The Sun.
London, England, 1848-01-03 00:00:00

No. 17,247.] LONDON, MO DAY, E E N G

ROYAL HOTEL, GRAINGER-STREET,
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
CHARLES STATES solicits the patronage of his
BROTHER TRAVELLERS to the above Establiskinent, which
has recently been newly furnished and laid out expressly for a Com-
mercial Hotel.
The COMMERCIAL ROOM, one of the largest and most elegantly
fitted in the NORTH, it is hoped will be found complete in every
respect.
The BED-ROOMS (Sixty In number) have been furnished in a
style which mast ensare the approbation of all visitors.
Gentlemen travelling with STOCK can at all tines have SHOW
ROOMS without any extra charge.
The Music Hall, Lecture Room, and Royal Hotel Assembly Room
are all attached, and under the same management.
The Royal Hotel Is in the melt central sitaattoa la Newcastle.

CENTRAL METROPOLITAN DISPEN-
SARY for Diseases of the STOMACH, It t.:ART, and
LUNGS, Including CONSUMPTION, ASTHMA, &c.
Until suitable premises are engaged for this n. .w Dispensary, the
afflicted poor may receive advice and medicine at One o'Clock, pas.,
on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, at 14, Leicester-place,
Leicester-square, by tickets from subscribers, or on application to
Dr. Cronin ; George Alnatt, Esq., Westow-lodge, Upper Norwood,
Treasurer; or Mr. George Isabell Soper, 46, Curzon-street, May-
fair, Secretary, by whom also subscri?tions and donations will be
thankfully received in aid of the benevolent object.

Profusely illustrated, price One Shilling,
AROMANCE of a MINCE PIE : an Incident
in the Life of John Chirrup, of Forty-Winks, Pastrycook and
Confectioner. By ANGUS B. REICH. Profusely illustrated by
H. K. BROWNE (Phiz)..—Also, by the same Author,
NATURAL HISTORY of " BORES." Profusely illustrated, Is.
NATURAL HISTORY of " 11U3IBUGS." Profusely illus-
trated, ls.
D. Bogue, 86, Fleet-street ; and sold everywhere.

Now ready, price Is., profusely illustrated,
TFiE BAL MASQUE. By the COUNT
11 CIILCAKII. Frofusely illustrated with Engravings, by HEN-
.NING and CRAM.

1). Bogue, 86, Fleet-street ; and sold everywhere.

MR. BUCKINGHAM'S NEW WORK.
Now ready,
BELGIUM, the RHINE, SWITZERLAND,
and HOLLAND. Mt ♦utumnal Tour. By J. S. BUCK-
INGHAM, Esq. In Two handsome octavo volumes, with Ten
quarto Steel Engravings, containing views of some of the principal
cities visited, from the pencil of W. Bartlett. Boand in cloth, and
lotteted, price 2Ss.
Publshed by Peter Jackson (late Fisher, Sou, and Co.), London,
and to be had of all Booksellers.

DR. LA'MERT ON MI SECRET INFIRMITIES OF YOUTH
AND MATURITT.-IYITII 40 COLOURED ENGRAVINGS ON

STEEL.
Just published, and may be had in Freach •r English, is a Sealed
Envelope, 2s. ed„ or post-free, from the wither, for forty-two
Stamps,
SELF-PRESERVATION; a Medical Treatise
on the Physiology of Marriage, Infelicitous and Unproductive
Unions, and the Secret Inflrinittes and Disorders of Tenth aid Ma-
turity, usually ae,cmired at an early period of life, which enervate
the physical and mental powers, diminish and enfeeble the natural
feelings, and exhaust the vital energies of Manhood ; with rractical
Observations on the Treatment of Nervous Debility and Indigestion,
whether arising from these causes, close study, or the influence •I
tropical climates: Local and Constitutional Weakness, Syphilis,
Stricture, and all Diseases and Derangements resulting from Indis-
cretion. With Forty coloured Engravings, illustrating the
Asatosny, Physiology, and Diseases of the Reproductive Orgaas,
explaining their structures, uses, and functions, and the various
Injuries that are produced la them by solitary habits, excesses, aid
Infection.
BY SAMUEL LI'MERT, M.D.,
9, BEDFORD-STREET, BEDFORD-SQUIRE,
LONDON.

octor of Medicine, Matriculated Member of the University of Edin-
burgh, Licentiate of Apotheoarles' Hall, London, Honorary Member
of the London Hospital Medical bociety, &c.
Marriage requires the fulfilment of several conditions, in order
that It may ha twill,' the cause of mutual happiness. Could the
veil, which covers the origin of domestic wretchedness, be raised,
and its true source la every instance disclosed, in how many oottld
it be traced to physical dlsqnalitlcatiens and their attendant disap-
pointments. Excesses are always injarions ; tho gift, which when
used In moderation is franglit with advantage, becomes, when
abused, the prolific source of mischief; and of greater or less injury
to the constitutional and vital powers. The particular excesses, on
she nature and consequence of which this Treatise professes to dilate,
are productive of greater severity of misery to the human frame.
than any other to which it is subject.
This work contains an accurate and complete account of the
Anatomy and Physiology of the Reproduotive Organs, and of
their relative conditions in health aid disease. It deservedly
requires the closest attention and study, for what subject cad
be of more irneortance than the preservation of the health,
and of the physical capabilities of which every man should
be posiessed. It unfortunately happens , that the unhappy
♦ictim of excessive indulgence aid vicious habits, whether acquired
in early life or from the follies of advanced age, while saffering
from their invariable consequences, unwisely entertains a tear of ap-
plying to a qualified physician for relief. Shame and the dread so
frequently, but erroneously entertained that these complaints are
beyond the reach of art, alike restrict him and prevent his seeking
for assistance where alone it can be procured. In acting thus, he
forgets that accurate discrimination in ascertaining the causes of
disease, sympathy with the sufferer, and, above all, secrecy, inva-
riably characterise the tatelliAent and practical physician, and to the
medical man who can show by Ma posse-sion of the requisite legal
qualifications that he is entitled to esteem and respect in his proles-
sional pursuits, the utmost confidence should be extended. Dr.
LaI.4IERT has obtained the highest medical honours, as his diplomas
Unify and the great extent of his practice for many years is a
gemantee for his professional experience, which has reference almost
solely to the treatment of these diseases.
Published by the Author, and may be had of Kent and Richards,
12, Paternoster-row; Hannay, 63, oxford-street; Starie, Tichhorne-
street, Haymarket ; Mansell, 115, Fleet-street ; Gordon, 146,
Lesedenhall-street, London ; or, free by post for torty-two stamps,
from The Anther, who may be consulted on these disorders personally
by letter, daily, from Ten till Two, and from Five till flight at his
residence, 9, Beiltord-street Itedford-sonare London.

REMARKS ON DWELLINGS FOR
THE LABOURING CLASSES AT BIRKEN-
HEAD-EVILS OF THE WINDOW-TAX.
ET J. HUNTER ROBERTSON, N.D.

(From the Journal of Public Health and Monthly Record
of Sanitary Improvement.)
Birkenhead has the credit of having conceived at.d
put into operation one of the most remarkable plans
yet formed for applying modern improvements to
dwellings for the working classes. How imperatively
such works are called for, let our Health of Towns
Commissioners and our sanitary Bills tell. If society
at large knew how very high is the rent which the
poor pay for wretched accommodation, they would
find that, even independently of kindly feeling, it
would be really a profitable investment to build good
and comfortable dwellings, which might be let at
rates not exceeding those now paid for " fever fac-
tories," as the closely-pent hovels are, with fearful
expressiveness, sometimes called.
If society would take the trouble to inquire how
largely the poor-house, the hospital, and even the
lunatic asylum, are tenantel by those who, but for
their pestilent, and pestiferous dwellings, might per-
haps have been healthy and actively-working mem-
bers of the community, they would find that, in
addition to all that the poor really suffer, the middle
and upper classes pay enormously for the defective
system, in the shape of increased rates and increased
voluntary contributions.
The dwellings above alluded to were built by the
Dock Company for the accommodation of the work-
men likely to be required for the construction of
the docks and warehouses ; but from their elegant
highly finished, and substantial construction, more so
perhaps than requisite for the purpose intendqd, the
investment, it is to be feared, will turn out an un-
profitable one. The whole pile of buildings is
throughout fire-proof, and made to accommodate 350
families.

I shall not here enter into further particulars about
these dwellings, as they have already been ao
minutely described in that deservedly-popular work,
" The Land we Live in ;" besides, as they are on
such a gigantic scale, the cost being somewhere about
50,0001., probably it will be more acceptable to give
the details of two tenements more recently erected
in Birkenhead; the one by William Laird, Esq.,
called Alorpeth Buildings, consisting of 64 dwellings ;
the other by Robert Hughes, Esq., consisting of 70
dwellings.
The first of these is built on the Scotch plan, in
flats, and constitutes eight blocks, each block con-
sisting of eight dwellings, making in all 64.
Every block has a stone passage leading to the
street, from whence the staircase and doors to the
various dwellings proceed. The blocks are four
stories high, no sunk flats or cellars, and each flat is
divided into two dwellings.
The internal arrangements are much the same as
those of the Dock cottages, the dwellings consisting of
three rooms—viz., kitchen, parlour, and bed-room,
or two bed-rooms, of the following dimensions :
Kitchen, 13 feet by 9 feet 9 inches. The one bed-
room, 9 feet 6 inches by 7 feet ; the other, 9 feet 6
inches by 6 feet. The kitchen is provided with a
range and oven.
Immediately adjoining the kitchen, but shut out
by a well-fitting door, is a water-closet, with an
abundant supply of water, for this and all other
purposes, from a large cistern, placed at the top of
each block for the use of the eight dwellings; this
cistern is supplied from the public works. Through
the centre of each block, from top to bottom, runs
a square shaft, containing the water and gas pipes
belonging to the eight dwellings, and a small iron
door about 10 inches square is fixed in one corner of
a recess close to the ground, through which all the
dust and dirt are swept; the dust shaft receives the
dust from all the eight dwellings by eight similar
openings, and thence descends to a very large dust-
cellar beneath the level of the house, from which it is
removed at stated periods.
Each room is ventilated by two " air bricks "
that is, a space equal to the size of a brick is left open
for the admission of air, covered within and without
by an iron grating, and capable of being closed by
an iron shutter if necessary. One of these openings
is placed near the floor for the admission of fresh air,
the other near the ceiling for the escape of heated or
vitiated air.

As to the advantages of such dwellings in a
sanitary point of view, there cannot, I think, he two
opinions ; but before parties will engage in such a
speculation, it is but natural they should satisfy
themselves as to the return they are likely to get for
their money.
Through the kindness of Mr. Laird and Mr.
Hughes, I am enabled to give full particulars as to
the cost and return of their respective buildings.

Cost of 64 Dwellings for the Working Classes in Wood-
street, the property of Win. Laird, Esq.

LAND.

Length of 8 blocks
Width of cottage 25 feet . .
Passage behind
Given up to make a
12 feet street into
an 18 feet street

292 min. 3 sec. by 33, equal to 1,071
yards, 3 roods, at 30s. per yard
Contract for building 64 cottages, by
Messrs. Walker 5,965 0 0
Extras : fitting shelves, cupboards, and
tables, each cottage, 31. 192 0 0

Architect's commission, 3 per cent. on
5,9651.

£7,942 19 0

RETURNS.
1 block, containing 8 dwellings, produces the follow-
ing rental:—
On ground floor, 2 cottages at
4s. 6d. per week, or 11/. 14s
per annum each £23 8 0
On first floor, 2 cottages, at 4a <
per week, or 101. Bs. per an-
num each...
On second floor, 2 cottages at
3s. 6d. per week, or 9/. 2s
per annum each
On third floor, 2 cottages at
3s. per week, or 71. 16s. per
annum each l5 12 9

£7B 0 0
Eight blocks at 781. each =gross rental of sixty-four
cottages £624 0 0

DEDUCTIONS.
Window-tax, 5 windows to each dwelling,
or 40 per block, and 3 staircase windows:
43 windows per block,
14l 8 9p 4 8
10 per cent. additional ll 10 0
-------127 0 0

Township rates-
-64 cottages, at 30s. per
cottage per annum... 96 0 0

Wa:ter-
-64 cottages, at 6s. per
cottage per annum... 19 4 0

InWurance-
4s. 6d. per ct. on 7,0001. 15 15 0
---130 19 0

Perhaps we could not at the present time look
for the total abolition of the window-tax, but cer-
tainly there might be some improved mode
of assessment, and one that would not be instrumental
in generating disease. The smallest opening made
in the walls of an ordinary sized dwelling subjects the
tenant to an additional Bs. 3d. per annum ; conse-
quently cellars, privies, and the roofs of houses, are
left entirely without ventilation, the very places most
requiring it.
Mr. Hickson suggests that for every 1,000 cubic
feet covered in for habitations there ought to be
a certain number of windows or openings for light
and ventilation ; that these ought to be charged for,
whether they exist or riot, and the window-tax would
no longer operate as a premium upon defective ven-
tilation. This, however, would not, I think, answer
the purpose intended, but have quite a contrary effect.
A certain amount of space in dwellings is requisite
to health, and the plan proposed by Mr. Hickson
would be a temptation to diminish it, and would con•
sequently be productive of great mischief. If I might
venture an opinion on se intricate and important a
subject, I would suggest, that instead of taxing the
number of windows or the cubic contents, a certain per
Itentage should be charged on the rent of every house
exceeding 151. In this way, there would be no object
in decreasing either the dimensions of dwellings or
diminishing the number of windows, and the benefit
of this arrangement would be felt by those most
requiring it—viz., the working classes, their houses
seldom exceeding in rental 151. per annum. At pre-
sent, all houses of about this rent are constructed with
just the number of windows necessary to evade the
tax ; consequently, they are in this way rendered
deficient both in light and ventilation.
The rents of house property might be taken at
the same valuation as for the poor and local taxes,
and instead of keeping a vast number of individuals
throughout the country, in constant employment at
high salaries, for no other, purpose than to annoy
people by counting their windows, the rent would at
once be ascertained by referring either to the books
of the parish or township.
I have taken every pains in ascertaining from the
tenants themselves their opinion of the dwellings in
Morpeth- buildings, and it is exceedingly gratifying
to find that they are unanimous as to their comfort
and excellent accommodation.

As it may not be uninteresting, I give the exact
words of a few of the tenants as I had them from
themselves.

First. Tenant states—My house is most comfort-
able, well worth the rent I pay. We never have
had illness in our family since we occupied it.
No one can tell the comfort we feel in having such an
excellent water-closet, and so ample a supply of water.
I think the air• holes create too much draught. If
the rooms were from one to two feet larger, the house
would be unexceptionable.
Second. Tenant says—l think my house excellent.
The water-closet is a great comfort. The air•holes
made the house uncomfortable until we pasted paper
over them. The great fault I find with the house is
the smallness of the rooms. One foot more would
add considerably to their comfort.
Third. Tenant states—l aave seven of a family.
We all like the house very much, but the rooms
are too small for so large a family. We resided
formerly in Oliver-street, and had much illness
there, but have all been in excellent health since we
came to reside here. The water- closet is a great
comfort, but the air-holes acmit too much cold air.
As the windows open from the top, we could dispense
with the air-holes.

Fourth. Tenant says —I never was in so com-
fortable a house., If the rooms wero only a little
larger, I would willingly pay a trifle more rent per
week. 'We never had such continued good health as
we have had since we occvpied this house. The
principal fault I find with the house, for a family, is
the smallness of the apartmeits. From the manner
in which we can so easily gee rid of all dust and rub-
bish through the shaft, we have always a clean house.
I don't like the way the house is ventilated.
The statements of all the tenants were nearly to
the same effect; it is therefore unnecessary to give
further examples, but I will proceed to describe the
70 cottages erected by Mr. Hughes.
They are built in five blocks, each block consisting
of 14 houses, and divided by parallel streets or
avenues of 12, 8, and 6 yards in width, the broadest
being at the back, and decreasing as they advance
towards the main street. Mr. Hughes very kindly
took me through the whole of them, and I must
say I was both astonished and pleased at their
arrangement and accommodation. They are not
in flats like Morpeth-buildings, but each house
consists of three stories and a sunk one, and has
three rooms and a kitchen of the following dimen-
sions :—each bed-room 12 feet square, sitting-room
12 feet by 9, kitchen 12 feet square. The kitchen is
provided with a range and oven. There is an excel-
lent water-closet, with an abundant supply of water
from the public works. Each of the avenues is
lighted with gas ; in fact, there appiars to be no ex-
pense spared in contributing to the comforts of the
tenants.

The ventilation appears to be excellent, every win-
dow opens both from above and below, and the stair
is lighted with a gas cupola ; indeed, they have the
appearance of being built for a much higher class of
tenants than they are really intended for.
I give the cost of these seventy cottages as fur-
nished me by Mr. Hughes.

Land for 70 cottages.
2,250 yards, at 1/. por yard.t2.2so 0 0
Building account 10,350 0 0