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Committee so as to become of little value for practical purposes.
The "condition," however, is implied by existing law in the
letting of a furnished house, and a good practical application of
it has lately been published in the report of an action (Charsley
v. Jones) brought to recover damages for breach of an agreement
to let a furnished dwelling house at Ryde. Owing to the
alleged defective system of drainage, and contaminated condition
of a well, in connection with the house, several members of the
plaintiff's family got typhoid fever, and so the plaintiff and his
family had to quit the house and find apartments elsewhere.
The learned Judge (Mr. Justice Manisty), in summing up to
the (Special) Jury, said that " the law in the case of a furnished
house was that there was an implied undertaking that the house
was fit for human habitation. The question was whether the
typhoid fever was due to the house not being in a reasonably
habitable condition owing to the water or the drains. It seemed
that the defendant honestly believed that the house was in a fit
state of habitation; but that was not the question. The date
when the family went to Ryde was important, as in typhoid
fever there was a period of incubation." The learned Judge
then went carefully through the evidence, and said, as regarded
the damages, if they thought the house was not fit for human
habitation, the plaintiff was entitled to a verdict for the rent
and such other expenses as he was put to. The Jury returned
a verdict for the plaintiff, with £70 damages.
THE METROPOLITAN SEWAGE QUESTION.
In my Annual Reports for 1885 and 1886, I referred,
under the heading, "Metropolitan Main Drainage," to the steps
taken by the late Metropolitan Board of Works to clarify and
deodorize the Sewage of the Metropolis before its discharge into
the River, well-founded complaints having been made with
regard to the condition of the river resulting from the introduction
of enormous volumes of crude sewage.