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they had also to get water for their domestic use from the same Court.
Each house is uow provided with privy accommodation and a constant
supply of water direct from the main. The public privies in Spital Court,
which were a continual nuisance, have been abolished, and a water supply
is now provided direct from the main. The stinking public privies in this
Court were frequently occupied at night by vagrants as sleeping places.
Prolonged Retention of Dead Bodies.
There have been three cases of prolonged retention of the dead in
rooms occupied as living and sleeping rooms. One of these cases was that
of a child who died of diarrhoea at No. 26, King Street, Spitalfields, and
whose body was retained for nine days, the parents stating that they were
unable to raise sufficient money to bury it. During the time the body was
kept it became so offensive that it was necessary to remove it to a shed at
the rear of the house. Eventually the father applied to the Relieving
Officer and obtained an order for the burial of the body.
Another case was that of a young man who died of consumption at
120, Royal Mint Street. The body of this young man was kept for eight
days in the room in which his father and mother lived and slept.
The third case was that of a child three weeks old who died at No. 5,
Devonshire Place, Whitechapel. The body of this child was kept in the
room occupied by its parents for a period of twelve days, and at the time of
the visit of the Inspector the smell from it was most offensive.
Although in each of these cases every thing was done by the Officers
of this Board and by the Relieving Officer to induce the respective parties to
bury their dead before a nuisance was occasioned, yet to a certain extent,
their efforts were unavailing.
As such cases are of frequent occurrence, it is certainly full time that
power was given to Magistrates to order the burial without delay of every
corpse which is certified to be a nuisance or dangerous to the public health.
Public Dust Bins.
There are about 160 public dust bins in this District, all of which the
contractor is bound to empty daily. The importance of the daily emptying
of the public dust bins cannot be over estimated, and it should be rigidly
enforced; for the smell of the contents of these receptacles, when they are
allowed to remain unemptied for a period longer than 24 or 30 hours, is
sometimes intolerable, and is a cause of ill health to persons living in the
vicinity of them. I am happy to be able to state that the present contractor
has done his work during this quarter in a very satisfactory manner, for
very few complaints have been made respecting the non-removal of dust
from private houses, and the public dust bins have beeu duly attended to.