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310 drains were reconstructed and 1,177 repaired. It is to be hoped that the
New County Council will undertake what has been so long neglected and what
the County Council alone possesses the power of doing, viz., to draft bye-laws for
the regulation of drainage in the Metropolis.
SEWERAGE.
The sewerage in the Gray's Inn Road and neighbourhood has been much
improved, the good effect of which will in course of time demonstrate itself.
The streets catch-pits intercepting the road refuse continue to be treated with
an antiseptic to prevent decomposition.
The ventilation of sewers requires attention for its improvement, reference to
the spot-map shows the prevalence of diphtheria in the higher situated parts
where ventilation above the house-tops may be most advantageously carried out.
Periodical flushing of sewers since the introduction of the constant system of
water supply and the fixing of numerous hydrants becomes a matter of routine
of great value sanitarily.
REFUSE REMOVAL.
The mews and stable yards in the Parish are regularly inspected, and during
the warm weather special attention is directed to the removal of stable refuse every
forty-eight hours, but the use of peat, sawdust, and other litter in the place of
straw produces such rapid fermentation that a few hours suffice to render the
process of disturbance in removal sickening. In large Stable Yards the turning
over of the manure might be avoided, and some labour saved by substituting a van
for the manure bin and driving it away without disturbance. The extra cost of a
second van to replace that removed would probably be recovered by the saving of
labour.