FIG. 24.—Corrugated iron refuse cart.
Burning Refuse in Stacks.
A large amount of town refuse can be satisfactorily disposed of by stacking it judiciously and setting fire to it from the windward side, when it gradually and steadily burns away. This is, of course, only practicable during the dry weather months when the sweepings are comparatively dry. In this, as in every case of removal, the beats of the carts should be systematised and a fixed area allowed to each cart.
Filling hollows with refuse.
Where incineration is not practicable the only method of disposing of street sweepings is by filling up hollows or old tanks, when the following rules should be observed:—
1. The hollow or pit should first be pumped out quite dry; if wet, a horrible nuisance is caused.
2. Where the hollow or pit is a large one a section of it should be bunded in, staked off, and filled up to surface level before the rest is proceeded with.
3. The sweepings, as soon as ground-level is attained, must be at once covered over with earth, or the débris from old houses, walls, etc., so as to prevent them being exposed and acting as breeding-grounds for flies.
A rapid and effective method of filling a tank when land is available round its border is to excavate shallow pits parallel to its sides, the earth from which is thrown into the tank, and the pits then filled in with sweepings.
A form for regulating the progress of the work of filling up depressions or tanks is given in Appendix B, page [61].