335 
For some time this arrangement provided an Meu supply 
of water for the needs of the establishment. But in recent years 
it is notorious that the Thames has undergone a considerable 
change. From various causes "x. has oe some of the features 
f a torrent. Often in flood winter, it is frequently in the 
neighbourhood of maw almost mind in siii except when filled 
by the tide. The tidal wave is more rapid and often short, and it 
is now difficult to secure à sufficient supply to fill the Jake on 
which the whole system of pets supply depends. The first step 
to remedy this state of things was to make, in 1887, a four-foot 
culvert calculated to admit at one tide four times the amount of 
water previously taken in. But the emptiness of the bed of the 
river during the summer Punti had another and unforeseen effect. 
he 
ere 
ean be little doubt that the vinim de level of the ground-water has 
of late years considerably fallen. The effect manifests itself in 
many ways during dry summers. The older trees suffer severely, 
and many which have succumbed have had, in consequence, to be 
removed. The turf and shrubberies have suffered still more, and 
can only be kept in a tolerable rare. E incessant and copious ~ 
watering. A large extension of the of water-supply had 
therefore become absolutely bdo Cy "t the attractions of Kew 
as a garden were not to be destroyed, and the unique collections of 
dam mage. The 
a 
the employment of discharged s soldiers duri ring the of 
1891-4. The mud was spread on the wg: of turf. B ‘their 
great a The next was to increase the pumping pow 
and this was accomplished by the minaret in 1895, of a triple: 
expansion pumping engine auxiliary to the compound steam- 
engine erected in 1864. It was followed by the laying down of a 
complete system of service pipes throughout the neue A 
This has been distributed over the past three years and isn 
completed. At the same time all the hydrants wid dici fitted 
with a uniform screw, so that the hose and other apparatus are 
e where ap ce endi The multiplication of stand-pipes 
will eventually 1 ead to considerable economy by saving the wear 
and tear inseparable from the use of india -rubber hose in great 
lengths. 
The water-works in the Royal Gardens were connected ber 
the reservoir in Richmond Park by a single seven-inch main, la 
down in 1868. This had, owing to the strain of the qoute 
purpose it served, shown signs of givin ig way, a state of things 
which might have ‘caused grave inconvenience, and, in the event 
of fire, serious disast 
During the past is a second nine-inch main, two-and-a-half 
miles long, has been successfully laid. As this had to carried 
under the line of the London and South-Western Railway, the 
operation was attended with considerable difficulty. It was, how 
ever, successfully accomplished by Messrs Simpson and Co., (nder 
the superintendence of Mr. J. Allen, the Assistant Clerk of the 
Works. The old main is now only used for the distribution of 
y es dias service pipes. 
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