View report page

The Dust Contract.
The contract for the removal of dust in the Borough,
has been put into the hands of the contractors (Messrs.
Ballard) for one year at the somewhat heavy cost of £10,600.
From circumstances which it is unnecessary to enter into,
the arrangement was only definitely completed some two
days before the contract with the last contractor expired.
In other words, Messrs. Ballard had suddenly to organise a
staff, to provide horses, carts, and appliances for the complicated
purpose of removing the house refuse from at least
1,400 houses once a week, besides collections from the kerbs
of the main streets daily and from a large number of Public
and quasi-public institutions.
It is not to be expected that so great an undertaking,
entered into with such little time for preparation, will be
performed with absolute success for a few weeks; by the
time however that this Report is printed and circulated, it
is to be hoped that there will be no real cause of complaint.
Large as the sum of £10,600 is, it may be interesting to
note for what small sum yearly every ratepayer in the
Borough can insist upon a horse, cart, and two men
visiting, at least once in every week, his premises and
clearing away his household dust.
£10,600 is approximately a three halfpenny rate, therefore
a householder rated at £50 pays in rates for this service
6s. 3d., a ratepayer assessed at £100 a year pays 12s. 6d.,
and so on. It necessarily follows that those ratepayers who
"tip" the dustmen regularly in the majority of cases pay a
sum equal or superior to the actual rate for the service.
Cleansing of Persons Act.
A considerable amount of money has been expended on
appliances for the cleansing of women as well as men, but
until the last few months very few women have availed
themselves of the baths.
4