30 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



f Ja uAitv, 



Meanwhile the South London (or Vauxhall) Company was started (in 

 1805) on the other side of the river, with a view to wrest from its old rulers 

 the watery dominion of the South. The war was not, however, carried on 

 in a very royal sort; for, as the travelling mountebank drives six-in-hand 

 through a country town to entice the gaping provincials to his booth, so 

 these water jugglers went round the streets of London, throwing up rival jXs 

 d'eaux from their mains, to prove the alleged superiority of their engines, 

 and to captivate the fancy of hesitating customers. 



The New Kiver Company, thus put upon its mettle, boldly took up the 

 gauntlet. It erected new forcing engines, changed its remaining wooden 

 pipas for iron, more than doubled its consumption of coals, reduced its 

 charges, augmented its supplies, issued a contemptuous rejoinder to its ad- 

 versaries, and, appealing as an "old servant" to the public for support, en- 

 gaged in a war of extermination. 



I'or seven years the battle raged incessantly. The combatants sought 

 (and openly avowed it), not their own profit, but their rivals' ruin. Tenants 

 ■were taken on almost any terms. Plumbers were bribed to tout, hke omni- 

 bus cads, for custom. Such was the rage for mere numerical conquest, that 

 a line of pipes would be often driven down a long street to serve one new 

 customer at the end. Arrears remained uncollected, lest offence should be 

 given and influence impaired. Capricious tenants amused themselves by 

 changing from one main to another, as they might taste this or that tap of 

 beer. The more credulous citizens, relying on the good faith of the "public 

 servants" (as these once powerful water-lords now humbly call themselves), 

 were simpletons enough, on the strength of their promises, to abandon their 

 wells, to sell ofl' their force-pumps, and to erect waterclosets or batlis on the 

 upper stories of their houses. In many streets there were three lines of 

 water-pipes laid down, involving triple leakage, triple interest on capital, 

 triple administrative charges, triple pumping and storage costs, and a triple 

 army of turncocks — the whole atfording a less effective supply than would 

 have resulted from a single well ordered service. In this desperate struggle 

 vast sums of money were sunk. The recently established companies worked 

 at a ruinous loss ; and such as kept up a show of prosperity were in fact, 

 like the East London Company, paying dividends out of capital. The New 

 Kiver Company's dividends went down from 000/. to 23/. per share per 

 annum. In the border-line districts, where the fiercest conflicts took place, 

 the inhabitants sided with one or other of the contending parties. Some 

 noted with delight the humbled tone of the old arbitrary monopolists, and 

 heartily backed the invaders. Some quiet old stagers stuck to the ancient 

 companies, and to the faces of familiar turncocks. These paid ; but many 

 shrewd fellows put off the obsequious collectors, and contrived to live water- 

 rate free. Thus the honest, as usual, paid for the knaves ; and the ultimate 

 burden of all these squandered resources fell (also as usual) on society at 

 large. 



Such a state of things could uot last ; and in 1817, the great water com- 

 panies coalesced against the public ; and coolly portioned-out London 

 between them. Their treatment, on this occasion, of the tenants so lately 

 flattered and cajoled, will never be effaced from the public memory. Batches 

 of customers were handed over by one water company to another, not merely 

 without their consent, but without even the civility of a notice. Old tenants 

 of the New River Company, who had taken their water for years, and been 

 their thick and thin supporters through the battle, found themselves ungrate- 

 fully turned over — without previous explanation — to drink the "puddle" 

 supplied by the Grand Junction Company. The abated rates were imme- 

 diately raised, not merely to the former amount, but to charges from 2j to 

 400 per cent, more than they had been before the competition. The solemnly 

 promised high service was suppressed, or made the pretext for a heavy extra 

 charge. Many people had to regret "selling their force-pumps as old lead," 

 or fixing waterclosets on their upper floors on the faith of these treacherous 

 contractors. Those who liad fitted up their houses with pipes, in reliance on 

 the guarantee of *^ luuiitermitting pressure'^ found themselves obliged, either 

 to sacrifice the first outlay, or to expend on cisterns and their appendages 

 further sums, varying from 10/. or 20/. up to 50/., and even in many cases, 

 100/. When tenants, thus nnhandsoruely dealt by, expressed their indigna- 

 tion and demanded redress, they were "jocosely" reminded by smilrng 

 secretaries, that the competition was over, and that those who were dis- 

 satisfied with the companies' supplies were quite at liberty to set up pumps 

 of their o\\ u. 



Flesh and blood could not long endure such exasperating treatment. 

 The murmurs uf the public, after continuing to increase during three years, 

 broke out at last in a storm of indignation ; and iu 1821 the first of a series 

 of parliamentary investigations tuok place. The committee of the House 

 of Commons which conducted tiiis iuquiry, addressed themselves chiefly 

 to the financial branch of the subject. They called for returns, examined 

 engineers and secretaries, as well as aggrieved tenants, and brought to 



ght innumerable instances of injustice. Amongst other examples of 



rhitrary conduct on the part of these monopolists, it came out that they 

 would frequently refuse water to a whole street of new houses ; declining, 

 when applied to, to run a service-pipe along it, even tliough their main 

 passed the end of the str'eet. And thus builders, in order to avoid having 

 their houses on hand tenantless, were constrained to lay down pipes at 

 their own rosl; and then come humbly, cap iu hand, to the company, to 



beg a supply at the oi'diuary rates. 



The iuquiry ensued a report (dated 1821) which deprecated the 



irresponsibility of these companies, and recommeuded a legislative restric- 



tion of their rates. Acting on this hint, Mr. Michael Angelo Taylor 

 brought in his well known bill to restrict the water companies from 

 increasing their rates to more than 25 per cent, beyond the rates of 1810. 

 This bill passed the House of Commons, but was lost in a committee of 

 the House of Lords by a majority of one. In the meantime the public 

 attention had taken another direction ; and the companies, finding the 

 storm passed by, became bolder and more arbitrary than ever. 



During this period the memorable bubble-fever of 1824-5 took place ; 

 and, as on a more recent occasion, the "earth had bubbles," so at that lime 

 had also the water, — iu the tliape of various brilliaot schemes for bringing 

 rivers to London by mighty aqueducts, and stupendous tunnels. 



Suddeuly, however, in 1827, a pamphlet appeared which threw the 

 whole town into a state of consternation. This painplet, which was called 

 the Dolphin, originated, as its author declared, in the deathbed repentance 

 of one Kobson, a director of the Grand Junction Company; who, to use 

 his own expression, "feared God would never forgive him" for having 

 been party to the wronging of 7,000 families by the false promise of good 

 water, and the cruel service of poisonous filth ; and who, shortly before 

 his death, to ease his conscience, divulged the enormities in which he had 

 taken part to Mr. Wright (the pamphleteer), with an earnest request that 

 he would by every means in his power seek legislative reparation of the 

 fearful wrong inflicted on the public. This strangely originated document 

 disclosed the secret abominalions of the water trade; especially dwelling 

 on the fact, that the Grand Junction "Dolphin" or suction pipe, lay 

 exactly opposite the great Ranelagh sewer, and only three ijards from it» 

 moxdh at low water.' The ti-act was eagerly bought up, and caused au 

 excitement so intense that subscriptions amouuting to upwards of 300/. 

 were readily entered into for promoting its circulation. A public meeting 

 was convened under the auspices of Sir P'. Burdett, and all classes of 

 society, from the highest peers of the realm down to the humblest shop- 

 keepers, eagerly attended it. In the next sessiou (1828) a scientific com- 

 mission was accordingly appointed to institute the requisite in\'estigalions. 



The facts elicited in the course of this inquiry were perfectly astounding. 

 The New River Company, which was the first examined, was driven to 

 admit that its principal reservoir had not been cleaned for 100 years ; and 

 that, when at last ihe water was run off, eight feet of mud werefonnd at 

 the bottom ! It appeared that their pretended spring water was eked out 

 by supplies, not merely from the river Lea, polluted by the sewage of 

 Hertford, but also, to the extent of 300,000 hogsheads and upwards 

 annually, from the Thames, between the mouths of the Fleet-ditch and the 

 great Walbi'ook-sewer. To crown all, it came out that Myddleton's aque- 

 duct itself hdii, by the neglect of the company for 200 years past, dege- 

 nerated into a " common ditch," receiving the surface waters of the manured 

 fields and the sewage of the populous villages through which it passed— aa 

 abomination which, having become a " vested interest," continues, we 

 believe, to this day, in spite of the company's tardy and ineffectual 

 remonstrance. It was furlher alleged that iu consequence of their exor- 

 bitant charges for water, road-trustees had been drrven to employ sewer- 

 water for watering the streets ! One witness stated that on being reniou 

 siraled with for leaving their water-plugs uncovered, so that ponies and 

 doukies put their legs in the holes and were maimed, the company's oBicers 

 declined to abate the nuisance, declaring it "cheaper to pay for the 

 breaking of a donkey's leg now and then, than to incur the cost of pulling 

 covers to the plugs." 



Finally, afier weighing all the evidence, the commissioners ptoduced a 

 very able report, recognizing the insalubrity of the existing supplies, and 

 the necessity of seeking purer sources. 



In accordance with these recommendations, and at the instance and cost 

 of Sir F. liuidett, the Lords of the Treasury shortly afterwards directed 

 Mr. Telford, the engineer, to survey the .country round London, with a. 

 view to discover the springs and streams most available for the supply of 

 Loudon, and to report on the means of conveying their waters to the metro- 

 polis. These researches having been set on foot, the public excitement 

 again died away; and another six years' lull ensued. 



The damaging disclosures which had resulted from the parliamentary 

 iuquiry of 1S2S, aud the strongly expressed dissalisfaction of the public, at 

 leugth aroused ihe fears of the water companies ; who at this period appear 

 to have been seriously alarmed as to the permanence of their misused pri- 

 vileges. 



Accordingly, in 1829, the Chelsea Company began to send out filtered 

 water; and in Ihe following year the New Uiver Company furiued two 

 settling reservoirs near Stoke Newington, with a view to purify by subsi- 

 dence their drain-infected stream. 



These improvements, though their empirical adoption under the influence 

 of the "pressure from without" reflects small credit on the water monopo- 

 lists, were, nevertheless, a very real and important step in advance. They 

 were regarded by their introducers (and even by the parliamentary com- 

 missioners of 1828) us mere\y mechanical contrivances lor the removal of 

 sediment; but, when properly understood and practised, they are, as we 

 shall hereafter have occasion to show, in a great measure chymical pro- 

 cesses ; aud the dale of their adoption opens au entirely new epoch of our 

 melropolitan water-history. This, the fifth, or cliymical period, is siill iu 

 its infancy; and, though our present business is rather to record than to 

 suggest iniprovemenls, we may perhaps venture, in defining the characters 

 of this period, to indicate also the probable course of its fuuire develop- 

 ment. In the meantime we are bound to record, to Ihe indelible disgrace 



