“WILD PEER’S” PROPERTY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2756, 10 March 1910, Page 3

“WILD PEER’S” PROPERTY.

SOLICITUDE FOR THE PEOPLE’S WELFARE. LONDON, Jan. 14. Some of the “Wild Peers” who havebeen making so much noise during the current election campaign will be very sorry lor it. (writes tlx; correspondent of the New Zealand “Times”). Their tender solicitude for the people’s welfare lias caused the common folk 1:o tnlce quite a keen interest in the private affairs of their lordships, and we are now learning a. good deal more about them —especially in their capacity as landlords —than wo should ever have known had they kept out of the political limelight. Amongst the “backwoodsmen” who are right in the public eye ju6t now is the Earl of Faversham. This peer is the owner of 40,000 acres m North Yorkshire, his estate comprising the town of Helmslcy and a large number of villages. Against Faversham a terrible indictment lias been brought by Dr Wheaton, an inspector of the Local (Government Board, who recently examined the. Earl’s cottage property in and aroung Helms ley. Dr Wheaton’s description of the con. dition of the.se dwellings discloses an appalling state of affairs. Nearly all the dwellings are more or ’ess dilapidated, and the walls damp, through there being no rainwater spouting. There is no paving or impermeable covering of the ground around them, so that the rainwater from the roofis saturates the ground. The roofs are often of thatch, which is much decayed, and allows of the entry of min. A large number of houses are without backdoors, or back windows, -so that there is not through ventilation. The ■windows hue very small, and often will not open. The walls of the dwellings are greatly dilapidated in. many eases, and' in several instances Dr. Wheaton saw houses occupied, portions of the walls of which had fallen down or are .falling, and are undoubtedly dangerous to the inmates. In several instances he noticed undrained cow-sheds and pigstyes under the sam c roof as the dwelling, so that emanations from the animals enter the house through the walls, and liquid filth from them soaks into the ground forming the floor. Many of the bedrooms are windowless and without any means of ventilation beyond that afforded by the door, and holes in the thatcli or cracks in the walls.

As might be expected, nuisances abound in the district, and diseases, chiefly rheumatism and consumption, are rife.

One of the principal causes of nuisance is the keeping of animals, and tlhe accumulation of manure from them. In only three instances did Dr. Wheaton note a suitable manure pit provider!. and in no instance- was ft covered one seen. Manure from cattle., horses, and pigs, is heaped up at the point nearest the buildings from which it has to he removed. Here, it remains, much of it being washed bv rain into the roadside channels and ditches. Other causes of nuisance are rubble drains, untrapped catcihpits, and ditdhe s containing stagnant house, sewage in proximity to the dwellings. The owner of these insanitary dwellings and their unsavory surroundings is aptly named —Lord Feversham.