HH62/1/FIFE/49

Transcription

[page] 48

is therefore most doubtful. There is no means of drainage. The
houses in many cases are in very bad order.
Bonnytown gets its water from wells; but also has a branch from
Wemyss water main.
Baintown is a very small hamlet, getting its water from shallow
wells.
Kingslassie. - The village has a good water supply by gravitation.
Drainage is by loosely paved side channels on the sides of the road,
and is very defective. The houses are, in many cases, in bad order;
but owing to the increase of coal mining in the district, houses are
being improved. There is very great need of a better system of
drainage, more efficient scavenging, and attentive sanitary inspection is
needed.
Leslie Parish. - The village of Leslie is a police burgh, and the
only populous place to refer to is Prinlaws. This place has a good
water supply of gravitation. Ashpits are regularly cleared out, and the
place generally is well kept.
MARKINCH. -
This parish contains several important places. The town of
Markinch, formerly reported on by me to Kirkcaldy District Com-
mittee, has now become a police burgh, and therefore does not fall to
be considered.
Auchmuty Village. - The village derives its water from a pipe about
300 yards distant. This should be led in, as the distance is too far.
There is drainage provided, and the houses are in good order, and the
whole place is in very good order.
Balbirnie Mills. - This hamlet has a supply of water by gravitation.
The houses are old, and are occupied by old residenters on the place,
who are satisfied with their houses, although in many cases they are
damp.
Balcurvie Village. - The water supply of this village is most
defective. One well in the village is in close proximity to a foul gutter,
and is also liable to pollution by slop-water of houses. The main well
is to the north of the village, and on my first visit, a pigstye was near to
the source of the spring. Drainage is very much needed, and nuisances
from pigstyes and manure are very abundant.
Coaltown of Balgonie has a Special Water Supply District. The
water comes by a branch form Kirkcaldy Corporation water main, and
is of excellent quality. The drainage of the village is by side gutters
and underground drains, and is not at all satisfactory. There is great
need for a properly conducted sewage system. Scavenging is not well
attended to, and, in consequence, numerous nuisances exist. Careful
sanitary inspection is needed.
Milton of Balgonie. - The water supply is by wells, in the usual
proximity to houses. The hamlet, however, on the whole, is tolerably
free from serious nuisances.
Cameron Bridge. - The village is almost part of Windygates.
Water supply is by wells and by gravitation. Drainage is defective,
and sewerage matters discharge into the Leven.
Kirkforthar Feus. - The water of part of the village is of a most

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suspicious nature, being from a well surrounded by houses and pigstyes.
The soil is damp, and drainage is needed, as the houses are rendered
damp from want of this, and from want of rhones for rain water.
Thorton Village has a Special Water District, and gets its water
supply by a branch pipe from Kirkcaldy Corporation main, and is well
supplied. There is no drainage system, except by side channels, and
the gradients being very flat this is very defective, and quite insufficient
for the purpose. A proper drainage system is much needed. Scaveng-
ing is fairly well attended to.
Windygates. - The village is supplied by shallow wells, quite close
to houses, ashpits, and other sources of pollution. In many cases the
wells are lower than the houses, and this increases the danger of pollu-
tion being carried into the wells. There is no drainage system.
Nuisances are very abundant. A Special Drainage District for Balcurvie
and Windygates has been formed, but no steps have as yet been taken to
go on with the works. A good supply of water is urgently needed, both
for this village and Balcurvie.
Woodside. - This hamlet is supplied by water from wells. There
is little or no attempt at drainage, but the place is tolerably clean.
Scoonie Parish. - Except the police burgh of Leven, there is no
populous place of consequence in the parish. My attention has been
specially drawn to houses which were considered to be insanitary, and I
have report that these houses are in very defective conditions. None
of the houses are provided with rhones, and the soil is banked up
against the back walls, rendering the houses damp. There is no
attempt at drainage for any of the houses, nor are they provided with
privy or water closet accommodation. Very extensive improvements
are needed to render them habitable.
Wemyss and Buckhaven. - By the formation of a police burgh,
Buckhaven, Methil, and Innerleven have passed out of the control of
the District Committee; but, prior to this, I reported on their sanitary
state in connection with an outbreak of enteric fever.
Coaltown of Wemyss has a branch pipe from the Wemyss water
main, and is thus well supplied with water. The houses are good, and
the place generally is clean.
Kirkland is supplied from Wemyss water main. The village was
supplied with a public latrine by the Local Authority of Wemyss Parish.
The houses are not in very good order. The public ashpits are too
large and too near houses, especially as, not being roofed over, the
contents are not kept dry. The square nearest the Leven is in a most
unsatisfactory state from defective drainage and accumulation of house
refuse.
Muiredge. - This place is provided with a public latrine. Drainage
is by side gutters.
Methilhill. - This place is supplied from Wemyss water main.
Drainage is effected by surface gutters and underground drains. The
surface gutters, especially at the south row, are very defective, and are
not sufficient. Flushing of this gutter is done by a pipe leading direct
from the water supply pipe, and discharging by a T piece an inch or so
above the level of the gutter. This is a very bad means of flushing,