REFUGE FOR THE HOUSELESS.
WE regret to learn, that the asylum under this name, in Wapping, is suffering under a malignant fever, and that the neighbourhood is alarmed at the fatal effects that may spring from the accumulation of contagious matter. An inquiry has been instituted, and wit- nesses examined—with what view it would be difficult to say. When once the existence of the evil was ascertained, there was nothing to be done beyond shutting up the place for a few days,. and cleansing and washing the apartments with the newly-disco- vered disinfectant, the invaluable invention of LABARRAQUE—the chloride of lime, which may now be had at every chemist's. We are not surprised at this unfortunate result of the charitable intentions which established this and similar institutions. In the places of refuge which we lately devised and recommended, cleanli- ness was a point to be absolutely provided for—both by means of a lavatory, in which persons should be washed previous to admis- sion to the interior, and by the complete clearing of the apart- ments in the day-time, by ventilation, and the use of the solution of the chloride. In the " Refuge," which is now infected, it appears that persons are permitted to remain during the day, and to be fed. This is to convert the establishment into a hospital, without any of the regulations or conveniences which preserve such institutions in a state of health.
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