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73
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
hours is mentioned in many reports. Dr. Harris, Medical Officer of Islington, points out the
need for a bi-weekly collection of refuse from restaurant kitchens and all places where food
is prepared. Several of the reports contain accounts of nuisances from fried fish shops;
some mentioning especially dirty conditions, imperfect and unwashed floors, and two
(Finsbury and Stepney) effluvium nuisance at the time of frying. The Council's by-laws for
regulating this trade and that of the business of a marine store dealer are now the subject
of communication between the Local Government Board and the Council. In connection with the
removal of house refuse, the most important fact to be recorded is the completion in Westminster of the
extension of a system of daily collection to all parts of the city. The practicability of applying this
system to a London district inhabited by some 160,000 persons is thus demonstrated, and other London
sanitary authorities should without delay utilise the experience of Westminster in improving the
system of collection in their own areas. Westminster is inhabited by persons of all classes, the houses
in the city are commercial and residential, the residential houses being occupied by well-to-do and by
poor persons. Hence there are no exceptional conditions in Westminster which do not exist in other
boroughs which can be thought of as giving facilities for the institution of a system of daily collection.
In connection with this change in the system of collection of house refuse in Westminster, Dr. Allan
mentions improvement in the diarrhoea death-rate of Westminster beyond that of London as a whole.
Dr. Porter also records that a system of daily collection has been extended in St. Marylebone to three
additional streets, and of a collection thrice weekly to 60 streets, mews and other places; he writes
that" practically all the streets in which the frequency has been increased consist of houses, mainly
of the tenement class, occupied by more than one family of persons in poor circumstances. Many of
the houses are without open spaces, or have only a small yard, so that the dustbin must be kept inside or
close to the premises, and is apt to cause nuisance unless frequently emptied." In connection with the
institution of a system of weekly collection of house refuse in Islington, Dr. Harris states that the
number of instances in which application had to be made by householders for the removal of their
refuse had decreased in 1910 to 44. The number of such applications in 1891 was 10,138.
Housing of the Working Classes.
In November the Council resolved to make an improvement scheme in respect of two areas
in Southwark, known as the Tabard-street and Grotto-place areas, and an area in Bermondsey, known
as the Crosby-row area, which had been represented to the Council by the respective medical officers of
health of those boroughs. In a report presented by the Housing of the Working Classes Committee
to the Council the areas were thus described:—
Proceedings
under
Part I.
of the
Housing of
the Working
Classes Act
1891.
The Tabard-street area as represented is about 13½ acres in extent, contains 649 houses, and has a population
of 3,552 persons, nearly all of whom are persons of the working class. The area is situated between Long-lane
and Great Dover-street, and is in two detached sections lying north and south of the London County Council school
in Westcott-street. The main (northern) portion is bounded on the north by Sterry-street and on the south by
Pardoner-street, and includes part of Tabard-street, Henry-place, Fox s-buildings, St. Stephen's-square (excluding
St. Stephen's Church), Wickham-place, parts of Chapel-place and Staple-street, Delph-street, Camelot-street, Elthamstreet,
part of Globe-street, some houses on the south side of Nebraska-street and a number of small courts and
alleys. The smaller (southern) portion of the area contains a group of houses in Falstaff-yard and Paul s-yard,
and some houses fronting on Little Hunter-street, Tabard-street, Law-street and Lansdowne-place. The characteristic
feature of the area is the narrowness of the streets and the bad arrangement of both streets and houses.
George-court is, in parts, only 3 ft. wide ; Little Britain, 5 ft.; Wickham-court, 7^ ft. ; and several other streets
do not exceed 10 ft. in width, including the footways. Out of 32 streets in the area no less than 13 are nils de sac.
The houses in Tabard-street are three storeys in height, but nearly all the other houses on the area consist of two
storeys and contain either two or four rooms. Many of the houses have back yards which are small and in which
are situated the waterclosets and dustbins. The yards of some of the houses are at a much lower level than the
houses themselves and are approached by narrow, dark staircases. These yards are very small and very little sunlight
and fresh air can reach them. In a few streets, for instance Wickham-place, there is more space at the rear,
but the houses in these streets do not differ materially in character from other two-storey houses in the area. The
front doors of the houses in a large number of cases open directly into the ground floor room. The ground floor in
many instances is some inches below the street level, and the ceilings are low pitched, the rooms varying in height
from 6½ feet to a little over 7 feet. The houses generally are worn out; the walls of many of the ground floor
rooms present evidence of dampness or have been matchboarded in such a way as to conceal the dampness ; and
the staircases are, in a number of instances, narrow, dark and dangerous. The houses in Tabard-street itself are, as
stated above, larger than other houses in the area, and in some cases have cellars beneath them. In numerous
instances these houses are provided with central staircases, unventilated, dark and dangerous. The whole of the
area is populated by a very poor class, many of the inhabitants occupying cheap furnished rooms.
The Grotto-place area, which comprises some 1½ acres, lies to the west of Southwark-bridge-road, and includes
a number of badly-arranged courts, most of which are culs de sac, and some houses in Great Suffolk-street. The area
contains 138 houses, all of which, with the exception of those fronting on Great Suffolk-street, are one or two storeys
in height. With the exception of the houses in two courts where the yards have been thrown into one, the space
at the rear of the houses is very confined. In most cases the front door opens directly into the ground floor room
and the staircase to the upper room opens out of the ground floor room. In some instances the ground floor is below
the level of the street or back yard. The houses with few exceptions are quite worn out, and the inhabitants, who
number 567, are of the poorer class.
The Crosby-row area, which is situated on the eastern side of Crosby-row between SnowVfields and Longlane,
Bermondsey, is about one acre in extent and contains 88 houses occupied by 474 persons, most of whom are
very poor. The houses in Crosby-row are two and three storeys in height and a few have basements. Nearly all
the other houses on the area are two storeys in height and contain two, three and four rooms. These latter houses
are situated in courts approached either by narrow archways or passageways from Crosby-row and in most cases the
front door opens directly into the living room. The courts are some feet below the level of the pavement of Crosbyrow.
The houses generally are worn out, are surrounded by high buildings, and have insufficient space about them.
Many of them show signs of dampness or are matchboarded in such a way as to conceal the dampness.
F