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opposition. A proposition has been made for the provision of
"chalets" as a commercial speculation ; but the Law and Parliamentary
Committee were of opinion that your Vestry could not
legally authorise obstructions in the public streets, and so the
matter fell through. In other parishes chalets have been erected ;
there is one at Shepherd's Bush Green. Should the system
be found to work satisfactorily, means will doubtless be found to
overcome legal difficulties.
PUBLIC BATHS AND WASH-HOUSES.
The Commissioners appointed by your Vestry are, at present
date (June), "getting out the ground" preparatory to laying the
foundations for Baths and Wash-houses, at the junction of
Lancaster and Silchester Roads, Notting Dale, having accepted
a tender for the erection of necessary buildings. The baths will
be a luxury, and the wash-houses a convenience, to rich and
poor, respectively, in the vicinity. For the majority of parishioners
probably, the site will not be found sufficiently central for bathing;
and certainly it is too remote for washing purposes. The same
objections would apply to any single site in so large and
irregular a Parish as Kensington. Bathers, of course, can use
other baths, but the case is somewhat different in regard to
washers, and I am of opinion that much good might be effected
by the provision of a number of buildings, on a modest scale, in
different parts of the parish, to which the poor might resort for
the purpose of washing clothing. The question of public washhouses
might with advantage be separated from that of public
baths.
MORTUARY.
The Mortuary in the Parish Churchyard, at the rear of the
Vestry Hall, was opened in July, 1883 ; in the first year 37
bodies were deposited; in the second year 77 ; and in the third
year 100. The building comprises two chambers, for infectious
and non-infectious bodies respectively, separated by " a place
provided for post mortem examinations," which is highly