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115
REFUSE.
In previous sections (on "Slaughter-Houses," "Cowsheds,"
"House Refuse," and "Stable Refuse,") reference has been made
to the difficulty experienced in preventing nuisance from accumulations
of offensive matters coming under the general description
"refuse." The difficulty is common to all parts of the Metropolis,
and calls for legislative interference for its abatement. With a
view to such steps being taken I brought the subject under the
notice of the Society of Medical Officers of Health in 1880,
the result being that a special Committee was appointed to
consider the subject, and ultimately presented a report, which
was re-produced in my last Annual Report (page 114).
The conclusions at which the Committee arrived may be
summed up as follows:—
1. Trade Refuse.—The Nuisance Authority should have
power to collect, remove, and dispose of the trade refuse
of butchers, fishmongers, poulterers, greengrocers, etc., at
the reasonable cost of the producers. The collection of
such refuse should be made in the early morning, and the
removal effected in specially constructed vehicles : if
practicable, the refuse should be utilised; otherwise it should
be destroyed by fire.
2. House Refuse.—In view of the increasing distance to
fields, house refuse will have to be dealt with by fire in
specially constructed apparatus of the "Destructor" type,
by which its bulk may be reduced some 75 per cent., the
resulting product moreover, being at once innocuous and
useful for roadmaking, and other purposes: the refuse
should be collected daily, and "dustbins" abolished.
3. Stable and, Cowshed Refuse.—The Nuisance Authority
should have power to collect the refuse at the reasonable
cost of the owner: cowshed refuse daily in vehicles
designed to prevent slopping and effluvium nuisance,
stable refuse periodically; the refuse, meanwhile, to be
stored in suitable receptacles—paved, drained, and enclosed
within iron racks, above ground.