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102
Public Cleansing.
The following particulars have been kindly supplied by the
Cleansing and Markets Superintendent :—
Every street in the Borough is swept daily and receives
continuous attention from the orderly men who patrol the streets
throughout the day. The litter is removed by covered motor
containers, which perambulate the streets and collect from the
orderlies. Sweeping gangs operate each night, together with
a motor sweeper. The Utter at night is now also picked up by
covered motor containers, horses and vans having been dispensed
with. The cleansing operations are continuous throughout the
week, including Sundays and Bank Holidays.
Each night the market streets and the streets adjoining the
City of London are washed by a washing machine with a capacity
of 1,000 gallons. The debris from the street markets is cleared
away nightly, and amounts roughly to 50 tons per week.
The street gullies are cleared out by two gully-emptying
machines : main roads, weekly ; other streets, approximately every
other week.
The street sweepings and silt from the gullies are conveyed
by rail into the country, where the material is disposed of by
controlled tipping. About 7,000 tons are disposed of annually in
this manner.
Over 4,325,000 gallons of water were used in street and gully
cleansing.
Seven hundred and twenty-five yards of shingle were used on
the roads.
The courts, alleys and passages in the Borough are periodically
flushed. The gully-emptying machines, which are convertible into
washing machines, are detailed for this work every week-day
during the summer, and the frequency of the cleansing of each
place ranges from eight to ten days. During the hot weather
arrangements are made to accelerate the cleansing, some courts
being done daily, the remainder at least once a week. Gullies in
courts and alleys which are too small for the gully-emptying
machine to enter are cleansed by manual labour at night.