model bye-laws to which I have there referred contain some excellent
principles in reference to this matter, and too much power cannot be
given to a local authority in respect of house drains, even to the
extent of prohibiting any one else to construct them. The main sewer,
shared in common as it is by all the inhabitants of a town, must be
looked upon as a common danger, and each house that connects with it
should so far as possible be severed from it; at the same time the drain
must be so constructed that the sewage reaches the sewer as quickly and
as completely as possible, without any nuisance or knowledge of the
unpleasant nature of its contents or those in the sewer reaching the
inhabitants of the house: this is the key-note of all house drainage,
and many excellent books and descriptions of this class of work have
been from time to time written.
(3.) The next duty of the town surveyor is to inspect all defective
drains within his district, and serve the necessary notices, &c.
This duty is embodied in the following clauses of the Public Health Act,
1875:
“Where any house within the district of a local authority is without a
drain sufficient for effectual drainage, the local authority shall by
written notice require the owner or occupier of such house, within a
reasonable time therein specified, to make a covered drain or drains
emptying into any sewer which the local authority are entitled to use,
and which is not more than one hundred feet from the site of such house;
but if no such means of drainage are within that distance, then emptying
into such covered cesspool or other place not being under any house as
the local authority direct; and the local authority may require any such
drain or drains to be of such materials and size, and to be laid at such
level and with such fall, as on the report of their surveyor may appear
to them to be necessary.
“If such notice is not complied with, the local authority may, after the
expiration of the time specified in the notice, do the work required,
and may recover in a summary manner the expenses incurred by them in so
doing from the owner, or may by order declare the same to be private
improvement expenses.
“Provided that where, in the opinion of the local authority, greater
expense would be incurred in causing the drains of two or more houses to
empty into an existing sewer pursuant to this section, than in
constructing a new sewer and causing such drains to empty therein, the
local authority may construct such new sewer, and require the owners or
occupiers of such houses to cause their drains to empty therein, and may
apportion as they deem just the expenses of the construction of such
sewer among the owners of the several houses, and recover in a summary
manner the sums apportioned from such owners, or may by order declare
the same to be private improvement expenses” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s.
23).
The above clause is the most simple under which this duty can be carried
out, provided it can be proved that the house[210] is “without a drain
sufficient for effectual drainage,” and for this purpose it would
probably be necessary to enter the premises and open up and examine the
drain, unless, of course, it was a case where no drain existed to the
house at all, or was evidently and notoriously without “effectual
drainage.” In order to enter for this purpose the requisite powers are
conferred in the following clause of the Public Health Act 1875:
“The local authority, or any of their officers, shall be admitted into
any premises for the purpose of examining as to the existence of any
nuisance thereon, or of enforcing the provisions of any Act in force
within the district requiring fireplaces and furnaces to consume their
own smoke, at any time between the hours of nine in the forenoon and six
in the afternoon, or in the case of a nuisance arising in respect of any
business, then at any hour when such business is in progress or is
usually carried on.
“Where under this Act a nuisance has been ascertained to exist, or an
order of abatement or prohibition has been made, the local authority or
any of their officers shall be admitted from time to time into the
premises between the hours aforesaid, until the nuisance is abated, or
the works ordered to be done are completed, as the case may be.
“Where an order of abatement or prohibition has not been complied with,
or has been infringed, the local authority, or any of their officers,
shall be admitted from time to time at all reasonable hours, or at all
hours during which business is in progress or is usually carried on,
into the premises where the nuisance exists, in order to abate the same.
“If admission to premises for any of the purposes of this section is
refused, any justice on complaint thereof on oath by any officer of the
local authority (made after reasonable notice in writing of the
intention to make the same has been given to the person having custody
of the premises), may, by order under his hand, require the person
having custody of the premises to admit the local authority, or their
officer, into the premises during the hours aforesaid, and if no person
having custody of the premises can be found, the justice shall, on oath
made before him of that fact, by order under his hand authorise the
local authority or any of their officers to enter such premises during
the hours aforesaid.
“Any order made by a justice for admission of the local authority or any
of their officers on premises shall continue in force until the nuisance
has been abated, or the work for which the entry was necessary has been
done” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 102).
The above clause also gives the necessary powers of entry where the
following clause of the Public Health Act is enforced with reference to
defective house drainage, instead of the 23rd section which I have
quoted.
“On the written application of any person to a local authority, stating
that any drain, watercloset, earthcloset, privy, ashpit, or cesspool on
or belonging to any premises within their district is a nuisance, or
injurious to health (but not otherwise), the local authority may, by
writing, empower their surveyor or inspector of nuisances, after
twenty-four hours’ written notice to the occupier of such premises, or
in case of emergency without notice, to enter such premises, with or
without assistants, and cause the ground to be opened, and examine such
drain, watercloset, earthcloset, privy, ashpit, or cesspool. If the
drain, watercloset, earthcloset, privy, ashpit, or cesspool on
examination is found to be in proper condition, he shall cause the
ground to be closed, and any damage done to be made good as soon as can
be, and the expenses of the works shall be defrayed by the local
authority. If the drain, watercloset, earthcloset, privy, ashpit, or
cesspool on examination appear to be in bad condition, or to require
alteration or amendment, the local authority shall forthwith cause
notice in writing to be given to the owner or occupier of the premises
requiring him forthwith or within a reasonable time therein specified to
do the necessary works; and if such notice is not complied with, the
person to whom it is given shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding
ten shillings for every day during which he continues to make default,
and the local authority may, if they think fit, execute such works, and
may recover in a summary manner from the owner the expenses incurred by
them in so doing, or may by order declare the same to be private
improvement expenses” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 41).
In acting upon the above clause it is well to note the machinery that is
necessary in order to secure success in the event of a prosecution.
(1.) The notice to the local authority of the existence of a nuisance
arising from a drain, &c., must be in writing, and that authority must
then proceed to consider the notice.
(2.) If they agree to take action the local authority may empower their
surveyor to enter the premises (with or without notice as the case may
require) but this order to him must also be in writing.[211]
(3.) If the surveyor is allowed by the occupier of the premises to enter
(and in default he must put the 102nd section which I have quoted in
force) he may then open the ground “with or without assistants.”
(4.) If he finds a defective drain he must then report to the local
authority in writing, unless he has been primarily invested by the local
authority with such powers as will dispense with such report.[212]
(5.) The local authority shall “forthwith cause notice in writing to be
given to the owner, &c.” to do the work.
(6.) If the owner executes the work the surveyor must supervise its
execution.
(7.) If this work is not done within a reasonable time the local
authority “may if they think fit” execute the works; the surveyor has
probably to carry them out, after having obtained the necessary
permission to enter for the purpose.
(8.) The costs of the work have to be recovered.
Anyone acquainted with local government will know how difficult and
tedious such processes must necessarily be, the delay between the
meetings of the local authority being quite sufficient to make the
matter in dispute last a considerable time, and this delay is extremely
undesirable where a nuisance arising from a defective house-drain is in
existence.
There seems to be no doubt that the clauses which are given in the
Public Health Act 1875 empower the local authority to specify without
dispute the class of work they think necessary in order to remedy any
evils arising from a defective drain, but it is a pity that some more
simple process cannot be introduced to improve the sanitary condition of
a house without the necessity of so much laborious legal machinery.
There is still one other clause in the Public Health Act 1875, which
refers to house drainage, and it is as follows:
“Every local authority shall provide that all drains, waterclosets,
earthclosets, privies, ashpits, and cesspools within their district be
constructed and kept so as not to be a nuisance, or injurious to health”
(38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 40). But this clause is usually taken to apply
rather to nuisances arising from temporary defects than to more
important structural defects in a drain, and such nuisances come more
under the cognizance and duties of the inspector of nuisances than those
of the town surveyor.
It would not be possible, as I have already stated, in one chapter to
give all the detail descriptions of house drains and the necessary
apparatus in connection therewith, and besides very many excellent
books, pamphlets and papers have been from time to time written on this
important subject.[213] Before, however, bringing this chapter to a
conclusion, I will give a list of the essential requirements of all good
house drainage which may be of some use to the town surveyor:
(1.) A house drain should be constructed of stoneware pipes (not
earthenware or fire clay), these are generally salt glazed, and should
be perfectly smooth or even slippery inside, the pipes must be of true
circular section and thickness of material, and straight in the
direction of their length, with whole sockets of proper depth, and free
from any cracks, blisters, sand holes, or other defects. As even the
most carefully manufactured pipes vary somewhat in diameter of sockets;
&c., it is well to have them sorted before commencing the work; it is
scarcely necessary to add that no “seconds” should be allowed on the
works.
(2.) The internal diameter of the drain should not be too large; 6
inches may be considered as a maximum, 4 inches is generally quite
sufficient to carry off all the sewage from an extensive establishment,
even if all the water from the roofs or a portion of them is included.
(3.) The inclination is governed by circumstances, but about 1 in 60 is
found to be a very convenient fall for many hydraulic, and other
reasons.
(4.) The jointing of the pipes should be executed with great care; if
cement joints are made each pipe should be jointed separately, and it
should be seen that no cement is left in the drain. Sometimes tarred
gaskin is used to prevent this, and Stanford’s patent joints are
excellent where running water or sewage has to be contended with, or
great despatch of the work is necessary.[214]
(5.) The sockets of the pipes should be sunk into the ground at the
bottom of the trench so as to give an even bearing, which amongst other
benefits dispenses with the chance of settlements.
(6.) No pipes should be allowed to be covered in until they have been
inspected by the town surveyor or his assistants, and in order to test
the soundness of the joints, it is a good plan to fill the drain with
water, having first stopped up the lower end, and note the effect.
(7.) Drains should not pass under buildings if it can be avoided, but if
unavoidable they must be buried in good concrete, and relieving arches
turned to any walls passing over them. In America iron pipes are used
under houses.
(8.) Care must be exercised, in filling in over pipes, not to break or
injure them.
(9.) The trap to a house drain should be a “Buchan” or other similar
syphon with a good cascade action, its position must be guided by
circumstances.
(10.) The drain should end at the outside wall of the house and be
carried up the wall its full diameter to above the roof for ventilation,
an inlet for fresh air being essential on the house side of the trap; if
the drain has to pass under the house it must be similarly carried up on
the other side.
(11.) The connection with the main sewer has been already described.
In conclusion I would urge the necessity of a register of all drains
being kept that are examined by the surveyor’s department. This can be
done by having a series of numbered notebooks kept solely for this
purpose, and all the information thus acquired should also be plotted on
the map of the town if on a sufficiently large scale.
The necessity of correct plans of the drainage of buildings cannot be
over-estimated, especially for hospitals, asylums, workhouses, schools,
or other public buildings, and even for the smallest dwelling house such
a plan would often prove to be the greatest boon to the occupier or
owner as well as at all times to the town surveyor, the medical officer
of health, and the inspector of nuisances.
[207] For definitions of the word “sewer,” see the chapter on
Sewerage.
[208] The New York Board of Health require that earthenware drain
pipes connecting dwellings with street sewers shall be hard and salt
glazed, sound and cylindrical; at least ⁵⁄₈ths of an inch thick if 5
inches in diameter, and ³⁄₄ of an inch thick if 6 inches in diameter.
Pipe must be connected with hydraulic cement of the best quality. No
“tempered up” cement can be used. The pipes must be laid with such
good alignment that the inspector can see through the entire line from
the house to the sewer, and every section must be bedded in cement so
as to have a firm bearing, not only at the hub, but along its entire
length. The inside of the drain must be freed from all cement which
may have oozed through at the joints, and from all other obstructions.
Before the drain is covered notice must be sent to the Health
Department, by the owner or plumber, that the inspector may visit and
examine the work, and the Board of Health will not approve or permit a
drain which has not been examined by one of its inspectors and found
to be properly constructed.
[209] See chapter on “Breaking up Streets.”
[210] The definition of house is as follows:--“House” includes
schools, also factories and other buildings in which more than twenty
persons are employed at one time. (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 4)
[211] Notices, orders, and other such documents under this Act may be
in writing or print, or partly in writing and partly in print; and if
the same require authentication by the local authority, the signature
thereof by the clerk to the local authority or their surveyor or
inspector of nuisances shall be sufficient authentication (38 & 39
Vic. c. 55, s. 266).
[212] Having obtained admission to the premises, the inspection of the
alleged nuisance should be so conducted as to enable the local
authority to determine whether it exists, or whether it existed at the
time the notice was given, and whether, although it has since been
removed or discontinued, it is likely to recur or to be repeated; and
in all cases it will be the most expedient course to reduce to writing
the result of the inspection. When the inspection is made by an
officer of the local authority, it will also be expedient for that
authority, on receiving the report of their officer formally and in
writing, to record the conclusions to which they have come after
considering his report in order to ground further proceedings. (_Vide_
‘Law of Public Health and Local Government,’ by W. C. and A. G. Glen,
8th edition, p. 81.)
[213] For ample information on the subject of house drainage and
similar subjects see the following books, etc.:-- Bailey Denton’s
‘Sanitary Engineering’; Baldwin Latham’s ‘Sanitary Engineering’;
Buchan’s ‘Plumbing’; Slagg’s ‘Sanitary Work’; Hart’s ‘Manual of Public
Health’; Hellyer’s ‘Plumber and Sanitary Houses’; Galton’s ‘Healthy
Dwellings’; ‘House Drainage,’ by W. A. Tylor; Philbrick’s ‘American
Sanitary Engineering,’ and many others, besides the numerous reports
of the “Health of Towns Commission,” and several articles in the
_Sanitary Record_, the _Sanitary Engineer of New York_, and Mr.
Rawlinson’s ‘Hints,’ all of which should be studied by the town
surveyor.
[214] In some parts of the north of England taper pipes are used about
20 inches in length, the internal diameter of the larger end being
slightly greater than the external diameter of the smaller end, thus
allowing the small end of one pipe to enter the large end of another.
Continuous lengths of cement pipes made _in situ_ are also now being
introduced.
CHAPTER XXVII.
PUBLIC PLEASURE GROUNDS AND STREET TREES.
Amongst the clauses of the Public Health Act 1875 which affect the
duties of the town surveyor will be found the following:
“Any urban authority may purchase or take on lease, lay out, plant,
improve, and maintain lands for the purpose of being used as public
walks or pleasure grounds, and may support or contribute to the support
of public walks or pleasure grounds provided by any person whomsoever.
“Any urban authority may make bye-laws for the regulation of any such
public walk or pleasure ground, and may by such bye-laws provide for the
removal from such public walk or pleasure ground of any person
infringing any such bye-law by any officer of the urban authority or
constable” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 164).
There are very few, if any, cities or towns in this country that have
not availed themselves of this clause, even if they did not already
possess one if not more public parks or pleasure grounds of some
description, these having either been given by some benevolent citizen
or acquired in some other manner by the urban authority.[215]
Included in the powers given by the above clause are no doubt those
regulating the acquisition and support of recreation or public
playgrounds, public walks, or old city walls or other places, and
disused burying grounds.[216]
In connection with the above clause of the Public Health Act, the town
surveyor may have the following duties to perform:
To advise his corporation upon the value, suitability, and desirability
of any site that is intended for use as a public park or recreation
ground, and after its acquisition to adapt it for the requisite
purposes. To effect this it must be drained and laid out with
carriage-drives, walks, lawns, flower-beds, plantations, and sometimes
streams, waterfalls, and lakes. He must design and erect the necessary
lodges, entrance gates, fences, shelters, seats,[217] band-stands, and
fountains, and must afterwards superintend the maintenance of these and
the rest of the works in connection with the pleasure ground.
It would be impossible to lay down any rules for the guidance of a
surveyor in carrying out these works, for each case must be dealt with
as its exigencies require, and a great deal of common sense, as well as
engineering, architectural, and artistic skill must be displayed by him
in carrying out any works of this description, details of which could
not possibly be given in a book of this size dealing with so many
subjects.[218]
A few suggestions may, however, be of some service on these points.
Public playgrounds for children should be composed of large, level,
well-rolled, gravelled spaces, with a few trees for shade, and some
sheds for shelter. Turf soon gets spoiled and worn bare, when it is not
so pleasant as well-rolled gravel, as it is far more dusty in dry
weather and very damp in wet, besides having an uncared-for appearance.
In public parks, shrubs planted singly directly on the lawns without any
beds around them have a very pleasing look, although it adds somewhat to
the difficulty of mowing the grass. The grass itself is greatly improved
if it is well dressed with manure in the spring and constantly watered
all the year round.
Paths should be gravelled in the autumn, care being taken to wait until
all the leaves have fallen, which are swept up and removed at once. A
good fence for a path, if any protection is necessary, is either a
strained wire fence or cast-iron hoops representing bent sticks. They
are both cheap, and stand well against weather and rough treatment.
A very economical and neat border to the footpaths can be made from the
old used-up flagstones from the foot pavements of the streets, these cut
up and placed on edge, especially if in conjunction with a pitched
channel gutter of pebbles, look remarkably well.
Ornamental flints make a pretty border, but they are nasty things for a
child to fall upon.
For flower-beds a flat border or edge of ivy has a very telling effect.
If there are ponds or lakes in the park there should be a broad path or
road close to the water’s edge. It is surprising what a great advantage
in effect this has over the plan of leaving a strip of green between the
path and the water.
The selection of the proper shrubs for a park and their distribution is
a matter that requires the advice of an expert gardener. The following
list of ordinary shrubs that will thrive well almost anywhere in this
country may however be of use for reference:
Aucubas.
Azaleas.
Box.
Berberises.
Euonymus.
Hollies.
Ivies.
Laurels.
Lilacs.
Mahorrias.
Pampas grass.
Privet.
Rhododendrons.
Thorns.
Yuccas.
With regard to the selection of trees, this also requires skilled
advice, but a list is given further on in this chapter, of trees
suitable for street planting, which may be also some guide in this
respect.
In high gales of wind the surveyor may be expected to endeavour to save
valuable trees in a public park from being blown down. This may
sometimes be effected by a judicious application of chains or ropes, but
the better plan is to keep all trees well pruned and as free as possible
from “top hamper” and undue leverage from overhanging limbs.
On the pruning of trees and the removal of large limbs I must refer my
readers to a most admirable little book recently published in America,
being a translation from the celebrated ‘Treatise on Pruning Forest and
Ornamental Trees, by A. des Cars,’ which enters most fully into the
subject, and being of great practical value, should be studied by anyone
who has anything to do with the care of forest or other trees.[219]
With regard to the planting of trees along the sides of streets, our
French neighbours are much in advance of us.[220] It is true that in
this country, owing to the much larger consumption of coal as a domestic
fuel, there is more soot in the air, but it is erroneous to suppose that
trees will not thrive well in England. No doubt the moisture of our
climate causes the soot or “blacks” to adhere to the leaves and limbs of
the trees, but for that reason deciduous and not evergreen trees should
be selected for planting in towns, and these, if well chosen and
carefully planted, will most undoubtedly fully repay their first cost
and maintenance by the additional beauty to the street, the agreeable
shade they cast, and their generally healthful action on the population.
In selecting trees to plant along the sides of the streets or roads in
any towns, it is well to bear in mind that the following qualities are
necessary:--
The tree must be hardy; it must not be affected by a long-continued
drought; heat must not wither it nor make it look rusty; it must be able
to withstand dust, smoke, soot, foul air, and the insidious attacks of
insects, and be able to recover from any malicious or accidental injury
it may receive.
The tree must be of rapid growth, and develope a straight, clean stem
with shady foliage. It must be graceful either in full leaf or when bare
as in winter; its roots must not require too much room, and they must be
able to withstand the effects of pollution or rough treatment.
Although the foregoing list of requirements may seem rather formidable,
yet amongst the trees whose names now follow there will be found some
which meet many, if not all of these requirements, and which, if
properly planted with all reasonable care, may be expected to thrive if
planted at the sides of the streets in any town in this country.
LIST OF TREES SUITABLE FOR PLANTING AT THE SIDES OF STREETS.
Western Plane.
Lime.
Maple.
Horse Chestnut.
Elm.
Tulip tree.
Lombardy Poplar.
Ash.
Willow.
Beech.
Birch.
Oak.
Sycamore.
Copper Beech.
Pawlonia.
Ailantus Glandulosa.
Laburnum.
Lilac.
Almond.
Peach.
Hawthorn.
Acacia.
Double Cherry, etc.
Of the above list the western plane for many reasons is the most
desirable. Its freshness when it bursts into green buds is well known,
and it is proverbial for its hardiness.
The lime was at one time the most popular tree for this purpose, but it
has several defects, the most notable being that its leaves wither
before the summer is over, and the tree assumes a lifeless look at a
time when most shade and freshness are required of it.
Of the remainder of the trees I have enumerated some are slow in growth,
which is a considerable drawback; others are not wholly free from being
affected by cold winds in the spring or by lice in the winter, and the
assistance of an expert is very necessary in selecting trees for this
important purpose.
Whatever trees are selected, the following precautions should be taken:
The young tree should have been well nourished in its nursery before
removal, and should on no account be planted in the street until its
stem is nearly 10 feet in height and about 3 inches in diameter. The
stem should be clean and straight, and the whole tree symmetrical.
The great difficulty in this country is to obtain sufficient numbers of
trees of the exact size and description, when it becomes necessary to
plant out a street. They have often to be imported, when it is found
that they are frequently unsuited both for soil and climate, besides
being very costly; thus many failures have arisen in consequence. To
obviate this necessity in Paris the Government have for many years
instituted and maintained special nurseries where trees are grown for
this purpose alone, these nurseries being situated at Passy, the Jardin
Fleuriste, and Petit Buy, no less than 115 men being constantly employed
in the work. Some further particulars will be given presently on the
cost of this work.
The trees thus nourished and selected should be planted in the autumn,
for there is a well-known saying that “a tree planted before Christmas
can be _ordered_ to grow; if planted after Christmas it must be _asked_
to do so”; and there is no doubt that if trees are planted too late in
the season great difficulty in getting them to grow is generally
experienced.
The excavated pits must be well drained, and filling the bottom of the
pit with rubble is a good plan. The further the tree can be planted from
the kerb the better, so as not only to give it a larger body of soil,
but to lessen the risk of killing the tree by the pollution of the
ground with gas from a defective main, and also excess of moisture from
the channel gutters. The distance apart of the trees is a matter of
choice. In Paris this is only 16 to 18 feet, but I think half a chain
(33 feet) is quite close enough; it economises trees and gives plenty of
room for the limbs of each tree to spread, and the intermediate
lamp-posts, watering hydrants, or other standards are not crowded out.
Each tree should have a cast-iron grating around its roots similar to
the following drawing:--
[Illustration]
This should be about 4 feet square. It prevents the ground getting hard
about the trees, and permits air and water to enter to the roots. It
also makes it easy to give any attention to the trees that they may
require when young, such as manuring, digging, &c.
The tree should also be protected with a slight iron grill or railing to
prevent mischievous persons from cutting their names on the trunk,
climbing up into the tree, or breaking off its branches whilst still
young. The following sketch shows the description of grill necessary,
which is light, cheap, and at the same time effective.
[Illustration]
The following interesting particulars of the manner in which street
planting of trees is conducted in Paris will be useful, and are given
_in extenso_:[221]
“When the boulevarde is marked out and levelled, if the soil is of bad
quality, as is nearly always the case, trenches are dug in the footway
from one end of the boulevarde to the other. The width of this trench is
usually about 6 feet, and its depth 4 or 5; and before filling it in
drain-pipes are laid along the sides made with lapped joints so that the
roots shall not enter between them. The trench is then filled with good
garden earth, raising it a little higher than the level so as to allow
for settling. In this ground the trees are planted about 6 yards apart.
They should be carefully chosen with perfect roots, and moderately
pruned. Formerly the stem was cut at about 9 feet from the ground, but
this had the bad effect of preventing the top of the tree from being
straight, and the practice has been given up. The trees are next staked
and tied with wire over a neat wad of straw, which prevents all injury
to the stem. A protecting cage, neither heavy nor very expensive, is
placed round the tree to prevent accidents; and if the weather be at all
dry at the time of planting, the trees are copiously watered.”
The cost of planting a tree in the Paris boulevarde is thus given:[222]
fr. c.
15 cubic metres of excavation at 4 francs =60·00
15 cubic metres of vegetable mould at 4 francs =60·00
Training poles about 5 metres in height = 1·50
------
121·50
Average deduction of 15 per cent. resulting from
letting by tender 18·23
------
Price by contract 103·27
Pipe drainage and materials 11·15
Watering appliance (average) 2·50
Cast iron grating round the base 46·69
Transport of tree from nursery 2·00
Planting, including stakes 3·00
Iron basket (to protect stem) 8·70
The tree 5·00
Labour for planting 1·69
------
184·00
The maintenance of each tree costs 1·58 francs.
The total cost, therefore, of each tree capitalised reaches about 8_l._,
and its life is said not to exceed twelve years.
Before closing this chapter it is well to advert to the evident
importance that the legislature attach to the planting and preservation
of trees along the sides of the public streets in this country and their
desire to protect them, as the following clause of the Public Health Act
1875 will show. “. . . Any person who, without the consent of the urban
authority, wilfully displaces or takes up, or who injures the pavement,
stones, materials, fences, or posts of, _or the trees_ in any such
street shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds, and to a
further penalty not exceeding five shillings for every square foot of
pavement, stones, or other materials so displaced, taken up, or injured;
he shall also be liable in the case of _any injury to trees_ to pay to
the local authority such amount of compensation as the court may award”
(38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 149).
It is a great source of regret that mischievous persons can be found who
by their wilful malice injure the trees planted at the sides of streets
out of the public funds and with great expense and trouble.
[215] By the “Commons Act 1876,” powers were given to acquire and lay
out commons for purposes of public recreation, etc.
[216] Upon this latter point _Vide_ 24 & 25 Vic. c. 61, s. 21.
[217] As a preservative against the malicious disfigurement of wooden
seats, I have seen the following inscription placed upon some seats in
an old public park, “Never cut a friend,” and it had apparently the
desired effect.
[218] As an instance of the size and importance works of this
description may assume, the Bois de Boulogne, Paris, is an example. It
covers an area of 2000 acres, of which one half is forest, one quarter
is grass, one-eighth roads, and about 70 acres is water. One of the
most beautifully arranged public parks in this country is Sefton Park,
Liverpool, where the most perfect arrangements of lawns, plantations,
lakes and drives, have been carried out.
[219] ‘A Treatise on Pruning Forest and Ornamental Trees,’ by A. des
Cars, translated from the 7th French edition, with an introduction by
Charles S. Sargent, etc. Published by A. Williams and Co., Boston,
U.S.A., 1881.
[220] In Paris in the year 1880, there were 90,000 trees in the
streets, besides 20,000 more in the cemeteries. (_Vide_ Report of Mr.
Till, the Borough Surveyor of Birmingham, 20th December, 1880.) There
are also upwards of 8000 seats in public places; the trees and seats
costing nearly 100,000_l._ per annum to maintain.
[221] _Vide_ ‘The Parks, Promenades, and Gardens of Paris,’ by W.
Robinson, F.L.S., 1869, p. 128.
[222] _Vide_ ‘L’Architecte,’ 20th November, 1880, p. 370.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
PUBLIC ABATTOIRS.
The following is the clause of the Public Health Act 1875 which empowers
an urban authority to establish public slaughter-houses (or
“abattoirs“[223] as they are sometimes called) for the purposes of the
district they govern:
“Any urban authority may, if they think fit, provide slaughter-houses,
and they shall make bye-laws with respect to the management and charges
for the use of any slaughterhouses so provided.
“For the purpose of enabling any urban authority to regulate
slaughter-houses within their district, the provisions of the Towns
Improvement Clauses Act 1847, with respect to slaughter-houses, shall be
incorporated with this Act.[224]
“Nothing in this section shall prejudice or affect any rights, powers,
or privileges of any persons incorporated by any local Act passed before
the passing of the Public Health Act 1848, for the purpose of making and
maintaining slaughter-houses” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 169).
The great necessity for the establishment of one or more public
slaughter-houses in any town can only fully be realised by persons who
will take the trouble to inspect those which are private; they are
generally placed near the shops of the butchers for the sake of
convenience, the result being that they are situated in the central
portions of the town and are thus surrounded by closely packed
dwellings. The private slaughter house often consists of a stable or
shed which has been converted into an ill-designed slaughter-house,
badly paved, with imperfect drainage; they are frequently not
sufficiently lighted, ventilated or drained, and are utterly unfitted
for the purposes for which they are used.
Their position also is often so badly chosen that the children in the
vicinity resort there to see the animals killed, and the poor beasts
have in some cases to be driven through a narrow passage into the
slaughter-house itself, where, trembling at the sight and smell of the
blood and carcasses of its dead companions, it remains tethered until
its turn comes to fall a victim to the blow of the slaughter-man: a blow
which sometimes has often to be repeated before its object is attained,
owing to the bad light and cramped surroundings of the place.
As these slaughter-houses are generally rented by the butcher using them
at large rentals (such accommodation being scarce), it is not to be
expected that he will spend much money to improve property which is not
his own; but notwithstanding the loss of weight incurred by the animal
to be slaughtered thus fretting and sweating in its terror, the damage
to the meat by its being dressed in the same locality with the live
beast, steaming and smelling in the vicinity, and the exorbitant rents
demanded, still there are great objections always raised by butchers in
towns to the establishment of public slaughter-houses. These objections
are based by them on the following grounds:
They contend that the carriage of the meat from the slaughter-house to
their shop deprives them of some of their profits; that slaughtering
their animals in the presence of other butchers leads to disparaging
remarks and trade jealousies, and that they sometimes are robbed of fat,
tools, &c.
These arguments are groundless if the public abattoir is properly
designed, is in a suitable locality, and is well managed.
There are no powers by which butchers can be compelled to abandon
private slaughter-houses, and use those provided by the urban authority,
so long as the bye-laws of the authority are not infringed; but as the
law stands at present, private slaughter-houses may be licensed (10 & 11
Vic. c. 34, ss. 125, 126) or registered (10 & 11 Vic. c. 34, s. 127),
and the only manner in which they could be closed (which would then
compel the butcher to use the public abattoir) would be by putting the
129th section of the same Act in force, which states that the justices
before whom any person is convicted of killing or dressing cattle
contrary to the provision of the Act, or of the non-observance of any
bye-law or regulation of the local authority, in addition to the penalty
may suspend _the licence_ for any period not exceeding two months; or in
the case of the owner of any _registered_ slaughter-house may forbid for
any period not exceeding two months, the slaughtering of cattle therein.
For a second or other subsequent like offence, in addition to the
penalty the justices may revoke the licence or absolutely forbid the
slaughtering of cattle in the particular house or yard. In such an event
the local authority may refuse to grant any _licence_ whatever to the
person whose licence has been revoked, or on account of whose default
the slaughtering of cattle in any _registered_ slaughter-house has been
forbidden.
With reference to the establishment anew of the business of a
slaughterer of cattle in London, the following particulars required to
be deposited by the applicant with the Metropolitan Board of Works will
be useful.
A plan of the premises and sections of the building drawn to a scale of
¹⁄₄-inch to the foot and showing the proposed or existing arrangements
for drainage, lighting, ventilation, and water supply, with a key plan
of the locality, have to be deposited, as well as replies to the
following questions:
(1.) State what place for the accommodation or poundage of the cattle
about to be slaughtered is provided; if such place has an entrance way
for the cattle otherwise than through the slaughter-house; if separated
from the slaughter-house by a brick partition with a door; and also what
provision is made therein for watering animals.
(2.) State if slaughter-house and its poundage is within 20 feet of an
inhabited building; and if it has any entrance opening directly on a
public highway.
(3.) State if the entrance to the premises is apart from and independent
of any shop or dwelling-house; if from a street at the side or rear; and
also the height of the entrance gates.
(4.) State the dimensions of the slaughter-house, length, breadth,
height to eaves, and construction of the roof; and give similar
information about the poundage.
(5.) State if slaughter-house and poundage are drained by glazed pipes
communicating with public sewer, or how; how drains are trapped; and if
gratings have openings greater than three-eighths of an inch across.
(6.) State if floors are below level of outside road or footway, and if
paved with asphalte, or flag-stone set in cement, or how.
(7.) State how walls of slaughter-house are constructed, and if they are
covered with hard smooth and impervious material to a height of at least
4 feet; and, if so, state what material is used, and to what height it
is carried.
(8.) State how slaughter-house and poundage are lighted, if with
lantern, sky, or side-lights, or otherwise.
(9.) State how ventilated, if by openings, windows, louvre boards, or
otherwise.
(10.) State what provision is made for water-supply, the capacity of the
cistern, and at what height it is placed above floor level.
(11.) State if any watercloset, privy, urinal, cesspool, or stable, is
within, or communicates directly with the slaughter-house.
(12.) State if any rooms or lofts are constructed, or proposed to be
constructed, over the slaughter-house.
(13.) State if the premises will be provided with all the necessary and
most approved apparatus and tackle for the slaughtering of cattle.
Having thus far dealt with private slaughter-houses, I will now turn to
the question of the provision of public establishments of the kind by
the urban authority, for it is usually the duty of the town surveyor to
advise his corporation upon such a matter.
First, as to the site of the proposed public abattoir, this depends
greatly upon what sites are at the command of the town; it should if
possible be near the cattle market to prevent the passage of animals
through the streets, not only on account of the great public
inconvenience, but also the loss of weight to the animal[225] and the
heated and bad state into which its blood becomes from the exercise, and
the violent blows of the drovers’ sticks.
The site would be isolated and yet not too far from the shops of the
butchers, or the cost of carriage of the meat will be considerable; it
is almost needless to say that it should be easily and effectively
drained, and the more air with which it can be surrounded the better. It
is imperative that the entrance for the live beasts should be separate
from the exit of the dead meat, and the approach roads to the site
should not be narrow.
In laying out the site every town surveyor must use his own judgment,
but the following plan on which the site of the excellent public
abattoir at Manchester is laid out may serve as some guide for this
purpose, although of course this establishment is on a very large scale
indeed, and is in connection with a carcass market more than 500 feet
in length:
[Illustration: PLAN OF MANCHESTER SLAUGHTER-HOUSE.]
In designing an abattoir on a large scale provision for the following
accommodation should be considered.
(1.) _Lairs for cattle and pens for sheep._
These should be separated from the slaughter-house by a smaller
temporary lair in which the beast whose turn has come can be fastened to
the halter by which he is dragged into the slaughter-house, the sides of
the door-way being lined with iron for this purpose. The paving of the
lairs may be of asphalte, but care must be taken that near the door of
slaughter-house, the paving is of pitchers or something that is not at
all slippery, as here the frightened beast often struggles and draws
back when he sees the “engines of destruction” in the slaughter-house,
and smells the blood of those who have gone before.
The lairs must be thoroughly well drained, lighted, and ventilated, and
troughs for hay and water placed for each beast, for although the
animals are not expected to remain long in the lairs before being
killed, still it is very important that they should be well and kindly
treated, and rest, so that they may obtain their normal condition before
being killed.
A door easily closed should shut off the lair from the slaughter-house,
as it is open to question, if animals do not see with fear the hapless
fate of their comrades; for this and other obvious reasons the animals
must on no account be permitted to pass through the slaughter-house to
reach the lair.
The lairs should be well lighted artificially, as a great deal of
slaughtering is conducted before and after daylight.
(2.) _The slaughter-houses._
These may be separate or in one long building used in common by the
butchers; both systems have their advantages and disadvantages.
The long building has the advantage of greater economy in erection and
of management, as one inspector can see from end to end of it. Where
also a large site is not available greater advantage can be taken of a
slaughter-house erected on this plan, as several butchers can slaughter
in turn; the lairs, however, must be kept separate. The butchers do not
like this plan, but prefer privacy, and a great deal of “horse play” is
sometimes indulged in by the slaughtermen at work in a large building.
The method of payment for the use of a slaughter-house of this
description cannot well be by rent, but by head of animal slaughtered,
and this is open to the objection of possible fraud. It is necessary
also to have separate slaughter-houses for the sheep and the pigs.
Whether the slaughter-houses are constructed separately or in one long
building, the detail requirements are much the same.
The pavement of the floor should be placed on concrete and it should be
constructed of some material that is easily cleansed, is impervious to
moisture, and is not slippery either wet or dry. It must also be of
sufficient durability, and be strong enough to bear the weight of the
dead-meat carts which have to back in over it under the beams carrying
the carcasses, should there be no dead meat market in connection with
the slaughter-house as at Manchester, Dundee, &c.
The requirements of such a floor are met by good natural compressed or
mastic asphalte. The necessary holes for the reception of the flaying
sticks used in many parts of England can be easily managed by inserting
either small brass sockets specially made, or more simply by pieces of
gas-pipe cut into lengths of about an inch set tight in the asphalte.
The walls of the slaughter-house must be of sufficient strength to carry
the beams or girders of the overhead hoisting gear, as well as some tons
of hanging carcasses, as will presently be explained.
The inside of these walls must be lined to a height of about 6 feet
above the floor line with some material which is impervious and easily
cleansed. Glazed white tiles or bricks are sometimes used for this
purpose, but are apt to get chipped or broken, and I have found that
asphalte, although dark in colour, answers the purpose admirably, and is
much cheaper.
With regard to the drainage of the slaughter-house, this should, if
possible, be so arranged that there are no gratings or gully-pits in the
house itself. The floor should fall about 1 in 30 from the lairs to the
cart doors, so that everything should pass outside into a gutter in
which the necessary gratings and gully-pits can be arranged. If this is
thought to be objectionable, pits with double gratings, the lower one
being only a plate with perforated holes, can be placed in the
slaughter-house so as to prevent any solid matter whatever from entering
the drains, and these pits can be united by short drains with gully-pits
outside. The double grating should in any case be inserted, as by this
means all solid matter is kept out of the drains: a very important
consideration.
The cart doors should be made sliding, and not hinged, or great
inconvenience will be experienced, and they must be made wide enough for
the carts to back in easily.
In some slaughter-houses the killing ring to which the beast is attached
whilst the blow from the poleaxe is given[226] consists of a strong
horse-shoe shaped piece of iron projecting about 24 inches from the wall
at a height of about 18 inches, and having a ring in the top curve,
thus--
[Illustration]
whilst in others the killing ring is on the floor, thus--
[Illustration]
and in others an iron pillar standing up from the floor is used, which
is considered the best plan, as the beast should stand in a natural and
easy position at about a right angle from the feller.
The lighting of the slaughter-house should be effected from the roof, as
a good and steady light is essential to the men engaged in this
business. An awkward cut may seriously damage good beef or mutton. Care
must, however, be taken to exclude the glare of the sun, and the
ventilation should be carefully arranged by louvres easily manipulated.
Water should be plentifully laid on at a good pressure, so as to ensure
thorough flushing, &c., and the necessary taps should be recessed in the
walls, as everything in a building of this description should be kept as
flush as possible, or it will be damaged. In some slaughter-houses hot
water is laid on, and this is a great boon to the butchers and much
appreciated by them.
Gas must of course be laid on, as much slaughtering takes place during
the night.
The machinery for hoisting the beasts and slinging the carcasses
requires to be effective, simple, and very strong, as it is subjected to
the roughest treatment, and such machinery has been patented and is
erected by Messrs. John Meiklejon and Son, of Dalkeith, on very
reasonable terms.[227]
This machinery hoists the beast by simply pulling on an endless chain.
It remains suspended at any height, and can be equally easily lowered.
The divided carcass can be placed upon hooks at any point along the
girders above without being touched, and it can be taken off again and
lowered on to a man’s shoulders or into the cart direct, and in fact,
speaking from my own experience, this machinery is very perfect.
The carcasses of the sheep are hung by hand upon hooks projecting from
rails which are placed at a convenient height around the walls of the
slaughter-house.
In some abattoirs the sheep slaughter-houses are distinct from those
used for killing beasts, and this method has many advantages.
Before proceeding to describe the further requirements of an abattoir or
group of slaughter-houses, I think the following plan will be of use to
show the arrangement which I have described with regard to lairs and
slaughter-houses:--
[Illustration: PLAN
SECTION THROUGH A.B.]
The following plan shows the arrangements adopted in the Metropolitan
Cattle Market slaughter-houses:
[Illustration: METROPOLITAN CATTLE MARKET SLAUGHTER-HOUSES.]
(3.) _The condemned meat department._
This should consist of a lair for suspected cattle, a lair and
slaughter-house for the condemned cattle similar to that already
described, and a condemned meat store: this being the place where not
only all the diseased animals’ carcasses are temporarily stored pending
destruction, but also any meat of sound beasts that may have gone bad
after killing, &c. The whole of the meat thus placed in the condemned
store must be taken to the boiling-down house, where it is destroyed by
being boiled down to fat, which is disposed of for various trade
purposes.
The following description of the method employed for this purpose at the
Deptford Foreign Cattle Market will here be of use:[228]
“There are several killing houses for diseased cattle, and excellent
apparatus for boiling down condemned meat. For this purpose two boilers
are suspended from a strong platform through which they pass, and the
bottoms of them are several feet above the floor. They are each 4 feet 6
inches in diameter and 10 feet in length under platform. At the bottom
the cylinder tapers to 2 feet 8 inches in diameter. Under this there is
a semispherical bottom to the boiler hinged and kept shut by a
back-weighted lever and screws. On the top of each there is a
semispherical cover and safety valve.
“There is an iron crane and windlass for lifting off and on the covers.
After the boilers are charged with diseased meat the covers are made
secure and steam let into them near the bottom. There is a cock in the
bottom of each for running off the liquid at certain stages into a trap
grating in the floor under it, and conducted into a cement cistern
outside of the boiling-house, from which it is periodically removed.
Whether any use is made of the tallow produced I am not informed. The
bones when removed are quite porous, of a very white colour, and nearly
as light as cork. I presume that they will be sold for being converted
into bone manure. I understand these large boilers are not very often
used, and that a small close galvanized iron cylinder, 2 feet 9 inches
in diameter, and 2 feet 6 inches high, placed 15 inches above the
ground, having cock at bottom, steam pipe at side, and portable lid,
does most of the work very efficiently.”
(4.) _The pig-killing department._
This should be separate from the ordinary slaughter-house, as the styes
for pigs must be differently arranged to the cattle lairs, and a boiler
house is necessary, as boiling water must be had for scalding and
dressing the carcasses. Special iron troughs with false bottoms have
been arranged by Messrs. Meiklejon, which greatly facilitate this part
of the butcher’s work, and simple hoisting apparatus over these troughs
lifts the carcase in and out, and carries it off to the cooling or
hanging room, which must of necessity be separate from the killing and
scalding rooms. Drainage, lighting, ventilation and floors should be
similar to those described for the slaughter-houses, and plenty of lime
wash can be used with advantage here as well as in the main
slaughter-house.
(5.) _The blood house._
The blood of the slaughtered animals, which formerly was allowed to run
away, has been found to contain a most valuable aniline dye, and for
this purpose it is now collected and taken to the blood-houses, where in
order to obtain this dye it is necessary to place the blood in shallow
tins, where it is warmed by steam-pipes, the liquid is then drawn off,
which is the albumen from which the dye is extracted, the residuum left
in the trays is of the consistency of jelly, and is sold for manure.
(6.) _The tripery._
This is provided in large abattoirs for the purpose of preparing the
tripe and feet of the slaughtered animals, and in the Glasgow public
slaughter-houses this is effected by the corporation free of charge by
special machinery adapted for the purpose.
(7.) _The tallow market._
Where tallow is melted down, and moulded in shapes for manufacturers’
uses.
(8.) _The hide store._
This is where the hides and sheep skins are weighed and temporarily
stored, sometimes in connection with this are--
(9.) _Sale rooms_; for the hides, skins of sheep, &c., and tallow.
In addition to the above requirements may be mentioned,
(10.) _A superintendent’s dwelling-house and office._
(11.) _A gate keeper’s dwelling-house and office._
(12.) _A weighing machine and office._
(13.) _A convenient room_ for the meetings of the committee of the
corporation having charge of the slaughter-house.
(14.) _Waiting rooms_ for dealers, drovers, slaughtermen, and butchers,
&c.
(15.) _Store-rooms and a joiner’s workshop._
(16.) _Stables and shedding_ for the horses and carts of the jobbers and
butchers, &c.
(17.) _Lofts for straw and hay_; the former should be provided free by
the corporation, the latter on payment of so much per diem for each
beast.
(18.) _The necessary urinal and w. c. accommodation._
With regard to the provision to be made for storing the dung and waste
refuse from public slaughter-houses, I am strongly of opinion that there
should not be any fixed receptacle for such matters, but that covered
carts should be provided, which could stand in convenient positions and
be removed every day, a fresh and clean cart being substituted at once
for the one removed; by this means all nuisance is avoided.
Speaking of public abattoirs, in a recent lecture on Industrial
Nuisances, Dr. C. W. Chancellor, of the Maryland State Board of Health
U.S.A., gives some advice on the management of slaughter-houses. He
says: “During the process of slaughtering as much care as possible
should be taken to prevent the discharge of blood or other animal matter
upon the floor of the slaughter-house, upon the surrounding earth, or
into an open stream. The contents of the viscera should, with the blood,
offal and other garbage, be placed in impervious, covered, moveable
receptacles, constructed of galvanized iron or other non-absorbent
material, and removed from the premises without undue delay. Where hides
or skins are necessarily retained for a day or two before they can be
removed, they might without injury be advantageously brushed over on the
fleshy side with a solution of carbolic acid or some other antiseptic.
Fat should be freely exposed to the air in a cool place. As soon as the
slaughtering is completed the whole slaughter-house, floor and walls,
should be thoroughly washed. All the vessels and implements used in the
slaughtering should be kept clean and sweet. Deodorizers may sometimes
be used with advantage.”
There can be no doubt that whereas private slaughter-houses are
frequently a most injurious nuisance to the neighbourhood in which they
are placed, owing to their situation and construction, and a visit to
one of them is likely to give a strong impetus to vegetarianism, the
public abattoir, on however large a scale, if properly constructed and
managed, need be no nuisance whatever, and every town in the kingdom
should endeavour to obtain one, not only on account of the nuisance
caused by private slaughter-houses, but for the incentive which is given
to butchers to abstain from slaughtering diseased or unwholesome
animals, the prevention of cruelty, and the material benefits derived in
a proper establishment for the best methods of dressing the meat.
[223] The word “abattoir” is a French word from “abattre” to fell, it
is used in this country to designate a group of slaughter-houses.
[224] The clauses referred to are contained in 10 & 11 Vic. c. 34, and
are ss. 125, 126, et seq.; they refer to the registration, licensing
and management of private slaughter-houses, and need not be commented
upon here.
[225] An ordinary beast is said to lose 3 cwt. in weight in a journey
from Edinburgh to London.
[226] The pole-axe should be of the American pattern, which has a head
hollow and very sharp round the periphery. The practise is, after the
blow is struck and the animal felled, to plunge a thin cane into the
wound, which passes down the spine, causing instantaneous death whilst
the animal is lying stunned.
[227] The following is from the patent specification of this
machinery:
“Letters patent to John Meiklejon, of Westfield Iron Works, Dalkeith,
in the County of Mid-Lothian, Scotland, for the invention of new or
improved machinery and appliances to be used in hoisting, removing,
dividing, and hanging on hooks, taking off these hooks again, and
loading carcasses and other bodies in abattoirs, carcass and meat
markets, and other places.”
“The machinery and appliances above referred to enable the operations
above named to be performed without the necessity of the butchers
touching the meat. Also enables carcasses to be conveyed from
abattoirs to carcass market on a travelling hoist (hereafter
described), same being provided with rows of fixed jointed hooks or
loops, attached to rails on which the hoist runs, so that the
travelling hoist is enabled to hang the carcasses or bodies on to such
hooks or loops. Also enables a butcher to hang a carcass on any of
these hooks or loops, and pick them off again, and load on a vehicle,
without moving or touching any of the other carcasses hanging on the
other hooks. Also enables all operations to be performed, from
hoisting when killed to loading when sold or removed from market.”
[228] _Vide_ ‘Report on the New Cattle Market and Abattoirs proposed
to be erected at Carolina Port, Dundee,’ by William Mackison, F.R.I.B.
A., &c.
CHAPTER XXIX.
MARKETS.
Under certain conditions urban authorities are empowered to provide
markets in their district by the following clause of the Public Health
Act 1875:
“Where an urban authority are a local board or improvement
commissioners, they shall have power, with the consent of the owners and
ratepayers of their district, expressed by resolution passed in manner
provided by Schedule III. to this Act, and where the urban authority are
a town council they shall have power, with the consent of two thirds of
their number, to do the following things, or any of them, within their
district:
“To provide a market place, and construct a market house and other
conveniences, for the purpose of holding markets:
“To provide houses and places for weighing carts:
“To make convenient approaches to such market:
“To provide all such matters and things as may be necessary for the
convenient use of such market:
“To purchase or take on lease land, and public or private rights in
markets and tolls for any of the foregoing purposes:
“To take stallages, rents and tolls in respect of the use by any person
of such market:
“But no market shall be established in pursuance of this section so as
to interfere with any rights, powers, or privileges enjoyed within the
district by any person without his consent” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s.
166).
In many towns, markets both for cattle and general merchandise have been
already established, and the duties of the town surveyor are simply to
execute the necessary alterations and maintenance of the buildings in
connection with them, but there may be occasions on which he has to
advise his corporation upon the acquisition of land for the purpose of
laying it out as a cattle market, and afterwards the erection of the
necessary pens and buildings, and a few remarks upon the subject may be
of some service.
The site for a cattle market should be selected, if practicable, near to
a railway station, so as to avoid as much as possible the dangerous and
objectionable practice of driving cattle and sheep through the streets,
and for the same reasons it should be near the public slaughter-houses
if there are any in the town. Plenty of space should be provided in the
market for the cattle to move about in, for it must be remembered that
many of them which are sent to market are unused to the bustle of a
town, and are wild and untractable, and have never in their lives been
subjected to either penning or tethering.
The site must be easily and effectively drained, it should be somewhat
isolated with respect to neighbouring buildings, the more air that can
be got to sweep through it the better.
The accommodation necessary in a cattle market must vary considerably
with the requirements of the district, but the following list may be
given for selection:
(1.) Pens or lairs for fat beasts.
(2.) Pens or lairs for store cattle.
(3.) Pens or lairs for cows with calves.
(4.) Pens or lairs for calves.
(5.) Pens for sheep.
(6.) Pens or styes for pigs.
(7.) Covered sheds or stables for horses.
(8.) A space for showing horses off.
(9.) Sheds for agricultural implements.
(10.) Shops for the display of seeds, ropes, tarpaulins, sacks, etc.
(11.) Accommodation for auctioneers.
(12.) Lodges and offices for the superintendent or gate keeper.
(13.) A weighing machine and office.
(14.) A corn exchange (this is sometimes provided in the general
market).
The entrance to a cattle market may with advantage be provided with
double sets of gates, with a space between in which flocks of sheep or
herds of cattle can be temporarily penned; a wicket gate in the second
set of gates will enable the toll collecter to count the number of
animals easily as they pass through into the market.
The paving of the market should be of granite pitches, as it is
essential that it should not be slippery, or the cattle, which usually
arrive in a very excited condition, will fall and injure themselves;
this description of paving is also fairly impervious, and is easily
cleansed.
The paving of the lairs and pens may, however, be of asphalte.
For the cattle there may be enclosures for loose bullocks as well as
divisions in which the cattle are tethered; these divisions and
enclosures may be constructed of brick walls about 4 feet 6 inches in
height, or posts and rails of wood and iron, strongly fastened iron
rings about 4 feet apart are necessary to which the beasts must be
tethered.
The paving must be kept high towards the head of the beast in order to
show him off to the greatest advantage.
Large painted signboards should be fixed over the entrance of each
compartment, to designate to which class it belongs, in order to avoid
confusion or mistake. There should be drinking troughs for all cattle,
and hydrants should be fixed all about the market, so that it can be
thoroughly flushed and washed down.
The sheep-pens can be constructed with iron or wood posts and rails with
the whole of one side opening as a gate, they should be about 3 feet in
height, and the floor should slope up from the point at which the
purchaser will stand in order that the sheep at the far end of the pen
may not appear diminutive.[229]
The gates of the sheep-pens should be strongly stayed, as they make most
convenient seats on which the drovers and heavy farmers sit whilst they
drive their bargains.
With regard to the dimensions of the pens and lairs, the following sizes
are suggested as sufficient spaces for different animals, in the modern
bye-laws, emanating from the Local Government Board in 1877, with
respect to markets:
For every horse 8 feet by 2 feet.
For every ox or cow 8 „ „ 2 „
For every mule or ass 5 „ „ 1 feet 6 inches.
For every calf 5 „ „ 1 „ 3 „
For every sheep, goat or pig (of medium size) 4 feet superficial.
The pens for calves and the styes for pigs should be covered, and their
floors should be about 3 feet 6 inches above the general level of the
market, as animals of this description are generally brought in carts,
and they could thus be easily moved out and in.
These pens and styes must of course be thoroughly well drained and
ventilated.
With regard to the weighing machine, this should be of the best
manufacture, and be of sufficient size to weigh a large wagon. It is
better to have what is called a “self contained” iron foundation, and
pit for the weighbridge rather than one of masonry. A convenient size
for this weighbridge would be 15 feet in length by 12 feet in breadth.
With reference to the rest of the provisions I have enumerated, they
require no special comment, but must necessarily be left to the
discretion of the town surveyor and the wishes of his corporation.
Markets for general merchandise are usually handsome buildings, which
are erected in the most central positions of the town; they contain:
(1.) The corn exchange (this is sometimes erected in the cattle market).
(2.) The fish market.
(3.) The dead meat market (this is sometimes erected in connection with
the public slaughter-houses).
(4.) The game and poultry market.
(5.) The fruit, vegetable and flower market.
(6.) The butter, eggs and cheese market.
(7.) The miscellaneous goods market.
(8.) Public conveniences.
(9.) Offices and dwelling for the clerk of the market.
(10.) Committee room for the market committee.
The floor of the market should be on a level as much as is practicable
with the adjacent streets; steps up or down are objectionable for the
public, and galleries or upper floors should also be avoided unless the
available area of the site is limited.
The interior of the building should be lofty, and it must be thoroughly
well ventilated; the great fault with nearly all existing markets is the
cutting draught to which buyers and sellers are usually subjected.
Plenty of light is essential, but the rays of the sun should be
excluded by frosted glass or other contrivance, or the goods exposed for
sale will be damaged.
The floor should be of asphalte or other similar material; it is
surprising what a “mess” is always made in a market.
The stalls must be so arranged as to show to best advantage the goods
offered, and plenty of “gangway” should be left between them for the
passage of the public.
Fish stalls should be constructed of iron, slate or similar material,
plenty of water being provided in this department; fish-washing troughs
filled with running water are very desirable, and a fountain can be
introduced with pleasing effect.
Butchers’ stalls should be of thick wood to resist the chopping, and
plenty of standards and rails provided with iron hooks must be fixed
above them.
A great number of moveable iron “offal boxes” should be placed in
different parts of the market, which must be cleared at least once a
day, and the market should be frequently flushed and cleansed with water
from hydrants fixed in different parts of the building.
Many other points will no doubt suggest themselves to town surveyors,
who have the important work of designing either cattle or general
markets to undertake, but the few suggestions which have been given may
be of some use.
[229] The following is a description of the manner in which the sheep
are penned in the cattle market of la Villette at Paris:--“The
enclosures or pens are all of iron, those for the sheep have a centre
railing 3 feet 3 inches high, and cross railings 1 foot 9 inches high;
the former with three horizontal rails and vertical rods, and the
latter two horizontal rails and vertical rods. There is a distance of
15 feet betwixt the high railings, which is divided into three by iron
posts 21 inches high. The first row of these posts is placed at a
distance of 3 feet from the low cross railing at the passage, the
second row 18 inches from the first, the third 3 feet from the second,
and so on. The sheep are placed in line side by side as close as they
can stand, with their heads up to the low rail. A moveable hurdle of
wood is then set on edge between the sheep in rear and the iron posts
just described. A passage of 18 inches is left clear, and then another
row of sheep and another passage, and so on. In this manner a great
number of sheep are put into little space, in such a way as all can be
examined with the greatest ease.” (_Vide_ ‘Report on the New Cattle
Market and Abattoirs proposed to be erected at Carolina Port, Dundee,’
by W. Mackison, F.R.I.B.A., &c., Town Surveyor, Dundee).
CHAPTER XXX.
CEMETERIES.
Amongst the many duties that a town surveyor has to perform is sometimes
included that of laying out land for a large burial ground or cemetery,
and its management after construction. Power is given to all local
authorities to become burial authorities by the Public Health Interments
Act 1879, and so strongly is the need felt for what is called extramural
interment, that the Local Government Board may compel a local authority
to provide and maintain cemeteries. Power is also given for the
compulsory purchase of land for this purpose (see sections 175, 176, of
the Public Health Act 1875), and the cemetery may be placed either
within or without the district over which the local authority exercise
their jurisdiction, and many other privileges are granted in order to
encourage the acquisition of land so far removed from habitations as to
make the burial ground as sanitary as the practice of burying human
bodies can be made.
Land once consecrated or used for burial cannot afterwards be sold or
used for secular purposes, except of course by an Act of Parliament;
“footpaths may, however, be provided in a consecrated but disused burial
ground, and the ground may be planted, so as in effect, though not
nominally, to make it a public garden.”[230]
A cemetery must not be constructed within 200 yards of any dwelling
house, without the consent in writing of the owner, lessee, and occupier
of such house; but there is no prohibition upon anyone to prevent their
building a house close to a cemetery after it has been established.[231]
Chapels may be built in cemeteries for the performance of the burial
services, and the grounds may be laid out and embellished as the local
authority may deem fit. The cemetery must be enclosed by walls or other
sufficient fences or iron railings 8 feet in height; it must be properly
sewered and drained, but such drainage must not flow into any “stream,
canal, reservoir, aqueduct, pond or watering place.”[232]
Cemeteries are divided into consecrated and unconsecrated portions by
bond stones or other suitable marks; a chapel must be built upon the
consecrated portion, although it does not seem to be compulsory to do so
upon the unconsecrated portion.
The selection of a proper site on sanitary and other grounds for a
cemetery is one of the greatest importance, and a town surveyor, or
anyone who has this duty to perform, cannot do better than keep the
following words of the well-known sanitary engineer Mr. Eassie before
him:[233]
“A well-chosen cemetery is one whose soil is dry, close, and yet porous,
permitting the rain and its accompanying air to reach a reasonable
depth, and so expedite decay. The formation is also well covered with
vegetable mould, which assists in neutralising any hurtful emanations,
and encourages the growth of shrubs. The subsoil is also of such a kind
as to need no under draining, and such as will prevent the water lodging
in any grave or vault. It will also stand exposed to the north or north
east winds which are dry, and which do not hold the putrefactive gases
in solution, like the moist south or south westerly winds.”
“An improperly chosen graveyard may be said to be one where the soil is
dense and clayey, and impervious to moisture. It will be insufficiently
drained, necessitating the use of planks to walk upon in wet weather. It
will be too close to the abodes of the living, too small to permit
proper planting, the graves covered, it may be with flat stones which
prevent the passage downwards of the air and rain, and surrounded
moreover by high walls which exclude the fresh air. The ground will be
stony and insufficiently covered with vegetable soil. No natural outfall
will exist, and the drainage water must be pumped up, the bare idea of
which is horrible. It will be near also to water-bearing strata, or to a
reservoir. Long before decomposition has taken place owing to the
smallness of the site, and the impossibility of obtaining any more land
except at high building prices, the organic matter hidden out of sight
will be far too large in proportion to the area.”
Dr. Parsons, in a memorandum prepared by him on the “Sanitary
Requirements of Cemeteries” and published by the Local Government Board
in their eleventh annual report, says:
“The soil of a cemetery should be of an open, porous nature, with
numerous close interstices, through which air and moisture may pass in a
finely divided state freely in every direction. In such a soil decay
proceeds rapidly, and the products of decomposition are absorbed or
oxidised. The soil should be easily worked, yet not so loose as to
render the work of excavation dangerous through the liability to falls
of earth. It should be free from water or hard rock to a depth of at
least 8 feet. If not naturally free from water, it should be drained if
practicable to that depth: to this end it is necessary that the site
should be sufficiently elevated above the drainage level of the
locality, either naturally, or, where necessary, by filling it up to the
required level with suitable earth.”
“Loam, and sand with a sufficient quantity of vegetable mould, are the
best soils; clay and loose stones the worst. A dense clay is laborious
to work and difficult to drain; by excluding moisture and air it retards
decay, and it retains, in a concentrated state, the products of
decomposition, sometimes to be discharged into graves opened in the
vicinity, or sometimes to escape through cracks in the ground to the
surface. A loose, stony soil, on the other hand, allows the passage of
effluvia.”
And with reference to the site to be chosen for a cemetery he further
states:
“Nevertheless, in view of the evils which in former times have
undoubtedly arisen from the practice of intramural sepulture, and also
because the erection of houses near a cemetery interferes with the free
play of air around and over it, it is desirable that the site of the
cemetery should be in a neighbourhood in which building is not likely to
take place, and also that so far as practicable a belt of ground should
be reserved between the graves and the nearest land on which a house may
be built, in order to obviate to some extent the risk of contamination
of ground-air and subsoil water with decomposing matters. This is
especially necessary where houses are constructed with cellars. It is,
therefore, highly desirable that interments should not be made up to the
extreme edge of the cemetery, and it would be possible without great
waste of space to reserve in all cases a strip of ground free from
interments, 15 to 30 feet in width, around the whole cemetery on the
interior of the boundary fence. This strip would afford room, on the
inside for a gravel or asphalte walk to give access to all parts of the
cemetery, and on the outside next the fence to a belt of shrubs or
trees, the rootlets of which, penetrating the soil, would arrest and
assimilate any decomposing matters percolating to the exterior of the
cemetery. Obviously a cemetery should not be placed on elevated ground
above houses, where the soakings from it may percolate to the sites and
foundations of the dwellings below. . . .”
“Sites are of course unsuitable which are liable to be flooded or to
landslips, or which are in danger of being washed away, or encroached
upon by streams or the sea. Very steep sites are not desirable. The
cemetery should be accessible by good roads from all parts of the
district.”
As to the unsuitability of clay as a soil for cemeteries, Louis Créteur
in “Hygiene in the Battle Field” says, that the bodies of soldiers slain
during the Battle of Sedan were buried in chalk, quarry rubble, sand,
argillite, slate, marl, or clay soils, and the work of disinfection
lasted from the beginning of March till the end of June. In rubble the
decay had fully taken place, but in the clay the bodies kept well, and
even after a very long time the features could be identified.
With regard to the amount of land necessary for a cemetery, Dr. Parsons
calculates that about a quarter of an acre of land for every thousand of
the population of the community to whom the cemetery belongs, is the
“usually estimated minimum,” but this is far too small a proportion even
for a cemetery possessing every advantage, and he further states, “The
desirability of providing more than this bare minimum of space is
obvious, and is generally recognized.” It must be remembered that as a
rule, quite one-sixth of the total area of a cemetery is taken up by the
roads, paths, ornamental grass or beds of flowers and shrubs, the
chapels, mortuaries, lodges, &c., and sufficient width should be allowed
between each grave space to permit every grave being reached without
trampling on others: a standard of 110 burials per acre has sometimes
been taken, but this appears to me to be rather a small one.
In laying out ground for a cemetery, the following are some points that
require careful attention:
(1.) The position of the entrance or entrances; there should if possible
be only one, as a lodge is necessary at each, which entails expense.
(2.) The best position for the lodge or lodges, the chapels and
mortuary.
(3.) The direction of the roads in the cemetery: these must be wide
enough for the hearses and mourning coaches, and there must be
convenient places provided for turning round.
(4.) The direction of the paths:[234] these and the roads should be as
straight as possible, so as to economise available burial ground, paths
should be sufficiently wide to allow an entrance to be made in them to
the adjoining vaults or walled graves, these being frequently covered
with a massive tomb or ledger very difficult to remove. The vaults and
walled graves, being of a better class, are generally put in the borders
of the burial ground, close to the paths.
(5.) In some soils deep and careful drainage is necessary. This should
be carried out with ordinary drain pipes laid at a depth of at least 10
feet, and so communicating with each other and the grave spaces, that
even in a clay soil each grave as it is sunk should be found free from
water.
(6.) Surface drainage, especially of the roads and paths, is also
necessary.
(7.) Provision must be made for the disposal of the soil excavated from
the graves, as very little punning or ramming of the soil thrown in
after a burial should be permitted, and thus there is always a large
quantity of material to be otherwise disposed of.
The cemetery must be divided into Church or consecrated ground,
Dissenters’ ground, and Roman Catholic ground, in such proportions as
may be found to suit the particular requirements of the locality in
which the cemetery is placed.
These divisions must again be subdivided into sections according to the
class and description of the proposed grave, and each of these
subdivisions and grave-spaces must be accurately marked with a
distinguishing letter and number, so that on reference to a plan and a
register book, any person’s grave may be easily found, however long a
time may have elapsed since the interment took place, and although no
headstone or mark over the grave is there. It is needless to say, that
the plan of the cemetery has to be most carefully prepared, and the
ground equally carefully set out, to prevent any chance of error
occurring, or serious consequences might result. It may be well to
remark that no body can be removed after burial without an order from
one of Her Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State, or by faculty from
the Bishop in consecrated ground.[235]
The following description of the different sections necessary in a large
cemetery may here be of use, the fees chargeable for the privilege of
burying in each section advancing with the letters appropriated to the
sections.
_Section A._ This is appropriated to workhouse paupers or very poor
persons only,[236] the depth[237] of the grave may be limited to 6 feet,
and the size should be 9 feet by 4 feet; only coffins made of wood
should be allowed in this section.[238]
_Section B._ This is of a slightly superior class to the last, the
depth and size may however be the same, but a larger fee can be charged,
and the position of the section with reference to the paths should be
better and more convenient.
_Section C._ This is again superior to either of the former sections.
Extra depth and size may be allowed, and the position should also be
better.
_Section D._ In the previous sections only “common” graves as they are
called should be allowed. In this section either walled graves, vaults,
tombs or common graves may be placed, the common graves may be of extra
depth and size, the space for a vault may be 8 feet 6 inches by 6
feet.[239]
This section should be exclusively the borders of the paths and other
spots easily accessible and prominent to view.
_Section E._ This is the best section. No common graves should be
allowed in it, and the spaces allotted for burial may be isolated and of
various sizes according to agreement and payment. Here costly tombs and
monuments are erected, the position of the section being generally near
the chapels.[240]
In all the above sections it is necessary to provide for the burial of
children: these require smaller space and in some instances they can be
buried with their mother, but in separate coffins. Unfortunately it is
necessary to allow rather a large percentage of available space for the
interment of children, as the infant mortality in this country is so
excessive.
In connection with the question of the plan and the sections for
burial, it may be well to give the following rules and regulations for
the management of a cemetery:
_Cemetery Rules and Regulations._
(1.) All charges for interment, monuments, and gravestones must be paid
at the time the order is granted; no kind of work allowed to be done, or
any corpse brought on the ground without the production of an order.
(2.) Certificates of death to be produced (showing the name of the
parish, &c., and all other requisite information) on paying the fees.
(3.) Two days’ notice to be given for interment in graves, (exclusive of
Sunday,) and three days if a vault or brick grave be required. In
default, an extra charge will be made for working by night.
(4.) The time when the funeral procession will be on the ground to be
named in the notice. An extra fee of will be charged when the
funeral procession is minutes later than the time appointed, and
for every minutes afterwards.
(5.) The hours of interment are from A.M. to P.M. from
Michaelmas to Lady-day, and from A.M. to P.M. from Lady-day to
Michaelmas.
(6.) All brick or stone work in the graves, and all foundations and
fixing of memorials, or planting, shall be under the supervision and
control of the local authority or their appointed agent.
(7.) No grave or vault shall be re-opened by other persons than members
of that family without the written consent of the parties interested and
of the local authority. An extra fee for the interment of strangers will
be charged at the discretion of the local authority.
(8.) In all unbricked graves, coffins of wood only shall be used. No
interment will be allowed nearer the surface than four feet for an
adult, or three feet for a child under 12 years. Every coffin in a
bricked grave or vault to be separately entombed in an air-tight manner.
(9.) No palisades or iron railings to exceed feet in height, except
with the special consent of the local authority; and no palisades, or
enclosure of any description will be permitted to a grave until a
headstone or tomb has been erected.
(10.) A drawing of every monument or gravestone to be submitted for
approval, and a copy of the intended inscription, if it contains more
than name, age, and date. Inscriptions to be arranged so as to face the
paths as far as practicable. Any question which shall arise touching the
fitness of any monumental inscription, placed in any part of the
consecrated portion of the ground, shall be determined on appeal by the
Bishop of the Diocese.
(11.) All graves and vaults, monuments, gravestones, fencing or other
enclosures, to be kept in repair by the persons interested in their
preservation. If suffered to go out of repair and become unsightly, the
local authority will remove them altogether, and they will not be
allowed to be replaced without the consent of the local authority.
Graves will be kept in order by the local authority for a fee of
per annum.
A plan of the ground, showing each grave space, is kept at the office of
the surveyor to the local authority and may be seen without charge.
The public are admitted to the cemetery, on weekdays, from 7 A.M. to 8
P.M. from Lady-day to Michaelmas, and from 8 A.M. to 5 P.M. from
Michaelmas to Lady-day. On Sundays, from 2 to 8 P.M. in summer and 2 to
5 P.M. in winter.
All further information may be obtained at the office.
The local authority forbid any gratuity being received by their
servants.
The local authority reserves a right, from time to time, to make any
alteration in the foregoing charges and regulations.
In connection with the above rules, a scale of fees of the charges for
interments must be prepared as well as for headstones, foot-stones,
ledgers, and tombs, or for enclosing any grave with kerbing,
iron-railings, posts and chains, &c.
The practice of allowing persons to plant small shrubs and trees upon
the graves of their friends, should be deprecated, as not only do they
tend eventually to make a cemetery look untidy but they are placed so
close to the graves that when they grow up their roots often split open
a vault or walled grave, and even damage valuable tombstones.
Trees which are suitable for cemeteries, and which would thrive even in
a town atmosphere, are the weeping willow, cypress, yew, cedar, juniper,
birch, ash, weeping elm, and a considerable number and variety of
drooping and other deciduous trees. These should, however, be planted
under the control of the local authority, as otherwise a cemetery would
soon be overrun by them.
The regulations issued by the Secretary of State for the Home Department
in January 1863, for burial grounds provided under the Burial Acts, may
be of use for reference, and are given _in extenso_:
(1.) The burial ground shall be effectually fenced, and, if necessary,
under-drained to such a depth as will prevent water remaining in any
grave or vault.
(2.) The area to be used for graves shall be divided into grave spaces,
to be designated by convenient marks, so that the position of each may
be readily determined, and a corresponding plan kept on which each grave
space shall be shown.
(3.) The grave spaces for the burial of persons above 12 years of age
shall be at least 9 feet by 4 feet, and those for the burial of children
under 12 years of age, 6 feet by 3 feet, or if preferred, half the
measurement of the adult grave space, namely, 4¹⁄₂ feet by 4 feet.
(4.) A register of graves shall be kept in which the name, age, and date
of burial in each shall be duly registered.
(5.) No body shall be buried in any vault or walled grave unless the
coffin be separately entombed in an air-tight manner; that is, by
properly cemented stone or brickwork, which shall never be disturbed.
(6.) One body only shall be buried in a grave at one time, unless the
bodies be those of members of the same family.
(7.) No unwalled grave shall be re-opened within 14 years after the
burial of a person above 12 years of age, or within eight years after
the burial of a child under 12 years of age, unless to bury another
member of the same family, in which case a layer of earth not less than
1 foot thick shall be left undisturbed above the previously buried
coffin; but if on reopening any grave the soil be found to be offensive,
such soil shall not be disturbed, and in no case shall human remains be
removed from the grave.
(8.) No coffin shall be buried in any unwalled grave within 4 feet of
the ordinary level of the ground, unless it contains the body of a child
under 12 years of age, when it shall not be less than 3 feet below that
level.
For further information upon the subject of the Interments Act 1879 and
much useful information in connection with cemeteries, I refer my
readers to ‘Notes and Practical Suggestions upon the Interment Act
1875,’ by T. Baker, Esq.
I cannot close this chapter upon cemeteries without a few words upon a
subject which is analogous, cremation; and although I am aware that this
is a debateable question, still it is impossible for me to be silent, as
from my official experience on the practice of burial, I am so deeply
convinced that cremation should be substituted for it for very many
weighty reasons, that I feel it is necessary for me to give them.
They are as follows:
(1.) Nothing can be more unsanitary or dangerous to the living than the
burial of the dead. This has been enlarged upon over and over again by
men who have well studied the subject and are competent to give an
opinion and to that opinion I add my testimony.
(2.) Nothing can be more loathsome and degrading to the dead bodies of
our friends or more revolting to our feelings, than the horrible
practice of placing the remains of those we love in the soil of a common
churchyard or cemetery, to be devoured with other bodies by worms.
(3.) In placing a dead body under ground we can never be sure how long
the remains will be left undisturbed, a new street or railway will soon
destroy all traces of its resting place,[241] and even the law only
allows a grave to remain undisturbed for a short 14 years.
(4.) In the event of friends or relations dying abroad their remains
cannot be sent home for burial except at great expense, cremation would
reduce the body to a few beautiful silvery ashes which could easily be
brought home and secured on arrival in a suitable and safe
position.[242]
(5.) Cremation is the most respectful and beautiful manner for the
disposal of dead bodies, and need not alarm (on religious grounds[243])
any more than the practice at sea of lowering the dead bodies overboard
to be eventually eaten and digested by marine animals.
(7.) Cremation would settle at once and for ever the vexed question of
burial in consecrated or unconsecrated ground, and all the unseemly
quarrels which have taken place in connection with it from time to
time.
(8.) The great extent of land that is now wasted in public burial
grounds and cemeteries.[244]
There is no reason, even if cremation should take the place of burial,
why the fees for clergymen and others should not remain as at present,
and the unpleasant assistance of the British-ghoul, the undertaker, with
his long face at the ceremony and still longer bill afterwards, could
easily be dispensed with.
The opponents of cremation urge that it would be more expensive than
burial, and consequently out of the reach of the poorer classes, and
also that it would cause so much difficulty in detecting cases of
poisoning, that it would tend to encourage persons to poison others who
happened to be in their way, or objectionable to them, and thus crime
would go unchecked.
If these are the only objections they are easily to be overcome.
First, by constructing public crematories, where for a few shillings a
day sufficient heat could be maintained to consume almost any number of
bodies, whilst the present great expense of maintaining large cemeteries
with their attendant guardians and other costs would be dispensed with;
and
Secondly, by instituting a scientific and independent enquiry as to the
cause of every death which occurs. This is so much required at the
present day for the sake of the public health, that even if cremation is
never introduced it should be at once enforced, so that those who have
charge of the public health could have exact and reliable knowledge of
the causes of all the deaths throughout the United Kingdom, and thus
obtain such valuable information as would greatly assist in the daily
fight to subdue and overcome deaths from preventable causes.
[230] _Vide_ ‘Fitzgerald’s Public Health Act,’ p. 130, 3rd edition.
[231] _Vide_ ‘Fitzgerald’s Public Health Act,’ p. 131, 3rd edition.
Foot note to clause x. Cemetery Clauses Act 1847.
[232] Cemetery Clauses Act 1847, s. 20.
[233] _Vide_ ‘Cremation of the Dead,’ by William Eassie, C.E. &c. &c.,
p. 50.
[234] The roads and paths in a cemetery require to be carefully made,
in order that they may be available during any weather.
[235] 20 & 21 Vic. c. 81, s. 25.
[236] The following is a description of the manner of burying the
poorer people in the cemetery of Pere la Chaise, near Paris. (_Vide_
‘The Parks, Promenades, and Gardens of Paris,’ by W. Robinson, F.L.S.,
&c., p. 109.) “A very wide trench or fosse is cut wide enough to hold
two rows of coffins placed across it, and 100 yards long or so. Here
they are rapidly stowed in one after another, just as nursery
labourers lay in stock ‘by the heels,’ only much closer, because there
is no earth between the coffins, and wherever the coffins, which are
very like egg-boxes, only somewhat less substantial, happen to be
short so that a little space is left between the two rows, those of
children are placed in lengthwise between them to economise space; the
whole being done exactly as a natty man would pack together turves or
mushroom spawn bricks.”. . . Let us hope that whatever else may be
“taken from the French,” we may never imitate them in their cemetery
management.
[237] Depth of burial varies from 6 to 10 feet, but there must be 4
feet of earth upon the top of the last coffin if an adult, 3 feet if a
child.
[238] A proper grave should be dry when opened, and have a sufficiency
of soil over the coffin to absorb any gases of decomposition; it
should allow an adjoining grave to be opened without collapsing, and
should if possible dispense with the necessity of shoring or close
timbering the sides, and should allow sufficient space for a headstone
to be placed over it.
[239] In a tomb or walled grave, the coffin should be enclosed in an
air-tight case, by means of a stone cemented down which must never
again be moved; or concrete may be used. It is a good plan to put some
charcoal with the coffin to absorb any gases of decomposition in case
of the vault opening accidentally at any future time, and in order to
guard against such an occurrence it is better to leave at least 2 feet
of earth on the top of the grave below the surface of the ground in
walled graves.
[240] “No body shall be buried in any vault under any chapel of the
cemetery or within 15 feet of the outer wall of any such chapel.”
(_Vide_ s. 39, Cemetery Clauses Act 1847.)
[241] In a beautiful out-of-the-way valley in Wales, there is a pretty
village with a quiet churchyard far from the “busy haunts of man,” yet
here it is found necessary to disinter all the bodies, as this
churchyard will soon be 30 feet under the surface of the water of an
immense reservoir now being constructed to supply the living with
drinking water, and it would not be right to leave the bodies there.
[242] The body of Lord Balcarres was (as is now history) removed from
the mausoleum in his own grounds, and only recovered after a most
painful interval; this desecration could not have happened had his
body been cremated and the ashes suitably secured.
[243] I believe it was Lord Shaftesbury whose remark on this point
was, “What would have become of the blessed martyrs, if destruction by
fire was to annul their chances of resurrection?”
[244] The metropolis alone has in addition to the numerous burying
grounds near its parish churches, &c. (many of which have been,
however, dug up and destroyed), the average of which it would be
difficult to determine, the following cemeteries, which may be called
extra mural:
Woking Cemetery 500 acres
Ilford and Leytonstone Cemetery 168 „
Norwood and Nunhead Cemetery 40 „
Highgate Cemetery 40 „
West London at Brompton 40 „
Abney Park Cemetery 32 „
Kensal Green Cemetery 18 „
Victoria Cemetery ----
Tower Hamlets Cemetery ----
Colney Hatch Cemetery ----
CHAPTER XXXI.
MORTUARIES.
As the Public Health Act 1875 contains several clauses bearing upon
mortuaries, a few words upon this subject will not be altogether
inappropriate.
The great and terrible evils arising from the practice of keeping
corpses in inhabited rooms by the poorer classes were pointed out by Mr.
Chadwick in the year 1843[245] and the following clauses upon this
subject and the necessity imposed upon the local authority to provide
proper mortuaries are contained in the Public Health Act 1875:
“Any local authority may, and if required by the Local Government Board
shall provide and fit up a proper place for the reception of dead bodies
before interment (in this Act called a mortuary), and may make bye-laws
with respect to the management and charges for use of the same; they may
also provide for the decent and economical interment, at charges to be
fixed by such bye-laws, of any dead body which may be received into a
mortuary (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 141).
“Where the body of one who has died of any infectious disease is
retained in a room in which persons live or sleep, or any dead body
which is in such a state as to endanger the health of the inmates of the
same house or room is retained in such house or room, any justice may,
on a certificate signed by a legally qualified medical practitioner,
order the body to be removed, at the cost of the local authority, to any
mortuary provided by such authority, and direct the same to be buried
within a time to be limited in such order; and unless the friends or
relations of the deceased undertake to bury the body within the time so
limited, and do bury the same, it shall be the duty of the relieving
officer to bury such body at the expense of the poor rate, but any
expense so incurred may be recovered by the relieving officer in a
summary manner from any person legally liable to pay the expense of such
burial.
“Any person obstructing the execution of an order made by a justice
under this section shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five
pounds” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 142).
From these clauses it would appear that a mortuary or mortuaries are an
absolute essential in every town, although it does not appear necessary
to have a separate mortuary for any “body of one who has died of any
infectious disease,” but it may be taken to the mortuary which has been
provided for the reception of dead bodies generally. It may also be
assumed that bodies may be viewed by a coroner’s jury in the mortuary,
although a post-mortem examination cannot be made in it, as by the
following section:
“Any local authority may provide and maintain a proper place (otherwise
than at a workhouse or at a mortuary) for the reception of dead bodies
during the time required to conduct any post-mortem examination ordered
by a coroner or other constituted authority, and may make regulations
with respect to the management of such place; and where any such place
has been provided, a coroner or other constituted authority may order
the removal of the body to and from such place for carrying out such
post-mortem examination, such costs of removal to be paid in the same
manner and out of the same fund as the costs and fees for post-mortem
examinations when ordered by the coroner (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 143).”
It will be observed that the above clause apparently forbids a
post-mortem room being provided at the mortuary, although this would
appear to be the most appropriate situation for it, and indeed such a
room is frequently provided at or near the mortuary. The reason for this
prohibition, especially as it is associated with a workhouse, is
evidently to overcome the prejudice which would exist in the minds of
the ignorant that the fact of taking a body to a mortuary necessitated
dissection: a practice which is looked upon with much disfavour by such
persons.
Mortuaries in this country generally consist of one of the following
descriptions:
(1.) Elaborate groups of buildings, comprising mortuary chapel,
coroner’s room, post-mortem room, dead house, waiting rooms, &c., and
the necessary care-taker’s rooms, and offices.
(2.) Mortuaries in connection with infectious hospitals.
(3.) Mortuaries in connection with general hospitals.
(4.) Mortuaries at cemeteries or licensed burial grounds.
(5.) Dead-houses provided by the sanitary authority.
In arranging for the erection of a dead-house or mortuary in any town,
the surveyor may find the following particulars and suggestions of some
use to him:
A mortuary must be provided in the grounds or near all cemeteries that
are in active operation, but in addition to these, others ought to be
erected in central positions of the town, so that bodies can be easily
conveyed there, not only with a view to meet the objections mentioned in
the opening of this chapter, but also to avoid the unseemly practice at
present so largely in vogue of taking any cases of sudden death,
suicide, accidental drowning, violence or accident, &c., that may occur,
to the nearest public house, there to await identification and the
coroner’s inquest.[246]
It has been computed that for every 50,000 of the population of any
town, a mortuary should be provided.
In Frankfort mortuaries have been for some years in existence; they are
simple buildings, with a separate room for each corpse, intended not
only to prevent bodies from being kept in private houses, but also to
lessen the chance of any person being buried alive. The following is a
plan of one of these institutions:
[Illustration: PLAN OF A GERMAN LEICHENHAUS OR DEAD-HOUSE.]
To prevent the chance of burying any person alive, each corpse as it is
placed in its little dead-house has a ring placed upon its finger; this
ring is attached to a string which is in communication with a bell which
hangs in the attendant’s room, who is there night and day, a window
communicates with each dead-house, so that on the alarm being given he
is at once ready to render assistance.
In Paris, as is well known, all bodies that are found are placed in the
“Morgue” behind “Notre Dame,” where they are publicly exhibited, thus
assisting identification, although the exposure of bodies in this
manner is not very attractive.
In preparing designs for a group of buildings such as are set forth in
the first on the list which I have given, the following requirements
should be considered:
_The Mortuary Chapel_ should be of such dimensions as are suitable for
the requirements of the district, bearing in mind that if an epidemic of
a fatal character was to unfortunately break out, it could either
provide accommodation for the extra strain upon it or be capable of
being easily extended. It should be designed so as to combine the
characteristics of a chapel with the most perfect sanitary
arrangements.[247] The walls should be of stone and are better lined
with cement or glazed tiles, and everything should be kept as flush as
possible so as to avoid projections on which dust could accumulate, the
whole being easily and readily cleansed and disinfected. The floor may
be of asphalte or other impervious material, and be well drained, great
care being of course taken to exclude rats.
The ventilation must be perfect, the building should always be of low
temperature even in the hottest days of summer. All the group of
buildings should, if possible, be surrounded by a free belt of air.
Their position should be isolated with respect to other buildings, and
of course it is highly necessary that they should be as far away as
possible from any dwelling-houses, a disused burial ground being
sometimes selected as a convenient site. The furniture of a mortuary
chapel should consist only of trestles or of brackets against the walls
upon which to rest the shells containing the corpses.
_The Dead-house_ should be a room smaller than the mortuary chapel, but
its construction may be the same. It is here that all bodies should be
brought uncoffined for the purpose of awaiting identification, or
preparatory to post-mortem examination, or of bodies of those who have
died from dangerous contagious maladies, and rendering immediate removal
necessary; these are placed upon slabs provided for the purpose, which
may be of slate, zinc, or other suitable material. In conjunction with
the dead-house should be
_The Post-Mortem Room_, which requires plenty of light; it must also,
like the mortuary chapel and dead-house, be thoroughly ventilated and
drained and be easily cleansed. Its furniture must consist of the
necessary post-mortem table of slate, zinc, or wood covered entirely
with lead: this table must slightly dish towards the centre and be
drained into a pail or on to a grating. Plenty of water is essential,
conveniently laid on, and the room must be fitted with good arrangements
for gas or other means of artificial lighting. Some method is also
necessary for the purpose of heating water whenever it is required.
_The Coroner’s Court_ may be simply a large room with convenient
seatings and tables for the coroner and his jury, accommodation being
also provided for the press, witnesses, &c. with the necessary retiring
rooms and offices.
In addition to the above requirements the following accommodation should
also be provided:
_A caretaker_ or _resident attendant_ should have accommodation at or
near the main group of buildings.
_A Laboratory and Weighing Room_ should also be provided in connection
with the post-mortem room; and a _Store Room_ for spare shells and
disinfectants, &c.
If possible also it is well to provide a _Hearse House_; and in
connection with the mortuary establishment, the disinfecting of bedding,
clothing, &c., which have become infected, should also if possible be
carried on.
Before, however, proceeding to discuss the question of disinfection I
will give the following drawing of a mortuary chapel, &c., as proposed
by the late Dr. W. Hardwicke, the well-known Coroner, in a valuable
paper upon the subject of Public Mortuaries which he read before the
Royal Institute of British Architects in the year 1869:
[Illustration]
I am, however, not aware that any public mortuary even of this size has
yet been actually carried out in this country, greatly as they are
needed.
With reference to the question of disinfection, which as I stated can be
conveniently taken in connection with that of mortuaries, the following
is the clause of the Public Health Act 1875 which deals with it:
“Any local authority may provide a proper place, with all necessary
apparatus and attendance, for the disinfection of bedding, clothing or
other articles which have become infected, and may cause any articles
brought for disinfection to be disinfected free of charge (38 & 39 Vic.
c. 55, s. 122). See also 38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, ss. 120 and 121.”
The first duty here involved is to provide a proper place for this
purpose, and this place cannot be better than that of the mortuary, so
as to centralize as much as possible the spots to which infection has to
be carried, and the necessary attendant can also here be found, as well
as convenient places to put the hand carts, &c., presently described.
The next duty is to provide the necessary apparatus, which is now done
almost exclusively by the action of heat. This is sometimes effected by
building brick-work chambers which can be heated up to about 350° Fahr.
after the doors are closed, by means of coal or coke furnaces. Within
these chambers are moveable horses on which are placed the articles to
be disinfected: these are exposed to the necessary heat for varying
times according to the nature of the articles, the horse is then drawn
out, when the articles should be thoroughly washed with a disinfecting
soap and returned to their owners. Great care is necessary in this
operation to ensure evenness of heat, as otherwise the clothes, bedding,
&c., may be scorched and injured, and the local authority will then have
to make compensation.
A more convenient form of disinfecting machine, and one that is less
costly to work and more even in its temperature, is one that can be
heated by gas, this is sometimes effected by the use of an iron box with
counter-balanced lid into which the articles are put, heat being applied
by means of gas jets burning underneath. A more elaborate and effective
method has however been patented, and is now manufactured by Messrs.
Goddard and Massey of Nottingham, which is known as Dr. Ranson’s system.
The following drawing shows the arrangement of this machine, and some of
the advantages claimed for it are as follows:
Its heat is maintained automatically within certain limits in all parts
of the chamber, and has great drying power, which is important, as
securing from the long period of time at which this steady heat can be
maintained, that penetration into bedding and other bad conductors which
is so desirable to secure the necessary destruction of all disease germs
or chances of after inoculation:
[Illustration]
There can be no doubt that where a machine is not required to be
constantly at work gas is the cheapest and most convenient heat-producer
that we have.
It is of course necessary that the infected bedding and clothing should
be fetched from the owners’ houses in such a manner as will lessen the
risk of spreading infection as much as possible, and for this purpose it
is necessary for the local authority to keep a covered hand-cart which
should be lined with tin and closed hermetically. It should be
sufficiently large to take a mattrass, and be of light construction, so
that one man can draw it when full.
Before concluding my remarks on disinfection, it is well to state that
plenty of carbolic acid should be kept in a mortuary. Sheets saturated
with carbolic acid are used to wrap around the dead bodies of infected
persons, and sawdust saturated with carbolic acid is also freely used,
besides large quantities of that excellent disinfectant, “Sanitas.”
[245] _Vide_ ‘A Supplementary Report on the Results of a Special
Enquiry into the Practice of Interments in Towns,’ by Edwin Chadwick,
1843.
[246] There is no law that can compel any one to receive a dead body
into his house.
[247] It is important to remove the idea of a “parish dead-house,”
otherwise its object will be defeated, as persons will object to allow
the bodies of their deceased friends to be taken to it.
CHAPTER XXXII.
BORROWING UNDER THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD.
There are a number of clauses in the Public Health Act 1875, which
empower a local authority to borrow money on the credit of the rates for
the purpose of “defraying any costs, charges and expenses incurred or to
be incurred by them in the execution of the Sanitary Acts.” (_Vide_ 38 &
39 Vic. c. 55, s. 233).
The exercise of these powers of borrowing are subject to the following
regulations:
(1.) Money shall not be borrowed except for permanent works.[248]