[Report 1902] / Medical Officer of Health, Middleton Borough.

  • Middleton (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1902] / Medical Officer of Health, Middleton Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    39/42 (page 39)
    I beg to suggest that the Committee consider the advis¬ ability of adopting a more uniform and sanitary kind of ashpit. The large brick built ashpits take up a considerable amount of air space in the back yards ; it becomes very foul and offensive, and therefore is insanitary; the doors are often thrown open by the children or are forced open by the ashpit being full, and the contents are either in the back yard or the passage; it is both costly and laborious to empty, and owing to its size, is liable to be neglected for two or more weeks. In a great many cases, the contents of the privy middens and dry ashpits have to be wheeled from behind the premises and tipped into the street before being carted away, many complaints are received of nuisances arising from this cause. At the present time, in a great many cases of tipping the refuse in the street is unavoidable, but in new property and where alterations are being made, if suitable bins, made of impervious material and provided with covers were pro¬ vided for the storage of dry ashes, they could be emptied oftener at less cost, and the necessity of tipping in the street would be unnecessary. The tipping in the street of the refuse from privy middens will have to continue until the privies are converted to closets on the water carriage system. Considerable difficulty is experienced in disposing of the excreta from the pails, especially during the summer months, and very often it has to be carted from one side of the Borough to the other before being disposed of.