The Press.
London, England, 1856-08-16 00:00:00

politztal.

LORD PALMERSTON is reported to have issued a
circular to the parliamentary heads of each State
department, requesting them to supply him, in the
month of November, with the particulars of all legis-
lative measures which they are desirous, of being in-
troduced into Parliament.
COLONEL WILLIAM CARTWItIOHT AND LTEVT:COL.
JOHN WOODFORD have been appointed inspectors of
police establishments under the Constabulary Act of
the 19th and 20th of her Majesty, c. 69.
Ma. J. T. WHEELER, author of " The Life and
Times of Herodotus " and " Analyses of Herodotus
and Thucydides," has accepted an appointment in
the War.office.

LORD TALBOT DE MALARIDE has been selected by
her Majesty for a British peerage. The title of Tyr-
connell has been selected by his lordship as that

775

by which he will hold his seat in the Houseof Peers.
An English coronet was bestowed by Lrd Mel-
bourne's Government upon the uncle of tls present
peer, who was created Lord Furnival in )339, but
the title became extinct on his decease with'ut male
issue in 1849. The name of Lord Talbot ct Mala-
hide is well known in the literary world as tie Pre-
sident of the Archeological Society of Great Britain
and Ireland. He has chosen the title of Tyronnell
in virtue of his relation as heir-general to Richard
Talbot, created by James 11. Earl, and afterwards
Duke, of Tyrconnell, who died in the service )f that
monarch while holding the post of Chief Governor of
Ireland, and whose only sister married Richard Tal-
bot, Auditor• General of Ireland before the Revolu-
tion, from whom the present peer is fourth in direct
descent. Since the Revolution of 1688, the earldom
of Tyrconnell was conferred on the Carpenter family
in DR, but became extinct in the person of the fourth
earl in January, 185:1.

rttronolitan.

THE DRAINAGE QUESTION.

THE President of the Metropolitan Board of Works
last Tuesday gave the following explanation of the
present state of this momentous question :

The engineer was of opinion that the plan for southern
drainage, if commenced at Putney, with an increased in-
clination to his sewer, and, at the name time, a lessening of
its dimensions, would enable him at Greenwich-marshes to
go under the Thames without the necessity for an inverted
syphon. An inverted syphon under the Thames had
been suggested at various times, and by many persons,
with great confidence; but the engineer felt that it was an
experiment of so hazardous a character that he would not
be justified in making the drainage of one side of the
metropolis dependent upon it, for if a deposit should take
place in the centre of the inverted syphon, the drainage of
one side of the metropolis would be completely arrested,
the consequences of which must be fearful. The engineer
was therefore of opinion that by the lowering of the sewer,
the lessening of its size, and increasing its fall, he might
take it under the Thames, and form a junction with the
northern drainage at Plaistow-marshes. This would enable
him to proceed, as the board might direct, further down
the river with the sewage of the metropolis in one line,
this line being on the northern side of the Thames, and
passing through an agricultural district of some importance
so far as the utilisation of the sewage might be concerned ;
for the sewage passing through the marshes of Essex
would be applicable to agricultural purposes over many
thousand acres, down to Mucking creek.

The President then pointed out to the boari the
opportunity of carrying the sewage of the southern
district across the river at Plaistow-meadows, so as to
get rid of the pumping-station at Deptford creek, and
carry the whole of the sewage down to the sea by a
single line :
It must be obvious to every member of the board, and it
would be difficult to persuade the public otherwise, that
reservoirs would be a nuisance, to a certain degree, when
ever t:iey were placed ; for you could not cover a very large
area of ground with matter from a sewer without gases
being evolved, whatever care might be bestowed on the con-
struction of such reservoirs; therefore, to get rid of them,
by being able to discharge at all states of the tide at
Mucking creek, or towards Sea Reach, would be an advan-
tage which he was sure would not fail to be appreciated by
every member of the board. Such a plan would be worthy
of the board, and do credit to the engineer, and by adopting
it the board would get rid of all opposition from the inha-
bitants of Erith, Gravesend, Greenhithe, and all the towns
on the southern side of the Thames ; and, moreo►er, he
was satisfied the more the question became one of calcula-
tion, that 1 they got rid of the pumping-stations, and the
cost of the construction of reservoirs and their mainte-
nance, the additional cost would not be so large but that
the board would be prepared to meet it.

Mr. Bazalgette'; last report was then referred bark
to him for a further report upon the whole question
of the northern and southern drainage of the metro-
polis.

Ma. W. F. FERGUSSON has addressed a second
latter to the Times this week upon the subject of
public works in India. He says :
I have no hesitation in repeating the statement I made
that, in the present condition of the police, of the courts of
justice, and of the tenure of land, it is not practicable to
carry oat and execute works in India, such as railways,
without the direct and positive support of Government,
and in this view I believe I am borne out by almost every
one who has been in the country, and connected with
undertakings in it. I readily admit that the Government
of India has a perfect control over all its civil and military
servants, and that iu good intentions it is surpassed or
even equalled by scarcely any Government in Europe. It
is not with the civil service that difficulties and obstacles
arise ; but, as I expressly stated, with the subordinate
officials, who, taking advantage of the absence of control,
the inevitable consequence of districts frequently contain-
ing upwards of a million of inhabitants being placed in
charge of only one or two European officials (perhaps in•
experienced young men), of the ignorance and prejudices
of the people, and of the impossibility of redress being
obtained without long and tedious proceedings, turn to
their own profit every attempt to introduce new works or
operations.