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good repair, in only 13 instances were they found defective or choked;
defective stack pipes and gutters were noticed in 10 cases. But the
conditions requiring remedy and most frequently met with relate to
the interior of dwellings: thus, in 146 tenements, the rooms and
staircases and passages were in need of cleansing, while walls, ceilings
and floors were dilapidated or defective in 71 cases, notwithstanding
the fact stated by the Sanitary Inspector that the rooms in many cases
had been cleansed after inspection made within the previous 18 months.
These conditions were most marked in the poorer class of tenement
houses referred to above as houses in which rooms are let out separately.
Inadequate water-closet accommodation for the number of residents in
houses was noticed on two occasions, and illegal occupation of basement
rooms in three instances. Overcrowding of rooms, judged by the
standard adopted in the bye-laws of the authority as to houses let in
lodgings, was noted in as many as 49 cases.
There are in the district 19 houses let in lodgings which have been
registered. They are situated in the following streets Lever Street,
four houses; Bastwick Street, five houses; Featherstone Street, two
houses; and Honduras Street, eight houses. Some of these were
visited, and found for the most part in compliance with the bye-laws.
There are four registered common lodging-houses in St. Luke, three
for the accommodation of male lodgers, and one for both males and
females. One of the lodging-houses consists partly of a building
formerly used as a mission room, and is not well adapted for its
present purpose, and although improvements were effected upon the
occasion of its transfer to the present keeper, the day room accommodation
is still unsuitable. Two of the houses are old premises, and
frequently in need of repair. The fourth house has lately been
transferred, and is at the present time undergoing improvement.
The Sanitary Authority have not a complete list of the workshops in
the district. During the inquiry 91 of these premises were visited,
and for the most part they were satisfactory, but detective conditions,
or the need for cleansing were noted as regards 43, while the watercloset
accommodation for the number of workers was insufficient in
two instances. No effectual attempt has been made to carry out the
section of the Factory and Workshop Act relating to outworkers.
Of the 35 bakehouses in St. Luke 30 were inspected and found to
be maintained in a satisfactory condition, except in the case of three,
which were in need of some slight repairs. The means of light and
ventilation are unsatisfactory in the case of eight, and 16 of the bakehouses
visited are situated underground. The cowsheds, milkshops
and slaughter-houses were found at the date of inspection in compliance
with the regulations. One slaughter-house, although satisfactory in
other respects, is open to objection, owing to the situation of a watercloset
in relation to it, and at one cowshed the dung and grain pits
communicate with the shed when the doors of the pits are open.