The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-18 00:00:00

THE STATE OF THE THAMES.

Yesterday the City Solicitor, accompanied by the
Water-bailiff and the Engineer of the Upper Works of
the Thames, attended to make a report to the Lord
Mayor, in conformity with the directions of his Lord-
ship, on the subject of the state of the river. These
officers had proceeded to make the necessary inquiries
immediately after the interview between the Lord Mayor
and City Solicitor on Monday, when the orders were
given, and expeditiously laid before the chief magistrate
the result, which is embodied in the following observa-
tions of Mr. Leach, the engineer, and Mr. Saunders,
the water-bailiff.

The engineer reported that he had made the fullest
inquiries into the allegations that a large quantity of
filth had been cast into the river, which filth had been
accumulating for years in the Brentford cana?, and that
to this circumstance the present stata of the river was
to be attributed. Now, there was no foundation what-
ever for the allegation. He epoke from the evidence of
the fishermen and other persons who resided on the
Tot.

- The LORD MAYOR requested to be informed to what
circumstance the Engineer imputed the filthy condition
of the river ; for, of the fact itself, no man who navi-
gated the stream, or resided on the banks, could enter-
tain the slightest doubt.

The ENGINEER said there were various causes, both
natural and artificial. They were, however, unfortu-
nately, beyond the power of the Lord Mayor or his
officers to remove. The fact alluded to yesterday by
the City Solicitor was undoubtedly the principal cause
of the increasing pollution of the stream ; the house
sewage of this vast metropolis was now drained into the
Thames ; formerly it remained in cesspools till it was
removed as night soil. He must, however, remark that
the extraordinary drought during the last 18 months
had led to an extraordinary accumulation of all
descriptions of nuisances in the sewers, which the late
heavy rains had flushed into the river. Scarcely
any winter passed without flooding the river, and thus
those accumulations were taken down by the stream at
a season of the year when no ill effects were experienced.
Last winter there were no floods, and the nuisances
ejected from the sewers, which had accumulated on the
shores and bed of the river, were now stirred up by the
steamers, and subjected to the action of the sun, from
which the stenches complained of were evolved.
The LORD MAYOR—Then, you are of opinion that no
power exists in the city authorities to provide a remedy
for so extensive an evil ?

The ENGINEER—None whatever, in my opinion.
The WATER-BAILIFF confirmed Mr. Leach's state-
ment. He did not consider, after making inquiries on
the spot, that the foulness of the river was to be attri-
buted to the alleged cause. He had known the river for
32 years, but he had never experienced the annoyance
and nausea caused by the very impure state of the water
to the extent lately existing. He believed that a continu-
ation of hot and dry weather for two months more would
have caused serious illness in the metropoiis ; and, in
the event of the recurrence of a dry, hot summer, it was
fearful to contemplate the mischief which might ensue.
Although it was much to be deplored that the Lord
Mayor, as Conservator, had not the power to redress
this rapidly-increasing evil, it was to be hoped that the
Legislature would feel the necessity of immediately deal-
ing with a subject of such vital importance.
The LORD MAYOR expressed a fervent hope that the
matter would be at once taken up in Parliament.

The Bank of England have purchased for their West-
end branch establishment the mansion of the Marquis of
Anglesea (Uxbridge House), in Burlington Gardens,
Piccadilly, for a sum of 45,0001. or 47,0001.
FUNERAL OF Sin W. E. PARRY.—The funeral of the
late lamented lieutenant-governor of Greenwich Hospi-
tal, Rear-Admiral Sir W. E. Parry, is fixed for to-
morrow, at noon. The remains arrived on Sunday from
Ems, and will be placed in the officers' vault in the
Greenwich Hospital burial-ground.
NEWSPAPER " OBITUARY."—A few days ago we (Leeds
Mercury) announced the demise of two penny daily
newspapers in Manchester, which died in early infancy
from want of adequate nourishment. Since that time
two other penny journals have given up the ghost, viz.,
the Leeds and Yorksitire Daily Express and the Newcastle
Courier. The former was the offspring of the Leeds
Times, and it expired yesterday, aged 14 days, of actual
starvation.

The following is General de La Marmora's order of
the day to the Piedmontese troops on the occasion of
Lord Raglan's death :—" Soldiers !—Last night the
illustrious Field-Marshal Lord Raglan, Commander•in-
! Chief of the British army, expired after a short illness.
His long career, the important services rendered to his
country, his heroic courage, and the exemplary con-
stancy with which he bore with his army the hardships
and privations of a winter campaign, cause his loss to be
deeply lamented. Our army enjoyed his esteem, and
he did much to provide for its wants. Let us unite
with our brave allies in deploring his death and venerat-
ing his memory. "
THE FIRST PRIVATE HALL AT OXFORD UNDER THE NEW
ACT.--The Rev. E. A. Litton, M.A., Vice-Principal of
St. Edmund Hall, and formerly Fellow of Oriel College,
a double first-class man and Bampton lecturer for 1856,
proposes, under the enabling powers of the recent act,
to open a hall in Oxford for the reception of students.
After a careful consideration of the probable expenses
(801.) for the academical year, consisting, practically, of
three terms, each containing eight or nine weeks, has
been fixed on as the lowest sum compatible with pru,
dence. This icc'udes all the student's expenses, except
fees paid to the University for matriculation, or for de-
grees. The hall, we understand, w ill be opened next
term.