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196
1904]
Underground Rooms.—57 underground rooms which had been illegally
occupied were closed. It is satisfactory to note that the number of these
rooms in occupation are very few, as they were very stringently dealt with
some years ago.
Houses closed.—No houses were closed as being unfit for human
habitation.
Nuisances from Sewers.—Very few complaints were received, and
those that have been made generally related to street gullies that were
untrapped. Whenever these have been discovered they have been reported to
the Borough Engineer who has had the defects remedied.
Serious cause for complaint has in the past few years arisen owing to the
overflow of what is known as the Stroud Green Road Sewer, which has proved
insufficient to carry off the rainfall and sewage of the district which it serves,
due to the largely increased number of houses and area which have been
drained into it, especially in Hornsey, part of which borough it also serves.
The triangular dispute which arose between the London County Council,
Islington, and Hornsey, has now been settled by arbitration before Lord James
of Hereford, so that there is every prospect of the grave nuisance caused by the
flooding of numerous houses being averted in the future by the building of a
larger sewer.
Manure Depots.—There is only one place in the borough where manure
is sometimes stored, namely, at the Great Eastern Railway sidings at
Ashburton Grove, where a large manure contractor deposits stable manure
prior to sending it to farmers. As a rule great efforts are made by this firm to
get it quickly away, but at times, especially during the hay and harvest
seasons, owing to all the farm hands being engaged in harvesting operations,
difficulty is met with, and then it becomes almost a necessity to deposit it for
a short while. The alternative to doing this is to allow it to accumulate at
the stables, which of course cannot be thought of. A remonstrance was
addressed to the firm on one occasion, and after a slight delay the deposit was
removed by rail.
A large quantity of the dust and ashes from houses as well as of the street
sweepings are also sent away by the Council by rail from a siding at this place, and
it is satisfactory to note that the work was well done, little or no nuisance
being reported. Of course a manure siding can never be kept altogether
free from nuisance, nevertheless there are some people who complain
because now and again a faint odour, which it is impossible to prevent,