HH62/1/M-LOTH/7

Transcription

[Page 6]

Public Health - not be advisable at present, and
steps are being now taken to secure for Local
Authorities powers to form Scavenging Districts,
as they have already powers to form Water and
Drainage Districts.

Nuisances.

Many nuisances have been abated during the
year; others are in course of being remedied now.
I have granted a number of Certificates of Nuisance.
Some of these have been brought into requisition,
others not. In a few cases delay has been con-
sidered advisable until Bye-Laws are framed by
the Committees regarding Dairies and Common
Lodging-houses. A case of great importance, and
of far-reaching consequences, was brought up by
the SUBURBAN DISTRICT Committee against the
Edinburgh Town Council. An old clay-pit near
Millerhill Station has been used as a "toom" for
City Refuse since July 1890, and thousands of
tons have been deposited in it. Many complaints
regarding it were made from time to time; but
the then Medical Officer for the Parish, Dr. Lucas,
certified that the refuse laid down contained 'little
or no organic matter,' and that the accumulation
was therefore not injurious to health. I examined
the deposit, and found it mainly composed of
organic matter. On my inquiring carefully into
the health condition of the people in the immediate
neighbourhood, I was perfectly satisfied that a
number of illnesses - persistent nausea, headache,
diarrhoea, etc. - were due wholly to this cause, and
I consequently certified the accumulation as a

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nuisance. A deputation of the District Committee
met with one from the City at Millerhill, and the
City agreed to cease operations during the warmer
months, and to carry out certain steps stipulated by
the District Committee, to prevent the place being
a nuisance after fresh deposits ceased. The town
broke through their agreement, and the Committee
very reluctantly were forced to go to Court. The
case came before Sheriff Rutherfurd, who fixed a
day for proof, and after hearing evidence he
pronounced an interlocutor, finding that the com-
plainers failed to prove a nuisance within the
meaning of the Public Health Act; and dismissed
the petition, finding neither party entitled to
expenses. The Sheriff read a note to the inter-
locutor, the contents of which were reported by
reporters present, and given to the papers. I give
this note as it appears in one of the leading dailies:-

"After hearing the arguments of counsel, Sheriff
Rutherfurd said that on considering the question whether
the complainers had proved that injury to health had
been caused by the heap, he had made up his mind on
the subject, and was prepared to give judgement. Un-
fortunately the evidence on this point, which had been
adduced by the complainers, was inconclusive, and the
testimony of several of the witnesses had served to
weaken rather than support the case. The evidence of
the witnesses in Newton House no doubt lent colour to
the complaint, because the symptoms from which they
suffered were such as might result from a vitiated
atmosphere; but while he thought that was the strongest
and most important evidence in the case, it required to be