A "HOUSE OF DIRT."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14281, 1 August 1908, Page 10

A "HOUSE OF DIRT."

A NOISOME ABODE.

NEED FOR INSPECTION.

(Prom Our Own Correspondent.)

WELLINGTON, July 31. Under tho [loading of "The House of Dirt, the Post gives a rather vivid account of a visit paid by one of its reporters to a boarding : houso in tho cilv Ibere are several boarding-houses in Wellington which are known to bo overcrowded and deplorably dirty. The one visited by the reporter was 'found to be in such a shocking state as to almost defy description. It was a nine-roomed hou<=e Iho rent was nearly £2 10s a week, and it was situated within a few paces of one of the most important streets of the civ The exterior wa3 most unpromising in appearance, and the timbers were decayed in places, but when the front door opened a powerfully noisome odour rushed out. It was invisible, but could bo felt-damp warm, and heavy in most of tho rooms, ihe- wall and ceiling papers were bellied and falling, with festoons of cobwebs, and in places laths were tacked along the ceiling fo keep the paper f Tom falling, k the dming-room were two beds or couches one of them occupied as a bed by a boarder who was sound asleep. The room was very dirty, and grime climg to the curtains liko some foid lichen. In tho sitting-room there was much furniture, heaps of old clothes and rags, and three beds, one of them double. An invalid lay in' one of the beds. A.fire burned in the room, and the atmosphere was sjekenjugly pungent. Daylight struggled through one window, and tho room was in semi-darkness, a kind of twilight, for the dead wall of au adjoining house- shut out most of the light although it was midday. The windows wore not open, and the door was apparently kept shut, The measurements of this room wero 14ft by 12ft. FIVE IN A ROOM. Tho kitchen was also very dirty. It contained a eouolt made up as a bed. In tho hall were boxes and mattresses, which were obviously used as shakedowns. Upstairs in a bedroom, measuring 6tt by 12ft, wore two The air in.tjis room was absolutely fostid. Here, as elsewhere, the bedclothes consisted of dirty tattered rags. In an adjoining room, measuring lift by 16ft, were five beds, to say nothing of other furniture. Dirt lay thickly on. tho Venetian blinds, and the floor was in the samo condition as that in the bottom part of the house. Spidar webs, large and black, were spread over a fair proportion of tho ceiling area. In three other rooms, measuring 15ft by from 6ft to 7ft, were other beds, two to a room, and in one room of ahout the same'size was a single bed. The rooms wc.ro vcrv dirtv. "This is the bathroom," said a boarder who acted as guide. "Wo never use the bath," ho added, "for bathing." This was obvious, but the bath itself was used as a sink for foul water, as was poinfuly evident. A bed suggested the possibility of the bathroom being used as a sleoping ohambor when need arose. Thn condition of tho scullery, yard, and outhouses was in kcer ing with the interior of the premises.