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Daily Removal of House Refuse.— The Council resolved on the 19th
March, 1908, to establish a daily collection of dust, and since that date
the system has gradually been extended from the eastern part of Soho
where it had been put in operation by the Strand Board, throughout
Mayfair, St. James', Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Pimlico. Part of this
has been done by contractors and part by direct labour, and by degrees
the latter method is being substituted for the former. Direct labour is
probably more expensive for this particular kind of work than is the
employment of a contractor, but the greater efficiency and thoroughness
with which the work is done are more than equivalent. Mr. Yentris,
the Assistant City Engineer, in a report to the Highways Committee
on the subject, stated:—"The collection in most places where there
were fixed receptacles took place, as a rule, once a week, the dustmen
shovelling the contents of the dust-holes out into baskets and carrying
them up to the carts. During the busiest part of the year, which was
naturally the height of the Season, dust carts might be seen at work in
the best parts of Mayfair up to six or seven o'clock in the evening. The
result of retaining the refuse for so long was that decomposition took
place, and the dustbin became the breeding place of flies, which are now
recognised as one of the most active propagators of infectious germs.
It was almost impossible to check the work of the dustmen, and the
only control arose through the complaints made by ratepayers of not
having their dust collected."
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