CO129-292 - Governor Sir Blake - 1899 [6-8] — Page 80

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I am informed that there are at least 400 floors in this district occupied by a caretaker or at most by two persons; this leaves 2,219 floors occupied by 23,135 persons, an average of 10.6 per floor, an excess of 1.3 persons per floor. This, in conjunction with the probable increase of population since the last census, shows a heavy overcrowding.

With reference to houses, Mr. Chadwick, in his report of 18th July 1882, paragraph 146, states: "I am certain that the lower-class population is more densely packed together in Hong Kong than they are in Canton. In Hong Kong, the average number of inhabitants per house is 16, while in Canton, it does not exceed 9 or 10." If 16 is overpacked, what must 34.4 be?

The Medical Officer of Health, in his reference to the report of Messrs Mitchall-Innes and Ede, states that they reported that 745 houses in the City, out of a total of 6,854, were overcrowded. In these houses, there were 897 floors. It must be remembered, however, that this number refers to the gross measurements of the rooms and not to the actual clear space as demanded by the ordinance. They add in their report: "Taking the gross cubical contents of the 897 floors returned as being overcrowded, the overcrowding amounts to 4,827 persons, but if the space occupied by staircases, furniture, fittings, partitions...