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moveable iron cage attached to the stable-wall by hooks, aircurrents
circulating freely through the refuse, and removal being
at once easy and complete, there is little or no nuisance in storage,
or in transference to the waggon, or in conveyance through streets.
Brick receptacles above ground are more or less objectionable, for
they are seldom thoroughly cleared out, short straw, &c., being
left at the bottom. Nuisance is least when the floor of such
receptacles is on, or slightly above, the level of the surface of
the mews, and provision is made for allowing moisture to drain
away. But when the floor of the receptacle is below the surface
of the mews, and even though nominal provision has been made
for drainage, nuisance is considerable : rain enters and cannot
escape, as the drain gets choked ; the result being that the refuse
rots, the receptacle becomes filthy, and the collector will not incur
the defilement attending a perfect clearance. All of the evils are
intensified in a high degree when the receptacle is entirely underground,
being what is called a "sunken dung pit," always
undrained, and covered with wooden flaps. The rain enters
these pits, and confinement of the organic matters leads to very
rapid putrefaction, the result being that, after a short detention,
serious nuisance arises, to the great discomfort of persons living
in the vicinity. Were these pits cleared regularly, as required by
the regulations, they would still be a cause of nuisance. Everyone
must have observed the "steam" arising when the contents are
disturbed, and been annoyed by its horrible offensiveness. As a
rule, the pits are not properly cleared.
These sunken dung-pits are a nuisance in themselves, and as
the use of them involves a continually recurring nuisance, it should
be prohibited. Entertaining these views, and all the efforts of
the sanitary inspectors having failed to keep the nuisance within
bounds, I thought it desirable to have a return prepared shewing
the kind and number of the receptacles actually in use in the
mews in the respective districts. This return I submitted, in
March last, to the Works and Sanitary Committee, by whom it
was ordered to be printed for the information of your Vestry, and