View report page

106
be perfect, and on the other hand, that the arrangements for
the disposal of sewage at the outlets should be adequate
The last is a matter of great importance, and, as we all
know, of great difficulty; and in fact the problem is one
that still awaits solution. But it does not immediately
concern us, and I do not propose to discuss it. The sanitary
arrangements of houses, however, concerns us all very closely,
and on this subject I deem it my duty to make some
remarks.
From the time when the present Vestry came into
existence, great attention has been paid to this particular
item of sanitary work. At first we had to get rid of the
cess-pools and common privies with which, almost without
exception, every house was provided, to have these replaced
by water-closets, and to insist on the trapping and cleansing
of drains, and on the drainage of yards and areas. But in
these earlier times the best forms of closets, the best arrangements
for flushing them and keeping them sweet, the best
methods of dealing with the removal of slops, foul water,
and rain water, the best forms of traps, and the best
system of arranging underground drains, were not fully
understood, and even if understood would have been difficult
or impossible to enforce. But of late years scientific
and practical knowledge with respect to these matters has
made rapid advances, and public opinion has grown ; so that
now not only are the correct principles and the practical
details of house-drainage well understood, but also the
public generally are alive to the need of having their housedrainage
in perfect order. For several years past we have
(as Table XIV. will show for last year) been enforcing the
ventilation of soil-pipes, the disconnecting of sink, wastewater,
and rain pipes from sewers, the provision of efficient