The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-10 00:00:00

SANITORY INQUIRY AT WATERLOO.

Yesterday Mr. Alfred Lamerte Dickens, one of the
superintending inspectors under the general board of
health (brother to Mr. Charles Dickins), held a public
inquiry at the national sch?olroorn,Waterloo, iu reference
to the proposed introduction of the Health of Towns act
into the townships of Great Crosby and Litherland.
The inquiry was held in consequence of a report made
to the general board of health by Air. Rawlinson, C.E.,
after holding a public inquiry last year, and from which
report it appeared to the general board that in case the
act should be applied to the two townships, the present
township boundaries were not those which might be most
advantageously adopted for the purposes of the act, and
that it would be proper to form a new boundary.
Mr. Mason, solicitor, appeared on behalf of the pro-
moters of the bill. There were several ratepayers present,
some in favour of, and others in opposition to the intro-
duction of the act into the township.
The evidence as regarded the township of Litherland
was first gone into.

Mr. W. H. Weightman, surveyor, submitted a plan,
showing what he: considered ought to be the new'
boundary. He considered that the present boundary was
insufficient, as it excluded a quantity of swampy land near
the railway, which ought to be drained. He proposed
that the new boundary (for the purposes of the act) should
include the whole of the township of Litherland, and the
low lands near it. Mr. W. instanced the unhealthy con-
dition of Litherland, in support of his statement.
Mr. Ormisher resisted Mr. Weightman's proposal, and
stated that the ratepayers of Litherland were opposed to
the introduction of the act into the township. A meeting
of ratepayers was recently held at the Red Lion-inn,
ninety-four were against the introduction of the act, and
only five in its favour. He denied that Litherland was
unhealthy, and remarked that people who resided there,
lived to a long age.
Mr. Weightman on the mortality of the place, showed
githened:and irregular discussion, the inspec-
ew the land proposed to be included in the
-
ttnoherAewwfctbeoeonrnuttanrtadoireayynry.

At one o'clock the inquiry was resumed, when the case
of the township of Crosby was proceeded with.
A plan was submitted on the part of Messrs. Myers
and Houghton, which proposed to include in the new
boundary, a quantity of land north-east of the railway,
belonging to Mr. Myers.
Mr. Reyes, auctioneer, of Crosby, and several other
ratepayers present, opposed the proposal, as well as
the introduction of the act into the township, as both nu'
necessary and injurious to the intersts of the ratepayers.
Mr. Dickens, the inspector, did not see the force of the
objections urged. Mr. Myers wished to have his own
land placed under a public body, for sanitary purposes,
and he thought it would be a monstrous injustice if a
public good was not to be effected, on the ground that the
highway rates might possibly be increased.
After receiving further evidence, the inquiry terminated,
the inspector stating that he should make his report to
the general board, which would be:communicated to the
ratepayers.

TOWN COUNCIL-YvittRDAY.

SPECIAL MEETING ON THE GAS QUESTION.

a special meeting of the Town Council was held in the
Town•hall, yesterday, at eleven o'clock, for the purpose
of taking into consideration the report of the special com-
anittee upon the supply of gas, presented to the council on
the 30th of October last, the consideration of which was
:postponed; the reply of the directors of the United Gas-
light Company to such report ; and the further proceed-
ings of the council thereon, including reports from Messrs.
Clegg and Taunton. The chair was taken by his Worship
the Mayor.
The council summons contained the following reselm
tions, which it was announced would be moved fur .1
adoption :-....

Ist
4flas. That i
That be
to th recommended to the council to propose
e Company that the share property of the company
be converted into bonds of the company, bearing a fair and
eq
auaguitabl b e rate of interest, and that the undertaking be
tned y a board of tine directors, three of whom shall
be appointed by the 'council, tbrce by the consumers of gas,
and three by the bendholders.
2nd. That this committee be re-appointed, with instruc-
tion to make the above proposal to the company, and to
confer
arr with
ith them on the terms upon which the same shall
be cie into effect, and to report thereon to the council,
aad vitth further instructions to recommend to the
company,
That an immediate reduction be made in the price

6: That the Borough Engineer for the time being shall
&have access to all Departments of the Company's works,
with every facility for testing the
quality of the Gas and
Ascertaining the pressure at which it is supplied.
c. That the Company consent to the at
Officers responsible to the Coancilappointment
, to test examine of
and
adjust the Meters, on behalf of the Consumers.
d. That the powers of the Auditor be extended, so as to
enable him to have access to all documents and accounts
Which he may think necessary, to
en the financial position of the Co enable mpany, and to him to report
ascertain
fully
the
that all morties*are paid out of and carried to the credit of
proper accounts. -
Tau The minutes of the last meeting of the gas committee
nt,ad, and comprised reports from Messrs. Clegg and
ns of which we publish the following:—
. ~

.•
y, near London, 2nd ec., 1855.
Dear sir,—l beg toPutne s end you the following D observations
!upon those points of the reply of the Liverpool United
`-Gas Light Company to the Town Council, which have
,reference to the flow of gases, and to the leakage from
4treet mains, B,e.
I stated both in my report, and in my evidence, that
'a lighter gas would, coeteris paribus, issue through an
°Pening with greater velocity than one of greater specific
gravitY• This fact has for very many years been so clearly
established, and so universally accepted, that I am_sur-
prised to find it contradicted. I assume that the directors of the gas company had
Mr.
I.•ing's assistance iu framing their reply, and that that
gentleman Was cognizant of all contained therein.
I therefore further assume that Mr.
hat Kin is 'r
ignorant
he of the laws which govern the motion og f fluideithe s, or
t has contradicted me for the sake of doing so.
The circumstances in which lam avoidable that I should substantiate my statement by
'explaining the mechanical laws I have referred to.
Sir Isaac Newton, Drs. Hutton Gregory, and-Roison
age, in England, Dubuat, Bossut, Birnoulli, Eytelbwein,, and ethers, on the continent, have established these
eittramely simple principles :
'I. The velocity with which same under pressure issues
from an orifice, or pipe, is theas that which a heavy
'body would acquire in falling through a space equal to a
tcolumn of the fluid, required to produce that pressure.
'thy2. That of different fluids under the same resse
e specifically lighter must acquire a greater velocity,
and their different velocities will be to one another as the
roots of the specific gravities of the fluids.
The height of a column of the fluid which would pro-
duce a pressure p is =ll

The theoretic theoretic velocity v, acquired by a body falling
any space, h, is expressed byv V
2 g g being the
force of gravity, viz., 32.19, we have v 8.02 °
_. 2

2g
F.• Friction, however, is an 'element that must be taken
into act:oust in obtaining practical results ; and first, it
is proportionate, to the extent of the rubbing surface of
tile PiPe through which the fluid passes; or to the length
Illeltiplied by the circumference (1 c). 2. It varies with
lee 'velocity to soave extent. 3. It is proportionate to the
specific gravity of the fluid.
If P represent•s the force required to overcome friction
F=--lcSv2.
°
It is necrJssary to ascertain by experiment a certain
distant oluantity M the " co-efficient of Friction," and
F
4Th 'additional force required to produce motion may be
the area of the pipe;i
p- a is equal to F.
•

iLleßv or

At / c v 2.

and get by taking gravity again into the equation p x p'
2JII c Sv2 which is the general equation for the

j-i vt

a
motion of a fluid in a pipe.
The value of the " co-efficient of
_friction" Mims been
thoroughly established by experiments on a working scale,
thboth in Paris and London ; and the formula for calculating
e actual passage of fluids through pipes has been dili-
ently investigated by Mr. Hawksley,.;M mr. W. Pole, M.
qtrrard, and my son.
I make my calculation in accordance NI ith the foregoing
Principles, and give the following examples, taking the
case of pure hydrogen gas and atmospheric air.
in_slteequired the quantity of atmospheric air that would be
harged by a pipe one inch diameter and 100 yards
I.lg, with a pressure of half an in head of water.
1.000. The formula is

1350 d? Vh--d

Q`-
and i give the computation:-
1 x 1350= 1350 V sxl 1350 x
=---- 17.--- 1 xiuo leo
707 =------ 954.45 cub. ft. per hour
=--Q.
disch2
Requie'', the quantity of pure hydrogen gas that would be
.rged, under the same circumstances as the last.
S ...-..- 0691

=707.

1 1350 1350

0691 x 100 --
V 0691 ----'
848'
3350 x 848 '144.80 cub. ft. per hour =--- Q.
Se that the lighter fluid acquires a greater velocity than
the heavier one, urged through the same pipe with the
ame pressure, the increase of velocity, . giving an
increased discharge of 190.35 cubic feet per hour.:,
1 therefore repeat that a lighter gas passing through
the same meter, and through the same burners, urged
V'forward by the same pressure, will travel with greater
velocity, and cause the meter to revolve more quickly than
heavier gas. Another part of the same question :
Consumers, having been:accustomed to the light given by
a heavier gas, would naturally turn on their taps, so
as to get the same quantity of light from the lighter
gas. This would increase the openings through which
the lighter gas would flow, and be an additional cause
for the meter to revolve with greater rapidity, which the
gas company say "is so evident, that it hardly required
to be confirmed by any testimony." I say that the
burners are turned higher, to get the same quantity of
light from the lighter as from the heavir.r,.gas, which is a
natural thing for a consumer to do ; and 1 do not admit
what the gas company say, that " a diminution iu price
always produces a less careful use of the article." It may
in some cases, but it is the exception, not the rule; and I
adhere to my opinion, that the two circumstances com-
bined will account for the gas bills of the consumers being
larger with cheaper than with dearer gas, their burners
being the same in number and size.
With regard to the loss by leakage from the gas com-
pany's mains,
The gas company say, in their reply, that " no evidence
'was given to me, as a commissioner of Woods and Forests,
in the Liverpool Gas Inquiry in 1847, which can justify
MY assertion, that the loss or gas, through leakage and
otherwise, is at least 20 per cent."
The following is part of Mr. King's evidence, before
me :—" The total quantity supplied by the Gas-light Com-
pany to private consumers by meter is 171,203,000 net ;
the quantity made was 245,000,000, the quantity lost was
31,000,000." And I the meters is may conceive that the inaccuracies
of
not taken into account.
Mr. King, in his evidence before Mr. Lowe, on the Bth
ef February, 1847, says the leakage is rather better than
eleven per cent.
Therefore it is quite true that the evidence of Mr. King
went to show that the leakage was not 20 per cent., as I
state it to be. During my experience of fifty years (which,
I think, will be admitted even by Mr: Ring has
townnot been
without good fruits), I have never met with a
street mains showed less than 20 per cent loss.
And whose the
following extract from the report of Messrs. Ellison and
Lowe, on Liverpool Gas Inquiry, will show that Mr. Lowe
is of the same opinion
,With
myself concerning leakage::—
" Vih regard to the leakage, we have no hesitation in
reporting that Mr. Cox's estu is lower than what the
practical experience of the omitscondcd works shows to
be the actual loss from that cause; and we would dwell the
More upon this point, because, whilst tile leakage is only
, yea are perfectly well
estimated at 10 per cent. by Mr. Cox
satisfied that 20 per cent, would be nearer the mark ; the
which allegation we are justified in making, the more
par-
ticularly from all the evidence upon the subject Rivet, to us
throughout the whole of the investigations we have coo.
ducted in the course of these inquiries.
I must apologise for not sending this reply earlier, but
indisposition has prevented me from giving the_ matter
attention before.--I remain, dear sir, yours, very truly,
SAMUEL CLEGG.

Mr. Frederick Taunton's communication is too
volu-
ruinous for publication in extenso ; but the followingis
an abstract :—He begins by expressing his astonishment
at the way in which he was attacked by the gas com-
pand. whi
cy, in their reply; and, explaining the
circumstances
une
r which he came to Liverpool, and the manner in
whih
page nm .he tested the meters, he proceeds to say--" On
e of the company's reply, the directors say they