36 



" beyond the municipal boundaries to the Aire, which 

 " river is also polluted along both margins,* carcases of 

 " dead animals float down until intercepted by shoals, 

 " where they remain to become putrid. As the popu- 

 " lation of Leeds has increased and manufactures have 

 " been extended, the local death rate has risen until the 

 " town is ranked by the Registrar-General amongst the 

 " most unhealthij of the kingdom. The death rate from 

 " 1857 to 1860 was 28 per 1,000, and from 1860 to 1864 

 "was 29-5 per 1,000." 



The Commissioners next describe, at pages 40 to 43, 

 the condition of the River Calder as aflfected by the 

 various towns on it or its tributary streams, stating that 

 all such towns as Todmorden, Halifax, Huddersfield, 

 Deioshury , and Wakefield, with an aggregate population 

 of nearly 250,000, discharge their sewage and the filth 

 from their various manufactures into the Calder, Halifax 

 discharging the same by the Hehble, and Huddersfield by 

 the Cohie, the pollution of the river caused by Wakefield 

 being much increased by a large weekly cattle and sheep 

 market which is held there, and where as many as 1,000 

 horned cattle and 13,000 sheep have been sold in one day. 

 " In dry weather," the Commissioners mention, " the 

 " banks of the river are covered with dark thick slime, and 

 " the entire volume of water is stained with dye-refuse ; 

 " and from a river thus polluted, Wakefield,^'' the Com- 

 missioners add (at page 46), " draws three-fourths of its 

 " water supplg.'' And at the same page and page 47 

 they declare " that there is no excuse for the discharge of 

 " any seioage or ochrey matter into running streams and 

 " rivers, and that the pollutions from soap-suds, dyeing, 

 " and other processes may he prevented or greatly 

 " alleviated^' the Commissioners concluding their detailed 



• And further on at the same page (39) the Commissioners say : — 

 " Carcases of pigs, cats, dogs, ik.c., have been removed to the exten 

 " o{ fifty iti a day, but it must not be inferred that they are removed 

 " with any degree of regularity." 



