Pigs are universally kept in the houses all over the town, the usual place for their reception being the kitchens, but they are by no means confined to that part of the house; if the droves are too large or the kitchens too small, they are kept in the same rooms the inhabitants of the house occupy, and are as frequently to be found in upper stories as on the ground floors; a very favourite place for them is under the bed. I have seen four of the usual divisions the Chinese make in one room, each division having a bed, and underneath each bed a pig-sty, containing from five to seven pigs, the occupant of the house having a Government Licence to keep pigs, and having no other place to keep them in. Attached to this report I send eight Licences, by the authority of which the occupants of the houses kept pigs under their beds, and two others where the pigs, though not kept under the beds, were in the same room the people slept and lived in. I could send many others.
This is an inacen-
C. C. Smith
Registrar Gen.
The construction of this class of houses is against every sanitary rule as regards drainage, ventilation and cleanliness, which is rendered impossible to the inhabitants, which you will easily understand by what I shall show you. Many houses, being built back to back, have no yards; having only windows in front, there is nothing to promote a current of air through them. In others which are not built back to back, no yard is provided, but a narrow gully exists between the backs of the two sets of houses, about a yard wide, not used for passengers, but down which an open sewer exists, in which foul and fetid matter lies in pools, or slowly trickles from one pool to another, a slight descent assisting. The private drains existing are of the most complicated description, beginning in the kitchen of the house, and terminating goodness only knows where, in but too many cases in the earth itself (with no outlet), through which the filth percolates till it finds the water level.
The upper floors of the houses are made with very thin boards, which, not lying close together, render it impossible to attempt to wash them, as that would result in giving the inhabitants of the rooms below a dirty shower bath. The ground floors are, for the most part, mud, though sometimes badly tiled or covered with stone; on this mud floor, every imaginable filth falls, from saliva to the pigs' urine draining from the pens, so that the earth is saturated with decomposing animal and vegetable matter of all descriptions, and the floor cannot be washed or cleaned.
I don't think the value of this sort of property is known, or the enormous prices for which these houses let. Repairs cost little or nothing yearly. In nearly every room three or more families reside, up to as many as six or eight; the rooms being partitioned off, each partition pays a dollar and a half to two dollars a month rent, and a house with three rooms about fourteen feet square, with miserable little kitchens attached, will fetch from £55 to £70 a year; if it is a brothel, from £80 to £100 a year.
*SPECIMENS OF LICENCES ENCLOSED.
No. 130.
NOT TRANSFERABLE.
REGISTRAR GENERAL'S OFFICE, VICTORIA, HONGKONG, 5th January, 1872.
CECIL C. SMITH,
Registrar General.
WONG A-FUNG is licensed to keep Three Pigs, on her Premises No. 4, Cross Street, till further notice.
No. 74.
NOT TRANSFERABLE.
REGISTRAR GENERAL'S OFFICE, VICTORIA, HONGKONG, 8th September, 1874.
LI A-LAI is licensed to keep Four Pigs, (4) on her Premises No. 7, Hing Wan Lane, 15th June, 1875, till further notice.
CECIL C. SMITH,
Registrar General,
...
1. This licence is only issued for the number of Pigs stated on it.
2. If any more than that number are kept, all the Pigs will be confiscated.
3. If the Pig-styes are not kept clean, the holders of the License will be fined, and the Licence will be cancelled.
4. If any Pigs are found in a house the owner of which has no Licence for keeping them, the Pigs will be confiscated, and the owner fined.
1. This License is only issued for the number of Pigs stated on it.
NOT TRANSFERABLE,
REGISTRAR GENERAL'S OFFICE,
VICTORIA, HONGKONG,
.187
is licensed to keep ... until further notice.
Registrar General,
2. If the Pig-styes, or other places where the animals are kept, are not clean, the holders of the Licence will be fined, and the Licence will be cancelled.
3. If any Pigs, or other animals injurious to the public health, are found in a house the owner of which has no Licence for keeping them, the animals will be confiscated, and the owner fined.