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the Sanitary Authority for its removal. But, at present, it is
precisely the refuse of an offensive character that the Sanitary
Authority are not called upon or expected to remove—viz., that
produced by butchers, fishmongers, fried fish dealers, poulterers,
&c., who pay substantial sums for the service, which is conducted,
not seldom, in an objectionable manner. The subject is dealt
with, as I long since said it must be, by power being given to the
County Council— in the oft-mentioned Public Health (London)
Act, which will come into force in 1892—to enable that body to
frame bye-laws, which, it is hoped, may apply to the storage as
well as to the removal, in proper vessels, of such refuse through
streets.
STABLE REFUSE.
In many of my Annual Reports mention has been made of the
frequency of complaints in regard to accumulations of stable manure,
"the most common of recurring nuisances" with which the
Sanitary Inspectors have to deal. Your Vestry many years ago
exercised the powers conferred by section 53 of the Sanitary Act,
1866, by giving public notice for " the periodical removal of manure
or other refuse matter from mews, stables," &c.; the regulations
requiring such removal to be effected on " alternate days ; " the
penalty for default being "twenty shillings per day for every day
during which such manure or other refuse matter shall be permitted
to accumulate." Proceedings have been taken occasionally for the
recovery of penalties, but not until lately with satisfactory results.
The non-removal is sometimes the fault of the coachman, who will
not give the refuse away, and the farmers being now, as a rule,
unwilling to pay for it. At certain seasons—e.g., hay-making and
harvest time—there is no doubt a difficulty in getting the receptacles
cleared, farmers being too busy to collect the refuse.
Formerly, when the parish consisted largely of market gardens,
the cultivators of the soil were glad enough to get the manure by
satisfying the demands of the coachmen and others. Now that it
has to be hauled miles to the suburban farms and gardens, the