persons.
Bow-road (Brewery-yard and Gandy-court) areas, Poplar and Cusack-place, Gareth-place and Porlockplace
area, Bermondsey.—In March, 1905, the Council resolved that certain areas represented
respectively by the medical officers of health of Poplar and Bermondsey were not of general importance
to the County of London and should be dealt with under Part II. of the Act. The areas are
thus described in reports presented to the Council by the Housing of the Working Classes Committee.
Bow-road (Brewery-yard and Gandy-court) areas, Poplar.
On 1st July, 1904, the medical officer of health of the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar, Dr. F. W. Alexander,
made an official representation under Part I. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, in respect of two areas
situated on the south side of Bow-road, and known as the Brewery-yard and Gandy-court areas.
The Brewery-yard area comprises 12 dwelling-houses in Brewery-yard and Baker's-alley and 12 tenements in
Kinnears-dwellings, while the Gandy-court area contains 10 houses in Gandy-court and 4 houses in Bow-road. The
total population of both areas on the date of the representation was 196, of whom 82 were children under 12 years of age.
We have visited the areas and find that most of the houses are approached from Bow-road through narrow
covered passage-ways, those in Bakers-alley being also approached from High-street, Poplar. The houses in Breweryyard
are two-storey cottages, some of which are of timber construction, while most of them, being situated in close
proximity to the rear of houses in Bow-road, are ill ventilated. The houses in Bakers-alley and Gandy-court appear
to be very old and worn, and some of them are undoubtedly in very bad condition.
As a result of our inspection, however, we are of opinion that many of the evils existing in the areas can be
remedied by the application of the provisions of Part II. of the Act relating to closing and demolition orders, and by
the enforcement by the borough council of its powers under the Public Health (London) Act, 1891. In fact, closing
orders have quite recently been obtained in respect of six houses comprised in the Brewery-yard area. The Housing
Act of 1890 describes the areas which should be dealt with under Part I. thereof as those containing houses, courts,
or alleys, the evils connected with which. cannot be effectively remedied otherwise than by an improvement
scheme for the re-arrangement of the streets and houses within such areas, or of some of such streets or houses. We
are unable to describe the areas in question as requiring the preparation of so large a scheme as is contemplated under
Part I. of the Act. It appears to us that their extent and general disposition are not such as to justify their being
considered as of importance to the county of London as a whole, and that, if they should be dealt with by way of
scheme, it should be prepared by the local authority under Part II. of the Act. Under the circumstances the procedure
which we think the Council should adopt is that prescribed by section 73 (1) (6) of the Act of 1890, as amended
by the Order in Council, made in accordance with the provisions of section 2 of the Act of 1903, transferring the
powers and duties of the Home Office under the Housing Acts to the Local Government Board. Under this section
the Council may resolve that an area officially represented under Part I. of the Act is not of general importance to the
county of London, and should be dealt with under Part II. of the Act, and such resolution may be submitted to the
Local Government Board. The Board may then institute an enquiry if they deem such a course necessary, and may,
under section 73 (2), make an order pointing out the way in which the areas should be dealt with,