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Page 41
The difficulty of disposing of the ashes, mixed as they must
necessarily be with animal and vegetable matter, is one that is
forcing itself upon the attention of all town authorities, and the
days of the rich dust contractors of the metropolis are practically
numbered. Destruction by fire seems to be the ultimate end to be aimed
at, and in this respect several towns have led the way. But as this is
a subject which will be fully dealt with by a paper to be read during
the meeting, I will not anticipate the information which will be
brought before you, further than to say that the great end to be aimed
at in this method of disposing of the ashes and refuse of towns is
greater economy in cost of construction of destructors, as well as in
cost of working them.
The progress in sanitation on the Continent, America, and the colonies
has not been coincident with the progress in England, but these
countries have largely benefited by the experience of the United
Kingdom, and in some respects their specialists take more extreme
views than those of this country in matters of detail. This is,
perhaps, more particularly the case with the Americans, who have
devised all sorts of exceptional details in connection with private
drainage, in order to protect the interior of the houses from sewer
gas, and to perfect its ventilation. In plumbing matters they seem
also to be very advanced, and to have established examinations for
plumbers and far-reaching regulations for house drainage.
Time will not permit me to examine into the works of a sanitary
character which have been undertaken in the several countries after
the example of England, but they have been attended with similar
beneficial results and saving in life and sickness as in this country,
although the Continental towns which have led the way with such works
cannot as yet point to the low rates of mortality for large towns
which have been attained in England, with the exception of the German
towns of Carlsruhe, Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, and Stuttgart, which show
death rates of 20.55, 20.64, 22, and 21.4 respectively. The greatest
reduction of the mortality by the execution of proper sewerage and
water works took place in Danzig, on the Baltic, and Linz, on the
Danube, where after the execution of the works the mortality was
reduced by 7.85 and 10.17 per 1,000 respectively, and in the case of
Danzig this reduction is almost exclusively in zymotic diseases.
Berlin is also a remarkable example of the enterprise of German
sanitarians, for there they are demonstrating to the world the
practicability of dealing with the sewage from a population of over 1�
million upon 16,000 acres of land, of which about 10,000 acres are
already under irrigation.
In taking this chair, it has been usual, when meetings have been held
out of London, for your president to give some account of the works of
his own town. In the present instance I feel that I can dispense with
this course, in so far as that I need not do more than generally
indicate what has been the course of events since I read to a largely
attended district meeting in May, 1884, a paper on "The Public Works
of Leicester." At that time large flood prevention works were in
course of construction, under an act obtained in 1881, for continuing
the river improvement works executed under previous acts. The works
then under contract extended from the North Mill Lock and the North
Bridge on the north to the West Bridge and Bramstone Gate Bridge on
the south, along the river and canal, and included bridges, weirs,
retaining walls, and some heavy underpinning works in connection with
the widening and deepening of the river and canal. These works were
duly completed, as well as a further length of works on the River Soar
up to what is known as the old grass weir, including the Braunstone
Gate Bridge, added to one of the then running contracts, at a total
cost, excluding land and compensation, of �77,000. At this point a
halt was made in consequence of the incompleteness of the negotiations
with the land owners on the upper reach of the river, and this,
together with various other circumstances, has contributed to greater
delay in again resuming the works. In the interval, a question of
whether there should be only one channel for both river and canal
instead of two, as authorized by the act, has necessarily added
considerably to the delay. But as that has now been settled in favor
of the original parliamentary scheme, the authority of the council has
been given to proceed with the whole of the works.
One contract, now in progress, which members will have an opportunity
of inspecting, was let to Mr. Evans, of Birmingham, in March last, for
about �18,000. It consists of a stone and concrete weir, 500 feet in
length, with a lock of 7 feet 6 inches lift and large flood basins,
retaining and towing path walls, including a sunk weir parallel with
the Midland Railway viaduct. This contract is to be completed by March
next. The remainder of the works about to be entered upon include a
new canal and flood channel about 1,447 yards long, and the deepening
and widening of the River Soar for a length of about 920 yards, with
two or three bridges.
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