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necessarily accompany the present plan, however carefully it be
carried out, there is, in my opinion, a very real objection to it on
sanitary grounds. I refer to the opportunity it affords for the
propagation of blow-flies in the area contiguous to the shoot—an
area being rapidly covered with residences. It seems to be the
detail of site that prevents the erection of a dust destructor. On
this count it may be said that careful estimates appear to show
that if a destructor were to be put up at Small Profit Dock (the
site of the present shoot) there would be an actual saving of two
or three hundreds a year, while to utilise either the Mortlake depot
or a site near the Sewage Works would involve, because of the
haulage, a loss as compared with the present arrangements.
So far as the actual methods of collection are concerned,
nothing could be more efficient than those arranged by the
Surveyor, but the time is coming, I think, when more frequent
calls should be made, at any rate, in some parts of the district.
Here, however, the question of cost is a dominant factor. As
Medical Officer of Health, I would like to see a destructor at Small
Profit Dock, and the money saved allocated to defray the cost of
more frequent collection from flats and some other places. During
1910 the Surveyor and I drew up, in collaboration, a form of
notice requesting the tenants of flats, etc., to consume as much
refuse as possible in their kitcheners, and we pointed out that the
utilisation of such stuff for fuel is a matter of not only parochial
but domestic economy. The point is, however, that in a great
many households the use of the kitchener is being discontinued ;
and, with fewer gardens of any size, stuff that formerly went to
feed fowls and add to the manure heap, etc., is kept in the dustbin
(too often of inadequate capacity) for days at a time.
One thing might certainly be done. Cinders and "dry core"
should be kept in one bin, whilst garbage and "wet core" should be
put in a separate small bin and removed, at any rate, from flats and