The definition of the word street, as given in the Public Health Act, 1875, is as follows:—"Street includes any highway (not being a turnpike road), and any public bridge (not being a county bridge), and any road, lane, footway, square, court, alley13, or passage, whether a thoroughfare or not."
With reference to turnpike roads the Act further states that any Urban Authority may by agreement with the Trustees of any turnpike road, or with the Surveyor of any county bridge, take on themselves the maintenance, repair, cleansing14, or watering of such street or road.
It is very questionable15, however, whether the onus16 of cleansing private courts and alleys17 which are not repairable by the Urban Authority should be borne by them, although for the sake of the public health it is highly desirable that such work should be so undertaken.
The great difficulty attached to this duty arises from the fact that as a rule these private courts and alleys are very badly paved, if paved at all, full of[48] pits, where pools of stagnant18 mud and water collect, and even in the best cases, the interstices between the pebbles19, or other paving, are filled with filth20 arising in great measure from the dirty habits of the people, and this filth it is found exceedingly difficult to dislodge. The remedy for this is to compel the owners of the abutting21 properties to have the courts and alleys properly paved with asphalte, or other equally impervious22 material, after which it would be easy for the Urban Authority to cause them to be swept at least once a day, and flushed with water in the hot weather once a week, but in order to compel the owners to execute this very desirable work it would be necessary to put the complicated machinery23 of section 150 of the Public Health Act, 1875, in force, and the expense to the landlords would be in many cases very disproportionate to the value of their property.
Out of the ninety towns to which reference has before been made, the authorities of only nineteen of them cleanse24 the private courts and alleys in their jurisdiction25. The sweeping26 and cleansing of streets should be effected either at night or very early in the morning; if, however, the bad practice of bringing the house refuse out into the streets in inappropriate receptacles is in vogue27, it becomes necessary to sweep[49] the street later in the day, after the contents of these receptacles has been removed. In most cases it is necessary to cleanse the principal streets of a town at least once a day, and this appears to be the practice of nearly all the ninety towns referred to, but only seven of them appear to have this operation repeated more frequently; in several cases, however, the horse droppings, &c., are removed at once, under what is called the "orderly" system, and this is especially necessary in streets that are paved with such materials as wood paving, asphalte, or granite28 setts. The suburban29 streets of a town need only be cleansed30 once or twice a week, except in special cases of extremes of mud or snow. It is important, however, that the gully pits in all parts of the town should be cleared out constantly, and men should be employed for this purpose, as well as to cleanse and disinfect all the cabstands and public urinals at least once every day.
Street cleansing is effected either by hand-sweeping and hand-scraping, or by machinery. As to which is the most economical much depends upon the value of labour, and also upon the condition of the roads to be dealt with, but in point of time and as a general rule the value of a horse rotary31 brush-sweeping machine is undoubted, the only time at which such a[50] machine fails to do effective work is on the occasions when the mud to be removed (owing to a peculiar32 condition of the atmosphere), has attained33 a semi-solidity, and is of a stiff and sticky consistency34, when it either adheres to and clogs35 the brushes of the machine, or is flattened36 by them on to the road instead of being removed.
The simplest and best of these machines, in my opinion, is that manufactured by Messrs. Smith & Sons, of Barnard Castle. It sweeps a clear width of six feet, the rotary brush, which is divided into four or more parts, works diagonally, it is drawn37 easily by one horse, clearing itself of mud or dust in its progress, and the makers38 say that it can sweep 15,000 square yards of road surface in one hour, this being equivalent to the ordinary work of about 50 men in the same time!
The price of this machine is ￡30, and being of very simple construction it costs little or nothing in repairs, except for the brushes, which last for about 180 hours when in constant work. These can, however, be replaced at a cost of ￡2 15s. per set, or the old stocks can be refilled with bass39, at a more moderate figure. It is, of course, necessary to sweep the ridge12 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, profess7 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 cumbersome40, costly41, and complicated for the purpose, and they have not consequently found much favour with Sanitary42 Authorities.
Messrs. Smith & Sons also construct a patent road scraping machine, which is drawn by one horse, and which will, they say, scrape upwards43 of 10,000 square yards of road surface in an hour.
The strength and durability44 of the hand brooms purchased by an Urban Authority for the work of sweeping the streets is of some importance, as affecting the ultimate cost of the work, and some care and skill is required in their selection.
Bass brooms are better than birch brooms for this purpose, and the bass of which the brooms are made should be sufficiently45 stout46 and of regular thickness; it should be tough and elastic47, not old, dry, and brittle48, each knot should be of uniform size and be firmly set, and the number of knots in each broom head is also a matter of choice. A convenient and fair test of the soundness of a broom is to soak it for[52] a few days in water before issuing it to the sweeper, and then note the time it will last. The handles of the brooms should be made of alder49 wood.
The mode of construction of streets, and the materials of which they are formed, makes a considerable difference in the amount of cleansing necessary, and upon the quantity of mud or dust that has to be removed from their surface. In making any investigations50 for the purpose of deciding what difference exists in the question of cleansing various forms and descriptions of pavements, climatic influence introduces a rather disturbing element, which may seriously affect any conclusions that may be drawn; it may, however, be taken for granted that a street, the surface of which is metalled on the macadam principle with stones of a soft or gritty character, will require more cleansing and be more costly to scavenge (under the same conditions of climate and traffic), than a street paved with the hardest granite setts or with blocks of wood, or with asphalte, and at the same time much care will have to be taken not to over sweep or over scrape a road with a macadamised surface, or much injury will be done to it.
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 improper10 receptacles pending51 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.
The Superintendent52 of the Scavenging Department at Liverpool has made some observations and obtained some valuable information on these points, which he has detailed53 in a report he presented to the Health Committee of that borough54 in the year 1877, an abstract of which is as follows:—
[54]
GROSS COST FOR EACH TIME OF CLEANSING 10,000 YARDS SUPERFICIAL OF DIFFERENT DESCRIPTIONS OF ROADWAY IN THE BOROUGH OF LIVERPOOL.
Street. Description of pavement. When paved. Condition of repair of roadway. Area of carriage-
way. Loads removed in one month. Times swept in one month. Gross cost per 10,000 yards superficial for each cleansing.
Yds. supr. ￡ s. d.
Lord St. { Granite setts,
asphalte joints55 } 1877 Very good 4,503 15 26 0 6 5?
North John St. Ditto 1872 Good 3,287 17? 26 0 8 10?
Tithebarn St. { Granite setts,
ordinary joints } 1872 and 1874 Bad 5,150 38 26 0 11 2
West Derby Rd. { Ditto,
asphalte joints } 1876 Very good 11,980 35 13 0 9 4?
Great Howard St. Ditto 1877 Good 16,860 85 13 0 14 4?
Great Homer St. { Ditto,
ordinary joints } Not ascert-ainable Moderate 15,900 85 13 0 14 1
Kensington St. { Macadam breasted
with setts } Ditto Good 14,540 76 13 0 14 3?
Stanley Rd. Ditto Ditto Bad 16,534 186 13 1 8 9?
[55]
He adds that the full benefit of the impervious pavements as regards the cost of scavenging has not yet been felt, for almost all the lines of streets so paved are intersected at short distances by streets of ordinary jointed56 granite setts or macadam, whence a quantity of mud and refuse is dragged by the traffic on to the asphalted jointed roadways, which are consequently debited57 with the cost of removal of some effete58 material not intrinsically belonging to them. He further adds that the credit reductions to be made in respect of the value of manure59 obtained from each description of carriageway is not readily ascertainable60. In dry weather the value of manure collected from granite setts, with or without impervious joints, is about equal, but when the sweepings61 are wet, and consequently of little value for sale, the quantity yielded by the ordinary pervious jointed pavement is greater than from the impervious, and therefore the total value is relatively62 favourable63 to the latter class, whilst to get rid of the sweepings from macadamised streets is a source of additional expense. He concludes this portion of his valuable report by observing that the advantages of the new impervious pavements over the old kinds are especially shown after frost and snowfall, the results of which cause the setts of ordinarily jointed roadways to become loose, and[56] allow a vast amount of mud to ooze64 up between the softened65 joints. The comparison is still more apparent in regard to macadam, which, unless a heavy rainfall succeeds the thaw66, cannot be swept for some days without great destruction being caused to the metalling of the roadway.
The ultimate disposal of the material removed from the surface of a macadamised roadway, being principally composed of silicate, and consequently valueless as a manure, is a difficult matter.
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 thoroughly67 washed, to mix with lime or cement to form mortar68 for public works; excessive accumulations of mud, however, must be got rid of in the most economical and speedy manner, and this is effected either by filling up old disused quarries69 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 is difficult and expensive to destroy it or partially70 convert it into other matters by fire, so that if these methods which I have enumerated71 are impracticable, the only other method left for the disposal of the sweepings or[57] scrapings from the streets is to take them out to sea in hopper barges72 and sink them in deep water.
In the City of Paris an area of about 13,000,000 square yards of streets are cleansed between three and six a.m. in the summer months and four and seven in the winter. This work in connection with the collection of the house refuse employs 2,200 men, 950 women, and 30 boys, besides 190 mechanical sweepers.
The Paris mud is said to no longer possess the manurial strength of former times, and in consequence the receipts derived73 by the municipality from this source have greatly diminished. At the present time it is disposed of by public tender to responsible contractors74, who manage to take between them some 2,500 cubic yards daily.
The following additional particulars of the manner in which this work is carried out in Paris will, I think, prove of interest, especially with regard to the use of disinfectants, which are largely used in that city in connection with the cleansing of the streets, a practice which might be followed with advantage by the Sanitary Authorities of this country.
The cleansing of the public thoroughfares in Paris, which was formerly75 undertaken by the Prefect of Police, is now a function of the Prefect of the Seine.[58] The staff consists of two chief engineers, one for each group of arrondissements, one group being sub-divided into three sections, each under the charge of an executive engineer, and the other into five sections similarly supervised. These sectional engineers have under them 51 superintendents76 and 61 overseers, whose employment costs annually77 ￡10,400. The scavenging plant is kept in a central dep?t, where materials of every description are stored and classified for ordinary and extraordinary service, when snow and ice render additional assistants necessary.
The dep?ts contain supplies of chloride of lime, sulphate of zinc78, sulphate of iron, and carbolic acid, as disinfectants; and hydrochloric acid and nitrobenzide, as cleansing agents. The chloride of lime, of a strength of 100° to 105°, is successfully employed for the disinfecting of places tainted79 with urine or faecal matter, also for cleansing gutters80 carrying any sewage water. Sulphate of iron and sulphate of zinc are both used under the same conditions. Sulphate of iron has the disadvantage of rusting81 objects to which it is applied82, sulphate of zinc is stronger in its action, but it costs a little more; it produces no smell, nor does it leave any stain; it is much employed in summer for washing and watering the basements of the "Halles Centrales," which are[59] used for fish, poultry83, and offal. At a strength of one-eighth, and mixed with three per cent. of sulphate of copper84, sulphate of zinc makes a good disinfecting liquor, which preserves its qualities a long time, and is of great use in private houses. Carbolic acid is not, strictly85 speaking, a disinfectant; it does not act like chloride on putrid86 matter, but it arrests and prevents fermentation, doubtless by destroying the spores87, it is, therefore, always employed when it is desired to destroy the germs of putrid fermentation. It is used at a strength of about one-fortieth, say a gallon of acid to 40 gallons of water. At strengths of one-one hundredth and one-two hundredth it gives good results for watering once or twice a week in summer those parts of the "Halles Centrales" liable to infection; it is even used as low as one-one thousandth for watering streets and gutters. Hydrochloric acid is applied to urinals and slaughter-houses, in places much encrusted with tartar; it is used at a strength of one-sixth, lowered to one-tenth, it cleans smooth walls and flags efficiently88, in ordinary rinsings a strength of one-fifteenth suffices; it leaves a disagreeable odour behind, which is, however, quickly dissipated. Nitrobenzide is more energetic than the foregoing, but it produces a disagreeable smell of bitter almonds and leaves a white film, which has to be washed off; it is[60] used at the same strengths as hydrochloric acid. The annual cost for plant and disinfecting materials of all descriptions is ￡8,800.
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1
morale
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| n.道德准则，士气，斗志 | |
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pedestrians
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| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
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3
wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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inhaling
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| v.吸入( inhale的现在分词 ) | |
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silicate
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| n.硅酸盐 | |
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impurities
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| 不纯( impurity的名词复数 )； 不洁； 淫秽； 杂质 | |
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profess
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| v.声称，冒称，以...为业，正式接受入教，表明信仰 | |
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putrefaction
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| n.腐坏，腐败 | |
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improperly
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| 不正确地，不适当地 | |
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improper
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| adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的 | |
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impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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12
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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cleansing
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| n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词 | |
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15
questionable
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| adj.可疑的，有问题的 | |
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onus
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| n.负担；责任 | |
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alleys
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| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
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18
stagnant
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| adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的 | |
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19
pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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20
filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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21
abutting
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| adj.邻接的v.（与…）邻接( abut的现在分词 )；（与…）毗连；接触；倚靠 | |
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impervious
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| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
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23
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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24
cleanse
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| vt.使清洁，使纯洁，清洗 | |
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jurisdiction
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| n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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suburban
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| adj.城郊的，在郊区的 | |
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cleansed
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| 弄干净，清洗( cleanse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
rotary
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| adj.(运动等)旋转的；轮转的；转动的 | |
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32
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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consistency
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| n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度 | |
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35
clogs
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| 木屐； 木底鞋，木屐( clog的名词复数 ) | |
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flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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makers
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| n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式） | |
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bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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cumbersome
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| adj.笨重的，不便携带的 | |
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41
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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42
sanitary
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| adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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durability
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| n.经久性，耐用性 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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48
brittle
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| adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的 | |
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alder
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| n.赤杨树 | |
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50
investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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51
pending
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| prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的 | |
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52
superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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54
borough
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| n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇 | |
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55
joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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56
jointed
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| 有接缝的 | |
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57
debited
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| v.记入（账户）的借方( debit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58
effete
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| adj.无生产力的，虚弱的 | |
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59
manure
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| n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥 | |
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60
ascertainable
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| adj.可确定（探知），可发现的 | |
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61
sweepings
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| 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 | |
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relatively
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| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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64
ooze
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| n.软泥，渗出物；vi.渗出，泄漏；vt.慢慢渗出，流露 | |
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softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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thaw
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| v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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68
mortar
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| n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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69
quarries
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| n.（采）石场( quarry的名词复数 )；猎物（指鸟，兽等）；方形石；（格窗等的）方形玻璃v.从采石场采得( quarry的第三人称单数 )；从（书本等中）努力发掘（资料等）；在采石场采石 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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enumerated
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| v.列举，枚举，数( enumerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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barges
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| 驳船( barge的名词复数 ) | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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contractors
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| n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 ) | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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superintendents
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| 警长( superintendent的名词复数 )； （大楼的）管理人； 监管人； （美国）警察局长 | |
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annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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zinc
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| n.锌；vt.在...上镀锌 | |
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tainted
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| adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏 | |
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80
gutters
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| （路边）排水沟( gutter的名词复数 )； 阴沟； （屋顶的）天沟； 贫贱的境地 | |
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rusting
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| n.生锈v.（使）生锈( rust的现在分词 ) | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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poultry
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| n.家禽，禽肉 | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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putrid
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| adj.腐臭的；有毒的；已腐烂的；卑劣的 | |
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spores
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| n.（细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物）孢子( spore的名词复数 )v.（细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物）孢子( spore的第三人称单数 ) | |
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efficiently
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| adv.高效率地，有能力地 | |
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