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74
Daily Collection of Refuse.—In some parts of the London districts a daily collection
of refuse is made, and sooner or later it will become a question for certain
parts of St. Pancras. This will apply especially to those thoroughfares to which
the police regulation extends, which regulation requires the dust to be removed
before 10 o'clock in the morning. Those thoroughfares are Gray's Inn Road,
Euston Road, Tottenham Court Road, and Hampstead Road, and to them should
be added Camden High Street.
The London County Council Bye-law as to the daily removal of house refuse is
as follows:—"Where a Sanitary Authority arrange for the daily removal of house
refuse in their district or any part thereof, the occupier of any premises in such
district or part thereof on which house refuse may from time to time accumulate
shall at such hour of the day as the Sanitary Authority shall fix and notify by
public announcement in their district, deposit on the kerbstone, or on the outer
edge of the footway immediately in front of the house or in a conveniently accessible
position on the premises, as the Sanitary Authority may prescribe by written
notice served upon the occupier, a movable receptacle, in which shall be placed, for
the purposes of removal by or on behalf of the Sanitary Authority, the house refuse
which has accumulated on such premises since the preceding collection by such
Authority. The Sanitary Authority shall collect such refuse, or cause the same to be
collected, between such hours of the day as they have fixed and notified by public
announcement in their district."
Two points will no doubt arise when such a system is adopted for special
thoroughfares or areas. One as to the kind of receptacles to be used, and the other
as to the location of the receptacles.
As to the kind of receptacles, the London County Council Bye-law provides that
"when any person shall provide an ash pit in connection with a building, he shall
cause the same to consist of one or more movable receptacles sufficient to contain the
house refuse which may accumulate during any period not exceeding one week.
Each such receptacle shall be constructed of metal and shall be provided with one
or more suitable handles and cover. The capacity of each and such receptacle
shall not exceed two cubic feet." It may be hoped, therefore, that the thoroughfares
would not be disfigured by the appearances of old boxes, pails, tanks, scuttles, and
such like contrivances in a dilapidated condition.
As to the location of the receptacles, this would depend upon the construction of
the houses. The fronts of houses may lay back with enclosed forecourts, or possess
porticoes, or be flush with the street frontage line, with or without recessed entrances.
The last condition is more commonly met with in the thoroughfares mentioned and
the dust receptacles would then appear on the curb. But this, accompanied by
daily morning removal, would be a lesser evil than the retention of reluse inside
premises, many of which are entirely built over and possess no open space.
REMOVAL OF MANURE.
The Public Health Committee of the London County Council have from time to
time received complaints of nuisance arising from accumulations of manure at
various premises in London. Under Section 36 of the Public Health (London)
Act, 1891, each Sanitary Authority is empowered to employ or contract with
scavengers "for collecting and removing the manure and other refuse matter from
"any stables and cow-houses within their district, the occupiers of which signify