The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-08 00:00:00

The Great Sewer at Kingston,

The river Thames, from Staines to Yantlett Creek, is in
the care and custody of the corporation of London, in their
capacity of Conservators of the Thames. Some few years
ago the attention of that portion of the metropolis through
which the Thames flows was directed to the noxious exha-
lations which in hot weather proceeded from the bosom of
the old river, and it was found necessary that something
should bo done to check the frightfully pestiferous condition
into which the Thames was rapidly subsiding. Had the river
merely occasioned offence to a few thousand of the ordinary
lieges, it might possibly have been allowed to flow on un-
checked, spreading death and destruction along its margin.
But, as chance would have it, the palace of the Legis-
lature was built upon its brink, so that the senses of noble
senators and of representative men, who were stived up
in committee all the summer through, were grievously
offended by the pollution of the river. Numercus tempo-
rary expedients were tried without avail. It was in vain
that thousands of bushels of limo were thrown into the
turbid stream. The effect of the disinfectants was nil, and
the steamers went on churning up the unhealthy compound
until a threatened plague called for strenuous measures.
After a time Parliament interfered, and the intervention of
the Commissioners of Sewers was sought. It was found
that day by day the state of the river got worse, and that
this growing unwholesomeness was occasioned by the in-
cessant emptying into its waters of innumerable sewers.
Then was devised the great system of drainage which, at a
cost of some millions sterling, is now being carried out—a
scheme so grand and comprehensive that it puts all the
boasted drainage of ancient Rome to the blush. Not a me-
tropolitan sewer was henceforth to empty its foul contents
into the Thames, but all was to be deodorised or conveyed
down miles away somewhere beyond Barking Reach. So
far a great good at an enormous cost was to be achteved,
and the river was to become pure and limpid, such as trout
and salmon might disport in, as in the days when sewers
and steamboats were alike unheard of. Suddenly it became
known that Kingston and Surbiton, places where the popu-
lation is increasing with greater rapidity than in any other
metropolitan suburb, were making grand preparations for
discharging all their sewage into the Thames I So that, in
fact, while the stream below was to be kept uncontaminated
from local nastiness, the good folks of Kingston were to
got rid of all their sewage by calmly discharging it into the
river, to flow down with the stream to Teddington, and
thence up and down with each succeeding ebb and flow of
the tide. Now, although this was a very simple way of eas-
ing Kingston of a nuisance, it did not seem consistP,tit with
the exertions of the Board of Sewers to purify the Thames.
Besides, if Kingston were to do this, Why not Thames
Ditton, Moulsey, Hampton, Sunbury, Walton, and other
of the rapidly growing places along the banks of the river I'
Small as the evil might be at first, it was evidently a grow.
ing one ; and unless checked in time its effect would be to
thwart every effort which had been made to render the
Thames a sweet and wholesome river. Accordingly, as
there happened to be a new Conservancy Bill before Parlia-
ment, the promatera introduced a clause to meet these carer,
by preventing the enlargement of any existing sewer in
pal ts of the river beyond the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan
Board of Works, The Kingston people, however, were very
anxious to carry out their " little game," and they prevailed
upon Mr Butt, the Vice President of the Board of Trade,
so to amend this clause as to exempt Kingston from its
operation. Other members of Parliament resisted this, and
the bill we safely through the House of.. Commons. In
the Lords, however, the entire clause was rejected on a
technical ground of want of proper notice; so that the bill
as passed contains no enactment on the subject. Meantime
the Conservators of the Thames have obtained an injunc-
tion to prevent the corporation of Kingston proceeding
further with their sewage works until the trial of a cause
set dawn for hearing at Michaelmas. Tho question as it
stands is a difficult one. But we trust that our authorities
will find some other woclo of getting rid of their song°