The Express.
London, England, 1851-06-25 00:00:00

THE BATII ELECTION.

BATH, TUREDAY, Juxu 24.
The polling for the respective candidates to supply
the vacancy in the representation of this city occasioned by
the elevation of Lord Ashley to the peerage, commenced
with spirit at 8 o'clock this morning, and was continued
with the same determination to the close of the pull at 4
o'clock. The contest, however, though somewhat close,
was conducted with the greatest good feeling, and the pro-
ceedings throughout the city were almost entirely devoid of
the noise and disturbance usually found at contested elec-
tions. As will be seen by the statement below, the contest
has terminated in the eloctim of Capt. Scobell, the liberal
candidate, by • very respectable majority. The state of the
poll was declared every hall-hour, from the liberal com-
mittee-room, and, as will be seen by the return below,
'hewed that Capt. &obeli, who took the lead, kept it
throughout the day. Some excitement was created, how-
ever, by the appearance outside Mr. Sutcliffe's committec-
room of several delusive returee, the first of which stated
the numbers at half-past 11, to be Sutcliffe, 776; Scobell,
744. At half-post 12, another return appeared, Sutcliffe, 865 ;
Soobell, 843 ;at 1, Sutcliffe,B96; Scobell, 880. At half-past
one when Capt. Scobell had really a majority of 36, the
conservative return, which was the last they put out, re-
presented both candidates on a level-928 each. The
following were the returns issued by the liberal committee,
and which we have good reason to believe show the correct
Mate of the pull :
Scobell. Sutcliffe.
Half-past eight
Nine o'clock 288
Ten
Eleven 660
Twelve 784
One
Two
Three
1,047

-.-
Close of the poll
At the close of the poll several thousand persons having
assembled in front of Capt. Scobell's central committee
room, Westgate-buildings, the gallant captain and his com-
mittee, in obedience to the calls and cheers of the multi-
tude, appeared upon a platform erected in frost of the
building and were recessed with several rounds of ap-
plause.
Capt. SCOBELL, in addressing tNme assembled, said the
victory was gained, and the liberals had obtained a good
majority oc. r the tunes of Bath. (Loud cheers.) But
whilst they rejoiced in their own success, they would not
exult over the fallen. (Hear.) The vict,'ry was not his
(Captain &obeli's), but theirs—the liberals of Bath; and
they had won it in an independent, straightlii,warel way,
that he believed would set an example to all England.
(Cheers.) Captain Scobell, in conclusion, proposed three
cheers for the independent representation of Bath, ;which
were given with the greatest real.
W. Hunt, Esq., G. Norman, Esq., T. W. Saunders, Esq.,
and Sir John Hare, having also congratulated the liberal
upon their bUCCC.B, the meeting broke up.
The official d:elaration of the pull will be made at the
hustings to morrow (this day.)

THE GRI.:AT EXHIBITION.—Yederday 68,394 per-
sons, of whom more than 62,000 paid at the doors, visited
the Crystal Palace. The Queen visited the building
during the forenoon, and it was observed that, leaning on
the arm of the King of the Belgians, her Majesty pr"'l
menaded more among the general yublic than heretofore.
EMPLOYERS AND THEIR WORKMEN.
Smith and Son, the coal merchants, yesterday gave the
clerks, coallwavers, and other persons in their employment,
a day's holiday to sec the Great
rixrlrsidti of
on, 2;aA in number,yingtheirldmiiiion fee, and providing re-1
freshments, conveyances, and supper in the evening for
them. Mears. Hodges, the di..tillers, have given the whole
of the men in their employment a day's holiday, in order to
in
enable them to visit the Exhibition Hyde-park. Each
man has likewise Iven pret,ntcd with five shillings to de-
fray the day's expenses. Mr. Pipey yesterday. Irreught up
the agricult..ral labourer. on his setate. They were :—/rom j
Puny; 50. Longworth, 39; West Ilanney,to; East Han-
nay, 04 ; benchworth, 35; Tyford, 7 ; Chantey, 41; Chat-
low; 27 ; Stanford; 93; Ilealford, 40: total, 446.

REPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT CX•INHS-
SION ON THE CHEMICAL QUALITY OF THE
SUPPLY OF WATER TU THE METROPOLIS.

The practical conclusion of this able and intaest-
ins report is os follows:

OF TOT. Plltorio.l:rlES TO RE ritsrEuitrn IN 7:m wAisie

Imre:TED von THE fiI:PPLIr OF TILE 1111.0*.0
The properties which we would esteem of I. Lt r :!tie IA
water to he supplied to the metropolis arc :
I. Freedom from putrescible organic mitt. r.
2. Freedom from constant, or even occusi.m..,, Itera-
tion by clay and vegetable mutter, with perf, ei bri„.•ttnesa
and clearness.
3. Softness.

4. Coolness.
The nearer the sources of rivers are apprraelit!,.th" met!,
fully are they likely to possess the two ft, „mt.;
freedom front organic impregnatie4a and from t The
Newltiver water maybe inttanied lig offvring the oe teour-
able exhibition of the good qualities possessed by portion
of the present metropolitan supply. Taken t..n ,:to Lea,
above Ware, this water has a superiority, Alin' gene-
rally admitted, over the supplies from the Ti. t . . which
would no doubt be further increased he the ieta,.• :! of the)
Hertford drainage, by recourse for additional w t.s. to the
higher tributaries of the Lea, as proposed by sle• it:s.r Lea
Trustees, and by shortening he channel of the .N..w River
by about 12 miles, which is also contemplan Eat it is
only by proceeding to the actual sources of I's. t' at the
water of the latter can be protected cowl: t. ;y ..so field
and house drainage. Ilene the general dispo-it,t !., aban-
don rivers, as sources of town supply, and v, , • ,"tem to
remain,. as they must always be, the natural 0.,'
able channels of drainage, and the oceasion..l . • ...a. fer-
tilising irrigation.
The contemplated improvements of the N. '. !'!,er ap-
pear to embody is portion of the comprehewist -,•!...tne of
Captain Vetch, who, after a careful survey ti,ttleo.siten by
direction of the late Metropolitan Board of N. w, r- recom-
mended the appropriation of the unolike: chalk
streams on either side of the Thames as the sources
of supply; abandoning the river itself I I k purer
tributaries, and giving a preference to those ..t• .ms which
enter the Thames below London, so as to Tet, • t solume
and scouring power, and with these the sa'...• of the
upper part of the river unimpaired. To :Ie t object
Captain Vetch attached great importance wi''.'once to
the prospective increase of the metropolis, ‘• . . he re-
minds us has doubled its population withi, !•e years.
The eminent engineer, Mr. 'I ellen', to wh.... queation
of :he metropolitan supply was referred • 'muscat
after the Water Inquiry and Report in 1828, . siously
recommended after a prolonged investiga: bring
the water from the River Verulam, near W. for tho
supply of the districts on the north side of tI. ! it, and
front the river Wandle fur the supply of th tett on
the south side. In 1810 a further step was " .in the
same direction, the London and Westruinsts .•erworka
Company being at that time established for ~, the
metropolis with water from the springs in th. • ! ..a, near
Watford. This company proceeded upon a t r. by Mr.
Robert Stephenson, which appears to be route. ' =u sound
scientific principles and great local kn0w1e,;...• Mr. Ste-
phenson concludes that the necessary supp.) London
could be obtained and conveyed from that sours... oil speaks
in the highest terms of its quality. lie cam. Ids sure
prise that, with the exception of the abortive pro:, .t to ob-
tain water by perforating the London clay, all preceding
propowals, including Mr. Telford's, should cents in-
plated using the water of streams which are all sutieet to be
affected by the surface drainage of a more or l extensive
tract of country, and consequently only a very few degrees
better than that already in use."
Our great engineers have thus returned, ate,. by step, to
the original idea of Sir Hugh Middleton, who had recourse
to the pure fountain-heads of Ikrtfordshire for the supply
first brought by him to Loudon by. the New ltiv. r. actingg.
no doubt, upon the traditions of antiquity and the example
of the Roman hydraulic works, which are still unrivalled.
hicia are
ed
e
no
ee,
(on° north rP thet
chi
atwi
availablevtei western nd divisions
i district,s theio'ls
wateroe of
mi
cei:aensnriudur dtghtlhhtr
obk;reirzuataits Lea,t.
geonar t
hth.irlerladi
is.c:dreat!ALlgt:ex-
district, the field which is already occuly opfie:
e
upon
nd
tal:heieNliewis
River Company.
ts
ater
which may he considered as everywhere of an uniform
compositioncar 11 las assertedhhe:tchteeli enanhothoa ltna Ithesetarni
whichtblgogde a
itltes i
loksiial :ftrryuoasi.t:Phsgion4Thlrtll
circulates,iyhtto,na. aebpat!EPy frbs+l by the soil, aiinrde n
cen-
turies,-
ed
before subsiding to the lower level of the valley
springs. Hence a full decomposition of any alterable or-
ganic matter, and the assumption by the seater of a constant
and uniform character.

The chalk spring-water unites the greater number of the
desirable qualities already entinteratt4l. It contains abso-
lutely nothing of organic origin capable of further alteration
or decomposition, and is therefore wholly unobjectionable,
on the ground of organic constituents. Its clearness and
brilliancy also appear perfect, front the complete absence of
suspended matter, and are highly attractive. Possessing at
all seasons the wean temperate of the year, the same
water has an agreeable coAeess and freshinss, which
might certainly be preserved 111 a great degree by
proper means of muses:ince and distribution. Tho
mdy other quality tjcdrot In a tow' supply
was softness. he chalk spring-water is not wo••• • &
a sem
water. 1 " •
owl resp,et, it 13 inferior
.•itc present supply,
in one sense, being., one-fourth harder; but it will be re-
membered, that the harshness of both is principally of the
temporary kind, and that, after boiling, the advantage is
with the spring water. It is, however, in the facility and
completeness of the removal of this hardsie.s, that the

• ,
superiority of the spring over the river water is most appa-
rent. The softening operation, by the use of lime, is ap-
plicable in all seasons to the spring water, which, indeed,
adapts itself with singular felicity to that process, the car-
bonate of lime always precipitating with rapidity, and so
completed y as not to create a necessity for *filtration.
The chalk spring waters can thus he commanded with
certainty, under three degrees of hardness, which is pro-
bably the extreme limit attainable anywhere in England
for a great supply. The lower price of lime in the chalk
districts, and the reduction in the labour of mixing, must
also bring the cost of the process considerably within the
estimate formed at the Chelsea Works, and would not,
we believe, form a greater addition than a sum equal to
two per cent. upon the present price of water. This is
without allowing anything to be obtained in return for the
precipitated chalk, which would certainly have some market
value.

The chalk spring-water after being softened is an ex-
tremely pure water. It appears to be considerably superior
even to the soft water from the streams of the Surrey
Sands. The chalk water alone is uniform in its excel-
lence at all times, the source of it lying beyond the in-
fluence of weather or season. In the judgment of the com-
missioners, this softened chalk water is entitled from its
chemical quality to a preference over all others for the fu-
ture supply of the metropolis.
It is no longer possible to disregard the chemical means
of removing Matinees, or to represent them as impracticable
on a greatuale ; they place the question of water-supply
upon an entirely new footing. Efficient as these means
already arc, we confidently look to their farther improve-
ment, when the large results of practice come under tho
eye of the engineer and scientific observer. Another mode
of partial softening, without the consumption of lime or
any other material, by the united action of air and granu-
lar carbonate of lime upon the carbonated water, has been
already referred to, which may probably soon have its
powers tested, either as au auxiliary to Dr. Clark's process,
or as a substitute for that process, when a leas considerable
softening is required.
An incidental advantage of artificial softening foe the
London supply is, that the change in quality can be
graduated to any point desired. It may be advisable to
furnieh the water at first with Al liardnesa of 5 ur 6 degrees,.
which is considerably above the paint at which any action
upon lead need be apprehended, and therefore compatible
with the cistern-storage of water, which the actual system
of supply requires. The circumstanoe that this residuary
hardness after liming yields readily to 'soiling, combined
with the absence from the spring water of all colouring
impurity, would insure that water a decided preference for
washing and most other applications, even were it no further
softened. But it might be reduced, we believe, with perfect
safety to 3 degrees of hardness, as soon as the taste and
habit* of the consumers were accommodated to so soft a
water. To obtain the full advantage of its great coolness in'
the hot summer months, the supply would require to bo
constant, and the house-pipe to communicate directly with
the main. But although this change is desirable on other
important grounds, it is nut indispensable to the first intro-
duction of the softened chalk spring water.
The water recommended uppeara to approach most
closely to the standard of all that is excellent in a town
supply, and is worthy of the greatest efforts and grandest
works to procure and cunvey it. But the sources are near
at hand, and the water is attainable without difficulty or
great expense. With such a noble application of the chalk
spring-water in view as the supply of the metropolis, it
would be a desecration to permit that water to be wasted
on other uses, and moat impolitic to allow the possession of
It to pass into private hands. It is our deliberate opinion,
which we would enfurce in the strongest terms, that the
much desired and most necessary improvement in quality
of the Leaden water is associated with these source's of
supply, and will depend upon their proper application to
the uses of the public.

lieu of ettied. :s ming"
THE COURT OF CluxcenT.—Yesterday a return
was printed by order of the House of Lords, showing the
operation of the act of last session to regulate the Court of
Chancery in Ireland, under which suits were allowed to be
Iconmeneed by petition instead of bill, and which return
was obtained in reference to the reform of the Court of
Chancery in England. It appears that from August last,
when the act came into force, to the 12th of June inst., 872
, suits were commenced by petition, and in that period only
133 by bill. As many as 303 ordt.s In the nature of decrees
were made upon petitions presented, and 31 final orders.
No case had occurred in which a suit had been commenced
by petition and the defendant had applied under the act
suithatlthsheopulladinbetiffeosimicimuled:creocecd
~.d by bill. This return is of
some value at the precut neried,. when it is urged that
and shows the number of matfersre..`hrtoi:B
of Chancery in a few months.
hitngterfored otfhebycoh.till,
il
praielatrohttyl.sc—t7lY.,,trittire.yrdano,,ry.
near
Jhthhesiornalzirsp,,,,h,:iutniesandli,
T 118 NEW FISIIIIONGER4' ALMSHOUSES AT lifr'
old Ile
ton, were formally opened by the wardens and livery of the
company. The building is delightful)
_y situate oa. Last-
bill, end
rartb andtbeh siavesoniaL
beenereetedat a omit of about 25,0001., in-