The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-04-28 00:00:00

SUPPLY OF WATER.

We received yesterday, at too late an hour to read
with any degree of care, a pamphlet, entitled "Analysis
of the Evidence in Favour of the Copstant Supply System,
given before the Health of Towns Commissioners, with
Remarks thereon, by Thomas Wickstead, Esq., Civil
Engineer." We can merely to-day give one or two ex-
tracts from it, which we do the more readily if for no other
reason than on the principle of "Audi alteram parterre."
"In making a comparison as to the cost of any
article, the quantity forms an essential element, and it
may be well to show here, though not perhaps strictly the
place for it, the quantity of water given per house where
the constant supply is in operation—and the quantity
given per house upon the plan which the adoption of that
system would supersede.
Constant Supply. Intermittent Supply.
Gallons per house per diem. Gallons per house per diem.
Gallons. Gallons.
Nottingham (80 or 90 gal- New River.. .
Ions) say
Preston 76 Grand Junction. 213

Greenock. 2 cub. ft. perindi-
vidual, say per house.... SO

Mean supply.. 165,

Mean supply.. 81
" The above comparison will show that either the tenants
under the constant supply system receive a very stinted
supply, or that the water available for cleansing sewers
and for public purposes, must be lamentably deficient
where that plan prevails.
" That this is a fair inference the reports of the Corn-
missiorers show, in answer to the questions forwarded to
various towns by the Commissioners as to the state of
their sewerage.
" Nottingham says,—
' Inferior parts neither drained or paved.' Sewers very
defective and unsystematic.' No local regulations.' No
service of scavengers—the poorest parts entirely neglected.'
' Refuse of courts and alleys allowed to accumulate.'
. _

"Preston says,— •
'No regulations—drainage very insufficient.' There are
sewers io some streets.' The house drains are few .n number.'
There are many stagnant pooli which evaporate or are ab.
sorbed by the subsoil.' The courts and alleys and undedicated
streets, are not cleansed.'
" If these towns had been well provided with sewers,
and' a good system pf drainage, the demand for water
would have been much greater; as they are, a greater
quantity would be injurious, rather than beneficial.
" Great stress is laid upon the saving to the poor tenant
which would be effected by the absence of the necessity for
providing butts 'or tanks. Now it appears that a wine-
butt holding 100 gallons, will cost 17s Gd. or thereabouts,
and if 5 per cent, is allowed for repairs, and 5 per cent.
upon outlay, this will amount to ls. 9d. per annum, and
will represent the actual saving, as the cost of pipes,
cocks, &c., will be on the constant supply plan, at least
equal to that on the present plan.
" In reply to question 5,872, as to what the extra cost
of the proposed mode of supply would be per tenement
weekly, in the Southwark district, the answer is, ' three-
halfpence weekly in addition to what they now pay.'
" In reply to question 5,877, it is stated that the general
average charge for a tenement of two rooms is 6s. per
annum : from this it would appear that Gs. per annum is
the charge for the present supply, and that 12s. 6d. would
be the charge for the proposed supply instead of 7s. 9d.;
namely, 6s. rate, and ls. 9d. annual cost of tank.
" In reply to queston 5,504, it is stated that the charge
for water at Hyde, near Manchester, for labourers'
houses, (320 in number,) is 3d. per week, or 13s. per
annum, being a charge If 20 per cent. upon the rental.
"In Dr. Lyon Play fair's Report, given in the Ap-
pendix to the Report of the Commissioners, part 2, be
states that, in Liverpool, the cost of supply to the lowest
class of cottages is 5 per cent. upon the rental, and in
Manchester and Salford ss. per annum. In these towns
the proposed mode of Supply has not been adopted ; but
in Preston, Bury, Ashton, Rochdale, and Oldham, where
it is in operation, the cost of supply for the same class of
houses is respectively 75., 125., Gs.. 10s., and 125., being
an excess beyond the former rate of from 20 to 140 per
cent.

"Thus the comparative cost of water in the foregoing
towns will be as follows :--I have added Is. 9d. per annum
to the annual rates in the cases of intermittent supply.
Constant Supply. Intermittent Supply.
s. d. s. d.
Southwark. ,2 6 Southwark
Hyde l3 0 Liverpool 6 g
Presto!'

Bury.
Ashton

Rochdale ...

Oldham.. .

. 10 0

3)21 3

12 0, Mean rate.. 7 1

7;72 6

Mean rate.. 10 4

" Or, the constant supply in these towns costs 45 per
cent. more than the intermittent supply in the other towns
quoted."
Mr. Wickstead says that the cost for fittings on the in-
termi tient plan would be Li 19. T. 3d. and upon the con-
stant plan, £1 ls. 9d., or 17s. 6d. less for the constant
supply. With reference to the cost, of works, Mr. Wick-
stead arrives at the following conclusions, after an exam-
ination of Mr. Hawkesleys evidence as to the tovrn of
Nottingham, which he says is continually referred to as a
place in which the principle of constant supply has been
carried out with great success

" Ist. That with so many competing companies in a
town whose population does not exceed 60,000, it would
be impossible that a remunerating price could be obtained
by.pgiNgnuo, s akuj. 1.1
at as Oujotrz,ttahousTs,so'nnly 4,0161V6,000
have a separate supply ; that as the poorer classes are
chiefly supplied by common cocks placed in the courts;
and as 800 houses steal the water,—tbe mode of supply in
this town is not superior to that in others.
" 3rd. That if the elevation of some of the most respect-
ably inhabited portions of the town, is 200 feet (or 230 feet
to the tops of the houses), and if' the principal and dis-
trict mains are never tapped,' it is impossible, if the water
is raised to an elevation of '135 feet' only, that
" 'all the other houses, with few exceptions,' can be 'served
from pipes directly communicating with the water maim, in
which the supply is constantly maintained."
Mr. Wickstead then examines the evidence as to
" waste of, water," " greater pressure ensured," " pipes
of less diameter required," and ultimately makes the fol-
lowing observations "on the practical inconvenience to
the public, irrespective of the question of cost, which
would inevitable arise from any attempt to introduce the
constant supply system to any extent : '—
" 1. In towns having any considerable irregularity of
elevation, the result would be, that so long as the inhabi-
tants in the lower districts are drawing off water, those in
the upper parts would be able to get little or none.
"2. In large towns, without any great variation in le-
vels, the houses near the source would receive more water
through a pipe of given size, than those at a distance
from it, not only on account of the additional friction di-
minishing the velocity of the current, but because the
quantity of water flowing into the pipe at the source, and
through its length. which quantity is fixed and limited,
is undergoing a positive diminution at almost every house
which it has to supply.
" That such would be the case, the engineers who re-
commend the intermittent supply know, from actual
experience, to be a fact.
" Any street, or number of streets, now supplied pe-
riodically' may be taken as representing a small town,
supplied on the continuous system so long as the water is
kept on ; and it is a fact well known, not only to the en-
gineers but to the tenants of water companies, that in the
summer time, when two or three taps in the lower part
of the street are kept running, the houses in the upper
part, instead of obtaining a butt-ful, as they would at
other seasons in the course of an hour, with difficulty
collect it in the course of ten hours."

NEWMARKET FIRST SPRING MEETING.
MONDAY MORNING.

The following horses have arrived since the list of
engagements was published : Green Pea, Miss Elis,
Switcher, Secundus, King Charles, Tibthorpe, Physalis,
Lycurgus, and Draco. Chemois and one or two others
are expected to-day.
The weather continues unfavourable, and as yet very
few indications of a full meeting are discernible ; from the
number of orders, however, that have been received for
post-horses to meet the special train at Chesterfo►d to-
day, we have no doubt that by to-morrow—the grand
day—the town will be full. The present arrivals are, the
Duke of Rutland, Earl and Countess of Sefton, Lord
Charles Manners, Lord Maidston, Lord and Lady New-
port, Hon. Captain Rous, Hon. F. Villiers, Col. Peel,
and Mr. Greville.

A meeting of the Birkenhead and Holyhead Junction
Railway proprietors was convened to be held at the Cla-
rendon Rooms, yesterday. The meeting was private.
During the last month the birth of a child was registered
in the Everton District with the following Christian
names :—Teresa, Tuana, Josefa, Blass, Maria, De las
Mercedes, Francisca, Favier.
ANTICIPATED VISIT OF PRINCE ALBERT.—We believe
that a reply has been received from Prince Albert's secre-
tary that his Royal Highness has consented to visit Liver-
pool for the purpose of laying the foundation stone of our
Sailors' Home, provided that the ceremony can be per-
formed either in June or July next.
STEALING A WATCH.—Yesterday, Elizabeth Burns
was brought before the magistrates charged with stealing
a watch from Daniel Shew. It appeared the complainant
4
met the prisoner on Sunday ni in Lower Frederick-
street, and walked with her f ome distance, during
which time she succeeded in rob tog him of his watch.
The case was proved, and the prisoner committed for
trial.

PATENT PREPARED FLOUR.—There is no invention
that has lately been brought under our notice that is de-
serving more attention, or calculated to be more beneficial
to the maritime world, than that of Jones's patent pre-
served flour, an article by which, with the addition of
cold water, bread may be momentarily made, while at
sea. None but those who have practically experienced
(as has the writer of this) the impossibility, hitherto, of
producing anything like ordinary loaf bread at sea, will
he able duly to appreciate the excellence of this invention.
\%e have been supplied, by Messrs. Ingleby and Cook,
with a specimen of the bread manufactured from this
flour, and if there is a difference between it and the
ordinary baker's bread, the preference must decidedly be
given to the patent article. Unlike the bread prepared
with yeast, the tendency of which is to destroy, says Dr.
Thompson, at least one-seventh of the nutriment of the
flour, it retains all its original properties, and is so easy of
digestion as to have called forth highly commendatory
testimonials from many leading physicians, but with such
testimonial as the following, it needs no further recom-
mendation :--
"Bristol, November 25th, 1845.
"Sir,—Having tried the flour you sent me on board the
Great Britain Steam Ship, during her last voyage, I have great
pleasure in stating, that it made the best bread I have ever seen
at the table of the Great Western or Great Britain, and I shall
be glad to hear you succeed in bringing it into general use at
sea, particularly for long voyages, for which it is doubtless well
adapted.—I am, sir, your obedient servant,
" JAMES HOSKEN."

THE STRIKES IN THE BUILDING TRADES.

A deputation, consisting of Mr. Belihouse, Mr. eaul-
ing, and Mr. Livingston, of Manchester; Mr. Tomkinson
and Mr. Holme, of Liverpool; Mr. Williams of Birken-
head ; and Mr. Gwyther and Mr. Briggs, of Birmingham,
had a long audience with Sir James Graham, on Saturday
last, on the subject of the strike in the building trades in
these and other towns, and. on the difficulties which con-
tractors and others have to contend against with the
trades' unions now organised throughout the country.
The deputation • was accompanied by Lord Sandon, Sir
Floward Douglas, Mr. Brotherton, M.P., Mr. Buckley,
M.P., Mr. Milner Gibson, M.P., and Mr. Spooner, M.P.
The result of the conference has not yet transpired ; but it
is understood that documents of a startling nature were
exhibited to the Home Secretary, developing a state of
things much to be deplored.
One -I the primary objects of the deputntaion was to lay
before the • Home Secretary the serious manner in which
the system of picqtieting and other interference of the
unions, between themselves and those they employ, affects
the carrying out of the building business.
. .

We believe the unfortunate strike is no nearer a termi-
nation than it was a month since; and The cowequerices
are likely to be most deplorable. Owing to an arrange-
ment amongst the colliers, by which they do not allow
beyond a certain quantity, which in the'phrase of the trade
is called a get, to.be raised, at once, there is not estimated
to be above 100 tons of coals on band between here and
St. Helens; and as the result it is anticipated that some
of our most extensive brickmaking establishments will be
compelled shortly to suspend work, from the deficiency of
that material. • _

—The joiners and brickmakers keep dropping in to their
usual employments: but the masons remain most stub-
born. Picquets are stationed at all the avenues and
building establishments of the town, as we ourselves were
witnesses yesterday. Should this system of annoyance be
permitted to continue, we may fairly anticipate some
serious result: •

FALKIRK DISTRICT OF BURGHS.—LORD
LINCOLN.
The following paragraph appears in the Glasgow Herald
of Friday :
" It will be observed, from our advertising columns,
that Mr. Baird, of Gartsherrie, the represesentative of
the Falkirk district of burghs, has accepted the chiltern
hundreds, and that the Earl of Lincoln has offered him-
self a candidate, for the vacant seat. We have, seen a
copy of the noble lord's address to the constituency of
the Falkirk burghs. He grounds his claims to their suf-
frages entirely on his identification with free trade prin-
ciples :

" I seek,' says his lordship, your suffrages on public
grounds. I know that you have not been unobservant of
the struggle which is now pending in parliament, and 1
believe you desire the success of those measures which her
Majesty's government has proposed to the legislature, and
is-now earnestly endeavouring to carry into effect. As a
warm advocate of those measures for the amendment of our
commercial policy, as one who has lately had occasion to
show the sincerity of his attachment to those measures, and
his conviction of their necessity and value to all clas-es of
the community, I venture to ask you to return me to par-
liament as your representative, and thus strengthen the
hands of a government which has considered no honour-
able sacrifice too great to accomplish an object in which
the welfare of the people is concerned, and for the attain-
ment of which it has not hesitated once to abandon power
and now to make the greater sacrifice of party attaehments
and long-cherished friendships."
It appears from the Glasgow papers that Mr. Wilson.
of Dundysan, a thorough free-trader has come forward to
oppose his lordship, and there appears every probability
that the contest will terminate as the recent one at West-
minster did. Lord Lincoln has visited Glasgow, and is
now engazed in a very active canvas. The Sheriff has
appointed Wednesday (to-morrow) for the nomination.
The constituency of these burghs amounts to 1406, dis-
tributed as follows :—Falkirk, 440 ; Airdrie, 302 ; Hamil-
ton, 313; Lanark, 251 Linlithgow, 100. The nomina-
tion takes place at Falkirk. In July, 1841, when Mr.
Baird was elected, the number of electors was 1303, of
whom no more than 912 recorded their suffrages. The
numbers at the close of the poll were—for Mr. Baird,
482; for Mr. Gillon. of Wallhouse, 430; majority in
favour of Mr. Baird, 52.
The Scotch Reformers' Gazette of Saturday anticipates,
confidently, a triumph for Mr. Wilson ; and should this
be so, the Goverument will have played another good
game for the Radicals and Free-traders.

STATE OF THE MANUFACTU RING DISTRICTS.
(From a Manchester correspondent of yesterday's Times.)
A gentleman here, very extensively engaged in manu-
factures, communicates as follows :—" The present state
of trade is much depressed, there being no demand. The
spinning department is a good deal depressed, compared
with the last year; still, that may be considered to be
about the best part of the cotton trade. The hands, gen-
etilly speaking, are pretty fully employed, with the excep-
tion of the hand-loom weavers ; nor is there any alteration
in wages. In the present state of the market, parties who
have to manufacture even by power have great difficulty
in maintaining their ground. There seems to be a deep
regret that the progress of the Ministerial measure is so
much retarded, as the delay tends to depress manufac-
tures. It is thought that, if it were to pass into a law,
a revival of trade would immediately follow ; but, on the
other hand, if it be delayed too long, there is very little
hope of experiencing a brisker trade before the latter end
of th.
Another letter from a leading-merchant, with no etrong
party predilections, has the followinc, passage :—" That
the present free trade measure before Parliament tends to
depress, there can be no doubt, arising from the uncer-
tainty as to its results. But eventually, if passed, it is
the opinion of parties in political society, whether Whig
or Tory, that it will do a great deal of good; and the ma-
jority are anxious to have it passed."
It is' proper-to add, that at present there are upwards of
1500 hand-loom weavers in this town entirely unemployed.
A communication made by two of the unemployed weavers
to the writer of this letter is as follows :—" The present
statement is to inform you that there is a great number
of hand-loom weavers thrown on the streets for want of
employment. The workpeople of Messrs. Aspinall,
Turner and Co. are 500 in number, all idle ; of Messrs.
Swainson and Birchwood, 300, all idle ; of Messrs. George
Faulkner and Co., 300, all unemployed ; of Messrs. Peter
Dixon and Sons, 400, a few employed. The fabrics of
work manufactured by these gentlemen are chiefly coarse
handkerchiefs, buff checks, and occasionally coarse ging-
hams. We are told that our misery at present is caused
by Sir R. Peel's measure in the House of Commons not
taking its proper effect."
[The above statements are, we suspect, much exagge-
rated; and we give them as specimens of the language
used commercially by free-traders for the attainment of
their ends.—En. L. S.]