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trouble to look for the nearest ring. This is important from the labour point of view. The whole
covering was intact and secure. The loaded craft was left for another four days undisturbed and
when seen at the unloading wharf, the refuse had sunk below coaminglevel with the cover tarpaulins
still secure and refuse intact. The results of the experiment indicated a large measure of
success.
Arising from this demonstration the Association of Master Lightermen and Barge Owners have
suggested that Byelaw 2 of the present Byelaws, which prescribes the use of close-fitting
hatches and overall waterproof sheeting securely fastened to the coamings, should be amended
to permit the use of the proposed new method.
This suggestion has been accepted in principle by the Port and City of London Health Committee
and the revision of the Byelaws is now under consideration.
REFUSE CHUTES
The following observations illustrate the interest taken by the Port Health Authority to reduce
the nuisance caused by the refuse chutes on the river front and the almost insurmountable difficulties
to be overcome in obtaining a satisfactory solution to the problem.
The fact is that wherever dust is disturbed in an air stream, the dust will get caught up with
the air current, and unless the space is totally enclosed, the cloud so formed will drift with the
air stream. This applies sometimes to other light matter, such as paper, if some screening is not
provided.
To overcome major nuisance, some effort is made to control the magnitude of refuse disturbance
by conducting it from the chute to the barge with as little exposure to the wind as possible during
the slide and to minimise the drop from the chute into the barge.
To that end, some chutes are totally enclosed and are capable of being lowered and trimmed to
meet the state of the tide, while in others some form of textile screening is used to arrest drifting
paper only. At worst, we are faced with the feeble efforts made in one district where no real
provision is made and the refuse may cascade as much as 20 ft. from the edge of the open chute
into the barge at low tide. The standards vary at each refuse wharf and only our efforts to uplift
the standards are constant.
Improvements are made from time to time as a result of our intervention and advice. Poplar
has intricate mechanised equipment to help overcome the difficulties. The City Corporation s
place at Letts Wharf is now enclosed and is a great improvement on the conditions of the past.
There are other refuse chutes that are very undesirable and are given much attention by the
River Inspectors.
It is necessary to be most careful about where to start and stop in the control of this industry.
Any major hold-up in the clearance of refuse at these riverside tips would cause chaos in the
London area. We can only proceed in the hope that conditions do not get worse and at all times
endeavour to secure improvements whenever possible. It must not be implied that we are held to
ransom by the operators at the refuse wharves, but it is clear that the only satisfactory method
for refuse disposal at the riverside wharves must be to tip and cover the refuse in an entirely
closed premises and the only semblance of these conditions at the present time is at Westminster
and to a lesser extent at Letts Wharf.
When the City Corporation's new Public Cleansing Depot and Wharf at Upper Thames Street is
completed, something as near perfection as possible in these matters will have been achieved.
"THE PORT HEALTH AUTHORITY"
Your Medical Officer is pleased to include in this Report the following paper read at the
Annual Conference of the Association of Public Health Inspectors at Eastbourne in September,
1957 by Mr. T.L. Mackie, M.B.E., F.R.S.H., M.I.N .A., Chief Inspector:
"The human suffering for which the epidemic diseases have been and are responsible is beyond
calculation; but there are also economic consequences which, arising from the restrictions
necessary to confine the outbreaks as well as out of the diseases themselves, inflict great hardship
and losses on the community. Obviously it is essential that the right steps should be taken
at the right time to localise epidemics and it is also important that the measures should be no
greater hindrance to the normal traffic of the world than the objective demands. To help reduce
the international spread of disease and yet to avoid restrictions, is at all times the vital concern
of Port Health Authorities."
"It is not surprising that a maritime nation like the British should cast a wistful eye towards
safeguarding their ports — seaports and airports. With seaborne trading connections in all parts
of the world, these islands, though favoured by geographical location, would nevertheless have
been vulnerable to the importation of devastating communicable diseases unless properly organised
defensive measures were constantly maintained.
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