The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-20 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

NIS DAY.—Morning, 4h. 44m.—Afternoon, 4b. 59m.
TO..OtORR 0 -vv.-Morning, sh. 16m.—Afternoon. sh. 30w.

,
Stilt

LONDON, MONDAY, JULY 20, 1863.

Unaccustomed to victory, the surrender of Vicks-
burg has fairly turned the heads of President LIN-
COLN and his Cabinet. The speeches made by the
President and Mr. SEWARD on the occasion of the
" serenade" by which the victory was celebrated,
"even the friendly reports could not invest with
dignity," while General HALLECR claimed for him-
self a considerable share of the triumph because he
had been the means of retaining General GRANT in
command. But when the serenading and the self-
congratulations have subsided, what is the actual
amount of the advantage obtained by the elated
Federals. Vicksburg has been surrendered, and
the garrison are prisoners, it is true; butt the re-
treating army of General LEE, reinforced by new
detachmente, is concentrating its strength for fresh
action. The battle of Gettysburg, which took
place upon the 3d instant, was followed by the
retreat of General LEE'S division ; the results of
the battle, were, however, almost equally disas-
trous to both armies. The loss sustained by the
Confederates in killed, wounded, and prisoners is
estimated at about 20,000 men, and that of the
Federals is said to amount to the same number.
The Federals have the advantage of maintaining
possession of the battleground, but General LEE,
retaining his artillery, and preserving his army in
good order, has during his retreat been reinforced
by the whole of General BRAGG'S army, and by a
portion of that of General BEAUREGARD. The last
accounts left the Confederate army on the banks of
the Potomac. This river, swollen by recent rains,
is now six feet above the fording level.
It is therefore doubtful whether General LEE
will attempt to pass it. Instead of retreating into
Virginia, it seems probable that he will turn upon
his pursuers and give them battle. " The old
Antietam battle-ground"may probably be the scene
of the new engagement. The next despatches will
be looked for with interest. We shall be in no way
surprised to find that President LINCOLN has been
somewhat premature in his serenades, and that
General FIALLECK and Mr. SEWARD have congra-
tulated themselves without reason. Meanwhile, it
appears that the Conscription Act is to be enforced
immediately throughout the whole Nortb, the first
call being for 300,000 men. "The drawing has
already commenced ;" where will the end be ? " The
Americans will soon settle their own differences, if
only foreigners will keep their hands
os',"
claims Mr. SEWARD. Time will show. The
40,000 men disabled by the indecisive action of
Gettysburg afford a melancholy commentary on the
effects of Civil War. Are the 300,000 men now
being raised to follow the same sad inglorious
fate ? Uatil how long shall this disastrous state
of things endure ?

Lord CAMPBELL proposes to bring the American
question under the consideratio❑ of the House of
Lords this evening. His motion will, wit how
doubt, only obtain a similar result to that brought
about by the motion of Mr. ROEBUCK. We must
fold our hands and look on while the work ( t
slaughter proceeds. In the meanwhile the general
sympathy and interest so strongly manifested
throughout the country will not be without their
effect in the ultimate but tardy Pacification.

A large number of members of both houses, on
Saturday, paid a visit of in.piction to what is cer-
tainly an important and remarkable work. Though
a system of drainage can scarcely be called a work
of art and architectural beauty, it claims the first
rank in undertakings of a utilitarian character, and
grg skill,
the present works bear high testimony
in
enin engineering
to the
l
ex-
tent and the resources of English
The vast scope of the plan, and the vigour and com-
prehensiveness with which it has been carried out,
are very remarkable, and the importance of securing
efficient drainage, in a sanitary point of view, as
well as the large sums demanded by the scheme,
elevate it into the position of a national undertak-
ing. The condition of the metropolitan sewage has
long been highly unsatisfactory, and the state of
Old rather Thamts has been a standing disgrace to
the City, as well as a continual source of annoyance
to residents in his vicinity, or passengers over his
dark and dirty waters. The rapid and extraor-
dinary development of the metropolis has nature::
altered the aspect of affairs since London wan in
eluded within the square mile surrounded by the
City walls, In those days, as Mr. BAZALGETTE
observed in his explanatory address to the visitors,
no inconvenience was felt from the sewage when
discharged into the Thames and diluted by its
tidal waters. But, in our time, when en every
side, streets and squares stretch far away into
the country, when the centres of the
busy hive remind us in their nomenclature
that the days are not long past when they wen.'
" tads" and rural highways, the old system is no

longer found to work satisfactorily. Great part of
the town, too, is below the level of high water, and
this is especially the case near the river on the
southern side, where the sewers are forced to run
below underground cellars, which themselves are
beneath highwater mark. The consequence natu-
rally is, that these sewers can only discharge their
contents into the river at low water, being tide
locked for eighteen hours out of the twenty-four,
and apt in times of heavy and long'continued rain
to overflow and flood the basements of the surround-
ing houses. It is long since these evils and annoy-
ances were observed and discussed, but the vast
outlay required prevented any steps being taken
towards remedying matters until 1856, when the
drainage of the metropolis and the purification of
the river were entrusted to the Metropolitan Board
of Works. The difficulties in the way of the un-
dertaking have been great, but they have been
surmounted by patience and skill. The varying
quantities of sewage, the rainfall in heavy storms,
n d the lowness of some of the districts, have been
among the principal obstacles. The proj,-ctors
have very sensibly acted on the principle of carry-
ing off as much sewage as possible by gravitation,
thus bringing one of the great natural fit-oes to
their aid instead of trusting to pumping. An
tion of
t e
reduction
storm
im-
portant point in their scheme is h
pumping to its minimum, while
waters, as they call the excess of the rainfall,
are provided for by " the conversion of the existing
mainsewers into storm overflows," which shall
carry the surplus waters into the Thames when the
intercepting sewers are full. On each side of the
river there are three main tunnels which divide
London into three departments, and intercept all
existing sewers flowing into the Thames, carrying
their contents to Barking-creek on the north side,
and Crossness-point in the Erith marshes on the
south. These three tunnels are called respectively
the High, the Low, and the Middle Level. The
first of these runs from Hampstead to Bow, and is
about 8 miles long, gradually increasing in its cir-
cumference from 4 feet 6 inches to 12 feet 6 inches.
It drains an area of no less than 14 square
being laid at a depth of from 20 to 26 feet. The
middle level is still lower, being more than 30 feet
underground. It extends from Kensal-green to
Bow, and is nearly finished. The low level reaches
from Cremorne to Abbey-mills, near Stratford, its
waters being raised at Bow by engines to the level
of the others ,thence to descend by their own gravity
to the great outfall at Barking. One part of the
low level will pass through the Thames Embank-
ment, and this the last item in the northern system
of drainage, is expected to be completed in two
years and a half. In the southern districts the
arrangements are similar, and are proposed to be
fully completed by this time next year. The con-
tents of the high level sewer was on Saturday
turned on for the first time direct into the river.
The visitors proceeded in the first place to
Crossness Point and examined the extensive and
elaborate works there in progress, of which a re-
servoir covering an area of six acres, and capable of
containing twenty millions of gallons, is but a
part. The floor of this immense receptacle is of
Portland stone, and its roof, not yet completed, is
to be formed of brick arches resting upon rows of
brick piers. Twice in the day it will be emptied
into the liver in order to prevent any accumulation

of sediment, a large tunnel on the land side wilt be
opened, as soon as the reservoir is emptied whose
waters rushing through will wash it out. The

main culvert delivering the sewage into the river
from the reservoir is of great sits, and built with
brick sides, and the roof supported by iron girders.

As evidence of the vast expense and labour entailed
by these works, we may remind the reader that a
reservoir of even greater extent is required on the
Northern side, where it has to cover ten acres and
contain forty millions of gallons. The works on the
Northern side of the river are however less for-
midable, owing to thed,ffereuce of the level and the

conscqueut power to discharge the sewers by
gravitation instead of by pumping. The visitors
were equally surprised and gratified at the pro-

gross already made, as well as by the vast size
and comprehensive character of the works. They
were regaled with a subterranean lunchacn beneath

the vaults of the great reservoir and in this
singular spot, speeches were made, healths pro.
posed, congratulations exchanged, and all the forme
of a regular banquet gone through. Mr.
TIIWAITES, the chairman of the Metropolitan
Board of Works, presided, as was due, at this
underground festival, and we may suppose looked
round on the result of the labours of his Board
with feelings of unmixed gratification. Lord
STANLEY, who was among the visitors, in a brief
address distinguished by his usual good sense, con-
gratulated the Board on the fulfilment of this great
undertaking, and remarked that although the
works were strictly of a utilitarian character, thy
magnitude of the design, and the perfection of 'the
execution, deserved the epithet of magnificent.
London, added the noble lord, had long been
said to be the worst drained city in Europe,
hut it would soon stand at the head of all
cities in that respect. Mr. TriwaiTEs, in acknow-
ledging the compllment pain him in drinking his
health, remarked that the cost of the work would
he found to have exceeded the estimate by £900,00n
owing to bricks having risen in price, and to ttit
bricklayers having struck for higher wages. Th.,

public, however, are not likely to begrudge the
amount,see this important undertaking
~atiB pe
ilye carried out. It will aecoroplisithe
0 ri f they

ouble purpose of improving the drainage and of
d
purifying the river, and, in both cases, tend 4reatly
to the bent& of the public health. Ventilation and

. _
drainage are the two great secrets of health in towns,
and now that we are in a fair way to secure the most
catly and difficult of these necessaries we may hope
that a larger supply of the common yet priceless
blessing of pure air will soon be brought into our
dwellings.

The report of the Commissioners
Employment of Children is well iv
ap-
deration. Some time since the Government
ocrotntcere y
ofni concerning
ntshi the-
a royal commission to inquire into the em-
Ploythent of children and young persons in trades
and manufactures not regulated by law. The Com-
missioners have taken note of children engaged ir
potteries, lucifer match manufactures, lace and
hosiery manufacturers, and chimney sweep-
ing. They have reported the result of their
varied experience, and they recommend the adop
tion of various alterations and improvements. 'I 'bey
advise that in potteries, the premises should be im•
proved by a better plan of ventilation, and also that
overtime in works shall be discontinued ; also that a
medical inspector watch over these regulations for
the period of two years, and that afterwards the
duty be carried on by the inspectors of factories. The
next recommendation would be of incalculable bens
fit, but its adoption would be more difficult to carry
out. They suggest the gradual introduction of the
half-time system, so that the children may have
more opportunities afforded them for recreation and
education, and that.on attaining the age of thirteen,
each child be presented with a certificate of the
" amount of education received." The most
deleterious occupation on the list is that
of the lucifer manufacture. Tbis trade
,Gl3 children. It
furnishes employment for 1

- -