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193
the London County Council in 1889. Beyond question, the
Sanitary Authority should undertake the removal, at the cost of
the owner, of all such " refuse " matters, of animal and vegetable
origin, as may become, if left too long on the premises, injurious
to health ; and in the interests of public health, moreover,
the producer of trade refuse of an offensive sort should
be compelled to employ the services of the Sanitary Authority
for its removal. But it is precisely the refuse of an offensive
character that the Sanitary Authority are not called upon or
expected to remove—viz., that produced by butchers, fishmongers,
fried fish dealers, poulterers, &c., who pay substantial
sums for the service, which in the past has been conducted not
seldom in an objectionable manner. As already intimated
the bye-laws made by the County Council have enabled
Sanitary Authorities to bring about improvements in the
method of storage and of removal of these kinds of offensive
refuse.
STABLE REFUSE.
In many of my Annual Reports mention has been made
of the frequency of complaints in regard to accumulations of
stable manure, as " the most common of recurring nuisances
with which the Sanitary Inspectors have to deal." Your
Vestry many years ago exercised the powers conferred
by section 53 of the Sanitary Act, 1866, by giving public
notice for " the periodical removal of manure or other refuse
matter from mews, stables," &c. ; the regulations requiring
such removal to be effected on " alternate days," the penalty
for default being " twenty shillings per day for every day
during which such manure or other refuse matter shall be
permitted to accumulate." The non-removal is sometimes
the fault of the coachman, who will not give the refuse away,
the farmers, moreover, being, as a rule, unwilling to pay for it.
At certain seasons—e.g., haymaking and harvest time—there
is, no doubt, a difficulty in getting the receptacles cleared,
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