lid. This receptacle can be kept clean, and can be carried without any

transference to another tub direct to the cart.

The =removal of house refuse= constitutes an important part of municipal work. In most towns it is carried out weekly, sometimes less frequently, while in some towns removal twice or three times a week is secured. A daily removal is carried out in a few towns, and this is by far the best plan, as decomposition and the dangers associated with it have then no chance of becoming serious. The house refuse should always be conveyed through the streets in covered carts.

The =disposal of house refuse= constitutes a problem of increasing difficulty. Unfortunately in the suburbs of many towns it is deposited on low-lying land in disused quarries and brickfields. When land has been thus levelled, it often next appears as “an eligible building site.” A very common practice has been to excavate gravel and sand upon the site of proposed dwellings, and allow the excavation to be filled with dust-bin refuse. Before building on such a soil it is necessary to excavate down to the virgin earth, and to render it impervious by a layer of cement concrete.

A second method is to _sift and sort the refuse_, separating by means of sieves the finer ash and dust from the coarser parts. This is usually carried out in a large dust-yard adjoining a river or railway-siding. The “breeze,” consisting of cinders and coals, along with the fine ash, are sold to brickmakers; the “hard core,” consisting of clinkers, broken crockery, etc., is used for road making; and the “soft core,” consisting of animal and vegetable refuse, to which is often added stable manure, is sold for manure. Iron, tin, paper, rags, bottles, and corks are separately collected and sold. This disgusting process, often carried on by women, is now gradually being disused.

A third method is to _cremate the house refuse_. This has been done to a large extent by burning the house refuse for making bricks (page 124). This method of slow and imperfect combustion necessarily involves a nuisance. A more elaborate means of securing the same end is by the modern =Destructor=, which has been gradually brought towards perfection. A destructor is a large furnace, in which, after the fire has been first lit, the combustible matter in the house refuse suffices to keep it alight. Various mechanical devices are in use for emptying the trucks of house refuse on to the fires without handling it, for clearing out of the fire the inorganic refuse, and for ensuring sufficiency of draught. The amount of draught has in the older destructors been dependent upon the height of the chimney. In some more recent destructors the same end has been more efficiently secured by injecting a steam blast into the furnaces. A temperature of about 2,000° F. is reached in certain parts of the destructor, the rapid draught ensuring enormous heat. In view of the possibility of a portion of the smoke not being completely burnt, a second “fume cremator” is often provided, through which the products of combustion in the furnace are passed. The fuel in the “fume cremator” is coke. Besides incomplete combustion of combustible material, which is rare when the fume cremator is provided, the escape of fine dust up the chimney requires to be guarded against. This is partially prevented by ledges near the bottom of the chimney. In a destructor the house refuse is reduced to about one-third of its original bulk, the residue being innocuous clinker, metallic refuse, and dust. This material can be utilised for making roads, and in the manufacture of mortar. The waste heat of the destructor has been partially utilised for various purposes. This method of disposal of house refuse is usually the best available for large towns, and offers the additional advantage that no nuisance is caused by the deposit of offensive material in neighbouring districts.