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ascertain whether premises proposed to be taken are in such a state as
to be a nuisance; and if so, to estimate the cost of abating the
nuisance (for which ordinarily the owner of the premises is liable) and
to deduct such cost from the amount payable for the premises taken.
So far as my examination has gone, I do not think that any representation
I could make under the 1875 Act would be entertained by
the Metropolitan Board of Works, as the unsanitary houses in this
parish are scattered over a large area, and do not form blocks sufficiently
large for that august body to deem worthy of taking into
consideration for an improvement scheme. I am confirmed in this
opinion by my friend, Mr. Lovett, Medical Officer of Health for
St. Giles's, several of whose representations have been entertained by
the Board, and Improvement Schemes carried out, and who therefore
speaks with considerable authority. Mr. Lovett accompanied me
round the district, and examined a large number of houses.
The portions of the district I have examined and now report upon
are shown in the accompanying plans, and they include nearly 2000
houses.
I have visited and carefully examined almost every one of these
houses, and I must confess that a condition of things has been
thereby revealed to mo of which I had no previous conception, for I do
nut think I visited a single house without finding some grave sanitary
defect; in a very large number the walls of the staircases, passages,
and rooms are black with filth; the ceilings are rotten and bulging,
the walls damp and decayed, the roofs defective, and the ventilation
and lighting most imperfect; this, in some instances, is due to the
fact that, as the windows get smashed, the apertures are either
stuffed with rags or plastered over with paper, instead of the glass
being replaced.
The dampness of the walls is, in some instances, due to defects in
the roof, in others to the leaky condition or absence of proper spouting ;
but in many the moisture rises from the earth, owing to the walls
being constructed without any damp-proof course.
A frequent cause of dampness is the improper position of the watertap
; this, instead of being placed against the yard wall, is frequently
fixed against the back front of the house in order to save a few extra
feet of piping, consequently the water splashed over in filling pails and
the drippings from the tap keep the wall constantly wet.