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47
most danger to the passenger traffic, situated as they are close
to the kerbstone, and when the air in the sewers becomes
warmer than the surrounding atmosphere then an inefficient
gully trap acts as a ventilator from the sewer and so the
passenger traffic gets the full benefit as many can testifiy.
During this last year my attention has repeatedly been called
to the smells from our gullies, in fact in many cases during the
hot weather householders often placed sacks or other covering
over the gratings; we used powerful disinfectants to prevent the
decomposition of the solid matter repeatedly, and this checked
the smell to a small extent, but after going into the matter and
inspecting a large number of our gullies I am convinced that the
stench arises mainly from the imperfect trapping of the same,
the trap principally used is what is called a flap trap and consists
of a flap of iron that allows the water to go to the sewer and
prevents its return, for this purpose and also preventing vermin
from coming from the sewers it acts well, but for preventing the
escape of sewer gas from the sewers it is useless, and 110 trap
can, without having a quantity of water to act as a seal between
the air in the sewer and the open air, be said to be effective ;
when one sees as I have done in numbers of instances this flap
of iron propped open by bits of wood, paper, etc., that have
accidentally been swept into the gullies, one need say little more
to show the cause of the offensive smells given off from these
gratings. With a view of ascertaining the kind of gullies used
in other Metropolitan Parishes I addressed a circular letter to
25 other districts and had 19 replies 15 stating that traps having
a water seal was now being used in their district whilst two
only were using the same kind that we were ; I reported the
matter to the Sanitary Committee and they have inspected
several kinds of gully traps having the proper water seal and
several of these have been laid down with a view to try which
acts the best, and I trust it may not be long before means are
taken to replace all the old ones now in use and substitute
others of more modern construction. This, gentlemen, is a matter
which plays a very important part in the healthiness of any
district as common sense tells us that in crowded districts like
our own we can well do without noxious gases emanating from
openings that are connected with our sewers.
COW-HOUSES AND SLAUGHTER-HOUSES.
The owners of these premises are licensed by the County
Council annually, and before the day of application duplicate
copies of application are sent on to the various Local Authorities
and it is the duty of such Authorities to ascertain the sanitary
condition of these buildings. The Sanitary Inspectors and myself
have visited the whole of them and we found them
generally to be kept in a cleanly condition, the receptacles for