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42
cross a public road, in all weathers, to obtain water from the butt
near the horse-trough; also in the case of Hanover Street, supplied
by three stand pipes. In Paxton's Alley there is one of the latter,
and the people complain that on the coldest day in winter, when
the pavement is slippery with frost, they have to drag the water
from the stand pipe up the steps of their dwellings, through the
dwellings, and again down a flight of stairs into the kitchen. The
water ought to be carried into every house, and as long as the present
system of intermittent supply continues, proper receptacles
provided; I feel satisfied, that until this is done, all labour for the
improvement of the social condition of the poor will be vain.
Several houses have been examined by myself and the Inspector
during the past month, namely, Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, at the northeast
end of Neptune Street; No. 11, Lower Neptune Street, and
Nos. 4 and 5, George Street. At all these places the cesspools
were full, the drainage bad, and almost everything wanting that
this Vestry require.
At Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4, Mariner's Buildings there are but two
privies for four houses. The cesspools being full, the stench arising
from them causes much annoyance to the neighbourhood. I would
venture to suggest that two more privies be built, and that all be
put into proper order, and also that ashpits be constructed. At No.
160, Rotherhithe Street there exists an intolerable nuisance; the
whole yard is inundated with soil from the cesspool, forming a
pool of sewage fifteen feet long and five or six feet wide. Passengers
in the street complain of the smell, and it is, without exception,
the worst case of the kind that has hitherto fallen under my observation.
Nos. 1, 2 and 3, Kenning's Buildings are occupied by about forty
inhabitants. For this multitude there is one privy, which is not
even provided with a door. This locality is the old seat of typhus,
and it would not surprise me were that disease to reappear amidst
such filth, during the summer months, unless the merciful hand of
this Vestry, by some stringent measure forestall and prevent such
a calamity.
There is a foul privy without doors at the Gas Works, frequented
by about one hundred and eighty men, and divided into three compartments.
A proper convenience, supplied with water and good
drainage, ought to be constructed.
On the 11th February, I went to the patent manure factory of
Mr. Batchelour, opposite Hanover Stairs. No mixing was going on
at the time of my visit. A faint smell pervaded the factory, but it
was not perceptible in the street. The works were clean and
orderly. The manufacturer always uses calcined bone, and thereby
avoids many of the disagreeable stenches arising from the action of
the sulphuric acid on putrefying animal matter.
Many complaints have been made of the effluvia from some of the
street gullies, viz., at the west corner of Swan Lane, in Clarence