SLUM DWELLINGS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 118, 24 June 1914, Page 10

SLUM DWELLINGS.

INSANITARY HOUSES IN MELBOURNE.

"Seeking designs for the Federal capital? r \ was the salutation of a wag to members of the Housing Commission as its members penetrated, says the "Age/' under date May 29, into taneT* and by-ways of Carlton within sound of a gunshot of Parliament House. Plain Clothes Constables Sharpe and ScOtt had previously ..told -the commission what they knew of some of the places where people lived, and it was decided to make a personal inspection* The evidence submitted by these officers was graphic enough, but words would fail to adequately describe the conditions' of some of the houses, Dozens of places were visited during the course of the day. : . '.'.' ; : .'' -' ... ,'.■ " •-•' ■

One house, which was ...typical of a seorp which were inspected,, had about 10 square feet of land in frority a portion occupied for.sanitary purposes, no back yard at all. There - were 'two r roomß on _the grouhd floor, arid- two " aWye, reached fey a narrow, windiftg • stairway, requiring, the .utmost care to j and, .descend .-.without.: risk of '■■ serious accident. TPhe fbur apartments • were scarcely large,* enough to ■ make two of decent size. Roth top . arid: bottom floors ;...were - overcrowded . .'sleeping • In • every room, there .were /eyidenpes ..of - .damp,. the atmosphere , was nauseating, - and the windows—-wheri there were a«y .* —were so jammed , f roni the -building dropping in a corner fioin ageiand neglect that they couid not be/opened. QUAINT OCCUPATIONS. ;The uses to which these buildings are put>,-apart from supplying ''a home'' ±'or slum denizens, are sufficient to warraut immediate la • one place, the occupiers make a living . by ■' cdoking mussels, wjiich are subse.: ( queritly bought from "city aird suburbad ; shops by unsuspecting purchasers. AiH>Iher "'place was strewn with bottlesltisSaf " by chemists. Theyare *^cl^aned r ' irf ,' ! oltl m"en, one of - whom• proudly declared/V lie had been at; the business for foiir~ ,' teen -years. When asked how he disposed" of the bottles, he said he had regular retail customers.- It is to be hoped, in the interests of people who are so unfortunate as to require medicine, that ''the retail customers'' siifiri : onitthem tO" a further: cleansing process. The water in two or three tubs, through which the bogles passed in the ''cleanirig,' ' was -the colour, arid almost of tite consistency, of pea soup. Others of these "unwholesome dens are used for the storage of fruit. . Many of the tenants are obviously v respectable. Others are frankly and y unmistakably quite the reverse. Here and there an attempt is made to'grow/a few.flowers. An old lady pointed with.pride to her little garden. It was about two feet wide arid five feet long. Neat little railings protected it from the outside/and a piece of wire netting kept off the vandal hands of children of the alley. It contained nothing choicer than a common geranium and two or three stunted cosmos—"an illfavoured thing, sir, but mine own." DANGEROUS PLACES. It was seen during the course of the inspection that some buildings haveT been deriiolished. A spot • was shown to the coriimiseion on which less than a month ago there were 12 houses. Now there is only one. It is a two-storey place coiftainirig four rooms, with "a cellar for the kitchen/ The owner is asking £1 a week rent for it. Fortunately up to > the, present the extor- . tionate rent demanded has prevented it from being let. jlt should have been rpuJl6d;dowstiwitlr.the others.;. In Madeline Street-there- is a, house, /where alt . >fciie draihage.'^from the .backyard r runs ; to' the ? front; of .the house by a. drain . obviously made to carry it off that .way. Every room is damp,, yet the landlbrd . will do nothing.to improve it. Close by the water from the roof of another place flows by natural drainage into the kitchen. A chimney over this building is in a dangerous condition. 'A little while ago <i chimney fell through the roof of a house in the locality and killed a man inside. This place remains in position only because it is sheltered by adjoining buildings from wind; Not far away the chimney of auother house is maintained in position by.an iron band fastened to a sewerage ventilation pipe. Why the Board of Works permitted that to be done is a mystery. What is a matter for still greater surprise is that officers of the board passed some of the sanitary arrangements a,nd take no notice "of the waste of water in these localities. There was scarcely a tap which was not leaking, some very-badly. UNFIT FOR OCCUPATION.

It was stated that some of the properties belong to members of the tftty Council. Ownership of some dilapidated, structures off Little Lonsdale Street, for which 10/- and 12/- a week is being paid, was attributed to "an ex-coun-cillor who moves in the ..best society.'* Scarcely a house visited is "fit for occupation. Some of them have been condemned, but for -some reason not at all apparent they are permitted to stand after some tinkering repairs have been made, though the places are wholly irredeemable.. ■-..-.,