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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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•» the case of the Thames , even above Teddington lock ; ^ Iwdlv ; because ftie purifying process is of the nature of Sentation , which renders water dangerous , to health , wecially in hot epidemic weather , and which is often £ ome On in the Thames water at the very time when it is dumped iip for distributibn thitougb , the town ; thirdly , because the insalubrity of fermenting matter in water dencnds less on its quantity thipi pn its jpeculiar state of activity , which activity may be poisonly intense , while the nuantityis so ininute as not to cloud the clearness of the water or be in any way palpable to the senses ; and lastly , hecause in rainy weather the Thames , in its whole length , Lcomes discoloured by the ' flood-tinge , ' is so loaded
with foul surface-washings , that common sense anticipates sc ience in dictatingits rejection . .. . - ; _ " 4 . The gaugings and reports of Messrs . ' Bamtnell , Bat eman , and Banger , all eminent waterwdrk engineers in extensive practice , bear put the conclusions of the Board of H ealth as to the ample abundance of the Surrey upland water for the supply of London ; and as to the facility of collecting it iy tile-ducts laid up to the springs , of conveying it by a cheaply formed culvert to Wimbledon Common , ana of thence delivering it through iron mains to the existin * London pipes , it . which it would rise by its own ^ pressure ( with the aid of a steamJift for the highest levels only ) td the top of every house in the metropolis .
" 5 . Gareful approximative estimates of the coat of executing denovo the entire works necessary for thus collecting , bringing to Ebndohi and ^^ "distributing to each house , at constant pressure , in unlimited abundance , this pure * soft , sand-spring water * fresh and fresh from the Surrey hills , are given in the Eep"brt of the Board of Healthy and confirmed by the engineering evidence , whence it appears that the expense would be fully covered by an average rate of 2 d . per house per week ; being nearly 3 Q 0 per cent , less
than the average weekly rate ( 7 86-lOOtf . ) now charged by the monopolist water companies for intermittent cisternservice of river water , tainted with organic matter , and holding more than twenty tons of chalk dissolved in eacTi day ' s supply ; of which Impurities the first is deleterious to health , while the latter causes a waste in Boap and soda , in wear and tear of linen , in tea , malt , hops , dye woods , &c , estimated to cost the inhabitants of London above a million , sterling per annum , which the change to soft water would save .
" 6 . It further appears from the said official reports and evidence that this water , when , it has served its purpose , and taken the form of soil water , holding the , drainage residua in suspension , may be removed by tubular drains from each house , and conveyed out of London in selfscouring sewers , at an average speed of three miles per hour , foran average drainage rate of' 3 # . per house per week . ; being less than half the present average cost of emptying cesspools and flushing the old fashioned sewers-of-deposit , which depress the health of the rate-payers , and increase the number of sick poor , and of orphans and widows , maintained at the ratepayers expense . " 7 . The saving attainable b y combining the public waterworks and sewage works with each , other , and with
the private-house water service and drainage works , so as to bring all under one consolidated management , is shown in the said reports to be so great as to admit of the existing water companies being l > ought out , the pure hill-top supplies being brought in from Surrey , and the improved distribution being accomplished , not only without any increase of the present rates , but with a considerable reduction of existing charges , as well direct as indirect . " " 8 . These estimates are substantiated , not only by official evidence , but also by practical experience . The town of "Famham , in Surrey , has been for sixteen years supplied with pure soft , hill-top water , collected , and doiivored at constant pressure , as above described ; while Croydoh and Hugby are examples of towns enjoying 1
improved service and reduced rates by the proposed consolidation of water s upply and drainage A system choaply available for 300 houses must , a fortiori , bo choaply availablo for 300 , 000 , nor does there appear to bo anysutficiont reason why London should be loss excellently watered than Far / mam , or less economically administered than Rugby and Croydon . " 9 . The Government Metropolis "Water Bill , now under discussion before a committee of the House of Commons , falls utterl y short of the requirements of the metropolis , as determined by the above scientific and practical evidence , and by the strong manifestions of public opinion during the sweep of the late pestilence . In respect of the oxecsfljvo water rates , the ( Government measure proposes only
their partial and insufficient reduction ; its provision for the control of the monopolist companies by the Secretary of btato would in practice prove nugatory ; its affirmation of tho principlo ( now universally conceded ) of tho constant supply at high pressure , is couplod with the sanction of two years' delay for its introduction , which dolay it has boon computed will entail on London moro than £ 00 , 000 * . ° * avoidable oiatom-cpsts , arid which , dolay tho experience or Vv olvprliampton and other provincial towns has showa to bo unnecossaiy . But tho main ovils of tho Government water bijl aro first , tluxt it iirnoros tho strongly attested
superiority of tho soft spring water from tho Surrey hills , y ia indirectl y sanctions tho continued rocourso to the eon"omnod valloy-drain Bouroos , by permitting Thames water ™ Do takon , for tho supply of London , abovo Toddington •^ ook ; secondly , that jt maintains the present unooono-* nicai Bovorance of water and drainage works ( public os won aa private ) , which ought to bo combinod ; ami , wurdly , that it porpotuates tho existonoo of tho monopolist ' raa uifr water companies , which a * o universally detested » y mo inhabitants pf London , and which might be bought oui , and abohshod , with a saving of about 200 , OOOZ . por
mi k ^ ° ^' l ^ a ° ^ * n ° ° "d Wfttor companies , flevon in "" moor , now ponding before tho Haiti committed aro in tinny respects oven moro objectionable than tho Qovomw ! "aoa 8 ur 1 0 ; thoir general drift being to continue the amhr oxorl ) itan <) rates for impure valley-drain wator BuppUos ; tofloaofcion tho outlay of another million and «
quarter ( which will ultimately •• fall on the public to pav ) for patching up a system incurably bad ; to extend the powers of themonopplist companies from waterworks to sewers ; to exempt them from even the nominal supervision contemplated in the Government bill ; and to defer for periods varying from five to seven years , at a cost exceeding 800 , 0007 ., the introduction of the constant supply at high pressure , which ought to be given forthwith . " II . The bills of the two proposed new , water companies ^ known as the Watford and Wandle Companies , are also in the highest degree Pbjectionable , as involving the ruinous principle of competition with multiplied capitals , multiplied establishment-charges , and multiplied costs of all kinds , in the same limited field of supply—a principle which has never yet been known to secure good service at
low rates / but has invariably issued ( as in the seven years ' contest-between the London water companies from 1810 to 1817 ) in the ruin of the weaker companies and the coalition of the stronger against the public , -who are thus sad-, died with a virtual monopoly , arid made to pay for the squandered capital in the shape of exorbitant rates for bad water . The Wandle Bill is , moreover , objectionable as proposing to take water from one of the condemned valleydram rivers ; and the Watford -Bill * is also objectionable ( though in a less degree ) , as proposing a subterranean source , doubtful as to . abundance and continuity of its yield , accessible only by steam-pumps , and involving the employment of a chemical process , to fit the water for ^ domestic use . Both bills empower the levy of rates far exceeding the estimated cost of the pure hill-top water from Surrey .
" 12 . The metropolitan water companies are stated to command upwards of eighty votes in the House of Commons , and their great wealth enables them to secure the attendance of numerous witnesses prepossessed in their ' favour , as well as to retain the ablest counsel to defend their monopoly , and ; to make the worse appear the better cause ; while no such resources are available in defence of the public interests , the House of Commons having , on Friday , April 1 st , rejected the petition of the Sanitary Association to be allowed to appear before the water committee , arid to show cause on behalf of the public against the pending bills ; " 13 . The unfairness of this position is increased by the equivocal composition of the committee itself ; which comprises the author of the peiidingG : overnmerit bill , uncounterppised by any member known to have specially studied the advantag es of the Surrey hill-top water , and of the proposed consohdated arrangements for its cheap delivery and removal .
" "Under these circumstances , the committee of the Sanitary Association feel it their duty , in the first place , to protest ^ on behalf of the public , against the finality of any decision which may emanate from a tribunal so inadequately constituted ^ so imperfectly- informed , and so exposed , to be misled by one-sided evidence , as the water committee now sitting ; secondly , to appeal to the metropolitan Press for that free audience , and that impartial sifting of the question which Parliament has seen fit to deny ; and thirdly , to warn the London water-consumers
and rate-payers , that then ? interests will certainly be overruled in committee , and one or more of the obnoxious bills now pending become law , unless pubKc opinion be speedily brought to bear against the threatened pe rpetuation of tho water monopoly , and in favour o /' pure hill-top water , with consolidated arrangements for its delivery and removal , at a large reduction of existing rates . Signed on behalf of Committee by " M . W . Lusrcnf abt , M . A ., " 1 H « Adowhi ^ Babwett , M . D ., > Secrefca ]; ies . " Cjiables R . Walsh . J
" 10 , Craig ' s Court , April , 1852 . " Water Supply Deapt Bili » . —Tho Committee of the House of Commons wound up a long inquiry on Tuesday by agreeing to a Draft Bill . This measure provides that after 1855 no wator shall bo takon from below Teddington Lock ; that all rosorvoirs within five miles of St . Paul ' s shall bo roofed in , unless proper filtration bo provided ; that all water shall be convoyed through pipes or covered aqueducts ; that all water distributed shall bo first filtered ; that a Government inspector shall visit and roporfc on any proposed now sources before they be vised ; that complaints may be made to tho Board of Trade ; that all ongines used to force wator shall consume their own smoko , and
that all water distributed shall bo supplied at such a pressure as shall roach tho top story of every house . Such aro tho main provisions of tho Bill , which , it is said , has given satisfaction both to tho companies , and tho promoters of tho Government measure .
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DOMESTIC DRAMA ; OK , THE BRITISH MATRON AND HER RIGHTS . Mb . Hakowoll , Secretary to tho Hampstoad Wator Works Company , married in 1839 . Since that poriod ho has bocomo tho futhor of eight children : and within thoso throo years disputes have arisen botwoon himself and tho huljtwho may properly bo tojrraod his bettor , at least stronger , half , as to who should have tho custody of tho children . Mrs . Hakowoll was in tho habit of admonishing and othorwiso' worrying her husband in tho prosonoo of tho children ; and this habit roaching a climax , Mr . Hakowoll contrivo ' d to transfer Ins wifo and family to Boulogne , whore , it appears , thoy lived until las ' b October . Sud f lonly , however , Mrs . Hakowoll loft that convenientplaoo ofiransportation , and oppoarodwith her infanta at tho « official roaidonoo" of tho Secretary . As ho could not accommodate them , thoy wore transferred to Jlawloy Cottage , and afterwards to " various placos , ' kept concealed from thoir father , and , a » ho alleges , ill-troatod by their mother , Upon tlua Mr . Hakowoll took moasuros to obtain them , and , with the assistance of hia brother and others , carried , them , off from thpir last abode . Under thoso
circumstances , Mrs . HakeweU invoked the law , and on her behalf Mr . " Kenealy , on Monday , applied to Mr . JtiBtice Maule for an order on Mr . Hakewell , commanding him'to bring his fine children into court . The case was argued before the Lord Chief Justice in the Common Pleas on Wednesday , arid it was ruled that the father of legitimate children has the custody of them , and that the Court in this instance had no power to interfere . No sooner was this trial over , than Mrs . Hakewell , who ' was incourt i espying her husband as she left it , seized upon , him , and clenching his arm tightly , declared she would not loose it until lier children were restored . In this cbniugal state the couple and their attorneys entered a cab anddrove off . .
The scene now changes . Mr . Arnold , the sitting magis - trate at "Westminster , is about to take up his hat and walk , when Mr . "Nicholls , a solicitor , rushes in , states how Mr . Hakewell is in the custody of Mrs . Hakewell , and asks for the interference of the Court . " Mr . Hakewell , " he continued , " is in a very unpleasant position . The attorney on the opposite side has declared that he will stick to the lady for fifty years . The lady has declared that she will stick to her husband , and is at this moment tightly holding him ; and in their present state of mind escape for Mr . Hakewell is hopeless , and he has accordingly entreated me to communicate his position to your worship . "
Mr . Arnold suggests that the husband should come into court , when , if they were all sticking together , as described , he should be sure to see the whole party . Mr . * Nicholls immediately went for Mr . Hakewell , who , in two or three minutes , entered , evidently in a state of great trepidatton , tightly secured in the grasp of a very powerful looking woman , who exclaimed m a loud tone , " Here I am ; the injured wife and mother of eight children . " Mr * Arnold— -Pray , madam , do not be so excited . Mr . Hakewell , after a vain endeavour to escape his wife's
custody- —Pray , sir , permit me to be free . Mrs . Hakewell hereupon exclaimed— -By the laws of God and man we are man and wife , and nothing shall separate us ! Mr . Hakewell looked at his partner , who had pinned "him against the rail of the dock , with an air of anxious concern , and then cast an imploring eye towards , the bench . Mr ^ Arnold- —You must not be clinging to your husband in this way . Mr . Hakewell—I solicit your protection , sir . Mrs . Hakewell—He is my lawful husband , and nothing shall separate us .
Mr . Arnold—Don't be foolish , madam . I will not have a scene here . I say , endeavour to calm yourself , and release your husband . "You are now committing an assault lipon him by clinging to him in this way . I cannot permit such conduct here . ' . * . Mr ; Evans , the lady ' s solicitor , having introduced himself , said that he had no other feeling ^ in this matter , than to endeavour to settle it amicably . T [ f Mr . Hakewolland his wife were but allowed a few minutes together by themselves , such , he was sure , would be the result . Mr . Arnold—Surely this is not the way to settle it amicably , clinging 1 about a man in this way . Have you not influence enough over the lady to induce her to calm herself , and release her hold of her husband . If he moke an information on oath respecting her conduct , it may be my duty to call upon her to find sureties . Mr . Hakewoll—I wish to do so . She has threatened
me , Mr . Arnold directed tho husband to enter the witnessbox , which his wifo at length permitted him to do , upon Mr . Arnold ' s assurance that he should not leave tho court . Mr . T . Hakowell then deposed to the assault committed that afternoon , as previousl y described , and then pressed for as much protection as tho magistrate was willing to afford . - Mr . Arnold , after again reasoning with Mrs . HakowoU , took Mr . Evans ' s word that he would uso his influenco over her , and , in addition , required her to enter into her own
recognizancos to keop tho peace ior six months . Mi \ Hakowoll and friends loft in tho cab whilo tho lady was entering into tho required recognizance , she having previously promised that she would not persovero in tho conduct that had brought her there . But this was not all . On the same day three men and tliroo women were summoned beforo Mr . Boadon at Hammersmith , for stealing one of the children from tho custody of its mother ; but , alas , tho squabbles at Westminster prevented tho " parties" complaining from arriving in time , and tho summons was dismissed .
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MURDERS . On Saturday ovoning last , Elijah Noon , a plastoror , wont to a public-house in St . Giles' called tho ^ North Star , to ro » coivo hia wages froin his brother , Mr . Thomas Noon , buildor , who usually paid his moiv at this house . In consequence of his not coining homo at twelve o ' clock his wifo wont to fetch him , and met him on the way , -When it appeared that she continued to upbraid him for his conduct until they reached thoir house . On reaching homo tho wife told lier huaband , in the prcsonco of thoir daughter , thirteen yours of ago , who had boon sitting up , that ho was a good-ior » nothing villain for stopping out ho late . Ho made no observation , butappoarea to bo greatly annoyed , although ho was tipsy at tho timo , and shortly after } ii > emptied his monoy out of his piirso on tho table , whon his wifo told hirii that ho could go out and treat othor pooplo , but could not troat her . This put him in a passion , but ho spoko not a word , and ho -wont to a eholf in tho room and topic off an old sword which was kopt thoro . Ho drow it out of tho sheath , which ho throw on tho floor , and then struck hip wifo across tho back with tho flat part of the sword . Tho daughter unlookod tho door of tjio uitting-room loading into the street , and tried to pull her mothor out by hor right arm , but she would not go , and whilo sho was doing this , the father , who held tho sword in both hands , ran it into hia wifo's loft eido , and 0 ho foil partly in th , o Btroot And
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Leader (1850-1860), May 8, 1852, page 437, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1934/page/9/
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