The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-26 00:00:00

Congress on the Sewage of Towns.

LEAMINGTON, Thursday.
The vexed question of " What to do with the sewage of
our large towns" was brought under discussion to-day. The
local authorities have become involved in a Chancery suit
with respect to their sewage water, which is here deodorised
by what is termed the "lime process," and then allowed to
run into the river Learn about a mile before its confluence
with the Avon. This is said by the Court of Chancery to be
anuisance to the residents on the banks of the river who na-
turally object to any imitation of the famous " stinks of
Cologne" being brought to their very doors. Whether the
congress which this day commenced its sittings is likely to
assist in the solution of the difficulty is another matter, as
land for irrigation purposes is difficult to obtain, and the
practicability of the " dry-earth closet" to large towns is a
subject of dispute.' The various plans of deodorisation
were freely discussed prior to the opening of the confer-
ence, and even one advocate of " torrefaction" was found
bold enough to enunciate the practicability of his theory,
and if this plan of making liquid sewage with the solid
refuse of the household at the sewage works and then
evaporating the water could be economically effected a
great step in advance would be made; If practicable at all
Leamington is the place to try it, but at the conference
itself the advocates of the dry earth closet mustered
strongly with an imposing array of facts, and the irrigation
scheme had its friends, who pointed to Croydon and Wor-
thing with pride. Tho congress assembled at 3 o'clock,
under the presidency of Lord Leigh, the Lieutenant of
Warwickshire. The interest excited was so great that
deputations were sent from Manchester, Macclesfield, and
other municipalities in the north of England, and at least
300 gentlemen assembled to listen to the opening address.

Lord LEIGH stated in a few brief remarks that at first
his opinion was that the sitting of the congress ought to
be delayed until after the royal commission had presented
their report, but he had received a requisition signed by
nearly every person of position and influence in the county
and neighbourhood, and he had bowed to their opinion.
He bad come there himself to listen, not to make a speech,
for ho felt the subject was one of which Messrs. Hawksley,
Menzies, and other gentlemen of eminence whom ho saw
around him would be able to give a clear exposition.

Mr. HawxsLEY, of London, then rose to read the first
paper. He stated in the first place that the social birthright
of every man was pure air and pure water, but when they
considered the number of diverse elements of which they
were composed, the question arose, was that purity a day
dream or were they to consider their contaminated streams
and atmosphere simply a nuisance to be endured? He be-
lieved otherwise, for he read in an old book, at least 3,000
years old, that earth was a purifier and absorber, and he
believed they were not altogether powerless to grapple
with the evil. Foul as some of the gases were they con-
tained the elements of the food of plants and of future
bounties of nature, for the natural sequence was from plant
to animal, animal to man, and from man to the eat th again.
China illustrated forcibly this truth, for though that coun-
try had been highly cultivated for more than 1,000 years,
it had not decreased in fertility, and even now in that gar-
den land they could gather two crops a year by properly
using the excreta and refuse of their bodies and their habi-
tations. While on looking at their own position there wore
abundant signs of weakness and of rottenness. The fester•
ing mass, instead of being the fertiliser of the earth, be-
came the cause of sickness, epidemic; and disease. He
illustrated this inductively by a reference to the Broad-
street pump, the foul Ater of which had caused no less
than GOO deaths in a single fortnight. The history of the
question was most simple. Up to within the last 50 years
people had been content to use open cesspools, which
quickly became a nuisance, and the washings from which
became intolerable. Half'a century ago a well-meaning in-
dividual invented water-closets, which wero approved of
at once by the public, and quickly became in general use.
Thus the unintentional error of one man became the
source of their present difficulty; and bade fair to sap the
health of the nation. He had invoked a monster which
even now overshadowed ten large towns and cast its bane-
ful and destructive effects over the land. Day by day
thousands of tons of animal refuse and human excreta
were washed into the sewers, and though they might
fondly imagine it was washed away a portion of the
gelatinous matter clung round the walls and sides of the
drains and became the constant source of disease. He in-
stanced the baneful effects of opening ono of these closed
drains in the neighbourhood of Grosvenor-square, and
pointed out that even though the sewage of London was
diverted from the Thames it would be fouled by other
towns higherup the river. The only sensible thing in the
whole was the attempt to utilise it by irrigation at the end