The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-19 00:00:00

CITY COMMISSION OF SEWERS.

Yesterday a Court was held for the despatch of pub-
Lc business. Mr. Deputy Peacock occupied the chair.

TIIE NEW CEHETEEY.

Mr. DAw, the chief clerk, read the following letter,
addressed to himself by Archdeacon Hale :

" Charterhouse, March 17.
" Sir,—l have the honour to transmit to you, for the
information of the Burial Board of the City of London,
copies of resolutions passed at two meetings of the incum-
bents of the City of London, held on the 6th and 13th
inst., at Sion College.—l remain, &c.,
(Signed) " W. H. HALE, Archdeacon.
"Joseph Daw, Esq."

" March 6.

" We, the undersigned incumbents of tie City of Lon-
don, being called upon under the authority of section 39,
15 and 16 Vic., c. 85, to make an arrangement for the due
performance of the burial service in the ground about to
be consecrated at Ilford as a burial-place for persons dying,
inhabitants or parishioners of our respective parishes, do
hereby agree to appoint a chaplain to act on our behalf,
and that such appointment shall be in force fur six months
from the date of the consecration of the ground at Ilford."
Signed by 39 incumbents.

"March 13.

" Resolved—That the Rev. C. J. Fox Taylor, curate of
St. Sepulchre's, be appointed chaplain of the new leurial
ground for six months from the date of the consecration
thereof, and that he be authorised to receive the fees due
to the incumbents for all interments at which he shall
officiate, and to retain to himself one moiety thereof, pay-
ing the ether moiety to the incumbents of the parish."
Mr. ABRAHAM said that the Court had appointed a
chaplain to officiate at the cemetery, and the incumbents
of the City had appointed another. The Court had
framed a table of fees and charges for interments, in
which they intended to include the fee payable to the
clergyman. It was quite clear, if the incumbents per-
sisted in the course pointed out by their resolution, that
all that the Court had done in that respect must be done
over again. He was very sorry to ray that parties who
attended the vestry slid not possess sufficient information
to explain to the ratepayers the real state of the case,
and therefore the clergyman, in the great majority of
instances, bad the thing their own way. How was it
possible to carry out the object of an Act of Parliament
when there were many persons who, instead of assisting
the Court, were acting entirely i❑ opposition to them 1
Such conduct was disheartening to those who had de-
voted much time and attention to the subject, and who
now found that they were pretty nearly as far from an
adjustment of the dispute as they were six months a;o,
in consequence of the cicroyrren insisting upon what
they called their rights. (Hear, hear.) In two or three
of the parishes the clergymen bad actually demanded a
fixed annual income for themselves, as well as for the
parish clerk and sexton. If the whole of the parishes
were to pursue a similar course of conduct, the demand
upon the Commission would be from 1,200/. to 1,5001.
a-year, or at the rate of 10s. for each interment.
Mr. IL L. TAYLOR—We arc not obliged to agree to
any fixed salary to these parties.
Mr. ABRAHAM—We are obliged to agree with what
the vestries do ; otherwise we must go to the Govern-
ment and get the law altered.
Mr. Ross, in moving "That the letter of Archdeacon
Hale, and the resolution of the incumbents be referred
to the General Purposes Co►xmittee," said that the in-
cumbents had the sole power of appointing a clergyman
to officiate at the cemetery. It was not to be supposed
that persons who had taken great care to have right's
secured them under the act would give them up because
the Court asked them to do so. The question was, whe-
ther it was policy to ran cownter to the resolutions of
tke clergy or not. The commission bad chosen to elect
a chaplain themselves, and they now found that the
clergy had nominated a chaplain of their own. He (Mr.
Ros,) found no fault with the clergy for doing this, they
alone having the power to make the appointment under
the act of Parliament. If the Court thought the act
prejedicial to the interests of the citizens, let them go to
Parliament and get it altered, and he (Mr. Ross) would
support them in their application, as he thought it very
desirable that the act should be amended, so that it
might operate beneficially to the citizens at large.
(Hear, hear.)

Deputy Hour seconded the motion.
Mr. B. L. TAYLOR said it was no use burthening
committee with any reference unless the Court gave
them a distinct notion of what they were to do. It ap-
peared to him that the Court had not done something
which the clergymen wished them to do in the first in-
stance. The clergy wanted to have a representative of
their own at the board to support their interests and
views. The Court did not concede that point, and hence
arose the difficulty. Had the Bishop of London been
communicated with ? It was necessary that the con-
sent of that right reverend prelate should be obtained
with reference to the selection of a clergyman to officiate
at Ilford, and until that was done he (Mr. Taylor)

thought the Court might as well wait, and not procee
any further in the matter. (Hear, bear.)
The motion was them put and carriod.
HEALTH OE THE CITY.
_

Dr. LETHEBY, the medical officer of health, presented
his weekly report, from which the following arc ex-
tracts :

" Guildhall, March 18, 1856.
" I append as usual the mortality returns for the City
of London during the week which ended on Srbturday last.
The total number of deaths was 62; of these 21 were
among children under five years of age, and 14 among per-
sons of 70 and upwards. The aggregate ages of these 14
old people were 1,119 years, giving an average of SO years
to each person, and one had reached the advanced age of
104. I regard this circumstance as an indication of the
fact that the conditions of life and health in this city are
unusually good. The chief causes of death during the last
week were the vicis,itu,les of temperature occasioned by
the bleak winds that have prevailed. Besides which there
were 4 deaths from fever, 2 from diarrhoea, 2 front small-
pox, 4 from scarlet fever, and 5 from consumption.
"In mem-Lance with the recite ,t forwarded to this
Court by several of the inhabitants of Holborn aid Brook-
street, I have inquired into the cause of the nuisance of
which they complained, and I find that two chemists,
namely, Mr. Button, of 146, Holborn, and Mr. Bolton, of
the same locality, are occasionally engaged in the manu-
fixture of chemicals which cause the evolution of acid 're-
oours wad other unpleasant smelling compound +• I hove
directed that Mr. Button should construct a hood over his
scud bath for collecting the acid vapours, that he should
discontinue the distillation of mum iatic acid, and that he
Shenk' adopt means for preventing the escape of sulphuret-
ted hydrogen. I have also directed that Mr. Bolton should
discontinue the manufacture of gun cotton. All this they
have undertaken to do, and I believe it will be antlicieat
to put a stop to the annoyance complained of."
The court then adjourned.