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satisfaction that the views approved by the late Vestry in regard to the storage and removal of peat
moss litter have so far prevailed; but it is to be regretted that the Council have not seen their way
to adopt the views set out in these reports with regard to the removal of fish offal, and other like
refuse, in the shop receptacles, rather than in tank-vans.
OFFENSIVE SMELLS IN STREETS.
As usual, during the summer months complaints were received, from different parts of the
borough, of stinks, which were usually traced to the presence of untrapped street gullies or sewer
ventilators in the roadway. The offending apertures were in connexion with sewers under the
jurisdiction of the County Council and the Borough Council alike. The worst spot, perhaps, was
that in Warwick-road where there is a large circular ventilator to the Counter's-creek sewer, near
to the entrance to the Earl's Court Exhibition, which has formed the subject of many complaints
at different periods of the year, even when the Exhibition has not been open. This subject has
been referred to in several previous reports, but no effectual remedy of general application has been
found for the nuisance. (Vide also, page 69, " Untrapped Street Gullies.")
Effluvium Nuisance at Earl's Court Exhibition.—During several years complaints have
been made by residents in the vicinity of objectionable smells of a special sort, differing from sewer
smells, perceived intermittently, and only when the Exhibition was open. Smells having been located
to the electric lighting installation, in ] 898, the directors of the Company, at the joint request of
the medical officer of health of Fulham and myself, erected (in 1899) a lofty chimney shaft to carry
off the vapours to which the smells were believed to be due. Nevertheless, again, last year,
complaints were received, and it was believed that the nuisance was due, in part, at least, to the
burning of fat, &c., in the kitchen of the refreshment department. Almost immediately after the
show was opened, complaints began to come in, and the directors were requested to enjoin care on
the part of the refreshment contractors to prevent the spilling of fat on the cooking stoves, or the
burning of animal or vegetable refuse therein. This was done, a notice having been printed and
displayed in the kitchens as follows :—
" No grease or rubbish of any kind may be burned in the stove, and care must be taken
not to spill boiling fat or anything likely to create an offensive smell. Anyone offending
in this way is liable to instant dismissal."
In June, I received information of the existence at a remote part of the Exhibition premises,
and in the Fulham district, of a refuse destructor, which it was thought might be responsible, more
or less, for the nuisance. The medical officer of health of Fulham made an inspection with me, and
a small " bee-hive " shaped brick structure was found, in which refuse of various kinds was undergoing
slow combustion. In a heap near the fire, bones, sawdust from the lions' den, and various
other matters were observed in readiness to be put on the fire. The entire arrangement was of the
most primitive description—a gehenna; which in all probability had been smouldering since the
exhibition opened, in May, and, possibly, in preceding years, during the season, from May to
October. The locality in which smells were noticed outside the premises, would naturally vary with
change in the direction of the wind. Many persons had complained of the smells in the vicinity
of the " Imperial Court," and the furnace was quite near to the said Court, but not accessible therefrom.
My Fulham colleague, who was not aware of the existence of the apparatus, decided to have all
refuse removed from the premises, and to have the brick structure pulled down, to prevent the
possibility of further nuisance. This was done, and complaints ceased. I may mention that I had
not long before this discovery addressed a communication to the director-general of the Exhibition
on the subject of the complaints, as follows:—
" Whenever I have written you on this subject, you have expressed desire to abate and
prevent nuisance, and have given facilities to the sanitary staff. But the smells are
intermittent, and the cause and locality of them have not been certainly ascertained
by us. Many persons on your staff, assuming the Exhibition to be to 'blame, must
know all about the matter; and I venture to submit that I am entitled to look for all
such information from you as may enable me and my staff to deal with the nuisance.
But no information or assistance, by way of disclosure, has ever been given."
A member of the staff, who subsequently called upon me, stated that the directors were
unable to throw any light upon the cause of the nuisance, if any existed ; and it is quite within
the bounds of probability that they were ignorant of what was going on. But members of the
working staff were not ignorant, for one of them admitted that the smell from the cremator was
" very bad at times," depending doubtless upon the quality of the matters burned (which had recently
included a lion cub), and upon the fact that no effort was made to secure active combustion, the
rubbish to be burned being simply placed on the ground, and fresh matter piled on the fire from time
to time. It is improbable that the nuisance should have been allowed to continue so long, if
anyone in authority had been aware of the cause of the objectionable effluvia.
THE HOUSING 01' THE WORKING CLASSES.
No subject during the year received greater attention from the sanitary authorities of London
than the housing of the working classes, which is now engaging the attention of some of the borough
councils. Hitherto, what has been done tinder schemes framed under Part I. of the Act of 1890,
promoted by the late Metropolitan Board of Works, and since 1889 by the County Council, has