View report page

16
which, from its nature, or from want of a market, cannot be sold is taken
away in barges into the country. At Islington and at Paddington the
Vestry have their own horses and carts.
Great trouble was taken by the officers at Islington and Paddington to
show and explain everything to the Committee, and the same desire to
oblige was manifested by the officers at each of the other places visited by
the Committee.
So far as has been ascertained it does not seem safe to conclude that
expense is saved by a Vestry doing the scavenging work with their own men,
horses, and plant, instead of contracting for the execution of the work.
Much depends upon the existence of special local facilities for getting rid
of the refuse, or the absence of such facilities. The ultimate refuse, after
the most ingenious separation and utilization of component parts, must be
large, and the difficulty and cost of getting rid of it, great, unless it
becomes possible to destroy such by fire. For some time past, in Leeds,
Bradford, Birmingham, Nottingham, and some other large towns, destruction
by fire has been resorted to by the use of Fryer's Patent Destructor.
The Committee have had an interview with the assignee of the patent, and
by the kindness of the Town Clerk of Leeds have been supplied with
copies of a report as to the working of the "Destructor" in Leeds.
The Vestry of Paddington, it was understood, contemplated having a
"Destructor."* It was felt it might be wise to wait for the result of the
experiment by that vestry; but it is suggested that in the meantime steps
should be taken to ascertain clearly the results of the actual working of the
"Destructor" at places where it is in use. Should the "Destructor" be
adopted, and answer, the scavenging work will present in future quite a
different aspect. The cost would be chiefly that of collection, and the
difficulty of finding "a shoot," or otherwise getting rid of the immense
amount of refuse, be removed.
The immense quantity of snow which fell in the memorable storm of the
18th January made the roads almost impassable. It came suddenly, and
the only course open to the Vestry was to employ extra men to sweep the
snow so as to leave passages for traffic. Until the snow was removed by
the contractors, 155 men were employed for this purpose, and though,
*NOTE.—Since the date of this Report, Dr. Saunders, the Medical Officer of the City of
Loudon, has, after visiting various towns where the "Destructor" is in use, and also the works
of the assignees of the patent, made a valuable, full report. He decidedly recommends the
adoption of the " Destructor" by the City of London.