The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1877-11-28
Letter IRON DR.. 1epsOn, ofWhcel.
ing, Now In seotIand.

A4Uult utlll uuu uluGlA Chutluk klAUCet
along the gutteFs and down the back
streets and lanes as pass along, To the
honor Of the powers that be, however,
let II be told that filthy cutters aud stag.
nant ponds don't exist on this aide Of the
water, 10 "a large an extent as in our
country. Perhaps had better slightly
modify that statement by Aaying that |
have not seen 20 many. During ten days
spent In England, ! visited eight cities,
ranging III size from $4,000 TO 100000,
All these cities found remarkably clean.
The cause OF this Ia, that they are very
thoroughly paved, and very thoroughly
severed. The paving Is done almost en-.
tirely with the granite blocks, similar to
those now largely used In Philadelphia,
Some Of the back streets are MaCadsmized,
but this kind Of paving has been done in
so perfect = manner AZ 10 make these
streets AZ solid almost as the solid stone
Itself. The seWers are very generally
provided with traps in most OF the places
| visited, but the City Engineer Of Black.
burn, with whom had q conversation on
this subject, told ME he regarded them
as entirely unnecessary, provided very
numerous inletS or gutter openings are
made. Such il the plan now generally
adopted in that city, and the free yenti-
latiOn thus secured prevents the sewers
from becoming offensive, and also, which
IL OF very much greater Importance, pre-.
yents TO n large extent the escape Of
sewer gases Ia those houses that have
sewer connections. How to get rid Of
the sewage ia in most OF these towns a
problem Of no email Importance. The
rivers are very email, and the govern
ment sometimes intericres 10 prevent
their contamination. The city Of Burn
ley, where moS. Of my time in England
was spent, has population Of $4,000.
The sewage Of the city amounts 10 one
million gallons a day, which until re-
Gently was carried about three miles 10
be emptied into a small river, or creek as
it would be called in America. A gem
tleman living on its banks went Into
court and sued out m INDUCTION restrain.
ing the city from any longer conveying
the sewngA water into this stream. The
City Council tfercupon proceeded 10 the
erection OF Sewage Works" was,
through the influence Of my cousin, who
is an Alderman Of the city, honored with
au invitation from the Chairman OF the
Sewage Works Committee to visit the
works with himself and the City Engi.
neer. They are about three miles from
the city, and have been built In part by
the corporation and in part by com.
pany who have contracted topnriiy and
dispose Of the sewage for $1,000 per an.
nun for ten years, the works then 10 be
purchased by the city. The process Of
purifying the sewage ia, in brief, by adj.
ding lime and causing constant agitation,
the sewage being conveyed through six
or eight large reservoirs or watts before ii
is discharged, purified, into the river.
The sediment ia removed from the
vatq, dried on heated iron floors,
then burned in furnaces and ground,
by which process the best quail.
ity Of cement ia manufactured. This
also goes to the company who run the
works, Not nearly so cheap or convent.
ent a process a. simply turning the sewers
into the Ohio, Is ii? But as they haven't
any 0hios over here, they are compelled
10 do the next best thing, even though It
be very costly thing.
The wnter supply, where does it come
frou2 They have no large rivers, and
haven't seen pump since | was in Ohio.
But in walking abont the country, Of
which did great deal, noticed large
reservoirs Of water, formed simply by
throwing dam across deep ravinc.
These were quite numerous, and | was
Informed they were for the purpose Of
supplying the towns with water, The
rain fall in England is very large, and
water ia an article always to be bad on
demand. To the naked eye the water in
these reservoirs was OF crystal purity. A
part OF tue water supply Of Liverpool il
conveyed IN pipes, through succession
OF reservoirs, distance OF at least TWEEN,
ty-dve miles. Although this water Is
beautiful to look at, and perfectly pure SC
lar AZ know, confess 10 preference
Tor Wheeling water over any have tasted
since leaving home, even though it bC
guile frequently contaminated with mud
The water supply Of this city Ia derived
from Portland Hills, about six miles
away. Here number OF reservoirs are
built, the water purified by some system
Of iiltering, and conveyed to the city in
pipes. It's very palatable and the sup,
ply abundant. The delivery in the city
is at the ratio of about six thousand five
hundred gallons per minute, which you'd
allow each person in the clty-.popula.
ton s7,OO0-io use over 30 gallons q
day. As to cleanliness Of the city, 1 can.
not speak as fAvorAbly az Of the English
cities. The New Town, by which name
the northern portion OF the city is known,
is the perfection of cleanliness. Every
loot Of street and lane ia paved with
granite block, and every street 10 sever
ed. Hence, GIthiness il scarcely possible.
A number Of carts are going about con.
stantly gathering up the little refuse that
finds its way into the streets, and thus even
mud in very small quantities is hard 10
find. Part Of The Old Town, on the con.
trary, is extremely unsightly and un-
clean. Ityou take stroll through the
CGnoDgatc, for example, which leads
down to Hollywood Palace and Abbey.
you see houses that were erected at yari-
GUS periods from the year 1900 or in that
neighborhoOd down 10 the present centu.
ny. On both aides OF the street are narrow
paSsageways leading back to large court
yards-called here "closeA"-surrOunded
by a lot OF S00.year old buildings which
are now occupied by the lowest classes Of
human beiuga. There, for example, is
Whitehorse close, containing what Was
once the great hotel Of the city, built in
1923, and, as Sir Walter tells us, the pop.
nlar resort OF the officers Of Prince
Charles Edwatd's army; and there ia Pan.
mure close, containing the Panmure
Honse Of about the same date. and which
was long the residence OF Adam Smith:
and Moray House, built in 1928, and oc
cupied by Oliver Cromwell for a time,
These are only few out Of scores OF
houses Of like age and distinction. You
may fancy wha! is now the sanitary con.
diiion Of these old houses, and Of The
"closes" in which they are situated. They
are filthy in the extreme, aud the inhabi.
tants as filthy and vile as human crea.
lures can we'll be. have been through
some OF these places, because Of the liz.
toric interest clinging about all these Old
buildings, "a we'll as to study the differ.
ent aspects OF Scotch life, and l coniess 10
yon thai am mt Hnhitions - h.n.,..