View report page

46
BYE-LAWS.
During the past year the Vestry has made Bye-Laws relating
to the cleansing of cisterns, waterclosets, &c., they are drafted
on the lines of the Model Bye-Laws of the Local Government
Board and have received the sanction of that body, and they are
now in operation. Bye-Laws have also been made by the
London County Council under the Public Health Act, 1891,
which apply to the whole of London, these are now operative
having been sanctioned by the Local Government Board ; they
are of a very stringent character and relate to such matters as
the removal of manure, dust, offal, etc., and prescribe the kind
and size of the receptacle to be used, also to waterclosets, soilpipes
and the proper accessories in connexion with buildings.
It is the duty of Local Authorities to enforce these Bye-Laws,
and in our district we are endeavouring to have them carried
out. In the case of the receptacles for manure now used both
by horsekeepers and cowkeepers there is scarcely one of them
that comply with the regulations ; we shall however have little
difficulty in getting the latter to amend their present receptacles
so as to comply with the requirements, as all cowkeepers are
obliged to have their licenses renewed annually, and it may be
taken for granted that unless they carry out the Bye-Laws by
that time the Council will not renew the licenses.
VENTILATION OF SEWERS.
The question of the efficient ventilation of the great drainage
channels in our district is one of no slight importance, and
although we cannot positively say to what extent the present
system plays on the health of its teeming thousands we may
readily assume that it is not conducive to their welfare, and
many cases of sceptic sore throat, etc., no doubt owe their origin
to this very crude way of simply allowing the gases to escape in
the middle of our crowded thoroughfares ; where the roadways
are wide the danger is much less than in our narrow streets,
owing to the gases being diluted with fresh air and being in the
centre of the roadway have less liability of being an offence to
foot passengers and of gaining an entrance to houses; but in our
narrow streets some better mode ought to be adopted, such as
carrying ventilating shafts up the gable ends of houses or
factories and sufficiently high to enable the gases to mix freely
with pure air ; in a number of our sewer ventilators we have an
apparatus fixed for the gases to pass through a chamber before
coming into the open air, at the present time experiments are
being carried out to test its efficacy as a disinfecting as well as a
deodorising agent, which if it proves all we hope it will, I shall
feel it my duty to recommend its use all over the Hamlet.
Another danger of ventilation of the sewers into the open air is
by inefficient trapping of street gullies, and this is by far the