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135
Council exercised its powers by providing bins, and recovering
the costs. The bins supplied by the Council are excellent in
design and construction; they are made to a carefully prepared
specification, purchased in large quantities by contract, and
supplied at a low figure.
COLLECTION OF HOUSE REFUSE.
11,465 loads of house refuse have been collected during the
year, the figure for the previous year being 11,243.
there are 27,517 houses in the Borough, from which the
refuse is collected every week, and to perform this work there
are employed 8 fillers, 16 carmen (who also assist to load) with
16 horses and vans, with a responsible foreman in charge. The
refuse is conveyed to the Destructor, where it is used as fuel for
generating steam for sewage pumping. The horses and drivers
are supplied under contract, while the fillers are employed and
the rolling stock owned by the Council. The lump sum contract
has now been working for several years most successfully, the
system being that the contractor undertakes for a fixed sum to
supply as many horses and drivers as are necessary to keep every
house in the Borough clear of refuse by a weekly collection, work
to commence and finish at fixed times. This method has proved
an economical one to the Council.
Few complaints have been received during the year. The
Council's fillers are experienced and trustworthy men, having been
in the Council's service many years; each filler has two carmen
under him and a specified number of houses, for which he is
responsible, to collect from. The occupiers knowing the day and
hour when the dust will be collected, place the dust bin outside,
which considerably facilitates the work of collection. The
Council's Bye-laws compelling occupiers to place the dust bin
out ready for collection, under a penalty for failure to do so, have
never had to be brought into operation, which speaks well for
the co-operation received from the inhabitants of the Borough in
this very important branch of Public Health work.