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12
On the 18th of June I presented a report
on the bad sanitary condition of a block of
dwellings, consisting of the houses Nos. 29— 48,
North Wharf Road, and Nos. 2 — 20, Dudley
Street. It was therein stated that the houses in
question had been for many years notoriously
liable to the invasion of epidemics, and to the
prevalence of those diseases which are the known
products of sanitary neglect: and that although
this unhealthiness arose in part from the social
condition of the inhabitants, it was equally attributable
to the bad construction and dilapidated
state of the houses. It was shewn that they
were wanting in the commonest appliances of
cleanliness, and that the water closets and dustbins
were in the foulest condition and of the rudest
description. Most of the inlets to the drains were
untrapped, so that sewer air escaped freely. In
North Wharf Road, particularly, the drains were so
imperfect, that even if traps had been provided,
mephitic exhalations would still have escaped
through the interstices of the crumbling brick
work. All the houses were the property of one
individual who had been repeatedly urged to put
them in a proper sanitary state, but had on each
occasion contented himself with the mere abatement
of pressing nuisances,without complying with
the requirements of the Committee as to constructive
improvements. It therefore appeared necessary
to take more stringent measures; notice was