REFUSE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIII, Issue 30, 5 February 1907, Page 7

REFUSE.

o »" - IS THE CITY SUFFICIENTLY CLEANSED? SOME OBSERVATIONS AND OPINIONS, F.rom time to time householders complain that the city is not sufficientlycleansed, ami therefore contend that the .public health is endangered. Wellington enjoys the reputation of having a good drainage system and a destructor, and yet citizens submit that in this toWn,. where the houses "tread on cn4 i another's -toes and heels," the arrangements for removing dangerons debris ate not adequate. Some of these allegation^ arc so vigorously outspoken that thej cry for searching investigation, and therefore representatives t>f the Post this moftnng undertook to make the present position, and the outlook, as clear a& obvious limitations would permit. A TYPICAL COMPLAINT. One of tho places visited was a dwel* linghouse on the east side of Welling-ton-terrace, tho side on which the ground j slopes down from "the frontage. Thft configuration of the site prevented tho storage of the rubbish bins in the bacliyard, and consequently they were placed just by the foot of a flight of stsps which led into the house. The mistl'efcs said that usually there were fifteen porsons living in the house, and sho considered that in the summer time a collection of rubbish once a week — sometimes only onco in ten days — wab not sufficient. There was a danger to health, and the aspect of the tins con*vinced the pressman that her words were truly spoken. Just a faint aroma came from the tins, and it was easy to imagine that refuse of that character after it had sweltered through a warm week or so, would have a stench almost boyond tho power of deodorisers to sweeten. There are other houses on the Terrace similarly situated. A HAPPY DAY FOR FLIES. The flies were happy this morning oi» a rubbish heap within full vie-w of Lambton-qtiay. Any one passing tho exit from Plimmer Steps has just to fiance over a shoulder to see a mournul picture. Rubbish has been banked beside a fence, at a point just twenty paces from the Lambton-quay footpath. That stack is not tho product of a day. '. It has been growing in beauty for some time. There tho forsaken bottle hobnobs with the derelict tin. Old paper, bits of rag, scraps ,of everything lie there- in a drab and dingy fellowship, while the flies . make, holiday " among them. No doubt a person with microscopio eyes could behold _the bacillus and the microbe holding high rovel in that garbage. That is the place, tdb, where the half-eaten crayfish most do congregate, though no ruby remnants ! were visible to-day. ! ON '"PERFUMERY." ' - "* j In the calmness ' of yesterday afternoon one of our investigators noticed ■ a strong stench which came from> the back pTcmises bf ■a'fishsh'op'in "Willis.- ; street - this morning the same place was visitod, and thero was nothing unpleasant there. On calm days many powerful odours float around the backyards of the city that aro not notice- ] able on a breezy day such as was experienced to-day. But there are occupiers of nouses who constantly neglect | to clear away "refuso and - filth which i could be disposed of easily and effec- J tively if only a little consideration was j given to the need for ' a clean- back- j yard. There aro some backyards in | the neighbourhood of the Basin '•Reserve \ and in Holland-street which need atten--j tion ; thero are others off Ghuznee- ' street, in which locality, by tho way, thero is a lodging house which maintains fowls in a backyard that is nona too commodious and with dwellinghouses close up. ' Off Martin ahd Tara-naki-streots, also, yards could be cleaned up with 'advantage to residents in the neighbourhood, and the Chinese quarters in Haining-street smelt none too sweet this morning. The gutters along Abel Smith-street and' other' populous thoroughfares just off the heart of the city were full of refuse which strongly reflected upon the public scavenging operations of the city authorities. In the Abel Smith-street locality the "perfumes" criss-crossing, from rival Celestial shops were things to get away from rapidly. THE COUNCIL'S COLLECTING CONDEMNED. Complaint was made by housewives in the- city as well as in Newtown that their efforts to keep their yards "sweet and clean"' were much tco frequently nullified by _ remissness on the part of the scavenging forces of the Corporation. "Why," said one housewife, "we wore forced by the City Council io get a rubbish can, and frequently that can in tho yard is overflowing with refuse, and stinking horribly for days before tho rubbish man collects it ! I think it is disgraceful the way those rubbish cans are neglected at times. When I ask for, an explanation, T find that the man has been ill, or been having a holiday — a rubbish collector having a holiday at the expenso of our health, mind you ! —or else ho has been shifted on to another job, which is called a more urgent job I" This latter complaint and criticism has been by no means uncommon during past summers; but it is hoped that the scheme of reorganisation which the City Engineer has in hand will remedy this dofeet arid dispense with such neglect in the future. SOME EXPERIENCED CRITICS. Durine tho course of his investigaions to-day, one of our staff conversed with, several men who aro engaged upon delivery carts in' all parts of the city. They wore on butchers', milkmen's, grocers', and bakers' carts, and their deliveries took them into the back yards of every kind of premises of every quality of citizens' families. Some of tho men were non-observant--they said they "hadn't noticed anything out of the common," and their "nose didn.'t trouble 'em." Others were emphatir upon tho need for "a bit of a clean up in some places about the city," but of course they couldn't give away their customers. "I'll tell you something," said a butcher. "There was a street in Island Bay which used to_ turn me up every hot day X went into it. But some weeks ago the council channelled it, and it's better now. I wonder they didn't have fever there ; and even now it wants washing down every day. > But they haven't got the water yet to do that. The street 1 Dorwont-street." BACKYARD PHILOSOPHY. A young man who had spent the best part of his life on a delivery cart in Wellington- said: "Back yards T Well, I've been in and out of a Hew, just a few in my time. Oh, but they used to 'bo bad! But thoy're better now. That plague, scare shook 'em up a bit j and it'll do some of them a. heap of good to be shook up again!" An observant youth on ;a baker's cart with a round in tho Upper Willis-street district said the yards generally round about thero ware "pretty good — some of them were real good!" A youth on a milk cart said ne had only been in Wellington a couplo of months. He I hadn't anything to say- against the backyards. "It is a pity some of the peoplo I serve don't put out cleaner jugs!" he remarked. Ho thought the street* of Wellington were dirty places like «v £&&& M 4dsla.id%_,

There was the place to live, now I Over, here the backyards' ■wero so small, and everybody seemed to think more of sticking in a few flowers. In Adelaide there was some ground to the yards^ and people grew vegetables in theta. IMPROVEMENTS PROMISED. At present the refuse carts practically pay a daily visit to large hotels and other places in tho congested area of the city, where refuse tends to accumulate rapidly, but the collectors go only once a week to dwelling houses which are not very far frcyn the town clock. It is submitted tha*P>.the destructor is worked to its utmost capacity and that even now the fires cannot devour all. the provender available for them. Some of the garbage collected in outlying partu of the city is buried or covered over, and householders aro expected to burn anything at dli inflammable. "Offensive refuse" is the limit of the Corporation's present operations. -These cost £4600 a year, which is not a heavy burden on a community 0f '60,000 people. . The City Engineer has already submitted to the Cit % y Council proposals for an improvement in the system of collecting house refuse, and he has been instructed to look into the whole question. It is understood that an improved service is to come in after Ist April, and something still better than the projected amendment may be expected when the new destructor is working, in about, twelve months' time. In the meantimo the City Engineer intends to propose to tho council that householders should' havo their_ refuse removed more frequently by paying a certain fee. Thi* suggestion will be approved by many householders. Indeed, the cost _pf tho present system is so low in proportion to the population that a little more ex»pendituro could bo incurred without es« asperating ratepayers.