of the Committee.
Encl. 3. 17th Dec.
1890.
The customary Report on the Ordinance by the Acting Attorney General is annexed, and a copy of the Drainage Bye-Laws referred to therein is
enclosed
for Your Lordship's information.
4.
Printed With six.
I have the honour to be, My Lord,
Your Lordship's Most Obedient
Humble Servant,
Gwder Volus
Spare Copies)
*
Enclosure 2
REPORT.
63
C. O.
3905
The Committee appointed on the 29th November, 1888, to enquire into and report on the extent of over-crowding which is supposed to exist in Victoria have to report as follows:---
(Red 24 FEB 91
1. For the purpose of carrying out the investigations deemed necessary the city was divided into 275 blocks by the late Surveyor General as shown on the plan of the city in the Board Room.
2. The superficial area of each block has been given to the Committee by the Surveyor, as also the area of the half of the various streets surrounding each block.
3. The cubical contents of each floor have been ascertained by the measurement of the floors of one house in each row of houses of the same size and description. It is assumed that for practical purposes this has given a near enough approximation to accuracy. Of course, wherever there appeared to be any clearly appreciable difference of size between houses in a row, further measurements have been made to approximately ascertain the amount of such differences.
4. The cubical measurements given in the tabular statements are gross measurements, i.e., no deduction has been made for the space occupied by partitions, fittings, furniture, etc., etc., nor for the space occupied by the people living in the rooms. This is a point of considerable importance. An ordinary three-storied Chinese house when it is completed by the builder has, as a rule, three living rooms and three kitchens. In the more recently constructed houses of this class the living rooms are separated from the kitchens by means of a back-yard. In the older houses the separation is by means of a brick partition wall. When such a house is let, in the great majority of cases the tenant of each floor, i.e., the living room and kitchen, begins at once to divide the living room into 4, 6, 8 or more cabins by means of thin wooden partitions, and then to sub-let these small cabins separately. These wooden partitions occupy a very appreciable amount of space, and when to the space occupied by them is added that taken up by other fittings, furniture, clothing, etc., etc. and also the space occupied by the persons living in the rooms, a very considerable deduction has to be made from the gross space of the floor before the nett clear air space available in each cabin is arrived at.
The rough model of a three-storied Chinese dwelling on view in the Board's Offices illustrates the points here alluded to, and the following table shows the gross measurements of four ordinary floors together with the amount of clear air space therein.
STREET. FLOOR. GROSS MEASUREMENTS. CLEAR AIR SPACE. 17, Caine Lane, Ground. 8,544 cubic feet. 5,634 cubic feet. 28, Upper Station Street, Do. 9,133 7,725 46, Bridges Street, Do. 4,890 2,614 11, Tung On Lane, Do. 4,992 3,546 TOTAL, 27,550 cubic feet. 19,519 cubic feet.It will be seen that on an average something like 29 per cent. should be deducted from the gross measurements of the rooms to arrive at the clear air space available for the persons living in these rooms. Taking the cubical contents gross