The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-26 00:00:00

even in the house itself. (Hear.) Ile wished not, how-
ever, to confirm the question to themselves, though he
was glad that it had come home to them, as but for that
the public nt !area) would perhaps never have been relieved,
as he now hoped they would be as SpeeCtly /19 possible,
from a nuisance which had poisoned the air of the metro-
polia, and which, if continued a few weeks, perhaps
even a few days, longer, might, with the present high
temperature, produce a pestilence, He would now
briefly refer to two or three cases which he had found in
the public papers of the previous day. In the first place
he learnt that Mr. Gurney, who had charge of the ven-
tilation of the houses, had addressed to the Speaker a
letter, in which he said, "That he can be no longer re-
sponsible for the health of the house ; that the stench
has made most rapid advance within two days ; that up
to Thursday be got fresh air draughts from the Star
Chamber Court ; but that when night came the poisonous
enemy took possession of the court, and so beat them
outright." In the Queen's Bench report, ho found the
following :—" Lord Campbell said, if he were assured
that the state of the atmosphere was such as to be dan-
gerous to the lives of those attending court he would ad-
journ that court. Was there a medical man present ?
Mr. J. Bredell Was sworn that he was compelled to leave
the court three times in consequence of the bad smells ;
he gave it as his opinion that it was dangerous to health
and to those attending. It would produce malaria and
typhus. His lordship said, in discharge of his duty he
would adjourn the court. The jury said the smell was
very offensive in the passages, but not so bad in court."
In the Court of Exchequer, the Lord Chief Baron, ad-
dressing the jury, said—"l will be as brief as possible
in my remarks, for this reason, that the river at low
tide has become so offensive, as many of you doubtless
know, that it becomes all who can to get away from its
banks as soon as possible. A juror—l went borne very
ill from it the first day of this trial, my lord. The Lord
Chief Baron—l am sorry to hear it, but many have like-
wise suffered. The stench from the river is most offen-
sive, and I think it right to take public notice of this,
that in trying this case we are really sitting in the midst
of a stinking nuisance." Again, there was an account
of a woman who attempted to commit suicide, and who
was nearly killed by the offensive rature of the water
which entered her stomach. A waterman having died
near the Tower, a jury which vat upon the body declared
that he died from the effects of the effluvia of the Thames.
An engineer was taken to St. Thomas's Hospital in
consequence of at ack arising from the same cause,
The bad smell extended all the way from Chelsea to
Greenwich. He bad himself taken several trips in steam-
ers for the purpose of testing the effect produced, and in
many parts of the river he bad great difficulty in stand-
, ing on deck. The following was from a report issued last
week by the medical officer of the Dreadnought :—" The
water of the Thames stinks most abominably. I cannot
but think that the foul air bas a deleterious effect gene.
rally on the health of the patients of this hospital, and I
kr o a that it has had something to do with the inducting
of fever in two cases on the orlop deck, the portals of
which are only a few feet abovathe surface of the water.
• Several men on board, myself among the number, have
suffered slightly from diarrheas." He had heard that
• along the banks of the river, and more particularly on
the Lambeth side, many workmenemployed there were
suffering from diarrheee, and that some of them had been
obliged to leave their work in consequence. They were
all aware that in cases of offensive effluvia it was not im-
mediately that cholera, or fever, or other feaiful calami-
ties visited society, but that it was after a certain time
when the frame got enfeebled and the blood was impove-
rished, that such e4ls appeared, and be feared that if
this nuisance went on unchecked the metropolis would
suffer as it had not done since the time of the plague.
(Hear.) He had no wish to exaggerate ; all he desired
was to bring home to her Majesty's ministers, who were
the guardians of the public health, a question which
affected not only the lightermen and workmen generally
in the vicinity of the Thames, but even the Sovereign in
her palace. They had expended thousands of pounds on
the pieoe of water extending from the Horse Guards to
Buckingham Palace, but of what advantage would that
expenditure be if the air along the banks were suffered
to be pestilenthall As regarded the remedy for this
nuisance, they were at present subject to the evils of a
double government, worse even than that of India.
This double government had, in fact, brought every-
thing to a dead lock. On the one side they had the
Metropolitan Board of Works with its engineers and
staff ; on the other aide they had the Chief Commis-
sioner of Works with his engineers and advisers.
Two propositions bad already been submitted by the
Metropolitan Boardof Works to the Chief Commissioner
of Works and rejected; a third proposition had been
submitted by the latter to the former, and the consi-
deration of it was, they were told, put off till next Octo-
leer. They bad now arrived at a point at which some-
thing must be done, and in his opinion the only way of
dealing with the matter satisfactorily to the public was
to place the responsibility where it ought to be, on the
shoulders of the Government, more particularly of the
minister who bad the special charge of that department.
Let that minister move a resolution far the appointment
of a commission—a paid commission, if the house pleased
—to carry out so much of the drainage of the metro-
polis as related to the main sewerage and the banks of
the Thames, and let them have full power to do every-
thing that was requisite to preserve the health of the
people. He wished to add a few words with regard to
the V ctoria sewer, for the state of which blame ap-
peared to him to attach either to the present or the late
Commissioner of Works. The construction of the Vic-
toria sewer was begun in 1849 or 1850. The original
cast was about 12,000/. ; but the concrete and btiek-
work were so bad that they soon had to be renewed eta
cost ef 16,000/. In the year 1355 the expenditure on
that sewer was 60,0001, and since that time it hal pro-
bably c05t.60,0001. more. For some time the outlet at
Percy's... Wharf was blocked up. After the filch had been
accumulating for months, the sewer was opened, and he
was to'd that it was Vie accumulated filth which was
thus eenth forth that more immediately affected the
house of parliament, and poisoned the atmosphere in
their vicinity. Having thus shadowed forth the re-
medy which he propose ! fur this evil, he would con
elude by putting to the noble lord the Chef Com-
Missioner of the B eerd of Works the following finer_
. tions :—" Whether it was true that the Victoria-
street sewer bad bad no proper outlet for many months
past, owing to its defective construction and partial
falling in ? Whether it be true that an outlet for all the
accumu'ated contents of the Vic oria-street sewer bad
quite recently been made in close proximity of Weeta
minster-bridge and the houses of parliament? How
large an area of London is drained into the Thames ?
.How much mcney has the Victoria-street sewer cost
from its construction to the present day ?
Mr. TITE wished to state a few facts in reference to
this important question. Having bestowed a great deal
of attention on the subject, he found that the London
sewage which was now being daily poured into the
Thames amounted to 90,000,000 gallons, while the
quantity of pure water that came daily through Ted•
ding on lock was only 400,000,000 gal ens. Mr. Gurney
stated that the sewage which was poured into the
Thames flowed down to the sea, but that instead of its
in'xing with the sea the greater part of it returned up
the ricer. Teat helve' the ea e, the remedying of the
evil was urdoub'ed yan x'retne y difficuit matter.
(Hear.) Time other day he a:tem:net:led the Chief Coin-
misaioner ef Works down tie river, their.object being
to ace er aio for themselves its genes condition. T, ey
found that by far the most effensive part of the rider was
over the mouth of the London Docks. Th-:t was an
evil who's was certainly not irrereediabto. The dock
companies generally had the p )wer of ohteining a good
supply of pure water ; but they ato wed x :eeeingly in:-
- pure water to accemul ete and flaw into the Tearnes,
and all that was requisite was that they should adopt
:pea-tires for having pure water pa-sed from time to
time into the it docks. The evil under which the house
-was now suffering wean he apprehended, owing in a
gicat degree to the extraordinary state of the atatio-
- sphere, which hail exhausted the upper streams, and if
so there could be no immediate remedy ; they must en-
- dnre it for the present. If it were true that the sewage
was returned from the Fea it would be of little use to
-embank the Thames. In 1845 a bill was brought in for
-the embanking of the Thames from that house to Bieck-
•friars-bridge at an estimated expense of 300,0001., but it
.was opposed by all who carried on business along the
shore; and the buying up of all the trades on the banks
-oldie Thames was out of the question. Iu the year
1854 two engineers were appointed to consider this
estueetioe, Mr. Bezalgette and Mr. fleywoed. They
!proposed intercepting sewers on bath sides of the
Thames, ta_be c 'retied on one side to Beiking-creek, and
on the Kent side about the same distanea 'clown. He
believed this plan to be perfectly practicable and ade-
quate, if to it was added the obtaining some land for the
porpoee of deodorising tbo sewage at those points. The
-expellee was very considerable, but he Lad been' assured
hy•Mr. -Bidder that day tbat for 40,0001. a-year the
whole-sewage of this metropolis might be deodorised
end retuned into the river, as was done at Leicester, in
.so.pure a state that it would not be iajurious to fish.
This seheme bad been rejected because it was said that
if the sewage was turned into the river at those points
it would be carried back to London ; but if to the plan
there was appended a scheme for deodorisation, that ob-
jection would be got rid of. This scheme of sewerage
might be carried out for 2,500,0001. He could not
suggest to the house that the sewage matter would pro-
duce one obi ling, for he thought it would be found use-
less as manure, as it had been at Leicester. Now,
what was the impracticable project ? It was proposed
to take these intercepting sewers twenty miles further
down, and pour their contents out in Sea Poach. Now,
if it were poured into the sea there, a very large pro•
portion of it would be returned, owing to its inclination
to A rat on the surface of the sea. He bad been assured
that very day that this plan would cost 10,000,000/. of
money. He thought it was perfectly easy for the Fiat
C nmnissioner to iaduce the dock companies to look
iota the matter so far as they were concerned—indeed,.
they were indictable for a nuisance ; but be believed,
from the high character of the gentlemen connected
with those companies, that they would readily take
put an end to the nuisance they occasioned.
The casee t
otecholera which had been referred to occurred
exactly at the Spot—the eastern entrance to the London
Docks—eshre
offence from foul matter was some-
thing inconceivab'
He bettered v, ry much of
could
3e
do this ;il was to i
the eYe gatiri'm
y coultded to this?. Government
tan Board of Works to call on the Metropr.li-
Ttliirsocweed in the directioo
he had pointed out,
y c ell not
at
vent a larger scheme. If the
earnd oparen-
to Barking, arid found it did not answer, thethee could
go
further, and the first expense would not be elynthiele least
thrown away. His only object in addressing
that, having paid some attention to the subjeet, ;Inc, WW4,88
desirous to direct the public mind in the light direclon
at this very important moment. He believed they bad
neither time tor means to 'set about etntanking the
river, bet if they set about carrying out the lean of in-
tercepting sewers, to which he had referred, he believed
it would lead to a good result. (dear, hoar.) He wished
to refer to another point. Mr, Gurney had mode a vain..