The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-02-05 00:00:00

SATURDAY,

The first gentleman called this morning was Mr.
ALFRED HOLT, who stated that two wells at the Edge-hill
railway station, which yielded on the 22d Jan., 1850, only
1464 gallons of water per hour, yielded on the same day
in 1849 2,362 gallons per hour.
Mr. GRAHAM, steward of the steamer Orion, stated
that he always used the Liverpool water for the steamer,
in preference to that of Glasgow, which, after rain, was
sometimes as red as blood.
Captain HERON, a shipmaster out of Liverpool, stated
that the water procurable here was preferable to that
which he could obtain in any other place in this kingdom

or any other.
Dr. THOMPSON then made some elaborate statements
as to the quality of the Liverpool water, which he had
analysed after it had been taken from many of the wells
in town. He came to the conclusion that the water of
Liverpool was more impure than that used by the people
of Glasgow, Stirling, Edinburgh, London, &c.
Mr. WEST, civil engineer, said that he had had a good
deal of experience as to the yield of the red sandstone,
both in Devonshire and in Liverpool, and he had no
doubt but that an abundance of water could be obtained
in this neighbourhood from the wells.
Mr. LANGTON said that he had been employed to make
a sounding of an artesian well near the copper works at
Wallasey Pool, and that the water had so decreased that
the works could not be carried on. In 1836 he sunk a
well on the site of the Albert Dock, which was 63 feet
deep, with a borehole of 313 feet. Except on Sunday
and at night the water was always below the pipe, and he
presumed that the well was affected by some other.
Mr. HAWKSLEY then appeared, and made a very long
and important statement. He went into a history of the
various schemes for supplying the town with water, stating
their cost and capabilities, from the beginning of 1846 to
the present time. He then proceeded at great length to
comment on the report of Messrs. Simpson and Newlands,
and pointed out what he considered important errors and
discrepancies both of practical facts and figures in that
report. He did not deny but that a sufficient quantity of
water might be procured from the sand stone rock, but
the quality was very much deteriorating, and the expense
of procuring it was greater than would be the outlay for
obtaining an ample supply of pure surface water.
A conversation then took place as to the future course
which the enquiry should take.
Mr. STEPHENSON said he proposed to go to Rivington
with Mr. Hawkesley, and if anything turned up which led
him (Mr. Stephenson) to think that the court should be
opened again, an intimation to that effect should be made.
Mr. JOHN SMITH observed that there was a great gap
between stopping at Liverpool and going to Rivington,
and that if necessary they wished Mr. Stephenson to sug-
gest a scheme of his own—his written instructions autho-
rising him to propose " any other plan."
Mr. STEPHENSON promised to expedite the enquiry as
much as possible. After it had closed it would be nearly
a month before he could make his report.
Mr. JEFFERY proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Ste-
phenson, which was seconded by Mr. Lace, and supported
by Mr. Alderman Procter, and carried by acclamation.
Mr. STEPHENSON expressed his sincere thanks. He
was fully alive to the onerous nature of the duties he had
undertaken. In advancing to a decision he had two great
objects in view, that of quieting the town, if possible, and
the other was to take care of his own reputation.
The court was then adjourned, sine die, on the under-
standing stated above.