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10
Plages Unfit for Habitation.
Mr. Inspector Wrack reports, that on visiting some houses in Wentworth
Street, he discovered a small wooden shed, which had been recently
erected in the yard, at the rear of No. 124, which is used as a baker's shop.
This shed abuts against the window of the house. Three men, in the employ
of Mr. Simon Cohen, the owner of the shop, slept in this shed. The
beds were on the bare earth, and the only access to the shed was by creeping
through the window of the back room. A notice was served on Mr. Simon
Cohen, prohibiting the use of the shed as a sleeping room, which was at
once complied with.
On visiting some houses in Great Garden Street, Mr. Wrack found an
old man living in a filthy state in a dark cellar at No. 67. Several cats
were kept in the same place, and the smell arising from the cellar was most
offensive. The cellar had been sub-let by a foreigner named Abraham
Lewis, who occupied the ground floor rooms of the same house. The rent
of the cellar was two shillings per week. A notice was served on Mr. Lewis,
prohibiting the further use of the cellar as a dwelling. Such revelations
show the necessity of making frequent visits to the houses which are occupied
by the poorer classes.
Bakehouses.
Although the Bakehouses are now, by a recent Act of Parliament,
placed under the supervision of the Factory Inspectors, it does not appear
from the report of the Sanitary Inspectors of this District, that any advantage
has accrued to the public from the duties of the Sanitary Inspectors
of the Local Board, as regards these businesses, having been transferred to
the Inspectors of Factories.
Mr. Battram states that some of the bakehouses in his District, particularly
those used for "baking small goods," are in a filthy state.
Mr. Wrack reports that some of the bakehouses in his District,
notably three in Wentworth Street, two in Artillery Passage, one in Commercial
Street, Spitalfields, and one in Brushfield Street, are in an unsatisfactory
condition as regards their cleanliness.
Each of the Inspectors has, under my direction, written to Mr. Redgrave,
the Chief Factory Inspector, directing his attention to the dirty
condition of some of the Bakehouses in the Whitechapel District.
Before the last amended Factory Act came into operation, all the
bakehouses were regularly inspected every six months, and where necessary,
orders were given to the owners to cleanse them, and to improve their
ventilation.