[Mz]

Googling isn't immediately getting me anything and I don't recall the source, but I used to read a lot of urban planning books and I recall seeing a quote from that era to the effect of "Mud! Mud everywhere!" and complaining about it. "Mud" was a euphemism for horseshit. So that was a real complaint of the time.

Though the internet did not exist at the time so I don't know if it is even possible to find quotes/resources about it online. That may be part of why he kind of speculated rather than listing a few sources of information.

[danohuiginn]

Here's a classic piece of data journalism on the topic:

'This problem came to a head when in 1894, The Times newspaper predicted... “In 50 years, every street in London will be buried under nine feet of manure.”'

http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Great-...

[eflowers]

It might have become sensationalized over the last 115 years, but you can google the Urban Planning Summit of 1898 to see where it all originals from. The sentiment. I did have to make up and just guess at what real manure problems would be besides "faster horses", but they at least make some sense and paint a mental image. I'm no historian =D