298 THE WORLD'S LUMBER ROOM. 



helpless in the matter of that which accumulates in the 

 streets, though even here our arrangements are far from 

 perfect. 



Street-dirt, or " slop ' ; as it is technically called, when 

 drained of its moisture, is sent off in barges to the brick- 

 makers, who live a few miles out of London. They pay 

 nothing for it, and even receive it carriage free, because 

 the contractor is obliged to get rid of it in one way or 

 another, and there is no one on the spot to take it off 

 his hands, though in the country the farmers would be 

 glad to pay for it and fetch it at their own expense, to put 

 on the fields. Most of the street manure is now separated 

 from the other sweepings, being collected by boys who 

 dodge in and out among the horses and vehicles with great 

 agility. 



But of all people on the face of the earth, the most 

 thrifty in the matter of dealing with refuse certainly seem 

 to be the Chinese, who waste not a scrap of any sort, and 

 cultivate every inch of ground, as, indeed, they have every 

 need to do considering the millions for whom they have to 

 provide food. Thrifty they are, but nice they are not, either 

 in the original or acquired meaning of the word, at least in 

 European eyes ; and the odours which pervade their towns 

 are terrible. They have no drains, and sewage and filth of 

 all descriptions, together with every bit of organic matter, 

 which cannot be used for food, even by a Chinaman, are 

 put into the large tubs which stand along each side of the 

 streets, at intervals of a few feet. The contents are used 

 for manuring the fields, and no Chinaman, it is said, thinks 

 of returning home from an expedition to the town without 



