General Report on the Sanitary Condition of the town of Kelso : drawn up at the request of the Board of Governers of Police / by Charles Wilson.

Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: General Report on the Sanitary Condition of the town of Kelso : drawn up at the request of the Board of Governers of Police / by Charles Wilson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    Improved Keuucls. IBeavengiiig. half a foot above the common road-way. But the Police Act, a« at present administered, does not permit the enforcement of this hand- some and convenient arrangement;—though perhaps, on the plea of superior advantages of surface drainage, it might be practicable to have a kerb-stone, of either Arbroath or Caithness slate, placed on edge, carried along the whole of the inner sides of the gutters ; within which the common pavement, as at present in use, might be placed, and retained, at a higher level. The effect of this would be, that nearly a riglrt-angled kennel wotdd be formed, of sufficient depth to retain the current of water, instead of the present shallow and expanding channel, admitting of its easy overflow across the footways, aud even within the houses. Should flagged footways bo adopted at any time afterwards, these kerb-stones will be found to constitute a serviceable part of them. It must be admitted, also, that our streets, however far from per- fection, have at no period been kept generally in a more clean con- dition, than under the superintendence of the present contractor. If, during the rule of our ancient abbots, they were regulated by anything like what we find on record as the “ Statuta Gildo apud Berwictim facta, supposed to date from the middle of the 13th cen- tury, in which it is ordained; under a severe penalty, “that no man shall presume or dare to place dung, or rubbish, or ashes on the jHiblic way, or in the market-place, or on the banks of the Tweed, to the hurt and damage of passengers,” they were certainly better ]u-otectcd then, than in periods greatly morp recent to which I have already had occasion to refer. But, even in this department of our police economy, it seems to me possible that not only a more efficient, but a less expensive, mode of management might still be suggested. In several of the cities and towns of England, as in London, Man- chester, and Newcastle, the patent street-sweeping machine, invented l)y Mr Whitworth, has been ^■lo^Y for some time in active employ- ment ; and with one opinion only as to its superior cheapness, con- venience, and efficacy over the usual methods by hand labour. I find that such a machine can be hired from the patentee at a charge of £110 for four years, to be paid in advance on delivery at the works. To this cost of £27, 10s. per annum, must be added an expense for rcj)airs, renewal of brushes, and the hire of a man and horse, which, probably, cannot amount to more than an average sum of £90 ; making, in all, somewhat less than £120 per annum. At the termination of the four years, the hire of a new machine can cither be procured on similar conditions, or, on payment of £80, the old one can be retained for a renewal of the term. With this machine, and a single cartman to attend it, an average of from to 5^ acres of streets or roads can be swept daily, in a more jierfect manner than could formerly be cflected by 17 or 18 men. I have forwarded with my report one or two documents more fully cxiila- natory of its metliod of operation.
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