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in the centre of it a horse-trough with water supply; they draw up
their vehicles there to bait and water their horses. At the time of
my visit, the day was cold and dry, and the public road clean, but
the above named patch of ground was covered with soft mud ankle
deep. Neither it, however, nor the row of wooden buildings used
as stables and placed at its southern extremity exhaled any offensive
smell, but they present, in one of the best parts of the parish, an
unseemly and filthy appearance. I would suggest that the owner
be invited to place a rail or fence at the line of demarcation between
the land and the road, that he either pave or macadamize the former,
and if he continue to use the ground for the same purpose as heretofore,
that gates be placed at the points of entrance and exit of the
carts and waggons.
On the east side of the Deptford Road, between the China Hall
ditch and Mr. Gawdery's premises, is placed a small block of houses
called Cottage Place. The Inspector having mentioned to me that
the inmates made more applications for medical orders, than the
same number of persons in any other locality, I was led to examine
them. In front of them lies an open ditch, which was then in a foul
state, but has been cleansed since my visit. The row consists of five
four-roomed tenements, one of brick and four of wood, all in bad
repair, and tenanted principally by Irish families. Each dwelling
has water supply, but the privies are all in a dilapidated state and
without water to the pans. The drain consists of an open gutter
running across the middle of the yards, so that every pailful of
refuse liquid thrown away at No. 5, must traverse all the yards
before it arrives at its final destination. There are also no ashpits;
all the ashes and rubbish from the houses is thrown on to an open
space between the brick house and the road. At the time-of my
examination, there were twelve inmates at No. 5, (four families)
eight at No. 4, seven at No. 3, nine at No. 2, and three at No. 1.
The latter dwelling is of brick, and tenanted by a better class of
persons than the other four. 1 do not give the above numbers as
exact, but as an approximation to the truth, there being evidently
in one or two cases a tendency in the parties who gave the information
to hide the real number of inmates. I must submit to
the consideration of the Vestry whether in such tenements as those
just described, it would not be better for the prevention of disease to
limit the number of inmates in each house, as no social or moral improvement
of the poor can possibly take place in such crowded
habitations, where all the rules of decency and propriety must
necessarily be set at nought. I must also urge that the privies be
properly repaired and fitted up with water supply, that a covered
drain be constructed with a trapped opening in each yard, and
finally, that an ashpit be made for each house to avoid the unsightly
nuisance of having the dust and offal thrown over an open space
near a public thoroughfare.
On the opposite (south) side of Cottage place, and nearer the