The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-16 00:00:00

UNHEALTHY HOMES IN NORWICH.

TO THE EDITOR OF TILE NORFOLK NEWS.

Sir,—The condition of the homes of agricultural labourers
in all parts of England is now the subject of much conside-
ration and discussion, and will probably, ere long, occupy
the attention of the Legislature.
But whilst the state of the homes in rural districts is
greatly to be deplored, there is yet much to be done in this,
the metropolis of the county, to render the city homes any-
thing like decent or healthy.
Those who des're to pass a few hours amongst the dwell-
ings of the poor could not have selected a more fitting day
than last Saturday. The weather was then as cheerless as
the dwellings. The gentle rain had just melted through
•the-feul coating of Beckham's-yard, St. James's, and the
rottenness of the rickety old tenements was fairly displayed.
I will now endeavour to illustrate the condition of the oc •
cupants of these wretched abodes, the owner of which is as
poor as his tenants.
The first room contained the corpse of an old man, who
had lingered through a long period of suffering, lying in
rotten sacking, in one of the most dismal abodes that can
be imagined.
The next inspected was comfortless, approached by a
dangerous staircase, and on a bundle of rags lay a female
suffering from typhus fever in its worst form. She was
attended by an old woman, who needed almost as much
attention as the patient herself. An urgent appeal was
made to me for some bedding.
In the next room, an old woman lay on a stump bedstead,
with 3d worth of loose straw, which she had purchased, and
without any bedding.
The room on the other side was occupied by a man, his
wife, and 3 children—the woman being far advanced in
pregnancy. They have only one straw bed, and urgently
appealed for another. One of the children is paralysed, and
another nearly blind.
Another bed-room occupied by a man, his wife, and
daughter aged 17, lying on the floor on dirty rags.
Another occupied by a widow, and her daughter, 20, son,
11, and daughter, 9. These all sleep in one very small bed-
room, the beds nearly touching. The woman cohabits
with a black man, who shares also this room. Some of her
children are colored and some white. A donkey is kept in
a shed under this bed-room.
The next room was occupied by a widow and her son, 18,
and only one bed. The woman earnestly appealed for
another.
Another was occupied by a man and his wife and five
children. damp low kitchen, oc-
The next was a wretched, dirty, •
mst whom was the widow
copied by a troop of cadgers--
" Bluebeard ;" and
of a celebrated old beggar knaoll'w°nb
also a man, his wife, and four chinldraen.ThAe donkeyplaeter iskep
in part of an old tenement adjoining.
broken away and can be seen
separa-
ting it from the kitchen
is b d spread abroad the dreaded
through. Here was breded
2aLd some of the family then
typhus. One child
migrated to Yarmouth,d died,
the disease accompanied
them, and two or three aro n.ow sufering thisere severelyat
,
whilst the woman mentioned in the first part suffering
home in a locality calculated to cause the contagion to

spread.
Recently, in another part of the city, I found a family
wan, his wife, son 21, daughter 29, daughter
consisting of
15, all sleeping in one close room 12ft. by 7ft. 9in. The
was ill with typhus fever, as was also the son. On
woman
my second visit, I found that the son had died on the Sun •
day, and was kept in the bedroom till the following Tues-
day,
the father and mother sleeping in the same room
during that time.
Next door I found a family occupying two small uP stair
rooms, neither wind nor water tight.
woman,The
her
sleeping room,
only 9ft. square, was occupied by ason 17,
daughter 19, son 14, and son 11. All lay on the floor on
dirty rags with typhus raging next door.
I might add that a very heavy expense was incurred a
few years since in temporarily putting Backham's-yard into
a cleanly state, and that there are difficulties with which
the guardians and their officers have to contend, in matters
such as I have described, but where fever of a contagious
nature occurs I believe it to be wise economy to check its
progress regardless of expense.
I think it unnecessary to trouble you with more of dis-
gusting details of the interiors of very many of the homes
in Norwich; but I am thankful that a society is now being
formed, comprising many of the principal inhabitants of the
city, with a view to improve the dwellings of the industrial
poor.—l am, sir, your very obedieut servant,

SAMUEL CLARKE, Inspector.
Inspector's Office, Castle Meadow, Norwich, Nov, 11.

Full benefit of reduced duty obtained by pur-
chasing Horniman's pure Tea ; very choice at 3s. 4d. and
4s. " High Standard "at 4s. 4d. (formerly 4s. Bd.), is the
strongest and most delicious imported. Agents in every
town supply it in packets.
[ADVERTISEMENT.]—Consumption, all nervous, bilious•
liver, and stomach complaints, in every stage, are only ;,,,.',.
g-ravatecl and accelerated by drugs of every descrlp.tivoan:ent:
perfectly curable by Du Barry's health restoring
vi*_,' haa
Arabica Food, as proved by thousands of caserselszo'.u"
02,011.
been considered hopeless. We quote a few.—
Cu
men had
Miss Lange, 18 years of age, cured after the medicalaielas stage of
abandoned all hopes of her recovery fromot,
expectoration,
pulmonary consumption, with fearful
teloZs,
hollow cheeks,
exhaustion, spitting of blood, perspirtab
thank God, a perfectly
emaciated to a skeleton. She is no,lvi,amv, Commissaire de
healthy, blooming, fleshy giri.—
..- iarnes Roberts, of Frimley
Police. Cure, No. 46,270. .1r: ~,,,,s, spitting-of blood, liver
Surrey, of thirty years' diseasea . t,
nem—Cure, No. 47,121. Miss
derangement, and partial d
of extreme nervousness, indigestion,
orfolk
Elizabeth Jacobs,
e ' T. Campbell, Fakenhahrn4a:4l' NrGeds
and nervous fancies.—Cure, No.
! stet;
gatherings, low spLrff,-
54,816. The Rev. Jam
A en/I:kitty of the liver, which
of indigestion and
~..----
t. In tins, 11b, 28 9d ; 21b,
all medical treatmellt• N 51b,
4os. Barry du Barry and Co.,
lie; 121 b, 228;
Heger, t..street, London ; also Fortnum and o'
77,
Mason; and all
grocers and chemists in ei try town of the United litngdora,

E WSP.i.?.PER
IRELAND, ;1?"1/44;' .
, Pi?
DUBLIN, Saturn
THE ATLANTIC C0MPANY.......,
Whether well or ill-founded, it is strotley
pressed upon the minds of the Irish
to groso
misfortunes of the Galway line are owing
people that tifet
mismanagement, and the charge of mit malleg''meat
is laid openly upon the shoulders of the En glish
board of directors, who, it is alleged, at range mat-
ters in such a way that nothing can go
right, and
everything must go wrong. This is the . burden of
articles in the Irish Thnes,Erening Mat?, u nd other
journals, which contrast the success and piva sperity
of Irish banks, railways, and other steam comp Inics,
under Irish management with those of kindrecla con-
cerns under native management in England, in
proof that, if the headquarters of the Atlantic C 07,1-
pang were in Dublin or Galway, and not in Live r-
pool, and that the company's managers were Irish-
and not English merchants and men of business, all
would go well with the line, and none of the corn-
paiy's.ships would perform the not very easy feat
of fi,76ing out an obscure rock, sufficiently marked
to be itYo;ded when approached in the spacious Bay
of Galway.. What is thought of the Anglia's acci-
dent in the City of the Tribes may be gathered from
the following remarks ni,ade on Thursday at a
meeting of the harbour commissioners by Mr.
Tierney, a member of the board. He (Mr.
Tierney) considered it would not be right for the
board to separate without esl'ressing some
opinion relative to the disaster which occurred
to the Anglia. The harbour commissioners
had done nothing more than ask this Board of
Trade to hold an investigation into the circum—
stances, but Captain Prowse was not oa tisfied to
wait for the ordinary court of inquiry ; .heattri-
bated the accident to the want of proper marks and
beacons in the bay. Now, sir, we have got so many
enemies, that to allow such a statement as that
which Captain Prows° made to go forth with out
immediate and emphatic contradietion would be'
highly culpable. Thousands of ships come ia here,
and none of them found their way to Blackrock-
Ir• Tierney)
perch until Captain Prowse did. He 0 •
took some trouble in looking over the chart of the
bay that day, and there is no doubt but the ship was
not in her proper course. He did not want to im-
pute anything to Captain Prowse, but he' could not
allow it to go forward that the passage to wir road-
stead is either difficult or dangerous. He (Captain
Prowse) came into.Galway at different times,., both
day and night, yet he never found this difficulty
until he hit on it; he would ask what advantage it
would be to him to come up some nine miles; a i:3W
hours could be of no great moment; he could re-
main at anchor until daylight; if he did so, his shi;'
might be safe and sound. He (Mr. Tierney) would,
say a great deal more, but he did not like to advance,:
statements which he could not vouch for. The pilot
(Mr. Oliver) was out on that night; he saw the
ship's lights, and signalled her, but perhaps he was
not seen; and after following the vessel in an open
boat for three miles he had to return through
stress of weather. He must say that the course
pursued by the company is most condemnatory
in not sending their vessels a day or two before
the day of sailing, to take their posts here, and
thereby allow such ample time for the passengers to
embark, instead of hurrying five or six hundred
souls at a few hours' notice on board a vessel to
undergo a long and perilous voyage across the
Atlantic. In conclusion, he had only to hope that
no person would be taken in by the miserable state-
ment of Capt. Prowse. Captain B. Forster said ho
saw the pilot's light from his own house, and saw
her follow the ship. Mr. Tierney said it was evi-,
dent the captain did not steer his proper course.
THE CITY OF DUBLIN STEAM PACKET COMPANY.
The half-yearly meeting of the City of Dublin Steam-
packet Company was held yesterday. A satisfactory report
was presented, recommending the payment of a dividend
of 3 per cent. for the half-year. The principal subject
brought before the shareholders by the directors was the
still unsettled dispute with the Government respecting the
works at Holyhead, and which a committee of the liou,3e of
Commons reported upon last year. It appears that, not-
withstanding the recommendations of the committee,
nothing whatever has been done at Holyhead to remove
the just causes of complaint on the part of the company.
The conduct of the Government in the matter is extraordi-
nary and indefensible, as wo have already observed; and.
we trust that when Parliament again meets the same
power which the House of Commons exerted last session
to extort the appointment of a committee of inquiry will
be employed with equal success in enforcing its report.
THE ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY AND THE 1864 EXHIBITION.

At the stated general meeting of the Royal Dublin So-
ciety, held on Thursday last, a very important report wag
read relative to the exhibition of Irish manufactures, to be
held in Dublin next year. It appears that a considerable
difference existed between the estimates, both as regards the
income and expenditure, of the exhibition committee and
the council cf the Royal Dublin Society. The exhibition
committee were perhaps somewhat sanguine and estimated
their probable receipts at £9,529, and their outlay at only
£6,740 , while the council of the Royal Dublin Society set
down the receipts at £6,282, and the expenditure, reduced
to the lowest figure, at £7,257. Tho exhibition com-
mittee calculated on a profit of £2,449 ; the council of
the Royal Dublin Society apprehended a loss of £975.
Out of the expenditure the council excluded £2,000 for
covering in the Shelbourne yard, and the expenses inci-
dent upon a Fine Arts Exhibition. While the exhibition
committee, encouraged by the great success of tho
Fine Arts Exhibition of 1861, desired to add a
similar attraction to the future exhibition, the committee
also found it absolutely necessary to provide a very largo
amount of space for the exhibition of Irish made machinery.
Eventually, however, the council passed a. resolution to the
effect that permission be given to roof in Shelbourue• yard,
and also to extend the exhibition, so as to include a fine
arts gallery, providedN theotw RugoyeaelnDbue
fairerbli than this. The
Dublin Society be guaran-
teed
c ie
t ya
willre
they trustees,
b e
risk
dy
aoia against
Dublinde
i deficit,
ts s,
nor
guarantee fund already amounts to requiredxli,7 tio_ad do
usmo . a
niTphi
yo
sufficent to cover the whole of the increased expenditure.
tghueareaxnhtiebeitfiuonnd
ecoomulnidirtteadily be increased to £20,000,
deed, or in any other stipulateeed
Tanhdis
willman nc
ehre, e
protectr fully,
theby formalnoy
al
Dublin Society from the slightest possibility of loss. Tho
Fine Arts Exhibit
1861,
continue
rep
open ay Exhibition alone, if it be as attractive as that of
tentire expenditure. The exhibition is
to
forlle
22 weeks ; and if the exhibition halls
are kept open in the evenings, and orchestral music be pro-
vided, the committee may anticipate a triumphant success.

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AM.--*
FATHER MATHEW AND LORD BROUGII "
He created no small amusement to a large Party
at the hospitable mansion of an Irish nobleman by his at-
tempts, partly playful, partly serious, to
mega Lord
solut°lY*
Brougham, who resisted, good-humouredly,, but
u very little
the efforts of his dangerous neighbour. ' I drink
at luncheon,
wine,' said Lord Brougham, ' only half a &oililly medical
and two half glasses at dinner; and thuoanugity,
-t I refused
advisers told me I should increase the qor „sing you to
()rig in taking the
to de so." They are wrong, my lord:crrf au "
increase the quantity, and you are
hopes of you.' And
small quantity you do ; but I hays
my
lirt of the learned lord,
the silver medal
so, after a pleasant resistance on the part
Father Mathew invested his lordisar
of the new Order of tho
and ribbon, the insignia and
colid Lord Brougham, ' and
Bath. ' Then I will keep It'ehall be sure to meet old Lord
where
and I will put it on him.' Thai
take it to the house,
the worse of liquor,
a
lord referred to was notorious as a
thitention was received with much.
'bieof Bacchus. Lord Brougham was as
persistent worshiP.Pfeorr,
laughter, nn ounc emf
oerntth e° of
on meeting the veteran peer who
good as his word,
for his potations, he said, ' Lord ----..
Father Mathew for ' • from you, and passed
I have a presentl
I I will keep
' Then I tell •
the ribbon rapidly enyou what it
uires Lsifveoow,rtoatuhteergreat amazement
was so celebrated
; Y over his neck.
sober for this night,' is, Brougham
~ f Mathew.
Inao, kept his
OF SCOTLANTI "I Friday
DIE BANK -----s, a rumours
ossfihdihsifsdleorirddss?,l,PL
were afloat in town to the effect that a forged £l.
Bank of Scotland note had been attempted to be passed in
one of the banking establishments of our city, and that a
number of spurious notes of the same kind were thought to
be in circulation. The circumstance out of which the
rumour arose is a very simple one, and we make it public
with the view of allaying any anxiety that may exist in
regard to the matter. About thirty years ago, the late Mr.
Lizars engraved a bank-note plate for the Bank of Scot-
land, and when almost finished a proof of the engraving
was cast on fine Indian paper, and being a remarkably
clear and distinct copy it was laid aside, to be used on
future occasions in the event of its being found
in necessaryfo_
1 to retouch the lines on the engraved plate.
the -.CI note was accidently mislaid in Mr. Lizars
This
1707 i-ice:
u
and, having fallen into the hands of some one, was
circulation. As the plate had not been finished w,
and
d when
in
the
proof was printed, the flaw in the note was
it was immediately withdrawn. It will
be covered
explanation that no apprehension need be felt seen from this
lt
of notts by the public
as to there being any more of the same species
existence.—Scotsman.