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Back-to-back houses condemned as unfit for human habitation
1913.
PUBLIC HEALTH.
1,ACK-TO-I,ACK H O U S E S C O N D E M N E D AS U N I " I T F O R I I U M A N I I A B I T A T I O N . By HERBERT PECK, M.I)., C.M., D.P.H., Barrister-at-Law. Medical Officer of Health to Chesterfield R.D.C. E N T Y - S I X bacl~-to-back houses in Pahner T W Street, Halfway, Eckington, in the Rural District of Chesterfield, with an average population of I2o, had the following mortality figures : - ",'oar.
All Cau,~es per i ooo.
Diarrhcaa per l)n,~o,
19o8
37'3
16'6
19o9
44'8
25.0
ZjOCO
1910
52 2
16'6
50O
1911
29'8
1912
16"6
Average
3 6. I
ITu ,erculosls~ Infant Mortality pt.r i,oc,5. per i,c(,o births.
444
--
16"6
400
I1'6
3'5
469
The figures for the rest of Eckington, with an average population of i2,i98 were : - Vear.
All Causes per i,ooo,
Diarrhcea per i,ooo,
Tuberculosis Infant Mortality per___i,oo'). . per 1,ooo births.
19o8
18" 5
0'74
19o 9
13"2
0'33
1'15
191o
I4'8
c'83
1'24
1911
15' 4
1"41
1 "00
1912
lO" 3
o'16
0'83
14o 57
Average
14'4
0'69
I'IO
126
I
1'31
169 137 126
The houses are situated in an uncompleted street, thirteen looking east over small yards and the remainder west towards the road; the outlook is open on both aspects, one side looking up and the other down a hillside. Each house contains one room and a small unventilated pantry on the ground floor, a bedroom with a fireplace on the first floor and a bedroom without a fireplace on the second floor; all the windows open except where fastened down by the tenants Notice was served on the owners on February 27th, 1913, to convert the privy-middens distant 15 feet from the houses on the east side into water closets and dry ashpits, to repair various dilapidations and to convert each pair, back and front, into one house. The conversion would double the size of the houses. The owner of twelve of the houses and four similar to them in the vicinity agreed to carry out the requirements of the Council, although later he postponed the performance of the work pending the decfsion of the Local Govelnment Board on the appeal of the owner of the others. The latter appeared before the Northern Sanitary Committee
97
of tile Rural District Council on March 3ist, accompanied by his solicitor and ]muse a:4ent. tie offered to do all the required work with the exception of the conversion into through houses ; in place of this he offered to put a ventilator in the roof of each staircase of a pattern stated to be accepted by the Corporation of Sheffield; he said there were x6,ooo back-to-back houses in Sheffield, many being of a worse character than his, provided with similar ventilators put in at the instance of the Corporation, and that if the Council decided to condemn the houses, he should appeal to the Local Government Board. Evidence was given on these points and a specimen ventilator exhibited, but the Committee, on the advice of the medical officer of health and the. building surveyor, declined to accept these terms. A letter repeating the minimum which would be accepted by the Council was sent by the clerk to the owner on April 2and, and a formal order for closure was made on May 3rd. The owner appealed to the Local Government Board. An inquiry was held on July 22nd at the Halfway School by Mr. Edward Leonard, Housing Inspector of the Local Government Board, when the appellant was represented by counsel and a solicitor; numerous witnesses were called, including an architect, a rent collector and himself. The Rural District Council was represented by the Clerk, Mr. R. F. Hartwright, whose witnesses were Dr. Herbert Peck, the Medical Officer of Health, Dr. W . Lewis Thomson, Assistant County Medical Officer of Health, M r. D Northway, C.S.I., Inspector of Nuisances for Sub-District 3, and Mr. H. Hudson, P.A.S.I., Building Surveyor for Sub-Districts 2 and 3. The hearing lasted three hours. Much irrelevant evidence was given as to what obtained in Sheffield and the length of time tenants had lived in the houses without ill effects following, and much more would have been given but for the inspector requiring that the evidence should be confined to the question " W a s the condition of the houses on May 3rd, 1913, such as to justify their condemnation." He said that the fact that much had been done since that date in the way of repairs, such as pointing of walls, painting of doors and window frames, provision of ventilators to one house, etc., would not influence his decision as to whether the houses were fit or unfit for human habitation on that particular day. Counsel quoted part of Section 43 of the Housing, Town Planning, etc, Act, 19o9, and contended that with the provision of the ventilators suggested it would be quite legal to erect similar houses at the present time, but failed when examining the Council's witnesses to induce them to agree with him that such ventilation would be sufficient. Counsel repeated tl~e offer made by
9.q
PUBLIC HEALTH.
the owner to the Sanitary Committee on March 3ist. The inspector made a detailed examination of all the houses after the close of the inquiry. The following is a copy of the letter from the Local Government Board received on October I ith : LOCAL GOVERNMENT I~OARD, WmTEaALL, S.W. October Ioth, 19 t 3. StR,--I am directed by the Local Government Board to state that they have had under consideration the Report made by their inspector, Mr. Leonard, after the Inquiry held by him with reference to the appeal of Mr. J. Fearehough against closing orders made by the Rural District Council of Chesterfield under Section 17 (3) of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 19o9, in respect of certain dwelling houses known as Nos. 13-26 (inclusive) Palmer Street, Eckington, of which he is the owner. The !3oard, after careful consideration of the circumstances of the case have decided that the closing orders should be confirmed, and that the Board's costs in the matter should be borne by the appellant. I am to add that an Order of the I~,oard, under Section 39 of the Act of 19o9, giving effect to this decision will be issued in due course. I am, Sir, Your obedient Servant, N O E L T. K E R S H A W ,
Assistant Secretary The Clerk to the Rural District Council of Chesterfield. It should be remembered in considering the decision of the Local Government Board that the inspector stated that the question to be decided was whether the houses were fit or unfit for human habitation on May 3rd, the date of the closing order. They were found to be unfit for a reason, or more than one reason, or the aggregate of the reasons given by the Clerk to the Council, but no particular reason is given in the letter, and it would therefore be rash to conclude absolutely that the houses were condemned qua back-to-back houses. Nevertheless, the fact that no rider was added or suggestion made that the Council should accept the owner's offer, repeated by counsel, leads one to suppose that it was the dominant factor in the decision. Under the section of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, quoted by the appellant's counsel, back-to-back houses built under modern conditions are to be deemed unfit for human habitation. This being so, it follows afortiori that those built before modern conditions of air space and ventilation were required are so much the more unfit. This inference should be drawn rather than the one suggested by counsel.
DECEMBE
V A R I A T I O N IN T Y P E O F I N F E C T I O U S DISEASE.
Journal of Infectious Diseases, published in T H EChicago (No. 2, September), contains a paper by Dr. Charles Chapin on " Variation in Type of Infectious Disease," as shown by the history of smallpox in the United States, 1895-I912. In this paper Dr. Chapin describes the extension into various parts of the United States of a mild form of smallpox, which he describes. He states that the prodromal symptoms are not usually severe ; they disappear entirely on the occurrence of the eruption, and there is no secondary fever. The eruption is not profuse, often not consisting of more and sometimes of less than a dozen pustules. It usually passes through the same stages as in the typical disease, but these stages are invariably shortened. Judging from Dr. Chapin'sdescription it appears to behave more as smallpox does in persons who have been vaccinated in infancy, and the mortality was frequently less than one per cent. Dr. Chapin describes the extension of this form of smallpox over America. He tells us that this type of the disease seems to have been noticed first in Pensacola, where, between November, 1896, and July, i897, there were 54 cases of smallpox without a single death. As there had been shortly before in that locality an outbreak of the usual form of the disease, he thinks that " the most likely hypothesis is that the mild type of the disease originated there as a ' s p o r t ' or ' mutation' from the normal, and as the normal form of the disease had at that time disappeared from the South, the new type had a chance to spread extensively without being mixed with the old strain." While in 19o9 smallpox of the mild type was reported from 42 States, smallpox of a severe type began to make its appearance and sometimes spread into localities where the mild type prevailed. Apart from this, however, Dr. Chapin says that severe cases have sometimes developed from mild ones. Complicated cases and even deaths have occurred among large series of mild ones. They do not, however, tend to persist, nor have they been numerous. " They are apparently not mutations but mere variations, which tend to revert. The mild type, however, seems to be a true inutation which has shown a strong tendency to maintain its character for at least fifteen years. The classical type of the disease whenever it has been imported has also shown its customary tendency to 'breed t r u e ' and maintain its well known group of symptoms." Tiros during the last fifteen years both types of the disease have prevailed in America. Dr. Chapin's observations are full of interest. Ttlere is reason for thinking that in the early
PUBLIC HEALTH.
1,ACK-TO-I,ACK H O U S E S C O N D E M N E D AS U N I " I T F O R I I U M A N I I A B I T A T I O N . By HERBERT PECK, M.I)., C.M., D.P.H., Barrister-at-Law. Medical Officer of Health to Chesterfield R.D.C. E N T Y - S I X bacl~-to-back houses in Pahner T W Street, Halfway, Eckington, in the Rural District of Chesterfield, with an average population of I2o, had the following mortality figures : - ",'oar.
All Cau,~es per i ooo.
Diarrhcaa per l)n,~o,
19o8
37'3
16'6
19o9
44'8
25.0
ZjOCO
1910
52 2
16'6
50O
1911
29'8
1912
16"6
Average
3 6. I
ITu ,erculosls~ Infant Mortality pt.r i,oc,5. per i,c(,o births.
444
--
16"6
400
I1'6
3'5
469
The figures for the rest of Eckington, with an average population of i2,i98 were : - Vear.
All Causes per i,ooo,
Diarrhcea per i,ooo,
Tuberculosis Infant Mortality per___i,oo'). . per 1,ooo births.
19o8
18" 5
0'74
19o 9
13"2
0'33
1'15
191o
I4'8
c'83
1'24
1911
15' 4
1"41
1 "00
1912
lO" 3
o'16
0'83
14o 57
Average
14'4
0'69
I'IO
126
I
1'31
169 137 126
The houses are situated in an uncompleted street, thirteen looking east over small yards and the remainder west towards the road; the outlook is open on both aspects, one side looking up and the other down a hillside. Each house contains one room and a small unventilated pantry on the ground floor, a bedroom with a fireplace on the first floor and a bedroom without a fireplace on the second floor; all the windows open except where fastened down by the tenants Notice was served on the owners on February 27th, 1913, to convert the privy-middens distant 15 feet from the houses on the east side into water closets and dry ashpits, to repair various dilapidations and to convert each pair, back and front, into one house. The conversion would double the size of the houses. The owner of twelve of the houses and four similar to them in the vicinity agreed to carry out the requirements of the Council, although later he postponed the performance of the work pending the decfsion of the Local Govelnment Board on the appeal of the owner of the others. The latter appeared before the Northern Sanitary Committee
97
of tile Rural District Council on March 3ist, accompanied by his solicitor and ]muse a:4ent. tie offered to do all the required work with the exception of the conversion into through houses ; in place of this he offered to put a ventilator in the roof of each staircase of a pattern stated to be accepted by the Corporation of Sheffield; he said there were x6,ooo back-to-back houses in Sheffield, many being of a worse character than his, provided with similar ventilators put in at the instance of the Corporation, and that if the Council decided to condemn the houses, he should appeal to the Local Government Board. Evidence was given on these points and a specimen ventilator exhibited, but the Committee, on the advice of the medical officer of health and the. building surveyor, declined to accept these terms. A letter repeating the minimum which would be accepted by the Council was sent by the clerk to the owner on April 2and, and a formal order for closure was made on May 3rd. The owner appealed to the Local Government Board. An inquiry was held on July 22nd at the Halfway School by Mr. Edward Leonard, Housing Inspector of the Local Government Board, when the appellant was represented by counsel and a solicitor; numerous witnesses were called, including an architect, a rent collector and himself. The Rural District Council was represented by the Clerk, Mr. R. F. Hartwright, whose witnesses were Dr. Herbert Peck, the Medical Officer of Health, Dr. W . Lewis Thomson, Assistant County Medical Officer of Health, M r. D Northway, C.S.I., Inspector of Nuisances for Sub-District 3, and Mr. H. Hudson, P.A.S.I., Building Surveyor for Sub-Districts 2 and 3. The hearing lasted three hours. Much irrelevant evidence was given as to what obtained in Sheffield and the length of time tenants had lived in the houses without ill effects following, and much more would have been given but for the inspector requiring that the evidence should be confined to the question " W a s the condition of the houses on May 3rd, 1913, such as to justify their condemnation." He said that the fact that much had been done since that date in the way of repairs, such as pointing of walls, painting of doors and window frames, provision of ventilators to one house, etc., would not influence his decision as to whether the houses were fit or unfit for human habitation on that particular day. Counsel quoted part of Section 43 of the Housing, Town Planning, etc, Act, 19o9, and contended that with the provision of the ventilators suggested it would be quite legal to erect similar houses at the present time, but failed when examining the Council's witnesses to induce them to agree with him that such ventilation would be sufficient. Counsel repeated tl~e offer made by
9.q
PUBLIC HEALTH.
the owner to the Sanitary Committee on March 3ist. The inspector made a detailed examination of all the houses after the close of the inquiry. The following is a copy of the letter from the Local Government Board received on October I ith : LOCAL GOVERNMENT I~OARD, WmTEaALL, S.W. October Ioth, 19 t 3. StR,--I am directed by the Local Government Board to state that they have had under consideration the Report made by their inspector, Mr. Leonard, after the Inquiry held by him with reference to the appeal of Mr. J. Fearehough against closing orders made by the Rural District Council of Chesterfield under Section 17 (3) of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 19o9, in respect of certain dwelling houses known as Nos. 13-26 (inclusive) Palmer Street, Eckington, of which he is the owner. The !3oard, after careful consideration of the circumstances of the case have decided that the closing orders should be confirmed, and that the Board's costs in the matter should be borne by the appellant. I am to add that an Order of the I~,oard, under Section 39 of the Act of 19o9, giving effect to this decision will be issued in due course. I am, Sir, Your obedient Servant, N O E L T. K E R S H A W ,
Assistant Secretary The Clerk to the Rural District Council of Chesterfield. It should be remembered in considering the decision of the Local Government Board that the inspector stated that the question to be decided was whether the houses were fit or unfit for human habitation on May 3rd, the date of the closing order. They were found to be unfit for a reason, or more than one reason, or the aggregate of the reasons given by the Clerk to the Council, but no particular reason is given in the letter, and it would therefore be rash to conclude absolutely that the houses were condemned qua back-to-back houses. Nevertheless, the fact that no rider was added or suggestion made that the Council should accept the owner's offer, repeated by counsel, leads one to suppose that it was the dominant factor in the decision. Under the section of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, quoted by the appellant's counsel, back-to-back houses built under modern conditions are to be deemed unfit for human habitation. This being so, it follows afortiori that those built before modern conditions of air space and ventilation were required are so much the more unfit. This inference should be drawn rather than the one suggested by counsel.
DECEMBE
V A R I A T I O N IN T Y P E O F I N F E C T I O U S DISEASE.
Journal of Infectious Diseases, published in T H EChicago (No. 2, September), contains a paper by Dr. Charles Chapin on " Variation in Type of Infectious Disease," as shown by the history of smallpox in the United States, 1895-I912. In this paper Dr. Chapin describes the extension into various parts of the United States of a mild form of smallpox, which he describes. He states that the prodromal symptoms are not usually severe ; they disappear entirely on the occurrence of the eruption, and there is no secondary fever. The eruption is not profuse, often not consisting of more and sometimes of less than a dozen pustules. It usually passes through the same stages as in the typical disease, but these stages are invariably shortened. Judging from Dr. Chapin'sdescription it appears to behave more as smallpox does in persons who have been vaccinated in infancy, and the mortality was frequently less than one per cent. Dr. Chapin describes the extension of this form of smallpox over America. He tells us that this type of the disease seems to have been noticed first in Pensacola, where, between November, 1896, and July, i897, there were 54 cases of smallpox without a single death. As there had been shortly before in that locality an outbreak of the usual form of the disease, he thinks that " the most likely hypothesis is that the mild type of the disease originated there as a ' s p o r t ' or ' mutation' from the normal, and as the normal form of the disease had at that time disappeared from the South, the new type had a chance to spread extensively without being mixed with the old strain." While in 19o9 smallpox of the mild type was reported from 42 States, smallpox of a severe type began to make its appearance and sometimes spread into localities where the mild type prevailed. Apart from this, however, Dr. Chapin says that severe cases have sometimes developed from mild ones. Complicated cases and even deaths have occurred among large series of mild ones. They do not, however, tend to persist, nor have they been numerous. " They are apparently not mutations but mere variations, which tend to revert. The mild type, however, seems to be a true inutation which has shown a strong tendency to maintain its character for at least fifteen years. The classical type of the disease whenever it has been imported has also shown its customary tendency to 'breed t r u e ' and maintain its well known group of symptoms." Tiros during the last fifteen years both types of the disease have prevailed in America. Dr. Chapin's observations are full of interest. Ttlere is reason for thinking that in the early