London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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City of London 1863

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London, City of ]

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14
pallid look of the child, and in the sickly condition
of the parent, and in the longing for artificial
stimulants. How to improve this, and to make
the homes of the poor consistent with physical and
moral wellbeing is one of the most serious questions
of the day. Already, in the course of the last
twenty years, much has been done for the improvement
of the dwellings of the industrial classes; and
the efforts of many societies, as the Labourers'
Friend Society, the Metropolitan Association, the
Marylebone Association, the Parochial Association,
the Strand Building Company, the Improved Industrial
Dwellings Company, as well as the labours of
the late Prince Consort, Lord Shaftesbury, Lord
Kinnaird, Miss Burdett Coutts, Mr. Barry, Mr.Newson,
Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Hilliard, and more recently
those of Mr. Alderman Waterlow, the Trustees of
the Peabody Gift, and the Corporation of London,
have been devoted either to the improvement of
existing houses occupied by the industrial poor,
or in the construction of model dwellings, with
every appliance for health and convenience. But
although about 2,500 tenements have, in this
way, been provided, capable of accommodating as
many families, and also nearly 1,000 lodgings for
single men, yet the result is insignificant in comparison
with the work which is yet to be done.
Besides which, the houses in question are only
suited for the better and the decent class of