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38
MISCELLANEOUS.
Return of the Metropolitan Asylums Board.—
During the past year 6,815 cases were admitted into this
Hospital, situated at Winchmore Hill; of these 6,589 were
Scarlet Fever, and 226 Diphtheria.
There were 8 deaths from Scarlet Fever.
Sewerage and Sewage Disposal.—The District is
drained by the dual system. The surface water sewers
discharge at convenient points into the nearest watercourses,
and as the fields adjoining the smaller courses become
converted into building land, suitable sewers and culverts are
provided. Where possible and necessary the surface water
sewers are laid at such depths as will enable the subsoil
under cellars and basements to be drained and connected
thereto, thus ensuring dry dwellings and avoiding any
accumulations of stagnant water inside any dwelling-house.
The main foul sewers traverse as much as possible the
natural valleys, and run from the higher lands on the east
towards the west, where they join up to the sewers of the
Edmonton District at three points along the boundary
between the Southgate and Edmonton Districts. At each of
these points is a specially designed chamber, entirely constructed
underground, for gauging the quantity of sewage that
passes through. By the Edmonton Local Board Separation
Act, 1881, by which Southgate became a separate District,
the Edmonton District is required to receive, convey, and
dispose of the sewage of Southgate, payment being made
according to the quantity ascertained by a monthly system of
gauging. After the separation from Edmonton it was found
that the main sewers were in a very bad condition, and these
have since been reconstructed upon the most improved
principles. Only one length of sewer, apart from culverts, is
now constructed of brickwork, that one being the southern
main joining the Edmonton sewers.
The sewers are laid principally in open trenches, but as
their depth is in some cases as much as 25 feet below the
surface, the driving of short tunnels as headings is occasionally
resorted to. Pynmies Brook is crossed in several places by
means of inverted syphons. These have been constructed
with iron pipes from special designs, which permit the
smallest area of sewage being exposed in the manholes, and
have worked satisfactorily. The sewers are also carried at
several points under the New River, and recently the late
New River Company insisted upon a special system being