TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. Some minor changes are noted at the end of the book. DIRTY DUSTBINS AND SLOPPY STREETS. _A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE SCAVENGING AND CLEANSING OF CITIES AND TOWNS._ BY H. PERCY BOULNOIS, M. INST. C. E., _Member (by Exam.) of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain_, CITY SURVEYOR OF EXETER. E. & F. N. SPON, 16, CHARING CROSS. NEW YORK, 446, BROOME STREET. 1881. JAMES TOWNSEND, PRINTER, EXETER. PREFACE. Some portions of the following pages have already appeared in the monthly numbers of the _Sanitary Engineer_, and the complete work is now published with a view to assist Surveyors of Towns and others who are directly engaged in providing that house dustbins shall be regularly cleared, and streets kept clean; and also in the hope that it may be the means of drawing some public attention to the question, thus showing the householder something of what is being done for his welfare by Sanitary Authorities, and how each individual may assist in the good work, instead of, as is now frequently the case, inadvertently or purposely retarding the execution of some very necessary though unostentatious sanitary measures. I am not aware that any book, or even pamphlet, has yet been written on this subject, and I venture to believe that in these pages there may be found something to interest all readers. H. P. B. EXETER, _May, 1881_. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. SCAVENGING. _Page_ Town Scavenging or Scavengering--Subject divided into 13 heads--Public Health Act, 1875, and its bearings upon the question 1 CHAPTER II. HOUSE REFUSE. Definition of house refuse--The law on the subject--Whether trade and garden refuse must be removed by the scavenger--Statistics on this point--Disputes as to what is trade, garden refuse, or house refuse--Suggestions to settle the question--Other waste materials 5 CHAPTER III. THE DUSTBIN. The Public Health Act, 1875, on the subject of ashpits--The model bye-laws and six clauses on the same subject--Position of the dustbin in respect of the adjacent dwelling-houses--Suggestions to burn some of the waste products of a house--Objections to the _fixed_ ashpit recommended by the Public Health Act--Suggestions for improvements in this direction--Movable dust boxes recommended 10 CHAPTER IV. THE COLLECTION OF HOUSE REFUSE.