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63
I am afraid the only proceedure left to the local authority now
to diminish the refusals, is to adopt the suggestion of the London
County Council and prosecute.
It may be well here to give a brief description of the system of
removing the house refuse practised in this district. For the
purposes of dust removal, the whole district is sub-divided into
sub-districts, to each of which one of the Vestry's dustmen is
appointed with two vans, horses and carmen, supplied by the
contractors. It is the dustman's duty to call at every occupied
house in his sub-district, and, if possible, remove the dust at least
once a week. In order to learn where the dustmen are refused
admission, or where no replies to their calls are made, each dustman
is supplied with a sheet, on which he marks the number of the house
under its appropriate heading of " refusal " or " no answer." These
sheets are handed into the Public Health Office every morning and
tabulated. If a complaint of non-removal of dust is made,
we can, by turning to the sheets, see whether it is the fault
of the householder or dustman. The fulness of the loads is
checked by men appointed by the Vestry, before delivery of the
refuse at the shoot or place of deposit. It would, in my opinion,
be more satisfactory if each van-load were weighed, and payment
made at per ton.
Most of the Hackney refuse is deposited on a "shoot" in the
neighbourhood of Hackney Wick. Although I am unable to trace
any disease in the district to this cause, I regard the presence of this
large accumulation of filth as a menace to this and neighbouring
districts ; and I should be glad to see the " shoot " closed, and all
the Hackney refuse burned in a well-designed destructor. This is
the only sanitary mode of dealing with offensive refuse of any
kind.