Defiled Bathrooms

SIR, - I shall be glad if you will allow an outsider to protest against what he thinks an unworthy habit on the part of certain architects, that of placing the watercloset in the bath-room. He noticed a case at Hampstead the other day, where some very fine houses showed this far from refreshing association, which he had not seen before except in certain Scotch hotels and houses. The grouping, in the same small room, of the sewer and the bath is such a bizarre, and is such a very objectionable plan, that it is to be hoped it is rather owing to an odd sense of fitness on the part of certain architects than to any growing sanitary "notion" of the time. The bare idea of a healthy creature going to enjoy his bath in the same cell (for it is never a room) with a watercloset, one would have thought too strong for the nerves of the present aesthetic race of architects, who are, no doubt, responsible for the very fine houses in which he saw this plan carried out. Of all countries in the world, one would expect to meet a thing of this sort least in England, where people happily have, usually, strict notions as to cleanliness. V.R.

[letter to The Builder, 2 August 1879]

SIR, "V.R." in your issue of the 2nd inst. writing on the above subject strikes a chord which will be heard throughout the country, and I for one beg to tender him my thanks, and trust that he will continue to call attention to this matter of defiled bath-rooms. What "V.R." asserts is a notorious fact, and why architects persist in this uncalled-for practice does seem strange to the experienced sanitary engineer.

    It is true that often on board ship, where every nook and corner has to be utilised, want of space necessitates the W.C. being screwed into a cell where there is barely room for the user to turn round, but I am glad to say that great changes for the better have been made in this particular  in most of our large passenger-ships. It is only necessary to pay a visit to the magnificent vessels of any of our great passenger-carrying ocean lines, such as the Peninsular and Oriential, the White Star, the Anchor Line, &c., to perceive these improvements. In the saloon will be seen perfect sanitary appliances working efficiently, - marble baths, with douches, that would grace a palace, with no W.C. in the same compartment, but these latter fitted up apart from the bath-rooms with the greatest care, and supplied with abundance of water for cleansing purposes.

   Now, sir, if on board ship, where every inch of room is valuable, we still are careful to keep the bath-rooms separate from the W.C.s, I wish to know why architects should consider it advisable to join them together in the beautiful mansions which are at present being built. Have them close to each other by all means, but put the latter outside the building, and the bath in a separate room alongside on every floor, taking care to use all the best known sanitary appliances for prevention of disagreeable smells in the closet. It is, unfortunately, only too well known among experienced sanitary engineers and plumbers, that great evils arise from the bad arrangement and construction of the house-drains and soil-pipes and closets from inefficient and bad workmanship, light and flimsy fittings, want of experienced men to supervise, and the inordinate longing on the part of builders to put in the cheapest articles they can get. Is it, then, to be wondered at that, of late years, we have had such an outcry about the prevalence of typhoid fever.

    "V.R." has called attention to one evil which has arisen in sanitary arrangements of late years; but there are, unfortunately, many others besides those which I have indicated above, which often make out modern houses at night, when every aperture is closed, mere gigantic retainers of bad atmosphere, thus slowly poisoning the inmates during the very hours that they are most susceptible to that most stealthy and unseen of enemies, sewer-gas.

T. SUFFIELD

[letter to The Builder, 23 August 1879]

A Woman's Complaint

An 1890s woman speaks out against poor provision of public toilets on the railway, and elsewhere:

A WOMAN'S COMPLAINT.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—The writer of " A Woman's Complaint" deserves the thanks of hundreds of thousands of men and women for drawing attention to out of the greatest evils which disgrace our pseudo-civilization. Savage races which have no false delicacy would never allow such absurdities. It is not too much to say that in England men and women are daily tortured because the subject is tabooed, though vice may be openly discussed, and not only directors but shareholders and many others are to blame because when there is cause for complaint no one will speak out and focus public attention. Whether travelling on distant journeys or merely round London evidence is constantly forthcoming of the absence of the proper accessories of civilization. Several times have I seen women try in vain to open the door of a ladies' room when returning at night from theatres, &c., by train; and even at an exhibition under Royal patronage I have seen the same thing occur, though a cloak-room should obviously be open just before closing time as much as the drinking bars which were then open. Some day a husband or a brother will burst a door open, regardless of concentrating the attention of idlers, and a jury will justify him, it all English spirit has not been drilled out of us by then. I have heard that a passenger can require a train to be detained in case of necessity. Perhaps some lawyer will enlighten us on this point. It might be awkward for the railway companies, but they will have themselves to thank. More is required, however. Proper accommodation and attendance after arrival at a terminus, and also sometimes refreshments at a terminus. We want a few women as well as men invested with autocratic power as Government inspectors, not to attend to the higher politics of railways, but to supervise the minor details which make the real comfort of life to the thousands. The County Council in London has intended to set an example, but is most unfortunate in its methods. The accommodation it provides and labels "Ladies" is practically useless, because it is usually in such a situation, in the middle of a street and often opposite a cab-rank, that respectable women cannot go near the entrance. Who building a house would put the  accommodation for his female servants, to say nothing of visitors, in the middle of a stable yard? The result is that constables are still specially employed to watch the retired streets,and interfere, though with no right to do so, when they are preferred. The subject may not be a select one for public discussion, but there is a crying evil which must be cured sooner or later, and as the subject has been mooted I hope you will allow it to be ventilated - I enclose my card, but beg to subscribe myself
Your obedient servant,
ZETETES.

Public Necessaries

Sir - That sink of iniquity, the halfway public-house on the Kennington-road, being now removed, and with it the watering-place, it is highly necesary, on the score of decency, that the latter should be replaced for the convenience of the public. The east end of the shrubbery in the park appears to be an appropriate situation for the erection of such a convenience. It is to be hoped that the Chief Commssioner of the Woods and Forests will take the same into his favourable consideration, thereby conferring a boon on the numerous pedestrians of all classes, who are in the daily habit of passing to and fro on this much frequented line of the road.
    The drain should be taken into the sewer, and might be made use of to carry off the stagnant water from the ditches in the park.

AN ORIGINAL SUBSCRIBER

Sir, - I see by one of your late numbers that it is in contemplation to establish in the metropolis public necessaries and urinals. It has long been a disgrace to the most civilised capital in the world that public decency should be outraged, whilst an obvious remedy was at hand. But whilst we are thus seeking to provide for the comfort of our own sex, allow me, as a married man, to say a few words on the unfortunate condition of females in this regard. I do so in all honour and respect, but I esteem it a false delicacy to allow them to suffer, through the want of some one to advocate a cause upon which they are unable to speak for themselves. The consequences in many cases are lamentable, and it is the imperative duty of every husband and father to guard those they love against diseases which render existence a burden.

    The plan which I propose is easy and simple, and perfectly consistent with the preservation of that delicacy of feeling which is the pride of our countrywomen. In each of the great thoroughfares there might be established waiting-rooms for ladies, with the necessary conveniences in an inner room. Let the outer room, as in the railway stations, be provided with benches, &c., and under the superintendence of a respectable female; let there be also a counter, where cloaks, umbrellas, clogs, &c. could be ticketed, and thus left for a few hours to be taken care of: thus a reason would be furnished for any lady who might wish to enter. These waiting-rooms must be totally distinct from those of the other sex, and not even under the same roof. No gentleman ought ot be permitted to cross the threshold on any pretence whatsoever. The charge for admittance, were it even as low as two-pence, would amply defray all expenses; many would also glady pay two-pence to sit down for a few minutes, whilst waiting for friends or an omnibus.
    I beg to apologize for trespassing upon your time, but it occurred to me that by means of your valuable and widely circulated journal, attention might be called to a grievance under which those dear to us all have long suffered in silence. - I am, Sir, &c.

    A Surgeon.

The Builder, p.33 1846

A Populous Wilderness

I can't keep away from toilets at the moment. Here's a ground-breaking plea for ladies (and men's) toilets, in full, from 1879 (referred to my previous post on the Ladies Sanitary Assocation):-


REPORT ON THE NECESSITY OF LATRINE ACCOMMODATION FOR WOMEN IN THE METROPOLIS

by James Stevenson, M.D. Medical Officer of Health for Paddington


The Ladies Sanitary Association, having addressed a letter to the Vestry of Paddington respecting the provision by the Parish of Water-closet accommodation for Women, the same was referred by the Sanitary and Public Health Committee to the Medical Officer of Health for consideration and report.


The subject of Latrine accommodation for women in the metropolis, if it be deemed one which admits of a practical solution, suggests three main questions for consideration:-

1. Is such accommodation necessary?
2. Is it the business of a Vestry to provide it?
3. How can it best be supplied?

1. As to its necessity. - London is the largest city in the world, and in size and in population it is yearly increasing. The natural increase of its population, from the excess of births over deaths, is little short of 50,000 a year, or nearly 1,000 every week. As this annual addition does not arise from immigration, but naturally follows from the self-multiplying power of its inhabitants, it is consequently liked to be maintained. In a word, London possessed and retains within its own borders a population increasingly capable of ading largely to the number of its inhabitants and, with the need of more house accommodation, of extending its area.

The population of London, exclusive of the outer ring, is estimated at 3,620,868 of whom 1,694,741 are males, and 1,926,127 are females. The estimated population of Greater London, which embraces the suburrban districts, with an area of 698 square miles, is 4,534,040 With its 1,500 miles of roads, London already extends from Fulham to Woolwich and from Hampstead to Norwood and in 1871 contained 417,767 inhabited dwellings. As from five to six thousand homes are annually added to the metropolis, ever lengthening streets of brick and mortar form new neighbourhoods and the distances from the principal thoroughfares of business and pleasre are increased,

Great, however, as has been the growth of London during the last thirty years, the causes which have contributed to that growth are still in operation, as well as others of more recent origin. Railways and steamboats, which have directly or indirectly supplied much of the impetus to the accelerated rate of movement observable in every sphere of human activity, have not yet done all that they are capable of doing in the way of adding to the metropolis and of revolutionizing society. Agriculture is yearly becoming a less profitable occupation, anbd more and more the recreative employment of monied commercial men, who, having found profit in business, now seek business in pleasure. Commerce and manufacture, though the application of steam power, have enormously increased; and whilst they have added largely to the population of some provincial towns and cities, they have also created new and important commercial and industrial centres.

It is said that half London does not sleep in London. During the day time only it is the gathering ground of the people. Comparatively deserted during the night, it is betwixt sunrise and sunset that multitudes flock to the metropolis. That hundreds of thousands of pesons in the metropolis are compelled to live at considerable distances from the sphere of their daily employment, and are thus subjected to many discomforts and positive evils, besides the expenditure of time, of money, and of energy in going to and from theirt work, is a fact which, however much for some reason it may be regretted, should for present purposes be distinctly recognised. It is an inevitable condition of life in London, necessitated by circumstances, and making the conveniences in question a metropolitan want.

It is alleged that there are in this country more than three millions of women supporting themselves by their own exertions*

* The number of women enggaged in the various industries, as returned by the Census of 1871, plus 7 per cent for the increase of population appears to be as follows:-
Under 20  . . . .  .1,219,000
20 and upwards ... 2,469,000
total 3,688,000 (Prof. LEONE LEVI.)

and with a growing population, and the greater struggle to live it is certain that, unless they are to starve, much paid labour must continue to be done by them. The gross earnings of the female population of the United Kingdom already exceed £100,000,000 a year*

* The total amount of gross earnings of the women of the working classes of the United Kingdom under a condition of an average amount of employment and at present rates, I ascertained to be:
Under 20 . .  . . . . £29million
20 and upwards ... £84million
total £113 million (Prof. LEONE LEVI)

and with increasing ability entitling their labour to a better reward, it is not improbable that for a time women will continue to receive a higher proportionate rate of increase of wages than men, as has been the case during the past few years - a fact specially noticeable in the sums now paid to educationalists, to schoolmistresses, to domestic servants, and to milliners and dressmakers.

The census of 1871 showed that in the cpaital of the empire nearly every one of the multifarious forms of laobur had its female representatives. Of the 1,731,109 females of all ages then residing in it, about one half were returned as belonging to the domestic class, comprising wives and domestic servants engaged in household duties, less than one third were scholars and children of no occupation; and, with the exception of abbout 30,000 who were described as gentlewomen or annuitants, the remainder, numbering upwards of 300,000 were engagaed in professional, commercial, agricultural or industrial pursuits. From recent returns is apepars that there are 143,341 women enrolled in the trade societies of the metropolis alone, many of whom, as well as thousands additional similarly employed who do not belong to any society, have daily to walk long distances to and from their workshops.

The number of women of the wage-earning classes engagted in the various ways above indicated must now be very much greater, as the occupations which furnish subsistence to women are more numerous and since 1871 the estimated increase of the population considerably exceeds one third of a million. This throng of women, whose avocations of necessity dailyy take them into the streets, is increased by the much larger number who go out of doors for the purposes of shopping, or for the sake of their health, or for recreation; and it is further supplemented by the crowds of women who come to town for the day by river, road, and rail, and by the thousands of female visitors from the more distant parts of the country, and from abroad. Of the number of women who daily pass along our streets, I have seen no computation. The actual number of persons carried during the year 1878 by the Metropolitan and by the Metropolitan District Railways was 88,217,536;*

*Railway
The Metropolitan : 58,807,038
The Metropolitan District 29,410,498
total 88,217,536

by the tramcars 54,361,147

*Tramways
The North Metropolitan Tramways Company     28,569,639
The London Tramways Company 19,732,528
The London District Tramways Company  6,058,980
Total  54,361,147

and the estimated number by the omnibuses 74,719,060

*Omnibuses
The London General Omnibus Company 56,039,295
Estimated number carried by other Omnibuses 18,679,765
Total 74,719,060

giving a total of 217,297,743 for the year.

It will be conceded that a large number of these passengers were women, and that they had to leave their homes for a longer or shorter period; whilst they again were outnumbered by the crowds of their own sex who did not use any form of conveyance. The number of passengers poured into the streets from steamboats, omnibuses, tramways, underground and over-ground railways, as well as from the cabs and carriages used by wealthier citizens, is less than the stream of pedestrians who avail themselves of none of these means of locomotion.

No longer satisfied with mere accomplishments, the mind of the nation, moreover, has undergone a change with regard to the education of the wives and mothers of the next generation. The demand has been made and been admitted, that the resources of the Universities and the benefits derivable from academical education, which hitherto have been exclusively enjoyed by men, shall henceforth be shared by women. In fact, such are the exigencies of the day, so great is the supposed necessity in the world's onward progress for the utilization of all available forces, so urgent are the calls to the youth of both sexes to be up and doing in order to earn a livelihood, and more particularly to insure success in their respective callings, that society, recognising no distinction of sex, is no longer disposed to tolerate those barriers in respect of education which have hitherto prevented women of the middle ranks from actively engaging in the struggles of life. Whilst thus exemplifying and accentuating the doctrine of the survival of the fittest, women are becoming with their more complete equipment the helpmates as well as the helpmeets of men, and are so ensuring for themselves anothher title to our respect - that of being, in their several spheres, efficient working women.

As a consequence of all this material and mental rearrangement, and of the close relation between town and country in these days, the number of female workers is likely to increase; and with the prospect of the more remunerative employment of women, it is not impossible that men may ere long have to compete with tem in channels of business, and of professional life, from which the latter have hitherto been excluded.

Thus the facilities for travelling, the creation of new industrries, the enlargement of old ones, and the spread of education, both general and technical, have, together with other causes, the most imperious being the necessity to live, induced among large masses of the population migratory habits unknown to their forefathers. One very obvious result of all these social changes and movements is, that young men and women are leaving the rural districts in quest of employment, whilst the more ambitious of them gravitate towards London.

The preceding facts and figures cannot be deemded irrelevant or unimportant, as the circumstances which they disclose, if thoroughly understood, are, or should be, the cardinal factors in determining the question now under consideration.

Whilst they reveal the daily needs and conditions of metropolitan life, which are altogether different from those of smaller communities, they at the same time justify the adoption and emphasize the necessity of exceptional measures. No one would think of proposing latrine accommodation for women in a town where most of the inhabitants are known to one another, and are within an easy distance of their own homes. London is a populous wilderness, and nowhere is the sense of solitude at times more keenly felt. London is the heart of the world; and whilst its pulsations are felt at the extremities of civilization, at its base are growths and chronic adhesions, and other abnormal conditions, which require courage as well as skill in order to their successful, and altogether, peculiar treatment.

Upon the medical aspect of the question it is not necessary to enlarge. Of this aggregate of moving feminine humanity referred to, of all ages, and belonging to every grade of society, it is sufficient to wsay that every unit of it has in common with men the same physical necessities. For the maintenance of life, it is not more necessary to take food and drink, than subsequently to get rid of what the system cannot appropriate. The one organic necessity involves the other. They are correlated. It is a mistake to suppose that there are such differences in the female organization, that these primal requirements of physical being can be disregarded by women with less suffering than by men. There are periods and conditions peculiar to sex, when latrine accommodation would be specially convenient; and as at such times the requirements of nature are apt to be more urgent and more frequent, women would be spared much unnecessary mental and physical distress, were the accommodation provided.

It is true that by the exercise of the will we can control for a time the muscular openings which serve as inlets or outlets to the body; and that we thus have the power of resisting to a considerable extent the calls of nature, when inconvenient. This power is not possessed by infants, or young children, or by the aged, or the infirm. But such resistance, which circumstances too frequently impose upon women, if habitually practised, is sure to be followed by injurious results. Apoplexy is an every day consequence of constipation. Much of the cerebral and cardiac disturbance of the present day - and it is alleged to be on the increase - is probably due to the same cause. It is certina that almost every form of disease, whether local or constitutional, is likely to be aggravated by constipation; and that, whether it be the cause or effect of other diseases, it is sure to occur if the evacuation of the bowels, from choice or from necessity, be persistently delayed. It should also be borne in mind that diseases of a grave character, induced by constipation, are apt to continue their course independent and unchecked, long after the cause may have ceased. The same remarks apply, in great measure, to retention of urine, which is the other condition most likely to arise from the want of the provision in question. Again, persons of both sexes and of all ages suffer at times fro diarrhoea and irritable bladder, and must be greatly inconvenienced by the want of the required accommodation.

There is abundant testimony from medical men and others, available if necessary, to prove that this is no imaginary want, the creation of sentimentalism, but that it is really a great and growing one, which calls for the prompt and careful consideration of those who business it is to make provision for it, and at the same time deserves their beneficent efforts seeing that it is experienced by those whose natural reserve upon such a subject, and whose positions in life for the most part prevent them from making themselves heard. Modesty suggests that nurses should have the opportunity of privately performing thier duties to their little charges. Ladies who are interested in the welfare of those below them in the social scale are ready to declare that poor women have often told them, with tears in their eyes, of the agony and shame they have endured in circumstances which it is not necessary to particularise. Sir James McGarel Hogg has recently expressed himself as quite alive to the want, which he considers to be a real and a serious one. "There is no doubt," the Lancet has remarked, "that the establishment of retiring rooms for ladies will prove a great boon." To obtain this much-needed accommodation, some ladies go to restaurants and order refreshments which they do not require, and others to milliners' and confectioners' shops. It may be safely assumed that the money thus spent, even when it is only a few pence, cannot always be conveniently spared.

In the foregoing observations, if their full meaning and significance be thoughtfully considered, it must be candidlyy admitted that the conditions are shown, which make latrine accommodation a necessity, as it also the extent of that necessity; and that, in the nature of things, until it is provided, it must continue a great and urgent present and prospective want; and that, with the ever enlarging area of the metropolis, there must be a proportionately increasing demand for such accommodation, which it will at length be impossible to resist.

The question next arises-

II. Is it the business of a Vestry to provide such accommodation?

The answer is supplied by the Public Health Act of 1848* [*"And be it enacted that the Local Board of Health may, if they think fit, provide and maintain, in proper and convenient situations, water-closets, privies, and other similar conveniences for public accommodation, and defray the necessary expenses out of the district rates to be levied under the Act." 11&12 Vic.,57 Sect. c.63] and by the Act 18&19 Victorian 1855.* [*"It shall be lawful for every Vestry and District Board to provide and maintain urinals, water-closets, privies and like conveniences, in situations which they deem such accommodation to be required, and to supply the same with water, and to defray the expense thereof, and any damage occasioned to any person by the erection thereof, and the expense of keeping the same in good order, as expenses of sewerage, are to be defrayed under this act."  88 sect. 120 c.]

In Glasgow, Nottingham,* [* In Glasgow there are three Female Lavatories, which the Sanitary Inspector reports were used during 34 weeks of last year by 7981 persons. In Nottingham there is one lavatory for females, with five closets and one wash-stand on the ground-floor, for the use of which one penny is charged. Upstairs there are four wash-hand basins with additional toilet articles, for the use of these two-pence is charged. During the year ending 30th December 1878, 1040 females used the lavatories, and 18,649 the closets, at a total charge of £82 2s 11d. Dr. Seaton, the Medical Officer of Health for Nottingham says, "In speaking of the success of public closets, I am more especially lookingto the very sustantial sanitary advantages which have resulted from their establishment. They are generally regarded as a great public boon."] and some other provincial towns, and in Paris, and other continental cities, the conveniences in question already exist; thus furnishing presumptive evidence of their necessity, and of the practicability as wellas of the great propriety of establishing them in London. To prevent obstruction of the public pavements, the owners of omnibuses might fairly be required to provide at their offices, and other recognised stopping places, waiting rooms for their customers, as is done in Paris, and by the Tramway companies of the metropolis. To these shelters, necessary in our variable climate, closets might with advantage be added. It would be unreasonable to expect the Railway authorities in the metropolis who are already hampered by the want of room at their different stations, or Omnibus companies, to provide accommodation free of charge for the general public. If the former would extend the existing accommodation to other than their passengers, and thus do their part towards satisfying a want which they have helped to create; and if the latter would provide it for their customers in both instances at a fixed charge, the necessities of a large section of the public would be met more particularly in this parish, in which there are so many railway stations. But inasmuch as there are railway stations in some parts only of the metropolis, and some of them have not accessible waiting-rooms, there remains the multitude to whom public closets are a necessity, whichonly a Vestry or District Board can be expected to supply. Of that multitude, whilst many are poor women who minister to the wants of others in a parish and therefore deserve some consideration, not a few are ratepayers; and inasmuch as women, by the payment of rates, contribute to the parochial funds, justice demands that they should share the conveniences procurable by the expenditure of those funds.

Many vestries recognise the need of conveniences for women, but do not see their way to carry out the recommendations of their Medical Officers of Health in the matter. Hitherto, whenever attention has been directed to the question, it has been sympathetically discussed, and has afterwards been quietly shelved. Surely the time has come, when the problem should be solved. Its solution, which must happen sooner or later, does not involve any great expenditure; and that expenditure, if judicious, would in all probability be amply remunerative. The closets at the Waterloo Station yield £1000 each year, and those at Cannon Street and Charing Cross each a still larger sum. Much will depend upon the completeness of the arrangements and upon the management and care subsequently bestowed upon them.

Intimately connected with this question is that of urinal and water accommodation for men. In the matter of the first mentioned, the Londoners of today are much worse off than those of preceding generations, Owing to the removal of the conveniences which formerly existed outside every public house, there is nowadays, with a greatly increased demand, a greatly diminished supply. Here again, the remark holds good that publicans cannot fairly be expected to provide accommodation for the general public. It is enough for them to meet the wants of their own customers. In the parish of Paddington, with an area of 1,280 acres, with its 44 miles of roads, and with a population of 110,000 inhabitants, which is augmented during the day by tens of thousands of persons passing to and from no fewer than six railway stations, and in close proximity to others, there are only eight public urinals. As a general rule, at every cab rank there should be a urinal, with W.C. accommodattion of two kinds, and for two classes, in charge of an attendant during the day, and of a policeman during the night. The  convenience of this arrangement must be obvious to everyone. Some years have elapsed since a Sub-Committee of the Vestry adopted Dr. Hardwicke's recommendations and reported that at least 5 more urinals, as well as W.C. accommodation for both sexes, should be provided. Suitable sites were selected, and other valuable suggestions were offered by my predecessor, which it is not necessary to recapitulate.  Little, however, has been done in the matter of the one, and nothing in that of the other.

Respecting that accommodation, the question remains:-

III. How can it best be supplied?

The nature of the accommodation is understood. Besides closets, there should be a retiring room, in which children could be attended to, and another supplied with wash-hand basins and other toilet requisites.  To meet these requirements in the metropolis, in some instances special erections would be necessary, in others existing buildings could be reconstructed and utilised. In some parishes waiting rooms might perhaps be conveniently placed within the precincts of the workhouse, or of almshouses; or they mighht be attached to the public baths and washhouses, or other buildings which belong to to the parish. In the form of lodges at the entrances to parks, of public gardens, of public recreation grounds, of cemeteries, of burial grounds, and of bridges, there will be found suitable situations. In some streets there are recessess or small vacant plots of ground, which might be turned to account. At all churches and chapel necessary accommodation should be provided for worshippers. This is done by the Presbyterian, and to some extent, by other denominations.

Unless in the form of lodges when more space would, in general, be available, the closets should be in the rear of a building, and on a level with the street, thus avoiding stairs, and facilitating ingress and egress. The yard containing the closets, and admitting of their ventilation, shoul be covered in with glass, as at the railway stations, in order ot keep it always dry, and to secure privacy, as well as to prevent anything unsightly to the neighbours on either side. On the ground floor should be a private waiting room, and also a room for the accommodation of nurses; upstairs there might be a lavatory, with hot and cold water, for the use of which a separate charge could be made.

It is imperative that the provision made should be of two kinds, and for two classes - for those who are willing, and for those who are unable, to pay for the accommodcation. It is only reasonable that those who directly contribute to the cost and maintenance of public conveniences should have better accommodation, if it be attainable, than those who do not pay anything. Moreover, women of the middle class will not be willing to company, for however short a time, with a promiscuous crowd, even of their own sex.

The first-class closets should be lined with white glazed tiles, the doors having a patent registering lock to show how often the closet has been used. The free closets should be lined with dark glazed bricks. A common stoneware glazed pan, with flushing rim and S trap fixed to the neck of the pan above the floor line, would probably be the best arrangement. The control of the water supply might, possibly with advantages, be let in the hands of the care-taker, whose duty it would be to examine and to flush the closets every time they were used.

At first the closets might be ranged on opposite sides of the yard, which should bge divided lengthways, by a stout glass screen, and afterwards if necessary they could be placed in a row back to back down the middle. Separate drainage should be provided, for the two classes of closets, lest one or other of them should at any time be blocked.

"Public lavatories for women," or "Waiting rooms for women," or by whatever name they may be designated, should have separate entrances, marked 1st and 2nd class, the latter leading to the free closets. Subject to frequent inspection on the part of the Sanitary Authorities, they must be under the constant care of a reliable woman, whose duty it would be, to keep them scrupulously clean, to preserve order, and to acount for the money received from those who pay for the accommodation.

The buildings might be made readily distinguishable by a coloured lamp, and should be situated in the main lines of traffic, or within sight of them; such being, indicated by the omnibus routes. If they are placed in too prominent situations, in the middle of the streets, as has been suggested - like the cabman's shelter - or next door to a public house, or if they are hidden in back streets, they will be of little use, or will be frequented by those chiefly who will find a pleasure in making them additional nuisances to the parish.

Whether the premises required by a Vestry for the contemplated conveniences should be leasehold or freehold, whether they should include a shop for the sale exclusively of articles of feminine attire, or a cloak room, or a tea room, or a room supplied with newspapers, and writing materials, or for any other purposes, such as a servants' registry &c. are questions which must be determined by the different circumstances of different localities.

In Paddington the principal lines of traffic are the Edgware and Uxbridge Roads, which on two sides form the boundaries of the parish; and Praed Street, Harrow Road, Bishop's Road, and Westbourne grove, by which it may be said to be intersected. To these thoroughfares all others in the parish converge; and in them, or in close proximity to them, these conveniences should be placed. Suitable places for waiting rooms might be found, within sigh of the Edgware Road, in Star Street, or Titchborne Street; in the Uxbridge Road, at the entrances to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens; in Harrow Road, at Paddington Green and at the Workhouse; and for the accommodation of persons, when in the neighbourhood of Bishop's road and of Westbourne Grove, in Pickering Place, or at the Public Baths and Washhouses in Queen's Road.

In certain parts of the country, primitive habits are sitll practised, and the calls of nature are obeyed sub frigido Jove. Water closets, cattle troughs, drinking fountains and other similar contrivances are the expression of an advanced civilization. Is it too much to ask, that the Parish of Paddington, which claims a place in the forefront of that advance, should in a spirit of honourable rivalry, show to other localities, less richly endowed, how, not only to its own parishioners, but to all who wait upon its wants, every reasonable obligation can best be discharged? Such a rivalry in its inception, in its progress, and in its results, would be alike creditable to the parish and advantageous to the country.

In legislative matters, parochial, municipal, or parliamentary, the wisdom of statesmanship is seen in the prompt adoption of measuresbased upon a just appreciation present necessities, and upon a correct estimate of future proababilities.

JAMES STEVENSON, M.D.
Medical Officer of Health for Paddington

VESTRY HALL, PADDINGTON
March 1879

The Ladies Sanitary Association

In which Ladies demanded water closet accommodation:

LATRINE ACCOMODATION FOR WOMEN

A letter having been addressed by the Secretary of the Ladies Sanitary Assocation to the Vestry respecting the present absence of water closet accommodation for women, the matter was referred jointly to the Works and Sanitary Committees, and was several times under discussion. Mr. Voss was requested to write to the Secretary, and enquire what had already been done in the matter by other Vestries. The following reply was received:-

LADIES SANITARY ASSOCATION
22, BERNERS STREET, OXFORD STREET, W.,
london, December 3rd, 1878

DEAR SIR, - In reply to yours of the 28th November, I write to mention that the Committee have appealed to all the Metropolitan Vestries and District Boards, and that there is reason to be satisfied that the matter referred to will be seriously considered by many Vestries and Boards, particularly by St. George's Hanover square, St. George's Southwark, St. Saviour's Southwark, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Paddington, St. Pancras, Kensington, Camberwell, St. James's, Westminster, St. Luke's, &c.

    I do not know of any public free provision having yet been made for women, and have reason to believe none such exists in London. The difficulty of obtaining sites is one that troubles some Vestries, and has led the Commitee to suggest the utilization of existing buildigns over which the Vestry may have some control, viz., at park lodges, cemeteries, recreation grounds, model lodgings, hospitals, laundries, baths, dispensaries, workhouses, School Board schools, tram and omnibus stations, churches and chapels, or the opening of small shops where articles are or could be sold in which women are interested.

    The best plan, of course, would be special erections placed in a well-frequented part of the parish, not in a mews or middle of the roadway, or close to a public house. If an attendant - and the Committee think one is justified at each station - were supplied and a lavatory added, it would be quite possible to make a charge for accommodation; but a free W.C. should always exist at a paying station. The Committee simply suggest a charge where a lavatory is supplied, because it is known that supervision, &c., would be appreciated by many. The increasing number of women (working) of all classes who travel about London daily renders such provision of serious moment.

    The Committee earnestly hope that the Vestry of Bethnal Green may find it possible to help a class who naturally find it difficult to ask for public consideration in this matter, while experiencing grievous suffering. Whichever Vestry shall first give proof of humane consideration will have earned the gratitude of all women, and set an example that cannot fail to be beneficial to health and social morality.

    I shall be glad to reply to any inquiry you may desire to make,
           And remain, dear sir, sincerely yours,
                     ROSE ADAMS, Secretary.

As to the necessity for such accommodation there can be no doubt, as at present confectioners shops and the waiting rooms of railway station are the only available places at which women from home, on business or pleasure, can answer the calls of nature; while, on the other hand, urinals for men are pretty freely distributed all over London. This selfish inequality calls for immediate readjustment for the misery and illness entailed upon women by it is enormous.

    From a special report upon the subject by Dr. Stevenson, the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, I make the following extract:-

Upon the medical aspect of the question it is not necessary to enlarge. Of this aggregate of moving feminine humanity referred to, of all ages, and belonging to every grade of society, it is sufficient to say that every unit of it has, in common with men, the same physical necessities. For the maintenance of life it is not more necessary to take food and drink than subsequently to get rid of what the system cannot appropriate. The one organic necessity involves the other: they are correlated. It is a mistake to suppose that there are such differences in the female organization, that these primal requirements of physical being can be disregarded by women with less suffering than by men. There are periods and conditions peculiar to the sex when latrine accommodation would be specially convenient; and as at such times the requirements of nature are apt to be more urgent and more frequent, women would be spared much unnecessary mental and physical distress, were the accommodation provided.

    It is true that by the exercise of the will we can control for a time the muscular openings which serve an inlets and outlets to the body, and that we thus have the power of resisting, to a considerable extent, the calls of nature when inconvenient. This power is not possessed by infants or young children, or by the aged or the infirm. But such resistance, which circumstances too frequently impose upon women, if habitually practised, is sure to be followed by injurious results. Apoplexy is an everyday consequences of constipation. Much of the cerebral and cardiac disturbance of the present day - and it is alleged to be on the increase - is probably due to the same cause. It is certain that almost every form of disease, whether local or constitutional, is likely to be aggravated by constipation; and that, whether it be the cause or effect of other diseaes, it is sure to occur if the evacuation of the bowels, from choice or from necessity, be persistently delayed. It should also be borne in mind that diseases of a grave character, induced by constipation, are apt to continue their course independent and unchecked, long after the cause may have ceased. The same remarks apply, in a great measure, to retention of urine, which is the other condition most likely to arise from the want of the provision in question. Again, persons of both sexes and of all ages suffer at times from diarrhoea and irritable bladder, and must be greatly inconvenienced by the want of the required accommodation.

    There is abundant testimony from medical men and others, available if necessary, to prove that this is no imaginary want - the creation of sentimentalism, but that it is really a great and growing one, which calls for the prompt and careful consideration of those who busines it is to make provision for it, and at the same time deserves their beneficent efforts, seeing that it is experienced by those whose natural reserve upon such a subject, and whose positions in life, for the most part, prevent them from making themselves heard. Modesty suggests that nurses should have the opportunity of privately performing their duties to their little charges. Ladies who are interested in the welfare of those below them in the social scale are ready to declare that poor women have often told them, with tears in their eyes, of the agony and shame they have endured in circumstances which it is not necessary to particularise. Sir James McGarel Hogg has recently expressed himself as quite alive to the want, which he considered to be a real and a serious one. "There is no doubt," the Lancet  has remarked, "that the establishment of retiring rooms for ladies will prove a great boon." To obtain this much-needed accommodation, some ladies go to restaurants and order refreshments which they do not require, and others to milliners and confectioners' shops. It may be safely assumed that the money thus spent, even when it is only a few pence, cannot always be conveniently spared.

The Vestry have undoubtedly power to make this provision, as will be seen from the following extract from 18th and 19th Victoria (1855) sec. 88: - "It shall be lawful for every Vestry and District Board to provide and maintain urinals, water closets, privies and like conveniences, in situations which they deem such accommodation to be required, and to supply the same with water, and to defray the expenses thereof; and any damage occasioned to any person by the erection thereof, and the expense of keeping the same in good order, as expenses of sewerage, are to be defrayed under this Act."

    In Paris, and in other cities on the continent, water closets are provided for both sexes, and a charge of three-halfpence is made to each person using them. Most of these are, I imagine, private speculations, and I have no doubt that they pay a reasonable profit. Whether the Vestry would be empowered to make a similar charge I am not prepared to say, but certainly each latrine should be placed under the charge of a responsible attendant, who should be required to exercise considerable vigilance in the matter of cleanliness, as otherwise contagious diseases would undoubtedly be communicated.

    I have on one or two occasions visited latrines on the continent where no charge was made and where there was no attendant. In each case the condition of the place was most disgusting.

    The matter deserves futher consideration, and I trust that we shall at an early date see in this Parish conveniences of the kind mentioned.

Report on the Sanitary Condition and Vital Statistics of the Parish of Saint Matthew, Bethnal Green, during the year 1878

Chalets de Nécessité

Chalets de Toilette et de Nécessité 

On the 5th March 1880, Mr. Watkyns applied to your Board for permission to erect certain chalets for the convenience of men and women in the public ways of your district. The chalets as proposed were to be of the following dimensions, viz, 20 feet long, 12 feet wide and 13 feet 9 inches high to the ridge of roof; they were to be divided into two compartments with a separate entrance at each end, one end being for the use of men, and the other for women; each compartment was to contain 4 WCs, a dressing room and lavatories. On one side of the chalet a kiosqque for the sale of newspapers and periodicals was proposed, it was to be in the form of a bay, 5 feet in length.
     The promoter Mr. Watkyns proposed that the Board should grant him a concession for the erection of one or more chalets for a term of thirty years, the concessionaire to pay the Boarrd a rent of £10 per annum for each chalet erected within the district.. He is to be allowed to charge persons using the chalet three-half pencfe each for the use of the WCs and one penny each for the use of the lavatory and dressing room. At the expiration of the thirty years the chalets to become the property of the Board without payment. The proposal was fully considered by your Board who had skeleton models erected ... 

The Board of St. Giles District Board of Works, possibly on the grounds that the 'chalets' were too large and liable to block the pavements, declined the offer (the scale models had been made to assess the impact of the chalet's dimensions on streets). Alfred Watkyns himself blamed 'local factions' in the Vestries, who took against his scheme. Urinals were common in this period, so this wasn't a big problem for the Vestry's members [no pun intended, cough]. Meanwhile, ladies had to just cross their legs.

I rose slowly, like Venus, from the waves

Two quotes from Francis Wey, a Frenchman, on 'English Prudery' in the 1850s. The first details a peculiarly embarrassing dilemma on Brighton beach, the second the toilet habits of the aristrocracy at Ascot. Why not?

BRIGHTON

In fine weather, bathing takes place in full view of the front, swarming with idlers of both sexes. Men go into the water stark naked, which surprised me, knowing how easily shocked English people are. Never shall I forget my bathe at Brighton! It was on a Sunday, at the time at which worshippers return from church. I had been assigned a cabin in which to undress. It was a wooden construction on wheels placed at the water's edge, with stepshalf-submerged by the waves. Getting into the sea was easy enough, as my cabin screened me from view. Unfortunately, I went for rather a long swim, as I wanted to get a good view of Brighton from afar. The tide was going out, which made my return journey a lengthy one, and when at last I regained my depth, I found that my cabin, which I had left with water lapping the hub of the wheels, was now high and dry at fifteen paces from the sea. To put a finishing touch to my discomfort, three ladies, a mother with her daughters, had settled themselves on camp stools in my direct line of approach! They seemed very respectable females, and the girls were both pretty. There was no possibility of reaching my cabin without passing in front of them. They each held a prayer-book and they watched me swimming about with serene unconcern. To give them a hint without offending their modesty, I advanced cautiously on all fours, raising myself by degrees as much as decency permitted. I had not, like the wise Ulysses emerging on the island of the Phoenicians, the resource of draping myself in foliage. There was no seaweed even on this too tidy beach! As the ladies did not move, I concluded they had not understood my dilemma, so, crawling back, started to swim again. But one cannot swim for ever, while one can sit without fatigue for hours. The ladies seemed unlikely to weary of their repose. The situation was all the more perplexing as my host, Sir Walter G., was awaiting me on the front, and kept giving unmistakable signs of impatience, pointing at his watch and striding impatiently about. What was I to do? Remain in the water and inconvenience my host, or emerge from it and affront the ladies? I determined on the latter course. After all, why had they settled just there? I rose slowly, like Venus, from the waves. Striving to adopt a bearing both modest and unconcerned, reminiscent of the lost traditions of innocence of a younger world, I stepped briskly past the three ladies who made no pretence of looking away. I felt the blood rushing to my face which, I fear, must have belied my pose of guilelessness, especially as Anglican virtue is always pale. When at last we got home, Sir Walter teased me good-naturedly about my misadventure, and his wife told me that she knew the ladies, who were very puritanical! They disapproved of bathing on Sundays and had adopted that unexpected method of discouraging Sabbath-breakers. Could one conceive a stranger mode of teaching a transgressor to be virtuous or of performing an act of religious fervour?

ASCOT

But in their behaviour also they are unaccountable. For instance, at the Ascot races, where one has to remain five or six hours in public on a space of ground where no cover can be found, tents have been erected by private enterprise for a purpose which is easy to surmise. Instead of screening them from view as much as possible, these "conveniences" are placed in the very midst of everything, among the dancing tents, drinking booths, etc. We saw a bevy of fashionable ladies rush from their elegant carriages, laughing and talking as if to attract attention, and disappear all together into one of those shelters. The wind shook the canvas which, being both too short and too narrow, gave the onlookers a good view of what was going on inside. The utter indifference of these highborn beauties was an encouragement to the impertinent curiosity of the spectators. When English people are not icicles, they are apt to become shameless.