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tion, which is continually going on, has been more than ever
forced upon me during the past year; and I am glad to learn
that the Council has decided to take steps to obtain the
sanction of the Local Government Board for the necessary
borrowing of the money required.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Return of the Metropolitan Asylums Board.—During
the past year 6,121 cases were admitted into this Hospital,
situated at Winchmore Hill; of these, 5,861 were Scarlet
Fever, and 260 Diphtheria.
There were 4 deaths from Scarlet Fever.
Sewerage and Sewage Disposal.—The District is
drained by the dual system. The surface-water sewers
discharge at convenient points into the nearest watercourses,
and as the fields adjoining the smaller courses becomc
converted into building land, suitable sewers and culverts arc
provided. Where possible and necessary the surface-water
sewers are laid at such depths as will enable the subsoil under
cellars and basements to be drained and connected thereto,
thus ensuring dry dwellings, and avoiding any accumulations
of stagnant water inside any dwelling-house.
The main foul sewers traverse as much as possible the
natural valleys, and run from the higher lands on the east
towards the west, where they join up to the sewers of the
Edmonton District at three points along the boundary between
the Southgate and Edmonton Districts. At each of these
points is a specially designed chamber, entirely constructed
underground, for gauging the quantity of sewage that passes
through. By the Edmonton Local Board Separation Act,
1881, by which Southgate became a separate district, the
Edmonton District is required to receive, convey, and dispose
of the sewage of Southgate, payment being made according to
the quantity ascertained by a monthly system of gauging.
After the separation from Edmonton it was found that the
main sewers were in a very bad condition, and these have since
been reconstructed upon the most improved principles. Only
one length of sewer, apart from culverts, is now constructed
of brickwork, that one being the southern main joining the
Edmonton sewers.
The sewers are laid principally in open trenches, but as
their depth is in some cases as much as 25 feet below the
surface, the driving of short tunnels as headings is occasionally
resorted to. Pymmes Brook is crossed in several places by
means of inverted syphons. These have been constructed