View report page

133
accommodation. I can only repeat what I have frequently stated
in my previous reports—that overcrowding is a form of nuisance
which requires matured experience to deal with. The service of a
Notice and clearing a family out of a house may comply with the
Notice but it does not abate the nuisance, for if the overcrowding
is the result of poverty (which is only too often the case), the
family who have had to vacate the overcrowded house will be
forced to seek a shelter, frequently under worse conditions than
those they have left. My experience urges me to suggest where
it is at all practicable to re-arrange the sleeping accommodation.
URINALS.
There are twelve public conveniences in the Borough (excluding
those in public parks); four are underground and seven
on the ground level. Special attendants are engaged, whose duty
it is to keep them clean. During the past year the Council have
constructed two new underground conveniences in the Barking
Road, and made additional accommodation in the public parks for
ladies.
There are also 28 urinals attached to licensed premises
to which the public have access. Many inspections of these conveniences
have been made by the Inspectors. Notices have been
served for the abatement of nuisances in connection therewith, the
principal cause of complaint being insufficient water supply for
cleansing, and light. The want of light is frequently a primary
cause of the abuse to which the urinals are often subjected.
PASSAGES AT REAR OF PREMISES.
Secondary means of access are provided for most of the
business premises in the Borough, and undoubtedly are
found to be of great importance, but unfortunately they are
a serious menace to Public Health. These passages are used in
common by the many whose premises abut; they are invariably
dark and in a dirty condition; where there are gates they are
usually left open, affording facilities to any person who desires to
dispose of any objectionable matter.
It is to be regretted that occupiers of premises who have the
right to use these passages do not display a more intelligent