Extracts from the annual report of the medical officer of the local government board for 1891-92. On manure nuisances.

  • Thorne, R. Thorne.
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Extracts from the annual report of the medical officer of the local government board for 1891-92. On manure nuisances. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    4G remain, and is ground up by the passing traffic, so that the road surface remains long polluted by it. There is really no excuse for nuisance of this kind, which is due simply to tho carelessness of carters, the parsimony and inconsiderateness of farmers, and the apathy ol local authorities. Tor the removal a properly constructed cart should be used, and for material which is wet and sloppy, a watertight one. The cart should be carefully loaded, and, if the height of the load renders it necessary, should have boards round the sides to prevent any of the material falling off. Any that falls off should at once be swept up. As a covering to prevent droppings and confine the stench, a good tarpaulin securely tied on is usually sufficient, except in the case of liquid matter. Byelaws with the above objects maybe made by any urban authority, or by any rural authority invested with the requisite urban powers. They may be made under two enactments, viz., Part IT., section 44, Public Health Act, 1875, or section 26, Public Health Act (Amendment) Act, 1890. The former enactment applies to “filth, dust, ashes, and rubbish,” the latter to “ any foeeal or offensive or noxious matter or liquid.” Byelaws on the Board’s Model, under section 44, Public Health Act, 1875, are in force in a large number of districts.* The only point of which I have heard complaint as to their inadequacy is that the cart is required to be “ furnished with a sufficient covering “ so as to prevent the escape of the contents thereof,” whereas it is held that the emission of stench should be also, as far as practicable, pre- vented. A similar limitation is also made in the Act of 1890. From a chemical point of view, no doubt, the giving off of effluvia is “ the escape “ of the contents,” but it is doubted whether it would be so held in a court of law. In populous districts it is often found desirable to limit the hours during which offensive matters may be carted through the streets in order to avoid the most frequented hours of the day. Byelaws for this purpose may be made under each of the above-mentioned clauses of the Acts of 1875 and 1890. On the other hand, removal during the night is open to the objection that.the work cannot be efficiently superintended, and hence that there is risk of dropped matter being allowed to remain on the I’oads. The hours usually sanctioned by the Local Government Board are 6 to 8.30 a.m. in the summer, from March to October inclusive, and 7 to 9.30 a.m. during the winter, from November to February inclusive. [In the special case of Southend, however, where grave nuisance existed from unloading of manure on the foreshore, byelaws have been sanc- tioned restricting the unloading and carting of manure to the hours of from midnight to 8.30 a.m. throughout the year. The byelaws in question were made under a local Act of 1875, which empowered the Southend Local Board to make byelaws with respect to the landing and carting of manure for the comfort and convenience of the inhabitants. It was shown in this case that the landing could only be effected at certain staies of the tide, and that the hours ordinarily fixed would not afford sufficient time for the work,' and the Local Board undertook to arrange for the necessary supervision.] Storage on land. 7. Storage on the land, and Application to 8. Application to the land. * The Board have also sanction'd in a good many district, byelaws under the Act of 1890, based on a model published by Messrs. Knight & Co.