The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-19 00:00:00

The Casual Wards in St. Marylebone.

One of the most perplexing questions that have
lately occupied public attention is bow to afford
relief to the houseless wanderers who roam about
the country, and how, at the same time, to avoid
giving encouragement to vagrancy. After the re-
velations of the Amateur Casual two or three years
ago, the community was not long in making up its
mind that such scenes as he described must not be
allowed any longer to disgrace our civilisation ; and
the Houseless Poor Act was the answer of the Legis-
lature to the demand for reform. Some uneasiness
has, however, been felt as to the success of
the measure. The very last words spoken in
the House of Commons at the close of the
session was a statement of Mr. Hardy) in re-
ply to a question from Lord Elcho) to the
effect that the act bad given rise to a great increase
of vagrancy, and that of the worst description ; for
that able-bodied persons who were able to pay for
beds were in the habit of resorting to casual wards
in order to save themselves from the necessity of
providing themselves with lodgings. Under these
circumstances it is gratifying to learn that there is
no real difficulty in the matter. The workhouse
authorities have only to resolve that their wards
shall be adapted to the requirements of the decent
poor, and they will find themselves comparatively
little troubled with vagabonds. To pass a night
in a clean room, in perfect silence, and with the
certainty that his morrow's task will be exacted
from him, is too much for the nerves of
the professional tramp. For this valuable discovery
we are indebted to Mr. Douglas, the master of that
model workhouse—as it has, not without reason,
been called—St. Marylebone. For the half-year
ending Lady-day last the number of casual poor re-
lieved by him was--men, 6,514 ; women, 3,77,1;
children, 865 ; total, 11,183 ; and the cost was,
after all, only £213 13s. 4d., of which £6 was repaid
by the value of the work performed. in the corre-
sponding half-year of 1865-66 the number was
greater by 8,239, showing conclusively that a strict
but thoroughly humane system is calculated to re-
lieve the rates rather than subject them to any addi-
tional burden.

As soon as the Houseless Poor Act, originally a
mere experiment, was made a permanent law,
the guardians of St. Marylebone determined upon
building a complete set of wards so as to enable
them to give full eff3et to Mr. Douglas's wise policy.
These are mil,. ready for occupation, and are thus
described : _

" The entrance passage of the relief offices affords
access to the new buildings ; at the end of this
passage is a general waiting room, and adjoining
is another for females only, next to which is the
female bath room. The bath room is 12ft. long,
9f. wide, 13ft. high, and is lighted by windows in
the upper part of the walls. These windows being
hinged at the bottom, and opening like hoppers,
afford a ready exit for the vapour as it arises
from the hot water of the baths. The baths, of
which there are two, are made of Stour-
bridge clay, each in one piece, and, having a
white glazed surface, present at all times a cleanly
appearance. The water is heated by a stove, which,
being in the same room, is under the supervision of
the attendant. The construction of the stove is
simple, and its working very efficient and economi-
cal, a small consumption of fuel providing a fresh
supply of hot water for each person. It consists of
an upright cylinder, the casing of which is hollow
and forms the boiler, while the fire is contained in
the central portion of the cylinder ; a pipe passes
from the upper part of this boiler to a galvanised
wrought iron cistern fixed above, from which
another pipe descends to the lower portion of the
boiler ; thus, by a well-known law, causing a con-
tinual circulation of hot water to the cistern, which
is always ready with upwards of 100 gallons of
boiling water for the supply of the two baths.
Adjoining the bath room is the female sleeping ward,
58ft. long, 18ft. wide, 15ft. high to the lowest part
of the sloping sides of the roof, and 22ft. high to
the apex. The roof is supported on circular cast
iron ribs, bolted to iron stancheons contained in the
thickness of the walls, and which rest on solid stone
bases. Running along the whole length of the room
is a ventilator, sft. wide. The upright sides of this
ventilator are fitted with wide flaps, having a simple
apparatus for opening and closing when requisite ;
the top portion, being glazed, affords light to the
apartment. On the floor just beneath this venti-
lator is a cast iron grating coveri.2,7 a brick air-
channel. This channel is supplied with high
air,
which passes from the outside of the building by
covered channels running under the adjoining floors.
It also contains the hot water pipes for heating the
apartment in cold weather. The room is well lighted
at night by two pendant star burners, the lowest
parts of which are some 9 feet above the floor. It
will thus be seen that the arrangements for heating,
ventilating, and lighting, are so arranged as to be
entirely out of the reach of the inmates. Ranged down
either side of the apartment are the sleeping bunks,
affording accommodation for 44 women and 20 chil-
dren. These bunks are generally 6 feet 6 inches
long, and 2 feet 4 inches wide, but a certain pro-
portion are made wider to afford accommodation for
a woman and two children each. The construction
of these bunks is novel. Each consists of a white
deal board supported on either side by a deal parti-
tion, which rises high enough above the ground to
prevent the intermingling of the breaths of the
occupants of two adjoining berths, though not so
high as to prevent the officials in attendance from
seeing each one from any portion of the room.
The boards forming the beds are so hung
on pivots as to be capable of being turned up
every day for the purpose of cleaning the floor
under. The head of the bed under the pillow
is slightly raised, and is hinged separately, for
the purpose of lifting and depositing the clothes
of the sleeper ; the clothes of each inmate being
thus under under his own protection. It should
also be observed that the head of each bed is some
six inches from the wall, and a current of air is con-
sequently always free to pass under the bed and
upwards towards the ventilators. On the ceiling
and walls are the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Comtnand,
meats, and a number of appropriate tests, the red
letters and blue tinted ground forming a decoration
as pleasing as it is unusual. The arrangements for
the accommodation of the males is identical with
that described for the females, except that the shape
of the bath room stove is so modified as to allow
the smoke and heat to pass by an iron flue pipe
through an adjacent disinfecting chamber. If,
04 examination, it is found requisite, the

Applicants for admission have, in the ti rst instance,
to go to the police-station, Marylebonc-lane, about
a quarter of a mile from the workhouse, for au
order ; but the master does not impose this test upon
a woman with a family, or upon any tired or aged
person. On presenting the order at the workhouse
gate, the casual is at once admitted, and after cer-
tain information has been obtained from him and
duly recorded, he is searched and all prohibited
articles taken away, to be restored, however, in the
morning. The pipes, which are the chief of these
things, would form a curious collection. The clothing
of the casual is then examined, and if it is clean it
is put in the box at the head of a portion of
his bed, and is thus placed out of the reach of any
of his companions. If the clothes are filthy, as in
two cases out of three, they are placed in a " disin-
fecting chamber," and are handed back in the morn-
ing
thoroughly fumigated. The casual, while in the
bath, has a plentiful supply of hot and cold water
and soap at his command. He is afterwards supplied
with a warm woollen night-shirt, conducted to his
bed, which consists of a mattress filled with coir,
a flock pillow, and two rugs, weighing 81b., for
covering. The strictest silence is maintained in
the wards, which are all night under the supervision
of paid officers ; and prayers are read every night
by male and female Scripture readers, specially
appointed and paid by the guardians for this pur-
pose. The shirt and bed-covering are disinfected
in the morning, and thus ready for another occupant.
At six o'clock a.m. in summer, and seven in winter,
the casuals are ordered to work. Strong, sturdy,
idle men are selected and put to stone breaking ;
but the others are set to pick oakum. Women are
similarly employed, unless wanted to clean the
wards. The task prescribed by the guar-
dians is to break two bushels of stone or
pick 21bs. weight of oakum. This task can be
executed by a willing hand in two or three
hours, but there is no power to detain a
casual for a longer period than four hours after
breakfast. It frequently happens that idle, dis-
orderly fellows, well known to the officers as pro-
fessional casuals, will improperly linger over their
work, and will not execute a reasonable half-hour's
labour in the four hours. Such characters may be
charged before the magistrate with wilfully neglect-
ing to perform their allotted task of work, aud,
thanks to the assistance given by the magistrates
at the Marylebone Police-court, this class has been
pretty well weeded from this parish. Casuals who
complain of being ill or unable to resume their
journey, are examined by the medical officer, and
if he thinks they are proper cases for the work-
house infirmary they are at once admitted.
The breakfasts and suppers consist of 6oz. of bread
and one pint of gruel at each meal ; and the
casual is permitted to take away the fragments of
bread collected from the sick and infirm wards,
which previously found its way into the waste tub
of the establishment. There is no limit to the num-
ber of times a casual may be admitted into the same
ward. If he finds no employment, he may return
again at night ; and if he shows a willingness to
work and cheerfully conforms to the rules, an effort
is made to provide him with some temporary occu-
pation. Tearing up their own clothes is an offence
that the officials of all casual wards have found it
difficult to deal with, the excuse being generally that
they were dirty or ragged; bat at St. Marylebone
both these objections are so NN met that
only one such case has occurred iu the last nine
months. Filthy clothes are cleaned from vermin by
the disinfecting process, and needles, thread, and
patches are provided for those who are industrious
enough to repair their clothes. In a word, it is the
wish of the guardians that every care shall be taken
to discriminate between the deserving " houseless
poor" and the sturdy idle loafer, so that whilst all
is done to render the position of the former as com-
fortable as the law will allow, it is sought by a strict
exaction of the labour test to drive the latter class
from depending on the ratepayers for their nightly
shelter.