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34
drains were repaired or relaid in 185 dwellings; new
drains, where none existed before, were constructed in
23 premises; 54 cesspools were abolished.
A great many of the old and much decayed small
dwellings of the parish have been removed during the
last few years, to make way for improvements of various
kinds, but many still remain and necessitate much
sanitary inspection. The progressive decay and crumbling
down of the walls, floors, and roofs render it exceedingly
difficult, and even impossible to repair and cleanse
them in an enduring manner; and in not a few instances
it is obviously a waste of money to attempt it. Some
owners during the past year have wisely recognised it was
wasteful, and have therefore pulled down the old structures
and re-built houses of a superior kind well provided with
sanitary conveniences, for instance in Foundry Place and
elsewhere.
In the year, more than 500 of the old dilapidated
dwellings have been much improved, and provided with
sanitary appliances requisite for health,—in other words
made fit for human habitation. To shew the nature of
the improvements it is enough to mention that the walls
and ceilings were cleansed and repaired throughout in 414
houses, partly in 215 houses; roofs repaired in 150; floors
repaired in 73. Dangerously dilapidated stairs repaired in
42; ventilation provided under floors in 44; waste pipes
of sinks situated within the house, from which sewer gases
escaped into the dwellings, were detached from the
drain and made to terminate in the open air, and
over the yard sinks, or the pipes were securely trapped
in 185 premises. 548 closets were cleansed and repaved,
and 521 of them provided with water supply. 97 sculleries
were properly paved; 523 yards and areas were limewhited;
486 yards paved with impervious material, viz.: