H. Percy Boulnois

“ It is, perhaps, true that it may be done in the latter manner at less actual cost to the ratepayers, but all public work should be done in the best manner possible, irrespective of cost, thoroughly, but without extravagance, and the result of such work, especially where it affects the cleanliness and the appearance of a town, soon fully repays any moderate extra cost that may thus have been incurred, irrespective of the enormous benefit that is conferred upon any community by the reduction of disease and the death-rate by a proper attention to such necessary sanitary work. ”

“ It not only lays the dust, but it washes the surface of the street, and it most effectually scours out the gutters and at the same time flushes the sewers, which at the season that watering is necessary is also of great importance to any town. By this process a delightful freshness is given to the air, and the appearance of the cool and limpid water rushing along on each side of the street acts favourably upon the inhabitants. ”

“ On calculating the average cost per head of population per annum of the ninety towns from which I received replies on this point, I find that it amounts to about tenpence half-penny, after giving credit for any sum of money realised by the sale of the refuse to farmers and others; so that if this work is costing the ratepayers of a town or city anything under a shilling per head of the whole population every year they have no cause to grumble, as they are so frequently found to do that their rates are higher, and what they have to show for them less than any other town in England. ”

“ The first of importance is that of durability, and although the life of a hard wood constantly exposed to attrition is amazing, as may be seen on the stairs of the Metropolitan Railway Stations, and in many cog wheels of old machinery, still some diversity of opinion exists as to what may be fairly put down as the wear per annum of the surface of a street paved with wood blocks. ”

“ But on whoever the duty rests there is no doubt that the easiest and quickest method of effecting a thorough cleansing of a footpath from snow is by an application of salt, and then to sweep off the slush that is engendered with a broom. Medical men and others, however, assert that the practice of putting salt with the snow is to make a freezing mixture, which is detrimental to the health of persons walking on such a mixture, and there can be no doubt that excessive cold is caused by this practice, often sufficiently severe to crack the flagstones of the foot pavement. ”

“ The paving of the lairs may be of asphalte, but care must be taken that near the door of slaughter-house, the paving is of pitchers or something that is not at all slippery, as here the frightened beast often struggles and draws back when he sees the “engines of destruction” in the slaughter-house, and smells the blood of those who have gone before. ”

“ It is not my intention here to describe or to discuss the question of the collection and disposal of night soil, which in many towns is intimately connected and amalgamated with the collection of house refuse and the cleansing of streets. It is a subject of sufficient importance to be dealt with separately. ”

“ There seems to be no power on the part of any owner to dispute the question as to whether the works carried out have been necessary or not, or whether the cost of the works have been excessive; the only point upon which they can go to arbitration is that as to whether the proportion settled by the surveyor is accurate or not, and this point the arbitrator is left to decide. ”

“ In each snowstorm the depth of snow falling, which is the basis of pay, is ascertained by means of a number of stone posts, fixed in suitable open spaces, clear of shelter from buildings, and each capped with a flat horizontal slab of stone. As soon as it stops snowing, or two or three times during a storm of several hours, the depth of snow caught on the slabs is measured by the engineer in the presence of two of the contractors in his section. The number of men ordinarily engaged in snow clearing on a winter's day is not less than two thousand, and has sometimes risen to three thousand. ”

“ I am strongly of opinion that the work of the collection of house refuse and cleansing the streets should be carried out by the local authority with their own officers and staff, and that executing this work by contract is a mistake and a false economy. ”

“ The necessity of correct plans of the drainage of buildings cannot be over-estimated, especially for hospitals, asylums, workhouses, schools, or other public buildings, and even for the smallest dwelling house such a plan would often prove to be the greatest boon to the occupier or owner as well as at all times to the town surveyor, the medical officer of health, and the inspector of nuisances. ”

“ In England one of the greatest difficulties we have to contend against is the disposal of the snow after it has been placed in the cart.
If there is a river close by, it can be taken there and tipped, but this is objectionable if it is a navigable river where dredging has to be done, as it is surprising what a quantity of road scrapings and other matters are always removed with the snow, and these materials naturally sink to the bottom, and add considerably to the cost of dredging. ”

“ It is, of course, necessary to sweep the ridge of dust or mud which is left by the machine at the side of the street into heaps by hand labour, [51] and to remove it by carts; other machines have been invented for cleansing streets, which by means of elevators, or other gear, profess to raise the mud or dust direct into the carts, which are to be attached at the back of the machine, but hitherto these machines have been found to be too cumbersome, costly, and complicated for the purpose, and they have not consequently found much favour with Sanitary Authorities. ”

“ When any street within any urban district, not being a highway repairable by the inhabitants at large, has been sewered, levelled, paved, flagged, metalled, channelled and made good and provided with proper means of lighting to the satisfaction of the urban authority, such authority may if they think fit, by notice in writing put up in any part of the street, declare the same to be a highway, and thereupon the same shall become a highway repairable by the inhabitants at large, and every such notice shall be entered among the proceedings of the urban authority. ”

“ In many cases the unprotected surveyor may be required to report to a protected medical officer the negligence of his own employers. No local surveyor or engineer can be expected to give cordial and active assistance in compulsory sanitary work when he is conscious that his action would be opposed to the views or the interests of his employers, the public upon whom he is dependent. The existence of such a distinction between the medical officer and surveyor under the same board will produce a want of harmony in interest, and must lead to a divergence of action between the two departments. ”

“ Amongst the influences that disturb the results of any investigations made with respect to street [53] cleansing, that of the amount and character of the traffic over it must not be lost sight of, and the state of repair and gradient of the street are both of considerable importance in affecting the results, the practice too, of bringing out the house refuse into the streets in improper receptacles pending the arrival of the scavengers' cart, must also cause a varying amount of refuse to be swept from its surface, depending upon the habits of the persons living in the street. ”

“ Too much binding material or too much water should not be used in forming a road with a steam roller. It is unfortunately frequently the case that a road is made quickly only to go to pieces with the traffic in a few weeks. The surface of a well-constructed macadamised roadway should after being rolled look almost like an encaustic pavement. If there is too much binding material in the joints of the stones, the first heavy rain washes it out and the surface of the roadway quickly goes to pieces. ”

“ If any person removes or obstructs the local authority or contractor in removing any matters by this section authorised to be removed by the local authority he shall for each offence be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds: provided that the occupier of a house within the district shall not be liable to such penalty in respect of any such matters which are produced on his own premises and are intended to be removed for sale or for his own use and are in the meantime kept so as not to be a nuisance. ”

“ Whenever the permanent surface or soil of any street or public road is broken up or opened by the company it shall be lawful for the body having the control of the street or road, in case they think it expedient so to do, to fill in the ground, and to make good the pavement or surface or soil so broken up or opened, and to carry away the rubbish occasioned thereby, instead of permitting such work to be done by the company ”

“ In small towns, except during abnormally muddy weather, it may be mixed with the house refuse and sold to farmers, or the road scrapings themselves may be used as an excellent sand, if thoroughly washed, to mix with lime or cement to form mortar for public works; excessive accumulations of mud, however, must be got rid of in the most economical and speedy manner possible, and this is effected either by filling up old disused quarries with it, or depositing it upon waste lands, or forming embankments for new roads, but in no case should it be used, as I have before stated, upon building sites ”

“ It would be most unjust to expect the owners of property to pay for a sewer larger than was required for the street in respect of which they were responsible, and if legal, the better plan would be for them to be charged with the cost of such a sewer as would be sufficient for their purpose and let any extra size that the surveyor found was requisite be paid for out of the public rates. ”

“ Every person who shall intend to erect any new building shall give notice to the urban authority of such intention by writing delivered to them at their office or at the office of their surveyor, and shall at the same time leave or cause to be left at the said office detail plans and sections of every floor of such intended new building, drawn to a scale of not less than 1 inch to every 8 feet, showing the position, form and dimensions of the several parts of such building, and of the watercloset, earth closet, privy, cesspool, ashpit, well, and all other appurtenances ”

“ In towns where the house refuse is not collected separately from the road scrapings, a judicious mixture of the two in the cart considerably assists in preventing any mud from splashing over or the dust from blowing about.
The employment of wooden carts for this work is bad economy, their rough usage, and the mode adopted for emptying them by “tipping,” renders their life a short one; a cart in constant work frequently costs from 4l. to 5l. per annum in repairs, and having but little of the original material of which it was constructed left in it at the end of six years. ”

“ Where the town surveyor is in any doubt as to whether the conduit is a drain or a sewer, he should test from whence the sewage comes by passing diluted white lime or carbolic acid down the adjacent water-closets and watching whether it flows through the conduit or not, but even here he is sometimes at fault if the drains are old and dilapidated, as they do not reach the point he is watching and he is thus misled. ”

“ Unless a footpath is raised above the roadway it is liable to be flooded.
Many materials are used for kerb, of which granite being the best is generally used in streets where there is much traffic, as the kerb is often subjected to severe blows from the passing vehicular traffic as well as a grinding action from the wheels of waggons and other heavy vehicles, especially on gradients where “hugging” the kerb acts as a drag or break. In such cases granite, although the most expensive in the first case, is certainly the most economical, and no other material should ever be used. ”

“ Hoardings and scaffoldings are now so scientifically erected as to be little or no inconvenience to foot-passengers. Care must, however, be taken to see that in the erection of a hoarding the doors or gates in it shall not open outwards, and the police should be instructed to prevent carts being backed in and left standing across the footpath.
The surveyor must exercise great discretion in the length of time he allows a hoarding to remain; without undue hardship on the builder, he must study at the same time the more important question of the public convenience. ”

“ As a rule the buildings should not exceed four stories in height; the staircases should be about four feet in width, and broken by short landings, lighted by large windows open to the external air; the window-sills should not be less than three feet from the floors for the safety of young children, and for the same reason well staircases should be avoided. The steps of the stairs should only have a 6-inch ‘rise,’ for the more easy accommodation of old people and young children; they should be fire-proof, and well lighted with gas on an evening. ”