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129
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
number of tins collected during the twelve months, January to
December, was 15,477.
Great difficulty was experienced by the Council in disposing
of this offensive refuse and the Surveyor for the Eastern District
was asked to report to the Committee on the matter. The following
is a copy of his report:—
TO THE CHAIRMAN & MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
HEALTH COMMITTEE.
24th September, 1903.
Gentlemen,
Collection and disposal of Fish and Butcher's offal.
In October, 1901, I was instructed to commence a service of
collecting the offal in the Eastern District with a view to burning
it at the Dust Destructor at Tooting. This process was carried
out for some ten months until the quantity became too large and
the heating value of the (summer) house refuse became too low,
that it had to be disposed of in a different way. A local man
offered to take away the waste and to pay the Council at the rate
of 3/- per ton for it; as this would reduce the cost, arrangements
were made for him to dispose of the material. After a little while,
however, he represented that he could not afford to pay anything,
but agreed to take the offal away for nothing, and this continued
until the end of July when he refused to receive it without payment.
I was consequently obliged to make a temporary arrangement
with him of £2 a week ; in the meantime, I looked round to
find some reliable firm to deal with the matter and arranged with
the Belvedere Fish Guano Company until I could present some
scheme to the Council for disposing of it in a more satisfactory
manner. The initial cost of the service, including tins and smocks,
was £270:15:5, the wages, horse hire and disinfectants, etc.,
cost £470:6:4, as against receipts during the same time of
£344:13:6, leaving a deficiency on the collection account of
£125:12:10, this, of course, in addition to the money sunk in the
initial cost.
The service has been very highly appreciated by the tradesmen,
but the result demonstrates the fact that the charge of 4d.
per tin is too low. The original recommendation was 6d. and this