THE SEAMY SIDE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 62, 7 December 1918, Page 3

THE SEAMY SIDE

WELLINGTON'S DARK SPOTS

EXPLORATIONS IN CIVILISATION

Having failed to kidnnp the Minister of Public Health in order to force him personally to inspect some 'of the habitations 'in Wellington, gentler means were taken with a Dominion reporter with perfect success. He was escorted to .the localities by one of the Wellington Central workers, and was shown unbelievable sights which require the pen of a Dickens to adequately conjure up in fcho mind of the reader. One of those places was a lane in Wellington Central, an ages old three-roomed dwelling, "hanging together until someone pushed it over," ns it was graphically described. The place had an evil smell," which gave one the shudders, the interior, with its bare, filthy floors, long, long strangers to either broom or scrubbing; brush, and its awful air of sordid dirty poverty, made one ga6p, "Can such things be?" The hoyel was inhabited by an aged couple. The woman, with lank, straggly grey hair and a face that was not even on %odding terms with soap and water, mumbled over a piece of bread before a fire in the range. No attempt had been made to arrange the wretched bits of furniture (boxes and the like) which encumbered the grimy floor. The middle room wns the bedroom—«uoh a bedroom! The mattresses were absolutely filthy and malted, the pillows were some rags stuffed into dirty sugar bags, and the pitiful bedclothes—ancient coats, sacks, and an old rug-blanket. The writer was assured that some cleaning work had already been done. The front room was a noisome jumble of odds and ends in the way of old furniture—just a smellsome lumber room, giving off that deadly smell of mustiness that goes with filth and lack of fresh air. In the back yard there was no door on tho privy—the landlords, it is stated, had been appealed to time after time to fix up a door, but had neglected to do so. For this "castle" the old couple paid 10s. per week-paid it out of their old-age pensions. The.husband, in this case, appeared to be mute able .physically to keep the place clean, but offered no excuse for not having done so. He stated that he was 73 years of age (he looked well preserved for his age), and had not worked for eighteen months. The worker who accompanied the writer said that these poeple made no attempt to help themselves. They used plates which they did not wash- , the dog licked them clean and then they I used them, again without troubling the city's water supply. Tto Ohiro Home would be tho best place for such people, surely. . Another place in the same district wns, if, anything, worse. Here again the rbuilding wns an old three-roomed wooden dwelling, which in the hands of cleanly people might bo mado presentable. BntN tho ingrained filth and muddleinent of "everything within that cot" was wondrous unclean. An old woman, with a younger one, ns tenants, a>l a boarder made up the household. There was only one bedroom—it mado one feel nervous to look at it, but the assurance that the place had been fumigated gave one courage to take a second look at the dirty bedclothes and corresponding appurtenances. Between the front bedroom and tho kitchen was a middle room stacked full of old clothes, boxes, and rags, the narrow passage leading to the kitchen being screened off by a dust-laden curtain. This room was so full of lumber that it could not possibly be used for. anything else. The kitchen reeked ot filth, and the back yard would repay the visit of any photographer who wished to exhibit tho seamy side of Wellington. The younger woman of the two appeared quite vigorous enough to undertake, tho cleaning of such a place,.but the glaring fact remained that there had been no attompt to do anything of tho kind. The health worker stated that they had got tho City Council's Inspector up to look nt tho 'place, but he would not venture in until it was thoroughly fumigated. Antl who would blamo him? For this habitat 7s. 6d. a week is being paid in rent, and the boarder pays Gs. a week for his room. In their scourings round the workers discovered ft truly rdtiable case—that of a woman who had been confined seven weeks before, and who with her children had been eiected into the street by the landlord. The poor woman had received nothing from her husband for some weeks owing to his having deserted from camp, and after 'undergoing C.B. he contracted influenza. So strongly did the men cmployed by the Wellington Central Committee feel at this callous action that they opened the house and told the woman to stay there. The Mayor ha 9 been communicated with respecting the The above, cases are not quoted for tho purpose of illustrating anything very general in this regard in Wellington, but that such things can bo- cries aloud for wider powers of inspection and rectification on the part of tho city inspectors. Landlords, tod, should be made more responsible for the condition of their premises than is the case. The workers state—and their statement is borne out by members of the Health' Committee of the City Council—that the most unsatisfactory house ni?ent in tho city is a Government Department which manages estates. Tenants of such places linve stated that they cannot get this Department to make-essential repairs, and thai difficulty encourages general'neghgepw. Tho City Council inspectors avesaifl to have the same trouble with this authority. .