MAN KENNELS IN SYDNEY.

Inangahua Times, Volume V, Issue 35, 5 April 1878, Page 2

MAN KENNELS IN SYDNEY.

Tho " Vagabond " linn boon doing tho common lodßinß-hoHsos of tho- New. South Wttlos motropolin, nnd. strongly urgos tho need of legislation- on- tho suhjoot. Tho following oxtrncte from his remarks will probably inolino ovon tho lonst fastidious to ngroo with him-; I lmvo never been on tho wnllnby.or slopt in,coranion lodgings hdusos in thin country, nnd I don't wnnt to try tho oxporimont. But in Mclbourno Ishnv-o visited suoh,pk<jos, and found that under tho Muuioipal regulations ovorya thing was gonorally fairly clean, ventilation was good; and' ovorcpowding irnpo^™ siblo. Hnvv difEbront in Sydnoy !' Horo are forty or fifty dons wlnoh arofoally n disgraoo to, eivi .i»ationr-a positive ovil brooding moral nnd physical postilonno. Wo inHpeotodsovctvor oight houses which, hold out signs of goocllodgings.nnd olnan bods. Somo of thaso shilliu« houses, others sixponoc,.othors havo mixed pricos, ranging from n shilling on, tho first llyor to sixponoo in tho gnrrofc. No opposition was made to our ontry nt any. of thoso. Thore wns a diflforonoo in.dogroo, but ihoy woro mostly abominable in tho ovor crow* ding. In somo of tho outrnnco rooms on tho ground floor tho.ro npponrod an attempt ut oloanli ness ami cheorfulness ; but to the buck, nscoivl tho. dirty stnirx, nnd tho result was tho same. In fivo liouvou, containing nix rooms, each nbout 12ft by lift, thero woro ovor seventy pco.plo—at least. tkero w 3 uucoiuiupda ipu.

(P) fo" supli. and tin' inforonn' is. t|'»' ofton these bod* wero occupied. Th.lodgors. were generally stowe I away in the four upstairs rooms. En mnw phoes there- woro- seven, or eight bods p!noo<l flidO' by aide, with- not worn, to mnvo between, tho occupants having (o crawl in from tho foot. The bod* wcro ■ nil mitI rns.sos on alrctohors— the least said about lliu covering? tho botlor. Tho vonlilation in every ease,, although window* might bo propped open, wo found to. bo totally iitMifficient. To ontor thoso rooms and aro Iho honps of slifVsng and stowing hnmnnity was hornblo. The atmosphoro choked- ono with a foirful tasto. Kncti man lny sometimes nlmost naked, somelimes nil oloth«d, i»a feverish rest which could, not fit him. for work on. Iho mor» i row. Thoso who woro undressed hud their garment* boncalh their heads for the purposo of safoty.. Thfl poncil of Gustavo Doro. would, bo nocdod to draw tho difforont forms nml positions. Sorao tossod about Pflßtloß'sly— others woro evidontly drunk— those awake hunted for vermin. And conjudoririK- that theso wcro not paupers or bog^ttrs, buL in many onse s ; luborin^ in<*n fthd' sailors, if \vn» ronlly horrible to think that they could not have my bottor ahcltor. What diseases are not conlruotod. in such holes? It w«s scarcely comforting to hoar that ono bed hud boon vueiitod by « yoiuift man who had (,'ono as cook to tho ■ hotel, or to have stewards of intercolonial sleam°rs pointed out to. you horo. Of ooursn there wero rtc^rcos in tho abominations, but in all the vontilation, was most inadequate. It seemed that in every cor« nor where a bod, could bo placed a man would sloop. In tho closets underneath tho Hluirs wo always found bleeping places— theso woro private rooms. In outhousos in tho yards members of tho family or tho sorvunt took their rest. In ono house, in a hovel at tho back, I found a naked man asleep on tho stonon. The drunken proprietor, who was very profuse mhinoflbrß to show us everything, stood boforo this man, and waved tho candlw on tlio ground in front I hat Iho light might not fall on him. " You sec, I'll show you ovorythintf," said he, dropping samo grcASO on n frifihtened cookro.ich. In tho dining rooms there wcro stretchers whiqh nppoarod to bo turned into beds at night, ami I think that in a brisk time thirty oc forty often cleop in theso houses. Wo found in ono placo two lads — ono fast asloop, tho other noddini* stupidly, waiting till Iho houso was shut up, to take their rest on ii stretcher, or whoro they could. :Thcso paidsixpenco oaoh for the sheltoi'. I have only uivon genoral details of tlic disgusting onornvitics of common lo.lginghouso life in Spdncy. To faithfully ohrouiclo onchv phnso would 1 not suit tho. oolumna of a nowspaper. Tho houses we visited, too, are, I boliovp, not tho n-onfc. They Hay that in Hussex-streot there is a sill lower grade; and in establishments which claim rcspcotability great overcrowding goes on. In a noted restnur* ant in Pitt* street llvero is a room whoro sovon men sleep, tho beds being placed on tho tables which in the d ny mo used in tho dining-room. This place is crowded ovory night, and tho weekly in* .oomo from ono room is forty-nino silling r . It is a wonder how men Will go to such placed, but thoy havo no help for it. In , Sydney tho supply of decent lodgings for i tho poorer olass does not equal tho dc- ' wand.