Chapter II. HOUSE REFUSE.

Now the first question that presents itself to us is: what is house refuse? and how is it to be defined? for unless this point is satisfactorily settled, great onus¹ and expense will be put on the local authority if they are to be compelled to remove all trade, garden, and other refuse in addition to what may be legally entitled house refuse.

Section 4, part I., Public Health Act, 1875, contains the following definition of the word house: "House" includes schools, also factories and other buildings in which more than twenty persons are employed at one time. But all that is apparently² said in reference to the definition of refuse is to be found in "Glenn's Public Health Act," 1875, where in a foot note to section 44, part III. of the before named Act, is the negative argument "what is not refuse:" and describes one or two cases in which it was held that certain ashes from furnaces, etc., were to be designated as "trade refuse," and further says "that the intention of the Act was that only the[6] rubbish arising from the domestic use of houses should be removed."

On reference, however, to some local Improvement Acts, it appears that the definition is given more in detail, for we find that house refuse is there described as "all dirt, dust, dung, offal, cinders³, ashes, rubbish, filth⁴, and soil."

We may thus, we imagine, be fairly content with these definitions, and may assume that all house refuse legally so designated, and which it is the duty of the scavenger⁵ to remove, is really so removed by the direction of the local authority without dispute, but that the following articles, which frequently find their way into a domestic dustbin, are not in the strict terms of the Act expected to be removed by the scavenger, viz., (1) plaster from walls and brick bats, (2) large quantities of broken bottles and flower pots, (3) clinkers and ashes from foundries and greenhouses, (4) wall papers torn from the rooms of a house, (5) scrap⁶ tin (but not old tins which have contained tinned meats and which, although very objectionable and bulky, may be fairly assumed to be house refuse), and (6) all garden refuse such as grass cuttings, dead leaves, and the loppings from trees and shrubs⁷. The Bromley Local Board issue a card on which is printed, amongst other information with[7] reference to the contract for the removal of house refuse, the following:—"It is hoped that householders will as far as possible facilitate the systematic⁸ removal of refuse by providing suitable dustbins, and directing their servants that ordinary house refuse only shall be deposited in such receptacles. The following are some of the items of refuse which the contractors⁹ are bound to remove, viz.:—cinder ashes, potatoe peelings, cabbage leaves, and kitchen refuse generally. But the contractors are not required to remove the refuse of any trade, manufacture, or business, or of any building materials or any garden cuttings or sweepings¹⁰." Some valuable statistics have recently been prepared by me from answers obtained from upwards¹¹ of ninety of the principal cities, and towns in England, in reply to a series of questions which I addressed to the local surveyors on the subject of scavenging, and on referring to these statistics it is found that out of these ninety towns, the authorities of only thirteen of them direct the removal of both trade and garden refuse without any special extra payment being made by the householder, but that this is only done when these materials are placed in the ordinary dustbin or ashpit attached to a house. Several towns, however, it appears remove such[8] materials on special payments being made of sums varying from 1s. 6d. to 3s. per load.

Disputes frequently arise between the men employed in scavenging and the householder on these vexed¹² questions as to the difference between house, trade, or garden refuse, a dispute often raised by the scavengers themselves, in the hope of obtaining a gratuity¹³ or reward for the clearance¹⁴ of a dustbin which no doubt, legally, they are perfectly¹⁵ justified¹⁶ in refusing to empty, and in order to lessen¹⁷ the chance of such disputes and to attempt to settle this question the following suggestions may be of value.

It would no doubt be vexatious if any sanitary¹⁸ authority were to absolutely refuse to remove the "garden" refuse from those houses to which a small flower garden was attached, whilst it would on the contrary be an unfair tax upon the general community if the refuse of large gardens was removed without payment. A good rule would therefore be to remove only such garden refuse as was contained in the ordinary dustbin or ashpit attached to a house, and that as the removal of any kind of trade refuse would no doubt lead to abuses if done gratuitously¹⁹ by the sanitary authority, that this material should only be removed on payment of some sum, which should be previously²⁰ fixed²¹ by the Local Authority,[9] and each case should be reported to the officer superintending the work before it was removed.

There are, of course, in addition to the ordinary house refuse the waste materials from the surface of the streets, and from markets and slaughter-houses, which have to be collected and disposed of by the Local Authority, but these materials should be collected in a special manner, independently of the ordinary removal of the house refuse.

1 onus   

n.负担；责任

参考例句：

• The onus is on government departments to show cause why information cannot bedisclosed.政府部门有责任说明不能把信息公开的理由。
• The onus of proof lies with you.你有责任提供证据。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 cinders   

n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 )；炭渣；煤渣路；煤渣跑道

参考例句：

• This material is variously termed ash, clinker, cinders or slag. 这种材料有不同的名称，如灰、炉渣、煤渣或矿渣。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rake out the cinders before you start a new fire. 在重新点火前先把煤渣耙出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 filth   

n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥

参考例句：

• I don't know how you can read such filth.我不明白你怎么会去读这种淫秽下流的东西。
• The dialogue was all filth and innuendo.这段对话全是下流的言辞和影射。

5 scavenger   

n.以腐尸为食的动物，清扫工

参考例句：

• He's just fit for a job as scavenger.他只配当个清道夫。
• He is not a scavenger nor just a moving appetite as some sharks are.它不是食腐动物，也不像有些鲨鱼那样，只知道游来游去满足食欲。

6 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

7 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

8 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

9 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 sweepings   

n.笼统的( sweeping的名词复数 )；（在投票等中的）大胜；影响广泛的；包罗万象的

参考例句：

• Yet he only thought about tea leaf sweepings which cost one cent a packet. 只是想到了，他还是喝那一个子儿一包的碎末。 来自互联网

11 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

12 vexed   

adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论

参考例句：

• The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。
• He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 gratuity   

n.赏钱，小费

参考例句：

• The porter expects a gratuity.行李员想要小费。
• Gratuity is customary in this money-mad metropolis.在这个金钱至上的大都市里，给小费是司空见惯的。

14 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

15 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

16 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

17 lessen   

vt.减少，减轻；缩小

参考例句：

• Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
• They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。

18 sanitary   

adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的

参考例句：

• It's not sanitary to let flies come near food.让苍蝇接近食物是不卫生的。
• The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。

19 gratuitously   

平白

参考例句：

• They rebuild their houses for them gratuitously when they are ruined. 如果他们的房屋要坍了，就会有人替他们重盖，不要工资。 来自互联网
• He insulted us gratuitously. 他在毫无理由的情况下侮辱了我们。 来自互联网

20 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

21 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。