Dr. W.W.E. Fletcher's report to the Local Government Board on an inspection of the Witney urban district, more especially in relation to the disposal and removal of house refuse and nightsoil / [Wilfred W.E. Fletcher].

  • Fletcher, Wilfred W. E.
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dr. W.W.E. Fletcher's report to the Local Government Board on an inspection of the Witney urban district, more especially in relation to the disposal and removal of house refuse and nightsoil / [Wilfred W.E. Fletcher]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Dr. W. W. E. Fletcher’s Report to the Local Government Board on an Inspection of the Witney Urban District, more especially in relation to the Disposal and Removal of House Refuse and Nightsoil. Richard T. Thorne, Medical Officer, November 11th, 1897. £ Ai: a VN M In October, L895, the Clerk to the Witney Urban District Council wrote to the Board, submitting a draft of bye-laws which it was proposed to substitute for those at that time in force in the district. Certain of the proposed bye-laws had reference to removal of house refuse and of nightsoil by the occupiers of premises ; they would have imposed the duty of such removal on the occupiers, and would also have given the District Council power to inflict penalties for neglect. Inasmuch, however, as the District Council already employed men to remove such refuse and nightsoil as was deposited by the occupiers of premises in buckets or pails in the streets before 9 a.m. ; and inasmuch as there seemed to be «c>toe;d*)ubt as to the general method of disposal of nightsoil, and as to the kind of gfoset'mr privy in common use, the Board, before sanctioning the proposed by tv laws as to scavenging, considered that it would be well to have a report from tjpe of their inspectors, and I was accordingly instructed to visit and report nptmrfte district with special reference to this subject. m n m i The Witney Urban District comprises an area of 193 acres ; and had, at the census of 1891, a population of 3,110 persons. The last rateable value, December, 1896, is given as £8,827, and the corresponding assessable value as £8,029. The usual method of excrement disposal is by means of objectionable privies - with-cesspits, or pail-closets which were found to be almost equally objectionable. Some of the better class houses are provided with water-closets. The cesspit- privies are badly constructed. The “risers” of the privy-seats are frequently constructed of wood, with the result that they become saturated with urine, and warp and rot, so that liquid commonly escapes on to the floors of privies. The cesspits are dug below the ground level, are pervious, and allow the escape of urine and other liquid matters into the subsoil. They are not so constructed as to admit of the application of ashes to the contained excrement, and they looked i referred earth is objecti cannoflU furnuMEflyd fsd ^ied only at long intervals. Each cesspit-privy may justly be idual source of nuisance. The pail-closets,—habitually cal Officer of Health as “earth-closets,” although no -are, owing to their bad construction, almost equally ices beneath the seats are in some cases bricked, but this 5 rendering them impervious. Some of the seats are langesuo11 the front portions of the undersides to direct but ..thepmajority are without such provision. Instead of $opcrw <1()!|V, true ted receptacles, the tops of which come close to the undersides the Souls, aM.V old buckets, pails, or tubs are used, and the result is that the ■Spaces under. Ue seats are almost invariably in a filthy condition, urine passing front8* mthe buckets or pails, and, not infrequently, excrement passing -owythe back?- in fact, the pail-closets in this district are almost, if not quite, /^ouVce of nuisance as are the privy-cesspits. At Buckle’s \ ard four ghUeUs dfifteiided for use as pail-closets had been erected in what appeared A W) U§~»*i old stable. The stench in the building was almost overpowering, 4here was so little light inside the closets that it was necessary to •strike matehe* to examine them. It was then observed that the closets «syere unpravk^csd'-Ayfith pails, and that the spaces beneath the seats contained •a^considei*;iIjU-‘ nrrH amt of excrement and urine. So far as my observations Wcent to sJyUyy there appear to be in Witney as many of these ill-constructed ppail-cldsets.yas of privies with cesspits. Usually, privies and pail-closets are well rtipoved from dwellings. One water-closet was observed in a filthy condition'’ from want of efficient flushing. There is no public water supply in i Witney, and, consequently, wherever water-closets are in use, water for flushing purposes has to be supplied by cisterns collecting rain-water, or 25Q-3/97 Wt 10977 D & S 19. A iU,COME -fBRARY