1844.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



317 



Cleansing Sewers and Flushing. 



The great expense and excessive nuisance of the present mode of cleansing 

 sewers was strongly proved, and competent and intelligent witnesses were 

 unanimous in their approbation of the system of flushing, pursued by Mr. 

 Roe, as efficient, and productive of great economy. Some of the witnesses 

 seemed to be of opinion that the rats in the sewers are not injurious, but act 

 as useful scavengers and stir up the mud in the water. 



Ventilation of Sewers. 



The ventilation of sewers was a good deal canvassed, it being considered 

 in the highest degree expedient to get rid of the miasma and noxious gases 

 which enter the houses. For this purpose, ventilating shafts were proposed 

 by some parties. The serious evils of the gullies were strongly enforced by 

 the engineering and medical evidence, by which it is ascertained that the 

 presence of a gully opposite to a house is sufficient to produce disease. 



Traps. 



Trapping the sewers and gullies was necessarily a subject of engineering in 

 connection with the preceding. 



Mr. Biers — " The trap permitted by the Commissioners is but a very imper- 

 fect piece of mechanism, for the smell is often as oftensive as if not trapped 

 at all, and it is at the same time rather expensive. The Commissioners fur- 

 nish the trap if the sewer is in progress of building, charging 20s. for it, hut 

 if a trap is put in after the sewer is built, then the charge is 3/., and after all 

 is not effective in keeping down the smell." 



Mr. Kelsey, City — " You mentioned that you were trapping all the gullies 

 at present as you get opportunity ? Yes; and when there are complaints of 

 a very grievous character they are done immediately.- -Do you mean to trap 

 all throughout the whole of the district ? Yes ; the Commissioners have put 

 down between ten and eleven hundred already. — Y'ou spoke to anolber cir- 

 cumstance of having stench-traps ; what is the precise arrangement of stench 

 traps in your district ? I have put a drawing in of the kind of thing whieli 

 is used. — What is the object of it ' To prevent the rush of air thrnugh the 

 sewer grate being felt in the houses. — Is that rush exceedingly great .' In 

 some cases it is. They have very seldom failed when they have been intro- 

 duced, and when they have failed it has been from a little tightness in the 

 fitting. But there is one circumstance that annoys the Commissioners and 

 the inspector very sorely ; there is a class of men who make a living of 

 getting into the sewers to pick up anything valuable that falls into them, and 

 when they pass by one of those traps they feel a little want of ventilation, and 

 they put a brick or stick to keep it up, and then we have a complaint that 

 the air-flap does not answer. They go down into the river by stealth, we 

 cannot prevent it ; boys as a piece of fun go in. I have thought of putting 

 a grating at the mouth of the sewer ; but then I am afraid of slopping some- 

 thing that ought to go out." 



KiVER Valves of Sewers. 



The construction of the outlets to the river was detailed by several wit- 

 nesses. Professor Hosking speaking of the sewer at Fulham says — " I pro- 

 vide for stopping out the tide by flapping the mouths of the sewers, ami as 

 these flaps are self-acting, the sewers empty themselves without assistance, 

 and when the tide flows the flaps are pressed close up by the tidal water, and 

 the sewers are free to receive the water that may accrue upon the surface 

 from rain or snow. Their capacity may, however, be insufficient, and the 



district may he flooded l)efore the ebb takes place, a difficulty that cannot be 

 wholly provided for without pumping." 



Mr. Beek, Tower Hamlets — " What measures are usually adopted for pre- 

 venting the ingress of water from the river ? There are valves to all the 

 outlets. — Do you find that those valves generally act well ? Y'es. They very 

 seldom fail ; when they do, it is owing to some matter issuing from the sewers 

 which prevents their closing, and of course the tide will rush in ; that used 

 to be frequently the case, but since some new sewers have been made, and 

 iron instead of wooden outlets and valves have been used, they have been 

 found perfectly tight, and act well. — Have you had any experience of slate 

 valves ? No ; I am satisfied with iron ; I have been beliind them when there 

 was 10 feet tide above my head. — Are they suliject to corrosion .' No ; they 

 have been there for many years. — Are there any places in London where 

 there are watchmen appointed to examine the state of the valves? We have 

 an officer denominated a sluice-];eeper, whose business is to open and shut 

 them if necessary, and generally to superintend them." 



Mr. Newman, Surrey and Ivent — "Do the flaps ever fail in keeping out the 

 tide ? No ; I do not remember an instance of the kind in my division. — 

 Some of your district is below high-water mark ? — Nearly the whole of it. — 

 All your main arched sewers have flaps ? Y'es, they have not only flaps hut 

 pen-stocks. — Have you men who open and shut them ? Yes, men who live 

 near them ; it is only in Surrey, where the levels are so very low, that is the 

 case. — You would consider such an arrangement desirable in all cases where 

 you have a drain below high-water mark to attend to ? Decidedly; there is 

 a flap next to the river, a few feet above the flap there is a pen-stock, which 

 is worked up and down by machinery; that is closed or raised as may be re- 

 quired from time to time. — Is that attended to every tide .' Y'es. If that 

 work were not attended to, there would be injury to the level. — If it did not 

 open, it would shut in the land water; and if it did not shut, it would let in 

 the tide.' Yes. — Who attends to these.' The sluice-keeper, who lives on or 

 near the premises. — Is one man sufficient ? Y'es. — How many of those open- 

 ings have you into the river.' 1 have two main sewers, where there are pen- 

 stocks, and men residing ; there are minor sevi'ers were there is one shdce- 

 keeper to attend to several. — Where are those to be seen ? The first is the 

 Duffield sewer, in Bermondsey ; the other, the Earl sewer, at Rotherhithe." 



W.^NT OF Concentration. 



Most of the other points alluded to in the report relate to administration. 

 One of the most important is the want concentration and the evils which 

 accrue from it. 



Scientific Skill. 



A fact of great interest, showing the important and beneficial results which 

 accrue from the proper application of science and skill, and the heavy losses 

 sustained from the want of it, is exhibited by a comparison of Mr. Roe's ope- 

 rations in the Finsbury Commission, and Professor Donaldson in the West- 

 minster Commission. In 1843 alone .£7.900 was saved in Finsluiry, while 

 in the last ten years £60,069 15s. was lost in WestniinstHr ; "a sum," says 

 Mr. Butler Williams, "sufficiently startling to cause the inquirer to scrutinize 

 with care the reasons that are advanced in favour of the adoption of a form 

 theoretically imperfect, and found practically not to answer so well in some 

 cases as the more perfect theoretical shape which would produce such a great 

 saving." We know no severer censure than is here conveyed. 



From the facts detailed in this report we have drawn up the following 

 synoptical table. 



(a) Length built by Commission, 27,066 yards ; by individuals, 43,037 ; 30,000 yards Ut Class, 30,000 yards 2nd Class. 



(bj Length built in 4 years, 37,000 yards. 



27 



