93
HEALTH OF THE COLONY.
Table XI. shows the mortality among the Europeans and Americans in the Colony during the last ten years, and by this it would appear that the Colony had been less healthy than during the previous two years, but this in reality is not the case. Deducting the number of those that were drowned or otherwise killed during the Typhoon, the death rate has not increased appreciably. The rainfall last year was considerably above the average, nearly 10 inches over that of 1873, and 23 inches over that of 1872, as shown in Table XIII.
SANITATION.
Table XII shows the work of the Inspectors of Nuisances in part only. The number of persons fined has been much less than usual, but the fines have been much heavier than before.
In the Sanitary Report, the report should end here. I have the honour,
C. C. Smith.
On the subject of Sanitation, I also made a long special Report at the beginning of this year, and, for that Report, I made a series of inspections in company with my Inspectors. I have this winter made another series of inspections in company with Mr. PRICE, the Surveyor General. The result of these inspections goes to prove that, however much on the surface the town of Victoria may appear cleaner than most Eastern towns, beneath the surface it would be difficult to find a filthier condition of things.
My first series of inspections discovered that pigs were kept in houses all over the town, by hundreds, and that pigsties were to be found under the beds and in the kitchens of first, second, and third floors. I visited many houses in which over a hundred pigs were kept; every bed in these houses had from five to seven large pigs in a sty constructed underneath it, and either from the connivance or ignorance of a late Inspector of Markets, whose duty it was to see that the pigs were kept in proper places, many of the people had Government Licences to keep their pigs. Imagine houses whose upper floors are constructed of thin boards, with wide interstices between them, and whose lower floors are mud, and the state they would be in under these circumstances, with pigs' urine, &c. dropping through from floor to floor! It is needless to observe that the minute this state of things was brought to the notice of Government, it was at once put a stop to, and that now all pigs found in houses are confiscated, and, on repetition of the offence, the owner is fined as well.
The late inspections were still more thoroughly done, and nearly every street, lane, and gully in the lower quarter of the town were visited, and notes of the condition of the houses, drains, &c. were taken carefully, with the following results:
There are three different styles of construction of houses in the lower quarters of the town. First, houses which are constructed in blocks, back to back, with no ventilation except from the front. Secondly, houses with narrow gullies from 1 foot to 6 feet wide at the back, down which a filthy open drain runs, or a very dilapidated closed one; into these drains the downspouts of the different floors of the houses on each side of the gully empty themselves. Thirdly, houses with lanes at the back, for the convenience of the inhabitants of the cellar floors, the back of these floors being formed of the ground of the street above, owing to the hilly nature of the ground on which the house is built.
Otherwise, the construction of these houses is the same throughout the town. Each floor consists of a large main room and a small kitchen; generally, the kitchen is at the back, but in cases where the back of the floor is against the hill-side, the kitchen is in the front, and whatever ventilation there is, the air has to come through the kitchen before it reaches the inhabitants in the main room.
The average size of the main rooms is 26 feet by 14 feet by 10 feet high, containing eight partitions, averaging 7 feet by 6 feet by 7 feet high, over which a sort of loft is often built to increase the accommodation, and in a room of this description, from 16 to 25 people live. It is extremely rare to find that walls or ceiling (which is composed of the bare rafters and boards of the floor above, or of the roof) have ever been whitewashed; if they have, it was only when the house was first built; the walls are generally bare bricks. The ground floor is, in nine cases out of ten, composed of mud; in the other case, it is composed of tiles or stone flags, and is generally very damp. The upper floors are composed of rough quarter-inch planks, with wide interstices between them. In no case, from the time the house had been built, had the floors ever been washed, their construction, as a rule, rendering it impossible. The first-floor tenants cannot wash their floors because they are mud; the upper floor tenants cannot wash theirs because they would, if they attempted it, half drown the inhabitants of the floors beneath them.
In each partition of the main room, a family, or several members of a family, sleep. The men go to the public privies; the women and children use covered pots, which are kept in the partitions under the beds; the night-soil is removed, on an average, every third day; it varies in some cases from two to five days.
Women of the lowest class rarely wash themselves; men, only the exposed parts of their persons. I have seen many women who have candidly confessed that they have not even wiped themselves down with a damp cloth (which is the Chinese mode of washing) for years, and I saw no reason to doubt their words. If any washing is done, either of bodies or clothes, it is generally done in the kitchen. Clothes-washing varies from once or twice a month to once in several months, or not at all, and a cotton suit will last, I am told, from five to six years, and more; if they were washed often they would not last so long. Many articles of clothing are never washed at all, on any account; those that are quilted, for instance. Bedding is composed of quilted cotton, or a stuff resembling soft felt, covered by a light net to prevent it from tearing, and in no case is ever washed; sheets are never used. I never saw any entirely new bedding; the newest I saw was three years in possession of the owner, and he had bought it second-hand. I have seen bedding twenty years old, and that was bought second-hand. It is taken out and aired occasionally...
The average quantity of water used daily by each individual is about two quarts, and this is considered sufficient, as a rule, for cooking, drinking, and washing purposes. Often it has to be brought from a considerable distance, and this is troublesome and expensive, so they do with as little as possible.
...
Vide Ordinance No. XIV. of 1867,
J. G. Austin.
93
HEALTH OF THE COLONY.
Table XI. shows the mortality among the Europe ns and Americans in the Colony during the last ten years, and by this it would appear that the Colony had been less healthy than during the pre- vious two years, but this in reality is not the case. Deducting the number of those that were drowned or otherwise killed during the Typhoon, the death rate has not increased appreciably. The rainfall last year was considerably above the average, nearly 10 inches over that of 1873, and 23 inches over that of 1872, as shown in Table XIII.
SANITATION.
Table XII shows the work of the Inspectors of Nuisances in part only. The number persons fined has been much less than usual, but the fines have been much heavier than before.
of
In Sort Pruter. The report should end here. I have the tumour
C. C. Smith.
Onus
It seems to pie ther may be omitted from
On the subject of Sanitation I also made a long special Report at the beginning of this year, and, for that Report, I made a series of inspections in company with my Inspectors. I have this winter made another series of inspections in company with Mr. PRICE, the Surveyor General. The result of these inspections goes to prove that, however much on the surface the town of Victoria may appear cleaner than most Eastern towns, beneath the special report, surface it would be difficult to find a filthier condition of things.
My first series of inspections discovered that pigs were kept in houses all over the town, by hundreds, and that pigsties were to be found under the beds and in the kitchens of first, second and third floors. I visited many houses in which over a hundred pigs were kept; every bed in these houses had from five to seven large pigs in a sty constructed underneath it, and either from the connivance or ignorance of a late Inspector of Markets, whose duty it was to see that the pigs were kept in proper places, many of the people had Government Licences so to keep their pigs. Imagine houses whose upper floors are cons- tructed of thin boards, with wide interstices between them, and whose lower floors are mud, and the state they would be in under these circumstances, with pigs' urine, &c. dropping through from floor to floor! It is needless to observe that the minute this state of things was brought to the notice of Government, it was at once put a stop to, and that now all pigs found in houses are confiscated, and, on repetition of the offence, the owner is fined as well.
The late inspections were still more thoroughly done, and nearly every street, lane and gully in the lower quarter of the town were visited, and notes of the condition of the houses, drains, &c. were taken carefully, with the following results:
There are three different styles of construction of houses in the lower quarters of the town. First, houses which are constructed in blocks, back to back, with no ventilation except from the front. Secondly, houses with narrow gullies from 1 foot to 6 feet wide Into at the back, down which a filthy open drain runs, or a very dilapidated closed one. these drains the downspouts of the different floors of the houses on each side of the gully empty themselves Thirdly, houses with lanes at the back, for the convenience of the inhabitants of the cellar floors, the back of these floors being formed of the ground of the street above, owing to the billy nature of the ground on which the house is built.
Each Otherwise, the construction of these bonses is the same throughout the town. floor consists of a large main room and a small kitchen; generally the kitchen is at the back, but in cases where the back of the floor is against the hill-side, the kitchen is in the front, and whatever ventilation there is, the air has to come through the kitchen before it reaches the inhabitants in the main room.
The average size of the main rooms is 26 feet by 14 feet by 10 feet high, containing eight partitions, averaging 7 feet by 6 feet by 7 feet high, over which a sort of loft is often built to increase the accommodation, and in a room of this description. from 16 to 25 people live. It is extremely rare to find that walls or ceiling (which is composed of the bare rafters and boards of the floor above, or of the roof) have ever been whitewashed; if they have, it was only when the house was first built; the walls are generally bare bricks. The ground floor is, in nine cases out of ten, composed of mud; in the other case, it is composed of tiles or stone flags, and is generally very damp. The upper floors are coin- posed of rough quarter-inch planks, with wide interstices between them. In no case, from the time the house had been built, had the floors ever been washed, their construction, as a rule, rendering it impossible. The first-floor tenants cannot wash their floors, because they are mud; the upper floor tenants cannot wash theirs, because they would, if they attempted it, half drown the inhabitants of the floors beneath them.
In each partition of the main room, a family, or several members of a turnily, sleep. The men go to the public privies; the women and children use covered pots, which are kept in the partitions under the beds; the night-soil is removed, on an average, every third day; it varies in some cases from two to five days.
Women of the lowest class rarely wash themselves; men, only the exposed parts of their persons. I have seen many women who have candidly confessed that they have not even wiped themselves down with a damp cloth (which is the Chinese mode of washing) for years, and I saw no reason to doubt their words. If any washing is done, either of bodies or clothes, it is generally done in the kitchen. Clothes-washing varies from once or twice a month to once in several months, or not at all, and a cotton suit will last, I am told, from five to six years, and more; if they were washed often they would not last so long. Many articles of clothing are never washed at all, on any account; those that are quilted, for instance. Bedding is composed of quilted cotton, or a stuff resembling soft felt, covered by a light net to prevent it from tearing, and in no case is ever washed; sheets are never used. I never saw any entirely new bedding; the newest I saw was three years
in possession of the owner, and he had bought it second-hand. I have seen bedding twenty years old, and that was bought second-hand. It is taken out and aired oncasionally, and a fw of the von Dr. G
.
-J
bet
The average quantity of water used daily by cach individual is about two quarts, and this is considered sufficient, as a rule, for cooking, drinking and washing purposes. Often it has to be brought from a considerable distance, and this is troublesome and expensive, so they do with as little as possible.
this. We have the
and action will be taichen 800 HA megus and cir cumstances per-
mis.
JJ. G. Anatio.
Vido Orianuce No of 1867, {XIV.
3
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