[ IX ]
7. The Building Ordinance S of 1856 contained no provisions as to the construc- tion of open areas at the backs of houses, the width of streets, height of buildings, or area of windows. It was not until the passing of Ordinance 24 of 1887 that the con- struction of backyards could be insisted upon (and then only in the case of erecting houses on land purchased from the Crown after the passing of that Ordinance), or the width of private streets regulated by Ordinance 15 of 1889 or the provision of sufficient window space made compulsory.
The result was that many houses of the "back to back type were erected unprovided with sufficient window area and fronting on narrow lanes quite inadequate to prevent excessive surface-crowding.
8. It has been urged that such buildings were erected with the approval of the Surveyor General, but there is not and never was any provision in the Building Ordi- nances requiring the Surveyor General's approval of the plans of proposed buildings, and indeed it was not until 1889 that the depositing of such plans was made compul- sory; his action was consequently limited to interference only in the event of the provisions of the Ordinances being contravened.
9. Structurally Insanitary Dwellings—Classification of. Structurally insanitary dwellings in the Colony may be classified as follows:-
(a) Back to back houses.
(b) Houses fronting on narrow lanes.
(c) Houses with insufficient open spaces in their rear.
(d) Houses abutting against the hill-side.
10. Back to Back houses have been universally condemned as most insanitary. In such buildings it is impossible to secure sufficient ventilation and, generally speaking, sufficient light. Back to back houses without thorough ventilation and rooms facing narrow enclosed courts in which the atmosphere is always sunless and stagnant exercise an unfavourable influence on health and tend to produce an excessive mortality from phthisis, respiratory diseases, diarrhea and zymotic diseases generally. This subject has been carefully investigated for the Local Government Board by Dr. BARRY and Mr. GORDON SMITH in a report upon back to back houses (1888) and by Dr. RANSOME, F. B. S., in various papers on the relationship between phthisis prevalence and over- crowding in Manchester and Salford.
The following table shews the influence of back to back houses upon the death rate and the zymotic death rate; it relates to the Greengate district of Salford which is inhabited by the poorer labouring class and is taken from Dr. BARRY and Mr. GORDON SMITH's report above referred to. It is explained in the report that the average sur- roundings and class of population were practically the same in each district:-
Average Propor-
tion of
back to back
houses.
Population.
All causes.
Death rates from
Phthisis.
Other Re-
spiratory
Diseases.
Diarrhoea.
Zymotic Death
Rate.
District I......
8.713
27.5
2,8
6.6
1.4
4.5
II...... 23% 11,749 29.2
2.3
7.8
1.6
4.8
III......
56% 11,405 39.5
3.6
7.9
2.1
6.2
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