HH62/1/DUNBAR/35

Transcription

[Page] 34

REFUSE DISPOSAL.

As has just been stated, there are throughout the county
comparatively few water-closets. Privies and ashpits are the
general rule, and they vary in degree from almost the best to the
very worst.
They form the commonest of all nuisances existing in the Dis-
tricts, and the most frequent subject of official notices by the Sani-
tary Inspector. To strengthen the hands of Mr. Dunbar in the
issuing of such notices, it would be well if the District Committees
were to sanction the enclosure with each notice, of a sketch plan of
such a structure as would be held to meet the approval of the
Local Authority. At present, under the Public Health (Scotland)
Act, the Sanitary Authority is not required to suggest a remedy for
a nuisance, but only to see to its removal, and, where structural
works are concerned, to leave the owner to erect what may have
again to be condemned. Of course, in practice, an inspector is
always willing to give advice when asked, but often he is not
asked. The requisites of a proper ashpit are perfectly simple. It
should be of small capacity, to necessitate frequent emptying;
raised several inches above the ground level, to prevent entrance
of surface water; concreted in the bottom and sides, to prevent
filth impregnation of the walls or floor, or of the ground below;
provided with a slated shed roof, to prevent access of rain,
and to ward off the sun's rays, and so delay putrefaction of the
contents; thoroughly ventilated on at least three sides and by
the roof; and without any drain, so that the main drains of the
locality may not be choked and polluted by its contents. No
house water should be thrown into it, so that the contents may
be kept dry. Instead, all water should be emptied on a grating,
or into a slop sink, communicating by a trap with the drain.
In erecting such an ashpit the amount saved by having no drain
to provide is often sufficient to pay for the roofing and for the
concrete.
It is not my purpose in this Report to discuss the condition of
the structures in each separate town and village in the county.
Speaking generally, in the more populous places many of the
ashpits are of stone or brick. Some privies are of wood, saturated
with filth, and wood is the almost universal material in the

[Page] 35

smaller villages, excepting in the colliery rows. In some of
these rows, as at Barrhill and Auchinstarry the accommodation is
very fair. In others it is bad both in structure and posi-
tion. In many houses in the villages there are no built ash-
pits, but only accumulations of excrement and refuse in back
gardens, sometimes dangerously near the shallow wells which form
the source of water supply. In Jamestown the ashpits are of
concrete, well built, but not as a rule roofed over.
At Radnor Park an excellent system is in force. There are no
ashpits, but each dwelling has an ashbox which is put out on the
street for daily emptying into a dust-cart. There are no privies,
all the houses being provided with water-closets.

THE SCAVENGING OF VILLAGES.

In the Western District, five scavengers are employed by the
Local Authority, three being in Alexandria, and two in Renton.
In Alexandria their duties are confined to street sweeping; in
Renton they have charge also of emptying the ashpits. In the
Eastern District the Local Authority employs no scavengers.
The scavenging of villages is one of the most difficult questions
connected with the sanitation of the county. Supposing that
proper ashpits are erected, their contents soon become a nuisance
unless regularly and systematically removed.
In the colliery rows in the Eastern District this is done by
a scavenger employed by the owners. But in ordinary vil-
lages, with many different owners, a proper system can be
carried out only by the Local Authority taking charge of the
matter, for when it is left to individual owners to arrange with
farmers, the intervals that usually elapse between successive
removals are far too long to prevent nuisance. In many cases
refuse is allowed to accumulate for months. Unfortunately the
Local Authority has no power to confine assessment for cleansing
to the part of the District reaping the direct benefit, and till this
disability is abolished by legislation no quite satisfactory arrange-
ment is likely to be made. So soon, however, as a sufficient
sanitary staff is appointed, it might be advisable for the District
Committees, acting under section 51 of the Public Health Act to
issue public notice "for the periodical removal of manure or other