CO882-(3-4) — Page 483

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference:

TC.O. 882

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON | ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE

BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

Description of No. 22, Station Street. Cabic space.

Description of

Street. Cubic space per bead

44

basement or cellar dwellings, but also those on the ground and upper floors, are so dark, on account of the obstruction in the way of cabins and "cocklofts," that in making one's way through to the cookhouse much care is requisite to avoid falling over things.

The number of inhabitants is 53. Fig. 21, Sheet IV, shows No. 22, Station Street. given in the drawing and the cubic space per head, exclusive of the cookhouse, which is separated from the main building by an alley, spanned by a narrow gangway. It seems almost impossible to conceive how so many inhabitants could be stowed away in so small a space. Indeed, some had come out into the street to do their work, namely picking oakum.

54. Fig. 22, Sheet IV., gives the section of a somewhat less crowded building. In Here the No. 99, Market the upper storey 25 chair coolies lodged, baving erected bunks to sleep on.

cubic space per head amounts to 400 on the upper floors. The lower storey was occupied Ventilation of by seven chairmakers, who used it as a workshop and dwelling. It should be noted that the only ventilation for the ground floor cookhouse is a hole 3 feet square in the floor above, so that the whole of the space, nearly 50 feet long, is lighted from one end only. In none of these buildings is there any such thing as a latrine.

lower storey.

Houses in

lot No. 208

55. Figs. 23-27, Sheet V., show the details of a block of buildings in the district of Taipingshan. It will be observed that there are two floors below the level of the Underground ground on the one side. Also that the middle of the block derives its sole light and

ventilation from a narrow central alley arched over at both ends.

Taipingahan.

floors. Alley

ways inade-

quate for

ventilation and light.

Description of

in Queen's Road.

The ground or basement floors which open off this alley are chiefly tenanted by hawkers of vegetables. They wash their wares in the alley, and, as the central channel is carelessly laid, the whole place is continually damp and offensive.

The dwellings of these unfortunates are quite dark. The drainage intended by the architect is shown in the section, a square channel running from cookhouse to cookhouse. Some of these dens were untenanted, so it may be supposed that even poor Chinese shrink from inhabiting such holes as these.

These buildings are recent.

56. Figs. 28, Sheet VI., and 29, Sheet VII., show the plan and section of a new block new buildings of buildings abutting on Queen's Road. Here again the ground and part of the first floor as seen from that street are below the level of the interior alley. In this case some improvement may be seen in the open space which ventilates the cookhouses of the double block of buildings facing Gough Street. In practice, however, such narrow openings are of little use, as they soon become blocked up with temporary erections.

Condition of block. Defec-

57. This block is new and of decidedly superior construction, and on the whole well tive drainage kept. The drainage, however, was remarkably defective; the drain from the central portion of the block passed down behind the retaining wall forming the back of one of the houses facing Queen's Road, and out under its floor to the main sewer. Being badly This house was made, leaky, and untrapped, a most abominable nuisance ensued. intended as an hotel for Europeans.

Alleys in the middle of property.

Private lanes.

Verandas over footpaths.

Lodging houses of labourers

58. Figs. 26, Sheet V., and 28, Sheet VI., give a fair idea of the way in which acceas to the interior of large blocks by means of narrow alleys, the inadequate amount of light and ventilation which they afford to the surrounding buildings. Instances are to be found where the backs of two rows of buildings are separated by an alley about 4 or 5 feet wide, and where this narrow space has been divided up by boarded partitions. In one instance the alley thus obstructed, is public property.

59. In some instances, chiefly on the level ground, near the harbour, two rows of houses face a central lane, which runs completely through the lot from street to street, and which is used as a thoroughfare. These lanes, as well as the narrow gulleys, In blocks built on in this are private property and not scavenged by Government. manner inaccessible gullies too often exist between the backs of the houses on one lot and of those on the next, as described in paragraph 434.

60. In Queen's Road and some other streets, permission has been given to construct verandas over the public sidewalks. These would afford agreeable shade to foot passengers. Being but narrow, and much obstructed either by persons looking into shops or by goods temporarily deposited, they are of but little advantage to the pedestrian, whilst the verandas above are so substantially built, and so enclosed with blinds, that they amount to inhabited spaces, and thus the width of the street is diminished by the depth of the veranda.

61. The lodging houses of common labourers are often very much crowded. In a row of eight small houses 428 inhabitants were found, having but 230 cubic feet of space per head, exclusive of the cookhouse. These houses were exceedingly filthy. They were built close to the scarp of the hill, from which they were separated by a narrow gulley only, which was wet and very dirty, and without proper drainage.

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PART I.

SECTION 3.

FORMATION OF STREETS.-SIDE CHANNELS.

62. As there were no wheeled vehicles till quite recently, a hard road surface was Formation of considered unnecessary, except to protect places liable to wash during heavy rains, street surface.

This Consequently the more level roads have been made with decomposed granite. forms, in dry weather, a smooth and pleasant surface for pedestrians, but is incapable of resisting the wear and tear of the lightest wheeled vehicles. Even the "Jenrickshaws" cut it up.

In the streets used by them, broken granite road metal is now being laid. 63. The streets running up the hill from the harbour are far too steep for carriages, Formation of and are much exposed to wash during heavy rains. To resist this some have been surface in formed with lime concrete, which, when well nade, is very durable under the traffic top incline. which they are exposed. Others are paved with long granite blocks, laid transversely, each alternate block being raised above that next to it, in order to give a foothold. Sometimes the paving slabs form the cover stones of the drains beneath. The steepest streets are formed into flights of steps with sloping landings between having surfaces of decomposed granite or concrete.

streets having

side channels.

64. The side channels or gutters are in the form of a flat segment of a circle of granite Gutters and blocks, set in tement, or of concrete rendered with cement. Alongside the gutter for a width of about 3 feet the roadway is concreted.

65. The footpaths are either paved with granite squares, or formed of concrete.

The Footpaths. centre of the road is quite as much used by pedestrians as the side-walks, which are often obstructed by the stalls of hawkers, who pay a small rent to the owner of the adjacent house for the privilege of occupying public property.

PART I.

SECTION 4.

PUBLIC DRAINS OR SEWERS.

of sewers, their

form and con

66. The public sewers appear to have been made, rather as drains to carry off storm General plan water, than as sewers to remove from habitations the foul waters usually known as sewage. Neither their form nor their construction is that which is considered desirable struction. for the latter purpose. They do not appear to have been made on any general plan, but rather to have been constructed from time to time as the necessity arose, and they seem to have been designed to convey the storm waters and perennial flow from the ravines above, and the surface water of the streets and houses, by the shortest and most direct line to the harbour, into which they discharge their contents through large openings in the wharf wall. The inverts of these outlets are at about the level of low water ordinary spring tides. They are not provided with tide-flaps. With few exceptions no attempt has been made to carry out the affluent below low-water mark, nor to select positions for outfalls where a strong tidal stream would remove it. Consequently deposit takes place at their mouths, and hence at low tide there is a most offensive smell along the whole harbour front.

private pro-

67. Several of the large sewers are carried under private property apparently without Publie sewers any necessity; for example, the drain down Peel Street, which is apparently taken running under out of its natural course to run under church property and beneath the United Club perty. House. That down Ladder Strect passes under the dwellings on lots 71 and 48. That down Po-yan Street passes under the Shin-Ping Theatre, and that down Pound Lane, after running under a block of dwelling-houses, unites with it, and the joint stream flows beneath a block of private property as far as Lower Lascar Row. Many other instances will be seen by reference to the plan. The probable explanation of these eccentricities is, that the sewer was constructed along the bed of some natural water- course, which was afterwards filled in and built upon, the existence of the drain being forgotten. In some instances sewers have been constructed along private lanes, which have subsequently been closed and built upon. (Example, drain near harbour-master's office under lot 228; that under property of Peninsular and Oriental Company.)

68. Some of the more common forms of sewer are shown in Figs. 30-34, Sheet VIII., Section of and 40-43, Sheet. IX. Figs. 34, 35, 36, 37, Sheet VIII., show some improved forms wor recently adopted. In some short branches, square and half-barrel brick drains are used, but they are not common. There is no example of an earthenware pipe sewer; the reason given for not using them being, that they afford no facilities for opening and cleaning.

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