View report page

106
manhole near the intercepter, provided the means of access to the
trap is proved adequate, in the opinion of the Magistrate, for its
cleansing. In places where a number of branch drains concentrate
at the front, or where the outlet of the drain is 9 to 10 feet deep, a
manhole, we think, must be provided to give adequate access to the
drain and trap. Differences of opinion exist as to whether a manhole
should be provided in all cases at the outlet of the drain near
the intercepter. In the Paddington case where a vertical plunging
arm was provided on the house side of the trap, it was held by the
Magistrate that adequate means required by the Bye-law had been
provided. The practice in Southwark has been on the side of
providing a manhole at the front and back of the building in all cases.
In all newly built houses no difficulty has been experienced in
obtaining them. In reconstructing drains of old houses we always
demand in our notices these two manholes, but we are frequently
met by the refusal on the part of the owner to provide the one at the
outlet of the drain near the intercepting trap, the owner providing in
lieu thereof a vertical plunging eye on the house side of the trap and
a raking arm to the outgo of the intercepter. We consider that such
access to the trap and drain by these two arms is a makeshift
arrangement, and is quite inadequate when the intercepter is plugged
by such things as milk tins, or where as before stated, many branches
concentrate in the front, or where the trap is 9 or 10 feet below the
surface. We have always considered a manhole near the intercepter
as absolutely necessary.
Our conclusion, therefore, is that while the intercepting trap
should remain, additional powers should be provided for its being
constructed in a proper chamber.
Lord Llangattock's Property.
The method of testing and the condition of the house drains.
During 1906 the sanitary staff was particularly active in having the
drains of a large number of the older houses of the Borough exposed for
inspection. With very few exceptions the drains constructed more than
fifteen years ago were found to have the joints open, the pipes irregularly
laid, and the whole leaky and defective. The exposing and the examination
of the drains of a large number of Lord Llangattock's houses in
Trafalgar Street, consequent on an outbreak of Enteric Fever, must have
led to the action taken by his agent, Mr. Dickins, in regard to 38, London
Boad. I am glad to say that the matter terminated in a very friendly