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6o
DUSTING.
The important sanitary work of removing dust and refuse has
been executed by your own horses, carts and men. The
quantity collected has been 13044 loads; great difficulty has
been experienced in disposing of it, large quantities having been
thrown away. A new field has been opened to you for the
dispoal of sifted ashes in the Kentish Brick Fields, and this
promises to consume about 3000 tons a year. The ashes are
taken as back carriage by the barges bringing flints. You have
rented your old wharf at Bridge Street for a year for this
purpose.
Unmarketable
Refuse.
Its disposal.
There is, however, a large quantity 01 the house retuse which
is not marketable, and which costs money to remove to places
which require filling up. For some years past it has been taken
to Beckton Road or sent by rail to sidings on the Great Eastern
Railway, which required making up, the Company taking it at
a low rate. Both these places are now closed, the West Ham
Local Board having (and I think rightly) refused to allow
land to be made up with such material, if it be clear that such
land is intended for the erection of human habitations. In my
opinion this refuse should be burnt. It would not be policy for
' me to enumerate all the things which it contains, and the only
safe method of disposing of it is by the means I have indicated.
To do this the Vestry must be possessed of a piece of land of
considerable dimensions, beyond the metropolis and situated
out of the reach of any large town. The refuse might be burned
in clamps and the burnt material used to raise the land; or it
might be better consummed in a furnace, but this latter course
would involve a much larger outlay, both for plant and annual
working.
Necessity
of burning
Refuse.
Land
for this
purpose.
I have for some years past seen this serious time approaching,
and have frequently called your attention to it. I now feel it
my duty to tell you that unless you take some bold and decisive
step towards providing a means of disposing of your refuse, you
will one morning find that it will have to be left in the houses,
attended with all the serious results which must arise from such
a catastrophe, or you will be in the ignominous position of
having to accede to any terms contractors may dictate for
receiving it.
Present
measures.
The measures which I am adopting at the present time must
be considered as only tentative, and every load you send away
is costing you three shillings and sixpence over and above the
cartage to the wharf.
Decrease
in the
value of
Ashes.
In my report to you last year I stated that I feared the brick
trade would be worse this year than last, and therefore that the
price of ashes could not be maintained. Unfortunately this has
proved to be correct, and a neighbouring Vestry is giving sifted
ashes away at this moment.