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view of the local authority that the Containers can be exchanged at any time during
the twenty-four hours, thus materially relieving the "peak period" of refuse
collection in the early morning.
Refuse Receptacles.—The house-to-house inspection of refuse receptacles in
use throughout the City is still proceeding and the installation of a very large number
of receptacles in accordance with the London County Council By-laws has been
obtained. Occupiers of premises are also being instructed with regard to bins being
unnecessarily put out overnight or left out over the week-end and on public holidays.
The British Standards Institution have set up a special Sub-Committee which is
now considering the issue of standard specifications for refuse receptacles of various
approved sizes, to which all manufacturers will be requested to conform. This
will materially assist local authorities as at the present time receptacles are being
offered for sale which are either too lightly constructed to last for a reasonable time
or are too large for one man to lift when full of refuse.
Refuse Disposal.—The New Central Depot being erected for the Council at
Grosvenor Dock is proceeding very satisfactorily and it is anticipated that it will
be ready for occupation in October, 1938. Details of this building have been given
in previous reports and it will be recalled that this Depot, which will comprise a
garage for all the Council's vehicles, workshops, general stores, &c., is built over
and around the centralized refuse disposal plant. Incorporated in the building is
a dust extraction plant of the latest type which will collect the dust caused by the
discharge of refuse from vehicles and the loading of the barges; this is discharged
through hoppers into large bags which are properly sealed and deposited in the refuse
barges.
As previously stated, the Council's contract with the barging contractors provides
that only steel barges with fixed coamings and wooden hatches completely covered
by tarpaulins are permitted to be used. All the refuse is now barged to one con.
tractor's dump at Pitsea, where the tipping is carried out strictly in accordance
with the recommendations of the Ministry of Health and the requirements of the
Essex County Council and the local authority concerned. Frequent visits to the
dump are made by an officer of the department and the Committee visit periodically.
Medical Inspection of Aliens.
The Medical Inspection of Aliens arriving at Victoria Station by the
through sleeping car service from Paris, initiated in October, 1936, at the
request of the Ministry of Health, was carried out daily throughout the
year, with the exception of a few days on which the boat service was
cancelled owing to unfavourable weather conditions. A total of 10,160
passengers from 358 boats were dealt with during the year by the assistant
medical inspectors appointed by the Council for this purpose.