THE BACK SLUMS OF MELBOURNE.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3630, 1 March 1883, Page 4

THE BACK SLUMS OF MELBOURNE.

(Age, February 8.) On Tuesday afternoon the newly formed back slums committee made their first tour of inspection of the houses situated in Little Bourke-strect east. The members of the self-constituted body . . . started at three o'clock from the Town Hall to Little Bourke-strect. The first by-way termed Harwoodplace, was found to contain a few very antiquated rookeries, which would undoubtedly be condemned by the Sydney Building Act. Close to this right-of-way is situated the Colonial Family Hotel, better known as the "Dead house," from the number of dead bodies that have from time to time been found on the premises by the police. This place has been closed since the annual licensing meeting. The lanes and alleys in the vicinity, and a little lower down, took the party amongst some very dilapidated places, the resort principally of thieves and bad characters. Senior-con-stable Holland was reminded on entering the various rights-of-way of some horrible tragedies, and the party was greatly interested in the reminiscences. "This is where Margaret Donohuc was killed with a shovel by one of her sex, who is now doing a life sentence for it." said Holland, as he drew attention to a gutter close to the '' Deadhouse."' Not many yards distant he pointed out the spot where Black Butler and another notorious scoundrel named Jim Thomas were caught garroting a man, for which they are serving 10 j-earseach. Three iloggings have been administered. Turning to Punch's-lane, or as it lias recently been termed, Princess-lane, some dirty hovels were inspected, and on poking a stick through the cracks in the floor, in many places as much as nine inches of water was found. The falling-down looking tenements are filthy and abominable inside. Off this lane some curious places were visited. There appeared to be no division between the huts in many places, which could be entered at half-a-dozen doors, and this accounts for the inability of Ihe police to compete with criminals The thieves and μ-arroters are so well acquainted with every house and person from one end of the street to the other that, once free, or out of sight of the police, they might never be captured. Some of the houses are built so low that there is no difficulty in climbing over them and in getting from one alley t" the other. In this veiy place Constable Holland many years ago had a chase after some thieves who jumped from one house to another, and thus eluded capture. lie also pointed out a spot in an iron roof where lie had discovered sSlb. of stolen butter. The drainage in this locality is very bad. The closets are filthy, and scarcely able to keep upright. From Punch's-lane the party directed their attention to a lane in Lons-dale-strcet, but almost in a direct line with Punch , s-lnue. The habitations in this lane were also found to be in a, most dilapidated condition. The marine store yard, kept by a man named Barrett, was very carefully examined, and the surrounding buildings privately condemned. There was ,i miscellaneous collection of rubbish in the marine store yard, and the place is anything but healthy. The party afterwards retraced their steps, and went to Julietterrace, an alley between Great and Little Bourko-streets —a notorious place. The timber .-ntd bricks in the various houses showed decay, and ceilings and everything inside were found to be tumblingdown. Perhaps the most shocking of all the jrinees visited was the Royal Standard Hotel. It is situated below Stephen-street, next to the Morning Starlane, and very close to the Horse and Jockey Hotel building, which was recently refused a licence. Some of the bedrooms are not ventihrted at all, and one contained as many as half a dozen beds in the sjwee set apart for three. Out in the yard, in a cockloft, were set more beds in a still smaller space, and v miserable staircase permitted one at a time to get a glance inside through a manhole. This was generally condemned. In this hotel Constable Holland informed the committee that upwards of 1-10 persons were accommodated nightly with sixpenny beds. Mr Fitzgibbon suggested that a model lodging-house should be built .similar to the one in King-street. The party subsequently went through Brogan's or Corr's-lane. The buildings or rookeries in this place are shockingly bad and filthy, and were generally condemned. Bilking-squarc and Brogan's-laue consist of hotbeds of vice, and the sooner the tenements are condemned the better. They are mostly occupied by Cliiuese, who pay on an average about os a week. There is not room to stand up in any of the rooms, scarcely any space in which to move about when you have once entered, and it is strange that the occupants are so free from fevers and sickness. Opium appears to have some peculiar disinfectant property. At all events it is death to vermin, and in all the dirt and filth throughout Little Bourke-strcet fleas are unknown. The committee also made a thorough inspection of the places in Little JSourke-streets. Their object is to report upon these matters, :md to recommend an alteration in legislation whereby the condemnation of all the hovels can be speedily effected.