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offenders having usually been able to satisfy the Magistrates
that the duty required of them was beyond their power to
perforin. The difficulty not seldom originates with tbe coachman,
who will not give the refuse away, while the farmer or
his carter will not pay for it. At certain seasons, e.g., haymaking
time and harvest, there is a real difficulty in getting
the receptacles cleansed, farmers being too busy to send their
carts into town, or, when they do, to allow them to stay to collect
the refuse. The refuse, nevertheless, has value, if it could only
be got on to the land without undue cost: the quantity made
in this large parish with its 150 mews is very great, and of an
aggregate value probably more than sufficient to pay for collection
and removal from London. It is a question whether your
Vestry should not undertake such collection and removal, as the
law allows, "with the sanction of the owner," a sanction which
would be cheerfully given in many instances, and which, probably,
it would not be difficult to obtain, in most cases, if it were understood
that the "Regulations" would be enforced. The
question is important any way, and I may state that the
time of the Sanitary Inspectors is largely taken up in the endeavour
to keep the mews clean, time which in different circumstances
might be more profitably occupied in other directions.
The regulations require that the manure should be removed
"every alternate day." Twice a week in summer, and once a
week in winter, would probably suffice for all practical requirements,
in ordinary cases, if the manure were stored in properly
constructed receptacles above ground.
REFUSE.
Great difficulty is 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