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7
floors." On the west side of Nelson Street, he also reports,
"that several cases of Scarlet Fever, Typhus, and Small-pox
have occurred." Those cases were probably referable to 30
feet of open sewer close by. The South Ward is remarkable
for the cul-de-sac construction of several streets. It is traversed,
almost at parallel lines, by Bethnal Green Road, and the
Eastern Counties' Railway, which nearly sub-divide it into
three equal parts. The superior contains many good modern
houses in the district of St. Jude, and a large open space (late
an old market-garden) capable of affording much more houseroom.
In the central part, are the several free spaces of Camden
and other Gardens, which,—though open to objection, in their
present unpaved condition—might by judicious alteration,
furnish the staple want of the parish—Model Lodgings, Baths,
and Wash-houses. Westward of Camden Gardens stand the
disease-inviting back-to-back houses of Alfred and Beckford
Rows, where Fever reigned supreme in 1838, and Cholera
in 1849. But, even here, "relief might be given" by converting
every two back-to-back tenements "into one single
row of houses with doors and windows before and behind," as
admirably suggested, in certain City Courts, by Mr. Simon.
In pleasing contrast to these upas spots, are the several improvements
made in paving and draining through the praiseworthy
exertions of our friend Mr. Goodwin. They illustrate
how much each one may do, and forcibly urge us to "go and
do likewise." To the south of the railroad is the third subdivision;—the
far-famed Lamb Fields, or "St. Giles" of
Bethnal Green: now teeming with life, and, perhaps retaining,
in its oft-described soil—germs of future disease! Much
hazard however, might be avoided by the ventilating chimney
openings of Dr. Arnott, "which not only carry away the
breath-poison, but also the aerial impurity" of undrained, or
badly drained soil. Such chimney openings with the charcoal
air filters of Dr. Stenhouse, which purify the air from
without before it enters the lungs, would greatly ward off