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Disposal to brickmakers is the method at present adopted, the refuse being sent by railway,
and it costs about £35 a month or £420 a year to do so. It is uncertain how long this arrangement
can last, and the brickmaker requires that what is sent shall be freed from certain forms of trade
refuse which have to be otherwise dealt with.
Tipping upon waste land has been very effectively carried out in Kingston, and excellent
pleasure gardens formed beside the river, but this system must be condemned when there is any
probability of the area so filled up being built upon. Mr. Maxwell in his excellent work on the
subject points out that this is a frequent cause of infantile diarrhoea, no less than 209 deaths per
1,000 occurring in one town as the result. The additiou of lime to the refuse appears to hasten
the process of decay, all the vegetable and animal matter disappearing in about three years.
The sorting and selling the ingredients, when possible, has only to be mentioned to be
condemned as degrading and injurious to the health of the sorters, and as likely to cause a nuisance
by collecting and storing offensive material.
July 13, 1899. W. E. St. L. FINNY.
BOROUGH SURVEYOR'S REPORT.
REFUSE DESTRUCTOR.
In dealing with this subject, with reference to Kingston, it is hardly necessary to point
out that the term " Refuse Destructor " is somewhat of a misnomer, as it is only a portion of the
material, and the unsanitary character of the whole, that undergoes destruction, leaving the
remainder either to be removed in the condition in which it leaves the furnaces, or, on the other
hand, utilising it in manufacturing it into suitable productions of value and usefulness. I mention
this point first, as it appears to me that before coming to any conclusion as to the comparative value
of the various destructors erected in many parts of the country it is necessary for the Corporation
to decide the exact use or uses to which they desire to put a destructor, and also the site proposed
to be appropriated for the purpose, as I consider one or both of these points may Materially
influence the selection of the special plant best to be adopted. If the leading idea of a destructor
is the raising of auxiliary steam for the Sewage or Electric Light Works or for producing the
electric requirements for the Tramways or Light Railway Works, then the position is at once
determined to be at or near the site of those works, and the destructor which generates the
greatest amount of heat from the refuse burnt would seem to be the best for the purpose, without
special reference to the clinkering of the residue left and drawn from the cells. If, however, it is
desired to turn such residue to a useful purpose, the clinkering is of special importance, as, when it
is in that state it is capable of being turned to the most useful account, and for such purpose I
should suggest that under any circumstances sufficient steam should and could be raised to work
any necessary plant such as grinding and mortar mills, etc. In the recent visits to various places
where destructors have been established, I have taken note of the uses to which the clinkered
material has been put, and I certainly think that the manufacture of artificial paving is the best
that has come under my notice, and that such paving may be made more attractive in appearance,
if desired, by having all the broken pottery, white and all colours, picked out of the refuse before it
is put through the destructor, broken up very small and mixed and embedded on the surface of the
artificial flags when they are being made, the result being to present an agreeable mosaic appearance
; this, I believe, has been done at Southampton. It appears to me that this part of the work
could be made to meet the present desire of the Highway Committee to have all the unpaved footpaths
in the Borough laid with artificial paving, and would for a long time take up and satisfactorily
use all the suitable material produced when this work was accomplished; or if it were not
undertaken I would suggest the making of concrete blocks of a lower quality than the paving.
These blocks could be used by builders for the foundations of walls of new buildings, and might be,
say, 2ft. 6in. long by 1ft. 8in. wide by 6in. deep. These blocks laid lengthways, two courses in
height and breaking joint would form a 12in. foundation for 9in. brick walls, in accordance with the
bye-laws, and if laid crosswise in the trench would in a similar manner form a foundation for 14in.
walls. Other blocks of suitable size, say 4½in. thick, might be made with a key on the edge,
enabling them to be used for internal walls in the place of 4½in. brick. There are other similar
uses to which this clinker concrete might be applied, and the remaining material not so used would
be available and very suitable for raising any low ground, such as portions of the land near Oil Mill
Lane, and no possible objection could be made to the material if the land were afterwards used for
temporary or permanent hospital purposes. When the uses required from a destructor have been
settled it will be necessary to adopt what appears to be the best make suited for the purpose, and it
seems to me to be most important, in making such selection, that a destructor should not only be
well designed and constructed, but that no expense should be spared in providing internally such
arrangements and materials as will secure the permanency of the work under the very destructive
influence of the intense heat required to make the work done thoroughly effective. Without making any