PUBLIC HEALTH ACT,

1848.

Power to

appoint officer of health.

abscond, such justice may without previous summons, by warrant under his hand and seal, cause him to be forthwith apprehended; and in such case the said party shall, within twentyfour hours after apprehension, be brought before the same or some other justice, who may order that he be discharged from custody if such justice think that there is no sufficient ground for detention, or that he be further detained until he be brought before two justices at a time and place to be named in the order, unless bail to the satisfaction of the justice be given for the appearance of the party before such two justices Provided also, that no such proceeding shall be construed to relieve or discharge any surety of the offender from any liability whatsoever.

40.

XL. And be it enacted, that the local board of health may from time to time, if they shall think fit, appoint a fit and proper person, being a legally qualified medical practitioner or a member of the medical profession, to be and be called the officer of health (m),- -who shall be removable by the said local board, and shall

(m) It will, of course, be the most advisable to appoint a medical officer who is not engaged in private practice. As, however, this can only be practicable in large and densely populated districts, the General Board have, in some cases, given their provisional sanction to the appointment of medical gentlemen in actual practice.

-and the

c. 63.

perform such duties as the said general board 11 & 12 VICT. shall direct; and the same person may be officer of health for two or more districts ;local board or boards of health of the district or districts respectively for which any such officer is appointed may pay to him, out of the general district rates to be levied under this Act, such remuneration by way of annual salary or otherwise as the said local board or boards may by order in writing determine and appoint,

And (in case of a joint appointment for two or more districts) in such proportions as the said general board may by order in writing determine and appoint: Provided always, that the appointment and removal of the officer of health shall be subject to the approval of the said general board.

41.

ing system of

XLI. And be it enacted, that the said local Map exhibitboard of health may, if they shall think fit, sewerage. cause to be prepared, or to procure, a map exhibiting a system of sewerage for effectually draining their district for the purposes of this Act, upon a scale to be prescribed by the general board of health (n);—and every such map shall be kept at the office of the said local

(n) The map prepared for the special district of the town of Croydon was upon a scale of 120 inches to a mile. The rule at Croydon is, that any parishioner requiring tracings or copies of the map, the same shall be made for him by the surveyor, who charges a reasonable sum, which sum is carried to the district fund account.

PUBLIC HEALTH ACT, 1848.

Expense of surveys, &c.

Sewers, &c. vested in local board.

Power to purchase, &c. certain sewers.

board, and shall at all reasonable times be open to the inspection of the ratepayers of the district to which it applies.

42.

XLII. And be it enacted, that the expense of surveys, maps, or plans made, prepared, or procured by the local board of health for the purposes of this Act, shall be defrayed out of the general district rates to be levied under this Act.

43.

XLIII. And be it enacted, that all sewers, whether existing at the time when this Act is applied or made at any time thereafter, (except sewers made by any person or persons for his or their own profit, or for the profit of proprietors or shareholders,

And except sewers made and used for the purpose of draining, preserving, or improving land under any local or private Act of parliament, or for the purpose of irrigating land, and sewers under the authority of any commissioners of sewers appointed by the crown,) together with all buildings, works, materials, and things belonging or appertaining thereto, shall vest in, belong to, and be entirely under the management and control of, the local board of health.

44.

XLIV. And be it enacted, that the local board of health may, if they shall think fit, purchase the rights, privileges, powers, and authorities, vested in any person for making

c. 63.

sewers, or contract for the use of any sewers 11 & 12 VICT. within their district, or purchase any such sewers, with or without the buildings, works, materials, and things belonging or appertaining thereto;

And any person to whom any such rights, privileges, powers, authorities, sewers, buildings, works, materials, or things belong, may sell and dispose of the same to or otherwise contract with the said local board; and in case of any such sale, the purchase money shall be settled and applied to the same uses and trusts to which the property purchased may have been subject at the time of such sale,

And the property purchased shall vest in and belong to the local board of health purchasing the same, anything to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided always, that, notwithstanding any such purchase, any person who previously thereto may have acquired perpetual right to use any sewer so purchased shall be entitled to use the same or any other sewer substituted in lieu thereof, in as full and ample a manner as he would or might have done if such purchase had not been made.

45.

XLV. And be it enacted, that the local board of health shall from time to time repair the sewers vested in them by this Act,

And shall cause to be made such sewers (0)

(o) Sewers. In the case of Croydon and other towns,

Making, alter. continuance

ation, and dis

of sewers vested in

local board.

PUBLIC

HEALTH ACT, as may be necessary for effectually draining 1848. their district for the purposes of this Act;

and the said local board may carry any such

sewered by local boards of health, great improvements have taken place in the construction of the sewers and house drains. The material found to be the best for both purposes is stoneware-those tubes being selected which are of the hardest and most enduring materials, well burnt, and highly glazed. Tubes of this kind have great advantages over the old brick sewers in many very important respects -1. They are far more economical. 2. After being carefully laid with water-tight joints, they are totally impervious to sewage; all filtration (as in the brick sewer system) is thus avoided. The sewage, therefore, has not its fluidity diminished as it passes through the sewer; the stream is more powerful, and all the heavier portions of the endless varieties of matters which find their way into a sewer are thus better impelled towards the outfall. By the circular shape of these tubes, too, the deepest portion of the stream is exactly where these heavier matters are sure to be found, viz., at the bottom of the tube.

The sizes employed at Croydon under the direction of Mr. W. Ranger and Mr. T. Cox have been

For house drains, pipes of 4 inches diameter.

For branch sewers, 6 inches

For main sewers, 9 to 15 inches

In all cases it is most desirable to get as good and even a fall for the drains and sewers as possible. The depth of these from the surface should also, if possible, be so considerable as to be below the floor of the lowest cellars in the district intended to be drained. In the case of new houses the local board will, of course, refuse their consent to the erection of any whose lowest floors are not above the level of the adjacent sewer. Their surveyor must be especially firm and vigilant on this head.

It is of course desirable that the storm waters should be carried off by a drain distinct from that for sewage. The gully-holes in streets, however well these may be trapped,