A MOUNT ALBERT SCANDAL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19448, 6 November 1925, Page 8

A MOUNT ALBERT SCANDAL

AN APPALLING HOVEL. WOMAN AND HER SWEETS SHOP. - A BEDROOM “DUG OUT.’U AUCKLAND, Nov. 4. In reporting to the Mount Albert Borough Council, the sanitary inspector said that in one case he had been unable to persuade a woman to comply with the Act. She had taken up her abode in a small shed, in which she sold confectionery, fruit and cakes. She admitted that she had been sleeping on a wicker chair among the eatables. but said that she was now sleeping in a new bathroom “down below.” This room was found to have been dug out under the ground floor. The jack stud was approximately four feet high, and the room was directly under the so-called shop. A portion of the ground had recently been dug out, and on the ground four case boards had been laid, and the four legs of an old bed rested upon them. The conditions could scarcely be credited. The north side of the room consisted of old benzine tins, the east side of earth, and the south side of old case boards. The inspector said he had finally called in the assistance of Dr Hughes, the Medical Officer of Health, who had forwarded a closing order, which was enforced only in exceptional circumstances. The Council decided to enforce the order.