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15
Extract from an account of the expence and benefit of frequently
whitewashing the rooms of a poorhouse. by William Emm, Esq Secretary to Bp of
Durham pp 120-125
The poorhouse at Bishop Auckland has been, during the
preceding summer, whitewashed every six weeks. The method of preparing the lime
(which is rock or stone lime from Coxhoe, about 10 miles from Auckland, and
costs including carriage, four-pence a bushel) is as follows:- a large tub is
procured to slake it in, and this is filled with lime nearly to the top, cold
water being poured upon it by degrees, and it being stirred with a stick that is
broad at one end, until the tub is filled with lime; when the lime and water are
well incorporated, and of the consistency of mud, it is to be taken out of the
tub with a wooden scoop, and strained through a hair or fine wire sieve into
another vessel, where it settles to the bottom in a solid mass of white-wash.
There will be some water at the top, not imbibed by the lime; this should be
skimmed off. It is then to be mixed with cold water, till it is of the
consistence of thin paint, being stirred occasionally while it is using. In this
state it is laid on with a whitening brush, by the man and his wife who have the
care of the house.
The quantity used for the white-washing of the fifteen rooms at Auckland
poor-house, is half a bushel, which costs two-pence; the expence of the four
washings, being in the whole, not quite eightpence. This trifling expenditure
has produced a benefit to the poor in the workhouse, to those who visit it, and
indeed to the parish in general, in the prevention of vermin, that is not easily
to be calculated, - I have great pleasure in being able to say, that neither
disease or vermin have a place in our poorhouse at present; but that the
inhabitants are comfortable and happy.
Observations.
It would be well for the inhabitants of cottages, as well as poor-houses, if the
custom, of very frequently white-washing them, were prevalent throughout the
kingdom. Clean white-washed walls not only contribute to prevent the existence
of vermin, but induce habits of cleanliness in those who reside within them. It
was observed by the late Mr Howard, in his work on Lazarettos, that in the
cottages on his estate in Bedfordshire, which had been made comfortable
"and white-washed both within and without, the very same families, which
were before slovenly and dirty, had, upon this change of habitation, become neat
in their persons, their houses, and their gardens." When it is generally
known that the four white-washings of Auckland poorhouse have produced the most
beneficial effects, and have cost only a little trouble and the sum of
eightpence a year, I flatter myself that there will be very few poorhouses in
England, which will not be frequently white-washed. - The price and quality of
lime is very different in different parts of the kingdom. In London, and in some
other places, it is as high as one shilling a bushel, and the lime chiefly in
use is chalk lime, which does not answer so well as stone lime. The difficulty
and expence, however, of obtaining the best stone lime, for this purpose, in any
part of the kingdom, must be too inconsiderable to prevent its general use, if
most approved of. In the neighbourhood of Manchester, a horse load of lime,
which is sufficient to white-wash about a dozen cottages, costs fourteen pence,
which for each cottage would be two-pence halfpenny a year, supposing them
regularly white-washed in spring and autumn. In some places the expence may be
increased, perhaps as high as a shilling a cottage; but, as a general average
for each cottage, two pence or three pence a year, expended by the landlord or
the parish, in supplying the cottagers with the materials for white-washing his
cottage, would wonderfully contribute to the cleanliness and health of the poor
throughout the kingdom. If lime was is used that has been prepared with lime
already slaked, it may in many instances require size to be mixed with it; but
if quick lime is used, and in the metropolis and in large towns it may be
obtained at all times in the smallest quantities, it will not be necessary to
mix size with it; and the good effects of the white-washing in destroying vermin
and removing infection, will be much increased. The sooner, indeed, the lime is
used after it is slaked, the better; especially if there is any apprehension of
infection in the house. In that case, it is proper that the walls should be
frequently washed with quick lime, fresh slaked in water, and put on while it
continues bubbling and hot; as is the practice of the House of Recovery at
Manchester. I suppose the master of the poorhouse to do the work himself. If a
workman is employed to put it on, the additional expence would be about
six-pence a room, which for the fifteen rooms, (at Auckland) would be 7s-6d a
time or £1-10s-0d a year. If indeed the overseer's brother or nephew, is to be
employed in the job, by the yard, the increase of expence would be very
considerable; and might, instead of eight pence a year, amount to an annual
expenditure of several pounds,and the cost prove almost equal to the benefit of
the work being done.
Dated 31st Oct 1797.
Source:
The Reports of the Society for Bettering the Condition and Increasing the
Comforts of the Poor. Vol 1 1798 446 pp
Submitted by Alan Longbottom
Page updated August 06, 2007
by Rossbret
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15 Whitewashing