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ever ably or forcibly delivered. The want of pure water for drinking purposes,
has, to a certain extent, been ameliorated by the erection of drinking fountains.
The nearer these fountains are placed to the dwellings of the poor
the greater will be the advantage to that class for whose special benefit they
are erected.
I am happy to be able to report that my endeavours to obtain a better
supply of water to the poor of this district have not been altogether fruitless.
In addition to the several courts mentioned in a former Report* where
cisterns have been erected, I may mention that a cistern has been fixed in
Garden Court, in New Court Brown's Lane, in Kittleby Court, in New
Court George Yard, in Holloway Court, in Cooper's Court, in Russell Court,
and in Slater's Court. In Pool's Place, the landlady, Mrs. Hubie, has
erected a “ Patent Absolute Water Waste Preventer,” which appears to
answer in a very satisfactory manner, and other landlords have promised to
erect a similar apparatus.
Those landlords who hold property in the District where the water
supply is inadequate to the wants of their tenants, and who have neither
complied nor promised to comply with my request, as regards the erection of
a suitable apparatus for the affording of an additional supply, I shall leave
to be dealt with by the Board in such manner as the Clerk may advise, in
order to compel them to give their tenants such a supply as is necessary for
the promotion of their health and for cleanliness.
There are a few houses in the District which are entirely without any
water supply. The tenants of these houses obtain water for their.domestic
use surreptitiously from their more fortunate neighbours.
In order to compel a landlord who refuses to have a proper supply of
water to any house let out in tenements, the Legislature should prohibit under
adequate penalties the occupation of such house. The penalties might be
enforced by the Police Magistrates. Any house in London let out in tenements,
not having a supply of water, is unfit for human habitation.
As the Parish Engine is now of very little use for the extinguishing of
fires, and is soon likely to be superseded by a properly organized brigade of
firemen, under the authority of the Metropolitan Board, it might be advantageously
used for washing out, daily, several of the confined courts in the
district. The flushing of courts with a copious supply of water imparts a
coolness to the atmosphere which is refreshing, and I believe that such a proceeding
would be found to prove not only beneficial to the health of the
inhabitants, but would be an inducement to them to keep the interior of their
houses clean. People daily accustomed to witness filth exterior to their
houses, are not likely to acquire habits of cleanliness.
* See Report for December, 1862.