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REPORT
of the
Proceedings of the Vestry of St. Matthew, Bethnal Green, from the
25th March, 1880, to the 25th March, 1881.
SCAVENGING.
The Contractors for the year ending in August, 1880, consented to enter
into contracts for the year ending in August, 1881, at the prices paid for
the year ending in August, 1880; but the Vestry, at the meeting of the
15th April, decided to refer the subject to a committee of the whole Board ;
and subsequently advertisements inviting tenders were issued, and the
tender of Mr. Crane for District No. 1, and the tenders of Mr. Parsons
for Districts Nos. 2 and 3 were accepted. The amount of these tenders
exceeded the amount payable under the then current contracts by
£190.
The attention of the Vestry is still directed to the subject of making
improved arrangements with regard to scavenging. During the year the
Works Committee have visited Whitechapel, Mile End, St. Luke's,
Islington, and Paddington. In Islington part of the refuse is taken to a
wharf by the Canal Basin, near the City Road, and there sorted. Some
part is then destroyed in a furnace, and other parts removed in barges.
The most striking thing in Islington is the mode of dealing with the slop,
and for this purpose the Vestry have fortunately a large piece of ground.
There the slop is "washed," by which process the grit is separated, and
after being screened, the residuum, which is large, is a readily saleable
product. At the same place there are furnaces for destroying some of
the stuff collected, and a large part is sent away by the railroad close by.
The Vestry have "a siding" from the line into their ground. The
Paddington Vestry have purchased at a very large cost the lease of a wharf
on the Canal, near Paddington Green, at a heavy rent; and have also
bought land a few miles distant, but near the canal. At the wharf the
useful material in the slop is separated, and as a rule is found saleable.
There, too, the dust and ashes are sifted by machinery, and the part