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29
Watering,
Cleansing,
and Removal
of Dust.
lor these services, which are performed by
Mr. G. Cookson under contract, the Vestry paid
£9,091 2s. 1½d. The contractor is required to
carry out the necessary sweeping and cartage, together with
special work upon the wood paving by street orderly boys.
The Vestry provide a shoot at the wharf in Millbank
Street, and a residence for the contractor's foreman, at an
annual cost of £500, to ensui-e the more efficient execution
of the work.
Sewers.
Upon the re-construction of sewers, general
repairs and renewals, and short extensions, in
order to maintain an efficient local sewerage system, the
sum of £1,706 11s. 6d. was expended during the year. The
work was executed by Mr. J. H. Neave under a contract
and schedule of prices.
SANITARY MEASURES
Artizans'
Dwellings Acts.
The first report of the Vestry at page 252 gave
review of the circumstances which led the
Vestry to determine upon the issue of Orders under the
Artizans' and Labourers' Dwellings Acts of 1868, for the
demolition of certain properties in Smith's Rents,
Smith's Place, and Lewisham Street. At the meeting of
the Vestry on 10th April a letter was received from the
Rector of St Margaret's, the Venerable Dr. Farrar, "appeal"ing
very earnestly to the Vestry to follow up, by direct and
"decisive action, the strong reports of their sanitary officers
"respecting the houses in Lewisham Street," and proceeding:
" If I could detail to the Vestry the miseries, the tragedies, and
the sins which are constantly occurring in this street, they
would understand the strength of my opinion as to the necessity
—in the best interests of the people themselves as well as of
the whole neighbourhood—of putting into force the wise
and beneficent provisions of the Artizans' Dwellings Act.
Everything that can be done by the clergy and their agents in
that street is being done, but it is all defeated by the physical
conditions of the street, and the immoral and drunken character
of many of its inhabitants. While the houses remain in their