View report page

1903]
220
7. Scavenging arrangements in relation to house refuse should, therefore,
be framed with reference to the fact that such refuse soon becomes
highly offensive, and that any two day's detention of it creates a nuisance.
8. The presence of a nuisance of this character pollutes the air near
the dwelling, and it must also be remembered that many of these dustbins
are kept in the houses, especially in flats and tenement houses, and not in
the yards, with the result that such diseases as diarrhoea, diphtheria, sore
throats, nausea, giddiness, faintness, a general sense of depression, and
headache follow.
9. The effluvium attracts flies to the house, and they, after feeding on
putrescible matters, frequently contaminate milk and food, if they do not
actually act as the direct carriers of disease.
10. The removal of week old dust from houses has caused frequent
complaints to be made by the School Board Authority as to a nuisance
caused at the Great Eastern Railway Siding at Upper Holloway, while it
also occasionally causes a nuisance at the depot at Ashburton Grove.
These nuisances are of course much less in winter than in the
summer, when they are at times considerable.
11. The removal of this refuse has been the subject of complaint to the
Great Eastern Railway Company by the Tottenham Sanitary Authority,
who have threatened to stop the passage of offensive matter through their
district unless the waggons are properly covered in, so that the effluvium
shall not create a nuisance.
12. This stoppage would mean a very serious extra charge for carriage
alone, owing to the necessity it would involve of providing covered railway
trucks.
13. The Conference of London Local Authorities held in 1901 on
streets and street traffic passed the following resolution: "That in the
opinion of the Conference house refuse should be removed daily where
practicable."
14. The desire of the London County Council, knowing and understanding
the direct bearing it has on the health of the Metropolis, is to
procure daily removal of dust, but they have for the present waived this
with a view of securing its removal twice a week, a proposal which is
most desirable and should not be impossible to accomplish.
Dust Receptacles.—During the year, 705 new sanitary dustbins were
provided, and 240 dust receptacles were repaired, while 558 were ordered to be
removed because they had been placed in improper positions,