The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-13 00:00:00

Metro; olitan Board of Works.

At the usual weekly meeting of the members of
the board yesterday—Sir John Thwaites, the chair-
man presiding—the cash statement showed the cash
balances to Oct. 8, 1866, to be £695,097 14s. 2d. ;
and cheques not presented £8,515 12s. 3d.

A deputation attended on the board from the
District Board of Works for Poplar to present a
memorial from the inhabitants of that district, pray..
ing for the appropriation of a site of land for the
purposes of health and recreation in that district.
The memorial set forth that at the early part of this
year a very favourable opportunity presented itself
of opening a negotiation with the Secretary of State
for India for the purchase of the- buildings and
grounds situate in the East India Dock-road, and
for many years used as ahns-houses for the -officers--
a-the East Indid. Cuil.pany. The memorialists had
been strongly urged by the trustees of Poplar, and
by a very generally expressed wish of the inhabi-
tants, embodied in a memorial with upwards of 3,000
signatures, obtained at very short notice, and the
negotiations were satisfactorily arranged to pur-
chase the ground for the use of the inhabitants for
the purpose of being laid out and maintained as
an open space. The ground is situate on the
south side of the East India Dock-road,
and has a frontage in the High-street, Poplar, con-
taining a measurement of three and a half acres,
and is agreed to be sold to the memorialists for the
sum of £10,500. The following is the estimate fur-
nished by their surveyor of the cost of purchasing
and laying out the ground, viz.:—Purchase-money,
£10,500 ; enclosing the ground £2,300 ; laying out
£250 ; law charges, £5O ; total, £13,100. Deduct
for old materials to be sold by action £l,OOO, leav-
ing a total of £12,100 to be provided. It also set
forth that the nearest open space is the Victoria-
park, which is a distance of three miles from Poplar,
and the memorialists were anxious to do all in their
power towards the health of the district, as it had
buffered much from epidemics. It concluded by
asking the board to grantsuch a sum of money towards
the cost of the purchase of the land as might be
deemed fair and equitable.
After some discussion, in which the project was
most favourably received by the board, it was una-
nimously referred to the Works Committee for con-
sideration and report.

Mr. FREEMAN rose and moved the resolution of
which he had given notice :—" To Lefer the question
and
to
o n
r
of the water supply of the metropolis to the Works
report General Pur
poses
prCesoomntmnittatetee,
of
fitthhe an
lawas
instruc-
tion
re.
gatds constant supply to each house contained in the
saveral Companies and Metropolitan Acts, oil the
system of constant supply now in operation in Glas-
gow, Nottingham, and other towns, and to bring up
suggestions for such an amendment of .the law and
improvement of the existing machinery of distrterb iu-
tion as would ensure a constant supply owa to
every house within the jurisdiction of the board."
Mr. WESTERTON seconded the motion.
After some discussion,
Mr. LE BRETON said the motion of Mr. Freeman
was not so large in its scope as it ought to be ; and
in no hostile spirit he should move an amendment
to it, which was—., That the question of the water
supp:iy of the metropolis be referred to the Works
and General Committee to report thereon, with Such
suggestions as they may deem advisable for the
purpose of obtaining an increased supply, and of
supply
was most of water,
better quality."
Mr. HOWES seconded the amendment.
Mr. NEWTON said that in some parts of the east
butend tobfaLt oun.usdonnottheinretwnoasseapcnornts hstawntesrueppi
needed by the poor.

Mr. FREEMAN, in reply, said his only object was
to obtain an inquiry, and if it could be better arrived
at by Mr. Le Breton's amendment, he was willing
to withdraw his motion.

The amendment of Mr. Le Breton was then car-
ried unanimously.

THE CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES.
Mr. ROCHE moved that no member of the board
shall be eligible to be elected for more than two suc-
cessive years as vice-chairman of the same com-
mittee.

The motion having been seconded, after a short
discussion was carried, after which the board ad-

journed.

DEATH OF WILLIAM FISHER HOBBS, ESQ.--
We regret to have to record the death of William Fisher
Hobbs. Esq., of Boxted Lodge, in this county, which took
place yesterday (Thursday). Mr. Fisher Hobbs was one
of the founders of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng-
and ; for very many years he had been one of the Society's
Council ; and thore were few of its more important corn-
utittees which were not indebted to his indefatigable labour
and keen powers of investigation. In the smaller sphere
of his county Mr. Hobbs was equally active and useful.
Every Connty Agricultural Society formed during the last
30 years was more or less indebted to his assistance in its
formation and management; and of the less pretentious
Labourers' Friend Societies he was the founder of two at
least (Coggeshall and Earls Colas), and the promoter of
several others. The Anti-malt tax movement also loses
one of ils most earnest and perseveringadvocates,—Essex
Standard.

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