The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-11 00:00:00

"In the bitter frosts of November the most destitute
began to huddle together as closely as possible for warmth,
and, being sadly deficient in bedding, their day clothes
often serving for their only covering by night, they care-
fully excluded from their crowded beorooQs every breath
of sir, If they rented two bedrooms, they brought the beds
together into one. Six or eight people would came at night
into a room 12 feet square, with the window and door closed
and pac'dcd, and the fireplace (as is almost universal with
them) thoroughly papered up, and lie as closely as they
could for the heat of each others' bodies. They got their
warmth indeed, but in a fashion that was monstrously
hurtful to their health."

Even when Dr. Buchanan visited the manufac-
turing districts a check had been given to the over-
crowding which resulted from mere cold by the
distribution of bedding, and it is to be hoped that
in the ensuing winter the poor will never be driven
to such unwholesome shifts to keep up the animal
heat.

In the article of dress the cotton operatives had
suffered as much as in those of food or lodging.
First their Sunday clothes, then their changes of
linen, were sold or pawned, and their single suit,
if not diminished in the same way, was worn to
shreds. Tho poorest people were constantly with-
out underclothing, and a single petticoat and
bodice often formed the entire wardrobe of a
woman or child. In such a state, and with deficient
bedding they were found by the early frosts of No-
vember. Had we had a very wet or cold winter, the
rate of mortality would have been frightful. As it
was, bromhitis was exceedingly prevalent, even
among the women and children, and the men who
were employed at out-door labour seem to have
suffered with especial severity from diseases pro-
duced by the cold. They would have suffered more
had not the Guardians in the worst weather dis-
pensed with the test of out-door labour. Dr. Bu-
chanan found nothing to observe upon in the exter-
nal condition of the houses and streets as affected by
the distress, but as to the inside of the houses in-
habited by the poorer classes he states that there
was a general want of cleanliness, in part connected
with their having more inhabitants, and in part due
to the cost of cleaning materials. Landlords,whose
weekly visit for rent was made in vain, appeared to
have become careless about the wholesomeness of
their houses, and few of the local authorities had
acted on their powers of compelling attention to
these matters. Domestic cleanliness had been often
preserved under many incentives to its neglect, a
result which was probably greatly promoted by the
gratuitous distribution of soap by many of the relief
committees. If the old standard of personal tidi-
ness had not been maintained, there had been less
slovenliness and dirt than might have been ex-
pected. In the Preston Union, when a dirty person
applied for relief, the Guardians, before considering
his case, sent him off with a ticket to the nearest
bath.

One of the most interesting and effectual means
which benevolence created to contend with distress
last winter was the sewing schools, and it is satis-
factory to learn from Dr. Buchanan that " from a
medical point of view it would hardly be possible to
give too much praise" to them. " Thousands of
persons," he says," but especially of young women,
are provided in them with shelter and warmth
throughout the day, are set to useful work, fur-
nished with clothes and money and kept from the
mental harm of idleness." Excellent as these insti-
tutions are, at the time of the doctor's visit one
serious fault pervaded them; they exhibited a la-
mentable
deficiency of ventilation. Held, as they
generally were, in the large, low room of an empty
f.actory, or in a schoolroom intended for a less num-
,"iar:tverheillid,ren, the original construction oineither
roatt.ti:e:
::::ecerdai:loyr a:ufficient change of air, ~ venti-
Thelizisilliseuat draught being scarcely possible."
ting an tho
wi
ut 000fwtthses;stohiaotelltdatto millsti he,ae :aunt smitsohtseapdthtoehn:slhwa udayts-
ssutapnecreink
superintendents
ose, and under such circutn-
f eft off work with the intense
headaches„t that the
the girls themselves
were seen unhealthily4ficeass:t
one of them had filleted
oveerdh, and that more than
Pa at Preston,
The only schools which wer:resewiiino.,g'
TyPrc those established by the g us;r2de -.4 3' min:lined
slcthiclottide lhaatdelybeseenemgeedtttihnagt
outthe yofcuhill,:en
in
those
I'c:quest of the managers Dr Buchanan u:culeditee't!,l:•tht'
investig^:, ion into the nature, extent, and ccufies
of
their sufferings. Of 35 girls examined eight had ail-