The collection of house refuse should be done satisfactorily, expeditiously, and economically. At the present time there seem to be only three methods by which this is attempted to be effected; they are as follows:— (1.) By a house to house call at intermittent periods. (2.) By the scavengers giving notice of their approach by ringing a bell or by other signal, and requiring the householder to bring out the refuse to the cart, and (3.) By placing public dustbins in different localities, and expecting householders in their vicinity to place the house refuse in these dustbins, which would then be cleared from time to time by the local authority. The law is silent on the subject of what may be considered as an efficient collection and removal of house refuse, and experience only can teach us the best manner of thoroughly effecting this work without If these dustbins were constructed with properly balanced self-closing lids, these objections would be overcome, and their first cost would be but trifling when compared with the benefit to be derived by placing them in some of the thickly populated courts and alleys which are unfortunately to be found in The greatest difficulty would be found to be that of inducing the inhabitants to take the trouble to carry their house refuse to the dustbin, but they might be gradually educated up to this standard of cleanliness, and a few persons judiciously summoned and punished "pour encourager les autres," when detected in throwing any of their waste products on to the surface of the street or court, would no doubt have a very beneficial effect in assisting their education. With reference to the question of a house to house call or visitation by the scavengers for the purpose of As a matter of fact, the receptacles containing all the waste products of these householders are brought out and are placed in the gutter of the street close to the kerb, long before the cart makes its appearance or can be reasonably expected to do so. These temporary receptacles are, as may be easily imagined of various sizes and shapes, and are com The result of these inappropriate receptacles filled with heterogeneous collections of house refuse being left unprotected in the public streets, is that their contents are quickly strewn about the surface of the street, either by their being upset accidentally, or purposely, by persons who gain a precarious livelihood by abstracting therefrom, and selling rags, bones, and similar articles, or by the dogs, ever on the alert for a hasty and disgusting meal, and the appearance of the street which has probably been carefully swept and garnished during the night or early in the morning, quickly assumes, especially in a high wind, a very offensive character, and probably has to be entirely re-swept and cleansed before the ordinary traffic of the day commences. To obviate these evils arising from this practice almost universally adopted, I suggest the following plan:— A specially designed frame or carriage must be constructed somewhat similar in appearance to a timber waggon; this must be furnished with a number of strong iron hooks, with or without simple There are many advantages to be gained by adopting my proposed system, the principal one being that of preventing the disgusting practice of allowing the foul refuse from houses, to be openly displayed in the Another advantage would be the great convenience to householders of that of having a ready receptacle for their refuse, only a few yards at the most from their doors. The saving of time also in the collection would be considerable, as the scavengers need not wait one single moment beyond the time required to attach the cylinder to the waggon, and there is in addition the cleanliness with which this operation could be performed, thus conferring a great boon on the foot passengers in the streets, who, under the present system, are often half smothered by the dust when the scavengers are engaged in emptying the contents of the usual inappropriate receptacles into the ordinary dust cart. The facilities also for cleansing or disinfecting the cylinders would be undoubted, and the economy, not only in time but in actual expense over the existing system, would be considerable, for the cylinders would last a long time without repairs being needed; Having thus shown a method by which the collection of house refuse in crowded streets, where a house-to-house visit is impracticable, can be materially improved, I will pass on to the present system of the collection of refuse in the suburban and rural districts of a town by a house-to-house call. A great improvement in this system would no doubt be effected by adopting the movable dust boxes I suggest in the chapter on "The Dustbin," as great delay and consequent expense would be saved thereby, and the work would be altogether more effectually and properly performed, but it is also found that very frequently the scavengers on calling at a house for the purpose of removing the accumulated refuse, are told by the servant that they cannot be admitted, either because it is an inconvenient hour, or that it is washing day, or that being a wet day the scavengers' boots are too dirty to walk over their clean passages or floor, or that the dustbin is not full, and that they must call another day, or some other equally plausible excuse, so that the visit is a useless one, and time is lost. Another evil In order to assist in obviating the chances of such useless visits by the scavengers, I would suggest a very simple remedy, which has already been tried in some towns with considerable success. It consists in the householder placing a card bearing the letter D, or some other distinguishing mark, in a conspicuous place in a window, when the services of the scavengers are required; these cards should be printed and circulated by the Sanitary Authority of the district, who should state on the back of the card the days on which the scavengers would visit each neighbourhood, with the approximate hour of the day in which they would appear, in each road or street if practicable, in order that the householder may not be unnecessarily inconvenienced by being obliged to keep the card for any length of time in his window. The scavengers in passing, observe the signal, and call at the house, otherwise they pass on, unless specially called in by the occupants, thus avoiding any unnecessary delay in their rounds. A visit from the scavengers either before seven or |