Consider for a moment what this means. A woman goes to bed with all the day’s dirt and fatigue upon her. In the morning if she desires to wash⁠—and who does not?⁠—she has to choose between dabbing herself in a limited supply of water or going downstairs across the courtyard and into the scullery. Which means that she must dress to go downstairs⁠—you carry your wardrobe with you⁠—and undress again on a flagged floor in the cruel cold of a winter’s morning. The man who goes to a public lodging house is very differently placed. He can have a hot bath, and, if he wishes, wash his shirt or pants and dry them in a hot-air closet in a few minutes. Woman, whose physical formation calls for more scrupulous cleanliness than man, is shut off from access to soap and water unless she is prepared to stand the unpleasant conditions above described.

This lack of washing accommodation is not confined to Kennedy Court. Women’s public lodging houses are all deficient in this respect, though the establishments run by religious bodies are generally better equipped.