634
8
17. Plate XI gives a section of the buildings between High Street and Queen's Road West. It is on an area which is notorious for the number of cases of plague that occur in the houses every year. Before 1894 the basements were used for human habitation, but this has since been prohibited, and now they are used as stores and work-shops. They are, however, dark, ill ventilated, damp, insanitary and infested with rats. This year on plague breaking out in one of the houses an infected rat was found in the basement of the house in which the case occurred. As the block had a bad name for plague it was vacated and the inhabitants housed in a block of houses with no basements, with the result that there have been no further cases among the persons removed.
Houses containing basements of the kind described are always unhealthy, and more or less infested with rats, and are never dry during the rains.
Basements are also to be found in houses fronting streets which run down the hill-side. Whenever practicable these should be filled up.
In future houses, all basements should be abolished. There are many houses built without them so that there is nothing impracticable in demanding, in all new houses, the abolition of the basement.
If basements are to be allowed at all, which should be quite exceptional, they should be at least 8 feet away from the retaining wall of the street. The house being thus provided with an area in front of the basement can be entered by a properly constructed arched step-way. It is important that the basement thus formed shall have a wide back-lane or yard behind it.
Cubicles.
18. A Chinese tenement house is usually three or four storeys in height. Each storey consists of one long room with a kitchen attached. It is not a floor in the Euro- pean sense of the term, which often consists of half a dozen separate rooms. It is important to remember that a floor as referring to a Chinese tenement house, means a single room. It has been previously stated that this room is long and narrow extending from the front of the house to the back without lateral windows, and on account of its great depth is as a rule deficient in fresh air and exposure to sunlight. In order to make this room serviceable for more than one family, it is partitioned off into small cabins or cubicles. The partitions of the 4 or 6 cubicles into which the room is divided are by section 70 of Ordinance No. 13 of 1901,* not permitted to be higher than 6 feet.
*
*
70. The following requirements shall be observed with regard to cubicles and partitions :-
(a.) In domestic buildings fronting streets of a width of less than fifteen feet, no cubicles or partitions
shall be erected, or if already existing shall be allowed to remain, except on the top floor. (4) In domestic buildings fronting streets of a width of fifteen feet or over, no cubicles ur partitions
other than
"ping fung" (1.6., shop divisions) shall be erected, or if already existing
shall be allowed to remain, on the ground floor, and in the case of every such ping fung" there must be a space between the top thereof and the ceiling or under side of the joists of the room of not less than four feet, which may be closed in only by wire netting, larice work or carvel woodwork, arranged in such a way as to leave at least two-thirds open and as far as practicable evenly distributed.
(2.) No cubicles or partitions shall be erected, or if already existing shall be allowed to remain, in any
kitchen.
(7.) Where one enbicle only is bercafter erected or already exists in any room of a domestic building, no portion of the structure of such cubicle shall exceed eight feet in height; where two cubicles only are so erected or exist, no portion of the structure of either of such cubicles shall excrel seven feet in height; where more than two cubicles are so erected or exist, no portion of the structure of any such cubicles shall exceed six feet in height. In all cases, however, there must be a space between the top of every portion of the structure of such cubicles and the ceiling or under side of the joists of the room of not less than four feet, which may be closed only by wire netting. lattice work or carved woodwork, arranged in such a way as to leave at least two-thirds open, and as far as practicable evenly distributed.
() No cubicles whatever shall be erected in any room of a domestic building, or if already existing shall be allowed to remain, unless such room is provided with a window or windows opening directly into the external air and having a total area clear of the window frames of at least one- tenth of the floor area.
(f) No portion of the structure of any cubicle except the necessary corner posts shall be nearer than two inches to the floor of such cubicle, and no structure shall be erected, of if already existing shall be allowed to remain, within any cubicle, which is of a greater height than the maximum height allowed by this section for any portion of the structure of such cubicle or which provides a cover or roof to the cubicle.
() No partition shall be erected, or if already existing shall be allowed to remain, nearer than four feet to any window the area of which is included in calculating the window area specified in sub- section (e)
(4.) No cubicle used for sleeping purposes shall have a less floor area than sixty-four square feet, and a
less length or width than seven feet.
For the purposes of this section every sub-division of a domestic builling, unless such sub-division has a window or windows opening directly into the external air and having a total area clear of the window frames equal to ong- tenth of the floor area of such sub-clivision, shall be deemed to be a cubicle.