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Title: Dirty Dustbins and Sloppy Streets - A Practical Treatise on the Scavenging and Cleansing of Cities and Towns
Author: Boulnois, H. Percy
Language: English
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DIRTY DUSTBINS
AND
SLOPPY STREETS.
_A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE
SCAVENGING AND CLEANSING OF
CITIES AND TOWNS._
BY H. PERCY BOULNOIS, M. INST. C. E.,
_Member (by Exam.) of the Sanitary Institute
of Great Britain_,
CITY SURVEYOR OF EXETER.
E. & F. N. SPON,
16, CHARING CROSS.
NEW YORK, 446, BROOME STREET.
1881.
JAMES TOWNSEND, PRINTER, EXETER.
PREFACE.
Some portions of the following pages have already appeared in the
monthly numbers of the _Sanitary Engineer_, and the complete work
is now published with a view to assist Surveyors of Towns and
others who are directly engaged in providing that house dustbins
shall be regularly cleared, and streets kept clean; and also in
the hope that it may be the means of drawing some public attention
to the question, thus showing the householder something of what
is being done for his welfare by Sanitary Authorities, and how
each individual may assist in the good work, instead of, as is
now frequently the case, inadvertently or purposely retarding the
execution of some very necessary though unostentatious sanitary
measures. I am not aware that any book, or even pamphlet, has yet
been written on this subject, and I venture to believe that in
these pages there may be found something to interest all readers.
H. P. B.
EXETER, _May, 1881_.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
SCAVENGING.
_Page_
Town Scavenging or Scavengering--Subject divided into 13
heads--Public Health Act, 1875, and its bearings upon
the question 1
CHAPTER II.
HOUSE REFUSE.
Definition of house refuse--The law on the subject--Whether
trade and garden refuse must be removed by the
scavenger--Statistics on this point--Disputes as to what
is trade, garden refuse, or house refuse--Suggestions to
settle the question--Other waste materials 5
CHAPTER III.
THE DUSTBIN.
The Public Health Act, 1875, on the subject of ashpits--The
model bye-laws and six clauses on the same subject--Position
of the dustbin in respect of the adjacent
dwelling-houses--Suggestions to burn some of the waste
products of a house--Objections to the _fixed_ ashpit
recommended by the Public Health Act--Suggestions for
improvements in this direction--Movable dust boxes
recommended 10
CHAPTER IV.
THE COLLECTION OF HOUSE REFUSE.
Three methods by which this is effected--The law on the
subject--Statistics on the subject--Lay stall accommodation,
objections, and advantages--Dirty habits of the
lower classes--A house to house visitation by the
scavengers the best system--If universal, great expense
incurred--The bell or signal system--Objectionable
character of temporary receptacles under this system--State
of streets in consequence--Suggestions for improvements--
Specially constructed conveyance and receptacles--Advantages
of this system both on sanitary and economical grounds--Delaying
the scavenger--The D signal--Convenient hours for the scavengers'
visits 17
CHAPTER V.
THE SCAVENGERS' CART.
Its form and construction--Description of the "tip cart"--Splashing
and dust therefrom--Other objections to this
form of cart on sanitary and economical grounds--Introduction
of many new forms of carts and waggons--General
description of improvements in their construction--Some
names of makers of sanitary carts and waggons 27
CHAPTER VI.
DISPOSAL OF HOUSE REFUSE.
Position of a town with respect to the surrounding district--
Sale of refuse to farmers and others the most ready and
economical means of disposal--Site of the refuse depôt--Loss
of bulk in the refuse at the depôt--Difficulty in
disposing of old tins, crockery, &c.--Replies from 90
towns on the question of disposal of house refuse--Condemnation
of practice of building over tipped house
refuse--Destruction by fire--Fryer's patent carboniser--Dealing
with house refuse on a gigantic scale at Manchester 31
CHAPTER VII.
STREET CLEANSING.
Prosperous appearance of a town--Danger of inhaling dust--The
law on the subject--Who ought to cleanse private
courts and alleys?--Statistics with reference to this point--Number
of times streets ought to be cleansed--Hand
labour or machinery--Durability of machines and hand
brooms--Materials of brooms--Construction of streets and
traffic affect the question of cleansing materially--Returns
prepared by the Superintendent of Scavenging, Liverpool--His
further remarks on the subject--Disposal of road
scrapings--Street cleansing in Paris--The use of disinfectants
in Paris 46
CHAPTER VIII.
SNOW.
The density of snow--The amount of snow to be removed in
an ordinary street in England--The removal of snow in
Milan--The removal of snow in Paris--Suggestions for
its removal in England--Clearing footways--The effect of
salt upon snow--Removal of snow in Liverpool 61
CHAPTER IX.
STREET WATERING.
Watering necessary on sanitary grounds as well as to prevent
damage from dust--Watering in London--Watering by
horse and cart--The points of importance to be considered
in connection with this service--The diary of a water
cart--Bayley's hydrostatic van--A description of this
machine--Its great advantages over the old-fashioned
water cart--Mr. Scott on the subject--A trial in Edinburgh--
Mr. Tomkins and Bayley's van--A comparative
table of effective work by one of these vans--Watering
streets by ponding water in channel gutters--Brown's
system of watering--Its advantages and objections--Watering
by hose and reels or by portable iron pipes--Watering
at Reading--Watering at Paris--Use of salt
water and other chemicals--Watering with disinfectants 73
CHAPTER X.
CONTRACTS _V._ ADMINISTRATION BY LOCAL AUTHORITY.
Opinions on this subject by surveyors of towns--The dust
contractor--A model specification of a contract for
removal of house refuse--The system of contracts for
such work condemned--Sanitation first, economy afterwards 86
CHAPTER XI.
_£ s. d._
The cost of scavenging--Difficulty in fixing any standard of
cost--Physical character of a town and other causes must
be taken into consideration--Statistics show very various
results--Average cost per head of population per annum
about one shilling--Is hiring horses cheaper than keeping
a stud?--Reasons in favour of the latter plan--Cost of
carts, horses, stables, land, &c.--Wages of scavengers
and carters--Depreciation of horse flesh and of plant--A
specimen estimate where a stud is kept--Another estimate
where teams are hired--Mr. Williams' returns as to cost--
List of questions on the subject of scavenging--Conclusion 90
CHAPTER I.
"SCAVENGING."
The word "Scavenging," or "Scavengering," as it is frequently
styled, is a very comprehensive term, as it includes that of house
scavenging or the removal of house refuse, and also that of street
scavenging, or the sweeping and cleansing of streets, and the
carting away of all such materials removed from their surface. In
dealing with this subject it will be necessary to consider the
following heads, viz.:--(1) What is house refuse, (2) How and in
what manner shall it be temporarily stored pending the visit of the
Scavenger, (3) What are the best methods for its collection, (4) In
what manner shall it be eventually disposed of, and (5) the cost
of the whole work; (6) Which are the best methods for sweeping and
cleansing streets, (7) Whether machinery is more economical than
hand labour, (8) The extra work involved by the ill construction
of streets and the materials of which they are formed, (9) Whether
private courts and alleys not repairable by the Sanitary Authority
should be swept and cleansed by them, (10) The ultimate disposal
of excessive accumulations of mud, (11) The removal and disposal of
snow, (12) The watering of streets, and (13) The cost of all such
work.
The Public Health Act of 1875 contains several clauses bearing on
the subject of scavenging and the cleansing of streets, and sec.
42, part III., enacts as follows:--
"Every local authority may, and when required by order of the Local
Government Board shall, themselves undertake or contract for--
"The removal of house refuse from premises;
"The cleansing of earth closets, privies, ashpits, and cesspools;
either for the whole or any part of their district.
"Moreover, every urban authority and rural authority invested by
the Local Government Board with the requisite powers may, and when
required by order of the said Board shall, themselves undertake or
contract for the proper watering of streets for the whole or any
part of their district.
"All matters collected by the local authority or contractor in
pursuance of this section may be sold or otherwise disposed of,
and any profits thus made by an urban authority shall be carried
to the account of the fund or rate applicable by them for the
general purposes of this Act; and any profits thus made by a rural
authority in respect of any contributory place shall be carried
to the account of the fund or rate out of which expenses incurred
under this section by that authority in such contributory place are
defrayed.
"If any person removes or obstructs the local authority or
contractor in removing any matters by this section authorised to
be removed by the local authority he shall for each offence be
liable to a penalty not exceeding _five pounds_: provided that the
occupier of a house within the district shall not be liable to such
penalty in respect of any such matters which are produced on his
own premises and are intended to be removed for sale or for his own
use and are in the meantime kept so as not to be a nuisance."
Section 45 also enacts that "any urban authority may, if they see
fit, provide in proper and convenient situations receptacles for
the temporary deposit and collection of dust, ashes, and rubbish;
they may also provide fit buildings and places for the deposit of
any matters collected by them in pursuance of this part of this
Act."
The Act also gives the power to local authorities to make bye-laws
with respect to the cleansing of footpaths and pavements, the
removal of house refuse and the cleansing of earth closets,
privies, ashpits, and cesspools, and the prevention of nuisances
arising from snow, filth, dust, ashes, and refuse.
It will thus be seen that the Legislature find it necessary to
frame laws for the proper execution of scavenging by every local
authority, and we shall see in the following chapters how further
clauses in the Public Health Act, as well as in many private
Improvement Acts and also in Bye-laws, detail the manner in which
this work ought to be properly carried out. I shall further
endeavour to show where errors in the working now exist, and give
some suggestions that would, in my opinion, be, if carried out,
improvements upon the present systems.
CHAPTER II.
HOUSE REFUSE.
Now the first question that presents itself to us is: what is
house refuse? and how is it to be defined? for unless this point
is satisfactorily settled, great onus and expense will be put on
the local authority if they are to be compelled to remove all
trade, garden, and other refuse in addition to what may be legally
entitled house refuse.
Section 4, part I., Public Health Act, 1875, contains the following
definition of the word house: "House" includes schools, also
factories and other buildings in which more than twenty persons are
employed at one time. But all that is apparently said in reference
to the definition of refuse is to be found in "Glenn's Public
Health Act," 1875, where in a foot note to section 44, part III.
of the before named Act, is the negative argument "what is not
refuse:" and describes one or two cases in which it was held that
certain ashes from furnaces, etc., were to be designated as "trade
refuse," and further says "that the intention of the Act was that
only the rubbish arising from the domestic use of houses should be
removed."
On reference, however, to some local Improvement Acts, it appears
that the definition is given more in detail, for we find that house
refuse is there described as "all dirt, dust, dung, offal, cinders,
ashes, rubbish, filth, and soil."
We may thus, we imagine, be fairly content with these definitions,
and may assume that all house refuse legally so designated, and
which it is the duty of the scavenger to remove, is really so
removed by the direction of the local authority without dispute,
but that the following articles, which frequently find their way
into a domestic dustbin, are not in the strict terms of the Act
expected to be removed by the scavenger, viz., (1) plaster from
walls and brick bats, (2) large quantities of broken bottles and
flower pots, (3) clinkers and ashes from foundries and greenhouses,
(4) wall papers torn from the rooms of a house, (5) scrap tin (but
not old tins which have contained tinned meats and which, although
very objectionable and bulky, may be fairly assumed to be house
refuse), and (6) all garden refuse such as grass cuttings, dead
leaves, and the loppings from trees and shrubs. The Bromley Local
Board issue a card on which is printed, amongst other information
with reference to the contract for the removal of house refuse,
the following:--"It is hoped that householders will as far as
possible facilitate the systematic removal of refuse by providing
suitable dustbins, and directing their servants that ordinary house
refuse only shall be deposited in such receptacles. The following
are some of the items of refuse which the contractors are bound to
remove, viz.:--cinder ashes, potatoe peelings, cabbage leaves, and
kitchen refuse generally. But the contractors are not required to
remove the refuse of any trade, manufacture, or business, or of
any building materials or any garden cuttings or sweepings." Some
valuable statistics have recently been prepared by me from answers
obtained from upwards of ninety of the principal cities, and towns
in England, in reply to a series of questions which I addressed to
the local surveyors on the subject of scavenging, and on referring
to these statistics it is found that out of these ninety towns, the
authorities of only thirteen of them direct the removal of both
trade and garden refuse without any special extra payment being
made by the householder, but that this is only done when these
materials are placed in the ordinary dustbin or ashpit attached to
a house. Several towns, however, it appears remove such materials
on special payments being made of sums varying from 1s. 6d. to 3s.
per load.
Disputes frequently arise between the men employed in scavenging
and the householder on these vexed questions as to the difference
between house, trade, or garden refuse, a dispute often raised by
the scavengers themselves, in the hope of obtaining a gratuity or
reward for the clearance of a dustbin which no doubt, legally,
they are perfectly justified in refusing to empty, and in order to
lessen the chance of such disputes and to attempt to settle this
question the following suggestions may be of value.
It would no doubt be vexatious if any sanitary authority were to
absolutely refuse to remove the "garden" refuse from those houses
to which a small flower garden was attached, whilst it would on the
contrary be an unfair tax upon the general community if the refuse
of large gardens was removed without payment. A good rule would
therefore be to remove only such _garden_ refuse as was contained
in the ordinary dustbin or ashpit attached to a house, and that
as the removal of any kind of _trade_ refuse would no doubt lead
to abuses if done gratuitously by the sanitary authority, that
this material should only be removed on payment of some sum, which
should be previously fixed by the Local Authority, and each case
should be reported to the officer superintending the work before it
was removed.
There are, of course, in addition to the ordinary house refuse the
waste materials from the surface of the streets, and from markets
and slaughter-houses, which have to be collected and disposed of by
the Local Authority, but these materials should be collected in a
special manner, independently of the ordinary removal of the house
refuse.
CHAPTER III.
THE DUSTBIN.
The next question that we have to consider, having thus far
discussed the subject of "what is house refuse," is the important
one of the manner and place in which it shall be temporarily stored
pending the visit of the scavenger. I will begin as I did in the
former case by turning to the law on the subject, and find out if
it can help us.
Section 40, part III., of the Public Health Act of 1875 enacts
that: "Every local authority shall provide that all drains,
water-closets, earth-closets, privies, _ashpits_, and cesspools
within their district be constructed and kept so as not to be a
nuisance or injurious to health."
And section 35 of the above Act states, "It shall not be lawful
newly to erect any house or to rebuild any house pulled down to
or below the ground floor without a sufficient water-closet,
earth-closet, or privy, and an ashpit furnished with proper doors
and coverings. Any person who causes any house to be erected or
rebuilt in contravention of this enactment shall be liable to a
penalty not exceeding twenty pounds."
The Act also gives power to local authorities to enforce provision
of ashpit accommodation for houses where such accommodation does
not already exist, and to frame bye-laws with respect to ashpits.
In the year 1877 the Local Government Board issued a series of
model bye-laws for the use of sanitary authorities, and No. IV. of
this series, which is upon "New Streets and Buildings," contains
the following six lengthy clauses, regulating the position of an
ashpit with reference to a dwelling-house or public-building, or
to any water supply, and for the purpose of removing its contents
without carrying them through any dwelling-house, &c.:--
"80. Every person who shall construct an ashpit in connection
with a building shall construct such ashpit at a distance of _six
feet_ at the least from a dwelling-house or public building, or
any building in which any person may be, or may be intended to be
employed in any manufacture, trade, or business.
"81. A person who shall construct an ashpit in connexion with
a building shall not construct such ashpit within the distance
of __ _feet_ from any water supplied for use, or used or likely
to be used by man for drinking or domestic purposes, or for
manufacturing drinks for the use of man, or otherwise in such a
position as to endanger the pollution of any such water.
"82. Every person who shall construct an ashpit in connexion with a
building shall construct such ashpit in such a manner and in such
a position as to afford ready means of access to such ashpit for
the purpose of cleansing such ashpit, and of removing the contents
thereof, and, so far as may be practicable, in such a manner and in
such a position as to admit of the contents of such ashpit being
removed therefrom, and from the premises to which such ashpit may
belong, without being carried through any dwelling-house or public
building, or any building in which any person may be, or may be
intended to be employed in any manufacture, trade, or business.
"83. Every person who shall construct an ashpit in connection with
a building shall construct such ashpit of a capacity not exceeding
in any case _six cubic feet_, or of such less capacity as may be
sufficient to contain all dust, ashes, rubbish, and dry refuse
which may accumulate during a period not exceeding _one week_ upon
the premises to which such ashpit may belong.
"84. Every person who shall construct an ashpit in connection with
a building shall construct such ashpit of flagging, or of slate,
or of good brickwork, at least _nine inches_ thick, and rendered
inside with good cement or properly asphalted.
"He shall construct such ashpit so that the floor thereof shall be
at a height of not less than _three inches_ above the surface of
the ground adjoining such ashpit, and he shall cause such floor to
be properly flagged or asphalted.
"He shall cause such ashpit to be properly roofed over and
ventilated, and to be furnished with a suitable door in such
a position and so constructed and fitted as to admit of the
convenient removal of the contents of such ashpit, and to admit of
being securely closed and fastened for the effectual prevention of
the escape of any of the contents of such ashpit.
"85. A person who shall construct an ashpit in connexion with a
building shall not cause or suffer any part of such ashpit to
communicate with any drain."
There can be no doubt that the position of the dustbin or ashpit,
as regards its site with reference to the main dwelling-house, is
of primary sanitary importance, for if the garbage and domestic
accumulations therein are allowed to remain for a few days,
especially when the weather is close, damp, and warm, they become
very offensive, and the emanations therefrom may even be highly
deleterious and dangerous to health; this effect is aggravated by
persons emptying vegetable refuse and other matters which are _wet_
into the dustbin, as decomposition of these matters is greatly
assisted by this addition, and it would be well that all such
matters should be burnt on the kitchen or scullery fire along with
a large percentage of the ashes which could be sifted and saved
from those which too readily find their way into the dustbin,
and are thus wasted. Care would of course have to be taken in
this process that no smell or nuisance was caused by burning this
refuse, but the greatest difficulty would arise in overcoming the
time-honoured prejudices of the domestic servant who usually finds
the dustbin or ashpit the most convenient and least troublesome
place to dispose of nearly everything that to her may be entitled
rubbish.
Now with all due respect to those who framed Section 35 of the
Public Health Act of 1875, it is open to considerable doubt
whether the _fixed_ dustbin or ashpit, as it is there styled, is
the best and most sanitary receptacle for the house refuse. They
may be necessary and suitable for Public Institutions, or for
large isolated private dwellings, or for schools or any places
where excessive quantities of refuse may accumulate, but where
this refuse is systematically and properly removed by the order
of the local authority, at such times and in such manner as will
be hereafter pointed out, a movable or portable dustbin, box, or
basket, is far preferable to the large immoveable inconvenient
fixed ashpit, recommended and enforced under the Act.
This portable dustbox should be of such dimensions that the men
employed in removing the refuse could easily carry it out and
empty its contents into the cart, and there is nothing to prevent
more than one being provided, if it is found insufficient for the
requirements of the household. The box should be made of iron, or
wood or basket lined with tin, or some equally impervious material,
so that it can easily be washed out and thoroughly cleansed and
disinfected when found necessary to do so, a matter very difficult
to accomplish with the fixed ashpit. The _whole_ of its contents
could be quickly emptied, which is more than can be easily effected
with the fixed ashpit, and then only when very special arrangements
are made for its drainage. The movable dustbox can, in addition
to these advantages, be placed in any part of the premises, and
may be covered or not as may be deemed desirable, and need not,
like many of the existing ashpits, be fixed in such a position
as to appear to have been thus placed for the express purpose of
poisoning with its foul smell the whole of the inhabitants in
its vicinity. The movable box can also be readily taken out to
the scavenging cart by the householder himself, a very essential
requisite, as will be shown in the next chapter.
CHAPTER IV.
THE COLLECTION OF HOUSE REFUSE.
The collection of house refuse should be done satisfactorily,
expeditiously, and economically.
At the present time there seem to be only three methods by which
this is attempted to be effected; they are as follows:--
(1.) By a house to house call at intermittent periods.
(2.) By the scavengers giving notice of their approach by ringing a
bell or by other signal, and requiring the householder to bring out
the refuse to the cart, and
(3.) By placing public dustbins in different localities, and
expecting householders in their vicinity to place the house refuse
in these dustbins, which would then be cleared from time to time by
the local authority.
The law is silent on the subject of what may be considered as an
efficient collection and removal of house refuse, and experience
only can teach us the best manner of thoroughly effecting this work
without losing sight of the economical side of the question; but
it appears, on again referring to the table of statistics which
have been previously mentioned, that nearly all the towns adopt
the two first methods mentioned above for the removal of the house
refuse, but that very few of them are able to adopt any public
dustbins or "lay stall" accommodation for the temporary reception
of the refuse, not only on account of their first cost, but also
from the difficulty of finding suitable positions for them. This
latter objection to the adoption of public dustbins arises in
great measure from the fact that they are usually constructed of
galvanised iron in the form of open boxes or troughs, which are
readily accessible to young children and poultry, who often scatter
their contents in every direction, and they are also generally open
to the view of the inhabitants of the courts, and to passers by,
whose "morale" it is found is certainly not improved by constant
familiarity with the sight of filth.
If these dustbins were constructed with properly balanced
self-closing lids, these objections would be overcome, and their
first cost would be but trifling when compared with the benefit to
be derived by placing them in some of the thickly populated courts
and alleys which are unfortunately to be found in nearly every
town. Where there are no public dustbins the inhabitants of these
courts throw their waste products upon the surface of the streets
or courts, from time to time throughout the day, as it cannot be
expected nor desired that such materials should remain, even for
twenty-four hours, in their one living room, which is frequently
over crowded, and has but little spare space even for the common
necessities of life; but that these waste products should be thus
strewn over the surface of the street or court is almost equally
objectionable, and points to the enormous advantage to be gained
by placing in convenient situations the covered dustbins that are
described above, the contents of which could be easily emptied once
a day.
The greatest difficulty would be found to be that of inducing the
inhabitants to take the trouble to carry their house refuse to the
dustbin, but they might be gradually educated up to this standard
of cleanliness, and a few persons judiciously summoned and punished
"pour encourager les autres," when detected in throwing any of
their waste products on to the surface of the street or court,
would no doubt have a very beneficial effect in assisting their
education.
With reference to the question of a house to house call or
visitation by the scavengers for the purpose of removing the
refuse. This is no doubt the method "par excellence" of all
the systems for its effectual removal without much trouble to
the householder, but except in suburban districts and for the
collection of refuse from the better class of dwelling-houses and
public institutions, the expense, delay, and difficulty which
would be incurred in calling at every house throughout a town,
would make it almost impracticable, and consequently this system
is universally combined with that which is known as the bell or
signal system, which simply means that the scavenging cart in going
its rounds has a bell attached to it, or the horse, which bell
rings automatically as the cart proceeds on its way; or the man in
charge blows a trumpet, or calls in stentorian tones, "Dust oh!" On
hearing this signal, _but not before_, the householder is expected
to bring out the refuse in some convenient receptacle, which is
then emptied into the cart by the scavenger.
As a matter of fact, the receptacles containing all the waste
products of these householders are brought out and are placed in
the gutter of the street close to the kerb, long before the cart
makes its appearance or can be reasonably expected to do so.
These temporary receptacles are, as may be easily imagined of
various sizes and shapes, and are composed of various materials.
On one side you may see a well and suitably constructed galvanized
iron box, with handles and cover complete, on the other an old band
box, cigar box, or tin saucepan.
The result of these inappropriate receptacles filled with
heterogeneous collections of house refuse being left unprotected
in the public streets, is that their contents are quickly strewn
about the surface of the street, either by their being upset
accidentally, or purposely, by persons who gain a precarious
livelihood by abstracting therefrom, and selling rags, bones, and
similar articles, or by the dogs, ever on the alert for a hasty
and disgusting meal, and the appearance of the street which has
probably been carefully swept and garnished during the night or
early in the morning, quickly assumes, especially in a high wind, a
very offensive character, and probably has to be entirely re-swept
and cleansed before the ordinary traffic of the day commences.
To obviate these evils arising from this practice almost
universally adopted, I suggest the following plan:--
A specially designed frame or carriage must be constructed
somewhat similar in appearance to a timber waggon; this must be
furnished with a number of strong iron hooks, with or without
simple lifting gear, according to the strength and sizes of the
receptacles hereafter described. Upon these hooks are to be hung
cylindrical shaped galvanized iron boxes with balanced covers,
and hopper-shaped mouths, and of such cubical capacity as may be
found to meet the requirements of any district choosing to adopt
my system. The _modus operandi_ would be as follows:--The waggon
should be drawn through certain selected streets at about 6.30
a.m.; the boxes or cylinders unhung from it, and placed in such
suitable and convenient positions as may be found necessary; their
distance apart may be about that of the ordinary street lamp posts,
and their position may be in the street channel gutter close to
the kerb of the footpath; they should be allowed to remain about
a couple of hours, during which time the householders in the
vicinity of the boxes would be expected to empty into them all
the sweepings, garbage, and house refuse from their premises; at
the end of this time the waggon would again appear, and the boxes
or cylinders would be attached to the hooks, and be taken to the
nearest refuse depôt.
There are many advantages to be gained by adopting my proposed
system, the principal one being that of preventing the disgusting
practice of allowing the foul refuse from houses, to be openly
displayed in the public streets, in the manner previously
described, and in preventing the possibility of such refuse being
allowed to stay for a single instant upon the surface of the
street, where even if it is afterwards carefully removed, an ugly
stain is almost sure to remain for many hours afterwards.
Another advantage would be the great convenience to householders
of that of having a ready receptacle for their refuse, only a few
yards at the most from their doors.
The saving of time also in the collection would be considerable,
as the scavengers need not wait one single moment beyond the
time required to attach the cylinder to the waggon, and there is
in addition the cleanliness with which this operation could be
performed, thus conferring a great boon on the foot passengers
in the streets, who, under the present system, are often half
smothered by the dust when the scavengers are engaged in emptying
the contents of the usual inappropriate receptacles into the
ordinary dust cart.
The facilities also for cleansing or disinfecting the cylinders
would be undoubted, and the economy, not only in time but in actual
expense over the existing system, would be considerable, for the
cylinders would last a long time without repairs being needed; not
so the ordinary dust cart, which speedily wears out, principally
from the fact that the "tipping" necessary to empty it of its
contents, is highly detrimental to its stability.
Having thus shown a method by which the collection of house refuse
in crowded streets, where a house-to-house visit is impracticable,
can be materially improved, I will pass on to the present system of
the collection of refuse in the suburban and rural districts of a
town by a house-to-house call.
A great improvement in this system would no doubt be effected by
adopting the movable dust boxes I suggest in the chapter on "The
Dustbin," as great delay and consequent expense would be saved
thereby, and the work would be altogether more effectually and
properly performed, but it is also found that very frequently the
scavengers on calling at a house for the purpose of removing the
accumulated refuse, are told by the servant that they cannot be
admitted, either because it is an inconvenient hour, or that it
is washing day, or that being a wet day the scavengers' boots are
too dirty to walk over their clean passages or floor, or that the
dustbin is not full, and that they must call another day, or some
other equally plausible excuse, so that the visit is a useless
one, and time is lost. Another evil arising out of this is also
the fact that as the scavenger's cart has usually a regular round,
a fruitless visit as described, results in the dustbin remaining
uncleared for perhaps another week, or even more, a state of things
not at all to be desired.
In order to assist in obviating the chances of such useless visits
by the scavengers, I would suggest a very simple remedy, which
has already been tried in some towns with considerable success.
It consists in the householder placing a card bearing the letter
D, or some other distinguishing mark, in a conspicuous place in a
window, when the services of the scavengers are required; these
cards should be printed and circulated by the Sanitary Authority
of the district, who should state on the back of the card the days
on which the scavengers would visit each neighbourhood, with the
approximate hour of the day in which they would appear, in each
road or street if practicable, in order that the householder may
not be unnecessarily inconvenienced by being obliged to keep the
card for any length of time in his window.
The scavengers in passing, observe the signal, and call at the
house, otherwise they pass on, unless specially called in by the
occupants, thus avoiding any unnecessary delay in their rounds.
A visit from the scavengers either before seven or after ten in
the morning is generally very inconvenient for households of a
superior class, and should be, if possible, carefully avoided by
the Sanitary Authority.
CHAPTER V.
THE SCAVENGER'S CART.
The next question that presents itself to our notice is that of the
form, style, and construction of the cart usually employed in this
work of house refuse collection, and whether it is well suited for
the requirements of the work or otherwise.
The cart usually employed is that known as the ordinary "tip cart,"
strongly, if not clumsily, constructed of an oak frame, with elm or
deal sides of considerable height; it holds about a couple of cubic
yards of materials, and generally costs from sixteen to twenty
pounds.
These carts are not only clumsy and heavy, but they give an
overweighted diminutive appearance to the horse between the shafts,
especially as the quality of horse employed for work of this
character is frequently none of the best, and as a matter of fact
the cart is so ill-balanced that the bulk of its weight is thrown
upon the back of the horse. The height, too, of the cart is often
so great as to necessitate the use of a short ladder, up which
the scavenger has to climb, before he can discharge the contents
of his basket into the cart, sending in the process a shower of
offensive dust in every direction, far from pleasant for those
unfortunate persons who happen to be passing near the spot at the
time. When used as "slop" carts the same objections arise, as in
this case the liquid mud is splashed in every direction, owing
to the height to which it has to be thrown by the shovel of the
scavenger.
Some difficulty is also experienced in thoroughly covering over the
contents of the cart, so that not only shall it be hidden from the
eye, but that it shall prevent either the liquid mud from being
spilled on the ground, or if the cart is being used to convey
either dust or house refuse, to prevent the contents being blown
about, or dropped upon the surface of the street.
The imperfect mode at present adopted is to cover the cart with
a tarpaulin, which is tied down as tightly as the circumstances
of the case will admit, but which as a rule does not effectually
answer the purpose for which it is intended. In towns where the
house refuse is not collected separately from the road scrapings,
a judicious mixture of the two in the cart considerably assists in
preventing any mud slopping or dust blowing.
The material being wood of which these carts are constructed, it
becomes a difficult matter either to effectually cleanse them after
use, or to properly disinfect them, which in times of any serious
outbreak of an epidemic is essential to the sanitary well-being of
a community. The employment also of wooden carts for this work is
bad economy, their rough usage, and the mode adopted for emptying
them by "tipping," rendering their life but a short one, a cart in
constant work frequently costing from four to five pounds per annum
in repairs, and having but very little of the original material of
which it was constructed left in it at the end of six years.
With a view to obviate these and other objections, several improved
carts and waggons have been introduced by different makers, who
have styled them by a variety of names, in order to recommend them
to the notice of the public. Amongst other names they are called
dust carts, general purpose carts, sanitary carts, slush carts,
tumbler carts, mud waggons, tip waggons, slop waggons, &c.
They are generally constructed with iron bodies fixed upon
wooden frames on wheels; they are of various forms and designs,
the principal objects aimed at being lightness of construction
combined with strength, so balanced as to bear with a minimum of
weight upon the horse; economy in their cost has not been lost
sight of, and they are usually provided with some special means
for emptying, either by being completely inverted by a chain and
windlass, or by some mechanical arrangement of the tailboard; they
are built very low upon their axles, so as to be easily filled, are
either completely covered over with a moveable lid, or are fitted
with hinged side boards, so as to prevent any splashing over of
their contents, and as they are nearly all constructed with iron,
they are easily cleansed and disinfected whenever it is thought
necessary to do so.
Amongst others I may mention the following firms who have
made the construction of these sanitary carts and waggons a
speciality:--Messrs. Bayley & Co., Newington Causeway, London;
Messrs. Cocksedge & Co., of Stowmarket; the Bristol Waggon Works
Company; and Messrs. Smith & Son, of Barnard Castle, Yorkshire.
CHAPTER VI.
DISPOSAL OF HOUSE REFUSE.
Having proceeded thus far with my subject, the very important
question next arises as to the manner of the disposal of the house
refuse after it has been collected by the Local Authority, both
with regard to its sanitary aspect and also to that of economy.
So much depends upon the position of every town and the character
of the district in which it is situated, that no hard and fast
lines can be laid down in reply to this question, if, however,
the town is fortunate enough to be the centre of an agricultural
district, or there are ready and economical means of conveying the
refuse there, no difficulty should be experienced in disposing
of it, if not altogether at a profit, at least at a small loss
upon the cost of collection, as farmers and market gardeners
will readily buy house refuse at prices varying from sixpence to
three shillings a load to use as a top dressing or manure upon
their land, and a very rich and fertilizing manure it makes,
notwithstanding the outcry that is sometimes raised against it that
it produces rank weeds, owing to the seeds of such vegetation
being found in every domestic dustbin, the fact really being that
all manures will foster and help the growth of weeds, as well as
cereals or roots, and the appearance of a prolific crop of weeds
points rather to bad and careless farming than to the use of
inferior manure.
In order to suit the convenience of the customers for refuse, and
in order to prevent any delay in its collection from the houses, it
is necessary for every town to provide one or more depôts in which
the refuse may be so deposited from day to day as it is collected.
The site of each depôt should be very carefully selected, bearing
the following requisitions in mind:--
They should not be at greater distances from the town than would
allow the carts to make from three to four journeys a day, and
it is evident that their position should, so much as possible,
avoid the necessity for the carts to pass _through_ the town when
full; they must also be placed so as to be readily accessible to
the carts and waggons of the farmers, the customers, and above
all, they must be so situated with regard to any dwelling-houses
or public roads as not to cause any nuisance, or be injurious to
health in any possible manner, and for this purpose a knowledge
of the prevailing wind in that neighbourhood would be useful, and
care must also be taken that no stream or water-course from which
the supply of any drinking water is obtained is likely to become
polluted by having such an unpleasant neighbour as a "refuse depôt."
The depôt need only be an open field securely railed off against
trespassers or pilferers, but as it generally swarms with countless
numbers of rats, it is just as well that no stacks or barns should
be erected in its vicinity, if their owner has any wish to preserve
his corn.
In this depôt, the site of which has been selected with all
due care, the refuse should be made up into measured heaps, a
convenient size for them being found to be twelve feet square by
six feet high; these heaps are then sold as they stand to farmers
and others who send their carts and waggons to remove them, thus
preventing any possibility of mistake or dispute arising as to the
number of loads each customer pays for and receives. The refuse,
when first brought into the depôt, is far more bulky than it
afterwards becomes, and it shrinks nearly twelve per cent. after a
few months' exposure to wind and rain; it is therefore necessary
to unload each cart as it arrives from the town on to an enormous
heap or mound, from the other end of which the measured heaps are
made up after the material has become stale and sunken. Another
cause for the shrinkage and reduction of bulk of house refuse after
reception at the depôt is the necessary removal of all the old
tins, broken crockery, broken flower pots, &c., before it can be
sold to the farmer, and a very difficult matter it is to know how
to deal with this heterogeneous mass of absolutely useless articles
thus left behind, unless they can be used for bottoming roads,
or for agricultural or for deep land drainage, or for filling up
hollows of land not afterwards intended to be built upon, when
these materials would be very useful and acceptable for such
purposes, otherwise they must be kept and allowed to cumber the
ground until some such use can be assigned to them.
All towns are not so conveniently situated with regard to their
surrounding neighbourhood, as will permit their authorities to sell
the collected house refuse to farmers, market-gardeners, or others,
for use as manure, and in such cases, where they cannot do so,
other measures must be resorted to, in order to dispose of it in
the most economical and sanitary manner.
Among the numerous questions that I addressed to the various
towns of England when engaged in preparing the returns to
which reference has already been made, was one to the following
effect:--"How is the refuse disposed of after collection?"
Many and various were the replies to this. Amongst them were the
following:--
In many towns it is stated that the whole of the refuse is used by
brick makers, in others it is simply "tipped to waste." In one case
the answer is, "Sold by auction twice a year," but to whom it is
sold, and for what purpose, does not transpire. In some towns it
appears to be mixed with lime and used as manure upon the fields,
and in others it is mixed with the sludge of the sewage farms, and
is then ploughed or dug into the soil of the farm. This seems a
better plan than that of another town, where it is "given or thrown
away," although the difficulty of disposing of the old iron, tins,
&c., is not touched upon in any of the foregoing answers. The next
reply states that "it is riddled, and the cinders and vegetable
refuse are burnt to generate steam, the fine dust is used with the
manure manufactory (tub system), the old iron is sold, and the
pots, &c., used for the foundations of roads." In one case the
whole of the refuse is taken out to sea in hopper barges, and sunk
in deep water. In a great number of towns it is sold by tender for
the year, but what eventually becomes of it does not transpire.
But the most favoured methods, where it cannot be sold as manure
to farmers, seem to be either that of carting it away to some spot
outside the town, and there using it for the purpose of filling
up hollows and depressions, or that of giving or selling it to
brick-makers.
The practice of filling up hollow places with either house refuse
or street sweepings cannot be too strongly deprecated, as it
stands to reason that some object is in view when these hollows
are thus filled up, and we may be sure that the object is that
of transforming inconvenient and impracticable pieces of ground
into convenient building sites, whereon, sooner or later, eligible
villas make their sudden appearance, almost with the rapidity of
Aladdin's Palace, under the magic hand of a jerry builder, and
woe betide the unfortunate being who, struck with the pretentious
appearance and low rent of one of these eligible family residences,
takes up his abode therein, for so surely will disease, and perhaps
death, be his visitor. I will not here enter into the details,
or describe the medical reasons why such sites are unhealthy for
dwelling-houses, as the fact is almost self-evident, and the
practise of using either house refuse or street sweepings for such
a purpose has been condemned by sanitary experts over and over
again. But I will pass on to describe a method of disposal of town
refuse which is now gaining some popularity in localities where
difficulties are experienced in getting rid of the refuse by any
of the means to which reference has been made, and which up to the
present time seems to be the best solution of the difficulty. I
allude to the process of the destruction of the refuse by fire.
With this object in view a Mr. Fryer has invented an apparatus
which he styles a "Patent Carboniser, for the conversion of
garbage, street, and market sweepings, also other vegetable
refuse into charcoal." This apparatus consists of a structure
somewhat resembling, externally, a brick kiln. It is divided into
hopper-shaped compartments, which at the bottom are furnished with
a furnace, fitted with a reverbatory arch. A fire is lighted in
this furnace, the necessary combustion being obtained, and the heat
maintained, by burning the cinders, which are sifted out of the
house refuse for this purpose.
All the street sweepings, refuse, garbage, &c., is then thrown
in at the top of the kiln, and it is there and then completely
destroyed by the action of the fire, and converted into charcoal,
which is withdrawn through a sliding door fixed at the bottom of
the kiln. The inventor further contends that his Carboniser not
only burns everything within it so thoroughly and completely as to
produce effectual deodorisation, but also that in the process all
noxious gases which may be driven off the burning organic matters
contained in the refuse are themselves burnt and destroyed.
Mr. Fryer has also patented another apparatus which he calls a
"Destructor for reducing the bulk for purifying and fusing mineral
refuse of towns, the residue to be converted into concrete or
mortar." This apparatus is somewhat similar in construction and
mode of action to the "Carboniser," except that it has no tall kiln
containing the hopper-shaped compartments. Great heat is, however,
necessary in order to fuse the mass of heterogeneous articles that
are thrown into it, and its success is greatly dependant upon such
heat being constantly and efficiently maintained. It is said that
the cost of an establishment to dispose of the refuse by this
means, consisting of one six celled Destructor and an eight-celled
Carboniser, boiler, steam engine, mortar pans, cooler, chimney,
shaft, and buildings, is about £4,500.
Each cell is stated to deal with about 50 cwt. of refuse in every
twenty-four hours, and that no nuisance is experienced in the
vicinity of the depôts. This apparatus has, I understand, been
adopted in Kralingen, Leeds, Blackburn, Bradford, Warrington, and
Derby, and is about to be adopted in other important places.
It is not my intention here to describe or to discuss the question
of the collection and disposal of night soil, which in many towns
is intimately connected and amalgamated with the collection of
house refuse and the cleansing of streets. It is a subject of
sufficient importance to be dealt with separately. The following
particulars, however, with reference to the collection of house
refuse in connection with the pail system at Manchester will not
be out of place, especially with regard to the reference which is
made to Fryer's Carbonisers and Destructors, and it must be borne
in mind that the refuse here spoken of is _wet_, which makes the
difficulties connected with its destruction by fire greater than it
would be if only dry, or comparatively dry, house refuse had to be
destroyed. These particulars are gleaned from a report contained
in a copy of the _British Architect_, of 1876, of a visit by the
members of the Manchester Scientific and Mechanical Society to the
works of the Manchester Corporation Health Committee, the figures
being altered so as to conform more closely with the growth of the
work since that year.
There are about 56,000 closets in Manchester, 44,000 of which have
been constructed on the cinder sifter principle, and are emptied
during the day, the remainder are emptied during the night.
The contents of the new closets are brought away by vans specially
constructed for the purpose, having five compartments, one of which
is open and uncovered, and this receives the dry refuse; the other
four compartments are covered and enclosed with tightly fitting
doors. Each of these compartments holds six galvanised iron pails,
which are also covered with closely fitting lids. The van bottoms
are panelled, and the inside of each panel is filled with a layer
of carbolic acid powder, one inch thick, and they are thoroughly
cleansed after each journey.
The Health Committee employ 100 of these vehicles, each one making
four journeys per day. The contents of the closets which are
emptied during the night are taken away in open carts, two-thirds
to the tips and the remainder along with the refuse brought into
the yard by the vans, is sent each night into the country.
The amount of material dealt with each week by the Health Committee
is about 3,000 tons, and may be described as follows:--Paper, 1
ton; rags, 3 tons; dead animals, dogs, cats, rats, mice, guinea
pigs, &c., 2 tons; stable manure, 17 tons; meat tins, old tin and
iron, 33 tons; refuse from slaughter-houses and fish shops, &c., 60
tons; broken pots, bottles, and glasses, 80 tons; vegetable refuse,
door mats, table covers, floorcloths, old straw mattresses, 100
tons; fine ashes, 1,230 tons; cinders, 1,400 tons.
The Committee employ in this department over 500 men, including
clerks, inspectors, wheelwrights, smiths, saddlers, tinmen,
engineers, mechanics, manure and mortar makers, stablemen, and
labourers. They have 156 horses, and about the same number of
vehicles of various descriptions.
When the loaded vans reach the yard, they are first weighed,
afterwards they are taken on to the first floor of a two-storey
building, where the dry refuse from the open part of each van is
unloaded and shovelled on to sieves worked by steam power. By this
arrangement the fine dust widely diffusing itself in its descent,
falls on to the floor below, covering the contents of the pails,
which are, at the same time, being emptied on to grids fixed in
the floor. At one end of these grids the bars are set much more
closely together than at the other, and serve to convey the liquid
portion of the contents of the pails by means of troughs to a tank
where it is further dealt with. The solid portion of the excreta
falls through the wide-barred portion of the grid into suitable
receptacles. The rough portion of the dry refuse, after being
separated from the fine, is carried along a movable and endless
table to the mortar mills, the boiler, or to one of the various
furnaces, of which there are several in the yard. This dry refuse
is of such a heterogeneous character as to require various modes of
treatment. It is made up of paper, rats, meat tins, straw, cabbage
leaves, onions, apples, turnips, fish bones, dead cats, rabbits,
guinea pigs, fowls, brush heads, old boots, old books, knives,
forks, spoons, children's toys, old hats, old bonnets, crinoline
wires, umbrella frames, broken pots, broken bottles, preserve jars,
medicine bottles, old mattresses, cinders, bits of coal, firewood,
bass, broken bricks, and a host of other articles too numerous
to mention. When this mass of rubbish is somewhat assorted, the
cinders are separated and used for fuel for the boilers and
furnaces (no coal whatever is allowed in the yard), the remaining
portion of the rubbish along with some most vile and abominable
matter which occasionally comes to the yard in the pails, is taken
to the Carbonisers (of which there is a nest of eight in the yard),
and the obnoxious material is therein carbonised and is resolved
into a perfectly harmless material.
In another part of the yard is a second set of furnaces which are
called destructors, and are used for the purpose of destroying
rubbish, which before-time, for many years past, has been
deposited in large heaps in every suburb of the city, to the great
annoyance of the inhabitants whose fate it was to live in the
vicinities of these deposits. These destructors not only consume
this objectionable material, but they furnish heat to a concretor
which is placed in close contiguity. The spent fuel is carted to
the mills, and is there converted into mortar--a mortar, too,
of the best description--as the samples of brickwork built with
it and exhibited abundantly testify. This concretor, which is
driven by steam power, is a large cylinder of a peculiar internal
construction, which exposes an extensive evaporating surface to the
heat from the destructor, which passes through the cylinder from
end to end. The work of this concretor is to subject the urine or
liquid portion of the contents of the pails fed by means of the
troughs already spoken of in connection with the tank. The urine
is pumped from this tank into the concretor at the rate of about
150 gallons per hour. The concentrated urine, which contains a
large quantity of ammonia, is mixed with two-thirds its weight of
charcoal, and the composition forms a most valuable manure.
The carboniser, the destructor, and the concretor have all been
invented and patented by Mr. Alfred Fryer, of the firm of Manlove,
Alliot & Co., engineers, Nottingham. The process of carbonising is
patented by the Universal Charcoal Company, Limited, who are to
receive a royalty, we understand, from the Health Committee for the
use of their patent. There is a tall and noble-looking chimney in
the centre of the yard surrounded by many new buildings and sheds,
and this has been built with the concrete mortar manufactured by
the Health Committee.
Such is the gigantic scale upon which these matters are dealt with
in the City of Manchester.
The other methods, to which reference has been made, for the
disposal of town refuse require no further comment, as it is
evident that unless a ready sale for the refuse can be effected, by
far the best method of disposing of it seems to be that by which
it is completely annihilated by fire in the manner that has been
described, or in some other similar manner.
Having thus far followed the house refuse from its first appearance
in its cradle, the dustbin, through its chequered career after
collection down to its decease, either by burial, or by cremation,
the question of the cost of the whole of this work must be deferred
until the final chapter, after I have dealt with the subject of
street sweeping and cleansing, the removal of snow, and a short
chapter upon street watering, which is somewhat analagous to
scavenging, and is frequently included in the accounts of that work
in the estimates which are prepared by a Local Authority.
CHAPTER VII.
"STREET CLEANSING."
Clean well-swept streets not only add materially to the prosperous
appearance of a town, but they also have a very marked influence
upon its health and upon the morale of its inhabitants; wet, and
muddy, badly formed, ill-drained streets, cause dampness in the
subsoil of the dwelling-houses in the vicinity, and a humidity in
the atmosphere, both of which tend to produce a low standard of
health in their neighbourhood, irrespective of the wet surface
through which pedestrians have to wade whenever they are obliged
to cross such streets. Dusty streets, too, are very injurious
from the fact of persons inhaling the gritty silicate loaded air
arising from them; such an atmosphere is known to produce disease
of the lungs, even when it is free from the dust arising from horse
droppings or other organic impurities. Professor Tyndall, in his
beautiful experiments, has proved that dusty air is alive with the
germs of the bacteria of putrefaction, whilst the pure fresh air
which he gathered on a mountain peak in the Alps is innocent of
such germs, and is absolutely powerless to produce any organisms.
Persons living in streets that are improperly swept or watered are
unable to open the doors or windows of their houses with impunity
by reason of the dust.
The definition of the word _street_, as given in the Public Health
Act, 1875, is as follows:--"Street includes any highway (not
being a turnpike road), and any public bridge (not being a county
bridge), and any road, lane, footway, square, court, alley, or
passage, whether a thoroughfare or not."
With reference to turnpike roads the Act further states that any
Urban Authority may by agreement with the Trustees of any turnpike
road, or with the Surveyor of any county bridge, take on themselves
the maintenance, repair, cleansing, or watering of such street or
road.
It is very questionable, however, whether the onus of cleansing
private courts and alleys which are not repairable by the Urban
Authority should be borne by them, although for the sake of the
public health it is highly desirable that such work should be so
undertaken.
The great difficulty attached to this duty arises from the fact
that as a rule these private courts and alleys are very badly
paved, if paved at all, full of pits, where pools of stagnant mud
and water collect, and even in the best cases, the interstices
between the pebbles, or other paving, are filled with filth arising
in great measure from the dirty habits of the people, and this
filth it is found exceedingly difficult to dislodge. The remedy
for this is to compel the owners of the abutting properties to
have the courts and alleys properly paved with asphalte, or other
equally impervious material, after which it would be easy for the
Urban Authority to cause them to be swept at least once a day, and
flushed with water in the hot weather once a week, but in order to
compel the owners to execute this very desirable work it would be
necessary to put the complicated machinery of section 150 of the
Public Health Act, 1875, in force, and the expense to the landlords
would be in many cases very disproportionate to the value of their
property.
Out of the ninety towns to which reference has before been made,
the authorities of only nineteen of them cleanse the private courts
and alleys in their jurisdiction. The sweeping and cleansing of
streets should be effected either at night or very early in the
morning; if, however, the bad practice of bringing the house refuse
out into the streets in inappropriate receptacles is in vogue, it
becomes necessary to sweep the street later in the day, after the
contents of these receptacles has been removed. In most cases it
is necessary to cleanse the principal streets of a town at least
once a day, and this appears to be the practice of nearly all the
ninety towns referred to, but only seven of them appear to have
this operation repeated more frequently; in several cases, however,
the horse droppings, &c., are removed at once, under what is called
the "orderly" system, and this is especially necessary in streets
that are paved with such materials as wood paving, asphalte, or
granite setts. The suburban streets of a town need only be cleansed
once or twice a week, except in special cases of extremes of mud or
snow. It is important, however, that the gully pits in all parts
of the town should be cleared out constantly, and men should be
employed for this purpose, as well as to cleanse and disinfect all
the cabstands and public urinals at least once every day.
Street cleansing is effected either by hand-sweeping and
hand-scraping, or by machinery. As to which is the most economical
much depends upon the value of labour, and also upon the condition
of the roads to be dealt with, but in point of time and as a
general rule the value of a horse rotary brush-sweeping machine
is undoubted, the only time at which such a machine fails to do
effective work is on the occasions when the mud to be removed
(owing to a peculiar condition of the atmosphere), has attained
a semi-solidity, and is of a stiff and sticky consistency, when
it either adheres to and clogs the brushes of the machine, or is
flattened by them on to the road instead of being removed.
The simplest and best of these machines, in my opinion, is that
manufactured by Messrs. Smith & Sons, of Barnard Castle. It sweeps
a clear width of six feet, the rotary brush, which is divided into
four or more parts, works diagonally, it is drawn easily by one
horse, clearing itself of mud or dust in its progress, and the
makers say that it can sweep 15,000 square yards of road surface in
one hour, this being equivalent to the ordinary work of about 50
men in the same time!
The price of this machine is £30, and being of very simple
construction it costs little or nothing in repairs, except for the
brushes, which last for about 180 hours when in constant work.
These can, however, be replaced at a cost of £2 15s. per set,
or the old stocks can be refilled with bass, at a more moderate
figure. It is, of course, necessary to sweep the ridge of dust
or mud which is left by the machine at the side of the street
into heaps by hand labour, and to remove it by carts; other
machines have been invented for cleansing streets, which by means
of elevators, or other gear, profess to raise the mud or dust
direct into the carts, which are to be attached at the back of the
machine, but hitherto these machines have been found to be too
cumbersome, costly, and complicated for the purpose, and they have
not consequently found much favour with Sanitary Authorities.
Messrs. Smith & Sons also construct a patent road scraping machine,
which is drawn by one horse, and which will, they say, scrape
upwards of 10,000 square yards of road surface in an hour.
The strength and durability of the hand brooms purchased by an
Urban Authority for the work of sweeping the streets is of some
importance, as affecting the ultimate cost of the work, and some
care and skill is required in their selection.
Bass brooms are better than birch brooms for this purpose, and the
bass of which the brooms are made should be sufficiently stout and
of regular thickness; it should be tough and elastic, not old, dry,
and brittle, each knot should be of uniform size and be firmly
set, and the number of knots in each broom head is also a matter
of choice. A convenient and fair test of the soundness of a broom
is to soak it for a few days in water before issuing it to the
sweeper, and then note the time it will last. The handles of the
brooms should be made of alder wood.
The mode of construction of streets, and the materials of which
they are formed, makes a considerable difference in the amount of
cleansing necessary, and upon the quantity of mud or dust that has
to be removed from their surface. In making any investigations for
the purpose of deciding what difference exists in the question of
cleansing various forms and descriptions of pavements, climatic
influence introduces a rather disturbing element, which may
seriously affect any conclusions that may be drawn; it may,
however, be taken for granted that a street, the surface of which
is metalled on the macadam principle with stones of a soft or
gritty character, will require more cleansing and be more costly to
scavenge (under the same conditions of climate and traffic), than
a street paved with the hardest granite setts or with blocks of
wood, or with asphalte, and at the same time much care will have
to be taken not to _over_ sweep or _over_ scrape a road with a
macadamised surface, or much injury will be done to it.
Amongst the influences that disturb the results of any
investigations made with respect to street cleansing, that of the
amount and character of the traffic over it must not be lost sight
of, and the state of repair and gradient of the street are both
of considerable importance in affecting the results, the practice
too, of bringing out the house refuse into the streets in improper
receptacles pending the arrival of the scavengers' cart, must also
cause a varying amount of refuse to be swept from its surface,
depending upon the habits of the persons living in the street.
The Superintendent of the Scavenging Department at Liverpool has
made some observations and obtained some valuable information on
these points, which he has detailed in a report he presented to the
Health Committee of that borough in the year 1877, an abstract of
which is as follows:--
GROSS COST FOR EACH TIME OF CLEANSING 10,000 YARDS SUPERFICIAL OF
DIFFERENT DESCRIPTIONS OF ROADWAY IN THE BOROUGH OF LIVERPOOL.
[Part 1 of 2]
+----------------+-------------------+-----------------+---------+
| | | | |
| | | |Condition|
| | | |of repair|
| Street. | Description of | When paved. | of |
| | pavement. | |roadway. |
| | | | |
+----------------+-------------------+-----------------+---------+
| | | | |
|Lord St. |{ Granite setts, }| 1877 |Very good|
| |{ asphalte joints }| | |
| | | | |
|North John St. | Ditto | 1872 | Good |
| | | | |
|Tithebarn St. |{ Granite setts, }| 1872 and 1874 | Bad |
| |{ ordinary joints }| | |
| | | | |
|West Derby Rd. |{ Ditto, asphalte }| 1876 |Very good|
| |{ joints }| | |
| | | | |
|Great Howard St.| Ditto | 1877 | Good |
| | | | |
|Great Homer St. |{ Ditto, ordinary }|Not ascertainable|Moderate |
| |{ joints }| | |
| | | | |
|Kensington St. |{ Macadam breasted}| Ditto | Good |
| |{ with setts }| | |
| | | | |
|Stanley Rd. | Ditto | Ditto | Bad |
+----------------+-------------------+-----------------+---------+
[Part 2 of 2]
+----------------+--------------+-------+--------+--------------+
| | | | | Gross cost |
| | Area | Loads | Times | per 10,000 |
| | of |removed| swept | yards |
| Street. | carriage- |in one | in one | superficial |
| | way. | month.| month. | for each |
| | | | | cleansing. |
+----------------+--------------+-------+--------+--------------+
| | Yds. supr. | | | £ s. d. |
|Lord St. | 4,503 | 15 | 26 | 0 6 5½ |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
|North John St. | 3,287 | 17½ | 26 | 0 8 10½ |
| | | | | |
|Tithebarn St. | 5,150 | 38 | 26 | 0 11 2 |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
|West Derby Rd. | 11,980 | 35 | 13 | 0 9 4¾ |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
|Great Howard St.| 16,860 | 85 | 13 | 0 14 4½ |
| | | | | |
|Great Homer St. | 15,900 | 85 | 13 | 0 14 1 |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
|Kensington St. | 14,540 | 76 | 13 | 0 14 3¾ |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
|Stanley Rd. | 16,534 | 186 | 13 | 1 8 9¼ |
+----------------+--------------+-------+--------+--------------+
He adds that the full benefit of the impervious pavements as
regards the cost of scavenging has not yet been felt, for almost
all the lines of streets so paved are intersected at short
distances by streets of ordinary jointed granite setts or macadam,
whence a quantity of mud and refuse is dragged by the traffic on
to the asphalted jointed roadways, which are consequently debited
with the cost of removal of some effete material not intrinsically
belonging to them. He further adds that the credit reductions
to be made in respect of the value of manure obtained from each
description of carriageway is not readily ascertainable. In dry
weather the value of manure collected from granite setts, with or
without impervious joints, is about equal, but when the sweepings
are wet, and consequently of little value for sale, the quantity
yielded by the ordinary pervious jointed pavement is greater than
from the impervious, and therefore the total value is relatively
favourable to the latter class, whilst to get rid of the sweepings
from macadamised streets is a source of additional expense. He
concludes this portion of his valuable report by observing that the
advantages of the new impervious pavements over the old kinds are
especially shown after frost and snowfall, the results of which
cause the setts of ordinarily jointed roadways to become loose,
and allow a vast amount of mud to ooze up between the softened
joints. The comparison is still more apparent in regard to macadam,
which, unless a heavy rainfall succeeds the thaw, cannot be swept
for some days without great destruction being caused to the
metalling of the roadway.
The ultimate disposal of the material removed from the surface of
a macadamised roadway, being principally composed of silicate, and
consequently valueless as a manure, is a difficult matter.
In small towns, except during abnormally muddy weather, it may
be mixed with the house refuse and sold to farmers, or the
road scrapings themselves may be used as an excellent sand, if
thoroughly washed, to mix with lime or cement to form mortar for
public works; excessive accumulations of mud, however, must be
got rid of in the most economical and speedy manner, and this is
effected either by filling up old disused quarries with it, or
depositing it upon waste lands, or forming embankments for new
roads, but in no case should it be used, as I have before stated,
upon building sites; it is difficult and expensive to destroy it or
partially convert it into other matters by fire, so that if these
methods which I have enumerated are impracticable, the only other
method left for the disposal of the sweepings or scrapings from
the streets is to take them out to sea in hopper barges and sink
them in deep water.
In the City of Paris an area of about 13,000,000 square yards of
streets are cleansed between three and six a.m. in the summer
months and four and seven in the winter. This work in connection
with the collection of the house refuse employs 2,200 men, 950
women, and 30 boys, besides 190 mechanical sweepers.
The Paris mud is said to no longer possess the manurial strength
of former times, and in consequence the receipts derived by the
municipality from this source have greatly diminished. At the
present time it is disposed of by public tender to responsible
contractors, who manage to take between them some 2,500 cubic yards
daily.
The following additional particulars of the manner in which this
work is carried out in Paris will, I think, prove of interest,
especially with regard to the use of disinfectants, which are
largely used in that city in connection with the cleansing of the
streets, a practice which might be followed with advantage by the
Sanitary Authorities of this country.
The cleansing of the public thoroughfares in Paris, which was
formerly undertaken by the Prefect of Police, is now a function
of the Prefect of the Seine. The staff consists of two chief
engineers, one for each group of arrondissements, one group
being sub-divided into three sections, each under the charge
of an executive engineer, and the other into five sections
similarly supervised. These sectional engineers have under them
51 superintendents and 61 overseers, whose employment costs
annually £10,400. The scavenging plant is kept in a central depôt,
where materials of every description are stored and classified
for ordinary and extraordinary service, when snow and ice render
additional assistants necessary.
The depôts contain supplies of chloride of lime, sulphate of
zinc, sulphate of iron, and carbolic acid, as disinfectants; and
hydrochloric acid and nitrobenzide, as cleansing agents. The
chloride of lime, of a strength of 100° to 105°, is successfully
employed for the disinfecting of places tainted with urine or
faecal matter, also for cleansing gutters carrying any sewage
water. Sulphate of iron and sulphate of zinc are both used under
the same conditions. Sulphate of iron has the disadvantage of
rusting objects to which it is applied, sulphate of zinc is
stronger in its action, but it costs a little more; it produces no
smell, nor does it leave any stain; it is much employed in summer
for washing and watering the basements of the "Halles Centrales,"
which are used for fish, poultry, and offal. At a strength of
one-eighth, and mixed with three per cent. of sulphate of copper,
sulphate of zinc makes a good disinfecting liquor, which preserves
its qualities a long time, and is of great use in private houses.
Carbolic acid is not, strictly speaking, a disinfectant; it does
not act like chloride on putrid matter, but it arrests and prevents
fermentation, doubtless by destroying the spores, it is, therefore,
always employed when it is desired to destroy the germs of putrid
fermentation. It is used at a strength of about one-fortieth,
say a gallon of acid to 40 gallons of water. At strengths of
one-one hundredth and one-two hundredth it gives good results for
watering once or twice a week in summer those parts of the "Halles
Centrales" liable to infection; it is even used as low as one-one
thousandth for watering streets and gutters. Hydrochloric acid is
applied to urinals and slaughter-houses, in places much encrusted
with tartar; it is used at a strength of one-sixth, lowered to
one-tenth, it cleans smooth walls and flags efficiently, in
ordinary rinsings a strength of one-fifteenth suffices; it leaves a
disagreeable odour behind, which is, however, quickly dissipated.
Nitrobenzide is more energetic than the foregoing, but it produces
a disagreeable smell of bitter almonds and leaves a white film,
which has to be washed off; it is used at the same strengths as
hydrochloric acid. The annual cost for plant and disinfecting
materials of all descriptions is £8,800.
CHAPTER VIII.
"SNOW."
The unthinking ratepayer frequently exclaims, "Why cannot the
authorities order this abominable snow to be immediately carted
away?" when the footpath and roadway in front of his domicile lie
hidden under a thick coating of snow crystals.
Signor E. Bignami Sormani, assisted by Professor Clericetti, have
made several most interesting investigations and observations
upon the density of fresh fallen snow in Milan by means of a
simple balance and compressing box. The range of weight of the
snow was found to vary as much as eleven times the minimum. A
cubic yard from one snowstorm, weighing as much as 814 pounds,
while an equal bulk from another fall only weighed 71 pounds. The
weight consequently of a cubic foot of the densest snow is 30.14
pounds, whilst a cubic foot of water weighs 62.5 pounds, or only
about double the weight of this dense snow, but which was in all
probability little different from ice.
For my purposes, however, I will take a mean between these extreme
weights, and assume that the weight of a cubic foot of snow is
16.38 pounds, and that a fall of three inches of snow during the
night has caused the ejaculation with which I commenced this
chapter to proceed from the aforesaid ratepayer.
The ordinary width of an English street may be taken at thirty-six
feet, including the footpaths, so that on every one hundred yards
in length of every street of that width 2,700 cubic feet of snow
have fallen, the total weight of which amounts to 44,226 pounds, or
very nearly 20 tons, which in actual bulk would represent 100 cubic
yards. But as the snow would soon become compressed after falling,
I assume that this bulk would be diminished by one-half, and that
consequently (without reckoning the snow which has fallen upon
roofs and into courts, passages, and alleys, and which has been
quickly shovelled therefrom to the street by the occupiers) about
40 ordinary cartloads, weighing half a ton each, would have to be
removed from this length of street. Assuming that there are 30
miles of street in a town from which the snow must be _immediately_
removed, 21,144 loads must be carted somewhere, at a cost of at
least £1,500, assuming that each cart could make ten trips a day,
and even then it would take 352 carts a whole week to effect it.
It may be contended that I have taken an extreme case, and that, of
course, the snow does not lie for very long upon the ground in the
condition in which it fell, and that hourly it is reducing in bulk
and weight by being ground up by the traffic, and finding its way
in the form of water into the sewers, but I have simply advanced
the few facts which I have stated in order to give some idea of the
labour and cost of snow clearing in a city or town, and I think
I cannot do better than at once describe how this important work
is carried out in the city of Milan, where the organization and
arrangements by which it is accomplished with marvellous despatch,
and efficiency, could with advantage be copied by the authorities
of any of our towns which are occasionally visited by excessive
falls of snow.
In Milan the snow carts are emptied into the navigable canals
and numerous watercourses by which the city is intersected; and
latterly also into the new sewers in the central portion of the
city, which are promptly flushed whenever it snows. During the
winter of 1879-80 the cost of clearing the 1,656,200 square yards
total area of squares, streets, and lanes within the city walls,
averaged £200 per inch depth of snow fallen, and for the 502,800
square yards outside the walls the average cost was £62 per
inch depth, equivalent in each case to about 1.05d. per cubic
yard. Ordinarily the clearing of the more frequented streets is
completed within eight or ten hours after it has stopped snowing;
and of the rest within 24 hours, not reckoning night. The city
is parcelled out into small districts, numbering 112 for last
winter, of varying extent according to the importance of the work
in each. An average rate of pay per inch depth of snow fallen is
settled for the whole area of each separate district, according
to its extent and the particular conditions affecting the several
streets and squares comprised within it. Each district is allotted
to a contractor, who usually associates with himself six to ten
partners, besides the labourers whom he employs. He has to find
carts, horses, and carters; the necessary implements--spades,
shovels, brooms, scrapers, mattocks, barrows, &c.--are furnished by
the city, under suitable stipulations for ensuring proper care in
their use. The contracts are made annually, and the same persons
almost always apply for them again year after year. The contractors
come principally from the trades that are interrupted by winter,
viz.:--Paviors, bricklayers and masons, and gravel quarrymen. For
the direction and supervision of the work the whole city is divided
into four sections, over each of which is appointed an engineer,
with an assistant, who are aided in the general arrangements by
the police surveillance. Payment is made only for work effectually
done. In each snowstorm the depth of snow falling, which is the
basis of pay, is ascertained by means of a number of stone posts,
fixed in suitable open spaces, clear of shelter from buildings,
and each capped with a flat horizontal slab of stone. As soon as
it stops snowing, or two or three times during a storm of several
hours, the depth of snow caught on the slabs is measured by the
engineer in the presence of two of the contractors in his section.
The number of men ordinarily engaged in snow clearing on a winter's
day is not less than two thousand, and has sometimes risen to three
thousand. The stock of implements found by the city, representing
a capital of about £1,600, is housed in two stores in opposite
quarters of the city. In the winter of 1874-75 the total fall of
snow amounted to 40¾ inches, and the whole expenditure for clearing
it within the city walls exceeded £8,400; while in 1877-78 the fall
was only 5¼ inches, involving an expenditure of less than £1,040
for a slightly larger area.
The small cost at which this work is carried out in Milan is
accounted for by the low rate of wages and cart hire, and the
perfect organization of the system.
When a fall of snow occurs in Paris, attention is first directed to
clearing the footpaths and crossings, so as to ensure uninterrupted
foot passenger traffic. The town scavengers sand the roads whenever
it is necessary for the carriage traffic, at the same time numerous
auxiliaries are organised to remove the snow from the principal
thoroughfares in the order of their relative importance. To assist
in removing the snow the General Omnibus Company are bound by
their concession to furnish 50 waggons, and carts are specially
arranged for with the providers of sand and gravel at the beginning
of winter, the contractors for maintaining the public roads being
also bound to hold their carts at the disposition of the sectional
engineers. In certain cases the half-melted snow is swept into
the sewers, especially into those carrying warm water. Melting by
steam has been tried, when a continuous jet was turned on to a
mass of banked snow, but it melted very slowly at first, and the
melting ceased after the cavity had increased to a certain size.
Two descriptions of snow ploughs are kept in store, one for manual,
the other for horse power, but they have never been used, as the
coating of snow seldom attains sufficient thickness, and it is too
quickly compressed and hardened by the traffic. As a rule, the sum
allowed in the budget, about £7,000, suffices for the extra labour
incurred, but occasionally severe winters cause this to be greatly
exceeded, as in 1875-76, when the increase amounted to £8,000, and
no doubt in the winter that has just passed, 1880-81, the estimate
must also have been largely exceeded.
In England one of the greatest difficulties we have to contend
against is the disposal of the snow after it has been placed in the
cart.
If there is a river close by, it can be taken there and tipped, but
this is objectionable if it is a navigable river where dredging has
to be done, as it is surprising what a quantity of road scrapings
and other matters are always removed with the snow, and these
materials naturally sink to the bottom, and add considerably to the
cost of dredging.
If there are public parks the snow may be heaped in them, provided
no damage is done to the grass or paths, as the snow thus heaped
takes a considerable time to melt, the first effect of a thaw being
to consolidate it, but a better plan is to deposit it upon any
waste spots, if these are not too far from the streets which have
to be cleared.
Tipping the snow down the manholes into the sewers has been tried
in London and other cities, but has failed through the snow
consolidating, and although lighted gas jets have been turned on
to the snow, it has still melted too slowly to be of any practical
utility.
It has been suggested that a steam jet should be turned on the snow
as it lies in the streets, or after it has been heaped, but I very
much doubt the efficacy of this plan, although Messrs. Merryweather
& Co., of London, have, I understand, melted a cartload of snow
in seven minutes. It might, however, be possible to melt the snow
by the heat generated in the furnaces that are destroying the
house refuse by fire, and this could be effected without any large
expense beyond the cost of cartage of the snow to the depôts, which
would, of course, be necessary.
Failing an organization such as that of Milan, the following
suggestions may be of use to those who have sometimes to grapple
with this unproductive work:--
Do not attempt to cart away the snow while it is yet falling, but
try to make clear crossings for the foot passengers and to keep the
traffic open. If there should be a high wind at the time, and the
snow drifts in consequence, cut through the drifts so as to allow
the vehicular traffic to continue.
Directly the snow ceases to fall put on all available hands to
clear the channel gutters and street gratings, in preparation for
a sudden thaw, when, if these precautions were not taken, serious
flooding and great damage to property might ensue; for the same
reason cart away all the snow you can at the bottom of gradients
and in the valleys, and also from very narrow streets and passages,
&c.
In the wider streets use the snow plough, or with gangs of men (in
the snow season there is generally plenty of labour obtainable),
shovel the snow into a long narrow heap on each side of the street,
taking care to leave the channel gutters and gratings quite clear,
and a sufficient space between the heaps for at least two lines of
traffic. Passages must also be cut at frequent intervals through
the heaps, in order to allow foot passengers to cross the street,
and also to let the water reach the channel gutters as soon as the
snow begins to melt.
With regard to the question of clearing the snow from the footpaths
irrespective of the larger duty of clearing it from the streets,
it is often a disputed point in a town as to whether this should
be done by the Urban Authority at the expense of the rates, or by
the householders themselves, and this can only be settled where the
town has a private improvement act, in which a clause or clauses
may be inserted throwing the onus of such cleansing and sweeping
of the footpaths upon the several and respective occupiers of
houses and buildings. But on whoever the duty rests there is no
doubt that the easiest and quickest method of effecting a thorough
cleansing of a footpath from snow is by an application of salt,
and then to sweep off the slush that is engendered with a broom.
Medical men and others, however, assert that the practice of
putting salt with the snow is to make a freezing mixture, which is
detrimental to the health of persons walking on such a mixture,
and there can be no doubt that excessive cold is caused by this
practice, often sufficiently severe to crack the flagstones of the
foot pavement.
In the City of London the footways are swept once daily by men in
the employment of the Commissioners of Sewers, and in wet weather
those in the main streets are cleansed repeatedly during the day,
and this has been done, I believe, since the year 1872, although
the occupiers are legally liable for the execution of this work.
In Liverpool, also, this is done after a fall of snow, as will
appear from the following interesting remarks on the subject,
contained in a report by the Superintendent of the Scavenging
Department in that borough:--
"The only way to compass the removal of snow from the footwalks of
the principal thoroughfares within a comparatively short time is by
sprinkling them with salt such as is commonly used for agricultural
purposes. It is certain that, unaided by the salt, a sufficient
number of men cannot be procured for the emergency of clearing snow
from the footways of the most important thoroughfares. It has been
stated by medical authorities that the application of salt to snow
is detrimental to the health of people who have to walk through the
'slush' produced by the mixture, and that the excessive cooling of
the air surrounding the places where the application has been made
is injurious to delicate persons. It, therefore, seems that the
application of salt to snow should not be undertaken during the day
time, but should be commenced not before 11 p.m., nor continued
after 6 a.m., and that only such an area of footwalks should be so
treated on any one night as the available staff of men can clear by
an early hour the following morning.
"To sweep snow from the footwalks whilst the fall of snow
continues, and especially during business hours, appears to be
wasteful and futile, and to apply salt during the same periods may
be held to be injurious to health.
"That the snow of an ordinary fall can be removed from the
footwalks by an application of salt an hour or so before they are
scraped is an ascertained fact, except at least when a moderately
severe frost has preceded, accompanied, or followed the snow fall,
or when the snow has drifted into extensive accumulations. Were
it not for the danger to health by excessive cooling of the air,
and for the expense attending the operation, all the impervious
pavements could be cleared of snow (unless the fall was a heavy
one) in a comparatively short time by a liberal application of salt
and the employment of the horse sweeping machines as soon as the
snow had become sufficiently softened to admit of their use."
To these remarks I have nothing to add, except to suggest that in
addition to clearing the snow from the footpaths care should also
be taken to scrape out and thoroughly clear the roof water trunks,
which are frequently found crossing the footpavements; if these
remain choked damage may ensue to the adjoining property when a
thaw commences.
CHAPTER IX.
"STREET WATERING."
The effective watering of streets and roads in any town during the
summer months is an important matter, not only on sanitary grounds,
but also from the fact that considerable damage may be caused in
the neighbouring shops, warehouses, and dwellings, if something is
not done to prevent the clouds of detritus and decaying refuse,
of which the dust is composed, from being blown about. In the
metropolis of London alone, the watering of the streets and roads
employs, in addition to a staff of surveyors, inspectors, and
foremen, about 1,500 men, and an equal number of horses and carts;
and in order to lay the dust effectually, about 30,000 tons of
water must be spread upon the streets every dry day, the cost of
this gigantic work being nearly £200,000 per annum upon an average
of 120 days, when watering becomes necessary.
The most commonly known method in this country for watering the
streets and roads of our towns is that of carrying the water in
wheeled barrels, carts, or vans, and distributing it therefrom
through a perforated pipe upon the surface of the road as the
vehicle is drawn along by a horse attached to the shafts.
The points of importance to be considered under this system are as
follows:--
(1.) The number and position of the stand posts or hydrants, from
which the water carts are to be filled, and whether they shall be
"swan neck" stand posts or "valve" hydrants.
(2.) The size and form of the body of the water carts, as regards
its cubical capacity, its weight, strength, lightness of draught,
durability, width of spread, and shape of jet, so as to ensure
evenness of supply without leaving pools of water or dry patches
after it has passed, or causing that unpleasant cloud of dust which
so often follows the cart.
A wonderful improvement in all these respects has been lately
effected by the introduction of Mr. E. H. Bayley's Patent
Hydrostatic Van, of which I shall speak more in detail hereafter.
(3.) Another point of some importance is the material of which the
hose shall be constructed, if valve hydrants and not swan necks
are existing. My opinion is that it should be of leather, as being
roughly handled and little cared for; canvass hose, although the
cheapest, is not sufficiently durable, and is consequently the
dearest in the end; and (4), lastly, the driver and horse should
both be of some intelligence. A check should also, if possible,
be kept upon the former to see that he performs his allotted
task, and does his proper number of rounds. Mr. Bayley has also
introduced for this purpose a "Tell Tale Indicator," which records
automatically the quantity of water used; it cannot be tampered
with, and registers on a dial outside the van each load of water
delivered, so that the surveyor or other officer can see at a
glance whether the driver is attending to his work, or whether the
hot weather has made him find his throat drier than the roads,
and he has been spending some of his time in moistening it. In
the year 1856, Mr. Scott, C.E., the chief surveyor of the parish
of St. Pancras, kept an account of the daily round of an ordinary
water cart, when he found that through an average working day of
10¼ hours, exclusive of the breakfast and dinner hours, the cart
took one hour and twenty minutes filling, fifty minutes only in
distributing the water on the roads, and eight hours and seven
minutes in travelling to spread the water and back to the stand
posts. It was obvious that these were placed too far apart, and by
the subsequent introduction of additional standposts Mr. Scott
found, in the year 1867, that the filling occupied two hours, the
distribution one hour and thirty minutes, and the travelling to and
fro six hours and thirty minutes, so that it may be assumed, with
an ordinary two-wheeled water cart, that two-thirds of the day is
spent in travelling, one-fifth in filling, and about one-seventh in
the actual spreading.
To many of my readers Bayley's Van is probably as familiar as it is
to me, but it may notwithstanding be well to describe it. It is a
handsome vehicle in appearance, the body being made of wrought iron
plates, and measures 8 ft. in length by 4 ft. 8 in. in breadth,
and 2 ft. in depth, holding 450 gallons. It is mounted on springs
upon four wheels hung upon Bayley's patent axles, and has a pair of
light shafts; it can easily be fitted with a break for hilly roads,
and there being no weight at any time upon the horse's back, he is
relieved from any severe strains.
By means of an adjustable valve the flow of water can be regulated
according to the state of the roads, and, if necessary, a double
valve can be inserted, so that either side of the distributor can
be at work when only half the width is required, or when passing a
carriage or narrow spaces.
The branch pipe is of uniform size, except close to the spreader,
where it enlarges in order to avoid friction, and this is assisted
by the branch pipe being shaped into a cycloidal curve on each side.
In order to obtain as great a pressure as possible upon the jets
of the distributing pipe, and thus to give the side jets a greater
trajectory than they otherwise would have, the tank is elevated as
high as is consistent with the conditions of draught. At the same
time, the distributing pipes are placed as near to the ground as
convenient, so that the maximum extent of distribution is obtained,
and that with less dust and splashing than in the ordinary system.
The holes in the distributing pipe instead of being drilled in
straight lines, are on a curved line, which rises along the length
of the pipe from the centre towards the ends. This has been found
necessary, in order that the distributing pipe may be placed
low, and at the same time advantage be taken of the width of the
trajectory of the jets.
Comparing the work of one of these vans with that reported upon
by Mr. Scott, it is found that the van occupies nine minutes in
filling, six minutes in spreading the water, and only three hours
and fifteen minutes in travelling to and fro, so that in seven
hours it accomplishes as much work as the ordinary water cart
effects in ten hours.
In Edinburgh, where a trial of one of these vans took place
against one of the old carts, it was found that the van spread the
water a width of 20 feet, while the old cart only covered 14 feet;
the van conveyed the water 1,731 feet, and the cart only 951 feet.
The superficial area watered by one load of the van was 34,620
feet, and by the old system only 13,314 feet. When we consider the
time that is lost in travelling to and from the stand pipe, what a
large saving this represents in the cost of this work.
Mr. Tomkins, C.E., the surveyor of the important Metropolitan
parish of St. George, Hanover Square, has made the following
comparative experiments with one of Bayley's vans as against an
ordinary cart:--
+-----------+--------+--------+---------+----------+-----------+------+
| |Contents| No. of | Total | | | Gain |
| | in |Loads to|quantity | Time. |Difference.| per |
| |Gallons.| cover |of Water.| | | Cent.|
| | | beat. | | | | |
+-----------+--------+--------+---------+----------+-----------+------+
| | | | |Hrs. Mnts.| Hrs. Mnts.| |
|Van | 450 | 5½ | 2475 | 1 23 | -- | -- |
|No. 4 Cart | 225 | 11 | 2475 | 1 50 | 0 27 | 24½ |
| | | | | | | |
|Van | 450 | 5½ | 2475 | 1 38 | -- | -- |
|No. 9 Cart | 237 | 11 | 2607 | 2 10 | 0 32 | 25 |
| | | | | | | |
|Van | 450 | 6 | 2700 | 1 45 | -- | -- |
|No. 15 Cart| 290 | 11 | 3190 | 2 10 | 0 25 | 19¼ |
| | | | | | | |
|Van | 450 | 8 | 3600 | 2 15 | -- | -- |
|No. 19 Cart| 260 | 17 | 4420 | 3 30 | 1 15 | 36 |
+-----------+--------+--------+---------+----------+-----------+------+
This shows a mean gain of 26 per cent. in favour of the van, and
the following tables made by an inspector in 1873, showing the
actual occupation of the ordinary carts and Bayley's vans during
a day's work, are extremely interesting, as showing that while
the van is engaged in spreading the water the time of the cart is
wasted in travelling to and from the stand posts, and when it is
borne in mind also that the van spreads water more widely than
the cart, there can be no doubt that a saving of at least 30 per
cent. can be effected by the substitution of these vans for the
old-fashioned cart.
CARTS.
+--------------+--------+----------+----------+------------+----------+
| | |Travelling|Travelling| | |
| |Filling.| Full. | Empty. |Waiting, &c.|SPREADING.|
+--------------+--------+----------+----------+------------+----------+
| | H. M. | H. M. | H. M. | H. M. | H. M. |
| Paddington | 1 45 | 2 9 | 1 58 | 0 20 | 1 30 |
| St. Saviour's| 1 29 | 2 16 | 2 4 | 0 26 | 1 29 |
| Strand | 1 11 | 2 30 | 2 18 | 0 17 | 1 3 |
| Kensington | 4 40 | 2 2 | 1 57 | 0 0 | 1 54 |
| Chelsea | 2 44 | 1 15 | 2 14 | 0 35 | 1 6 |
+--------------+--------+----------+----------+------------+----------+
VANS.
+--------------+--------+----------+----------+------------+----------+
| Paddington | 3 33 | 1 9 | 1 3 | 0 0 | 3 0 |
| St. Saviour's| 2 20 | 1 4 | 1 21 | 0 23 | 2 58 |
| Strand | 2 30 | 1 25 | 1 14 | 0 20 | 2 23 |
+--------------+--------+----------+----------+------------+----------+
One of the earliest methods for watering streets, but one which
has, I think, almost entirely died out on account principally
of the large quantity of water used in the process, was that of
allowing the water to run down the channel gutters, ponding it back
by means of canvass or leather aprons placed across the gutter,
and then spreading the water on to the surface of the street by
throwing it with wooden shovels.
This method, although at first sight may appear clumsy, is an
exceedingly good one upon sanitary grounds. It not only lays
the dust, but it washes the surface of the streets, and it most
effectually scours out the gutters and at the same time flushes
the sewers, which at the season that watering is necessary is also
of great importance to any town. By this process a delightful
freshness is given to the air, and the appearance of the cool
and limpid water rushing along on each side of the street acts
favorably upon the inhabitants. The great objections to this system
are the enormous quantity of water that is used in the process,
and the difficulty of doing the work after the traffic of the day
has commenced. Somewhat of a modification of this process is what
is known as "Brown's System of Street Watering," which may be
described as follows:--A lead pipe is laid in the footpath at the
back of the kerb on each side of the street to be watered, small
gratings or shields being fixed in the pipe at intervals of twelve
inches, and the remaining space filled with asphalte; small holes
are then bored in the pipe through the openings in the shields.
The pipe is connected with the water main in the street, and is
provided with the necessary stopcocks, &c.
On the water being turned on, fine jets are thrown in different
directions upon the surface of the street.
The width of roadway that can be watered by this process depends
upon the pressure of the water, but it may be fairly assumed that
in most towns streets of fifty feet width could be effectually
watered in a few minutes by a pipe on each side of the street.
This process has not gained much favour hitherto, principally on
account of the large first cost involved, which would amount to
upwards of £800 per mile of street, but the expense afterwards
should not much exceed the wages of one man at about 3s. 6d. per
day to manipulate the necessary work, and the interest on the
outlay and depreciation of the pipes, &c.
The other objections to this system are:--
(1.) The liability of the pipes and perforations to get out of
order, especially when allowed to lie idle for so many months in
each year.
(2.) The unpleasantness to pedestrians which must be caused whilst
the watering is proceeding.
(3.) The inconvenience to the traffic during the process.
(4.) The effect upon the water by high winds, when in all
probability it would be blown back across the foot pavements.
(5.) In very broad streets it would be inoperative.
In Paris and other continental cities, and also in several towns
in this country, the watering is effected by hose and reels, or by
portable iron tubes.
Mr. Parry, C.E., the borough surveyor of Reading, has given the
following particulars of the system of hand watering adopted in
that borough, in which he gives the cost, and describes the utility
of that method as compared with the use of water carts:--
A water cart (he states) will water twice a day a superficial area
of 23,849 yards, and for a length watered one width that means
5,962 lineal yards, or for a double width 2,981 yards, the cost per
day of laying on being as follows:--Horse, cart, and man, 8s.; cost
of maintenance of cart, harness, shoeing, &c., 1s. 5d., making 9s.
5d. per day.
With respect to the hand machines he states that he has one of
Headley's drum machines, and three of special make, somewhat
similar to those used in Paris. They are equal in point of work;
and one machine will water 23,740 square yards twice a day, which,
it will be observed, is very close to the amount of work performed
by a cart.
"Headley's machine cost us (he continues), five years ago when
new, £31 7s. 3d., and the repairs and maintenance since that date
have been £22, or an average of £4 8s. per annum, and is just now
almost past repair. The other description of hand machine cost each
when new £20, and the repairs and maintenance have amounted to an
average of £3 18s. each year. They were in use sometime before
Headley's was obtained, and they will be of use for a long time
yet. The cost of labour per day by the hand machines is for two
men at 2s. 10d. each--5s. 8d.--as it requires two men to work the
machine properly, one to distribute the water, and the other to
move the machine and to attach and detach the apparatus to and from
the hydrants; add to this 7d. per day for maintenance and repairs,
will make 6s. 3d. per day. The quantity of water delivered by the
water carts is 0.51 gallon per square yard, and by the hand machine
1.30 gallons."
It will thus be seen that in the case of the cart 24,324 gallons of
water are used per diem, and 61,724 gallons by the hand machines,
the surface watered being very nearly the same in both cases.
Assuming that the water has a commercial value of 6d. per 1,000
gallons, and adding this to the cost per diem in each case, the
total cost stands thus:--
Hand machines £1 10s. 10d.
Carts £1 1s. 7d.
the advantage in point of cost being in favour of the carts, but
the hand machine may water better, especially in broad streets,
although in narrow streets or where there is much traffic, this
method would be impracticable.
In Paris both hose and carts are used for watering the
thoroughfares, the former for the boulevards, the avenues, and
a certain number of first-class streets. The watering plant
belongs to the municipality, and they have various forms of
carts, containing 220, 242 and 286 gallons respectively, and will
water from 2,400 to 3,350 square yards. The watering by hose is
attended to by the ordinary street cleaners, who can easily water
24,000 square yards in about thirty-five minutes, deducting the
time necessary to connect the apparatus with the mains, but this
requires a gymnastic performance, which, if once seen, is not
easily forgotten.
Watering the streets with sea water should be adopted whenever it
is feasible, as it not only gives a delightful freshness to the air
and dispels iodine, but it also causes the surface of the street to
maintain its humidity for a longer period than when fresh water is
used, as it impregnates the soil with hygrometric matter.
This has been often attempted artificially, not only by adding
common salt to the water used for watering, but also by adding
chloride of calcium, notably in Rouen, where this material is
obtained from the manufactories of pyroligenous acid in the
neighbourhood. It is stated that on a mile of road, 16 feet in
width, 5,630 gallons of water were necessary daily, but that the
same result was attained with 1,480 gallons of chloride solution,
marking 30° Beaumé, and costing about ½d. per gallon, the
humectation remaining good for five or six days with the solution
of chloride. With water only in 1,093 yards, in four rounds daily,
3,520 gallons were used, the cost being 48s.; with chloride of
calcium the cost was 32s. per day.
Watering the roads with a largely diluted disinfectant, such as
"Sanitas" in the liquid form, is frequently of great benefit,
and where it can be afforded, it should be occasionally done,
especially in the narrower streets and more crowded districts of a
city or town.
CHAPTER X.
CONTRACTS _V._ ADMINISTRATION BY LOCAL AUTHORITY.
Amongst the questions which I addressed to the surveyors of the
principal towns of England was the following:--"Is the house refuse
collected by the Sanitary Authority or by a Contractor?" and out of
the ninety towns from which I received replies, only thirty were
found to employ contractors for this purpose, and of these the
authorities of two of them proposed to dispense with the services
of the contractor, and to administrate the work with their own
staff, as they found the existing state of things was thoroughly
unsatisfactory.
This is hardly to be wondered at when the nature of such contracts
comes to be considered. The "dust" or "slopping" contractor, or
whatever he may be designated, can hardly be expected to be a
philanthropist, whose principal object in carrying out his contract
is that of benefiting his fellow creatures and not himself; on the
contrary, it may fairly be assumed that the contractor's object is
to serve his own interests, and to make his contract pay. It is
but natural, although the result may not be eminently satisfactory
either to the ratepayers, who require a careful and systematic
cleansing of their dustbins and streets, or to the Sanitary
Authority and their officers who have to look after him. The
officers, if they do their strict duty, will probably be engaged
in constant disputes and litigation with the contractor as to the
due and proper observance of the terms of his contract, and the
consequence of their time being thus occupied instead of in other
more important matters, is naturally detrimental to the interests
of the ratepayers.
If we turn to the articles of agreement or contract usually drawn
up between a Sanitary Authority and a contractor for scavenging, we
find that they are generally very binding in their phraseology, and
enter fully into the details of the work; they should state very
clearly the number of times in every week that the contractor shall
cause all the ashpits in the districts enumerated to be emptied and
cleansed, the manner in which this work shall be performed, and how
the materials thus removed shall be disposed of and the place of
their ultimate destination. The conditions should further specify
what amount of manual, team labour, and carts, are necessary for
the work, and also what plant the contractor must keep in the way
of ladders, baskets, shovels, and brooms, &c. The conditions should
also contain a carefully prepared list of the streets to be swept,
and the manner and number of times this work must be executed, and
arrange for the disposal of the materials thus removed.
In many such contracts it is found necessary to insert clauses
binding the contractor under all sorts of fearful penalties, to
be always at the disposal and under the commands of the inspector
of nuisances, or such other officer or officers as the Sanitary
Authority may appoint. The contractor's men also are forbidden
to refuse gratuities (an order which they no doubt fully carry
out?) and are directed on no account to remove either trade or
garden refuse, and they are also enjoined to be "careful to
consult the convenience of the householders in their visits, and
to thoroughly clean up all dirt and litter that they may cause in
the discharge of their duties." If they fail in any or either of
these injunctions and commands, or for any other dereliction of
duty, the inspector of nuisances, or such other officer as the
Sanitary Authority shall appoint, may summarily dismiss them,
without any reference being made on the subject to their employer
the contractor, and in fact the conditions have necessarily to be
made so stringent and binding as to be either totally inoperative
or open to grave abuses, or, on the other hand, the work can be
carelessly and improperly executed by the contractor.
I am, therefore, strongly of opinion that the work of the
collection of house refuse and cleansing the streets should be
carried out by the Local Authority with their own officers and
staff, and that executing this work by contract is a mistake and
a false economy. It is, perhaps, true that it may be done in the
latter manner at less actual cost to the ratepayers, but all public
work should be done in the best manner possible, irrespective of
cost, thoroughly, but without extravagance, and the result of
such work, especially where it affects the cleanliness and the
appearance of a town, soon fully repays any moderate extra cost
that may thus have been incurred, irrespective of the enormous
benefit that is conferred upon any community by the reduction of
disease and the death-rate by a proper attention to such necessary
sanitary work.
CHAPTER XI.
"_£ s. d._"
A question of the greatest importance to the ratepayers, and one
in which they often take the most lively interest, is that of the
cost of maintaining the necessary staff for the purpose of carrying
out the scavenging of the town, or for paying the contracts for a
similar work.
It is, of course, not possible to lay down any hard and fast line
as to the cost of scavenging in any city or town, as it must
necessarily vary considerably according to circumstances; much
depends upon whether the district to be scavenged is an urban one,
consisting of houses closely packed together, or whether it is
suburban, with scattered villas and mansions standing in their own
grounds; the question, also, of the distance of the depôts to which
the material has to be carted, considerably affects the result of
any estimate, as also does the cost of horse hire, the rate of
wages, and whether the district is of a hilly or flat nature, and,
as I have before shown, the manner in which the streets are formed
and paved, the habits of the people, and last, but not least, the
manner of the eventual disposal of the rubbish after removal; all
these points must bear with great weight upon any question of cost,
and make the results widely different.
On referring to the returns to which I have more than once alluded,
it is found that the cost of removing the house refuse and
cleansing and sweeping the streets combined, varies considerably
in different localities, in one case the sum amounts only to the
rate of one half-penny per annum per head of the population of the
town, whereas in another case the amount is at the rate of three
shillings and sixpence per head. On calculating the average cost
per head of population per annum of the ninety towns from which I
received replies on this point, I find that it amounts to about
tenpence half-penny, after giving credit for any sum of money
realised by the sale of the refuse to farmers and others; so that
if this work is costing the ratepayers of a town or city anything
under a shilling per head of the whole population every year they
have no cause to grumble, as they are so frequently found to do
that their rates are higher, and what they have to show for them
less than any other town in England.
I have discussed the question of "contracts" or "administration"
in a former chapter, but there is still another question which is
also closely connected and intermingled with the question of cost,
and that is when the Sanitary Authority carry out the collection
and removal of the house refuse and cleanse the streets with their
own staff, whether it is better and more economical for them to
keep their own stud of horses or to hire them.
To do thorough justice to the work I am of opinion that both the
horses and carts should be the property of the Sanitary Authority
for the following reasons:--
(1.) The horses and their drivers should be under the control of
the town surveyor or superintendent, in the same manner as the
scavengers who accompany the cart. This is not the case if the
horses are hired.
(2.) The carts can be started on their rounds and leave work at
such time as may be found most convenient, and all the horses being
kept in one stable greatly facilitates this arrangement.
(3.) The horses hired for this kind of service are frequently quite
unfit to draw the bulky loads in the lofty carts behind them, and
opprobrium is thrown upon the Sanitary Authority and the officials
in consequence.
(4.) Economy in working is secured, for not only will good horses
properly kept do a much better day's work than bad ones ill kept,
but there is no one making a profit out of them as is the case when
the horses are hired.
With regard to the question as to the comparative cost of
scavenging where a stud of horses is kept and where they are hired,
the figures that I am about to give can only be speculative, as the
conditions of each town are so widely different, but the figures
may serve as a guide for forming an estimate of the kind, and they
may be altered to suit the requirements of any city or town.
I will, therefore, assume that a town with a population of about
35,000 inhabitants will require at least seven scavengers' carts
constantly at work, without reckoning those which will be required
after a fall of snow or in exceptionally muddy weather, and for
which purposes auxiliary horses and carts must be hired, as also
those which are engaged in hauling stones and other materials used
for roads or public works.
I have already stated that the value of an ordinary dust cart is
about £18, so I will retain that figure for my estimate.
The value of a new set of cart harness, including a loin cloth,
should not exceed £7.
To work seven carts properly, eight horses will be required, which
may be estimated to cost about £50 each.
The first cost of the necessary stabling for eight horses,
including purchase of land, erection of buildings with a foreman's
house, corn and hay lofts and machinery and tools, may be reckoned
at about £1,500.
With regard to the wages to be paid to the scavengers and the
carters, it may be reasonably assumed that their rate of wages may
be much lower than that paid to navvies, or what are known as "pick
and shovel" men, for the following reasons:--
In all house refuse there is always present a quantity of such
materials as rags, bones, pieces of iron, and other articles, which
have a commercial value, and behind each scavenger's cart hangs a
sack, into which all such articles are placed by the men engaged
in the removal of the house refuse, and are subsequently sold, and
the spoil divided between them as perquisites. I have been credibly
informed that in some localities the amount thus realised averages
more than four shillings a week throughout the year.
It is also a notable fact that although the householders are most
particularly requested not to give gratuities to the men employed
by the Sanitary Authority in this work, yet a considerable number
of them constantly give the men a gratuity or bribe to ensure
the dustbin being regularly and properly cleared, although the
less generous, or poorer members of the community probably suffer
in consequence; again at Christmas the scavenger feels himself
entitled to demand and receive a handsome present in the form of
a Christmas-box, which, in a rich neighbourhood, amounts in the
aggregate to no inconsiderable sum.
For these reasons I put the wages both of the scavenger and the
carter at 16s. each per week, and adding a guinea a week for the
foreman, who has in addition to this a house to live in rent free,
and a stableman at 18s. a week, the total expenses are accounted
for except those of the keep of the horses, shoeing, veterinary
attendance, lighting the stable, &c.
This also is a sum very difficult to estimate, as fodder, bedding,
&c., varies so widely in different districts, but for the purposes
of this calculation it may be estimated that 17s. per horse per
week should be sufficient to cover all expenses under these heads.
For the purposes of this calculation it will be necessary to assume
that the £1,500 has been borrowed at 4½ per cent. in perpetuity,
although as a matter of fact any monies borrowed for such a
purpose as this would probably carry a sinking fund, so as to
liberate the debt at the end of thirty or perhaps fifty years, but
if I were to reckon the interest in this way in my estimate, it
would complicate it unnecessarily.
I have assumed that to meet the depreciation of horse flesh it will
be necessary to put aside the value of one horse each year, without
reckoning anything per contra for the sale of those worn out or
injured in the work, as I think this will be found to be what would
be necessary.
I have allowed £50 per annum for repairs and depreciation of
the buildings and machinery, as I consider this should be quite
sufficient for a well-managed and cared-for property.
I have allowed 15 per cent. per annum for repairs and depreciation
of the harness, and 12 per cent. for the carts.
The estimate will consequently stand thus:--
SPECIMEN ESTIMATE of the cost per annum involved by any Urban
Sanitary Authority of a town of 35,000 inhabitants, in executing
the work of collection of house refuse and the cleansing of
streets, with their own staff of men and horses and carts.
Annual Cost.
£ s. d.
Capital borrowed £1,500, yearly interest at 4½ per cent 67 10 0
Do. do. for 8 horses at £50 £400
Do. do. for 7 carts at £18 £126
Do. do. for 7 sets of harness
at £7 £49
----
£575 at 4½ per cent. 25 17 6
Repairs to buildings, machinery, &c. 50 0 0
Depreciation of horse flesh, say 50 0 0
Do. of 7 carts, costing £126, at 12 per cent. 15 2 2
Do. of 7 sets of harness, costing £49, at 15
per cent. 7 7 0
Wages of 7 carters at 16s. each per week 291 4 0
Do. of 7 scavengers at do. do. 291 4 0
Do. of 7 sweepers of roads at do. do. 291 4 0
Do. of 1 foreman at 21s. per week 54 12 0
Do. of 1 stablekeeper at 18s. do. 46 16 0
Keep, &c., of 8 horses at 17s. per week each 353 12 0
--------------
Total estimated cost £1,544 8 11
==============
If the foregoing estimate is compared with the standard of one
shilling per head of the population per annum, which I have fixed
as a fair average cost of such work, it is found to be less by
£205 than that of a town of 35,000 inhabitants, for this latter
case amounts to £1,750, and nothing has been allowed for the
possible sale of the house refuse thus collected, but, on the other
hand, I have allowed nothing for any emergency, such as a very
rainy season or a deep fall of snow.
If the horses and drivers had been hired the estimate might stand
thus:--
Annual Cost.
£ s. d.
Hire of 7 horses and drivers at 8s. per diem for six
days a week 873 12 0
Hire of 4 horses and drivers on Sunday, half-a-day
each 41 12 0
Foreman to superintend (no free house rent as in
former case) 65 0 0
Wages of scavengers as before 291 4 0
Do. of sweepers do. 291 4 0
--------------
£1,562 12 0
==============
This shows that the cost of hiring would be slightly in excess
of that of keeping a stud of horses, and when we consider the
unquestionable benefit to be derived by adopting this method, I
think most Urban Authorities who are now hiring their team labour
would do well to consider the question of purchasing and keeping
their own stud.
Great care, however, would have to be exercised in the
supervision, or the expenditure would speedily increase, as in all
stable establishments without such supervision, grave abuses, and
even fraud, may go undetected for a considerable period.
The figures that I have given in my estimates must not be
criticised, for they are not intended to fix the value of such
work, but simply to act as a guide to anyone interested in making
an estimate of the kind, in which case prices more in accordance
with the district could be inserted.
The following table, however, gives the actual cost of collecting
house refuse and cleansing and watering streets in fourteen large
English towns:--
+-------------+----------------------+----------------------------+
| | Annual cost of col- | This amounts to the |
| | lecting house refuse | following:-- |
|Name of Town.| and cleansing and +--------------+-------------+
| | watering streets and | Per 1,000 of | Per mile of |
| | courts. | population. | streets. |
+-------------+----------------------+--------------+-------------+
| | £ | £ | £ |
| Bedford | 900 | 45.0 | 45.9 |
| Bristol | 13,005 | 63.1 | 108.3 |
| Cambridge | 2,350 | 67.1 | 83.9 |
| Cardiff | 5,545 | 65.2 | 95.6 |
| Carlisle | 2,261 | 64.6 | 113.0 |
| Exeter | 2,100 | 52.5 | 60.0 |
| Gloucester | 1,478 | 36.9 | 49.3 |
| Liverpool | 82,284 | 151.2 | 316.2 |
| Northampton | 2,820 | 51.3 | 104.4 |
| Oxford | 2,750 | 63.9 | 85.9 |
| Portsmouth | 5,276 | 39.0 | 101.4 |
| Southampton | 1,999 | 33.3 | 45.4 |
| Southport | 4,077 | 119.9 | 97.0 |
| Swansea | 4,200 | 60.0 | 76.3 |
+-------------+----------------------+--------------+-------------+
_These figures are taken from a return prepared by Mr. Williams, C.E.,
Engineer to the Borough of Cardiff._
I have frequently referred to some returns which I have obtained
on the subject of the collection of house refuse and cleansing of
streets, and it may be interesting and of use to others who wish
to obtain information on these subjects if before closing this
book I give a list of the questions that were asked. They were as
follows:--
(1.) Name of city or town.
(2.) Number of inhabitants.
(3.) Area of district scavenged.
(4.) Is the house refuse collected by the Urban Authority.
(5.) Or by a contractor.
(6.) How often is the house refuse removed.
(7.) Do the scavengers make a house to house call.
(8.) Or do they give notice of their approach by ringing a bell
or otherwise, and require the householder to bring out the refuse
to the cart.
(9.) Do the scavengers remove garden or trade refuse, and, if so,
under what conditions.
(10.) Are the house dustbins, as a rule, fixed or movable.
(11.) Have you any public dustbins, and, if so, are they merely
isolated instances, or have you a regular system.
(12.) Number of depôts for the refuse collected, and the distance
they are from the town.
(13.) How is the refuse disposed of.
(14.) Approximate mileage of streets cleansed.
(15.) Are all the streets swept daily, or only the principal ones.
(16.) Have you any provision for sweeping streets oftener than
once a day, or for the frequent removal of horse dung, &c.
(17.) Are private courts and alleys swept and cleansed by the
Urban Authority, and, if so, how frequently.
(18.) What number of men, horses, and carts respectively, do you
employ.
(19.) Net cost of your system after giving credit for any money
realised by sale of refuse.
In concluding this little book on "Dirty Dustbins and Sloppy
Streets," I hope that what has been said may be of some use to my
readers, and that they will themselves supply any omissions that
they have found, and kindly correct all the errors, which are only
too ready to creep into a work of this description.
FINIS.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.
The Table on page 54 entitled 'GROSS COST FOR ...' was large in width,
and has been split into two parts. The first column (Street.) is
repeated in the second part.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example,
brick makers, brick-makers; pervious; potatoe; unhung; rinsings.
Pg 7, 'ash pit attached' replaced by 'ashpit attached'.
Pg 11, 'distance of ' replaced by 'distance of __.
Pg 30, 'a specialite' replaced by 'a speciality'.
Pg 56, 'of sillicate' replaced by 'of silicate'.
Pg 66, 'clearing the foothpaths' replaced by 'clearing the footpaths'.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Dirty Dustbins and Sloppy Streets - A Practical Treatise on the Scavenging and Cleansing of Cities and Towns" ***
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