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purposes an "offensive" one, and therefore a suitable one to be
regulated by bye-laws under the Act intituled the "Slaughterhouses
(Metropolis) Act, 1874," your Vestry have requested the
Metropolitan Board of Works, as " local authority" under the
said Act, to take the necesssry steps to have the business declared
an " offensive business," as required by the third section; but up
to the present time no action has been taken, to my knowledge,
by the " Board."
NUISANCES FROM THE KEEPING OF SWINE IN
UNFIT PLACES.
Proceedings were taken against two parties for keeping swine
in unfit premises, viz., in stables, situated in a private mews, into
which the pigs were turned for air, exercise and foraging ; but the
magistrate Mr. (now Sir J.) Ingham dismissed the summons, and
congratulated the defendants on having discovered bow to keep
pigs without creating a nuisance and without cost, the animals, it
being alleged, subsisting on the food which fell under the mangers,
and which would otherwise have been wasted. This decision,
characteristic of the humour which has since been transferred to
Bow Street, is to be regretted, and is likely to create discontent in
certain quarters. It will also occasion a good deal of trouble
should it be drawn into a precedent; and if it is to be understood
that stables may be used as styes, and that the private mews, of
which there are not a few in- the parish, are a fit exercising
ground for swine. Some of these private mews are dirty enough
for such use, if filth constitutes fitness, but I rather venture to
hope that the magistrate's decision will stimulate your Vestry's
efforts to reduce the number of them. In five other cases small
fines were inflicted for the offence under consideration, only one
being a repeated offence. In the other cases prohibitory orders
were made for preventing the keeping of swine on the premises.
KEEPING COWS ON UNLICENSED PREMISES.
Two convictions were obtained for this offence, and fines of
one shilling and two shillings respectively, with two shillings
costs in each case, were inflicted on the several defendants.
SHALLOW WELLS.
It is somewhat remarkable with what tenacity " old inhabitants "
cling to the often dangerous water obtained from wells, in spite of
repeated warnings, and the evidence of analysts as to its unfitness
for any domestic purpose. It may be broadly stated that London
does not contain any safe shallow wells. The work of sewering and
railway cutting has tapped the springs, and the water of such wells
is simply derived from percolation of rain or other less agreeable
infusions of surface origin. Nevertheless, such water is
often cool, pleasant to the taste, bright, and sparkling, and, so far
as the unaided senses can judge, a desirable beverage, particularly
if the well is near a grave-yard, the explanation being that the water