In Bethnal Green a man and his wife,
with four sons, aged twenty-three, twenty-one, nineteen, and sixteen,
and two daughters, aged fourteen and seven, were also found in one
room. He asked whether it was not the duty of the various local
authorities to prevent such serious overcrowding.
But with 900,000 people actually living under illegal conditions, the
authorities have their hands full. When the overcrowded folk are ejected
they stray off into some other hole; and, as they move their belongings
by night, on hand-barrows (one hand-barrow accommodating the entire
household goods and the sleeping children), it is next to impossible to
keep track of them. If the Public Health Act of 1891 were suddenly and
completely enforced, 900,000 people would receive notice to clear out of
their houses and go on to the streets, and 500,000 rooms would have to be
built before they were all legally housed again.
The mean streets merely look mean from the outside, but inside the walls
are to be found squalor, misery, and tragedy. While the following
tragedy may be revolting to read, it must not be forgotten that the
existence of it is far more revolting.
In Devonshire Place, Lisson Grove, a short while back died an old woman
of seventy-five years of age.
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