The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-26 00:00:00

THE SER.PEIV.TIZIE.

Why should not the Serpentine be cleansed fie m
all its impel itre3 in the same way that the Orna-
mental Water in St. James's Park has recently
been purified ? Sir Berijamin Hall, in this mat-
, ter, sot an example which Isere John. Mennen
would do well to follow. There has not been in
our recslieetion a more thoroughly auccess'ul im-
provement wither the metropolis than the one
which the late Commie,ioner of PfuhboligcooWd ocrokas
.
effected in St. James's Park. All
sequences predicted by the advocates of the scheme
have actually been obtained, and not one single in-
convenience of the many foretold IT its opponents
has followed from its adoption. There we have a
clear, bright a,est. of water, where before there
was a truck, muddy compound, reeking with
offensive smells. Chi'dree cin play with impunity,
and in the very height of the dog-days tee Lon-
doner may Thai refreshment without a drawback in
the beautiful gardsns of St. James's Park. Sir
Benjamin Hall too has astredly conve-ted London
skating into a pestene which may be indulged in
without darner to life. Befere the days cif his
se iileship a certain number of vistirus were dr nod
every winter in St. James's Park as 'a
Matter of
course. Ti is annual sacrifice of humsn life was
part of Death's metropolitan bill of fare. No one,
of course, would have attempted to deny that
prima facie it was rather a pity that a certain
inumberin
Sr.t
James'so /s
Park,
e e o.) shouldy ould be drowned ever ar
bet then there were year
cautions adopted in ferour of the skating classes.
Great boards, inscribed with the word "Danger"
in large characters, were stuck up wherever the ice
was rotten. Humane Society's men were stationed
along the banks for the rescue of the victims. They
were armed with instruments Rhich, as it seemed,
it would have required the fervent imagination of
Dante to conceive as applicable to the limbs and
bodies of drowning men. Until Sir Benjamin
Hall's time the bright idea of doing away with the
possibility of danger altogether, and of remitting
those strange instruments of torture to some mu-
seum of antiquities fur the edification of our horror-
stricken posterity, never crossed the official brain.
The St. James's water is now pleasant and ref,eih-
ing in the warm summer afternoons ; it is made
shallow enough to be safe in winter.
Now, why should not the Serpentine be taken
in hand in a similar way ? Here we are about
t') scatter millions broadcast for the sake of puri-
fying the Thames ; why net spare one thought to
this broad sheet of water which lies weltering in
the midst of our favourite park ? In the great
heats it stinks so badly—in' the winter seassn it
is such a d-a•h-trap to the skaters. Last week a
very numerous meeting was held to consider 'this
subject. Among the speakers was Dr. Copeland.
"In 1845," said ill's gentleman, "I had evi-
dence in my own practice of persons who were
effected by the noxious smells arising from the
Serpentine, who did not live near it, but were
simply accustomed to walk there morning or even-
ing. The banks of the Serpentine are frequented
by many of the higher classes, and I believe the
pallor of the countenance is as much caused by the
Serpentine as by the dissipation of the London
season." From one grade of seciety let us pass to
another which lies at the other extremity of the
social scale. It has been ascertained that upon an
average 200,000 persons take their evening bath
every summer in the Serpentine. Now, we are
perfectly aware that the practice of wallowing for a
time in mud is highly recommended by many
eminent German physicians in cases of confirmed
rhsumetism, sciatica, dec. We would, however,
remark, in the first place, that in the Serpentine the
filth is too much in solution fo • us to expect cura-
tive effects frstn it iu this direction rand; secondly,
that the 200,000 bathers are really desirous of
bathing in water, not of soaking in mud. Now,
surely these poor persons are deserving of some
tle consideration. They can't get to the sea side,
they can't even make their way to any part of
the Thames where a "header" would not prove
iestantly fatal. They are mainly youths of the
artisan class, who look forward to their plunge
and swim al the great feature of enjoyment in
the summer tine e Surely there would be some
satisfaction in so purifs erg the Serpentine that it
should be a source of health to so many thousand
poor persons ? We have said nothing of the
danger which arises in consequence of the un-
certain depth of the present polluted sheet of liquid.
Bathers are drowned iu the Serpentine every year,
and so are skaters, in even larger proportion than
the skaters On the old Se James's water. It is only
right to add !hat every year this dirty lake is be-
coming more and more a source of inconvenience
and disease to a noble class of terraces and squares
which are rising up at no great distance from its
soutbern bank.

Now, the cost of effecting th's improvement and
of putting the Serpentine in equally good condi-
tion w i:h the Ornamental Water in St. James's
Park would be just 20,0001. !—surely apaltry BUM
when we look to the dc pth of the paymaster's
pocket, and the iniportance of the °led to be at-
tained. For this sum the bottom cf that great
sheet of filth could be purified, levelled, and covered
with concrete, so as to leave an uniform depth of 4
or 5 feet of pure water. The engine rs who havd
carried through the works in St. James's Park s)
successfully answer for the result in the eas of the
dirty Serpentine. Why should it not be done
Had Sir Benjamin Hall confirm d in office he
would have done if. Why does not Lord John
Manners think it worth his while to earn a cheap
but well-deserved popularity by conn ;cling his
11kM9 with so great an improvement ? As we sse,
the present Commissioner denies the dirt. There
is no reason why another Cimmissitner, still
wore happy in denial, should not ignore Loudon.
Lord John Manners says that lie bas seen little
boys " lap up" the water of the serpentine. We
say that if the noble Commissiore: will name any
particular species of garbage -which exists in the
London strets, we will find instances of little boys
who are prepared to " gobble it up." Will Lord
John Manners himself drink a cool pot of Serpen-
tine water ? That would be something like a test.
We do not believe, if the matter were properly
representel to the hou,e, that it would refuse a
liberal contribution from the public purse in aid of
the outlay. Whatever may be said about the
Thames, it is clear enough that the provincial visi-
tors, their wives, and their children, derive quite
as much satisfaction from the Serpentine, and use
its banks quite as much for the purpose of recrea-
tion, as the regular Londoners.—Times.