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was fitted up. From escape of sulphurous and nitrous gases from the main shaft of chemical works;
extra condensing apparatus was fitted. From dust from chaff-cutting escaping into the atmosphere;
the works were closed for the present. From vapours from sack-drying escaping into the atmosphere;
the works were closed. From vapours and dust from a dust destructor ; a set of cells was fitted. From
refuse from naphthaline stills being discharged into the sewer ; the refuse was made to run off into
receivers. From escape of offensive vapours from oil-boiling ; the furnace was put into repair.
St. George-the-Martyr—From gut-cleaning without the sanction of the Council; the Council
required the premises to be closed. From fish-frying ; the nuisance was abated.
Rotherhithe—Nuisance from the premises of an oil refiner is referred to.
Battersea—From dust and smoke from atmospheric grain elevator; the defects were remedied.
Greenwich—From conveyance of offensive matter through the streets ; proceedings were instituted
and fines inflicted for infringement of the Council's by-laws.
Plumstead—From tripe-boiling without the sanction of the Council; the Council instituted
proceedings and a fine was inflicted.
Nuisances.
During the year 1893, 836 applications were made to the Council for the removal of conditions
which it was alleged were dangerous to health. Inquiry was made into the merits of each complaint,
and, where necessary, communications were addressed to the sanitary authorities concerned.
In January a complaint was received that a pond near Binden-road, Hammersmith, was being
filled up with house refuse and sludge. Serious nuisance had been caused in the summer of the previous
year by the tipping of refuse into this pond, and the fear of the complainants that the nuisance would
recur was ascertained to be a well-grounded one. The Vestry of Hammersmith was communicated with,
and the pond was kept under observation. Occasion did not arise for further action on the part of
the Council.
The Council's attention had been directed from time to time to complaints made by inhabitants of
Fulham and Hammersmith relative to an offensive odour which had been attributed to a variety of causes.
The Vestry of Hammersmith requested that the Council would direct one of its inspectors to make
inquiry into the matter. As the nuisance was of more than local concern, the Committee complied
with the vestry's request, and arrangements were made for keeping the locality under special observation.
In July I reported that the smell complained of was admitted to be less serious than it was some
time before, and not of such frequent occurrence. Certain sources of occasional nuisance were pointed
out, and the medical officer of health of Fulham undertook to give the matter further attention.
The polluted condition of the Limehouse-cut was the subject of correspondence between the
Council and the Lea Conservancy Board during the year. In April I reported on the specific sources
of pollution of the cut, and the Public Health Committee urged upon the Conservancy Board the
necessity for passing more water down the cut from the upper reaches of the Lea; the engineer to the
Lea Conservancy Board reported that it would not be practicable to empty the cut and renew the
water, as such a course would probably cause subsidence of the buildings and tow-paths abutting on
it. The condition of the cut was still under consideration at the end of the year.
In October, 1892, the attention of the Council was directed by the Limehouse District Board
to the accumulation of mud and refuse upon the foreshore of Limekiln-creek, and I reported upon the
matter and pointed out the need for periodical cleansing. The attention of the port sanitary authority
was called to this subject, and in February, 1893, copies of my reports and the correspondence
were forwarded to the Local Government Board. Question arose as to the authority upon whom the
duty of clearing out the creek devolved, and on May 3rd the port authority obtained a magistrate's
order against the Thames Conservancy to abate the nuisance by clearing away the deposit. An appeal
against this order was heard on the 13th December, and judgment was given against the port
authority. The work of cleansing the creek was not carried out until the following year.
In several instances the keeping of swine upon premises unfit for such a purpose was brought
to the notice of the sanitary authorities concerned, who were asked to take action under sec. 17 of the
Public Health (London) Act.
Smoke Nuisance.
In my last annual report 1 published a table giving details as to the number of cases of smoke
nuisance dealt with by the police, the number of cases in which proceedings before a magistrate were
instituted and the number of convictions during each of the years in the period 1882-1890. This
table showed that in the year 1890, the year before the Public Health (London) Act came into operation,
702 cases of smoke nuisance were dealt with ; in 53 cases proceedings were taken, and in 46 cases there
were convictions. In some of the reports of the medical officers of health the number of cases of smoke
nuisance dealt with in 1893 is not stated, but so far as the figures which are supplied show, there
were 578 cases which received the attention of the sanitary authorities, proceedings concerning which
wpre instituted in 41 f.isps

In numerous instances the attention of the sanitary authorities was directed by the Public
Control Department of the Council to cases of smoke nuisance, and these authorities took the necessary
steps for their abatement.
Under the Public Health (London) Act an offence is committed if (a) the furnace is not so
constructed as to consume cr burn the smoke, (b) if the furnace is negligently used. In the Fulham