Healthy Dwellings for Labourers. 397 can shine every day on every side of the cottage. When cottages are joined together in a row, unless that row is in a diagonal direction, with reference to a south and north line, the sun will shine chiefly on one side. By having cottages singly or in pairs, they may always be placed along any road in such a manner that the sun may shine on every side of them, provided the point be given up of having the front parallel to the road; a point which, in our opinion, ought not for a moment to be put in competition with the advantages of an equal diffusion of sunshine. 8. Every cottage ought to have an entrance-porch for containing the labourer's tools, and into which, if possible, the stairs ought to open, in order that the bed-rooms may be communicated with without passing through the front or back kitchen. This, in the case of sickness, is very desirable, and also in the case of deaths, as the remains may be carried down stairs while the family are in the front room. 9. The door to the front kitchen or best room should open from the porch, and not from the back kitchen, which, as it contains the cooking utensils and washing apparatus, can never be fit for being passed through by a stranger, or even the master of the family, where proper regard is had by the mistress to cleanliness and delicacy. 10. When there is not a supply of clear water from a spring adjoining the cottage, or from some other efficient source, then there ought to be a well or tank, partly under the floor of the back kitchen, supplied from the roof, with a pump in the back kitchen for drawing it up for use, as hereafter described in detail. The advantages of having the tank or well under the back kitchen are, that it will secure from frost, and that the labour of carrying water will be avoided. 11. The privy should always be separated from the dwelling, unless it is a proper water-closet, with a soil-pipe communicating with a distant When detached, the privy should be liquid-manure tank or cesspool. over or adjoining a liquid-manure tank, in which a straight tube from the bottom of the basin ought to terminate; by which means the soil basin may always be kept clean by pouring down the common slops of the house. No surface being left from which smell can arise, except that of the area of the pipe, the double flap, to be hereafter described, will prevent the escape of the evaporation from this small surface, and also ensure a dry and clean seat. 12. The situation of the liquid-manure tank should be, as far as possible, from that of the filtered-water tank or clear-water well. It should be covered by an air-tight cover of flagstone, and have a narrow well adjoining, into which the liquid should filter through a grating, so as to be pumped up or taken away without grosser impurities, and in this state applied to the soil about growing crops. 13. In general, proprietors ought not to entrust the erection of labourers' cottages on their estates to the farmers, as it is chiefly owing to this practice that so many wretched hovels exist in the best-cultivated districts of Scotland and in Northumberland. 14. No landed proprietor, as we think, ought to charge more for the land on which cottages are built than he would receive for it from a farmer, if let as part of a farm; and no more rent ought to be charged for the cost of building the cottage and enclosing the garden than the same sum would yield if invested in land, or, at all events, not more than can be obtained by government securities. 15. Most of these conditions are laid down on the supposition that the intended builder of the cottage is actuated more by feelings of human sympathy than by a desire to make money; and hence they are addressed to the wealthy, and especially to the proprietors of land and extensive manufactories or mines." The following is the view of a double mechanic's cottage, from Mr. Loudon's collection, similar to the agricultural labourer's model cottage, of which a view has already been given. Besides the details of construction, such as are exemplified in the report, that appear deserving of attention, there are details in the furniture of cottages, and particular descriptions of furniture by which it appears that much improvement may be effected. For example, an important improvement in the box bedsteads used in Scotch cottages has been suggested by Dr. Wilson, of Kelso. It consists of a curtain-rod and curtains, which may be drawn out about three feet from the front of the bed, so as to form sufficient space between the curtain and the bed to serve as a dressingroom. It is observed by Mr. Loudon, that some of the Leith and London steamers had the berths in the ladies' cabins fitted up in this mode some years ago; and it is a principle applicable, and, it is unnecessary to say, necessary for the preservation of decency in double-bedded rooms, as well as in those cottages where the box bedstead is used. The following is a copy of the plan of the improvement given by Mr. Loudon. Another part of Dr. Wilson's improvements in these beds consists of the hinging a part of the roof of the bed, so that it may be opened like a trap-door at pleasure for ventilation, and the hinging of the boards at the foot and at the back for the same object, and for giving access to a medical attendant. Mr. Loudon expresses a hope that these improvements form one step to getting rid of box bedsteads altogether. They are noticed here as exemplifications of the moral ends which may be gained in structural arrangements, which incur inconsiderable expense, and only a little care at the outset. in Cottage Furniture. 399 Other detailed improvements may be made subservient to structural economy. The following is an exemplification thus described by Mr. Loudon :-"It is a matter of some difficulty, in small cottages, to place the shutters to the windows on the ground floor in such a manner as to answer the purpose, and y. t be out of the way. The following plan has been adopted in some buildings of that description, which have been lately erected. The shutters are hung on hinges in such a manner as to fall down into a recess below the window during the day-time; and consequently they are quite out of the way when not wanted for shutting up the house, or for temporary purposes. The idea suggested itself that shutters be occasionally used as a table or ironing-board; and to effect this end, two movable bars as supports were let into mortices in the floor, and made to abut against similar mortices made in the ledges on the under side of the shutters. The two cornices were slightly rounded, and the upper surface was left plain without paint. Two swing iron or wooden brackets might be used instead of the wooden bars, as they could be folded back into the recess also. 2308 10.-Specification of the Cost of Erection, Weekly Rents, Interest on the Capita invested, and the Numbers of Tenements and Cottages occupied by the Poor and Labourers; taken from Returns made by the Relieving Officer of their respective Districts, in 24 Unions in the Counties of Cheshire. Stafford, Derby, and Lancaster. |