The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVE APRIL 2, 1862.

CITY COMMISSION OF SEWERS.

Yesterday, at the weekly meeting of the Commis-
sioners of Sewers, held at Guildhall, Mr. De Jersey
in the chair, Dr. Letheby, the medical officer of
health, reported on the state of 171 houses that had
been inspected during the week, and submitted a
list of 128 places for sanitary improvement. lie
likewise reported that the markets, slaughter-
houses, and cow-houses of the city had been duly
inspected in the week, and that the officers bad
seized 4,8711 b., or rather more than two tons, of
meat, and 179 head of wild fowl, as unfit for human
food. It consisted of 27 sheep, 3 calves, 7 pigs, 31
quarters of beef, and 36 joints of meat; 41b. of it
were putrid, 4,4601 b. were diseased, and 3701 b. from
animals that had died from natural causes. All of
it had been destroyed. On Friday last Mr. Bruce,
of Fox and Knot yard, was summoned before the
justice for having received into his slaughter-house
the carcase of a cow that had died from pleuro-
pneumonia in a London cow-house, and dressed
it as food. He was fined £2 and costs. The
mortality returns were a little below the average
for the season. Last week the number of deaths
was 58, whereas the proportion for the correspond-
ing week of the last six years was 63; 34, or more
than half the deaths,were among children of less than
five years of age,and 12 were among old persons of 60
and upwards. The chief causes 'of death were as
follows :—Phthisis, 4 ; pneumonia, 6 ; bronchitis,
11 ; mesenteric disease, 5 ; whooping-cough, 3 ;
croup, 3; continued fever, 3 ; and scarlet fe7er, 1—
making together 11 deaths from tubercular diseases,
18 from inflammatory affections of the lungs, and
10 from diseases of the zymotic class. Sixty-three
births were registered in the week, namely, 35 boys
and 28 girls. Mr. Newman, one of the inspectors,
said, in reply to Mr. Young, that in one cow-house
he found no less than 24 cows in a diseased state,
and which, notwithstanding, were regularly milked
for public use. He had rPpowtod Oao LU the
Luvdl,4l umcer. Mr. Haywood, the engineer of the
Commissioners, called their attention to the nui-
sance, both to the neighbouring inhabitants and to
the public, caused by the hoarding at the corner of
Eastcheap, which projected far into the public road,
and had impeded the foot and carriage traffic for
tha last 18 months. The matter was referred to
the General Purposes Committee, with the view to
a speedy remedy. A communication was read from
Mr. Shepard, one of the directors of the Carburet-
ting Gas Company, with whom the Commissioners
recently entered into a contract to apply the process
by way of experiment to the public lighting of a
district in the city, describing the progress of the
work, and stating that they had fitted up 1,200 car-
buretors to the public lamps in the district allotted
to them, by which there would be a saving of 30s.
on each lamp in the year, without any diminution
in illuminating power. The Improvement Com-
mittee reported that they had succeeded, after nego-
tiation, in inducing the directors of the Oriental
Bank in Threadneedle-street to set back the line of
their gates so as to range with the line of the Baltic
coffee-house, without requiring any compensation,
from which great public convenience would result.
The Court then adjourned.

HEALTH OF LONDON DIMING THE WEEK.

(From the Registrar-General's Weekly _Return.)

The deaths in London, which had fallen to 1,271
in the third week of March, rose to 1,360 in the
fourth week (that ended last Saturday). Bat the
mortality is not high relatively to the average mor-
tality for the end of March in 10 previous years,
which when corrected for increase of population is
1,560.

The deaths from typhus, which had been 123 and
108 in the first and second weeks of the month, and
had declined to 63 in the third, rose again to 89
last week; 11 of this number occurred in the Lon-
don Fever Hospital. Out of 25 deaths from measles
4 were returned in the west sub-district of Mile-end
Old Town; out of 43 from scarlatina there were 4
in the west sub-district of Islington, 4 in Peckham.
Diphtheria was fatal in 21 cases.

In a family living at '249, Tottenham-court-road,
the father died of phthisis, two children of whoop-
ing-cough, all of whom, with a third child, have
died within a week, and the registrar states that the
four bodies will be buried together.
On the 27th March, at 18, Edgware-road, the
son of a jeweller, aged 6 years, died of diphtheria,
after six days' illness. Mr. Ancell, the medical atten-
dant, writes in reference to this case as follows:

"This is the second case of death from diphtheria
occurring in its most malignant and intractable
form at 18, Edgware-road, Marylebone, within 15
days.. The drains belonging to this house were dis-
turbed by the authority of the vestry of Maryle-
bone on the 26th of November last, and kept open
until the 7th of December. The drain, which is
stated to have been a perfectly efficient one, and
passed from the back of this and the adjoining
houses to the sewer, was reversed and carried
through the basiement to another sewer. This was
done, not on account of any effluvium or defect of
drainage in this house, but ostensibly on account of
the drains being out of order at 33, Upper Seymour-
street, the next street, running at a right angle.
The portion of the old drain belonging to this house
was bricked up, and accordingly the two sections
of the old drain about this house as cul de sacs, the
alteration having been carried out in this house
only. Since this disturbance of the drain .and
alteration of its course it is stated that the water-
closets, &c., of the house have never been as free
from effluvium as heretofore, and it is impossible to
disassociate the occurrence of this malignant disease
in this pArticular house and family from the cir-
cumstances herein stated relating to the drainage."
Last week the births of 1,041 boys and 1,083
girls, in all 2,124 children, were registered in Lon-
don. In the 10 corresponding weeks of the years
1852-61 the average number (corrected) was 2,091.
METROPOLITAN WATERS IN MARCH, 1862.
The total impurity in the London waters, accord-
ing to the analyses of Dr. Robert Dundas Thomson,
F.R.S., is somewhat less in each sample than in the
preceding month, while the organic matter in cer-
tain cases is greater. Those containing the maxi-
mum quantities of organic impurity are the East
London, Kent, West Middlesex, and Lambeth.
Some of the specimens, as that of Chelsea, were
clear, while others, as that of Southwark, were
somewhat turbid. For the sake of comparison the
composition of a surface well is given; it yielded
decided evidence of the presence of oxidized sewage.
Total impurity Organiehn-
per gallon. purity.
gra. or deg. gra. or deg.
0.0 0.0

Distilled Water
Loch Katrine water, new supply
to Glasgow (March) 2'35 •GOS
Manchester Water Supply (March) 3'33 •GBO
Pump, Star-lane, Fulham 98'96 9.52

- -
THAMES COMPANIES.
Chelsea
Southwark
West Middlesex 20.68 2.16
Grand Junction 21'13 1•76
Lambeth
OTHER COMPANIES.

Kent ' 25'00 240
East London
New River _ _ 17.92 I'oo

The table is read thus—Loch Katrine water contains in the
gallon 215 degrees or grains of foreign matter in solution, of
which •605 degrees or grains are of vegetable or animal

At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
height of the barometer in the week was 29.284 in.
The reading of this instrument was 29.90 in. on
Sunday, and it fell to 29.05 in. on Friday. The
mean temperature of the air in the week was 47.9
deg, which is 5.5 deg above the average of the same
week in 43 years (as determined by Mr. Glaisher).
The mean daily temperature was below the
average on Sunday; it was more than 11 deg
above the average on Monday and Tuesday, and
continued above it the rest of the week. The
highest day temperature was 63.6 deg on Monday.
The lowest night temperature was 34.9 deg, and it
occurred on the Sunday preceding. The range of
temperature in the week was therefore 28.7 deg.
The mean daily range was 12-7. The range on
Friday was only 5.2 deg. The difference between
the mean new-point temperature and air tempera-
ture was 2'2 deg. The mean degree of humidity of
the air was 93, complete saturation being repre-
sented by 100, which point was reached on Sunday,
and nearly reached on three other days. The wind
was very variable ; it was alternately south-east and
south-west till Friday afternoon, when it turned to
north-east. The rain measured 0 84in, more than
half an inch having fallen on Sunday. The mean
of the highest temperatures of the water of the

Thames was 47.7 deg; the mean of the. lowest was
45.5 deg. On Saturday a thermometer in the water
rose to 50.6 deg, the highest temperature of the air
on that day having been 49 deg.

said it no doubt rested entirely on the evidence of
Mr. Westall, the gentleman who had struggled
with the burglars so bravely.
The jury, after ten minutes' consideration, found
the prisoner guilty.
The learned Judge, in passing sentence, said the
crime was one of the most serious which could be
committed, and, as it had been accompanied with
great violence, and the prisoner had been guilty of
wounding as well as of a burglary, it would have
been his duty, if the case had occurred at the last
assizes (before the act of last session abolishing the
punishment of death in several other cases), to pass
sentence of death ; as it was, be could not do less
than sentence the prisoner to six yeate' penal ser-
vitude. . _

(Before Lord Chief Justice Erie.)
BATTERSHALL V. FITZGERALD.

This was an action for false imprisonment. The
defendant did not justify the charge, and pleaded
not guilty.
Mr. M. Chambers, Q.C., and Mr. C. Wood were
for the plaintiff; Mr. Sergeant Ballantine was for
the defendant. _

The plaintiff had gone with one Capt. M'Can to
Brighton, where they bought a horse, for which
they gave a check of the latter, which was not
honoured. At Riegate the defendant, who was a
friend of the seller, by his desire gave the plaintiff
into custody on a charge of felony. The charge
was dismissed, and this action was brought.
Mr. Sergeant Ballantine, who was not in a posi-
tion to call witnesses, addressed the jury as to
damages, and
The Lord Chief Justice left the case to them on
that point.
They found for the plaintiff—Damages £25.
TAYLOR Y. JONES, TftE YOUNGER.

The plaintiff in this action complained that the
defendant had thrown heated oats in his eyes,
whereby he was seriously injured.
Mr. Sergeant Ballantine and Mr. Laxton were
for the plaintiff; Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Holl were
for the defendant.

The plaintiff was a labourer who had been engaged
as a "corn runner,' in taking up corn out of barges
nt the dofontinnt'a viltrr. On Fan 1, as he
swore, he saw the defendant take up a handful of
damaged oats (which were in a heated state) and
dash it in his face. He said he cried oat, " Oh,
you have blinded me !" and that he had suffered
great pain, and had been injured in his eye. He
also swore that he had,compiained to the defendant
about it.

The defendant was called, and distinctly denied
that he had thrown anything at the plaintiff ; and
the father was also called, and confirmed the con-
tradiction as to the complaint alleged to have been
made.

Mr. Sergeant Ballantine made a very energetic
appeal on the part of the plaintiff in reply ; and,
The Lord Chief Justice having summed up the
case to the jury, they found a verdict for the plain-
tiff—damages, £l5.