“In early times the _excavated cesspools_ or pits were constructed in
the rudest manner, and cleaned out more or less frequently, or utterly
neglected, at the discretion of their owners. As the city increased in
size, however, and as the permeations necessarily taking place into
the soil accumulated in the lapse of centuries, the evil resulting
was found to be of grave magnitude, calling for prompt and vigorous
interference on the part of the authorities. It appears certain that
prior to the year 1819 (when a strict _ordonnance_ was issued on the
subject) the cesspools were very carelessly constructed. For the
most part they were far from water-tight, and very probably were not
intended to be otherwise. Consequently, nearly the whole of the fluid
matter within them drained into the springs beneath the substratum, or
became absorbed by the surrounding soil. Nor was this the only evil:
the basement walls of the houses became saturated with the offensive
permeations, and the atmosphere, more particularly in the interior of
the dwellings, tainted with their exhalations.
“The _movable cesspools_, for the most part, consist simply of tanks
or barrels, which, when full, are removed to some convenient spot for
the purpose of their contents being discharged. This form of cesspool,
though not leading to that contamination of the substratum which is
naturally induced by the fixed or excavated cesspool, may occasion many
offensive nuisances from carelessness in overfilling, or in the process
of emptying.”
“The movable cesspools are of two kinds; the one,” says Mr. Rammell,
“extremely simple and primitive in construction, the other more
complicated. The former retains all the refuse, both liquid and solid,
passed into it; the latter retains only the solid matter, the liquid
being separated by a sort of strainer, and running off into another
receptacle.
“The advantage of this separating apparatus is, that those cesspools
provided with it require to be emptied less frequently than the others;
the solid matter being alone retained in the movable part. The liquid
portion is withdrawn from the tank into which it is received by pumping.
“The other kind of movable cesspool consists simply of a wooden cask
set on end, and having its top pierced to admit the soil-pipe. It
is intended to retain both solid and liquid matter. When full, it
is detached, and the aperture in the top having been closed by a
tight-fitting lid secured by an iron bar placed across, it is removed,
and an empty one immediately substituted for it.
“The movable cesspool last described is much more generally used than
the other kind; very few are furnished with the separating apparatus.
But the use of either sort, I am told, is not on the increase. The
movable cesspools are found, on the whole, to be more expensive than
the fixed, besides entailing many inconveniences, one of which is the
frequent entrance of workmen upon the premises for the purpose of
removing them, which sometimes has to be done every second or third
day. Moreover, if the cask becomes in the slightest degree overcharged,
there is an overflow of matter.”
Indeed, the movable system of cesspools (it appears from further
accounts) seems to be now adopted only in those places where fixed
cesspools could not be altered in accordance with the ordonnance, or
where it is desired to avoid the first cost of a fixed cesspool.
An ordonnance of 1819 enacts peremptorily that _all_ cesspools, fixed
or excavated, then existing, shall be altered in accordance with its
provisions upon the first subsequent emptying after the date of the
enactment, “or if that be found impracticable, they shall be filled
up.” This full delegation of power to a centralised authority was the
example prompting our late stringent enactments as to buildings and
sewerage.
The French ordonnance provides also that the walls, arches, and bottoms
of the cesspools, shall be constructed of a very hard description of
stone, known as “pierres meulières” (mill-stone); the mortar used is
to be hydraulic lime and clean river sand. Each arch is to be 30 to
35 centimètres (12 to 14 inches) in thickness, and the walls 45 to 50
centimètres (18 to 20 inches); the interior height not to be less than
2 mètres (2 yards 6 inches). A soil-pipe is always to be placed in the
middle of the cesspool; its interior diameter is not to be less than
9-7/8 inches in pottery-ware piping, or 7-7/8 inches in cast iron. A
vent-pipe, not less than 9-7/8 inches in diameter, is to be carried up
to the level of the chimney-tops, or to that of the chimneys of the
adjoining houses. This is, if possible, to divert the smell from the
house to which the cesspool is attached.
“A principal object of the _ordonnance_,” it is stated in the Reports,
“was to ensure the cesspools being thenceforth made water-tight;
so that further pollution of the substratum and springs might be
prevented; and the provisions for its attainment have been very
strictly enforced by the police. The present cesspools are, in fact,
water-tight constructions, retaining the whole of the liquids passed
into them until the same are withdrawn by artificial means. The
advantage has its attendant inconveniences, and, moreover, has been
dearly paid for; for, independently of the cost of the alterations and
the increased cost of making the cesspools in the outset--the liquids
no longer draining away by natural permeation--the constant expense of
emptying them has enormously increased. In the better class of houses,
where water is more freely used, the operation has now to be repeated
every three, four, or five months, whereas formerly the cesspool was
emptied every eighteen months or two years. An increased water supply
has added to the evil, moderate even now as the extent of that supply
is.”
“It is estimated that, in the better class of houses, the daily
quantity of matter, including the water necessary for cleanliness and
to ensure the passage of the solids through the soil-pipe, passing
into the cesspool from each individual, amounts to 1-3/4 litre (3·08
English pints). Foreign substances are found in great abundance in the
cesspools; the large soil-pipes permitting their easy introduction; so
that the cesspool becomes the common receptacle for a great variety
of articles that it is desired secretly to get rid of. Article 19 of
the Police Regulations directs that nightmen finding any articles in
the cesspools, especially such as lead to the suspicion of a crime or
misdemeanor, shall make a declaration of the fact the same day to a
Commissary of Police.”
In all such matters the police regulations of France are far more
stringent and exacting than those of England.
“The cesspools vary considerably in foulness,” continues the Report;
“and _it is remarkable that those containing the greatest proportion of
water are the most foul and dangerous_. This is accounted for by the
increased quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen gas evolved: and is more
particularly the case where, from their large size, or from the small
number of people using them, much time is allowed for the matter to
stagnate and decompose in them. Soap-suds are said to add materially
to their offensive and dangerous condition. _The_ FOULNESS _of the
cesspools, therefore, would appear to be in direct proportion to the_
CLEANLY _habits of the inmates of the houses to which they respectively
belong._ Where urine predominates ammoniacal vapours are given off in
considerable quantities, and although these affect the eyes of those
exposed to them--and the nightmen suffer much from inflammation of
these organs--no danger to life results. The inflammation, however, is
often sufficiently acute to produce temporary blindness, and from this
cause the men are at times thrown out of work for days together.”[77]
The _emptying of the cesspools_ is the next point to be considered.
No cesspool is allowed to be emptied in Paris, and no nightman’s cart,
containing soil, is allowed to be in the streets from 8 A.M. to 10
P.M. from October 1st to March 31st, nor from 6 A.M. to 11 P.M. from
April 1st to September 30th. In the winter season the hours of labour
permitted by law are ten, and in the summer season seven, out of the
twenty-four; while in London the hours of night-work are limited to
five, without any distinction of season. These hours, however, only
relate to the cleansing of the fixed cesspools of Paris.
Fixed or excavated cesspools are emptied into carts, which are driven
to the receptacles. As far as regards the removal of night-soil along
the streets, there are far more frequent complaints of stench and
annoyance in Paris than in London. None of these cesspools can be
emptied without authority from the police, and the police exercise
a vigilant supervision over the whole arrangements; neither can any
cesspool, after being emptied, be closed without a written authority,
after inspection, by the Director of Health; nor can a cesspool, if
found defective when emptied, be repaired without such authority.
“With regard to the movable cesspool,” it is reported, “the process of
emptying is very simple, though undoubtedly demanding a considerable
expenditure of labour. The tank or barrel, when filled, is disconnected
from the soil-pipe, an empty one being immediately substituted in its
place, and the bung-hole being securely closed, it is conveyed away
on a vehicle, somewhat resembling a brewer’s dray (which holds about
eight or ten of them), to the spot appointed as the depository of its
discharged contents. The removal of movable cesspools is allowed to
take place during the day.”
In opening a cesspool in Paris, precautions are always taken to prevent
accidents which might result from the escape or ignition of the gases.
The general, not to say universal, mode of emptying the fixed or
excavated cesspools is to pump the contents into closed carts for
transport.
“This operation is,” says Mr. Rammell, “performed with two descriptions
of pumps, one working on what may be called the _hydraulic_ principle,
the other on the _pneumatic_. In the former, the valves are placed
in the pipe communicating between the cesspool and the cart, and the
matter itself is pumped. In the latter, the valves are placed beyond
the cart, and the air being pumped out of the cart, the matter flows
into it to fill up the vacuum so occasioned. The real principle is
of course the same in both cases, the matter being forced up by
atmospheric pressure. One advantage of the pneumatic system is, that
there are no valves to impede the free passage of matter through the
suction-pipe; another, that it permits the use of a pipe of larger
diameter.
“The cart employed for the pneumatic system consists of an iron
cylinder, mounted sometimes upon four, but generally upon two wheels,
the latter arrangement being found to be the more convenient. Previous
to use at the cesspool, the carts are drawn to a branch establishment,
situate just within the Barrière du Combat, where they are exhausted of
air with an air-pump, worked by steam power. A 12-horse engine erected
there is capable of exhausting five carts at the same time; the vacuum
produced being equal to 28-3/8 inches (72 centimètres) of mercury. A
cart (in good repair, and upon two wheels) will preserve a practical
vacuum for 48 hours after exhaustion.”
The total weight of one of these carts when full is about 3 tons and 8
cwt. This is somewhat more than the weight of the contents of a London
waggon employed in night-soil carriage. Three horses are attached to
each cart.
When an opening into the cesspool has been effected, a suction-pipe on
the pneumatic principle is laid from the cesspool to the cart. This
pipe is 3-15/16 inches in diameter, and is in separate pieces of about
10 feet each, with others shorter (down even to 1 foot), to make up
any exact length required. Two kinds are commonly used; one made of
leather, having iron wire wound spirally inside to prevent collapse,
the other of copper. The leather pipe is used where a certain degree of
pliability is required; the copper for the straight parts of the line,
and for determined curves; pieces struck from various radii being made
for the purpose.
Gutta-percha has been tried as a substitute for leather in the piping,
but was pronounced liable to split, and its use was abandoned. So with
India-rubber in London.
The communication between the suction-pipe and the vehicle used by
the nightmen is opened by withdrawing a plug by means of a forked rod
into the “recess” (hollow) of the machine, an operation tasking the
muscular powers of two men. This done, the cesspool contents rush into
the cart, being forced up by the weight of the atmosphere to occupy the
existing vacuum; this occupies about three minutes. The cart, however,
is then but three-fourths filled with matter, the remaining fourth
being occupied by the rarefied air previously in the cart, and by the
air contained in the suction-pipe. This air is next withdrawn by the
action of a small air-pump, worked usually by two, but sometimes by one
man. The air-pump is placed on the ground at a little distance from
the cesspool cart, and communicates with it by a flexible India-rubber
tube, an inch in diameter. The air, as fast as it is pumped out, is
forced through another India-rubber tube of similar dimensions, which
communicates with a furnace, also placed on the ground at a little
distance from the air-pump, the pump occupying the middle space between
the cart and the furnace, the furnace and the pump being portable. To
ascertain when the vehicle is full, a short glass tube is inserted in
the end of the air-pipe (the end being of brass), and through this,
with the help of a small lantern, the matter is seen to rise.
“The number of carts required for each operation,” states Mr. Rammell,
“of course varies according to the size of the cesspool to be emptied;
but as these contain on the average about five cartloads, that is the
number usually sent.[78]
“In addition to the carts for the transport of the night-soil, a
light-covered spring van drawn by one horse is used to carry the tools,
&c., required in the process.
“These tools consist of--
“1. An air-pump when the work is to be done on the pneumatic system,
and of an hydraulic pump when it is to be done on the hydraulic system.
“2. About 50 mètres of suction-pipe of various forms and lengths.
“3. A furnace for the purpose of burning the gases.
“4. Wooden hods for the removal of the solid night-soil.
“5. Pails, a ladder, pincers, levers, hammers, and other articles.”
I have hitherto spoken of the _Pneumatic_ System of emptying the
Parisian cesspools. The results of the _Hydraulic_ System are so
similar, as regards time, &c., that only a brief notice is required.
The hydraulic pump is worked by four men; it is placed on the ground in
the place most convenient for the operation, and the cart is filled in
the space of from three to five minutes.
A furnace is used.
“The furnace,” says the Report, “consists of a sheet-iron cylinder,
about nine inches in diameter, pierced with small holes, and covered
with a conical cap to prevent the flame spreading. The vent-pipe first
communicates underneath with a small reservoir, intended to contain
the matter in case the operation should be carried too far. A piece is
inserted in the bottom of this reservoir, by unscrewing which it may be
emptied. The furnace is sometimes fixed upon a plank, which rests upon
two projecting pieces behind the cart.”
An indicator is also used to show the advancement of the filling of
the cart; a glass tube and a cork float are the chief portions of the
apparatus of the indicator.
“Towards the end of the operation, when the quantity of matter
remaining in the cesspool, although sufficiently fluid, is too shallow
for pumping, it is scooped into a large pail; and, the end of the
suction-pipe being introduced, drawn up into the cart. When the matter
is in too solid a state to pass through the pipe, it is carried to the
cart in hods, unless it is in considerable quantity. In that case it is
removed in vessels called _tinettes_, in the shape of a truncated cone,
holding each about 3-1/2 cubic feet. These vessels are closed with a
lid, and are lifted into an open waggon for transport.”
Of these two systems the pneumatic is the more costly, and is likely to
be supplanted by the hydraulic. Each system, according to Mr. Rammell,
is still a nuisance, as, in spite of every precaution, the gases
escape the moment the cesspool emptying is commenced, and vitiate the
atmosphere. They force their way very often through the joints of the
pipes, and are insufficiently consumed in the furnaces. Mr. Rammell
mentions his having twice, after witnessing two of these operations,
suffered from attacks of illness. On the first occasion, the men
omitted to burn the foul air, and the atmosphere being heavy with
moisture, the odour was so intense that it was smelt from the Rue du
Port Mahon to the Rue Menars, more than 400 yards distant.
The emptying of the cesspools is let by contract, the commune acting
in the light of a proprietor. To obtain a contract, a man must have
license or permission from the prefect of police, and such license
is only granted after proof that the applicant is provided with the
necessary apparatus, carts, &c., and also with a suitable dépôt for the
reception of the pumps, carts, &c., when not in use. The stock-in-trade
of a contractor is inspected at least twice a-year, and if found
inadequate or out of repair the license is commonly withdrawn. The
“gangs” of nightmen employed by the contractors are fixed by the law
at four men each (the number employed in London), but without any
legal provision on the subject. The terms of these contracts are not
stated, but they appear to have ceased to be undertakings by individual
capitalists, being all in the hands of companies, known as _compagnies
de vidanges_ (filth companies). There are now eight companies in
Paris carrying on these operations. More than half of the whole work,
however, is accomplished by one company, the “_Compagnie Richer_.” The
capital invested in their working stock is said to exceed 4,800,000
francs (200,000_l._). They now require the labour of 350 horses, and
the use of 120 vehicles of different descriptions.
The construction of a cesspool in Paris costs about 18_l._ as an
average. The houses containing from 30 to 70 inmates may have two, and
occasionally more, cesspools. Taking the average at one and a half, the
capital sunk in a cesspool is 27_l._ Mr. Rammell says:--
“Adopting these calculations of the number of cesspools to each house,
and their cost, and allowing only the small quantity of 1-3/4 litre
(3·08 pints) of matter to each individual, the annual expense of the
cesspool system in Paris, per house containing 24 persons, will be,--
“For interest, at 5 per cent upon capital sunk in works of
construction, 1_l._ 7_s._
“For extraction and removal of matter, 5_l._ 11_s._
“Total, 6_l._ 18_s._
“The annual expense per inhabitant will be 5_s._ 9_d._
“The latter, then, may be taken as the average yearly sum per head
actually paid by that portion of the inhabitants of Paris who use the
cesspools.”
The following, among others before shown, are the conclusions arrived
at by Mr. Rammell:--
1. “That with the most perfect regulations, and the application of
machines constructed upon scientific principles, the operation of
emptying cesspools is still a nuisance, not only to the inmates of the
house to which it belongs, but to those of the neighbouring houses, and
to persons passing in the street.
2. “That the cesspool system of Paris presents an obstacle to the
proper extension of the water supply, and consequently represses the
growth of habits of personal and domestic cleanliness, with their
immense moral results; and that in this respect it may be said to be
inconsistent with a high degree of civilization of the masses of any
community.
3. “That, compared with a tubular system of refuse drainage, it is an
exceedingly expensive mode of disposing of the fæcal refuse of a town.”