The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-10-02 00:00:00

THE WATER COMMITTEE.

The usual meeting of this committee was held yester-
day. Mr: Hodson took the chair. The other gentle-
men present were Messrs. Crellin„ Estill, Farnworth,
W. Earle, Rae, Beloe, Wagstaff, Woodruff, J. R. Jef-
fery, and Bennett.
1 1
The following report was read from Mr. Duncan, the
water engineer :--" I have to report the following, for
the information of the committee : Four of the filter-
beds have been cleaned out during the. past week; the
other will be cleaned to-day. 1 have had a plug and
lever attached to the pipe which passes under the Mill-
stone embankment and Rivington reservoir, to secure it
against accident. I also purpose to adopt a similar
apparatus to the pipes which pass under the Anglezark
reservoir frail the Charley reservoir. I have arranged
to 6omMenee, to-inotroW, the trial-pits on the site of the
upper Roddleswdith, to citable MO to' prepare the work-
ing sections; nothing of Mordent has transpired on any
part of the works, The riterage rain-fall for the week
ending Satiirday, the 29th inst.; *ds h. 65 inch and the
depths of water in the several reserVolfs, under their
respective overflows, were at the same date as under :
Sept. 29. Sept. 22. Rise. Fall.
Roddlesworth ... 1 7 ... 0 6 1 1
Rake • 110 0 9 .
Anglezark . 0 5 ... 0 3 ... ...... ... 02}
4 Ritlngtoti 1, l ... 1 1, ... Steady .
Prescot No. 1 0 1 ... q 4) . ... 0 1 -
Prescot No. 2 8 11 ... 5 7
.?, 3 3
There have been two blown joints on the PIPV line near
Platt Bridge to repair, for which the water had to be
turned off for some time. They have been repaired,
and all is again in good grder. The damage done to
the crop is of a light character."
• THE 18TH OF OCTOBER.

The use of the Kensington reservoir was granted for
a site for the display of fireworks on the occasion of the
ih6 Fiep Li151.41'7.6n the ab'eve tidy.
1. • • .

CIE L'TE §iANLEi 006 K:

The. repOtt of the iiib4,'onitiiiti3O,,,.l4liioh hfiS so*
often discussed, and on the last occaii6V,iti.aii, ieferieit
back for reconsideration, was again brought lip, add
was as follows :

" From the evidence before the committee, it appears
hat a fire took place at the Stanley Dock warehouses
on Wednesday, the Ist of August. The police report
the alarm to have been received from a civilian, name
unknown, at 9 45, and that the roof fell in at 10 30.
"There is only one fire-policeman on duty at Stanley
1?oek during the night ; but he has no access to the
searelloils6, and the ,alarm of fire did not proceed from
~, •
him. - The valves which suppslY thhhtdrants, and which
are under the control of the dock authorities; always
closed during the night, and the hydrants locked, so
that much valuable time was necessarily lost in the
application of water. The roof having fallen in three-
quarters of an hour from the time the alarm was given,
it may be fairly conjectured that the fire had been burn-
ing for a. considerable period before it was discovered.
Mr. Hewitt says, in answer to a question, 'Do you
think, with a more abundant supply of water, you could
hare extinguished the fire ?"No ; it was too far
adVaxided before f. got there when I got there it was a
complete fiirnaee.'
1, The police repert aim insufficient supply of water,
Mid. in thi, they are silpipcitted lit the evidence of Mr:
Brafleker dad Mr. HeWitt.
a On the other hand, policeman Platt, Po. 06; .Snyd;
'The. supply. of water was good when we turned it on,
and it remained good for twenty minutes; I should say
the Pressure would go tens of yards ; from five minutes
past ten to half-past the water was full pressure, but to
the best of my knowledge we were comparatively with-
out water for half an hour.' And policeman Boyd, No.
406, says, 'lt was a capital supply ; I played it, but the
wind caught it; it was a very good supply, and con-
tinued to twenty-fiveipinutes to eleven.
" Mr. Dun an adopis the idea that at the commence-
of the fire the, titeSilte Was fonnd not to be sniff-
thcritly stfong td throw the d gredte;± distaiiee
than a few yards from the 'nozzles;' and theti fitoeVedi
to account for this by stating that 'the fireman in his
zeal ordered the turncock to open up the Athol-street
side services, and by that means.deprived the parties at
the fire for some time from obtaining such a supply as
they otherwise would have done.' From the evidence,
it appears that the hose was applied at about from ten
minutes to ten to ten minutes past ten that evening.;
and further, that the fire policeman did not meet Web-
ster. the turncock of Athol-street station, for whom he
ietit in search, tintil a,quarter past ten, who then had
to traverse nearly 1,000 yaids befoie he wild open the
valve referred to. It therefore seems dear thdt the
proceedings of Webster cbuld have nothing to do With
the deficiency of water at the commencement of the fire.
"The engineer then proceeded to explain that, not
being satisfied, he made further inquiries, more espe-
cially as, on the day after the fire, the dock authorities
complained of want of sufficient water, and he found it
was so; and he then made arrangements for testing with
the pressure gauge the supply of that district, when he
found the pressure to be only 301bs. instead of 601bs. ;
but still he was informed that all the valves had been
Of ainined, and eterYttiing was tot: Some days after-
war& he applied the gaiie to' the top hydrant of the
statrease iii the, roam adjoining . that in which the fire
took pace, and, instead of getting 301bs. could only
get .161b5., which *as again, materially reduced by
opening up the Athol-street Vaite, but the pressure was
restored when that valve was shut; and on testing
.the
effects of opening the lower hydrants to supply engines
below, the first hydrant opened reduced the pressure
to Blbs., and the second took it away altogether, but he
could not tell what was the matter ; and on Friday morn-
ing, the 10th, the fire having happened on the Ist, it was
discovered that a flushing-sewer scouring valve, close to
the Stanley Dock gate, had been leeopen, and the
stater running away into the sewer, and he thinks some
one connected with the warehouses, not knowing the
nature of the valve, opened it inithinkingly, and took
away the pressure. Some years since a similar valve
was left open, and, in consequence, safety guards were
adopted, so that no policeman could open one' without
knowing it to be a sewer valve; but in this instance the
cap was wanting, and hence he assumes some man had
unthinkingly turned on the valve. There was, however,
nip evidence td prove fur what lengthened period this
valise had been open, or Whether it had been opened
before or after the fire. On the contrary, it was
repeatedly asserted that the valves had been reported as
all right. •
The Engineer also stated that as a rule the pressure
of the water in the warehouse district is not tested, and
that, the qnantity of water escaping through the valve
was three-quarters of a million gallons per day.
The turncock Nolan, in his evidence, not only recol-
lected that this particular valve was without a cap, but
that several others were in a similar condition, but he
neglected td report it—in fad, he never made any report
on the subject Wit once, and that was fifteen months
ago, when their use Was first adopted. It was about a
month or five weeks before the fire that he last turned
that valve, and he had seen it since with the cap of, but
he had no means of knowing whether the valve had
been open ten or any other number of days before the
fire. About three days after the fire had been got under
he was ordered to try the valves, and he did try the
valves at each end of Regent-street, but he had not the
slightest idea that the one in Walter-street, being the
valve referred to, would be meddled with, because it
stands by itself.
"Yolk committee. having referred to the facts that
the fire was not discovered by the policeman on duty
within the dock wall, and also that the valves that
supply the hydrants in the dock are shut during the
night, and the hydrants locked, have now to report with
great regret that from the evidence they cannot but feel
that very great want of discipline prevails in the staff of
the engineer.
" It seems doubtful whose duty it may be to instruct
the fire policemen ; but in reply to a question put to
Platt (P. C. No. 296), as to who supplied him with
inforratitta: as to the mains, he says, We talk with
the watermen, and pick it up as best we can.
We find out a good deal from experience.' Again,
Boyd (403) says that when he told Webster to
open the Athol-street valve, the answer was, ' lie did
not know whether it would be right or not;' and,
finally, the committee find, by the statement of Mr.
Duncanson, the deputy-engineer, that he asked the turn-
cocks were they sure there was none of the sewer
valves open? had they examined them? and shut them
off ? and they distinctly reported them all right ; and
Nolan confesses that he has completely neglected his
duty for many months, and the engineer himself admits
there is no uniform system of taking the guages, and, as
a rule, the pressure of water in the warehouse district
is not tested.
" The committee cannot but view these irregularities
and want of system with the greatest anxiety and alarm.
At the same time the committee cannot but feel that
there is much want of co-operation between the turn-
cocks and the fire-police, and the committee hope that
Mr. Duncan will place himself in connection with Major
Greig, with a view to an amendment of the present
system."
Mr. Beloe moved its adoption, which was seconded
by Mr. Was and, after a brief conversation, was
adopted, the Engineer, however, observing that he
never wished to shirk any responsibility, and denied
that the whole of the responsibility was upon his
shoulders.
Mr. EARLE thought that there should be two officers,
the one to attend to the reservoirs and Mr.*Dancan to
the pipes in the town.
This concluded the business of the committee.

A. young woman was yesterday taken by the police to
the hospital at Birkenhead. Her ear was almost com-
pletely bitten off ; and, upon being questioned as to how
this happened, she persisted in saying that "she had
done it herself !"
LIVERPOOL ROYAL INFIRMARY.—RdIITII for week
ending September, 29, 1860: Admitted, in-patients, 475 ;
out-patients, 29; surgical casualties, 37. Discharged,
cured, 18 ; relieved, and at own request, 13 ; made out-
patients, 2 ; irregular, 0 ; dead 3 ; remain in the house,
187. For the ensuing week (visitors) : C. B. Robinson
and M. C. Jones, Esqrs.; physician, D. Vose ; surgeon,
Mr. Stubbs; house surgeon, Mr, R. Harrison; junior
house surgeon, Mr. H. G. Ra.wdon ; chaplain, Rev.
Edwd. Pooe; treasurer, Mr. C. Wilson.
THE. MARKETS COMMITTEE.—The usual weekly meet-
ing of this committee was held yesterday, at the Town
Hall. Mr. Woodruffo was in the chair. The other
Gentlemen present were—Messrs. Nickson, Johnson,
Rogers, Houghton, Ridley, Kitchen, J. B. Lloyd,
Shimtnin' and Haydock.—The inspectors reported that
from the 21st of September to the 28th there had been
1,595 lbs. of unwholesome meat seized in the central
market, 1 050 lbs. in the northern market, and 6,678 lbs.
of bad fish.—A resolution was passed, to the effect that
the superintendent of the markets should report all
alterations in the letting of stalls to the auditor, in
order to facilitate him in correctly making up the
accounts.—The remainder of the business was of a
routine character.
TRADE OF LIVERPOOL.—The Customs Bill of Entry
published on Monday gives a return of the number
of ships entered inwards and cleared outwards in the
foreign trade of this port for the week ended Sept. 29,
and outwards from foreign ports from the Ist January,
1860 ;. and of ships reported inwards to the same date
as compared with the corresponding persi4o,dl79otf9litsh.e
year 1859:
REPORTED INWARDS, For the Week ending Sept. 29.
1860
1859

. ... 47
ecinise in ships .................
REPORTED INWARDS, From •
Decrease in tons ......... ....... .. ....
, .
Sept. 29, var
,
1860
tons.
1,880,684 t
1859

Decrease in ships: ............ ... 76
.
Increase in tons ................ .. ..228,659
CLEARED OUTWARDS, For the
1860
1859
704
ships
124 ships

Decrease in ships .......................................... 17
Decrease in tons .......................................... 21,348
1860
4,173 shipsCLEARED OUTWARDS, From Jan. 1 to Sept. 29, 1860.
2,266,414 tons.
1859
Increase in ships .......................................... 225
Increase in tons ................................ mo ...... 331,750