51 
to the existence or non-existence of a river passing through 
the town. Good sewers should be constructed so as to 
require no artificial supply of water to flush them. They 
should be self-cleansing. It is almost needless to say that 
our sewers here in Manchester and Salford do not comply 
with these conditions. I lay a report of the Salford Sur- 
veyor (J. Bowden, C.E.) before you. From it will be seen 
the condition of old Salford sewers. We are trying to 
remedy these. The sewers in many streets in Manchester 
are in like condition. I state this from personal observa- 
tion. With these defective sewers our houses are directly 
connected by means of drains which are if possible in a 
worse condition. House drainage is the work of unskilled 
private individuals ; it is done by contract. The work is 
generally scamped, and there is no guarantee that either the 
fall is sufficient or the jointing effective. In some districts 
unsocketed pipes are used — the authorities unwisely com- 
pelling their use. An unsocketed pipe drain must become 
defective. Even in clay soil they are unadvisable. In put- 
ting in drains, instead of what is technically termed “ bone- 
ing,” the workmen usually use a straight-edge and level, 
and allow each pipe { or £ inch fall. This leads to an irre- 
gular and inconstant fall. These defective drains become 
attenuated cesspools, and belch forth their disease-dealing 
fumes into our cellars, our bathrooms, our lavatories, our 
closets, and our sculleries. The street grids are generally 
trapped artificially by dirt, and the only free openings 
into the sewers are in private houses. As a consequence, our 
heated rooms are constantly sucking in gas from the sewers. 
Where a rain spout does communicate with a drain it does 
not act as a ventilator, but rather as a down shaft. 
For valuable experiments as to the futility of many 
accepted modes of ventilation I must refer you to Dr. San- 
derson and Parke’s report. 
Very few scullery pipes are trapped ; the same may be 
