Mortuary
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 whichthis 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:
Disinfection chamber
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.
[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.
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.” (Vide38 & 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]
(2.) The sum borrowed shall not exceed at any time, including all outstanding debts, the assessable value for two years of the district.
(3.) Where it exceeds the value of one year, the Local Government Board will not give their sanction until one of their inspectors has held a local enquiry.
(4.) The money cannot be borrowed for a longer time than 60 years, and it must be paid off within that time.
(5.) Certain regulations as to sinking funds, &c. (Vide38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 234et seq.)
The power to borrow money thus granted to local authorities has undoubtedly given a considerable stimulus to the execution of important sanitary works which could not be carried out if they had to be paid for out of the current rates. It is also a fair and equitable arrangement that permanent works should be paid for by those that reap the benefitof them, and it is now so arranged that the money borrowed is repaid within a certain specified time by equal annual payments, in order that the ratepayer of the present shall not be unduly taxed for the benefit of posterity.
No regular or fixed times have been settled by the Local Government Board over which they will allow the repayment of loans to be spread, but it appears that the duration of the proposed works somewhat guides the length of time allowed, as will appear from the following list which I have prepared from the eighth Annual Report of the Local Government Board:
Whenever a local authority decide to make application to the Local Government Board for power to borrow money for any proposed improvements or works within their district, it is the duty of the town surveyor to prepare the necessarydrawings and obtain the required information in order to fill in the forms which are supplied from the Local Government Board office.
With reference to this important part of his duty, I cannot do better than give the following Suggestions as to the Preparation of Plans of Proposed Works, by Robert Rawlinson, C.B., C.E., &c. (Chief Engineering Inspector to the Local Government Board), prepared by him in 1878:
“It will in all cases be necessary, upon application being made for sanction to a loan, for the execution of works, that plans (or tracings of the plans), sections, estimates in detail and specifications be submitted with the application, accompanied by information as to the population at the two last periods of the taking of the census, the rateable value of the district, and the amount of outstanding loans.”
“Such plans or tracings may be used for showing lines of main sewers, drains, water-pipes and gas-mains. The lines of main sewers and drains should have the cross sectional dimensions of the sewers and their gradients distinctly marked (written and figured) upon them. The dimensions of water and gas pipes should also be shown in figures or by writing.”
“N.B.—No general map should be submitted which is drawn to a scale of less than 6 inches to a mile, except when the inch ordnance map is used.”
“Maps upon which sewerage works or water works are to be shown, or for street improvements, should be not less than the ordnance scale of ¹⁄₂₅₀₀th.”
“The sections should be drawn to the same horizontal scale, and to a vertical scale of 20 feet to 1 inch.”
Any detailed plan for the purposes of house drainage, paving, the purchase of land &c., should be “constructed to a scale of not less than 10 feet to a mile, and upon this plan should be exhibited all houses and other buildings, bench marks, the levels of streets and roads, of cellars, of the sea athigh and low tide level, and the summer and flood levels of rivers. 3 feet by 2 feet will be a convenient size for the sheets of this plan.”
“Enlarged detail plans and sections of sewers, side entrances, man-holes, sewer sluices, sluice valves, water-pipe joints, and similar details, should be to a scale not less than 8 feet to 1 inch, and for some details 4 feet to 1 inch.”[250]
“As it may occasionally be desired to carry out works piecemeal, with a view to save the time which would be occupied in the preparation of a complete plan from actual survey, it will be sufficient in the first instance to furnish any available general plan of streets and roads, with the surface levels and those of the deepest cellars figured in feet and inches, and the proposed scheme of works shown (or sketched) thereon, after which the works can proceed in sections. It should be understood, however, that a complete plan of the entire district must be proceeded with, so that when the works are finished, the sanitary authority and this Board may possess a proper record of them.”
And again, Mr. Rawlinson in the same year, at a meeting of the Association of Municipal and Sanitary Engineers, writes as follows:
“Plans should be neatly and clearly drawn, the cross sectional dimensions and the gradient being written on theplanof sewers; there should be a title and scale on each plan, as also on each sheet, and the date with the name of the engineer or surveyor clearly written so as easily to be read; this as a rule should be in the right-hand corner. Many names are so written that experts cannot read them, andplans are frequently sent out having no title, nor any scale, nor any name.”
“Plans of details, such as side entrances, man-holes, flushing chambers, and sewer ventilating arrangements, should be at 4 feet to an inch, larger works may be at 4, 10 to 20 feet to an inch. Clear understandable and measurable details are desirable . . . I have much trouble in looking over defectively prepared plans and crude ill-understood and ill-digested schemes as they are submitted to the Local Government Board, for approval and sanction to a proposed loan. One great fact connected with the Board must not, however, be overlooked. It is not an office of works, it does not undertake to devise neither does it make itself responsible in any degree for the plans or for the estimates which may have been sanctioned. Each engineer and each local authority must both devise and execute the local works, and the district must alone be responsible for the local expenditure. The Board neither dictates as to works, nor superintends works, but reserves the power of refusing sanction to a proposed loan, and of requiring full explanations as to failures in the works, or as to expenses over estimates before sanctioning a supplemental loan. The reason that the Board declines responsibility ought to be clearly manifest; plans and details may be the best possible, but the ultimate result depends on daily local supervision, and this the Board does not give; neither local action nor local responsibility is superseded.”
Speaking on this point at the first meeting of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain held at Croydon in 1879, Captain Douglas Galton, C.B., says:[251]
“Where a loan is applied for, the plan upon which the money is to be spent is submitted for Government approval. The Government only lends the money after the approval of the proposed scheme of expenditure by one of their inspectors.”
“The Local Authorities of the towns to be drained cannot therefore be responsible for the plan selected, for the Local Authorities must alter their plans to suit the views of the inspector. The responsibility of the engineer is diminished, because he may be compelled to modify his plan in a manner in which he may not thoroughly approve, and the inspector has no responsibility in the matter, because, after having approved of the general scheme, he has no control over the details or the execution of the work, nor can he be in any way held responsible, if the result were a failure.”
[248]The Local Government Board have held a steam roller, a steam fire-engine, a disinfecting apparatus, and lamp columns to be permanent works.[249]For asphalte pavements twelve years have been allowed.[250]“Details may be drawn to any scale larger than the dimensions named. Engraved or lithographed diagrams, if clear and distinct, will be accepted. A new plan of any town or district cannot be used for main sewering, water supply, gas supply, pavements, footwalks, and other purposes without spoiling it; consequently it had better be retained as a standard and be zincographed, there may then be copies for all local purposes. The zinc plates to be the property of the local authority.”[251]Vide‘Transactions of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain,’ vol. i. p. 116.
[248]The Local Government Board have held a steam roller, a steam fire-engine, a disinfecting apparatus, and lamp columns to be permanent works.
[249]For asphalte pavements twelve years have been allowed.
[250]“Details may be drawn to any scale larger than the dimensions named. Engraved or lithographed diagrams, if clear and distinct, will be accepted. A new plan of any town or district cannot be used for main sewering, water supply, gas supply, pavements, footwalks, and other purposes without spoiling it; consequently it had better be retained as a standard and be zincographed, there may then be copies for all local purposes. The zinc plates to be the property of the local authority.”
[251]Vide‘Transactions of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain,’ vol. i. p. 116.
Contracts being principally a legal question, it is not my intention to say much on the matter.
In the Public Health Act 1875 will be found the following clauses:
“Any Local Authority may enter into any contracts necessary for carrying this Act into execution (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 173).
“With respect to contracts made by an Urban Authority under this Act, the following regulations shall be observed (namely):
“(1.) Every contract made by an Urban Authority whereof the value or amount exceeds fifty pounds shall be in writing, and sealed with the common seal of such authority:
“(2.) Every such contract shall specify the work, materials, matters or things to be furnished, had or done, the price to be paid, and the time or times within which the contract is to be performed, and shall specify some pecuniary penalty to be paid in case the terms of the contract are not duly performed:
“(3.) Before contracting for the execution of any works under the provisions of this Act, an Urban Authority shall obtain from their surveyor an estimate in writing, as well of the probable expense of executing the work in a substantial manner as of the annual expense of repairing the same; also a report as to the most advantageous mode of contracting, that is to say, whether by contracting only for the execution of the work, or for executing and also maintaining the same in repair during a term of years or otherwise:
“(4.) Before any contract of the value or amount of one hundred pounds or upwards is entered into by an Urban Authority ten days’ public notice at the least shall be given, expressing the nature and purpose thereof, and inviting tenders for the execution of the same; and such authority shall require and take sufficient security for the due performance of the same:
“(5.) Every contract entered into by an Urban Authority in conformity with the provisions of this section, and duly executed by the other parties thereto, shall be binding on the Authority by whom the same is executed and their successors, and on all other parties thereto and their executors, administrators, successors or assigns to all intents and purposes: Provided that an Urban Authority may compound with any contractor or other person in respect of any penalty incurred by reason of the non-performance of any contract entered into as aforesaid, whether such penalty is mentioned in any such contract, or in any bond or otherwise, for such sums of money or other recompense as to such Authority may seem proper” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 174).
In reading the numerous foot-notes that follow the above clauses in Glen’s ‘Law of Public Health and Local Government,’ it will be seen that contracts with corporations have been held to be very different from ordinary ones between individuals or companies. All contracts should be by deed under the seal of the corporation, or “there is no safety or security for anyone dealing with such a body on any other footing,” and this applies also in “respect of any variation or alteration in a contract which has been made.”
“A committee of the corporation has no power to enter into any contract” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 200).
A member of a corporation may not be “concerned in any bargain or contract” entered into by the corporation, although this would not vitiate the contract (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, sch. 11, clause 64), neither may an officer of the corporationbe “concerned or interested in any bargain or contract” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 193).
It is, of course, necessary before any contract can be entered into, that the town surveyor should prepare the specification, schedule of prices and drawings where necessary; this entails a considerable amount of work.
In addition to ordinary specifications for works, the town surveyor has often to prepare specifications and schedules for the supply of the following goods:
Ironmongery.Paints, etc.Disinfectants.Castings.Coals.Harness.Fodder.Road metal.Paving.Clothing.Stationery.Horse hire.
and a host of other things too numerous to mention.
A well-written, clear, and comprehensive specification is a most difficult thing to write, but it should be “common sense” from beginning to end, any legal phraseology being left to the town clerk to introduce in his “deed” as required by the Act.
For sewer and drain work lump sum contracts are often undesirable: it is better to work according to a schedule of prices, and periodical measurements.
It must not be forgotten that in all contracts the contractor seeks to make a profit out of the work; if there is no intermediate contractor this profit goes to the ratepayers. In most sanitary works also the men employed by the local authority are more skilled in that particular class of work than the chance men employed by a contractor, and for this and many other reasons, administration by the local authority is in most cases preferable to contracts.[252]
Where tenders have been invited by advertisement or otherwise, the successful person should be written to, apprising him of the fact, and requesting him to call, sign the necessary specification, deeds, and drawings; an intimation should also be made to the unsuccessful competitors that their tenders have not been accepted.
In conclusion, let me thank the authors of the following books for the useful information which I have gained in perusing them for the purposes of this work, and, let me add, they can be studied with advantage by every “Town Surveyor”:
‘American Sanitary Engineering,’ by E. S. Philbrick.‘Annales des Ponts et Chaussées,’ published in Paris.‘Annual Reports of the Local Government Board,’ published in London.‘A Practical Guide for Inspectors of Nuisances,’ by F. R. Wilson.‘A Treatise on Roads,’ by Sir H. Parnell.‘Cremation of the Dead,’ by W. Eassie.‘Experience sur le tirage des Voitures,’ by M. Morin.‘Healthy Dwellings,’ by D. Galton.‘Health of Towns Commission,’ sundry reports.‘Law of Public Health and Local Government,’ by W. C. and A. Glen.‘Local Board Manual,’ by Owen Harris.‘New Mode of Constructing Streets,’ by J. Edgworth.‘Plumbing and House Draining,’ by W. P. Buchan.‘Practical Treatise on Roads,’ by A. Penfold.‘Repair of Main Roads,’ by W. H. Wheeler.‘Roads and Streets,’ by D. Kinnear Clark.‘Roads, Streets, and Pavements,’ by Q. A. Gillmore.‘Roads and Roadways,’ by G. W. Willcocks.‘Remarks on the Present System of Road Making,’ &c., by John Loudon McAdam.‘Sanitary Engineering,’ by Baldwin Latham.‘Sanitary Engineering,’ by Bailey Denton.‘Sanitary Work,’ by Charles Slagg.‘Suggestions as to the Preparation of District Maps and of Plans for Main Sewerage, Drainage, and Water Supply,’ by Robert Rawlinson, C.B., &c.‘Street Pavements,’ by G. F. Crosby Dawson.‘Steam Road Rolling,’ by Fred. A. Paget.‘The Parks, Promenades, and Gardens of Paris,’ by W. Robinson.‘The Public Health and Local Government Act,’ by J. Vesey Fitzgerald.‘The Interments Act 1879,’ by T. Baker.‘The Plumber and Sanitary Houses,’ by S. S. Hellyer.‘The Maintenance of Macadamised Roads,’ by Thomas Codrington.‘The true system of Wood Pavement,’ Anonymous.‘The Surveyor of Highways,’ by Alex. Glen.‘Tree Pruning,’ by A. des Cars.Various papers in the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers.Various papers in the Proceedings of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain.Various papers in the Proceedings of the Association of Municipal and Sanitary Engineers and Surveyors.Various papers from the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society.Various papers from the Reports on the Application of Science and Art to Street Paving.Various reports by Mr. Haywood, Engineer to the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London.Various reports by Mr. Till, Surveyor of Birmingham.Various reports of Commissions, etc.
[252]Mr. Parry, C.E., Borough Surveyor of Reading, says, “My experience of such works is that town authorities can obtain both labour and materials cheaper than contractors, and with efficient supervision the work costs less money.” (Vide‘Proceedings of the Association of Municipal and Sanitary Engineers and Surveyors,’ vol. iv. p. 89.)
[252]Mr. Parry, C.E., Borough Surveyor of Reading, says, “My experience of such works is that town authorities can obtain both labour and materials cheaper than contractors, and with efficient supervision the work costs less money.” (Vide‘Proceedings of the Association of Municipal and Sanitary Engineers and Surveyors,’ vol. iv. p. 89.)
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