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The following is a Copy of the communication referred to in the annexed
Refort.
Board of Guardians for the Relief of the Jewish Poor.
13, Devonshire Square, Bishopsgate, E.
October 30th, 1884.
To the Chairman & Members of the Whitechapel District
Board of Works.
Gentlemen.
We the members of the Sanitary Committee of the Board
of Guardians for the Relief of the Jewish Poor, beg leave to call your
attention to the fact, that in a very large number of cases of sanitary
defects brought to your notice in the months of June, July and August
last, no remedial action has been taken by the owners.
While we readily acknowledge the great courtesy with which our
representations are invariably received by your Medical Officer and
your two Sanitary Inspectors, yet, judging from practical results, we
are under the strong impression that the action of your Board, in
these and similar cases, is neither as prompt nor as cogent, nor as
effectual as the needs of the cases demand; and we respectfully
suggest that you appoint additional Inspectors, in order to compel a
more prompt and complete compliance with sanitary requirements.
After careful investigation we are of opinion that the general
sanitary state of the houses inhabited by the poor in your district is
most unsatisfactory, and we believe that in the event of the outbreak
of any epidemic in the metropolis, the result would be disastrous to
your district, where all the external conditions favourable to the
spread of disease exist to the fullest degree. Moreover we find in
most particulars, the sanitary condition of the dwellings to be far
below the very moderate standard required by the Regulations
framed by you, under the provisions of the Sanitary Act 1866.
The yards at rear of the houses are seldom, if ever, sufficiently
paved with proper and suitable materials " nor sufficiently drained
" so as to run dry and effectually take off all waste or surface water,"
as required by the 17th clause of your Regulations, and the result
usually is that the rainfall penetrates into the foundations of the
houses, carrying with it the impurities of the yards and open dust
bins, rendering the woodwork of the floors rotten, and converting the
sub-soil into a quagmire of putrid filth.