DEPARTMENT OF n^^^lS, . ^ I University of Illinois. # # nooks are not to be taken from the Lilirary Room. § EIVEES POLLUTION COMMISSION (1868). EIFTH EEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED m 1868 TO INQUIRE INTO THE BEST MEANS OF PREVENTING THE POLLUTION OF RIVERS. POLLUTION ARISING FROM MINING OPERATIONS AND METAL MANUFACTURES. Vol. T. vv REPORT AND MAPS. gmciiteii to floia mottUi ot mmmm mt Ss ffiommans of mn mmus. * LONDON: PRINTED BY GEORGE EDWARD EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTTSWOODE PRINTEKS TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. ' FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. [C— 951.] Price 2s. 8d, 1874, CONTENTS. Commissions and Instructions to Commissioners Maps : — Sketch map of river ha.sms,— facing page 1. Sketch map of the upper tributaries of the river Rother,— /aciw^r page 8. Bed river Basin, Cornwall,— /aciw^r page 19. Basin of St. Austell streams, Cornwall,— facing page 28. Introduction - - - - " Section A. — Desckiptivf, Pollution arising from mining operations Collieries Coal-washing - - - ■ Iron mines - Lead mines - - ■ ' Copper mines - - - Arsenic mines - - - Tin mines - - ■ Manganese mines Baryta mines - - " China clay works Page iii to ix 1,2 3-37 .3-29 3-7 7-9 9-10 10-16 16 17 17-24 24 25 26-29 Section A. — Descriptive — cont. Pollution arising from metal manufactures - Nickel works . - - - Iron works - - - - Cutlery works - - - - . Iron wire, tin plate, and galvanizing works . - . - Brass founderies . - - German silver and electro-plate works - Section B. — Remedies Remedies for pollution arising from mining operations - - - - - Injury to river channels - - - Pollution by suspended matters - Subsidence as a remedy - - - Pollution by dissolved matters - Remedies for pollution arising from m.etal manufactures - - - " General Summary - Conclusions and Recommendations INDEX Page 29- 37 30 30- 31 31- 32 32- 35 35- 36 36- 37 38-46 38-45 38 39 39^ 44,45 46 47^8 48-50 52 111 COMMISSION (ENGLANDl ^/^a^ VICTORIA R. ^$CC(!^lv$9[, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of GreatBri^ and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith,— Co Our trusty and well-beloved Sir William Thomas Denison, Knight Commander of Our most Honourable Order of the Bath, Colonel in Our Corps of Royal Engineers j Our trusty and well-beloved Edward Frankland, Esquire ; and Our trusty and well- beloved John Chalmers Morton, Esquire, Greeting. SSaijercaiS We did by Warrant under Our Royal Sign Manual, bearing date the Eighteenth day of May, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, appoint Our trusty and well-beloved Robert Rawlinson, Esquire, John Thornhill Harrison, Esquire, and John Thomas Way, Esquire, to be our Commissioners for the purposes herein-after mentioned, which Warrant We were pleased to revoke and determine on the Fourteenth day of February last : and ®2!aJ)erea5 We have deemed it expedient for divers good causes and considerations that a new Commission should forthwith issue for the purpose of inquiring how far the present use of rivers or running waters in England for the purpose of carrying oJf the sewage of towns and populous places, and the refuse arising from industrial processes and manufactures, can be prevented without risk to the public health, or serious injury to such processes and manufactures, and how far such sewage and refuse can be utilized and got rid of otherwise than by discharge into rivers or running waters, or rendered harmless before reaching them ; and also for the purpose of inquiring into the effect on the drainage of lands and inhabited places of obstructions to the natural flow of rivers or streams caused by mills, weirs, locks, and other navigation works, and into the best means of remedying any evils thence arising : ^Ob3 Bnoto pe, that We, reposing great confidence in your zeal and ability, have authorised and appointed, and do by these Presents authorise and appoint you, the said Sir WiUiam Thomas Denison, Edward Frankland, and John Chalmers Morton, to be Our Commissioners for the purposes aforesaid. 9[ntl for the better enabling you to form a sound judgment on the premises, We do hereby authorise and empower you, or any two or more of you, to call before you, or any two or more of you, all such persons as you may judge most competent by reason of their situation, knowledge, and experience, to afford you correct information on the subject of this Inquiry. 9[ntl it is Our further Will and Pleasure that you, or any two or more of you, do Report to us in writing, under your hands and seals, your several proceedings by virtue of this Our Commission, together with your opinion on the several matters herein submitted for your consideration. 0ntl We Will and Command that this Our Commission shall continue in full force and virtue, and that you. Our Commissioners, or any two or more of you, may from time to time proceed in the execution thereof, although the same be not continued from time to time by adjournment. for your assistance in the due execution of this Our Commission, We do hereby authorise and empower you to appomt a Secretary to this Our Commission, whose services and assistance We require you to use, from tune to time, as occasion may require. Given at Our Court at St. James's the Sixth day of April 1868. By Her Majesty's Command. (Signed) GATHORNE HARDY. 30928. ^ ^ Instructions to the Commissioners. Rivers Pollution Commission, 2, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W. ^ 28th April 1868. I AM directed by Her Majesty's Commissioners for inquirin-^ into the Pollution of Rivers to state, for the information of Mr. Secretary Hardy, that they held their first meeting on Tuesday, 20th instant, and after consultation, assuming that the instructions issued to the late Commissioners are to be taken as instructions to the present Commis- sioners, It appeared desirable to take up the inquiry entrusted to them to investigate at the point where the former Commission left off", and they therefore propose (subject to the approval of Mr. Secretary Hardy) to commence with an investigation and inquiry into the condition of the basins of the rivers Mersey and Ribble. The Hon. A. F. O. Liddell, Q.C., &c., &c., &c., Home Office. I have, &c. (Signed) S. J. Smith, Secretary. S^^' Whitehall, 29th April 1868. I AM drected by Mr. Secretary Hardy to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 28th instant, and to acquaint you, for the information of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Pollution of Rivers, that he approves of their acting upon the instruc- tions issued to their predecessors, and of their proceeding with the inquiry at the point where the former Commission left off, as proposed by the Commissioners. I am, &c. S. J. Smith, Esq., Secretary, (Signed) A. F. O. Liddell. Rivers Pollution Commission, 2, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W. V Instructions to the Commissioners. Gentlemen, Whitehall, 30th May 1865. Her Majesty having been pleased to appoint you to be Commissioners for Inquiry into the Pollution of Rivers, I am directed by Secretary Sir George Grey to send you the following instructions for your guidance in the proposed inquiry. Although it may be taken as proved generally that there is a wide spread and serious pollution of rivers, both from town sewage and the refuse of mines and manufactories, and that town sewage may be turned to profitable account as a manure, there is not sufficient evidence to show that any measure absolutely prohibiting the discharge of such refuse into rivers, or absolutely compelling town authorities to carry it on die lands, might not be remedying one evil at the cost of an evil still more serious, in the shape of injury to health and damage to manufacturers. It is, therefore, suggested that your inquiry should include selected river basins, illustrating different classes of employment and population ; that these river basins might be : — 1st. The Thames Valley— both as an example of an agricultural river basin, with many navigation works, such as locks, and weirs, and mills affecting the flow of water, and many towns and some manufactories discharging their sewage and refuse into the stream from which is mainly derived the water supply of the metropolis. 2nd. The Mersey Valley— including its feeders, particularly the Irwell, as an example of the river basin most extensively polluted by all forms of manu- facturing refuse, particularly that arising from the cotton manufacture and processes connected therewith. 3rd. The Aire and Calder Basin, as an additional example of the same class, more particularly in connexion with the woollen and iron manufactories. 4th. The Severn Basin, for the same reason, but in particular connexion with the great seats of the iron trade. 5th. The Taff Valley in connexion with mining and industry applied to metals. 6th. A river basin comprising a mining district in Cornwall. Your special points of inquiry should, it is conceived, be in the Thames Vallev 1 The condition of the river as affected by mills, weirs, and locks, and as affectini' the drainage of towns, villages, and adjacent lands; 2. The condition of the river as affected by the discharge of sewage from towns and villages, and the refuse of manufactories, paper mills, &c., and the possibility of intercepting and rendering useful or innocuous these sources of pollution. " As to the other rivers mentioned, the main object of the inquiry should be how far the use ov abuse oi tiie rivers is, under present circumstances, essential to the carryino- on the industry of these districts. How far by new arrangements the refuse arishi- from industrial processes m these districts can be kept out of the streams, or rendered harmless before it reaches tnem, or utilized or got rid of otherwise than by discharge into running waters. In the course of these investigations you will make inquiry into the effect on health and comfort of the existing system of sewage of towns and populous places in the districts examined, and into the best mode of protectino- individual and public interests in the purity of running water. Secondary questions will, no doubt, arise contingent on these leading points, in which kquir^ ''''''''^ ''^ iiecessary, within the scope of your rru n ■ • . T . . I am, &c. The Commissioners appointed to inquire (Signed) H. Waudington into the Pollution of Rivers, 2, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W. a 3 vi Instructions to the Commissioners. ^ Whitehall, 7th July 1865. Gentlemen, ' *' I AM directed by Secretary Sir George Grey to transmit to you an extract of a letter from Mr Charles Neate, and to state that it will be desirable to mclude m your inquiry into the pollution of rive, s, the subject of the water supply suggested by Mr Neate, provided such extension of your inquiry will not materially impede or delay the completion of the primary object of the Commission. ^ ' i am, &c. The Commissioners appointed to inquire ( Signed) H. Waddington. into the Pollution of Rivers, 2, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W. Letter from Charles Neate, Esq., M.P., to the Right Honourable Sir George Grey, Bart., G.C.B., M.P. c House of Commons, 27th June 1865. Dear Sir, , , 1 BEG leave to submit to you, with reference to the Commission recently issued to inquire into the means of remedying the pollution of rivers, that as sc«f of th^^^^ Commission has already been enlarged beyond its original and professed object so as to inclXrn inquiry into the drainag? of lands and inhabited places, it would be right to extend the inquiry still further as to include the great question of the water supply Even if the drainage referred to in the Commission is that only which is required for sanitary purposes, it may still be a question whether you might not subject the health of hfcountry to fa greater danger by' wasting too rapidly the wmter supply of water than rnoH liable to from the temporary dampness of the soil m certam places. The effect of drainage, even to the extent it has been ^l^^f/.^,?;;^^^^ tnral nurooses is a subject of serious alarm to many people, and i thmk it is matter ot nrS iC h^^^^^^^^^^^ how far the general level of springs m the country has been TolTed hTL it depends upon the height at which the water is maintained in the neTgSuring river, and what is the number of springs that have altogether failed, or at least that fail during the summer. ^ u . I believe it to be a matter of urgent necessity to provide reservoirs of water throughout the country, to be used for all purposes but drinking, and that the sprmg water should be habitually confined to that use. If the Commission as it stands, is intended to apply to agricultural drainage, the reasons for extendinff'the inquiry are more, still more cogent, for then it is no longer a conflict bet~t^^ and' another, but between the health of the country and some increase in the productiveness of the soil. I remain, &c. The Right Honourable Sir George Grey, ( Signed) Chaeles Neate. Bare, G.C.B., M.P., &c., &c., &c. P S I think it would be a great point to inquire whether all the surface drainage of townt ^h^not coreniently bf kept'out of the sewers and taken mto the nvers. vii COMMISSION (SCOTLAND). Wi€^(BW^i9i, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, — Co Our trusty and well-beloved Sir William Thomas Denison, Knight Commander of Our Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Major-General in Our Army ; Our trusty and well-beloved Edward Frankland, Esq^uire ; and Our trusty and well-beloved John Chalmers Morton, Esquire, Greeting : WBl)tttU5 We did by Warrant under Our Royal Sign Manual bearing date the sixth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, appoint you Our Commissioners for the purpose of inquiring how far the present use of rivers or running waters in England for the purpose of carrying off the sewage of towns and populous places, and the refuse arising from industrial processes and manufactures, can be prevented without risk to the public health, or serious injury to such processes and manufactures ; and into the several other matters and things in such Warrant at large set forth ; 9[nlJ tofttrtas! We have deemed it expedient that such inquiry should be extended, and that you Our said Commissioners should be authorised to visit the River Tweed and its tributaries, and the River Clyde and its affluents, in that part of Our United Kingdom called Scotland, and also to visit such other rivers or parts of rivers in that part of Our said United Kingdom as We may from time to time be pleased to direct, by signifying Our Pleasure, under the hand of one of Our Principal Secretaries of State. ^OtD ^noiU p?, that We, reposing great confidence in your zeal and ability, have authorised and appointed, and do by these Presents authorise and appoint you, the said Sir William Thomas Denison, Edward Frankland, and John Chalmers Morton, to be Our Commissioners to visit the River Tweed and its tributaries, and the River Clyde and its affluents, in that part of Our said United Kingdom called Scotland, and also to visit such other rivers or parts of rivers in that part of Our said United Kingdom as We may from time to time be pleased to direct, by signifying Our Pleasure, under the hand of one of Our Principal Secretaries of State ; 9[ntl to inquire how far the present use of such rivers or running waters in Scotland for the purpose of carrying off the sewage of towns and populous places, and the refuse arising from industrial processes and manufactures, can be prevented without risk to the public health, or serious injury to such processes and manufactures, and how far such sewage and refuse can be utilized or got rid of otherwise than by discharge into rivers or running waters, or rendered harmless before reaching them; and also to inquire into the effect on the drainage of lands and inhabited places of obstructions to the natural flow of rivers or streams caused by mills, weirs, locks, and other navigation works, and into the best means of remedying any evils thence arising. 9[n0 for the better enabling you to form a sound judgment on the premises, We do hereby authorise and empower you, or any two or more of you, to call before you, or any two or more of you, ail such persons as you may judge most competent by reason of their situation, knowledge, and experience, to afford you correct information on the subject of this inquiry. ^[nlJ it is Our further Will and Pleasure that you, or any two or more of you, do Report to us in writing, under your hands and seals, your several proceedings by virtue of this Our Commission, together with your opinion on the several matters herein submitted for your consideration. a 4 Vlll anU We Will and Command that this Our Commission shall continue in full force and vitrue, and that you, Onr Commissioners, or anj two or more of you, may from time to time proceed in the execution thereof, although the same be not continued from time to time by adjouinment. giliij for your assistance in the due execution of this Our Commission, We do hereby authorise and empower you to appoint a Secretary to this Our Commission, whose services and assistance We require you to use as occasion may require. In witness whereof We have ordered the Seal appointed by the Treaty of Union to be kept and made use of, in place of the Great Seal of Scotland, to be appended hereto. Given at Our Court at Saint James's, the twenty-second day of November, in the year One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, and in the Thirty-third year of Our Reign. Per Signaturam manu S. D. N. Reginae supra scrip. Written to the Seal and registered the third day of December 1869. (Signed) JOHN M. LINDSAY, Sealed at Edinburgh, the third day Director of Chancery, of December, in the year One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine. (Signed) John H. Dunn, Substitute Keeper of the Seal. 80/. Scots. ix Additional Instructions to the Commissioners. Rivers Pollution Commission, 1, Park Prospect, Westminster, S.W. Sir, 1st March 1870. The First Report of the Rivers Pollution Commission (1868), on the Mersey and Ribblc Basins, having been presented, I am directed by the Commissioners to state, for the information of Mr. Secretary Bruce, that they propose to investigate the condition of the rivers and streams in the valleys of the Lower Avon and Frome, the scat of the West of England Woollen Trade, to enable them to complete their Report on the Basins of the Aire and Calder, " most extensively polluted by the Woollen Manufacture and processes " connected therewith," a large amount of evidence on which has already been collected. _ The Commissioners have on several occasions suggested an extension of the instruc- tions issued for their guidance, and in the present instance they are of opinion that the Report upon the Pollution caused by the Woollen Manufacture in the Aire and Calder Basins will not be complete and satisfactory without an inquiry is made into the state of the streams in the West of England, and I am directed to submit that a modification should be made in that clause of the instruction which states " that the inquiry should include selected River Basins illustrating different classes of employment and popula- tion,'' and that for the future the Commissioners should be directed to inquire into the specific pollution caused by any particular manufacture wherever located in England or Scotland. The Commissioners are of opinion that their Reports will then be more generally useful ; they will cease to have such a local designation as might lead to the supposition that then- recommendations were intended to apply to a particular locality— and they will be free from a great deal of extraneous description which has but little to do with the subject of their inquiry. ^ The Commissioners also propose as soon as the second Report T Woollen Manufacture) P^^.^^"^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^at branch of the inquiry relating to pollution by the iron trade This investigation will spread over a large area; for it by no means follows that the nuisance caused by a certam process in one locality is identical in character with that originating trom an analogous process carried on in another place. The Under Secretary of State, (Signed) S. J. Smith, &c., &c^ &c., Secretary. Home Office. Local Government Act Office, 8, Richmond Terrace, Whitehall, S.W, ^i^' 8th March 1870. With reference to your letter of the 1st instant, I am directed by the Secretary of State for the Home Department to inform you, by way of supplement to the instruc- tions already issued for the guidance of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the pollutions of rivers, that the Commissioners are to consider themselves instructed to inquire mto the specific pollution caused by any particular manufacture wherever located in Lngland or Scotland. S. J. Smith, Esq., Secretary ( Signed^' T. Taylor, Rivers Pollution Commission, 1, Park Prospect, Westminster, S.W. 30928. b 7r RIMERS POlJ.imO X COMMISSION- U8G8) mm RU^ORT. Kipper Sick ColUery j liarlow V< Dunstan 236 WhiaUuTt, Mil n 406 V^ni"^**^"^^ Chesterfield Colliery New hramptow ,_,Vialtoa Colliery ^ Walton- CmI pll Iron Worlds ~iu! Staveley . Grea.b . Cam ^mithy fond WiRgerworlh .K9 43! Grass moor C'lUiery '/Temple Nortnantxm SKETCH MAP of the UPPER TRIBUTARIES TlIK RIW.R ROTUER ret'piTed ti> IN THL STATEMENT M^G.C.COKK C.E. VOL. II. PART IV, OF THIS REPORT, Tupton 4S3- -Jr CelUtiry North Mn^ield 1-^ CoalPd 607 Upper Pilsley Scale of Statute Miles. 0 i SOS Stanlrmi's Gtcgrapfural Ks1ub/t.ih FIFTH REPORT. TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. May it please Your Majesty. We, Your Majesty's Commissioners, appointed in 1868, to inquire into the best Lvtroduc- means of preventing the pollution of rivers, have now completed our examination of the tion. principal running waters of England and Scotland. We have reported on the condition of the Mersey and Rihhle in Lancashire and Cheshire, of the Aire anid Calder in Yorkshire, of the Avons and Frames of Gloucestershire and Somersetshire, and of the Tweed, Clyde, Forth, and other rivers and streams of Scotland. Our predecessors, appomted in 1865, had previously reported on the condition of the rivers Thames and Lee, and also on the condition of the Aire and Calder; postponing, however, their recommendations, with reference to the latter streams, until the pollutions due to textile manufactures m other river basins had been investigated. In our Reports on all the above rivers we have described the various pollutions from which they are sufFerino-, and we have investigated the remedies for these pollutions of which they are severally susceptible. We have thus already submitted to Your Majesty a description of the evils arising from the discharge into river channels of town sewage (^), and of the various filthy drainage waters from cotton (^), woollen f ), silk flax and jute («) works, from print 0 and dye works from tanneries paper mills ("), and bleach works { '), from alkali (i^), chemical r), and soap works, from distilleries starch ( and sugar works, and from paraffin oil {^') works. The remedies for the nuisances ^yhlch these refuse liquids create have been carefully examined, and after prolonged inquiry and research we have been able to report that in every case efficient remedies exist and are available ; so that "the present use of rivers and running waters for the purpose of carrying off the sewage of towns and populous places, and the refuse arising from industrial processes and manufactures, can be prevented without nsk to the public health or serious injury to such processes or manufactures." Ihese remedies— sewage irrigation and intermittent filtration (i^) — capable of successful and economical or even profitable application, after certain easily ob- served conditions have been enforced in the case of offending manufactories depend for their efficiency on the action of the air within the soil in oxidisino-, and thus virtually destroying, the putrescible matters which are submitted to them Ihey are applicable therefore only in cases where the river pollution is dup to the presence of matters of animal or vegetable origin (^'). There are, however, marv nvers and streams in the country which owe their polluted condition to mineral inatteis suspended m them; and m such cases it is by prevention rather than by cure, that a remedy must be sought. We have accordingly recommended, as regards the dis- charge of all solid refuse matters and of fiirnace ashes and cinders into the river channels of manufacturing districts, that it be strictly forbidden under adequate penalties But • First Report, pp. 23-30, 43-47, 128 ; Third Report, pp. 7, 8, 39, 46-48; Fourth Report, pp. 13, 18, 25-28, 46-50. ' i > . 2 First Report, pp. 30-32 ; Third Report, p. oO ; Fourth Report, p. 28. 3 First Report, p. 38 ; Third Report — passim ; Fourth Report, pp. 6, 7. 4 First Report, p. 40. 5 Fourth Report, pp. 24, 34, 35, 61-67. 6 Fourth Report, pp. 34-38. 7 First Report, pp. 30-33 ; Third Report, p. 20 ; Fourth Report, p. 29. i > r , 8 First Report, pp. 30, 96-98 ; Third Report, pp. 5, 8, 18-23 ; Fourth Report, pp. 6, 16, 30-34. 9 First Report, p. 37 ; Third Report, pp. 6, 13 • Fourth Report, pp. 7, 8. if ^ ^ 10 First Report, p. 37; Fourth Report, pp. 12, 20 '>\ 40, 41, 61-67. i ' i-i- > , , " ^^^61 ^7^^^"*' ' ^^^^^ Report, pp. 25, 35-37, 30928. 12 First Report, p. 35. " First Report, pp. 33-37; Fourth Report, p. 14, First Report, p. 36. Fourth Report, p. 4]. "5 Fourth Report, pp. 38, 39. Fourth Report, pp. 43, 44. Fourth Report, pp. 12, 22-24, 44, 45. 19 The process of intermittent filtration was devised by this Commission for the abatement of the nuisance created by Avaters carrying putrescible organic matters in solution or suspension ; and its efficiency was thoroughly tested and deter- mined in our laboratory. First Report, pp. 62-68. 20 Third Report, pp. 27, 28, 29, 52, 53. 21 A large mass of evidence on the efficiency of these remedies, reported to us by the authorities of many English towns, will be found in Volume II. of this Report. A 2 EIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION. Introduc- there is a class of industries of national importance on which we have not hitherto TioN. reported, whose mineral refuse matters are carried from them by water, thus flowing ' from them into the nearest river channels, and whose mischievous influence on the running waters of the district cannot be so easily prevented. It is on the river pollution arising from mining operations, and from various kinds of industry connected with metals, a subject which was specially committed to us in our instructions, but to which we have not yet referred, that we now humbly submit the following Report to Your Majesty. In order to the collection of a sufficient basis of facts on which to found any recom- mendations with regard to this class of river pollutions, we have carefully inspected the mining districts of Cornwall and Devonshire, Derbyshire, and the north of England, Scotland, and Wales. We have examined the processes by which tin, copper, lead, zinc, manganese, baryta, and arsenic ores are separated from the mineral matrix in which they are held. We have witnessed the process of washing the china clays in Cornwall, whose finely divided refuse mineral matters whiten some of the Cornish streams : and we have watched the process of washing small and shaly coal in Cumberland, Derbyshire, and to some extent in South Wales, by which some of the rivers of those districts are most offensively blackened. We have also been conducted over various metal manu- factories, tin plate works, galvanizing works, nickel and German 'silver works, and other metal industries in Glasgow, Sheffield, Kidderminster, Warrington, and Birmingham, from which certain deleterious mineral discharges drain into sewers and streams. We have taken samples of river waters, liquid discharges, and deposited muds in all these cases, and submitted them to examination in our laboratory. And we have held public meetings for the reception of complaints from owners and tenants of river-side lands, from fishermen, and residents near rivers injured by any of these industries ; and on the other hand, for the reception of evidence of the local and national importance of the industries to which the injury complained of has been owing. In this way we have held public inquiries at Penzance, Redruth, Lostwithiel, Bodmin, and Liskeard, in Cornwall; at Tavistock, in Devonshire ; at Newport, Cardiff", Merthyr, Swansea, Aberystwith, and Machynlleth in Wales; and at Chesterfield in Derbyshire; and we have personally inspected mines and works and streams, in the river basins of the Fowey, Red River, Camel, Seaton, Tidi, and Fal in Cornwall ; the Tamar and some of its tributaries, and the Teign in Devonshire ; the Usk and Ebbw, the Rumney, Taff, and Tawe m South Wales ; the Rheidol, Ystwith, Clarach, and the Dovey, with the upper tributaries of the Severn in Cardiganshire and Merionethshire; the Derwent in Cumberland; certam tributaries of the Tyne, also the Wear and Tees in Northumberland and Durham ; the Elvan in Lanarkshire ; tlie Rother, Don, and Derwent in Derbyshire and Yorkshire ; and the upper tributaries of the Trent which receive the drainage of the large metal- working town of Birmingham. Throughout the whole of these extensive investigations we have received the cordial assistance of both civic and local authorities, and of miners and manufacturers, whose guidance or co-operation we have sought ; and we have to thank the large number of correspondents in the districts visited who have answered our inquiries addressed to them by letter. A large body of evidence, both oral and documentary, thus obtained, will be found in Volume II. of this Report. In commenting upon the evidence which has been thus collected, we have followed the precedent of our previous reports, first describing the industrial processes of which complaint is made, with the river pollution which they produce, and in a later section explaining the remedies applicable to these different forms of pollution. The water supply of the districts visited, which has been hitherto discussed at the close of our reports, will be considered in our last report, relating to the potable waters of Great Britain, which is now in preparation. 3 Section A. — Descriptive. I. — River Pollution arising from Mining Operations. The operations of mining are distinguished from those of quarrying not only by reason 'Section A. of their being generally carried on beneath the surface of the earth, but also because the valuable minerals sought for are, as a rule, embedded in or dispersed through a vast Pollution by quantity of worthless material, vs^hich requires to be dug out and got rid of before tlie products can be obtained in a portable and marketable form. Of this waste material a large proportion is almost invariably free, or nearly so, from the metalliferous or other valuable mineral ; but it requires to be removed from its position in order to create the passages and galleries which are necessary to enable the miner to reach the ore. Waste material of this description is usually detached in blocks or fragments of con- siderable size ; and in well-regulated mines it is often disposed of underground for filling up those parts of the workings from which the minerals have been already extracted. In many cases, however, it is brought to the surface and recklessly cast into the neighbouring watercourse, to be carried down by the next flood to raise the bed of the river in its lower reaches. The "orey stuff" on being brought to the surface is first washed with water, then reduced to powder in stamping or crushing mills, and afterwards submitted to the action of streams of water, so as to separate and carry forward the lighter portions of rocky material and to leave behind the specifically heavier metallic compounds. The water thus used is received in successive catchpits so long as the miner considers that anything, which contains _ sufficient metalliferous ore to repay extraction, is deposited from it. The water is still very muddy as it flows Irom the last catchpit, and not unfrequently contains a considerable proportion of highly poisonous metaUic compounds ; nevertheless, it is alrnost invariably discharged into the nearest stream without any attempt at purification. These two great sources of injury to rivers by mining operations are supplemented by a third, which is, however, on the whole of inferior importance, viz., the discharge of polluting water from the underground workings themselves. Owing to the great depth at which mining operations are carried on, large volumes of water find their way into the workings. Partly by its solvent action upon the minerals and decaying wood with which it comes into contact, partly by the washing of mud which collects in the tramways and passages of the mine, and partly by the admixture of the excrements of the miners, this water is frequently, though by no means invariably, polluted to a considerable extent. It is discharged sometimes by adits and sometimes by pumps; and it is frequently utihsed in the washing operations of metalliferous mines. In describing the nature and extent of injury to rivers caused by mining operations It will be convenient to make the following classiification of sources of pollution:— 1. Pollution by collieries and coal-washing. 4. Pollution by tin mines. 2. Pollution by iron mines. 5. Pollution by manganese mines. 3. Pollution by lead, zinc, copper, and 6. Pollution by baryta mines. arsenic mines. 7. Pollution by china-clay works. Of the seven kinds of mines here enumerated, the first, second, fifth, and seventh contribute polluting matter which, though in many cases very unsightly, is, as a rule, not directly injurious to health, but the waste matters discharged into rivers from the third, fourth, and sixth are frequently of a character to produce injury to the health of persons using the water for domestic purposes, or of cattle grazing in fields which have been flooded by water so fouled. The polluting matters are nearly always in suspension and scarcely ever in solution ; and'as water polluted by mining refuse is almost invariably too muddy and repulsive in appearance to be used for drinking, it very rarely happens that injury to health arises in this way ; indeed, we have not become 'acquainted with even a single case of alleged injury to human health, and with very few cases of injury to animals, by the drinking of water fouled by any of the branches of mining industry. It must be added, however, that many of these refuse matters are very destructive to fish. 1. Pollution by Collieries and Coal-washing. The mining operations connected with the getting of coal far exceed in extent and importance the aggregate of all other mining industries in this country. Although coal is commonly termed a mineral, it undoubtedly consists chiefly of organic matter resulting A 2 4 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: Section A. from the very slow putrefaction of certain plants which flourished at a period of the Descriptive, ej^j-tij's history inconccivably remote. The qualities of coal obtained in different localities and at different depths in the same locality, depend partly upon the age of the deposit and partly upon the conditions as regards temperature, pressure, and moisture or dryness, to which tbe coal has been subjected for a long succession of ages. The variations of quality are therefore almost infinite, but all are commonly classified under the four following heads : — Ferruginous waters from collieries. Cannel coal. Bituminous coal. Welsh or smokeless coal. Anthracite. The difference between these four descriptions is found to depend upon a differ- ence in the chemical composition of the organic part of the coal, as is seen fi-om an inspection of the following analytical table : — Composition of various kinds of Coals. Constituents. 1 Cannel Coal. Bituminous Coal. Welsh Coal. Anthracite. • Carbon - Hydrogen Oxygen - Nitrogen Sulphur Ash (mineral matter) 79-23 6- 08 7- 24 1-18 1-43 4-84 82-64 5-31 5-69 1-35 1-24 3-77 88-66 4-63 1-03 1-43 -33 3-92 94-18 2-99 -76 -50 •59 -98 100-00 100-00 100-00 100-00 The sulphur, which the foregoing analyses show to be a constituent of coal, is present chiefly in the form of iron pyrites, which is a compound of sulphur, iron, and a variable but usually small proportion of arsenic ; this compound is also rarely absent from the rocks in immediate contiguity to the coal ; indeed it is sometimes found there in very large proportion. Until it is exposed to the air in the mine, iron pyrites is quite insohible in water, but, in contact with atmospheric oxygen, it undergoes a slow oxidation and becomes transformed into copperas, or sulphate of iron, which readily dissolves in water. It thus happens that the water discharged from those mines in which iron pyrites abounds is often much polluted by sulphate of iron. Such water is re- cognised by becoming turbid on exposure to the air and depositing an orange yellow ochrey sediment of basic persulphate of iron, which adheres to and colours rocks or stones over which the polluted water flows. Water so contaminated is very fatal to fish, because the transformation of the protosulphate into persulphate of iron is eflTected, like that of the original iron pyrites into protosulphate of iron, by the absorption of oxygen. The water is thus deprived of its dissolved oxygen, which is absolutely necessary to fish life. Ferruginous Waters from Collieries. Eesults of Analysis expressed in Parts per 100,000. Centi- Dissolved iMatters. Suspended Matters. ogen. ; Acidity Hardness. oJ Total o .? 'S ex- Description. Iror pressed 3 . solid s o O o> •< in Mat- o ^ bD O parts of 1 0 ters. 'E o t-> DryMu- 0 3 b S M s SI) O zi tc 3 g |g "3 -3 hloi riatie Acid. S 0 s 0 Otal CJ C tc u rtfnl B O oo dards of purity. mited mited mited mited mited mited mited mited St. Helen's, Lancashire. From Pilking- •W5-C6 -176 •1-27 ■030 *o76 ■528 0 5-04 7r73 0 7-9 84-6 92-5 W50 1^10 11-60 ton's coal pit, July -3, 186S. Charley. Stream from an abandoned 321-20 •173 •034 ■192 0 ■192 0 4-23 2-78 0 28^3 9^5 37^8 coal-mine. Auk. G, 186S. Todmorden. Mine water flowing into 32-00 •162 ■036 -023 ■253 •308 0 6-504 1-45 6^015* 0 20^3 20-3 Calder by 3Iigelden Brook,Oct. 2, 18G9. o Ditto, stream flowing from coal-mine 12-8 624-00 -187 •037 •1-20 0 •136 50 •88 1^20 164 ■ 27 4^0 383^0 8S7-0 Clear. near summit of Bacup Road, Jan. 20, 1S71. TfilT Vallcii. Stream onternifc Tnffh'om i 15-8 45-56 •077 •019 •010 0 •027 0 1^20 5-3 29^7 S5-0 1-74 •56 2^30 Llancaicli Colliery, June ly, 1871. Swansea. Charles pit, Llansamlet col- 72-40 -112 •056 •024 •045 •115 •02 •51 2^70 Traces. 4^2 40-S 45-0 5-34 1-14 6^48 liery, June 21, 1871 Ditto, Lower Forest Colliery, Morriston, 11-0 127-60 •048 •062 ■076 0 •125 •008 1-28 18^00 Ditto. 0 70^0 70-0 1S^56 4-40 W96 June, 21, 1871. Ditto, Pentrefellin Colliery, June21,lS71 16-5 136-54 -023 ■033 •070 0 ■291 •002 3^,5S 6^85 31 ■ 479 0 87 •7t 75 •7t 12^62 6-74 19^36 Whitehaven. Chalybeate water, from 114-80 -087 -009 ■026 0 ■030 0 11 •953 260 0 9-5 60^5 70-0 375-84 34-2 410 ■ 04 Countess pit, Sept. 27, 1871. Water from pumping station, Nibgill, Millbanks colliery near Cockermouth, 10-0 150-00 •077 •021 -1-22 0 •131 •004 £•604 C^30 35 • 000 9^44 2-48 11^92 Sept. 27, 1871. Lcamside. Pumpins shaft at Rninton 14-8 372-60 •120 •039 0 •065 •104 •015 2-604 S2^20 0 29-1 53^0 S2^1 7^S •58 8^38 meadow (Earl Vane's) colliery. Oct. 4, 1871. * After i hr. boiliuK 'I'M. i Two sejiarate experiments made for each, t Suspended matters contained 8f3 per cent, of peroxide of iron, or 56"9 per cent, of metallic iron. FIFTH KEPOET. These results show that whilst coal-pit waters are contaminated with but a small Section A. proportion of organic matter (organic carbon and organic nitrogen), they arc occasionally i^esckittivk. acid and frequently contain a considerable proportion of iron. The metal is in the state Ferruginous of carbonate in the water pumped from the llainton meadow colliery, but it generally waters from exists in the condition of protosulphate ; both compounds are very fatal to fish, and may collieries, be injurious to cattle. This polluting agent also renders river water turbid and unsightly until the precipitated matter has had opportunity to subside in the still reaches of the stream. After subsidence, however, the river water is often considerably purified by the precipitation of a portion of its dissolved organic constituents. Thus the Taff, which a few years ago, when it received the unpurified sewage of Merthyr Tydfil, was a filthy black stream before it mingled with the ferruginous water discharged from Llancaich colliery, became strikingly improved after this admixture. Even after the Ta^ ceased to be polluted by the Merthyr sewage, and when the eye could not detect any marked amelioration, the analysis of samples which we collected in June 1871, showed that a reduction in the proportion of polluting organic elements (organic carbon and organic nitrogen) resulted from the admixture of the ferruginous water. ^ The following analytical table illustrates this and another similar case of improvement arising from the action of ferruginous colliery water. Purification of Polluted Rivers by Ferruginous Waters from Collieries. Eesults of Analysis expressed in Parts per 100,000, Description. Todmorden. — Mixed Calder streams from Ramsden Clough and Burnley road above Todmorden, Oct. 2, 1869. Ditto, mine water flowing into Calder by Migelden Brook, Oct. 2, 1869. Ditto, river Calder, 100 yards below sewer outfall, Oct. 2, 1869. Taff Valley.— The Taff just before junction witb ferruginous stream, June 19, 1871. Ditto, ferruginous stream entering Taff from Llancaicli colliery, June 19, 1871. Ditto, the Taff below junction with preceding, June 19, 1871. Tem- pera- ture, Centi- grade. Dissolved Matters. Total Solid Matters. (Or- ganic Car- bon. 13- 6 14- 4 17-9 15- 8 17-6 12-40 32-00 15-10 24- 60 45-56 25- 80 -270 ■162 -192 -179 •077 -091 Or- ganic Nitro- gen. Am- monia, Nitro- gen as Nitrates and Nitrites. Total Com- bined Nitro- gen. Metal- lic Ar- senic. Me- tallic Iron. Chlo- rine. Hardness. Tempo- rary. Perma- nent. Total. -031 •036 -056 •027 •019 •028 •015 •023 •095 0 •010 •001 •034 •253 •094 •045 0 •042 -077 -308 •228 •072 •027 •071 0 0 0 trace 0 1^17 6-504 1-45 1-49 u 1'40 1-25 1-35 ro 0 1-5 8^6 5^3 10-0 4-1 20-3 6-1 9-1 29-7 11-8 5-1 20-3 7-6 17^7 35^0 21^8 The analytical results yielded by the first three samples in the above table show that the admixture of the ferruginous mine water of the Migelden brook with the water of the river Calder produces such a purifying effect upon the latter as to more than compensate for the polluting influence of the whole of the Todmorden sewage. I^'hus 100,000 parts of the mixed waters of the streams which form the Calder in Todmorden contained when our sample was taken -301 part of organic elements (organic carbon and organic nitrogen), whilst the Calder on leaving Todmorden, and after receiving the sewage of the town together with the ferruginous water of the Migelden brook, contained in solution only "248 part of organic elements. The analytical results yielded by the remaining series of three samples in the above table show that whilst the Taff contained "206 part of organic elements before its admixture with the ferruginous stream from Llancaich colliery, it contained only '119 part of organic elements after its junction with that stream. One of the most characteristic streams of this kind that we have seen runs into the Wear a few miles above the point where the Durham Water Company pump their water from the river. It is as red as any mining river in Great Britain depositing an orange-coloured mud which heightens the bright red colour of the turbid water passing over it. It joins the Wear on its right bank near Croxdale Hall just opposite the junction of the Brownie, a clean and much larger affluent on the other side. Judging from temperatures taken of the three streams and of the Wear above and below their junction with it, this red stream is not more than one thirtieth of the whole volume of the united waters, but the water of the Wear, bright and colourless as it appears from Sunderland bridge, half a mile above this junction, has become yellow and turbid at Butter by, a mile below it. Tracing the stream upwards through the 8 or 10 miles of A 3 6 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: DrscRn-Ti^' course we find it red to its very source. Its head waters are pumped from the E ^Rii^ . j,^^^ Hetton, Kelhoe Winnings, and Coxhoe collieries which lift 400, 1,100, and 900 Ferruginous gallons a minute, respectively. Samples of the two former gave the following composition and non- analysis :- terruginous waters. CoMi'OSiTioN OF Ferruginous Water from Durham Collieries. Results of Analysis expressed in parts per \ 00,000. Description, Dissolved Matters. 13= .3 » ; Ah Hardness. SuspendedMatters. Permitted toy pro- posed standards of purity. EiCd stream runniiip; into JFear below Croxdale Hall, Juno 10, 1873. Water pumped from Kelhoe Winnings coal-pit, June 10, 1873. Water pumped from 60 fathom working of East HettonCoUiorv, June 10, 1873, 15-2 23-0 15-2 Unli- mited. 304-58 531-90 260-12 2'000-300| Unli- mited. •210 -060 •178 •171 •010 •046 •140 •250 •100 Unli- mited. Unli- mited. •175 -216 •128 2-0 9-43 25-30 ZOO'O 7-96 32-48 Unli- mited. 5-40 3-90 3-90 Unli- mited. Unli- mited. 104-5 202-4 120-0 Unli- mited. 104-5 202-4 120-0 3-00 5-60 7-76 14-62 x-oo 0 2-88 4-12 5-60 10-64 18-74 The water pumped from East Hetton is not so red as the other, owing to interception within the mine before it has traversed the same extent of old workings. Mr. Charles Furneis of Brandon House Farm, who occupies 280 acres of land through which this red stream flows, has ]^nown it 40 years, and states that it has become increasingly fouled of late years ; cattle, however, continue to drink of it, and the only injury inflicted b}' it, on account of which there is any reason for serious complaint, appears, according to him, to be the increased labour which both cottagers and farmers now have to incur in fetching clean water for domestic purposes. ■ Such, then, are the effects, partly deleterious and (in the case of already polluted rivers) partly beneficial, of ferruginous coal-pit water. Vast volumes of non-ferruginous or but slightly ferruginous water are however pumped from collieries and discharged into rivers with unmitigated benefit to the latter. Colliery water is indeed occasionally sufficiently pure to be used for all domestic purposes. Thus at the time of our visit to Accrington in Lancashire a portion of that town was supplied with water of good quality pumped from a colliery. The composition of this and of other coal-pit waters free from iron is given in the following analytical table : — Composition of Non-ferruginous Coal-pit Waters. Results of Analysis expressed in Parts per 100,000. Description. Dissolved Matters. o c ^ fcr Hardness. Suspended Matters. Permitted by proposed stan- dards of purity. ,St. Helen's, Lancashire, coal-pit water, Alexandra colliery, July 23, 1868. Ashton-undcr-Lyiie, water supply, mix- ture of coal-pit and reservoir water, July 24, 1868. Blackburn, stream from Little Har- wood, abandoned coal-pit, 70 yards deep, Aug. 5, 1868. Accrington, coal-mine water supplied to town, June 11, 1869. Sicansea, water from Tyrcenol colliery Morriston, June 21, 1871. Chesterfield, water used for coal-wash- ing (Devonshire Silkstone Colliery Co.), Oct. 13, 1871. Weak Basin. Ardstey,irom adit of old coal-workinits, Middletou coal-pit, June 8,1873. 'From Halli day C0&) aud iron workings, June 8, 1873. ■Prom Tingleij coal and iron mine, June 8, 1873. Unli- I2-OOO mited 9-8 13-5 11-0 10- 0 11- 5 11-0 91-86 21-14 30-96 33-42 70 -IS 98-30 39-6 37-54 61-64 -195 •200 •117 •045 -396 •307 •059 •182 -051 300 •035 •031 -055 -017 -039 -026 •019 •058 ■023 Unli- 1 Unli- mited mited 051 •018 -010 -002 0 0 0 0 •080 -002 •02s -012 •039 •102 Unli- mited •101 •067 •029 •078 •128 •019 •124 •025 Unli- mited 1-76 1-89 1-29 1- 40 2- 30 1-95 2-35 2^20 2-60 Unli- mited -85 3-24 9-20 7-70 15-00 10-9 8-6 12-2 W6 Unli- mited 17-24 10-97 1- 16 2- 18 20-00 9-7 17-1 6-r 2-1 UnU- mited 18-09 14-21 10-36 9-88 35-00 20-6 25-7 18-9 15-7 3-00 •25 1-OOj — •25 I •SO Very turbid. SUghtly turbid. ^ I I Very turbid. Turbid. 2-76 j -56 |s-32 Slightly turbid. FIFTH REPORT. 7 Several of these waters are sufficiently pure for domestic supply. But we do not ^^^J^^^^^^* recommend them for this purpose, as their constant liability to pollution by the excre- '^-scbittive. ments of the miners renders their domestic use dangerous. It cannot be doubted, Coal wash- however, that the admission of such water into even unpolluted rivers and streams is of '"g- advantage as an acceptable addition to the volume of the water in dry seasons. Coal-Washing. — The only remaining pollution of water by collieries is that which arises from coal-washing, a process which has assumed important dimensions during the past ten years. In addition to the large masses or " cobs " and the smaller fragments or " nuts," there is always a considerable per-centage of coal raised from the pit in the form of " slack," or even dust, mixed with the shale which is commonly found inter- stratified with coal. This latter material was, to a great extent, formerly regarded as waste ; it was sometimes " tipped " into any convenient watercourse, but more frequently it was slowly burnt in vast heaps at the pit's mouth. Attempts to utilise this small coal, when it was of a bituminous nature, by coking it in ovens, and thus transforming it into coherent masses, failed on account of the large proportion of shale and of iron pyrites with which it was mixed. Coal has a much lower specific gravity than either shale or pyrites, and it was found that if the refuse material was placed in a stream of water, the coaly matter was carried forward by the stream whilst the shale and pyrites were left behind. The principle here involved is applied in a variety of ways ; sonaetimes the refuse coal is placed upon large sieves of wire or perforated zinc, through which a stream of water is forced upwards in a succession of powerful pulses by the action of a steam pump. The coal is thus carried to the surface^ and is washed off, or can be scraped off, from the shale below. This is the process used at the coal-pits belonging to the Dowlais iron works in South Wales, where the water after use is made to run through settling pits in which a considerable quantity of valuable coal dust is deposited, and also in some of the Earl of Lonsdale's collieries at Whitehaven, where, after the water has become very black and turbid, it is run off into the adjoining sea. The condition of the water at both these collieries before and after use is exhibited in the analytical table on page 8. At the Lowther pit, Clifton colliery, on the Derwent, Cumberland, about 50 tons of coal are washed daily, being one-fourth of all the coal that is here raised. All the coal that passes through a three-quarter inch screener is here washed, and about one- sixth of its weight of shale is extracted from it. At this colliery the washing is per- formed in inclined troughs or shoots, each of which is about 100 yards in length. The velocity of the water, which we found to be rather more than four feet per second, is so regulated as to carry the coal down the shoots but leave the shale and pyrites behind. About three-fourths of all the water pumped from the pit is here used for coal-washing. Nowhere is coal- washing either pursued to such an extent or guilty of so much damage to rivers as in the neighbourhood of Chesterfield. At the Devonshire Silkstone Company's colliery and coke ovens, coal is washed on an enormous scale, and a strong black stream flows into the Barlow brook, depositing much shale and coaly matter in front of the outlet. About half a mile higher up the same brook, the Cobner Wood colliery is situated. Here coal-washing is carried on upon an equally large scale, and a great volume of black water is discharged into the brook ; the vast amount of shale separated by the washing is also placed in such a position as to ensure its being carried down the stream by the next flood. These are only two of many in- stances in a neighbourhood where the streams have been utterly ruined by the reckless use of water for this purpose. Vast collections of shale at the Whittington and other collieries show how differently the rivers in this district were treated before the introduction of coal-washing six or seven years ago. Formerly this material was stored up in veritable mountains, but now all is washed into the neighbouring streams, a huge delta of shale extending half- way across the river usually marking the position of a coal-washing establishment. At W^est Staveley there are 42 coke ovens, and all the coal used for the production of coke is washed. The coal is brought here from a distance of two miles, because there is no water at the colliery to wash it with. We saw a vast quantity of refuse piled upon the banks of the brook, with the obvious purpose of getting rid of it during floods. Thus the river silts up, and we were informed that below the Staveley works^ it often overflows its banks, grievously injuring the neighbouring meadows by covering them with coal-dust, which, as we observed, kills the grass and causes coarse and worth- less weeds to grow in its place. John Patterson, who farms this land, informed us that he lost two cows in the spring of 1871 by allowing them to graze in these meadows. A 4 KTVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : On the Taff in South Wales, and the Derwent in Cumberland, to which reference has been made as rivers suiffering from this practice of coal-washing, the instances are too few, or the volume of the river too large, to allow the full evil of the practice to be seen : but on the Rother below Chesterfield the coal-washings are more numerous and the river is small, and thus the injurious effects of the practice are fully developed. The channel of the stream is being choked with the deposited coaly mud, and every unusual rainfall is thus certain to flood the adjacent lands. The coaly matters are carried over the o-rass and spoil it for the use of cattle, and the river is always black and muddy, and unfit for them to drink. At Eckington colliery, a flood had at the time of our visit carried away large quantities from a heap of shale and breeze placed on the bank of the stream, destroying the neighbouring land and covering it in some places with a layer of oxide of iron which will doubtless render it sterile for many years. The dirty black water from this colliery flows into the Slitting Mill Gait and entirely ruins a previously clean and useful stream. Cattle have, as alleged, in many cases died after grazing upon meadows which have been covered wnth colliery detritus, and instances were reported to us in which as much as two quarts of coal dust have been found in the stomach. This dust is said to occasion internal ulceration and consequent purging, which is ultimately fatal. The tenant of the Slitting Mill farm on Lord Manvers' property, of which 130 acres are liable to flood, informed us that his losses, owing to injured grass and occasional disease or death, averaged annually at least \l. a head over the 80 beasts which he generally grazed every summer on his river-side lands. We walked over a considerable extent of such land, the property of Sir R. Sitwell, Earl Manvers, Earl Fitzwilliam, and the Duke of Devonshire, which ha,d been injured in that way. A memorial to the agents of these estates will be found in the volume of evidence accompanying this report. It has been signed by all the tenants of the river side lands here ; and they call attention in it to the practice of coal-washing as the source of great injury thus done to the owners and occupiers of these lands. The extent of land liable to injury by flooding from the overflow of the Rother is stated to be no less than 888 acres; and, in addition to the very obvious mischief which floods had done to the quality of the grass, every tenant related to us unusual losses of the cattle grazed on these flooded lands, which had happened since the practice of coal-washing and the consequent fouling of the flood water. — A sketch map of the upper tributaries of the river Rother flices this page. The following table contains the results of our analytical investigation of the streams on which coal-washing is prosecuted and of the foul waters which pollute them : Pollution of Water by Coal-washing. Eesults of Analysis expressed in Parts per 100,000. Dissolved Matters. Suspended Matters. Description. o O 3 . S c W) o itrates o "St Hardness. 'o lie Carl % o o ig p lie Arse 3 £ "is Total ters ci o Ml o a g < Total Nit c3 O 3 t E-i CD % Eh Miner 1 tr <=> Permitted by proposed Vnli- 2'000 -300 Unli- Unli- Unli~ OS Unli- Unli- Unli- Unli- 3-00 _ standards of purity. mited mited mited mited mited mited mited mited Dvwlais Iron Works. — Water 40 -94 •098 -032 -0 -127 -1.-9 1^50 13-1 16^9 30^0 3^74 3^72 7^46 used for coal-wasliiiig, June 20, 1871. Ditto, water after coal-wasliinjr and partial subsidence, June 05 -SO •OGO -010 -002 •053 •065 •200* 1^95 20^8 9^2 30^0 208-36 146 •64 855 0 20, 1S71. Whiiehaven. — Water used for coal-washing at William Pitt 15-74 •039 -014 •001 •132 •147 2^50 4^3 6^6 10-9 Slig itly tui bid. colliery, Sept. 27, 1S71. Ditto, ditto after use, Sept. 27, 1871. 57-10 •133 •021 •010 •431 •460 ■020 12-15 1^8 2^6 4-4 334^00 •2927 ■© 3261-0 Cockermouth. — The Derwent 9-2 3-30 •145 •024 •002 0 •026 l-«5 0 3^5 3^5 Clear. above all mines, Sept. 27, 1S71. Ditto, ditto, below three col- lieries, Sept. 27, 1S71. 9-2 6-40 ■181 •024 •001 •006 -031 1-10 0 3^9 3-9 Tiirhifl Chesterfield. — (Devonshire Silk- stone Colliery Co.) , coal-wash- 11-0 98 -SO •126 •006 -009 0 •013 4-5 2S^1 1^9 SO^O 383-24 715 • 36 104S-0 iiif! water entering Harlow brook, Oct. 13, 1871. Ditto, water as p\nnped from Devonshire Silkstone pit and 11-0 98-30 •307 •026 0 •102 -128 1-95 W9 9^7 20^6 Very turb d. used for coal-washing, Oct. 13, 1871. Ditto. I>arlow brook above all pollutions, Oct. 13, 1871. G-0 15-76 -243 •014 0 •094 -138 1-15 •7 9^6 W3 Slig htly ta ■bid. Ditto, ditto, just above junction with Drone brook, Oct. 13, 1871. G'S 28-40 •150 •083 0 •lOS -141 1-15 11^4 18^0 WIS 27^S8 40-56 Ditto, ellkient water from coal- 10-0 112-40 •201 -051 0 •363 •414 19-35 22^9 1^4 24^3 310 ■ 24 377 • 72 687-96 washing at Eckington colliery Oct. U, 1871. ' Both in solution aud suspension. RIW.RS PO]J.LTIOi\ COMMISSION (m(i») bimi KKl'OUT. 870 UrisLon, ^ Colliery' Ba,r Wliittington » Walerhjo CoaJ. pit J)ukes Hew Colliery • ' Stnvele Barlow V«, Works Jrorv ^ 'eoey <.0 CA N^*" Iron, Works Thurston 236 1 WhiUingWTV* ma StELveley 996 Ironsfxme FUs 406 Ub hyMoor S ide Hipper Sick 1225 973 ni3 7072 SKETCH MAP of th e UPPER ITUBUTARIES THE RIVER ROTUER reteiTedto IN THE STATEMENT l^G.C.COKK C.E. VOL.M. PART IV, OF THIS REPORT, Scale of Statute Miles. 0 i Colliery rf.< (Cohe (\ens n LockaforcL Tap'onMiO' ^^fWoriJ\^^J\ Chesterfield New BrcumptOTV •,i Walkn, ColUery ^Walton/ Iron ' Works Coal pii '287 Great , Dam 536 J^mitJry Tond 7escriptive. below the polluted affluents, were found to contain '215 per cent, of lead and '679 per Lead mines, cent, of zinc. The mud of the Ystwith at Pont Llanychaiarn contained no poisonous metals at the time our sample was taken, neither could we find any deleterious ingre- dient in the soil of a field upon its banks, said to have been poisoned and rendered barren a few years ago by a flood from the Ystwith. On the other hand a sample of the soil from some "poisoned" land, which had been reclaimed by burning, liming, and manuring at Pontmawr on the Ystwith, was found still to contain a trace of galena. The Clarach, a small river entering the sea to the north of Aberystwith, is said to have been formerly, at no distant date, free from mining pollutions. A careful chemical exa- mination of the subsoil (which was evidently river deposit), one foot deep on its bank, failed to reveal any trace of poisonous metal ; whilst the sand upon the surface of an adjacent field, in which, as we were informed, seven bullocks had been poisoned in February 18/1, was found to contain no less than 1'36 per cent, of galena or sulphuret of lead, besides r23 per cent, of sulphuret of zinc. When, however, we leave the main streams, and turn our attention to the more intensely polluted affluents, it is impossible • to avoid the conclusion that lead mining is, in many instances, carried on in an extremely slovenly and wasteful manner. The above analytical tables show that the operation of buddling is, in many instances, so imperfectly performed as to throw away, as waste, stuff which contains as much as 5, 9? 13, and, in one exceptional case, even 25 per cent, of lead ore. No doubt some of these samples had received a further natural washing in the bed of the stream, and thus become richer in galena and blende than when they left the buddies ; but, even after making allowance for such subsequent concentration, we cannot doubt that reckless waste of valuable material is permitted in many mines, a waste which not only seriously affects the interests of the adventurers themselves, but may scatter injury and death through the valleys below. The following results of analysis of numerous samples of water which we have collected in various localities illustrate the pollution of rivers by lead mining : — Pollution of Water by Lead Mfning. Results of Analysis expressed in Parts per 100,000. Description. 03 Si s Dissolved Matters. Suspended Matters. ;ratcs Total Combined Nitrogen. u Anhydrous Pho8- phoric Acid. Hardness. Temperature, C Total Solid Mai Organic Carbor Organic Nitrog Ammonia. Nitrogen as Nil and Nitrites. Metallic Arseni Lead. Chlorine. Temporary, Permanent. Total. Mineral." Organic. a o H Unli- mited 4-SO 2-000 •091 -300 -015 Unli- mited •001 Unli- mited 0 Unli- mited -016 '050 -028 'Unli- mited 1-228" 2-0 Unli- mited •75 Unli- mited -24 Unli- mited 1^67 Unli- mited 1-91 3'00 Traces. 1-00 Traces. Traces 7-80 -113 •034 •001 0 -035 2-277" •62 •&i 4^66 5-30 32-80 •50 33-30 9-16 •151 •031 •003 •022 •055 •85 •62 4-04 4-66 -82 •0 -82 11-76 •091 •029 •010 0 •037 9-032' •84 1^40 4-45 5-81 144-84 S-04 152-88 67260 1472-5'' 10-20 •039 -010 •002 -006 •018 •020 •70 1^23 3-69 4-92 1-20 Q-OS 1-34 8-80 •084 -059 •005 0 •063 -010 Trace 1^25 •0 4-58 4- 58 1521-6 34-5 1556-1 13-08 -055 -013 0 0 •013 Trace Trace 1-25 •43 S-14 8-57 366-0 13-9 379-9 9-0 29-36 •001 0 -010 -012 •020 -005 0 1-25 2-71 13-01 15-72 5-22 •48 5-70 11-7 9-2.1 -239 -039 -006 Trace •044 0 0 1-15 -81 3-77 4-58 19-06 •46 19-52 6-20 -086 -035 -002 0 •037 -004 0 -70 0 3-25 3-25 16-42 -52 16-94 8-32 -027 -010 0 0 -010 ■005 Trace 1-15 -67 3-64 4-31 64 -SS 3-76 68-64 13-92 -080 -0-21 -001 0 -022 -008 0 1-40 7-6 7-9 398-64 15-0 413-64 6-9 29-96 •019 -017 •045 0 -054 -004 Trace 1-10 •10 13-62 13-72 88-03 3-20 41-23 Permitted by proposed standards of purity. Leadhills, Lanarkshire. — Clean water used at upper washing floor, July 22, 1870. Ditto, tail water used at upper washing floor, July 22, 1870. Ditto, washing water used below village at crushing and washing floors, July 22, 1870. Ditto, tail water used below vil- lage at crushing and washing floors, July 22, 1870. Ditto, mud deposited from wash- ing water in brook, July 22, 1870. Ditto, stream 2 miles below lowest waslliiig floors, July 22, 1870. Aberystwith, East Darren Lead Mine. — Liquor near head of slime pits, Apr. 25, 1871. Ditto, ditto, strained washing water as it flows into Clarach, Apr. 25, 1871. Ditto, Frongooli Mine, Ystwith. — From adit level, Apr. 27, 1871. Ditto, ditto, effluent water from settling reservoir, Apr. 27, 1871.- Ditto, Dylifl'e Mine.— Eflluent water from last slime pits as it enters river, Apr. -28, 1871. Ditto, Bronfloyd Mine.— Water before entering dressing floors, Apr. 25, 1871. Ditto, Bronfloyd Mme.— Waste washing water, entering the Clarach, Apr. 25, 1871. Ditto, Bhos-wyddol Mine.— Water from Bwlch Coch level, Apr. 28, 1871. ' In unflltered water. •> PaOj in wet mud=990-4 pts. Both this and the total solid matters in this sample were, of course, insoluble in water. B 3 14 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : Section A. Descriptive- Lead mines. 1 Pollution of Water by Lead Mining — continued. Dcscriptiou. Abrrvstu-ith.—Gof.ma.\\ Mine. — Water from adit level under bridge, Apr. 26, 1871. Ditto, ditto, water from washmg floors as it enters brook, Apr. 26, 1871. Ditto, Cao Conroy Mme. — Effluent water from jiggers after subsidence, Apr. 28, 1871. Ditto, ditto, waste water entering filters, Apr. 28, 1871. , Ditto, ditto, waste water filtered through porous bank, Apr. 28, 1871. Ditto,' Powell United Mine.— Washing water leaving last settluig reservoir, Apr. 26. 1871. Ditto, the Rlieidol as it enters Aberystwith, Apr. 26, 1871. Ditto, the Clarach above the rail- way bridge, Apr. 25, 1871. Ditto, the Bheidol below all pollutions, Apr. 26, 1871. Ditto, ditto, just above junction with stream from Goginnan mine, Apr. 26, 1871. , ^ „ ^ Ditto, ditto, unpolluted at Pont- y-rwd bridge, Apr. 26, 1871. Ditto, the Ystwith at Pont Llany- chaiam, Apr. 27, 1871. y^^yo _ West Chiverton Mine. Effluent water leaving mine, Junes, 1871. Greenside Lead mines. Water pumped from 80 fathoms level, Aug. 11, 1871. ^ . Ditto, ditto, waste water from dressing floors, buddies, &c., Aug. 11, 1871. ^ , AUenlieads Mine. — Water used at dressing floors, Sept. 29, 1871. Ditto, waste water from last web- buddles, Sept. 29, 1871. Ditto, mixed effluent water from upper and lower catehpits, Sept. 29, 1871. ^ . Ditto, total drainage entering the ^HfiM, Sept. 29, 1871. Hexham— Stonecroft burn above aU mines, Sept. 30, 1871. Ditto, ditto, below lead mines, Sept. 30, 1871. „ , The Wear.— On& of the unpol- luted sources, Oct. 3, 1871. Ditto, one of the polluted sources, Cornish Huish Mine, Oct. 3, 1871. TJie Tees.— Unpolluted source at Wire Gill Mine, Oct 3, 1871. Ditto, effluent water from Wire- sill Mine, Oct. 3, 1871. ^ ^ , , Ditto, one of the sources at Cold- berry Mine, Oct. i, 1871. Ditto, effluent water from Cold- berry Mine, Oct. 4, 1871. The TTeor.— Unpolluted source at Cowhills Mine, Oct. 5,1871. Ditto, effluent water from shme T)its at CowhiUs Mine, Oct. 5, 1871. ^. , ., The Wear at Coronation bridge below mines, Oct. 5, 1871. Tavistock.— From adit at Old Wheal E.'onouth Mine, Sept. 26. 1872. '' The Teign below Crocombc weir, 2.45 p.m., Sept. 26, 1872. Ditto, stream at Dogliole bridge from Prank Mill Lead Mme, 3.10 p.m., Sept. 26, 1872. South Teign.— Frora Yeo Farm Mine, Seirt. 23, 1872. ii,-ffcmrf/.— Un))olluted affluent of Tidi, used at Wheal Wray Lead Mine, Sept. 24, 1872. Tlie Teign above old Wieal Ex- mouth Mine, Sept. 26, 1872. Newton Abbott.— Soi\th Teign at Yeo bridire above all pollutions, Sept. 27, 1872. Ditto, ditto, 100 yards below 1 eo Farm Mine, Sept. 27, 1872. Xtere«/?"e.f.— Unpolluted affluent of Cerist. Van Mine, Oct. 8, 1872. Ditto, water pumped from \an Mine used for dressing, Oct. S, 1872. Ditto, effluent water from \ an Mine shme pits, Oct 8, 1872. Darlen Pale. — Water pumped from Mill Close Mine, Oct. 10 1872. , , ^ Ditto, effluent water from last slime pit. Mill Close Mine. Oct. 10, 1872. Dissolved Matters. Suspended Matters. entigr CO a 0 -§ u )ined c5 0 5 -a si It < Hardness. Temperature, C Total Solid Mat Organic Carbon Organic Nitrog Ammonia. Nitrogen as Nit and Nitrites. Total Coml Nitrogen. Metallic Arseni OS 0 Chlorine. Temporary. a I S g Total. Miuoral. Organic. Total. 8 7 18-40 0 0 0 •029 •0-29 •004 r Prace 1-60 •34 8-00 8-34 2-98 0 2-98 11-00 ■079 -012 -002 Trace -014 Trace Frace -60 -3 5-1 5-4 413-16 16^16 429-32 5-4S _ 0 _ 0 — •40 •12 6-52 6-72 1 Trace Crace - 224-0 8-iO 232-40 6-06 -071 •017 -002 0 •019 - 1-30 -26 2-34 2-60 .Slig htly tur bid. 9-00 -095 -042 •004 0 •045 0 Trace •90 -3 5-0 5-3 77-04 3^48 80-52 10-1 10-16 -100 -013 -009 0 '020 Trace 4*35 -13 2-60 2-73 •57 0 -57 10-3 7-84 -064 •016 •003 •032 -050 -012 — 0 1-15 -78 2-34 3-12 1-48 55-72 10-0 5-66 -101 •025 •002 0 •027 -004 Trace 1-10 1'47 1-52 2-99 Slighty turbid. 1 1 9-0 4-04 -128 •010 •002 0 ■012 •004 — 0 1-00 -42 1-38 1-80 Do. S •2 3-38 -107 -016 -001 0 -017 0 0 '98 1*36 1-24 2-60 Very s Ughtly t urbid. 10-0 5-90 -166 -025 •001 •oil -037 0 0 1-20 -26 2-34 2-60 •36 0 -36 112-00 •035 -036 •018 0 '051 Q — 4-15 0 76-60 76 '60 443^56 38-24 481-80 10-0 33-84 -041 -017 •008 0 -024 1-25 12-8 12-9 25'7 95-20 11-12 106-32 11-40 069 •019 •001 -006 '026 — -80 2*0 5-0 7-0 46-78 2-74 49-52 8-60 1-025 •076 0 -025 -101 _ - -85 -5 3-5 4-0 1-12 •22 1-34 13-04 -342 •042 •016 0 -055 -010 1-05 -3 7-0 7-3 4121^04 327-68 4448-72 9-60 1-525 -155 ■022 0 -173 -004° - 1-0 2-0 4-6 6-6 359-64 33^04 392-68 6-7 14-00 -812 -081 -003 0 -083 -010" — -8 1-6 6-7 8-3 35-96 0 35-96 7-9 17-76 -812 •097 0 0 -097 — 1*15 1-7 10-6 12-3 Suspended particles. i i-0 23-78 •e .90 •086 0 - 009 -095 — 1-00 12-4 5-3 17-7 32-36 2-6 34-96 1 ro ] 6-30 LI -26 ' It 13 .95 -( -( )84 )65 0 -001 0 0 -084 -066 — — -90 1-00 0 1-0 2- 9 3- 6 2-9 4-6 Afe P 253-60 sv suspended articles. 24-70 1 278-30 ( 5-9 7-60 13-66 l-( . c )53 !92 -( - )71 )42 •001 •001 0 0 ■072 -043 - — -75 1-00 -7 0 2-7 6-6 3-4 6-6 Brown suspended matter. 274-50 1 26-90 j 301-40 TS 7-40 )21 - )69 •001 0 -070 - '7n *4 3-1 Very turbi i. 5-0 10-46 506 • )40 0 0 ■040 '80 1-5 5-4 6-9 83-2 7-04 90-24 7-5 7-3 10 --20 ■ 366 - 354 -001 0 -055 — •65 1-2 5-9 7-1 Turbid. 13-66 283 • 349 •004 0 •052 - 1-00 1-7 7'4 9-1 41-0 2-04 43-04 7-7 8-90 1- 701 184 -001 0 •185 -70 -6 4-4 5-0 V 3ry turb) d. 10-5 75-60 • 972 * 025 •012 0 ■035 •004 0 2-00 5-5 43-S 49-3 9-12 ■92 10-04 10-7 8-98 - 308 - 048 -008 -010 -065 1-20 •6 2-6 3-2 6-86 -72 7-58 14-0 61-04 127 027 -008 -033 -067 0 0 1-90 -4 32-9 33-3 108-92 11-72 120-64 7-58 195 029 -012 •071 -110 •004 — 0 1-10 •6 1-2 1-8 1 1-3 10-52 1- 124 112 -056 •043 •201 2-20 •1 3-1 3-2 3-lS -58 3-70 10-5 fi-OS 582 058 -004 0 -061 — 1-40 -8 1-8 2-6 Turbid 1 11-0 3-62 166 * 019 -001 0 -020 1-25 0 1-1 1-1 Suspended particles. • i 1 4-34 172 028 -001 •Oil -040 - 1-25 0 -9 -9 1 1 Tiu-bid, 1 1 1 1-0 6-10 311 041 -002 •015 •058 ■95 0 1-5 1-5 Turbid. 1 1-0 3 20-00 212 078 -155 -465 -671 ISO- 5 5-6 13-0 18-6 102-8 6^G 109-4 1 4-3 32-64 155 047 -026 0 -068 Trace 12-4 -1 4-9 5-0 137-04 7^12 141-16 11-0 89-44 116 626 0 0 ■026 0 1-55 9-3 10-0 W3 12-4 2-4 14-8 43-56 021 -0-28 0 •044 -0-20 1-60 10-2 14-6 24-8 154-72 14-96 169 -6S « In solution. Acidity =10-16 parts of muriatic acid. Total iron in solution=8*S7 parts. FIFTH REPORT. 15 The above analytical results demonstrate that the pollution of rivers by lead mining Section A. arises altogether from matters in suspension; indeed, as regards polluting matters in Descjuttivk. solution, the water used on the dressing floors of these mines is frequently discharged Lead mines, in a condition of greater purity than it possessed before use. The suspended polluting matter consists chiefly of mineral mud, the comparatively small proportion of organic matter which it contains is probably derived in great part from the soluble organic constituents contained in the water used for the washing operations. The effects of lead mining upon the condition of running water in England and Wales are best observed in the rivers and streams flowing into Cardigan Bay at and above Aberyst- with. They are also to be seen in certain tributaries of the Tyne near Hexham and of the Derwent near Matlock, and in the upper reaches of the Tees and Wear in the county of Durham. The only locality in Scotland where this subject receives any illustration ha? been referred to in our description of the river Clyde (4th Report, Rivers of Scotland, p. 11) of which the Elvan from the Leadhills district is a tributary. All the streams which exhibit this form of mining pollution are thus either short and comparatively unimportant, or, as in the tributaries of the Clyde, the Tyne, and the Derwent, the body of the water into which they flow is so large that any mischievous influence they might exert is lost. The most marked examples of the injury which they sometimes both suffer and inflict are to be witnessed in the short streams running into the sea near Aberystwith — the Rheidol and the Ystwith which there unite, and the Clarach and the Dyji a few miles to the north of them. We received at public meetings at Aberystwith and Machynlleth, from both fishermen and tenants of river-side lands, complaints of the mischief which has thus been done ; and we satisfied ourselves, by personal inspection, of the costs and losses to which riparian owners had been thus subjected. All these streams are turbid, whitened by the waste of the lead mines in their course ; and flood waters in the case of all of them bring down poisonous " slimes " which, spreading over the adjoining flats, either befoul or destroy the grass, and thus either injure cattle and horses grazing on the dirtied herbage, or, by killing the plants whose roots have held the land together, render the shores more Hable to abrasion and destruction on the next occasion of high water. It is owing to the latter cause as well as to the immense quantity of broken rock which every mine sends forth that the small rivers Rheidol and Ystwith present such surprising widths of bare and stony bed. The expenses to which a riparian owner may thus be put is illustrated by an instance on the estate of Mr. Lewis Pugh Pugh, J.P., of Abermaide, on the river Ystwith. There had been here a wide margin of river side land destroyed in the manner already described. Its grass had been killed by the poisoned water of the river, and the land, no longer held together by its roots, had been afterwards washed away. An embank- ment has been raised along the old shore line for the protection of the estate, and it is itself protected by staked and wattled barriers as offsets into the river channel. The land has been levelled and filled in behind this embankment by cartage of earth ; and thereafter a heavy dressing of lime has been required beyond the ordinary costs of culti- vation before it could again be put into the hands of a rent paying tenant. The land- owner has in fact thus more than re-bought the land of which the industry above him had deprived him. His tenants too, and the occupiers of all the river side property in this neighbourhood, tell of cattle killed and horses paralysed and broken winded owing to feeding on the befouled grass. The evidence taken before us at Aberystwith and Machynlleth is conclusive as to the great loss thus occasionally inflicted on the generally small farmers who occupy these riverside lands. We learned indeed from Mr. H. E. Taylor of Aberystwith that the mining industry on the Aberystwith streams pays no less than 80,000Z. a year in wages and 20,000Z. a year in royalties, figures indicating an industry of such importance that it might be dangerous to interfere with its prosperity by penalties. We should, however, rather infer from them that an industry of such magnitude is well able to pay for whatever injury it inflicts. Power may be occasionally wanted enabling mine owners to take land near their works where the great mounds of waste skimpings may be piled which now find their way into the river channel, and where slime pits may be provided for the retention of the waste mine waters until they have sufficiently deposited their load of mud ; but no escape should be allowed them from any injurious consequences following their neglect to keep their poisonous refuse matters out of the river channels. We are bound to add that, excepting the destruction of ducks and other poultry reported to us at mines near Hexham on the north side of the river Tyne where large quantities of carbonate of baryta are obtained (to deposits of which in the roadways and river channels, no doubt this fatality is due) no complaint from stock owners in the neighbourhood of lead mines in the north of England have B 4 16 EIVERS rOLLUTION COMMISSION: Section A. been made to us. The valleys are wider, and there is ample space for storage of waste Descriptive, jj^aterials around these mines in Allendale, Teesdale, and Weardale ; and the moorland Zinc and which may be occasionally overflowed by the muddy waters is of comparatively little copper mines, value. In Derbyshire, on the other hand, the mines are on a smaller scale, and their waste waters are a comparatively insignificant addition to the streams into which they flow. In addition to galena, lead mines not unfrcquently yield blende or sulphuret of zinc, copper pyrites which is a double sulphuret of iron and copper, and mundic or arsenical pyrites, a compound of iron, arsenic, and sulphur. Of these, the first and last are not imfrequently disregarded by the miner ; the blende being washed away with the waste slimes from the buddies, and the mundic being either thrown into the nearest watercourse or stacked in immense heaps where by its gradual decomposition it yields, after rain, an arsenical drainage. Both blende and mundic contribute, therefore, in an important degree to river pollution ; but copper pyrites is too valuable to be thus wasted, and its specific gravity is too low to allow of its being separated from its rocky matrix by washing. It is, therefore, picked out by hand, and does not, after its removal from the mine, so far as our investigations have gone, pollute running water. Copper pyrites is, however, subject to slow oxidation by which some of it is converted, in the mine, into the sulphates of copper and iron which dissolve in the underground waters and reach the surface by pumps or adits. But even in this case the copper is only rarely allowed to escape into rivers. It is precipitated by scraps of old iron, and there is then left in solution only sulphate of iron, which may, no doubt, by careless management, become a serious polluting agent. We are bound to say that we have not found the water discharged from two of the largest copper mines in this country, the Devon Great Consols and the West Chiverton mines, to contain copper. The following table exhibits the results of our analyses of the samples of water which we collected from copper mines : — ■ Composition op Water from Copper Mines. Results op Analysis expressed in parts per 100,000. Description. Dissolved Matters. Suspended Matters, 60 Hardness. Permitted by proposed standards of purity. Cnoiberland. — Stream from Coniston copper Hiul lead mines, Sept. 25, 1SC8. Ditto, Coniston copper and lead mines, water pumjjed from 170 fathoms level, Ans- 14, 1S71. Ditto, ditto, waste water from dressing floors, buddies, &c.. Aug. I f, 1871. Devon Great, Consols.— 'iht; Tamarjxs pumped to dressina; Soors, June 10, 1S71. Ditto, cupreous mine water before 1st filtra- tion," June 10, 1S71. Ditto. ditto, after Ist Cltra- tion.t June 10, 1871. Ditto, ditto, after extraction, of copper,} June 10, 1871. Ditto, general drainage from dressing floors and copper precipitation tanks, Jime 10, 1871. § Cornwall. — Effluent water from West Cliiverton copper and lead mine, June 8, 1871. || Water pumped from West Cliiverton mine, and supplied to dressing floors, June 8, 1871. 14-5 18-3 12-7 19-0 Unli- mited 4--12 23-30 G-31. 11-80 324-80 238-26 249-32 55-00 112-00 65-90 2'000 ■052 •032 -030 0-73 •153 ■138 •1S6 -023 •035 300 -024 -030 -009 -026 -085 -081 •158 •019 •036 ■029 Vnli- mited •001, •001 •001 •002 •032 •028 •038 •006 •018 •014 Unli- mited 0 •053 ■006 •052 0 0 0 0 0 0 Unli- mited •025 ■0S4 •016 •oso •111 •101, •189 •024 •051 •Oil 2 0 0 0 0 3-77 0 0 0 0 oso •004 -700 •068 0 ;-500 -600 -500 2-388 0 0 Unli- mited •79 1-00 1- 15 2- 25 3- 15 3-20 3- 85 10-30 4- 15 3-90 Unli- mited •27 2-5 -9 1-3 3-55 0 0 Unli- ' Unli- mited mited 2-83 3-10 12-6 15-1 4-4 53 6-0 7-3 37-15 76-6 40-0 40 70 76-6 40-0 3'Oojl Oo| - Vei-j' turbid. 49 -SS 84-82 29-48 4-42 21^40 5^S8 44S^56 12-72 3-72 3-9G Turbid. 9-30 1-86 7-76 1^02 53^60 88^78 39^84 6^2S 29^16 6^90 38^24 |481^80 3^76 W4S * Acidity.=l-08 part of real muriatic acid in 1,000 parts of water, t „ = -87 t „ =1^00 § „ = -n II „ = -11 Total iron = 5-424 in 100.000 parts of water. = 15-25 = 24-85 = 4-63 „ = 0 These analytical results show that in no case examined by us was any perceptible trace of copper discharged, nor did the acidity of water from copper mines infringe the standard which we have suggested, viz. : — two parts by weight of real muriatic acid to 1,000 parts by weight of water. Neither did the proportion of iron in solution in the water actually leaving the mines enumerated in the above table, infringe standard d. relating to the presence of metals in liquids discharged into rivers. [See First Report — Mersey and Rihhle basins — vol. I., p. 130.) It was only in regard to suspended matters and arsenic that the effluent water from these mines was polluting. FIFTH REPORT. 17 At the Devon Great Consols the water pumped from the mine contains, besides ^kction A. arsenious acid and sulphate of iron, a proportion of sulphate of copper so considerable as to render the extraction of the metal remunerative. This operation is here performed Arsenic in the following manner: — The water is first filtered through sand, by which an ochreous mines, deposit, consisting of basic sulphate of iron, is separated. The filtered water is then brought into intimate and prolonged contact with refuse scraps of iron. The copper in the sulphate of copper thus becomes replaced by iron, but the contact with scrap iron requires frequent repetition before the last traces of copper arc removed from solution. The sample of water, " after extraction of copper," in the above table, had been submitted to no less than eight treatments with iron and three filtrations throuo-h sand before it was finally discharged into settling ponds. By this method copper in^a pulverulent or spongy condition, and of a high degree of purity, is obtained, whilst the polluting character of the mine water is very greatly mitigated," as is seen from a com- parison of the analytical results' yielded by the fifth and seventh samples in the above table. The effluent water from this mine was reasonably free from all objectionable matter, except arsenic. It is true that the general drainage from the .dressing floors and the tanks in which the precipitation of copper takes place is shown, in the above analytical table, to contain somewhat larger proportions of iron and suspended matters, and a very much larger proportion of arsenic than would be permitted by our suggested standards of purity; this drainage is, however, not discharged directly into the river, but is first mixed with a very large volume of water used upon the mine for power only. We found that the actual discharge from this mine into the Tamar was neutral to test paper, and polluting only in respect of arsenic, of which metal it contained no less than -6 part in 100,000 parts of water, our standard permitting only -05 part in 100,000 parts of water. Here the mundic or arsenical pyrites is utilized for the manufacture of arsenious acid! It 4s roasted in a current of air, and thereby converted into marketable arsenious acid or white arsenic, of which, at the time of our visit, as much as 165 tons, sometimes rising to 200 tons per month were, as we were informed, being sold. It is a startling reflection that, even at the lower rate of sale, there leaves this single mine every month an amount of white arsenic competent to destroy the lives of more than .500 000 000 of human beings. We saw stored in its warehouses, ready packed for sale, a quantity of white arsenic probably sufficient to destroy every living animal upon the face of the earth It is, perhaps, still more startling to reflect that there is at present no efficient law to prevent many fold this amount of this deadly material fi^om being cast monthly into the rivers and watercourses of this country ; not, it is true, to expend its poisonous energy at once, for the mundic is insoluble in water, but, by its slow decomposition, to render rivers so treated poisonous and uninhabitable by fish for many generations. ' At the Devon Great Consols Mine, the escape flues from the arsenic condensers pass into scrubbers where the white arsenic is washed out of the furnace o-ases, and this washing water mingles with the general drainage of the mine. ^ 4.— Pollution by Tin Mines. Of all British mining operations, the raising of tin ore is probably the oldest if not t^e most remunerative. The tin mines of Cornwall are mentioned "in the oldest historical records of this country, and, notwithstanding the length of time durino- which these mines have been worked, it is obvious that the county is still far from exhatisted of this metal. Tin occurs in nature both as sulphuret and oxide, but it is the latter ore onlv com monly called "tin stone," which interests the miner. This tin stone is hard and nearlv seven tmies as heavy as water. In colour it varies from grey to yellow, red,' brown and black. The Cornish ore occurs sometimes in veins or nodular masses and sometimes dissemmated throughout porphyritic rock or alluvial deposits. It is frequently associated with a large amount of fnable peroxide of iron, which communicates to the efflu-ut water from the dressing floors a dark red tint. Copper pyrites is often found alono- with tm m the same mine, the copper being usually nearer to and the tin further fro'in the surface. It is, therefore, no uncommon thing fur a Cornish copper mine to be o-raduallv transformed into a tm mine, to the great enrichment of the adventurers. The Dolcoath mme near Can:borne is a well-known instance of such a transformation. The treatment of the tin ore varies at diflerent mines, but the principle employed is the same m all; the tin stone with more or less of its rocky matrix is stamped in water to fine powder under large wooden pestles shod with iron ; and the ti-i stone is then 30928. ^ 18 KIVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION: Section A. separated from the^ refuse slime by the action of water upon the mixed materials which Descuiptive. possess widely divergent specific gravities. Im mines. ^.j^g West Seaton mine the tin ore is stamped and passed with water through copper plates perforated with fine holes. The washed ore is then roasted in reverberatory furnaces to oxidize mundic and expel its arsenic as arsenious acid ; this last is then condensed in long overground flues provided for the purpose. The rough part of the roasted product is returned to the stamps, the finer portion is washed in successive pits and buddies, from which some of the water is pumped back to the stamps and the rest is discharged into the river as a very turbid stream. The ore when finally fit for market contains about 66-5 per cent, of tin. At the Ambrose Lake tin mine, St. Neot's, both mundic and copper pyrites are raised with the tin. The ore is roasted and the arsenic condensed and sold, but the copper is not recovered at present. Some of it is oxidized to sulphate in the roasting operation and afterwards passes into the neighbouring river with the water used in washing the roasted ore. This copper could be easily and profitably extracted from the water, as was proved by the fact that a bright iron spade became rapidly coated with copper when it was immersed in the water. At the Tregeagle tin mine, near St. Neot's, the ore is not calcined, and no mundic or copper pyrites is said to be obtained. The ore is stamped and washed in the usual manner and the waste water is received into three catchpits constructed to retain the coarser portions of the suspended matter. Heaps of such intercepted waste were pointed out to us as having been dug from these pits, but at the time of our visit all the pits were quite full of solid matter and entirely useless for the purpose intended. Submitted to analysis, a sample of the stuff from these catchpits contained "001 per cent, of arsenic together with traces of tin and antimony, whilst a sample of the mud deposited from the effluent water as it entered the river was found to contain traces of lead and tin. Besides silting up the lower reaches of the river there can be no doubt that the admission of large quantities of such stuff into the stream must be prejudicial to the fisheries below. At Hobb's Hill tin mine, above St. Neot's, a series of stamping mills crush an ore containing onlv 3 lbs. of tin stone per ton. Of course an immense amount of worthless stuff is here reduced to powder by levigation under water, and although, as at Tregeagle mine, catchpits are provided, they were full of deposit and useless at the time of our visit. They were, moreover, close to the river, and handy for getting rid of the waste rubbish in time of flood. Such catchpits are only a pretence, and the absence of heaps of deposit proves that here, as at most other mines, all the waste slimes pass into the stream. A sample of the slime which we collected just before its discharge into the river contained • 002 per cent, of arsenic. At Mulberry mine, in the Rutlieru valley near Bodmin, a vast cavity, exceeding probably 1,000,000 cubic yards in capacity, — a quarry rather than a mine— has been dug near the top of the hill, and the whole mass of rock thus removed, which here contains not more than 4^ lbs. of tin stone per ton, has been carried through an adit on the level of the quarry floor." It has been subjected to the action of stamps on the lull side, near the mouth of this adit, and has thus been reduced to a mud, which has till lately all been carried downwards by the Ruthern and the Camel, being occasionally spread by floods over river side lands, but more generally carried forward into the channel of the Wadebridge navigation. The table on page 24 gives analyses of samples of the^ deposited mud in this channel, and plainly indicates the origin of this mud to be the tin mines on the Camel, which, with its tributaries, here enters the tidal estuary. There is now rather more than an acre of land below this mine over which the waste waters of the washing floors are caused to spread ; and on which they might be temporarily impounded in order to the deposit of their burden of slime. And although this is at present very unper- fectly done, still a large heap of deposited slime is thus gradually growing in height over a considerable area ; and probably 20 or 30 thousand tons have in this way been kept out of the river channel during the past five or six years. The method is thus clearly pointed out whereby a still further clarification of the nuiddy water from the processes of tin washing can be effected. RJV1:RS POJJ.IJTIOT^ COMMISSION (ifiGft^ FIITH REPORT. S t SKETCH MAP of the BAS IX ofthe RED RIVER SITUATION OF MINES, iSPTtncro/h. \ I Crowan REDBUTH- FIFTH REPORT. 19 rjie nature of the liquid discharges from these and other mines in the St. Neot's (h'strict Section A. will be seen from an inspection of the following table, which contains the results of i^'^^'^""""^'^- analyses of samples collected durmg our inspection of the mines Tin mines Results of Analysis expressed in parts per 100,000. I)escrii)tion. Dissolved Matters. ^5 3 o Metallic Ai'sonic. Permitted by proposed stan- dards of purity. Camhiirm.—VAWwmt wiitoi- from Uolcoath miiio, Juao 6, 1871. Ditto, ditto. West Scnton mine, Juno 6,1S71. The Red River ns it enters the sea near Gwj'thian, June C, 1871. Penzance— Chyandour entering sea at Penzanee, Juno 9, 1S71. Red turbid stream, at Marazion, June 9. 1S71. Lostwithiel.—The Fowey below the town, Sept. 19, 1872. St. iVcoif's.—E [fluent w.atp.r from Hobb's Hill tin mine. Sppt, 1(1, 1S73. Stre.am above Hobb'.s Hill mine, Sept. 20, 1872. Ditto, below all pollutionp, Sept. 20, 1873 - Emuent water from Trebeddo tin mine, Sejrt. 20, 1872. Wac}ebridge.~'^v\)mtnty of the Camel en- tering Mul))err.v tin mine, Sept. 21, 187''. Ditto, effluent water onterin,2;theS?'«cKrpTivB not strongly polluting, and that the Ilorlais brook into which it ran \vas, on after- L-on^rk wards enternig Merthyr, only polluted by a moderate amount of suspended matter. Polluted Water from Iron Works and Rolling Mills. Results of Analysis expressed in Parts per 100,000. e, Cen- Dissolved Matters. Suspended Matters. Description. Temperatur tigrade. Total solid Mat- Organic Carbon. Organic Nitro- Ammonia. Nitrogen as Nitrates Total combined Nitrogen. Chlorine. Hardness. ters. gen. and Nitrites. Tem- porary. Pcrma • nent. Total. o Organ Total. Permitted by pro- posed standards of purity. General drainage from Dowlais Iron Works, Juno 20, 1871. The Morlais brook below Dowlais Iron \Vorks,Junciy,1871.* 47° 5 21! -5 TTnli- mited. 50-80 S3- 71 2-000 ■233 •104 ■300 ■114 ■029 Unli- mited. ■054 •003 Vnli- mited. •010 •12!l Vnli- mited. •IGS ■ICO Unli- mited. 1T>0 2-65 Unli- mited. 10 ■ 4 20^4 Vnli- mitcd. 23-G 30-3 Unli- mited. 40-0 36-7 3-00 4-42 8-38 i-oo 2-30 G-40 6-72 14-78 * Contained 'OlS part of metallic arsenic. These analytical results show, firstly, that the pollution from iron works and rolling mills arises altogether from suspended matters ; and secondly, that the injury to a moderate sized brook committed even by a collossal establishment like that at Dowlais though considerable, sinks into insignificance compared with many other forms of river pollution which we have investigated. There is another form of polluting discharge from iron-works, which may be mentioned here, although It more properly belongs to iron smelting than to the manufacture of the already reduc;ed metal. It arises from the washing of iron ore. We saw this operation carried on at the Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Company's Works, near Chesterfield where the conglomerate iron-stone of Derbyshire is washed. The ore is first calcined then crushed by rollers, and lastly is washed in a large volume of water. The true ore is thus by reason of its higher specific gravity, separated from the rocky matter with which It is at first associated, and much fine detritus is carried away in suspension in the water, which is very muddy, and of a dark chocolate colour. The crushed ore is received in two iron cylinders, about four feet in diameter, through the perforated floors of which a strong stream of water is forced. The lighter rocky fragments come to the surface, and are from time to time removed, whilst the purified ore collects at the bottom of the cyhnders. A sample of the effluent water which we collected yielded the follow- ing results on analysis : — Water Polluted by the Washing of Iron Ore. Results of Analysis expressed in parts per 100,000. Description. Permitted by proposed stan- dards of purity. Eniuont water from the washing of Iron Ore at the Sheep- bridge Coal and Iron Co.'s. "Works, near Chesterfield, Oct. 13, 1871. 16° Dissolved Matters. Unli- mited. 208-6 2,000 •050 •300 •067 Unli- mited. •200 Unli- mited, a 60 Unli- mited. ■232 Unli- mited. 3^40 Hardness. Unli- cxited. 6^4 Unli- mited. 157 ■ 9 SuspendedMatters. Unli- mited. 164 ■, 3-00 210-84 x-oo — 16-08 226-92 The above numbers prove that here again the polluting material is entirdTiTs^ purS.' ^""'^ subsidence the supernatant water was perfecUy "3. Pollution by the Cutlery Trade. Thi^ form of river pollution is best illustrated by the condition of the river Don after its passage through the town of Sheffield, the following table gives he results of analyses of samples of the Sheaf, the Porter, the LoMey, and" the i)C taken above D 4 32 RIVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION: Section A. DESCRirxivK. The cutlery- trade. Sheffield, and finally of the water of the Don, containing the united waters of these streams taken below the sewer outfall of the town. It will be seen that the organic matter present in the water in suspension has increased at least eight fold, obviously owing to the admixture of town sewage with the river water. The mineral suspended matter, no less than five parts in 100,000, is far in excess of the quantity usually found in river water below our great towns. Thus the Irwell below Manchester contained on March 12, 1869, only 1*84 parts in 100,000, this being actually less than was present in a sample taken before it entered Manchester. The Aire below Leeds on September 28, 1869, contained only 278 parts : the Clyde below Glasgow on August 3, 1870, only 1*64 parts, but on another occasion as much as4"06 in 100,000. Even this, however, is much exceeded by the quantity present in the Don after passing the much smaller town of Sheffield. The cause is to be seen in the heaps of sand standing on the banks of the river against the walls of many of the cutlery establishments by which it passes. The gradually worn grindstone contributes a sandy mud which partly escapes by the general, drainage of these works and is in part directly thrown into the river channel, lying in high banks below the orifices through which it is discharged until, the lower part being washed away when the water is high, the whole tumbles into the flood and is carried down the stream. Pollution of the Don during its Passage through Sheffield. Eesults of Analysis expressed in Parts per 100,000. Description. Tlie Sheaf at Heeley Bridge iibove Sheffield, Dec. 20, 1872. Tlie Porter near general ceme- tery above Sheffield, Dec. 20, 1872. The Loxletj at Owlerton Bridge above Sheffield, Dec. 20, 1872. The Don at bridge near West End cemetery and above Sheffield, Dec. 20, 1872. The Don at Brightside below Sheffield and its sewer out- fall, Dec. 20, 1872. Tem- pera- ture. Centi- grade. 3- 9 4- 5 3-7 3- 5 4- 5 Dissolved Matters. Total Solid Mat- ters. Or- ganic Car- bon. Or- ganic Nitro- gen. Am- monia. Nitro- gen as Nitrates and Nitrites. Total Com- bined Nitro- gen. 16-62 19-22 12-72 11-88 •238 •290 -196 -267 12'10 -462 •046 •066 •042 •057 •085 •005 •030 •009 -005 ■155 -167 •252 -118 •no •102 •217 •343 •167 •171 •315 Chlo- rine. Hardness. C3 ^ a a P-( Suspended Matters. Mine- ral. fl5 1^05 •95 1-40 1-2 10^1 10'6 6^1 6^4 W4 10^7 6^4 6^4 9^9 Or- ganic. Total. Very turbid. Very turbid. 2^02 1^67 5-04 •45 4-44 2.58 2-12 9^48 It is only when large surfaces of metal are ground, as large tools and saws, that the contribution thus made to the mineral suspended matter present in the waters of the Don, is an obvious injury to the river. In the case of those works where small cutlery is manufactured there is no specific drainage, and the whole waste is daily collected and does not find its way into the river channel. At the works of Messrs. Rodger, for example, the waste produced is gathered daily and does not exceed a small cartload. At such works, however, as those of Messrs. Turton and Company where 36 grindstones 10 to 12 inches thick and 5 feet in diameter are in daily operation on files and other tools and saws, and where the grindstone is reduced from 5 feet to 30 inches in diameter during 6 weeks' use, the daily tear and wear of both the grindstone and the iron is very consi- derable in amount and may ultimately make a contribution to the river channel which ought to be forbidden. 4. Pollution by Iron and Steel Wire, Tin-plate, and Galvanizing Works. Of all forms of river pollution arising from industries connected with the working of metals, that produced by the discharges from iron and steel wire, tin-plate, and galva- nizing works is the most intense, noxious, and notorious. In all these operations iron, either in the form of wire or sheet, is steeped or "pickled," as it technically termed, in dilute sulphuric or muriatic acid ; there is thus formed a solution of sulphate of iron (o-reen vitriol) in the one case, and of chloride of iron (muriate of iron) m the other. Muriatic acid seems to be selected chiefly because it is slightly cheaper m some localities. FIFTH REPORT. 33 The dilute acid is employed to dissolve oxide of iron from the surface of the metal, and Section A. as it requires to be of considerable strength to effect this, there is always left in the bath, when it is practically exhausted, a large proportion of free acid. There is also Galvanizing in solution a larger proportion of sulphate or muriate of iron ; the first a product of some works, value, and easily disposed of, the second a compound of considerable repute as a dis- infectant, but for which there is only a variable and uncertain market. It is the general practice, however, in these works to discharge the waste contents of the acid baths sud- denly into rivers or sewers, rendering the water of the former unfit for many manu- facturing purposes, and for the support of fish life, greatly damaging the brickwork of sewers by the corrosive action of the free acid, and in some cases rendering their contents unsuitable for irrigation without previous purification with lime. At Messrs. Ryland Brothers' galvanizing works at Warrington, iron wire is pickled in sulphuric acid for the drawing process, but in nmriatic acid before galvanizing. At the time of our visit to these works. May 26th, 1868, we were informed that about two cwt. of the muriate of iron liquor was being sold weekly to Messrs. Roberts and Dale, chemical manufacturers of Warrington ; the remainder and the whole of the waste liquor from the* sulphuric acid bath were discharged into the Mersey. A sample taken from a well in these works, which received all the discharges, con- tained 5-99 per mille of iron, 1'27 per mille of sulphuric acid, and 2-37 per mille of muriatic acid, whilst its acidity w^as equal to that which would be produced by the addition of 6'02 parts of muriatic acid to 1,000 parts of distilled water. Another sample was taken from a vat of milk of lime in which the iron wire was washed after coming out of the sulphuric acid bath. It contained 3*59 per mille of iron in suspension, and 4-95 per mille of sulphuric acid. This liquid was, however, slightly alkaline from excess of lime. The table on page 35 shows the extent to which these liquors were polluting. At the Nursery Street Steel Wire Works, in Sheffield, the wire, after annealing and drawing, is steeped in dilute sulphuric acid mixed with sour " beer grounds," or other analogous liquid, but only at the end of the process. It is then immersed in a vat of milk of lime. Additions of dilute sulphuric acid, of beer grounds, and of slaked lime are made to these vats from time to time, but the vats themselves are never emptied ; each bundle of wire, however, brings out with it a portion of the liquid, which runs away in the general drainage of the works. The acid is therefore here, for the most part, neutralized by the lime, and, although there doubtless is some suspended sulphate of lime and oxide of iron present in the drainage, it did not appear to us that these works were producing any serious pollution of an acid or metallic character ; the sour beer grounds, however, cause considerable pollution by organic matter. ^ At the Lion Galvanizing Works in Birmingham, sheet iron is pickled sometimes in dilute sulphuric acid and sometimes in muriatic acid, in order to free its surface from oxide, and cause it to alloy with the zinc in a subsequent operation. It is then washed with water, dried on a coke fire, and plunged into a bath of melted zinc. We were informed that six carboys of sulphuric acid per week and from 40 to 50 carboys of muriatic acid per day were ordinarily used in this factory. The vast quantities of acid salts of iron thus produced were unreservedly discharged into the neighbouring sewer. It is not surprising that the corporation of Birmingham have applied (though hitherto in vain) to Parliament for powers to prohibit these destructive liquors from being poured into their sewerage system. The composition of the waste liquor discharged from these works is given in the table on page 35. We were informed that about 4,000 gallons of this liquor were daily flushed into the sewer. At Messrs. R. King and C. Newton's galvanizing works, Birmingham, about two tons of oil of vitriol and 10 tons of muriatic acid are used weekly ; and all the waste products are discharged into the neighbouring sewer. The sample, the analysis of which is given in the table on page 35, represents this discharge diluted with about six times its bulk of water. ^ At Messrs. Cornforth's Dartmouth wire works, Birmingham, iron wire is pickled in dilute sulphuric acid, and the so-called spent liquor which is very acid is discharo-ed into the sewer. We were informed that about 25 cwt. of oil of vitriol was used weekly at these works. At Messrs. Thompson, Morgan, and Company's tin-plate works, Broadwaters near Kidder- minster, the sheet iron, previous to receiving its coating of tin, is pickled repeatedly in dilute sulphuric acid, but here the waste liquor, instead of being discharged into the neighbouring^ stream, is utilised at a small profit for the production of green copperas. The spent acid from the vats is evaporated until, on cooling, it deposits a crop of crystals of sulphate of iron which meets with a ready market. The mother liquor is used over 30928. jj 34 RIVERS POLLUTION OOMMISSIOK : Section A. again, and thus the Stour is preserved from a serious pollution which was formerly much Descriptive, complained of. Galvaniziii"' the second volume of this report, a large body of evidence will be found regarding works. the condition of the rivers entering the Bristol Channel on its northern shore — the Usk, the JSbbw, the Rumiiey, the Taff, the Neath, and the Taw, many of them fouled by this class of pollutions. These streams drain a district of enormous industrial and manufac- turing importance. Within the basin of the Usk, for example, a river which flows out at Newport, we are informed by Mr. T. Colborne, solicitor to the Ebbw Vale, the Nantyglo, and other iron work companies, that 5,500,000/. is an under estimate of the capital invested in the collieries and iron works of Monmouthshire ; in addition to which there is a very large sum invested in tinplate and other works. The bulk, however, of this immense capital is made up of two or three large sums representing works at which upwards of 35,000 labourers earn wages to the amount of at least 1,800,000/. a year. The injuries to rivers and I'iver channels inflicted by this industry were very fully represented to us by a large number of witnesses, examined at Newport and Cardiff. The former town possesses in its Harbour Act the power to forbid the discharge of waste solid matter into the river channels within a distance of 20 miles, a power which has been occasionally exercised, and penalties have been inflicted on manufacturers for throwing ashes, on coal miners for tipping waste shale, and on farmers for throwing waste earth into the channel of" the Usk. Injuries inflicted in this way, by increasing the liability of river-side lands to inundation, by actually fouling water used for domestic purposes, and by inflicting the cost of dredging harbours into which the waters thus made turbid flow, were reported to us at both of these towns.* Some amount of injury inflicted on riparian owners and occupiers by the discharge of the sewage of Abergavenny into the Usk was also reported (Q. 4430). But the principal injury inflicted by the polluted condition of these and the other rivers of South Wales is due to the preventible acid discharges from the numerous tin-plate works of the district. To this ample testimony was borne by manufacturers, landowners, clergymen, and farmers. The river water is thus made even perceptibly acid to the taste (Q. 4179) — it eats away whatever iron it comes in contact with, (Q. 4231) — it injures the grass lands over which it flows (Q. 4332, 4366) — the cattle refuse to drink it (Q. 4346,) or it injures them if they can get no other. There are some hamlets and villages which have had no other water supply than that which is liable to these acid pollutions. The Rev. Augustus Morgan of Machen, on the Rumney, describing the utter destruction of that river as a fishing stream and a water supply for those upon its banks, says (Q. 4478) " One of the hamlets of my parish containing 1,200 inhabitants, " was dependent altogether upon this water for its domestic supply, and were it not for " what I have done at my own cost in carrying over a stream from the mountain, they " would have no means of getting water." Mr. Rees, the surveyor to the Ebbw Level (Q. 4340) said, " The Ebbw water is the only means of water supply to that district " which we have, and by artificial means we turn the whole river upon the Level to " supply it with water, but lately the water has been so contaminated with refuse " that our reens, which are artificial arteries to carry the water, fill up ; and every three " or four years we have to cast them, and the water is so stinking that although it is the " only water the inhabitants have for drinking purposes, yet they are obliged to use " it notwithstanding the stench proceeding from it." We add to the above account of the injury which the acid waste fi'om tinplate works inflicts on the localities whose water-supply it spoils, the following testimony to the injury which the manufacturers themselves suffer from their own pollution of the river waters. Mr. Francis Moggeridge, a tinplate manufacturer of Caerleou, speaking of the acid condition of the river water, said in his evidence at Newport, Q. 4164, &c. : — " It " corrodes the inside of the boilers ^^ery seriously, so much so, that we are compelled to make constant inspections of the boilers, to see whether they are safe for use. Very " constantly we have been obliged to put new rivets upon the boiler plates, even in new boilers. I have brought some of the rivets that have been in only a short time, to " show 3^ou the effect of the acid in the water. This is a new rivet {handing in the " same) the head gets eaten away in the way you see. This, of course, causes constant " risk in the use of steam boilers, and considerable danger to human life. We have " a boiler insurance company. It [the injury to the river water] was considered to be " so serious that last year we formed a private association to protect ourselves, the " manufacturers joined with the landowners, and we are now an association, having our * See Vol. II., Part 3, questions~4396, 4416,. 46 19— 4624, 4846—4881 — 4979, ami 5083. 'A. FIFTH REPORT. *' own river inspector. We have no power to prosecute but with the assent of the Section A. " Harbour Commissioners. We have had many cases handed over to them, and they i^JiscitiPTivE. " have sot several convictions." Galvanizing The following table contains the results of analyses of samples of water illustrative of works, pollution by iron and steel wire, and galvanizing works. Composition of Water Polluted by Iron Wire and Galvanizing Works. Results of Analysis expressed in Parts per 100,000. Description. Dissolved Matters. Permitted by proposed standards of purity. Drainage from Messrs.Ryland Brotliers' Wire and Gal- vanizing Works at War- rington, May 26, 1868. Ditto, washings from pick- lini; vats. May 26, 1868. Pickling liquor from the Nur- seiyStreet SteelWireWorks, Sheffield, Oct. 12, 1872. Waste pickling liquor from- Lion Galvanizing Works, Birmingham, Nov. 29, 1872. Pickling liquor from Messrs. King and Newton's Galva^ nizing Works, Birming- ham, Nov. 30, 1872. Ditto from Messrs. Corn- forth's Dartmouth Wire Works, IJirmingham, Nov. 30, 1872. Drainage from George Street Wire Works, Birmingham, Aug.15 to 21, 1871. DittOj from Messrs. Tupper it Co.'s Galvanizing Works,* Aug. 15,to 21, 1871. Ditto, from Messrs. Corn- forth's Wire Works, Aug. 18 to 26 , 1871. General Sewage of Birming- ham, Nov. 10, 1869t. The Tame above Birming- ham at Salford Bridge, Nov. 30, 1872. Ditto, i mile below Saltley Sewage Works, Nov. 30, 1872. The Hockley Brook at Foun- dry Eoad, above Birming- ham, Nov. 30, 1872. Ditto, just before junction with the Tame, Nov. 30, 1872. The Bea at Edgbaston Bridge, above Birmingham, Nov. 30, 1872. Ditto, just before junction with the Tame, Nov. .30, 1872. Waste liquor from Messrs. Messrs. G. F. Smith & Co.'s Galvanizing Works, Glas- gow, July 19, 1870. 6- 5 8-0 13-4 7- 8 5-3 5-9 Vnli- mited. 7727-0 2309-0 39158-0 1492-8 38020-0 23945-0 1613-00 1986-00 1009-00 114-50 85-32 64-20 108-80 69-50 23-60 34-00 14585-5 2-000 175-183 1-533 34-693 5- 337 1- 864 3-037 3-541 6- 255 ■520 •915 -816 2- 371 -803 •788 ■300 26-529 -562 2-018 1- 045 -885 2- 673 2-567 2-414 •168 -388 -608 -338 •119 •150 Vnli- mited. 5-000 1- 150 2- 250 2- 000 1-310 -150 7-450 3- 420 •088 •460 •860 1-820 •032 •125 3-600 Vnli- mited. -270 0 •359 •192 •461 0 •146 -276 Unli- mited. 2-234 8-291 8-702 5-230 •599 ■959 1-777 1-837 -291 •529 OS 2-00 598-69 0 12199-7 146-85 15023-7 7670-0 445-06 698-81 218-68 9-81 0 0 0 Traco 0 •0 5431-4 Unli- mited. 230-0 120-0 52-0 670-0 19750-0 72-00 37-50 1075-00 44-01 18-30 7-60 6^80 21-80 13-10 1-50 3-00 6457-2 ^.2 -3 "S"^ o S ^ Unli- mited. 127-38 495-11 19931-5 68-67 «7-08 11706-80 95-25 323*86 383-18 281-96 Suspended Matters 200-0 3'00 601-6 I09-0 0 3966 -8 827-2 25192-0 10114-4 559-7 1329-3 0 675-61 l-OO 1431-0 1720-5t 268-5 Very turbid. Turbid. Very turbid. Very turljid. 32-12 17-76 132-52 28-70 3-56 11-22 3-42 16-14 6- 34 7- 38 38-46 8-28 16-28 35-56 39-60 •78 3-11 1-70 16-32 •96 -70 11-61 1989 11 40-40 34-04 168-08 68-30 4- 34 14-36 5- 13 62-7G 7- 3 8- 08 50-12 * This sample contained 14-19 parts of zinc in 100,000. t This sample contained -41 part of metallic copper in 100,000 parts. t Contauied 358-6 parts of metallic iron. These numbers prove, in the most unmistakeable manner, the highly polluting and strongly acid character of most of these discharges ; and their noxious properties arc in many cases greatly intensified by the reckless manner in which they are suddenly discharged in large volume into sewers and streams, dissolving the cement and thus loosening the brickwork of the former, and destroying the fish in, and otherwise rendering useless the latter. There is no necessity whatever for thus getting rid of these waste liquors and the interdiction of their escape from the factories would be no hardship to the manufacturer, but would, in most cases, yield him a considerable profit. The pickling liquor from the Nursery street Steel Wire Works, Sheffield, contain.s " sour beer grounds," or some analogous liquid ; hence the large proportions of organic carbon, organic nitrogen and ammonia present in this sample. This liquid is highly polluting both in respect of organic matter and salts of iron ; but, as already mentioned, it is only discharged in small driblets and does not therefore cause the damage which is attributable to galvanizing works. 5— Pollution by Brass Foundries. In the actual founding of brass, water is not used, but in the subsequent treatment of the copper-zinc alloy, there are operations in which acid liquids are employed. Such E 2 36 KIVEBS POLLUTION COMMISSION : Section A. liquids, when exhausted, consist of salts of copper and zinc dissolved in acid water ; they J^EscRiriivE. igrigt as injurious to sewers and running water as the waste liquors from galvanizing BnisTfoun- works, but being produced in very much smaller quantity, and possessing bulk for bulk •liics. a much higher value, on account of the copper which they contain, the recovery of the metal is frequently effected, and thus pollution arising from brass founiiries is com- paratively insignificant. At Mr. IS, Walker's brass and copper tube and wire works, Lower Fazeley Street, Birmingham, the brass and copper articles are pickled in dilute sulphuric acid. From the exhausted pickling liquor the copper is recovered by scrap iron, and the solution of sulphate of iron (green copperas) thus obtained is discharged into the neighbouring canal, to the extent, as we were informed, of about 150 gallons per month. The analysis of a sample of this liquor will be found in the subjoined table. At the works of Messrs. J. and W. Breedon and Booth, brass founders and chandelier makers, Birmingham, brass is first pickled in dilute nitric acid and then in dilute solution of nitrate of iron ; the latter imparts a copper colour to the brass, which, after polishing with a kind of red chalk, is brown-bronzed by being gently heated in a muffle. The only waste liquid discharged from these works is the water in which the brass articles are washed after their removal from the pickling liquids. The composition of this waste liquid is given in the analytical table below. In Messrs. Ralph Heaton and Sons' Mint in Deacon Hill Street, Birmingham, the blancs for copper and bronze coinage are pickled in dilute sulphuric acid, the exhausted pickling liquid is utilized, and the water in which the blancs, after pickling, are washed is, as we were informed, the only waste metalliferous liquid discharged from the mint. An analysis of this water will be found in the subjoined table, which contains the results of the chemical examination of several samples illustrating the discharges peculiar to works in which brass articles are manufactured: — Composition of Waste Liquors from Brass Foundries. Results of Analysis expressed in Parts per 100,000. Description. Dissolved Matters. Suspended Matters. Total solid Matters. Organic Carbon. Organic Nitrogen. Ammonia. Nitrogen as Nitrates and Nitrites. Total combined Ni- trogen. Acidity expressed in parts of mu- riatic acid. Chlorine. Metallic Copper. Metallic Zinc. Sulphuric Acid. Mineral. Organic. Total. Permitted toy- proposed stan- dar dsof purity. General drainage from Messrs. Breedon & Booth'.s Brass Foun- dry, Birmingham, Aug. 15 to 21, 1871. AVaste liquor from Mr. S. Walker's brass and copper tube factory, Birming- ham, Nov. 29, 1872.* "Washing water from pickling vats at Messrs. Ralph Hea- ton and Son's Mint, Birmingham, Nov. 29, 1872. Great Western Brass Foundry, Birming- ham, wastenitricacid liquor, Nov. 29,1872. Washing water from Messrs J. and W. Breedon and Booth's Brass Foundry, Bir- mingham, Nov. 29, 1872.t Unli- mited. 55-70 32161-0 144-4 88M-4 1216-0 2-000 •570 •300 -Unli- mited. 2-8.56 Vnli- mited. •166 146-87 31-76 Unli- mited. 200-0 15792-0 67-7 5865-6 684-3 Unli- mited. 8-50 65-0 12-10 42-0 200 15-96 14-70 537-1 82-4 2-00 1280-6 10-48 379'0 89-16 Unli- mited. 13-60 17474-0 74-36 3-00 11-28 Ve: Slig Vei Slig i-oo 3-92 •y turbic itly turl •y turbic itly turl 15-20 id. id. * 100,000 parts of this liquor contained 7285-92 parts of iron in solution. 1 100,000 „ ,, 3-64 „ 6— Pollution by German Silver and Electro-plate Works. The metal known as German silver or nickel silver is an alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc, or it may be described as brass alloyed with nickel, which latter metal is distin- guished by the whiteness of its alloys, those containing a considerable proportion of nickel almost rivalling silver itself in lustre and absence of colour.^ The alloy is, however, essentially base metal, and it is easily corroded by dilute mineral acids and even by vinegar. To protect its surface from such action, it is usuallj^ coated electro- iytically with a film of metallic silver or gold. Hence the manufacture of German silver is usually combined with that of electro-plating. One of the largest factories FIFTH REPORT. 37 of this description is that of Messrs. Elkington & Co., at Birmingham. German silver Suction A. articles, before being finished or electro-plated, are pickled for a short time, sometimes in ^^-acaiPTiTE. dilute nitric acid and sometimes in dilute sulphuric acid. After long use these acids German sil- becomemore or less saturated by the metallic constituents of the alloy, but as the metallic ver works, salts thus formed are valuable, they are never thrown away in well regulated factories. The only metalliferous discharge from such factories is the water in which the articles are washed after their removal from the pickling vats. Samples of this water in which articles from the nitric acid bath and from the sulphuric acid bath had been washdti were taken by us at Messrs. Elkington's works and submitted to analysis ; the result will be found in the table below. At the Shrewsbury Silver and German Silver works at Sheffield, the nickel-silver articles are pickled in dilute sulphuric acid, they are then pohshed by Trent sand on a wheel covered with bull's-neck skin or sea-horse leather ; the last polish is given with rouge, and then, after washing with soap and water, they are ready for electro-plating. About 200 gallons of pickling liquor are, as we were informed, here discharged weekly into the river. We submitted a sample of this liquor to analysis, the results of which will be found in the annexed table. The plating operation does not occasion the pollution of water. After unde'rgoing it, the articles are partly burnished and partly polished with a mixture of powdered quicks lime and oil. Neither of these processes requires the use of water. At Mr. J. Y. Cowlishaw's German silver works at Sheffield, the articles are treated somewhat differently ; they are first boiled in solution of American potashes, then dipped for a moment into dilute nitric acid, and afterwards washed in water. About seventy carboys of nitric acid and 130 of sulphuric acid are, as we were informed, annually used at these works. We took a sample of the waste liquor here discharged into the sewer. Its constituents are given in the table below. At these works the articles are polished before plating by a copper scratch brush to which waste beer is applied. Composition of Waste Liquors from German Silver and Electro-plate Works. Results of Analysis expressed in parts per 100,000. Description. Dissolved Matters. ■a a 3S X o Suspended Mattf rs. Permitted by pro- posed standards of purity. Waste pickling liquor from the Shrewsbury Silver and German Silver Works, Sheffield, Oct. 12, 1872. Waste liquor from Mr. J. Y. Cowlishaw's Ger- man Silver Works, Sheffield, Oct. 12, 1872. Waste water in which pickled German Silver plates had been washed at Messrs. Evans and Askin's Works, Bir- mingham, Nov. 29, 1872. Waste water used for washing articles previ- ously pickled in dilute nitric acid at Messrs. Elkington's Works.Bir- minghara.Nov. 29, 1872. Waste pickling liquor from Messrs. Elking- ton's Works, Birming- ham, Nov. 29, 1872. TTnli- mited. 19970-0 3541-8 488-0 25-60 7589-5 2-000 -300 3-714 Vnli- mlted. 3-660 •130 Unli- mited. 5-01 246-62 1-76 1-55 Unli- mited. -028 ZOO 621-76 Trace. 19-35 2-O0 3032-8 90-88 44-41 110*13 ZOO 1248-9 2-57 56-84 486-28 260-02 Unli- mited. 35-00 262-3 Traces. Unli- mited. 10699-1 20637-4 Traces. 4677-2 20O-00 3-00 X OO 4512-0 15416-0 105-3 4045-8 Very turbid. Turbid. Very turbid. Slightly turbid. Turbid. These analytical results show that several of the liquids submitted to investigation are of a highly polluting character ; but the more concentrated of them, containing as they do considerable quantities of valuable metallic salts, are never allowed to escape from well regulated works, whilst the waste water used for washing the pickled articles contains but moderate proportions of polluting materials, and may be admitted into the sewers of towns with impunity. E 3 38 Section B.— Remedies. 1. Pollution arising from Mining Operations. eatlgoritrviz? ^'''^^ ^"""^ '^''^^ operations falls naturally under three o/w fT'^' ''''^^ ^^"'^ ^"bbi^h into them, ehannels. Z' ^ 1^*?''° «f ^^^^^ suspended matters. Pollution of water by dissolved matters. them ^an te^y'Zsil^S^^^^^^^ ^"^^"^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ThI wrste'm^ner.Tn.^i?'^^^^ 'T^^f ^'^-^ the polluting matter being laden upon water. carLrthTthrr T ^-^^^r channel in this case by being laboriously carried thither ; and there only needs an enactment forbidding it under adequate penalties Inflfad^m nes"'' "'V' ^'J^'^^ ^-^^ true' that ^here are many lead mmes, some tm mines, and some coal pits which now find an easier discharcre for their useless quarry stuff, waste shales, and skimpings owing to the nefghSoS of a convenient river channel, than they will have if this doorway of escape for these who haTe ''T'- ^— ' - — offTharo^Ser: who have no such aid naturaUy provided. We have seen in some of the latter cases for these w^l^^% 1 -^P^?^ enormous height, where neighbouring standing room tor these waste materials is either not to be had or is very Mostly to obtain On the tt'r. ° r.-^'T? 'T'^'^y "^^^ Aberyswith, the waL lead skimp ngs from he Jiggers cast directly into the river channel ; no expense whatever being incurred to bftTntf bdow"'7h thus gradually inflicted^n riparian landowners and tha- Ditants below. 1 here can be no injustice whatever in at once positively forbidding such reckless disregard of the rights of others. The remedy which would Vn be brought "ven dT^S excessively expensi/e, and to some extent it mlh r O 437T Vol TT . t ^^^^ been told, indeed {H. 4d/y, Vol IL, part 3), what we naturally expected to hear, that in all well reeulated mines care is taken not to bring to the surface any waste material. But it is imfos^^^^^^^ to examine the enormous heaps of such worthless quarry stuff, as it may be caDed no v xZht'Lr:'^^. i '^^^ Tr^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ --^-^^ ^^-^ much it alJ both fCrZ^ , r ^ry^"" waste spaces of the mine, thus oavmg both the cost of its removal and the risk of its ultimately reaching the river channel As to costs incurred in dealing with the looser skimpings, mud s,\nd shales for which standing ground has to be found upon the surface, we submit that he value of the mining property in the hands of any ownership is not to be calculated as if no such han Sisff the n.iVl? ""'^^^'T^f' ^.1?^ min^ or a coal pit might be more valuable than It IS It the neighbouring land or neighbouring river channel were also tJie property to ^nd T';- t« i^^^r considerable expense h ordlr to find standing room for his waste products, is not to be regarded as an injury infced on the property which he possesses ; it is merely proof that the property hi holds i not quite so valuable as he may have supposed that it was. He has no right to encroach either on his neighbour's land or on the river channel which affects his nfighbourTland hh^ll tr:^ ^'^^^ be extremely convenient for him to do so. It is incumbeilron nv t \ t ^''P^"^^ whatever it may be, which is required in order to prevent the , njury which at present he inflicts on either. If land is to be had only at a distance he must elect between the cost of building his waste material higher on his own land 'and the expense of carrying it that distance. If it is to be had only on the other side of the Se"i;toT^^^^^ '"""^ ^^^^ ^-^^^ -^terial ^.-XnlS"' ^'m^T-' 7®, ^'^'^ towns and manufactories placed in difficulties ot the kind thus indicated, that it may be necessary to provide greater FIFTH REPORT. 39 facilities than at present exist for obtaining on a proper valuation whatever easement Section B. may be absolutely necessary for the prosecution of an important industry. Remedies. Pollution hy 2. Pollution of Water by suspended Matters. In treating of the pollu- ^er.s'''^ tion of the streams in the Mersey and Ribble basins in our first report we recommended (First Report, Mersey and Ribble Basins, Vol. I., p. 130) that any liquid containing in suspension more than three parts by weight of dry mineral matter in 100,000 parts by weight of the liquid should be deemed polkiting and inadmissible into any stream. That report referred chiefly to the sewage of towns, the calico and silk industries, and chemical works ; and we found that all the polluting liquids arising from these sources could easily and without any detriment to trade or to the public health, be so purified as to prevent their transgression of the standard of purity just quoted. When our investigations were afterwards extended to the waste liquids arising from the various branches of the woollen trade, and the flax, linen, and jute industries, from paraffin and petroleum works, and from sugar refineries, alcohol distilleries and starch factories, we still found that the enforcement of the same standard would cause no *' serious injury " to such processes and manufactures." But soon after commencing our inquiries into the mining operations carried on in this country, it became evident to us that this standard could not be enforced against polluting liquids from mines without inflicting undue hardship upon these branches of industry. The extraction of the ores of lead, tin, zinc, and manganese from their rocky matrix, necessitates in most cases, the stamping and crushing of both ore and rock to an almost impalpable powder, which must then be submitted to the action of a copious stream of water in order to separate as much as possible of the valuable ore from the worthless rocky matter with which it is mixed. We have found that the suspended matters carried forward by the water in such operations frequently require a very long time to subside, whilst their character is such as to render the filtration of the water practically impossible, owing to the rapid choking of the filters by the fine suspended particles. We had an opportunity of seeing the methodj^of purification by filtration tried on a considerable scale upon the lead mine of Sir John Conroy, Bart., at Cae Conroy. We submitted to analysis samples of the waste washing water from the dressing floors of this mine, before and after filtration, with the following results : — Purification of Dressing Floor Water by Filtration. Results of Analysis expressed in Parts per 100,000. Dissolved Matters. [atters. Description. Total Solid Mat- ters. Or- ganic Car- bon. Or- ganic Nitro- gen. Am- monia. Nitro- gen as Nitrates and Nitrites. Total Com- bined Nitro- gen. .2 < 03 Chlo- rine. Hardness. Suspended ]V Tem- po- rary. Per- man- ent. Total. Min- eral. Or- ganic. Total. Permitted by proposed TTnli- 2-000 •300 Vnli- Vnli- Vnli- •OS 2-00 Vnli- Vnli- Vnli- TTnli- 3'00 I'OO standards of purity. mited mited mited mited mited mited mited mited Waste water from Cae 6-72 Trace. Trace. 224-00 8-40 232-4(> Conroy dressing floors before filtration, April 28, 1871. Ditto after filtration, 6-06 •071 •017 •002 0 •019 0 0 1-30 •3 2'3 Trace. April, 28, 1871. These results are interesting only as showing how completely satisfactory the puri- fication was. The process itself is impracticable, for the filter so speedily became choked as to extinguish all hope of purifying mine waters by means of it. The only other available method of purification is subsidence ; but, mifortunately, the finer portions of the suspended matter often subside v.'ith such extreme slowness as to render it very difficult for miners to comply with the standard which prescribes that in 100,000 parts of the discharged water there shall not be more than three parts oi' mineral matter in suspension. To test this point we instituted, in our laboratory, an extensive series of experiments upon the turbid waste waters which we collected as they flowed from the dressing floors of various mines. These samj)les, after vigorous shaking, were placed in glgiss cylinders one foot deep, and the time required for complete sub- mvKllS i'OLLUTION COMMISSION: Section B. Kemedies. Parification by Qubsi- dcnce. sidence was noted, table : — The results of these experiments are embodied m the following Purification of Mine Water by Subsidence. Effluent Waters from Suspended Matter in 100,000 parts of Water. Time required for Subsidence. Tin Mines : Dolcoath mine, Camborne - - - West Seaton mine, Camborne ----- Red River as it enters the sea near Gwythian - - . Lead Mines : East Darren mine, near Aberystwith - - - . Adit level of Frongoch mine, near Aberystwith - - - Settling reservoir of Frongoeh mine, near Aberystwith - Last slime pits at DylifFe mine, North Wales - . - Bronfloyd mine, near Aberystwith - - _ - Bwlch Coch level, Khos-wyddol mine, near Machynlleth Adit level, Goginan mine, near Aberystwith . - . Dressing floors, Goginan mine, near Aberystwith Cae Conroy mine, from jiggers ----- Last settling reservoir, Powell United mine, near Aberystwith - Dressing floors, Greenside mine, Cumberland - . - Dressing floors at Coniston mine - - . . Buddies at AUenheads mine, Tyne Basin - - . Catchpits at AUenheads mine, Tyne Basin ... All dressing floors, &c., at AUenheads mine, Tt/ne Basin Stoneeroft burn, below Stonecroft and Greyside mine, Tync Basin Wiregill mine, Durham - - . . . Coldberry mine, Durham - - - . . Slime pits at Cowhills mine, Durham - - . . Clay Pits : St. Austell clay pits Gazelan clay pits near St. Neot's - - - . Iron Mine : Park Hajmatite mine, Barrow-in-Furness ... Collieries : Coal washing floor at Whitehaven - - - . Countess colliery, Whitehaven - - . - - Coal washing floor, Dowlais, near Merthyr Tydfil Coal washing floor, Devonshire Silkstone colliery near Chesterfield Barlow brook, below coal washing floors, near Chesterfield Coal washing floor at Eekington colliery, near Chesterfield 1805 310 378 379 5 19 16 413 41 2 429 6 80 49 88 4448 392 35 34 301 90 43 47 251 38 3261 4J0 355 1048 40 687 10 04 30 90 70 52 94 64 28 98 32 52 52 52 78 7 68 96 96 40 24 04 44. 60 04 0 04 00 6 56 96 6 hours. 6 „ 6 „ 24 days. 21 „ 51 „ 51 „ 51 „ 24 21 51 21 61 21 10 44 hours. 169 „ 49 „ 50 „ 96 „ 9 days. 9 „ 13 „ More than 3 days. 44 hours. 22 days. 44 hours. 22 days. 7 „ 7 „ 3 .. These experiments show that the suspended matters contained in the effluent water from the buddies and slime pits of tin mines subside very readily. In all the samples experimented upon the supernatant liquid became perfectly clear in six hours. It is true that only three samples were submitted to investigation, but as one of these was taken from i\ie Red River, the trials were really extended to the effluent water of the following tin mines (besides Dolcoath and West Seaton) which drain into this river : Carn Camborne, Condurrow, New Dolcoath, Cook's Kitchen, Tin Croft, West and South Francis, West Basset, South and North Crofty, North Roskear, Wheal Seaton, East Seaton, New Seaton, Emily Henrietta, West Seaton, Wheal Duller, South Condurrow, East Granville, Wheal Granville, South Roskear, and Carn Brea. The effluent water from all these tin mines could therefore be efficiently purified so as to brino- it far within the limits of pollution allowed by our suggested standards, by the simple^process of allowing it to rest for six hours in a settling pond before discharging it into the river. The muddy water flowing from iron mines, coal pits, and coal washing floors requires, for equally perfect subsidence, a much longer interval of time, varying from 44 hours to 22 days. The length of time required for the similar clarification of the foul water from lead mines vanes from 44 hours to as much as 6 1 days. The effluent water from mines of this description could not therefore be brought within the limits prescribed by our suggested standard relating to mineral matters in suspension without inflicting great expense upon iron, coal, and lead miners, and consequent serious injury on those branches of mining industiy. Having arrived at this conclusion it became important to ascertain how far a reasonable amount of subsidence would suffice to mitigate the great evils at present complained of in mining districts. With this end in view we instituted a fresh series of experiments in which samples of mud, collected from the beds of various streams, were submitted to FIFTH REPORT. 41 fractional subsidence. Each sample of wet mud, just as it was taken from the bed of ''^^^^jj^j.^* the stream Avas violently agitated with a large volume of water, so as to form a muddy mixture, similar to that which issues from the slime pits of mines ; determinations were Purification then made of the amount of mud which had subsided at the end of 15 minutes, at the j^^^^^^^^' end of the next hour, after 6 hours more, after a further interval of 24 hours, and, in one case, after a still further interval of 48 hours. The following results were observed : — I. Of 100 parts by weight of mud (dry) from the effluent water entering the St. Neot's stream from the Tregeagle mine 98'799 parts subsided in the first 15 minutes, •698 part in the next hour, '406 part in the next 24 hours, and '043 part in the subsequent 48 iiours, leaving -055 part still in suspension. II. Of 100 parts by weight of mud (dry) from effluent water entering the river at St. Neot's from the Trebcddo mine 99 '311 parts were deposited in the first quarter of an hour, '534 part in the subsequent hour, • 108 part in the next six hours, and "031 part in the ensuing 24 hours. There then remained in suspension only '017 part. III. 100 parts of the fine mud (dry) taken from the bed of the Fowey similarly treated, deposited 98*342 parts in the first quarter of an hour, 1 • 184 part in the next hour, • 310 part during the subsequent six hours, and '113 part in the ensuing 24 hours, leaving at the end of 31 4 hours • 051 part still in suspension. IV. Of 100 parts (dry) of the fine slimy mud taken from the bed of the stream issuing into the Came/, from the settling ponds at the Mulberry mine, 95 • 532 parts subsided in a quarter of an hour, a rest of an hour more brought down 2 • 429 parts, a further six hours caused the deposition of 1 -209 part, whilst an additional 24 hours' subsidence allowed • 468 part to settle down, leaving • 362 part in suspension. V. 100 parts (dry) of the mining mud of the Seaton deposited in like manner 96 ' 946 parts in the first quarter of an hour, 1 • 015 part was thrown down during the next hour, -841 part reached the bottom in the subsequent six hours, and '618 part during the following 24 hours. There then remained in suspension • 580 part. VI. Submitted to subsidence in the same way, 100 parts (diy) of the fine mud leaving the last settling pond at the Chillaton manganese mine near Tavistock deposited 99-364 parts in the first 15 minutes, -062 part in the next hour, -196 part in the ensuing six hours, and • 278 part in the subsequent 24 hours, leaving • 099 part still in suspension. VII. 100 parts (dry) of fine mud from the stream below the same mine deposited 99-765 parts in the first quarter of an hour, '058 part in the next hour, -074 part in the subsequent six hours, and • 084 part in the following 24 hours, leaving only -018 part still in suspension. VIII. Of 100 parts (dry) of the mud of the stream polluted by the Goginan lead mine •near Aberystwith 99'64 parts were deposited in a quarter of an hour and -33 part in the next six hours, leaving only "03 part still in suspension. IX. ^ 100 parts (dry) of mud taken from the bed of the Rheidol below all mining pollutions deposited 91-52 parts in 15 minutes, and 5*88 parts in the ensuing six hours, leaving 2*6 parts still in suspension. X. Submitted to subsidence 100 parts (dry) of mud taken from the bed of the Criewe brook below Rhos-wyddol lead mine deposited 98*68 parts in 15 minutes and Ml part in the next six hours, leaving -21 part still in suspension. XI. _ Of 100 parts (dry) of the slimy mud from the bed of the stream just below Cowhills lead mines, Durham, 98*95 parts were deposited in the first quarter of an hour and 71 part in the following six hours leaving only '34 part still in suspension. Of the 13-54 parts of galena which were contained in 100 parts of this mud only, • 03 part remained in suspension after subsidence for six hours and a quarter. These experiments demonstrate how very large a proportion of the mud which is at present deposited in the beds of rivers would be arrested by even a short subsidence in suitable settling ponds of the turbid waters discharged from the dressing floors of rivers. These muds thus experimented upon, however, had been subjected to more or less washing in flowing water, by which some of their finest portions had been separated from them, and the result obtained in these experiments would obviously not be necessarily identical with that yielded by the subsidence, for the same length of time, of the actual muddy water discharged from mines. It was, therefore, desirable to submit to similar experimental trials samples of the turbid water actually being discharged into rivers at the time of our visit to various mines. The following observations were made : — XII. Of 100 parts (dry) of the slime suspended in the muddy water discharged from the East Darren lead mine near Aberystwith into the Clarach, 93-22 parts were deposited m 15 minutes, and 6-13 parts in the next six hours, leaving only -65 part still in suspension. 30928. 13, 42 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: Section B, Kemedies. Purification by subsi- dence. XIII. Out of 100 parts (dry) of the slime in the waste washing water discharged into the Clarach from the Bronfloyd lead mine 96*43 parts subsided in 15 minutes and .3-02 parts in the succeeding six hours leaving only -55 part still in suspension. XIV. Of 100 parts (dry) of the slime contained in the water discharged from the Goginan lead mine near Aberystwith 94-68 parts were deposited in the first 15 minutes and a further 4-74 parts in the next six hours, leaving only '59 part in suspension. XV. Submitted to subsidence 1172 percent, of the shme contained in the turbid water leaving the last settling pond at the " Powell United " lead mine near Abervstwith was deposited in the first 15 minutes, and 56*7 per cent, in the next six hours, leaving 31-58 per cent, still in suspension, 100 parts of the slime suspended in this water con- tained 1-38 part of lead as galena, but after subsidence for six hours and a quarter only • 45 part of lead as galena remained in suspension. In connection with this sample it is necessary to remark that the subsidence to which it had been submitted in the settling ponds Avas more than usually effective as is seen from the fact that 100,000 parts of the turbid water contained only 80*52 parts of suspended matter (see analysis p. 14), whilst in the muddy waters from other mines more than 400 parts have been observed. XVI. Of 100 parts of suspended mattei- contained in the white waste water flowino- from a clay pit at St. Austell 11-56 parts were deposited in the first quarter of an hour, and 47'68 parts in the next six hours, leaving 40*76 parts still in suspension. Here again the turbid water had been submitted in various clay pits to prolonged subsidence and the sample operated upon contained only 47-44 parts of suspended matter in 100,000 parts of water. ' XVII. A much less favourable result was obtained in the experimental subsidence of the rnuddy water discharged from the Gazelan clay works. Although this waste dicharge contained as much 251-6 parts of suspended clay in 100,000 parts of water, it deposited only 2-8 per cent, in the fii st quarter of an hour and 32-3 per cent, in the next six hours leaving no less than 64-89 per cent, still in suspension. XVIII. Of 100 parts of the slime suspended in the muddy water discharged from the dressing floors of the West Chiverton lead and copper mine, 93*33 parts Avere depo- sited in the first fifteen minutes, and 6-09 parts in the next six hours, whilst only -58 part then remained in suspension. XIX. Of 100 parts (dry) of the slim.e suspended in the turbid water which flows into Ulleswater lake from the dressing floors and buddies of the Greenside lead mines 63-96 per cent, subsided in 15 minutes, and 30-97 per cent, in the next six hours, lea vino- 5-07 per cent, still in suspension. The turbid water experimented upon contained in 100,000 parts, only 49-52 parts of suspended matter, consequently after subsidence for Q\ hours it contained only 2^ parts of suspended matter in 100,000 parts of water. XX. The muddy water discharged into Coniston lake from the dressing floors and buddies of the Coniston lead and copper mines deposited 29-96 per cent, of its slime in the first 15 minutes, and a further 62-26 per cent, in the next six hours, leaving 7-78 per cent, still in suspension. * XXI. Of 100 parts (dry) of the red iron ore suspended in the water pumped from the Park Haematite mine near Barrow-in-Furness, 27*85 parts were deposited in the first 15 minutes, and 64*06 per cent, in the next six hours, leaving 8*09 per cent, still in suspension. XXII. The effluent muddy water from the catchpits at the AUenheads lead mine deposited 98*82 per cent, of its slime in 15 minutes, and a further -36 per cent, in the next six hours, leaving only '82 per cent, still in suspension. 100 parts of the slime suspended in this water contained 1 * 25 part of lead as galena, not a trace of which was left in suspension after the six hours subsidence. XXIII. Of 100 parts (dry) of the slime contained in the water discharged into the Tees from the Wiregill lead mine, 80*46 parts subsided in 15 minutes, and a further 1775 per cent, in the next six hours, leaving 1*78 per cent, still in suspension. XXIV. The black water discharged into the Barlow .hrook from the coal washing floors of the Devonshire Silkstone colhery near Chesterfield contained no less than 1048-6 parts of fine coal and shale in 100,000 parts of water. Of this 58-72 per cent, subsided in a quarter of an hour, and 39-84 per cent, in the next six hours, leaving 1-45 per cent, still in suspension. XXV. Of 100 parts of fine coal and shale in suspension in the black water discharged from the coal washing establishment at Eckington colliery near Chesterfield 28*74 parts subsided in 15 minutes, and a further 37-6 parts in six hours, leaving 33*65 parts still in suspension. XXVI. The miiddy water discharged from the-Goldberry lead mine, Durham, deposited 32*95 per cent, of its slime in 15 minutes, and a further 57*37 per cent, in the next six FIFTH REPORT. hours, leaving 9-68 per cent, still in suspensmn. 100 parts of this slime contained Sect^on^^ 6-06 parts of lead as galena, of which only I -60 part remained m suspension at the termmation of the experiment. , , . i m . . r bv subsi XXVri. Of 100 parts (dry) of the fine slime suspended in the effluent water from Cowhills lead mine, Durham, 20*15 parts were deposited in 15 minutes, and 62 09 parts in the ensuing six hours, leaving 1776 per cent, still in suspension. XXVIII. In 15 minutes 74-91 per cent, of the slime contained m the muddy water discharged from the Van lead mine {Severn basin) were deposited, and in the next six hours a further 23-29 per cent, leaving only 1-8 per cent, still in suspension. • The results of these experiments point to a very simple and inexpensive, though we fear unavoidably imperfect, remedy for the chief form of mining pollution. We have ah-eady proved,'see pages 15, 16, 17, 19, 25, and 29, that, in addition to arsenic and solid rubbish wilfully shot into running water, the sole polluting agent discharged into rivers from metalliferous mines is matter, chiefly mineral, in suspension, and we find, as the result of our investigations, that an efficient retnedy for this single form of fouling would leave nearly all the rivers now suffering from metalliferous mines in their pristine condition of purity. Nay, our analyses have over and over again demonstrated that, this suspended matter once removed, the water is left even purer than it was before the pollution occurred, the deposited mineral mud having carried down with it a considerable proportion of the organic matter which was previously in solution. Unfortunately the extent of the application of this remedy which we are prepared to recommend is not sufficient to render the purification as complete as our suggested standards require. It would, in our opinion, seriously interfere with the mining industry of this country, if a standard relating to suspended mineral matter, so stringent as that which has been found easily practicable in other branches of industry, were enforced against discharges from mines. Whilst we believe, however, that subsidence as com- plete as desirable, could not practically be applied to such discharges, our inquiries into this matter show that a very moderate amount of settlement, say six hours, would remove a very large proportion of the noxious matters from the water. Our determina- tions detailed above show that this moderate amount of subsidence would, if enforced, leduce in many cases the evils at present so loudly complained of to less than yi^th of their present amount. Indeed, it may reasonably be expected that, so far as silting up, and the destruction of fish ova by the deposition of mud upon the spawning beds are concerned, the relief to our rivers would generally be very much greater than is indicated by the above fraction, for the residual matter still in suspension in the partially clarified water would have little tendency to deposit in the lower parts of the stream. It would, in all probability, remain in suspension and be finally carried out to sea, leaving the gravelly spawning beds free from slime, and allowing but little, if any, deposition of mine mud upon lands liable to submersion in time of flood. For the realisation of this salutary result, however, it is absolutely necessary that the subsidence of six hours should be of a bond fide character. Little of the advantage- just recorded would be gained if a stream, however slow, were allowed to flow through the settling ponds. We find that subsidence is enormously hindered by even the shghtest movement of the body of water in which it is taking place; and hence it is that, although we have seen in numerous cases subsidence ponds provided in connexion with dressing floors, ostensibly for the purpose of preventing river pollution, in no single instance has the result been satisfactory, owing to the universal neglect of this precaution. We desire it, therefore, to be distinctly understood that no subsidence of waste mine water is worthy of the name, which does not include the perfect rest of the water during the operation. Efficiently to carry out the remedy which we recommend, it will be necessary to provide storage for at least as much muddy water as is produced in 18 hours. This storage must be divided into three ponds, two of which should be alternately used, whilst the deposit in the third is being drained, dug out, and removed to a position from which it cannot be washed into the neighbouring streams. The alternating ponds should be used in the following manner : — The muddy water is to be run into pond No. 1 for six hours, the exit being completely closed ; the stream is then to be turned into pond No. 2 for the same length of time. After five hours of perfect rest the discharge of pond No. 1 may be commenced by lowering a wide sill, so as to allow the surface water to the depth of, say, three inches, to flow away. The sill is to be gradually lowered so as to complete the dischur^c within an hour, and care must be taken that it is not so far depressed as to permit the escape of any of the deposited mud. The sill being again raised, the pond is ready to receive a second charge of muddy water, whilst the contents of pond No. 2 are undergoing subsidence. The ponds may be of any depth. 44 RIVEES POLLUTION COMMISSION : Section B. but in order to insure adequate subsidence of their contents, the depth of water run re mkdi es. in discharging them ought not to exceed five feet. Pollution by It will be found on examining the evidence given by mining agents and others in dissolved Volume II. of this report that it is only in a very few of the largest establishments matters. ^^^^^ ^]^g quantity of water passing through the slime pits of any mine amounts to 400,000 gallons daily ; a quantity which would need for its treatment in the manner as recommended three subsidence tanks capable of holding 100,000 gallons each; or, if eight feet deep, with five feet of available depth for subsidence, each 100 feet long and 40 feet wide. The three tanks required in these maximum examples would thus not much exceed one quarter of an acre in total area. In the case of the largest example of coal washing which has been reported to us — that of the Binley Colliery near Chesterfield where about 40,000 tons of coal are annually washed in 60,000,000 gallons of water, or, say, 120 tons in 200,000 gallons daily, three tanks of one half the above dimensions would satisfy our recommendations; and in neither case, therefore, can the remedy proposed be considered excessively expensive. Moreover, the costs which they involve may be considerably diminished by any expedient, such as that of using the water over and over again, by which the water used is made to do more work than it at "present does. In coal washing, for example, we learn from the reports received that as much as 4,000 gallons of water are used in some cases in washing every ton of coal, while in others not more than 300 gallons are employed in doing the same work. It is obvious that the easy application of this remedy requires that the muddy mine water be kept separate from that which is used only for power, and which is consequently not dirtied. The volume of this clean water is, in many mines, vastly greater than that which is used for dressing, stamping, and huddling. The effluent muddy mine water requiring the treatment we have indicated may, if it be found economical so to do, be still further much reduced by pumping it back again to the head dressing floors, and thus using the greater part of it over and over again. The expense of the pumping operation does not seem to constitute any serious objection to this plan, for, at the Van mine in the Severn basin, one of the best managed mines in the kingdom, when there is a scarcity in summer, all the water which has been used upon the mine is pumped, by a seven-horse steam engine, and used over and over again for all the washing operations, which are thus, as we were informed by the captain of that mine, carried on at the usual rate throughout the driest seasons. There is, therefore, every prospect that a very great amelioration of mine-polluted rivers would thus be effected at a comparatively moderate amount of trouble and expense. Indeed, when we refer to the results of our analyses of the mud now deposited in the beds of many streams below mines, and see from them how large must be the amount of valuable ore thus annually wasted, we are not without hope that a considerable profit would in many cases accrue to the proprietors of mines from the retention, within their own premises, of the metalliferous mud which they now recklessly or carelessly allow to escape them, to the destruction of fish, the poisoning of cattle and poultry, and the transformation of fertile land into sterile desert. 3. Pollution of Water by dissolved Matters— The analyses of the very numerous samples of foul waters from mines, the results of which are given in the descriptive section of this report, show that the polluting matters present in the effluent water from metalliferous mines are, with very few exceptions, altogether in suspension. The same is the case witii the effluent water from clay pits, and it is only to the water discharged from collieries, and from mines upon which arsenic is manufactured, that remedies applicable to polluting matters in solution are required. And of 25 samples of water discharged from collieries and coal-washing floors only 9 have transgressed any of our suggested standards relating to polluting matters in solution. • Of these there were 8 transgressions of the standard relating to metals other than calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium, the offending metal being iron in each case, and one transgression of the standard relating to arsenic. Taking into consideration the great extent of river channel w^hich we have inspected and the great abundance of collieries in this country, we are of opinion that the sum total of pollution arising from matters in solution derived from coal mines is insignificant. Moreover, the polluting matters when mixed with a considerable volume of river water are not, so far as we have been able to ascertain, injurious to the health of man or air-breathing animals ; they are undoubtedly very fatal to fish, but unlike all other forms of pollution, they only exert their pernicious effects upon water-breathing animals in the immediate neighbourhood of the discharges themselves ; the onward flow of a river soon restores to it, by the absorption FIFTH REPORT. 45 of atmospheric oxygen, its power of supporting fish life. There is, indeed, a most Section B. perfect and efficient remedy for this evil, but we are bound to admit that it will be found considerably more costly than any we have yet ventured to recommend. This remedy Arsenic in consists in adding to the polluted water flowing from the mine, or being discharged from it, drainage a quantity of quicklime (previously slaked) sufficient either to neutralise the acidity of the water, or to replace the oxide of iron it contains. About 12 hours' subsidence of the precipitated oxide of iron would then be required. The practicability or otherwise of applying this remedy will be best seen from the following statement of the amount of lime required by each of the polluting colliery waters which has come under our observation : — Tioc/^vintmn XV^fltPi' flisohnr""f (1 from • ^— Weight of Quicklime required for the puri- fication of 1 000 000 gallons oft he polluting Water. Abandoned coal-pit at Chorley, Lancashire 423 lbs. Pilkington's coal-pit, St. Helens, Lancashire 504 „ Adit in coal-mine near summit of Bacup Road, near Todmorden - - - - 12602 „ Pentrefellin colliery, near Swansea 2415 „ Nibgill pumping station, Millbanks colliery, near Whitehaven . - - . 2683 „ Pumping shaft at Rainton Meadow colliery, Leamside - - - - - 260 „ Kelhoe Winnings coal pit - 2530 „ Sixty fathom working of East Hetton colliery ------ 892 „ It is thus evident that large quantities of lime would be required to remedy the pollution arising from dissolved matters contained in many colliery waters, and we consider that the advantages to be gained by the prevention of this comparatively unim- portant form of pollution would not be worth the cost of the remedy. The only other polluting agent in solution in colliery water is arsenic, which occurred in a proportion exceeding our suggested standard ('05 part metallic arsenic in 100,000 parts of water) only in the case of the water which had been used for coal washing at a colliery connected with the Dowlais iron works near Merthyr Tydfil. The occurrence of arsenic in colliery water in so large a proportion appears to be quite exceptional, and as there are no known practicable means of removing this ingredient from water, especially if the latter be, like that discharged from the Dowlais coal-washing floor, non- ferruginous, we recommend that collierj' water and mine Avaters generally be exempted from the operation of standards (cl) and (e), see page 49. This exemption is to some extent justified by the circumstance that these polluting substances are not, as a rule, in the cases exempted, the result of wasl;e products of a manufacturing operation, they are on the contrary the result of the natural washing, for the most part unavoidable, of natural mineral substances. It is, however, far otherwise in the case of mines where arsenic is actually manufactured. We have already alluded (page 17) to the vast quantities of white arsenic now being made and sold at the Devon Great Consols and some other mines. This arsenic is required in several important branches of British in- dustry. It is used largely, for instance, in the manufacture of some of the new colouring matters obtained from coal-tar, in calico-printing and dyeing, and in the manufacture of glass and of shot. Whilst it would, therefore, be very undesirable to impose any serious impediments in the way of its production, it appears to us only reasonable that (as is now the case with the retail sale of this article) the manufacture of a poison so virulent that a single ounce of it is sufficient to destroy the lives of 100 men, should be subject to special State supervision ; and we, therefore, recommend that any officer appointed for such supervision should be empowered to require that the best practicable means be taken not only to prevent the poisoning of the air by the volatilization of the arsenic, but also to hinder the access of the poison to running water. We are driven to this special recommendation in the case of mines upon which arsenic is manufactured, because it is impossible to prevent altogether the occurrence of the poison in the effluent water of such mines, and there is no practicable method of removing it from water once contaminated, so as to bring the proportion below that prescribed by our standard (e). The mines upon which arsenic is manufactured are not numerous, and a single officer would probably be able to inspect all such establishments in the United Kingdom. F 3 46 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: Section B. Remedies. Pollution by metal manu- factures. II. Pollution arising from Metal Manufactures. The remedies for river pollution arising from metal manufactures, are most of them of a very obvious and simple character. We have already stated in the descriptive section of this report, that the only really serious poUution caused by the metal trades IS that occasioned by tin-plate and galvanizing works. The metalliferous liquors dis- charged from such works together with those sometimes allowed to escape in much smaller quantities from brass founderies, German silver works, and electro-plate factories, contain metalhc salts, which, in all well regulated works, are manufactured into market- able products and sold ; or they are sometimes disposed of in their crude condition to chemical manufacturers who utilise them for various purposes. At Messrs. Thompson, Morgan, and Company's tin-plate works at Broadwaters near Kidderminster, the waste picklmg liquor is concentrated in shallow leaden evaporating pans, until, on cooling, it deposits a copious crop of crystals of green copperas which is sold at a small profit; the mother liquor from these crystals, is fortified with fresh sulphuric acid and used over again none being allowed to go into the river. In this way all the sulphuric acid used in tin- plate and galvanizing works would become transformed into marketable green copperas, yielding a profit to the manufacturer instead of poisoning the fish in the rivers or destroying the brickwork of the sewers, into which it is now in many cases discharged m utter disregard of injury to the property of others. The remedy for river pollution from the muriate of iron produced in such works is equally simple, but does not hold out so certain a hope of profit. The crude waste liquor may be concentrated by evaporation and sold as a disinfectant, for which purpose it is valuable ; or it may be decomposed by lime or a mixture of chalk and lime, which would transform the polluting muriate of iron into non-polluting muriate of lime ; the oxide of iron precipitated by the hme may be sold to iron smelters or gas manufacturers, or dried in the ash-pits of the numerous furnaces employed in such works and then carted away with the ashes. The prohibition of the discharge of metalliferous liquids from tin-plate and galvanizing works into rivers and town sewers, would inflict no serious hardship upon manufacturers, whilst it would preserve much valuable property which is now injured or destroyed by these noxious chemicals. Still less hardship would result from the similar prohibition of such discharges from nickel, iron and steel wire, German silver, and electro-plate works, and from brass founderies, because the liquids are of comparatively much smaller volume, whilst the metallic salts, which may be extracted from many of them, are of far higher value than those obtainable from tin-plate and galvanizing works. Where the nickel, German silver, electro-plate and brass factories are situated in towns, such waste liquids as their owners choose to discharge may be, owing to their comparatively small quantity, safely admitted into town sewers. They will not, for the same reason, interfere with the subsequent utilization or purification of the sewage. The pollution arising from the carrying on of the cutlery trade is essentially solid rubbish. The waste " wheel swarth," being the grit produced during the grinding process, has indeed a certain value which should make the discbarge of it as mere rubbish very easily preventible. It is used in the formation of a cement for the con- struction of the converting furnaces in which steel is manufactured ; and some manu- facturers not only employ all their own waste sand for this purpose, but have to purchase that of others. The remedy for its wilful casting into rivers is, therefore, simply prohibition under adequate penalties. There now remains only the drainage from iron works and rolling mills, the polluting matter of which is entirely in suspension and but small in quantity ; and we have only to add that, where necessary, filtration, or subsidence for six hours, would effectually cleanse all such liquids at a very reasonable cost to the manufacturer. FIFTH REPORT. 47 GENERAL SUMMARY. The Rivers which drain the Mining Districts vary between very wide General extremes in the degree of the pollution which is thus inflicted on them. The short streams Summary. of Cardiganshire and Cornwall, on which lead and tin and copper mining is so abun- ~~. dantly developed, are for the most part laden with the refuse matter of this industry ^^""'P*'^®- from head to foot. The muddy waters of the former county are even declared to diminish the value of the shore fishings at Aberystwith ; and the red rivers of the latter county either choke up the harbours into which they flow, or stain the sea water for a considerable distance from the coast. Elsewhere the mining industry is either only just beginning to affect the streams on which it has been but lately established, or, placed at the head of a long river basin, the subsidence of its mineral waste leaves the greater part of the river course below it uninjured. Of the former kind is the injury referred to at p. 23 as regards tributaries of the Teign in Devonshire, and the pollution of certain tributaries of the Camel in Cornwall owing to the recent estabhshment of the C!hina clay industry there; and also, though in a much greater degree, the increasing pollution of the Fowey in the same county, owing to an extension both of the mining and of the China clay industry within that basin. Of the latter kind, we may name the pollution of the Flvan by the lead washings at Leadhills in Lanarkshire, which entirely disappears before the junction of that stream with the Cl?/de at Elvanfoot, so that it is declared (4th Report, Pollution of Rivers of Scotland, p. 11) to be (at a distance of less than six miles from Leadhills) already an unpolluted stream. The lead workings at the head of Weardale and at the head of Teesdale in the county of Durham must also be enumerated under this category. Neither of them hinders the use of the water of these rivers for the supply of towns ; the water of the Wear being taken one mile and a half above the city for the supply of Durham, and that of the Tees at Tees Cottage above Darlington fo- the supply of an immense population at Darlington, Stockton, and Middlesborough. Even the Bother, the filthiest looking stream in the island, black with the refuse of the coal washings below Chesterfield, and necessarily making an enormous contribution of .mineral pollution to the Don below Sheffield, has not hitherto hindered the use of that river, about 20 miles below the junction of the two, for the water supply of the important town of Doncaster. Almost the whole of the river pollution which is due to mining differs in fact from the pollutions which have been the subject of our former reports in the complete remedy which mere lapse of time and subsidence for a sufficient period afford. The evil complained of in the case of mine polluted rivers must not, however, be supposed to be a mere short-lived nuisance to the eye ; it is a real injury while it lasts to all who live upon the river banks, frequently inflicting upon them the labour of procurmg water for domestic supply from a greater distance. The suspended stuff always gradually fills up the river channel, thus clogging either mill-ponds on the river course, or harbours as it reaches the sea ; and, by raising the river bed, helping to increase the height of floods at the same time that it makes them more injurious than they were, so that they often cover river-side lands with worthless or sometimes poisonous mud. Instances of these injuries are quoted in the case of lead mines at page 15, in the case of tin mmes at page 22, in the case of coal washings at page 8, and in that of China clay works at page 27. The rivers which are polluted by the drainage from galvanising, tin-plate, and other metal workings are injured in a manner, though not generally in a degree, which makes this form of pollution of scarcely less importance than that which arises from raining operations. The drainage from the town of Birmingham— though, owing to this par- ticular cause, it seriously aflTects the stream into which it flows,— includes the common sewag^e of such an enormous population, along with the special drainage from its metal manufactures, that the effect upon the Tame of this particular pollution is almost lost in the midst of the general filth to which the nuisance there created is chiefly due. In some parts of South Wales, however, the pollution arising from this cause retains it character unmasked by any overwhelming pollution of other kinds ; and, there, the injiuy inflicted in this way, upon the industries and population below the sources of the acid and metalliferous drainages which are thus discharged, becomes both obvious and serious. On the Rumnei/ and the U.sk, for example, instances are referred to on page 34, in which the water supply of whole villages has been destroyed, and in which the corroding action of the polluted river water, upon the steam boilers in which it is used, brings home to the manufacturer, as well as to the riparian landowner, the necessity lor a prompt and efficient remedy. F 4 48 RIVERS POLLUTION COMBIISSION : General Remedies. — The remedy which we have indicated for the principal pollution Summary, created by the operations of the miner is of less complete and perfect operation than that Remedies which meets the case of pollution by town sewage. It will neither entirely remove the mischief, nor convert a polluting into a non-polluting substance. Subsidence, which is the only practicable method of removing the waste mineral matters in mine waters, is indeed a perfect remedy if employed during a sufficient length of time : but to impound the whole of the waste muddy water from a mine for so long a period would generally create an intolerable expense. On the other hand subsidence for a comparatively short time removes a very large proportion of the suspended mineral matter in such waters, and we have therefore recommended it in the case of the mud laden waters from mines, as an alternative for the standard which forbids the presence of more than three parts of dry mineral matter in 100,000 parts of water. If the muddy water be impounded, so as to remain at absolute rest for at least six hours, it may then be discharged into the neighbouring river channel with a very small fraction indeed of its mineral pollution still suspended in it. The remedies which we have pointed out in the case of acid discharges from metal manufactures are for the most part self remunerative. They are at any rate capable of adoption without serious injury to such manufactures ; and the standards we have recommended relating to both metallic salts and acids ought in these cases to be enforced. The remedy required for the present reckless discharge of solid refuse from mines into the neighbouring river channels is simply the enactment of an adequate penalty. It ought to be at once forbidden. Conclusions and Recommendations. Conclusions In our First Report to Your Majesty (Report on the Mersey and Ribhle basins), and Recom- ^^^^^ enactment of standards of purity — below which no drainage waters should be mendations. (jjg(,]^argeable into river channels — had been recommended, the possibility was expressly intimated that we might find it necessary, after further inquiry into the iron working, mining, and metallurgical industries of the country, to modify some of these definitions of offence, to the extent at least of naming exceptions to the proposed standards, which it might be necessary to allow in the case of industries which we had not then examined. So far, however, as matters in solution in the respective drainage waters of all industries other than mining are concerned, no such modification or exception has been found necessary through the whole range of industrial occupations whose cir- cumstances we have investigated in this country. Whether in "the sewage of towns " and populous places," or in " the refuse arising from industrial processes and manu- " factures," that which might have been expected to present the greatest diflficulty to the improvement of the condition of the river waters into which these drainages have been discharged, has been found amenable to comparatively easy treatment : and the nuisance which it creates may be easily prevented " without risk to public health or " serious injury to such processes and manufactures." The standards we have suggested respecting matters in solution in drainage waters of all these kinds are applicable without excessive cost or diflftculty ; and all the manufacturers of the country, as well as all the local authorities who are responsible for the nuisances which arise from the drainage of towns and populous places, may be at once brought under the rules we have recom- mended without injury, often indeed with great benefit, to themselves. It is only in regard to river pollution arising from mining operations that we feel it necessary, in the interest of the miner (see page 45), to recommend the suspension of standards {d) and (e) which relate to more or less poisonous metals in solution. It is satisfactory to know that the pollution which would thus be permitted is neither excessive nor of frequent occurrence ; and we are by no means without hope that, when increased attention is directed to the prevention of river pollution, practicable methods will be devised by which these drainages may be so far cleansed as to bring them within those standards of purity which we cannot at present recommend to be enforced against them. We also recommend a modification of the first of our suggested standards — relating to matters in suspension in foul waters — and here again the exception which we have found necessary to the application of the proposed rules, exists only in some of the mining opera- tions of the country. The experiments in subsidence conducted in our laboratory with reference to the finely divided mineral matters derived from iron, lead, and tin mining, and from the w^ashing of coal and china clay, which have been described on pages 41 and 42, have convinced us that it will be impossible, without inflicting " serious injury " on those who are engaged in these processes, to insist, in the case of those industries, upon the standard which proposed, inter alia, to forbid the discharge of all drainage FIFTH REPOKX. 49 waters " containing zn suspension more tlian three parts by weight of dry mineral Geneual matter m 100,000 parts by weight of the liquid." Instead, however, of naming the SuMMAur. exceptions to which this standard cannot be applied, and providing separately foi the r T~ utmost remedy which may in these cases be attainable, we prefer to modify the standard and^Kecom- m Its applicability to all known industries by the addition of an alternative condition mendation.. to the c ause, so as to cover the case of the mining industries which we have named but so also as to leave any other industry at liberty to adopt it. ' We suggest, therefore, that the definition of liquids to be deemed polluting and in- admissible into any stream by reason of the suspended matters which they contain should be modified in such a way as to admit of efficient subsidence for six hours being substituted at the option of the poUutor, for that part of the standard (a) which relates to mineral matter m suspension. We cannot recommend the extension of this alternative to the other part of the standard (a) which relates to organic matter in suspension, because, firstly such an extension is quite unnecessary, and secondly, it would permit the discharge of vast quantities of the foecal matter of sewage and of other putrescibic organic matters which subside very slowly or not at all. In the case of collieries and coal washing establish- ments, It will be further necessary to regard coal from the popular point of view as mineral matter : from an exclusively scientific point of view it is classified with or^ranic substances, but, so far as the pollution of rivers is concerned, the popular notion of'^coal IS more pertinent, because the discharge of this substance into running water inflicts no more injury than that caused by the same quantity of sand or other non-poisonous mineral matter, the organic matter of coal being non-putrescible. We now recommend, therefore, that, with the exceptions already mentioned in refer- ence to the standards d and e, the following liquids be deemed polluting and inadmissible into any stream : — (a.) Any liquid which has not been subjected to perfect rest in subsidence ponds of suftcient size for a period of at least six hours, or which, having been so subjected to subsidence, contains tn suspension more than one part by weight of dry or^rauic matter in 100,000 parts by weight of the liquid, or Avhich, not having been so Subjected to subsidence, contains m suspension more than three parts by weight of dry mineral matter, or one part by weight of dry organic matter in 100,000 parts by weight of \he (b.) Any liquid containing, in solution, more than two parts by weight of organic carbon, or • 3 part by weight of organic nitrogen in 100,000 parts by weight (c.) Any liquid which shall exhibit by daylight a distinct colour when a stratum of It one inch deep is placed m a white porcelain or earthenware vessel. {d.) Ariy liquid which contains, in solution, in 100,000 parts by weight, more than two parts by weight of any metal except calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium. (e.) Any liquid which, in 100,000 parts by weight, cont^ms, whether in solution or suspension, m chemical combination or otherwise, more than -05 part by weight of metallic (/) Any liquid which, after acidification with sulphuric acid, contains, in 100 000 parts by weight, more than one part by weight of free chlorine wif;! t?^ ^'X'^ "^-^'fu ^^^'^^^ P^^^^ ^e^g^t' moi-e than one part by r/phuret ' ^""dition either of sulphuretted hydrogen or of a soluble tJn irt7 ^^^".^d essing an acidity greater than that which is produced by adding two parts by weight of real muriatic acid to 1,000 parts by weight of distilled water. mr bv weii?nf /"''"''T-^ alkalinity greater than that produced by adding one part by weight of dry caustic soda to 1,000 parts by weight of distilled water. (^^) Any liquid exhibiting a film of petroleum or hydrocarbon oil upon its surface or containing, in suspension, in 100,000 parts, more than -05 part of such oil. ' be^LfX^auXTbv f^ll ^^^-^^^tion ^ of River Pollution the above standards mav .h.iri/i / by the following proviso :-Provided always, that no effluent wate'r shall be aeemed polluting if it be not more contaminated with any of the above-named polhiting ingredien s than the stream or river into which it is dischaLd. We add the following paragraph from our first report (on tht Mersey and Ribble ba ins) as still m our opinion applicable Whatever authority may be cons t tu ted for « of an^/n'^r ?r 1 """^'^ u^'^T^^ ^'^q^^'^d to direct the obse Ice of any enactment based upon the above standards (being at the same time empowered 30928. G 50 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: General Summary. Conclusions and Rccom- raendations. " to enforce the adoption of remedies for proved nuisances wherever the offender is " negligent), but should also be enabled to stay proceedings on the part of those suffering " from the nuisance, when satisfied that the offender is honestly trying to abate it. We " do not desire that any complaint founded on the existence of a nuisance arising from " any of the above offences should be finally silenced, or that any just claim for damage " founded on it should be absolutely barred, by the mere fact that a scheme for the " abatement of the nuisance had received official sanction. But we believe it will be for the general interest, that such a sanction should for a time exonerate from legal " liability those, whether corporate bodies or individual offenders, who are carrying into " operation any scheme thus sanctioned." And it is in the spirit of the above paragraph that we point out a special difficulty existing in the case of some of the short mining rivers of this country, which may make it necessary still further to extend that reasonable degree of consideration for the difficult circumstances in which offenders against river purity find themselves, which the paragraph recommends. There are streams in Cornwall, of which the Red river below Camborne may be taken as a type, whose course has been and is being so laden with valuable mining refuse, that successive works for the recovery of that refuse have at great cost been established at frequent intervals along the whole course of the river channel. It is plain that the case of a stream thus circumstanced, where the landowner's royalty, the labourers' earnings, and the interest of the capitalist, — the interests in short of the whole resident population — are dependent on the maintenance of the river channel in its present character as an apparatus for the recovery of mining produce, it would be the utmost pedantry to insist upon such remedies for river pollution being adopted at the great mines above as would destroy the whole of the vast industry below them on whose prosperity all classes are dependent. It appears to us, therefore, that there are connected with the mining industry, some streams which may very properly be altogether excepted from the application of those special enactments on which we depend for river restoration else- where. Such exceptions may be the more readily conceded when it is remembered that rivers polluted by mines emit no offensive exhalations such as those which arise from streams fouled by chemical works and by town sewage, refuse from dye works, and other putrescible organic matters, which poison the air or inflict discomfort even at considerable distances from the water. Even in these exceptional cases, however, it is plain that any person who is injured or aggrieved by the condition of the stream must be allowed his remedy. He must be suflSciently remunerated for any loss or injury he suffers. But if all the river side population desire it, if all are satisfied, and if the owners and tenants of river side lands are unanimous in their wish regarding any of these short mining rivers that it should remain devoted to its present use as the common conduit of the mines by which or from which it runs, it appears to us that in such a case a river or stream may be very properly altogether exempted from the operation of the rules which we desire to see generally enforced for the abatement of river pollution. We are of opinion that any law having for its object the prevention of river pollution should — (1.) Absolutely forbid* under adequate penalties the casting of solid matters into river channels ; (2.) Enact the foregoing standards of purityf below which any liquid discharges into watercourses should, with the exceptions already mentioned, be forbidden ; (.3.) Give power to all manufacturers in towns, exceptj those of gas, paraffin oil, pyroligneous acid, animal charcoal, tin-plate and galvanized iron, to discharge their drainage waters into the town sewers under suitable regulations ; (4.) Confer additional powers on corporations, local boards, manufacturers, and mine owners, to take land compulsorily, under " Provisional Order," for the purpose of storing their waste refuse, or of cleansing sewage or other foul liquids, either by irrigation, filtration, or otherwise. We are further of opinion that the equal and efficient administration throughout the country of any Act that may be passed for these purposes would be best secured by * A precedent for this provision exists in the Newport (Monmouthshire) Harbour Act, 32 & 33 Vict. c. 118. s. 18. t A precedent for the enactment of standards for the definition of forbidden discharges esdsts in the Alkali Act, 26 & 27 Vict, c. 124. X A precedent forbidding foul discharges into sewers exists in the Metropolis Management Act, 18 & 19 Vict. c. 120. s. 205. / FIFTH KEPORT. 51 the appointment of inspectors, to whom should be committed the duty of detecting and Genebal proving offences against the law, and of procuring the conviction of offenders. ^ We are, Summary. moreover, strongly of opinion that in order to secure the independence of these inspectors ^^^^^^^^^^^^ from local influences they should, like the Inspectors under the Alkali Act, hold their ^^^d Recom- appointments from Your Majesty's Government. mendations. On the formation of Kiver Conservancy Boards with limited authority for local taxation, and power to authorise and direct expenditure for the purpose of river improve- ment,— as for example in the purchase and removal of weirs, the straightening and deepening of watercourses, and the formation of upland reservoirs— we have already stated our opinion in our report (1870) on the Mersey and Ribble basins, p. 136. There is undoubtedly a large field for useful work in every important river basin both in England and Scotland for a conservancy board of this kind; and it is certain that whenever the necessity of the various river improvements, which it \yould direct and superintend, shall have become urgent, a representative body of this kind will be indis- pensable, having power, in connexion with the local and corporate authorities within the river basin, to levy rates for defraying the cost of whatever operations it may direct. But we are convinced that the thing of immediate and imperative importance in connexion with river improvement throughout the country is simply the prohibition, under adequate penalties, of the gross pollution which at present renders so much of the running water of this country useless to manufacturers, agriculturists, and the public generally. The conclusions which we thus humbly submit to Your Majesty have been arrived at after an inspection of nearly every town and district in Great Britain where any manu- facturing or mining operations of importance are carried on. We have, moreover, person- ally examined during the past five years 49 woollen factories, 14 works in which cotton is dyed, printed, or bleached, 16 chemical and alkali works, 10 linen, jute, and flax mills, 5 silk mills and dye works, 19 paper mills, 4 paraffin oil works, 4 alcohol distilleries, 4 starch works, 4 tanneries, 1 sugar factory, 2 soap works, 1 salt work, 5 cutlery works, 1 nickel foundry, 4 silver, German silver and electrotype works, 5 brass foundries, 8 wire, tin-plate, and galvanizing works, 3 iron works, 69 mines, besides 43 works for the purification of sewage ; and the standards of purity below which we recommend that all liquid discharges into river channels be forbidden have been adopted after an investiga- tion which has involved no fewer than 1,200 analyses of the various drainage waters which oflTend them, before and after the various modes of treatment which we have investigated, in addition to more than 2,000 samples of river and other waters before and after pollution. , All which we humbly certify to Your Majesty under our hands and seals this eighteenth day of October one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three. (Signed) E. FRANKLAND. (l.s.) JOHN CHALMERS MORTON. (l.s.) S. J. SMITH, Secretary. Rivers Pollution Commission Office, 1, Park Prospect, Great Queen Street, Westminster, S.W. 52 INDEX. . , . . Paso Acid in coal mine water - 4 Acid pollution, definition of - 4!) Alkaline pollution, definition of - 4'.) Arsenic, pollution by - 17, 45, 49 Barlow brook, the - -7,9 Baryta mines, pollution by 15, 25, 26 '• Blackband " iron mines - 10 Brass foundries, pollution by 35, Brownie, the - - .5 Calder, pollution of the - - 4, 5 Camel, the - - - 19 „ muds in the - - 24 Carbonate of iron mines - - 1 0 Carclaze stream, the - -26 Carvear, the - - - 26 Cattle, injury to - 6, 8, 15, 22, 26 China clay works, drainage from 2.9 !> „ „ pollution by - 26 >, „ „ remedies for do. - 40 „ „ „ valuation of - 28 Chlorine, pollution by - - 49 Chyandour, the - - •19 Clarach basin, lead mining in the 11-13 Cltjde basin, lead mining in the - 13 Coal pit waters - - - 4-6 Coal washing, pollution by 3, 7-9 „ „ remedies for do. 40, 42 „ „ statistics of - 44 Coals, composition of - .4 Colour standard of pollution - 49 Conclusions and recommenda- tions - - - 48, 49 Conservancy boards - - 51 Copper mines, drainage from - 16 Cornish mines, value of - - 19 Cutlery trade, pollution by - 31 Derbyshire, coal drainage in - 6- 8 ■ Derwent, the, Cumberland - 9 Don, the - - - 31, 32 Dovey basin, lead mines in the - 11 FMw, the ... ii4 Electro-plate works, pollution by 36, 37 Elvan, the - - 15, 47 Exceptions to river legislation - 50 Ferruginous water from collieries 4-6 Filtration applied to m i ning waters 39 Fish, destruction of, in mining rivers 3, 4, 15, 17, 22, 23, 34, 43-45 Fowey, the - - - 19 Galvanizing works, pollution by 32-35 Garcar, the - - - 26 German silver works, pollution by 36, 37 Haematite mines Health, injury to 9 3, 9, 17, 22, 34 Inorganic pollution, definition of 49 Iron mines, pollution by - 9 „ „ remedy for do. - 40 Iron ore, washing of - - 31 Iron works, drainage from - 31 „ „ pollution by - 30 Lancashire coal drainage - 6 Lead drainage - - 13, 14, 39 „ ,, remedies for - 40-43 Lead industry, value of the - 15 Lead mines, pollution by - 10 Legislation needed - 50, 51 Lime as precipitant of iron 45, 46 Loxley, the - - - 32 Manganese mines, pollution by - 24 Metal working, pollution from - 29 „ „ remedies for - 46 Migelden brook, the - - 5 Mining pollutions - - 3 „ „ remedies for 39-43 Morlais brook, the - - 31 Muds from lead mining - - 12 Neath, the - - - 34 Newport Harbour Act - 34, 50 Nickel works, pollution by - 30 Non-ferruginous coal-pit water - 9 Organic pollution, definition of - 49 Petroleum pollution, definition of 49 Polluting liquids, definitions of - 49 Poultry, injury to - 11,15,26 Porter, the - - - 32 Purification of rivers by colliery water - ... 5 Recommendations Red river, the - 48 19, 21 Red river from coal mines - ^'^^.5 Remedies ... ;j8-45 Rheidol basin, lead mining in the 11, 12 Riparian injuries . 8, 15, 22, 26, 34 River channels, injury to 23, 38 Rather, the - . - 8 47 Rumney, the - . . ' ;j4 Rut hern, the - - - 18 Seaton basin, lead mining in the 11, 19 Sheaf, the . - - 32 Silting up of harbours and river channels - - 23, 34 Silting up, remedies for . 3f- Skimpings from lead mines - 1 1 Slimes from do. -12 Standards of purity - -49 „ exceptions to . 48, 50 Steel wire works, pollution by 32-35 Stonecroft burn, the - - 26 Stour, the - . .34 Subsidence applied to mining ^ waters - . 39.43 Sulphur in coal - - .4 Sulphur, pollution by . . 49 Suspended matters in mining waters - . - 39 Summary - . 47,48 Taff, the - - 4,5,34 Tawar basin, copper mining in the 16 Tame, the - - - 35 Tawe, the - - - 34 Tees basin, lead mining in the 11, 12 Teiffu basin, the - 23 Tidi, the - . - 19 Tin mines, pollution by - _ 17 „ „ remedies for do. - 40 Tin plate works, pollution by - 32 „ „ remedies for do. - 46 Tin stream works - - 20 Tyne basin, lead mining in the 11, 12 Usk, the - - - 34 Wear basin, coal mine drainage in the - - . - 6- „ „ lead mines in the . 11 Ystwitk basin, lead mining in the 12 Zinc mines - - - 16 LONDON: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty. For Her Majesty's Stationery Office. UIVEES POLLUTION COMMISSION (1868). EIETH EEPOET OP THE COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED IN 1868 TO INQUIRE INTO THE BEST MEANS OF PREVENTING THE POLLUTION OF RIVERS. POLLUTION ARISING FROM MINING OPERATIONS AND METAL MANUFACTURES. Vol. II. EVIDENCE. Pmottetr to totft H^omt^ of ^nvlUmmt tip (srommanii of ?^er ifttaieetg. LONDON: PRINTED BY GEORGE EDWARD EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE, PRINTERS TO THE QUEENS MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. [C— 951.-I.] Frice 4s. Sd. 1874. CONTENTS. PART I.— Statistics relating to Cities, Boroughs, Towns, Loca Board of Health, and Local Government Districts : Section I— Local Statistics . . - - Section II.— Sewerage Works - - - - Section III.— Sewage Works (disposal of Sewage) - Section IV.— Water Supply . - - - PART II.— Written Evidence of Riparian Proprietors, and of Mine Agents, and others _ _ - . PART III.— Oral Evidence ------- PART IV.— Written Evidence, Correspondence, and Reports of Witnesses on Special Subjects - - - - PART v.— Statistics relating to the disposal of Town Sewage by- CD Subsidence, (2) Precipitation, and Subsidence, (3) Filtration, and (4) Irrigation GENERAL INDEX. PART I. Statistics relating to Cities, Boroughs, Towns, Local Board of Health, and Local Government Districts situate in River Basins polluted by refuse from Metalliferous and Salt Mines, Collieries (where coal is washed), China Clay Works, Manufactories, Mills, and Tanyards, and also by Town Sewage. Section XV. Neater supply, wbence obtained ; situation of works ; volume pumped or abstracted ; area of g^atbering- g'round; area, deptb, capacity, and situation of reservoirs ; water filtered or not ; filtering- medium ; pumping power, and cost of pumping ; sup- ply from wells ; area of district, and number of bouses and works sup- plied; volume and ex- tent of daily supply for domestic trade, and public purposes ; con- stant or intermittent service ; rate of cbarge; cisterns ; supply ade- quate or inadequate ( former supply; meana to prevent waste ; cost of works ; analysis of water. A. Page. Page. Page. Page. Aberavon 7 23 33 40 Abekdare 9 24 33 40 Abergavenny 11 26 34 42 Abersychan 12 26 34 43 Aberyst"vvyth 6 , 23 33 39 Alfreton 5 22 32 38 B. Bakewell - 4 21 32 38 Blaenavon - 11 26 34 42 Bridgend 8 24 33 40 Buxton 3 21 32 37 C. Canton 10 25 34 41 Cardiff 11 25 34 41 Chesterkiki.d 3 20 32 37 C\VM-D*17 8 24 33 40 a 2 Page. i- xlvii ii- xviii xix-xxxi xxxii-xxxv xxxvi-xlvii xlix-ivi 1-178 179-200 201-219 CXTXES, BOKOUCHS, DI5TRXCTS. Section X. ILocal statistics ; public works ; jurisdiction over and con- dition of river and stream ; floods ; en- croachments ; cellar dwell- ings ; rate of mortality ; health of spe- cial districts ; river conser- vancy and best means of avoid- ing pollution. Section II. Sewerage work ; venti- lation and flushing of i sewers ; steam and hot water passed into I sewers ; springs tapped and wells affected there- by ; water - closets ; cesspools ; privies ; mid- dens, and ash-pits, mode of cleansing, and by whom done ; purpose to which refuse is de- voted ; profit and loss on removal of refuse ; nuisance arising from cleansing ; effect on health ; disinfectants used. Section XXX. Sewage works ; treatment of sewage ; out- fall and condi I tion of effluent water ; sewage [ irrigation ^ works ; area of land irrigated ; volume of sew- age applied ; kind of crops grown, and amount of pro- duce ; expense, profit, and loss. [iv] Part I. — continued. CITIES, BOROUGHS, DISTRICTS. Section I. Iiocal statistics ; public works ; Jurisdiction over and con- dition of river and stream ; floods ; en- eroacbments ; cellar dwell- ing's; rate of mortality ; bealtb of spe- cial districts ; river conser- vancy and best means of avoid ins pollution. D. Dronfield Fairfield H. Hatle Heage Ilfracombe - Ilkeston L. Launceston - LiSKEARD Llanfrechfa, Upper LUDGVAN M. Machynlleth Madron Matlock Merthyr-Tydfil Mountain Ash N. Neavport Panteg Penryn Penzance Piiillack pontypool E. Eedruth Ripley St. Austell - St. Ives Sheffield South Darley Swansea Tavistock Totnes Page. 3 16 5 13 6 14 15 12 17 6 18 4 10 9 13 12 16 18 16 12 16 5 15 17 2 4 7 14 13 Section II. Sewerag-e works ; venti- lation and flusbing- of sewers ; steam and hot water passed into sewers ; springs tapped ana wells affected there- by ; water - closets ; cesspools ; privies, mid- dens, and ash-pits, mode of cleansing:, and by whom done ; purpose i to which refuse is de- ! voted; profit and loss on removal of refuse; nuisance arising from cleansing ; effect on health ; disinfectants used. Page. 20 21 29 22 27 22 28 28 26 30 23 30 22 25 24 27 27 29 30 30 27 29 22 29 30 19 21 23 28 28 Section Hi. Sewage works ; treatment of sewage out- fall and condi- tion of effluent water; sewage irrigation works; area of land irrigated ; volume of sew- age applied ; kind of crops grown, and amount of pro- duce ; expense, profit, and loss. Page. 32 32 35 33 34 33 35 35 34 35 33 35 32 33 33 34 34 35 35 35 34 35 33 35 35 32 32 33 34 34 Section IV. Water supply, whence obtained ; situation of works ; volume pumped or abstracted ; area of gathering ground; area, depth, capacity and situation of reservoirs ; water filtered or not ; filtering medium ; pumping power, and cost of pumping ; sup- ply from wells ; area of district, and number of houses and works sup- plied ; volume and ex- tent of daily supply for domestic, trade, and public purposes ; con- stant or intermittent service ; rate of charge; cisterns ; supply ade- quate or inadequate ; former supply ; means to prevent waste ; cost of works; analysis oi water. Page. 37 38 46 38 43 39 44 45 43 47 39 47 38 41 40 43 43 46 47 47 43 45 39 45 47 36 38 39 44 44 [v] PART II. Written Evidence of Riparian Proprietors, and of Mine Agents and others. Name, and Residence of Riparian Proprietors, and of Mine Agents, and others. Name of Estate. Name of River on which Estate is situated. AppERLEr, Captain C. O. W., Cefu Hendrc, Aherystwith. BONSALL, John G. W., Esq., J.P., Fron- fraith, Aberystiuith. BoNSALL, Thos., Esq., J.P., D.L., Glaa Rheidol, Aberystiuith. BuRD, William, Deputy Harbour Master of Padstow. Carter, William, of Pollrock Clark, Henry, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, Ef- ford Manor, Plymouth, and Edgecombe, Tavistock. Davies, John Maurice, Esq., J.P., Bar- rister-at-Law, Antaron, near Aberystiuith. Davies, Matthew Vaughan, Esq., Tan- y-Bwlch, Aberystwith. Edyrean, Robert, Captain and Adjutant Duke of Cornwall's Artillery Volunteers, Bodmin, Cornwall, trustee to William PMUipps. Evans, John, Esq., S.'P.,Lovesgrove, Llan- hadam-fawr, Aberystwith. Grylls, Colonel, J.P., Lewarne, Liskeard Howell, David, Esq., Solicitor, Machyn- lleth. Jones, Joseph Owen, Estate Agent, Fron- y-gog, Machynlleth, Le Grice, Day Perry, Esq., Trereife, Penzance. Loxdale, James, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, Castle Hill, near Aberystiuith. Pendray, Joseph, of Pollrock - Phelps, Sackville, Esq., Neiulands, Machynlleth. Powell, Colonel, Nanteos, Aberystiuith Pryse, Colonel, Lord-Lieutenant of Car- diganshire, Aberystwith . Pryse, Sir Pryse, Bart., Gogerddan Pryse, John Pugh Vaughan, Esq., Bwl- chlychan. Pugh, Lewis Pugh, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, Abermaide, Aberystwith. St. Germans, the Right Honble. the Earl of. Port Eliot. Taylor, Henry, Esq., Mining Engineer, Aberystwith. Thruston, Charles Frederick, Esq., Chairman of the Dovey, Mawddnot, and Glasllyn Salmon Fishery District, Tal- garth Hall, Machynlleth. Vane, the Right Honble. the Earl, Plas Machynlleth, Machynlleth. Vivian, The Right Honble. the Lord, Glynn, Bodmin, Waddingham, John, Hafod, Devil's Bridge, Aberystwith. WiLLiAAis, George Griffiths, Esq., J.P., D.L., Wallog, Aberystiuith. Morben, Montgomery- shire. Fronfraith, Cardigan- shire. Glan Rheidol, Cardigan- shire. Edgecombe, Devonshire Crygw, Cardiganshire - Tau-y-Bwlch, Cardigan- shire. Butterwell, Cornwall - Lovesgrove, Cardigan- shire. Lewarne, Cornwall Gelligoch, Montgomery- shire. Rhiewfelen Trereife, Cornwall Castle Hill, Llanilan, Cardiganshire. Machynlleth, Mont- gomeryshire. Nanteos, Cardiganshire Peithyll, Cardiganshire - Gogerddan, Cardigan- shire. Bwlchlychan, Carmar- thenshire. Abermaide and AUtyoch, Cardiganshire. Port Eliot, Cornwall - Machynlleth, Mont- gomeryshire. Plas Machynlleth, Mont- gomeryshire. Glynn, Cornwall Hafod, Cardiganshire - Rhoscellan, Cardigan- shire. Dovey - Rheidol Rheidol Plym - Ystwith Ystwith Camel - Rheidol Fowey - Dovey - Crewy, Dulas Newlyn Ystwith Dovey, North and South Dylas. Rheidol, Ystwith, Tivy Clarach, Rheidol, Yst- with, Peithyll. Rheidol, Clarach, Lerry, Cewlan, Einion, and Dovey. Teifi - Ystwith and Lerry Tidi Dovey • Dovey,Cruwitwymyn,and Dylas on Dul.is. Fowey - Y''stwyth aud Mynach - Clarach 06 49 52 50 55 53 51 51 51 53 50 54 55 54 49 54 53 a 3 [vi] PART III. Oral Evidence taken at Penzance (for the Western District of Cornwall, including St. Ives, Hayle, Marazion, and Penzance), Redruth (for the West and East Central Districts, in- cluding- Helston, Falmouth, Penryn, Gwennap, St. Austell, Truro, Camborne, and Redruth;, Bodmin (for Lostwithiel, and Bodmin), Tavistock, Liskeard (for the Eastern District of ' Cornwall, including- Calstock, St. Cleer, Linkinhorne, Callington and Liskeard), Aberyst- wyth, Machynlleth, Chesterfield, Newport (Monmouthshire), Cardiff, Merthyr-Tydfil, and Swansea. Name of Witness. Official Position, Profession, or Occupation, and Residence. Where examined. Page. PENZANCE. BiCKLE, Mr. Jabuz Hayle - - - - - Penzance 6 BoASE, Mr. Francis M.R.C.S., Penzance - - - Do. - 10 8 Cornish, Mr. Thomas Town Clerk, Marazion - - - Do. - Harrison, The Rev. David Chairman, L. B. of H., Ludgvan Do. - 6 John. Matthews, Mr. Thomas - Surveyor, L. B. of H., Madron - Do. - 7 Morris, Mr. Alfred Penzance .... Do. - 2 liosEWALL, Mr. Geo. B - M.R.C.S., St. Ives Do. - 3 Trounson, Mr. Francis - Penzance - . . . Do. - I REDRUTH. Clemens, Mr. William - Harris, Dr. Henry Hicks, Mr. John - Jenkins, Mr. Geo. Ap- pleby. Pearce, Mr. Vivian Powell, Mr. Geo. G. Rogers, Henry, Esq. Trenery, Mr. Geo. Wilson Borough Surveyor, Truro F.R.C.S., Redruth Redruth Town Clerk, Penryn Clerk, L. B. of H., Phillack Borough Surveyor, Penryn Mayor of Helston M.R.C.S., Penryn Redruth Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. 17 13 15 23 23 23 19 21 BODMIN. Bryant, Mr. John D. Collins, The Rev. C. M. Edward. Collins, John Basset, Esq. CooM, Mr. Henry Couch, Mr. Thomas CuRNow, Mr. Thomas Foster, Richard, Esq. Gilbert, Walter, R. Kestell, Mr. John Henry Martin, Mr. Thomas MuDGE, Mr, Henry Harbour Commissioner, Padstow Thewardale - - . - Mayor of Bodmin ... Borough Surveyor, Bodmin M.R.C.S., Surgeon to County Prison - Engineer to Water Works, Bodmin J.P., Lostwithiel ... Colonel in the Army, Bodmin - Bodmin . - - . Proprietor, Mulberry Mine, Wadebridge M.R.C.S., Bodmin Bodmin Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. 34 33 29 26 32 30 28 30 30 35 24 TAVISTOCK. Blatchford, Mr. H. BUCKLAND, Mr. FitANK, M.A. Clark, Mr. Henry Collier, Mr. W. F. Hearder, Dr. J. N. Luxton, Mr. Robert Paul, Mr. Joseph Sleeman, Mr. Kichard Small, Mr. Thomas SoLTAW, Mr. Geo. W Soltaw-Symons, Mr. Spry, Mr. H. Stevens, Mr. T. - Portreeve of Tavistock - - . Inspector of Salmon Fisheries, \Miitehall Barrister-at-Law, Edgcombo Woodtown . - - . Solicitor .... IMineral Agent, Tavistock M.R.C.S., Tavistock - Sydenham .... Little Efford - - - . Chaddlewood, Plymptou Sortridge, Ilorrabridge Superintendent of Tamar and Plym Fislicry A\'oiks. Tavistock Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - 45 49 36 44 52 39 48 46 48 39 41 44 42 [Vli] Part III. — Oral Evidence — continued. Name of Witness. Official I'osition, Professiou, or Occupation, and liesidtuce. Where examined. Page. Ball, Mr. Thomas Collins, Mr. Digbt Foster, Richard, Esq Hancock, Mr. W. T. HiNUSTON, Mr. Andrew HoRNDON, Mr. William Langsford, Mr. C. Rise, Mr. Henky Sampson, Mr. John Steer, Mr. W. Vincent, Mr. W. Wilcox, Mr. John LISKEARD. Picton Mills, Liskeard - Newton Ferrers - - - J.P., Lostwithiel . . - Town Clerk, Liskeard - - - M.R.C.S., Liskeard Penci-eeper . - - - Miller, St. Dominic Borough Surveyor, Liskeard Superintendent of Water Works, Liskeard Farmer, Calstop . . - Surveyor, Liskeard . - - Farmer, Calstop ... Liskeard Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. 61 63 58 57 53 62 64 55 59 64 61 63 ABERYSTWITH. jjjDwAKDS, iVir. tJUHJNj fJUl. Farmer, Rhyddir Issa . - - Aberystwith 75 TT'-i-itxr A T>i-»c TVTt* -Tmo Spti Ditto - - - - Do. - 74 T^^DWARDS- Mr. R. - Farmer, Aberystwith - . - Do. - 74 Ellis, Mr. E. Grocer, Aberystwith Do. - 83 Evans, Mr. David Inspector of Nuisances, Aberystwith Do. - 67 Evans, Mr. Evan Farmer, Glascrug . . - Farmer, PontUanycahiavn Do. - 72 Hughes, Mr. Hugh Do. - 72 James, Mr. D. Sailmaker, Aberystwith- Do. - 76 James, Mr. E. W. Farmer, Brynllys ... Do. - 77 Jenicins, Mr. Morgan Fisherman, Penttwyn - - . Do. - 76 Jones, Mr. D. Farmer, Aberceiro . . - Do. - 73 Jones, Mr. John - Farmer, Tandinas . . - Do. - 71 Jones, Mr. .John - Farmer, Llangawsai - . - Do. - 76 Jones, Mr. Morris M.R.C.S., Aberystwith - Do. - 64 Morgan, Mr. David Farmer, Llangwyryfon - - - Do. - 71 Morgan, Mr. J. - Farmer, Dole - - - - Do. - 76 Morgan, Mr. J. - Farmer, Rpel - - - - Do. - 73 Morgan, Mr. T. 0. Barrister-ut-Law, Aberystwith - Do. - 75 Owen, Mr. W. Farmer, Cumbwa Mill . - - Do, - 74 Phelps, Captain W. C. - Nanteos .... Do. - 69 Pryse, Colonel Edward Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire, Do. - 67 Lewis. Peithyll. Roberts, Mr. David Farmer, NanteoUenfach Do. - 75 Samuel, Mr. T. - Farmer, Pendre, Llanbadarn Do. - 76 Slumper, Mr. J. W. Surveyor, Aberystwith - - - Do. - 70 Taylor, Mr. H. E. Mining Engineer, Aberystwith - Do. - 78 Theophilus, Mr. N. Farmer, Penlan, Llanilar Do. - 73 Vaughan, Mr. John Surveyor, Aberystwith . - - Do. - 70 Williams, Mr. W\ Farmer, Alltgochfach ... Do. - 78 Bell, Mr. J. CoNROY, Sir John, Bart. Dean, Mr. R. Edwards, Mr. R. - GiLLART, Mr. R. - Jarman, Mr. Thomas .Tones, Mr. J. 0. - Jones, Mr. R. Lewis. Mr. R. Lloyd, Mr. H. - Meredath, Mr. James Morgan, Mr. E. - Morgan, Mr. Rowland Morgan, Mr. John Owen, Captain Thomas Panton, Mr. J. - Phelps, Sackville, Esq. Pugh, Mr. W. Richards, Mr. L. MACHYNLLETH. Solicitor, Surbiton, Surrey Arborfield Grange, Reading Manager, Dylife Mine - . - Farmer, Abergwydol - - . Agent to the Right Honorable the Earl Vane, Machynlleth. Farmer, Caire Conroy - - . Landowner, Fronygog - - - Farmer, Machynlleth - - . Farmer, Hendreseivon - - - M.R.C.S., Machynlleth Farmer, Penrhyn, Dorey Hotel Proprietor, Machynlleth - Farmer, Aberffrydlan ... Farmer, Penrhos Mawr- Captain of Mine ... River Keeper, Frydd Mill Conservator of the Dovey Farmer, Bryallys .... Farmer, Pcnygeulan ... Machynlleth Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - ' 84 91 and 94 96 98 I 97 I 94 97 j 97 95 89 94 96 95 98 92 85 86 95 98 Blewett, Mr. John Douglas, Mr. D. - Elliott, Mr. Thoas CHESTERFIELD. M.R.C.S., Chesterfield - - - i Chesterfield' Manager of Water and Gas Works, ! Do. - Chesterfield. i Miller, Whittington - - - | Do. - 101 103 106 [viii] Part III. — Oral Evidence— continued. Name of Witness. Official Position, Profession, or Occupation, and Kesidence. Where examined. Page. EwiNG, Mr. J. Gibson, Mr. E. HoRNE, Mr. T. Robinson, Mr. D. RoLLiNsoN, Mr. C. Yy Baker, Mr. Thos. Ball, Mr. W. F. - Berrington, Mr. A. D. Brew, Mr. C. COLBORNE, Mr. T. Conway, Mr. C. - CuLLUM, Mr. C. - Davies, Dr. B. Davis, Mr. H. J. - Geething, Mr. Pw Harris, Mr. E. - Jackson, Mr. M. B. KiRBY, Mr. Conyers Lawbence, Mr. H. Llewellyn, Mr. D. Lyne, Col. Charles MOGGERIDGE, Mr. F. Morgan, Rev. Augustus Morgan, Mr. H. - Parsons, Mr. John Rees, Mr. W. T. - Steele, Mr. D. - Strick, Mr. H. - Williams, Mr. H. Williams, Mr. V. C. F. - Williams, Mr. W. Bassett, Mr. A. - Bernard, Mr. C. E. Booker, Mr. T. - CoLMAN, Mr. Geo. Corbett, Mr. J. S. Edwards, Mr. E. - GoooH, Mr. H. - Hawkins, Mr. H. - Hayes, Mr. C. Jones, Mr. D. Jones, Mr. D. Paine, Mr. H. J. - Pearse, Mr. R. Price, Mr. W. Sherley, Mr. L. V. South, Mr. G. Thornton, Mr. T. Waring, Mr. Thos. Dyke, Mr. T, J. ■ Harpur, Mr. S. • Lewis, Mr. T. Newberry, Mr. J. Overton, Mr. G. ■ William, Mr. T. ■ Cousins, Mr. E. - Davis, Mr. E. Glassbrooke, Mr. J. Pugsley, Mr. W. - CHESTERFIELD— cow^. Farmer, Tapton Borough Engineer, Chesterfield Lispector of Nuisances, Chesterfield Pill Box Maker, Brampton Architect and Surveyor, Chesterfield - NEWPORT. Farmer, Si. Bridges Landowner, Abergavenny Chairman of the Conservators of the Usk Tin Plate Manufacturer, Pontrydyrhun - Solicitor, Newport - - . Tin Plate Manufacturer, Pontnewydd - Sec, Waterworks Company, Newport - Medical Officer of Health, Alon-Llwyd - Solicitor, Newport - - . Harbour Master, Newport Farmer, Rhydwern Farm, Machen Civil Engineer - - - . Borough Surveyor, Newport Farmer, Tir Tsha Farm, Llandarnam Farmer, St. Brides Deputy Ch airman, Harbour Commission Newport. Tin Plate Manufacturer, Caerleon Rector of Machen - - . Upper Cwmbran - - . Farmer, Lodge Farm, Llandarnam Civil Engineer, Newport Tin Plate Manufacturer, Panteg Forge Pontypool. Inspector of Nuisances, Newport Nantoer, Abergavenny - - . Pontypool - - . . CARDIFF. Mining Engineer, Cardiff: Surveyor, Penarth Tin Plate Manufacturer, Cardiff Llandaff Mills, near Cardiff J.P., Cardiff - - - . Fisherman, Cardiff - - - Engineer, Waterworks, Cardiff - Mason, Canton - - - Cardiff - - - . Contractor, Cardiff Fisherman, Cardiff F.R.C.S., Cardiff Medical Officer of Health, Canton Cardiff - - - - Solicitor, Cardiff Sec. to Waterwork Company, Cardiff' Inspector of Nuisances, Canton - Borough Surveyor, Cardiff Chesterfield Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Newport, Monmouthshire Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Cardiff Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. MERTHYR TYDFIL. Medical Officer of Health, Merthyr Tydfil Surveyor to Local Board, Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil - .. - . Troedyrhiew .... Iron Works, Pontypridd Clerk to Local Board, Merthyr Tydfil - SWANSEA. Borough Engineer, Swansea Medical Officer of Health, Swansea Mayor of Swansea - - - Merthyr Tydfil Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Do. - Swansea Do. Do. Do. 105 100 99 104 98 119 123 127 118 120 116 112 107 12.5 114 120 115 110 119 118 130 115 124 122 119 114 126 117 109 125 131 153 148 139 138 135 148 141 150 137 134 137 142 151 154 137 140 119 131&137 155 161 169 167 168 160 169 173 176 176 [ix] PART IV. Written Evidence, Correspondence, and Reports of Witnesses on Special Subjects. Page Acid in Mine Refuse :' Plan of Professor Church for neutralizing - - - - - - - 196 Camel Eivkk, Cornwall : Evidence of J. Sidney Pedlar, J. Searle, T. Shepbard, J. Pendray, J. H. Kestle, S. Buscombe, E. Stephens, J. Pedlar, and M. Thomas, agricultural tenants, as to the injury suffered by them from mineral deposits from Lanivet and Mulberry Tin Mines ----- 181-2 Report l)y Messrs. J. D. Bryant, S. W. Adams and S. Bollard, Improvement Commissioners for the Port of Padstow, of influx of silt into the 182-3 China Clay Works : Memorandum from Messrs. John Lovering and Company, of the number and of the vaUic of the produce of China Clay Works in Cornwall and Devon - ..... 180-1 Coal Washing : Paper by Mr. George Howe on the system adopted at Clay Ci'oss Collieries, Derbyshire, by which no water is allowed to run away from the works ..... 192-4 DovET, Montgomeryshire : Analyses, and report by Professor A. H. Church, of samples of water from the - - - 194-5 Hipper, and Rother Rivers, Derbyshire : Evidence of Mr. R. G. Coke on the pollution of the ----- - 186-" Labour Cost (1872) : Average monthly, including salaries, of some of the larger mines in the western district of Cornwall - - - - - - ■ - " - -179 Mineral Produce of the Stannaries : Value of the, letter from Thomas Cornish, Esq., Penzance, giving « mining figures" - - 180 Mine Refuse : Plan of Professor Church for neutralizing acid in ...... 196 Prussia : Report by a late inspector of mines in Prussia of a plan for preventing pollution of rivers by mines ------------ 195-6 Red River, Cornwall : Letter to Pursers of Mines on the, and answers thereto ...... 179 Rother, and Hipper Rivers, Derbyshire : Evidence of Mr. R. G. Coke on the pollution of the - - . - - - - 186-7 Report of Mr. R. G. Coke on pollution of the, caused by coal washing at collieries in Barlow, Dunstow, Whillington, Lockoford, and damage done to adjacent land by overflow of the river through Stavely, Eckington, Killamarsh, and Beighton ..... 187-92 Slime Pits : Statement of Captain Hooper with reference to those at Wheal Crelake Mine, near Tavistock - 185 Particulars of those referred to in the evidence of Mr. Henry Clark. Part III., p. 37, Q. 1440.- 185-6 TiDi, Cornwall : Evidence of J. BiUing, T. Haddy, T. H. Geake, R. Seinsbury, T. Oliver, I. Brickwood, and L. Dyer, as to the pollution of the, so far as affects the lands of Earl St. Germans, and the navigation 18«i-5 UsK, and its Tributaries, Monmouthshire : Pollution of the. Report by Captain Aldridge, Harbour Master, Newport, referred to in his Evidence. Part IIL, p. 114, Q. 4110 - 196-7 Pollution of the. Report by A. D. Berrington, Esq., referred to in his evidence. Part III., p. 127, Q. 4563 197-9 Pollution of the. Letter from A. D. Berrington, Esq. ------ 199 Pollution of the. Letter from C. J. Parkes, Esq., J.P. ------ 199 Method adopted to prevent pollution of the. Letter from the Garth Iron and Tin Plate Company 199-200 30928. PART V. Statistics relating to the Disposal of Town Sewage by (1) Subsidence, (2) Precipitation and Subsidence, (3) Filtration, and (4) Irrigation. CITIES, BOROUGHS, AND DISTRICTS. Subsidence. Precipitation and Subsidence. Filtration. Irrigation. Atherstone Page 291 Birmingham - Page 203 Abergavenny Page 204 Altriucham - Page 207 Bacup - - - 201 Bolton-le-Moors - 203 Ambleside 204 Banljury 208 Birkdale 202 Leeds - - - 203 Bicester 205 Bedford 209 Bowdon 202 Luton - - - 204 Canterbury - 205 Blackburn 209 Bowness 202 New Shoreham 204 Castle Cary - 205 Buiy St. Edmunds •209 Burton-upon-Trent 202 St. Mary Church - 204 Chesterfield - 205 Cheltenham - 209 Dymchurch - 202 Tottenham - 204 Chigwell 205 Chorley 211 Halifax 202 Coventry 205 Edmonton 211 HaUiwell 202 Crauford 205 Harrow-on-the-Hill 211 Hexham 202 Fareham 205 Hoole - - - 211 East Stonehouse 202 Hurstpierpoint 206 Kendal 212 Long Sutton - 202 Litchurch 206 Kidderminster 212 Walton-on-the-Hill - 202 Ludlow 206 Malvern 212 Windermere - 202 Morley Saffron Walden Sandown Southam Uxbridge Wellingborough Welwyn Worksop 206 206 206 206 206 207 207 207 Malvern Link Melton Mowbray - Norwich Penshurst Reigate Romford S waff ham Tunbridge Wells - Tyldesl ey-with- Shakerley - Warwick WUsden Wolverhampton - Wrexham 212 212 212 213 213 213 213 213 217 217 219 219 219 PART T. STATISTICS RELATING TO CITIES, BOROUGHS, TOWNS, LOCAL BOARD OF HEALTH, ANL> LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD DISTRICTS IN ENGLAND AND WALES, SITUATE IN RIVER BASINS ESPECIALLY POLLUTED BY METAL- LIFEROUS AND SALT MINES, COLLIERIES, CHINA CLAY WORKS, TIN PLATE WORKS, IRON AND STEEL WIRE DRAWERS, GALVANISERS, BRASS FOUN- DERS, GILDERS, ELECTRO-PLATERS, GERMAN SILVER WORKERS, NICKEL REFINERS, ALSO BY ALKALI AND CHEMICAL WORKS, CALICO AND SILK PRINT WORKS, CARPET MANUFACTURE, COTTON MANUFACTURE, DYE AND BLEACH WORKS, GAS WORKS, IRON AND COPPER WORKS, OIL WORKS, PAPER MANUFACTURE, SKINNERIES, TOWN SEWAGE, TAN YARDS, AND REFUSE FROM MANUFACTURES. Section I. — Local statistics ; — public works ; — jurisdiction over and condition of river and stream; — floods;- — encroacliments ;^ — cellar dwellings; — rate of mortality ; — health of special districts ; — river conservancy and best means of avoiding- pollution. — Pages ii.-xviii. Section II. — Sewerage works; — ventilation and flushing of sewers ;— steam and hot water passed into sewers ; — springs tapped and wells aff'ected thereby ; — water-closets; — cesspools; — privies, middens, and ash-pits, mode of cleansing, and by whom done ; — purpose to which refuse is devoted ;-— profit and loss on removal of refuse; — nuisance arising from cleansing, and effect on health ; — disinfectants used. — Pages xix.-xxxi. « Section III. — Sewage works; — treatment of sewage; — outfall and condition of effluent water;— sewage irrigation works ; — area of land irrigated; — volume of sewage applied ; — kind of crops grown, and amount of produce; — expense, profit, and loss. — Pages xxxii.-xxxv. Section IV. — Water supply, whence obtained; — situation of works; — volume pumped or abstracted ; — area of gathering ground ; — situation, area, depth, and capacity of reservoirs ; — water filtered, or not ;— filtering medium ; —pumping power, and cost of pumping ; — supply from wells ; — area of district, and number of houses and works supplied ; — volume and extent of daily supply for domestic, trade, and public purposes ; — constant or intermittent service ;— cisterns ;— supply, adequate or inadequate '; — former supply; — means to prevent waste; — rate of charge for water;— cost of works ; — analysis of water. — Pages xxxvi.-xlvii. 30928. c ii PART I.-SECTION I. QUEBiIIjS. — li Name and area of the city, borougb, town, or local board of healtli or local government board district? 2. Population at last census, and probable yearly increase to the present date t 3. Number of houses and rate of yearly increase 1 i. The rateable value of the city, borough, town, or district? 5. When was the borough incorporated, or the Public Health or Iiocal Government Act adopted? 6. State number of public works that have been executed by the governing- body ? Water- works, the cost? Gasworks, the cost? Sewerage works, the cost? Other works, the cost? 7. Kow were the costs defrayed ; by rates, or if by loan, troxu whom borrowed? — -8. Has the Corporation or the Xocal Board of Health jurisdiction over the river or stream flowing by or through the town? 9. What are the powers and the local Act or Acts of Parlia- ment conferring them? lO. To what extent have those powers been exercised? 13.. Describe thepast and present condition (within your knowledge) of that part of the river or stream flowing by or through the town, and give the name of the river or stream ? 12. Has the bed of the river or stream silted up ; if so, to what cause do you attribute it? 13. Is the property situate on either bank of the river or stream affected by floods, and do you attribute them to any obstructions In the river or stream ; if so, state the nature thereof? 14. Xs the river or stream polluted by town sewage, liquid refuse from manu- factures, chemical works, gasworks, dye and bleach works, calico and silk print works, tan yards, and from mines, and to what extent ? 15. Xs the river or stream polluted by scoria from iron works, slags, cinders, small coal, or any other solid refuse ? 16. Are encroachments on the river or stream pre- vented ? 17. Xs the condition of the river, streams, or canals, passing by or through the town, a source of ill-health or discomfort? 18. Are there cellar dwellings in the town; if so, how many ? 19. State the rate of mortality per 1,000 in the city, borough, town, or local board district each year from 1859 to 1869? 20. Have the sewerage works or other works of town improvement influenced this rate, and in what manner and degree ? 21. Are there any parts of the city, borough, town, or district especially unhealthy; if so, to what cause is this attributed ? 22. Are there any parts occasionally flooded?- — 23, How is this flooding caused? 24. Have you any suggestions to ofi'er as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future ? 25. Have you any suggestions to offer as to the conservancy of rivers and streams? Name of Cities,Borough3, To\vns, and Districts. Answers to Qijekies 1 to 25, Page ii. Sheffield Basin of the Don. Borough. Area, 19,650 acres. Population at last census, 239,947. Average yearly increase, 5,000. Inhabited houses at last census, 51,000. Average yearly increase, 1,200. Rateable value of the borough, 642, 160^. The borough was incorporated in 1843, and the Local Government Act adopted in 1864. The Corporation have carried out sewerage works at a cost of 30,000/., and street improvements at a cost of 24,000/. These costs (with the exception of the sum of 4,000/. contributed by the town trustees towards street improvements) were defrayed by loans borrowed on security of the rates, and repayable in 30 years. Waterworks were constructed by and belong to a private company. The Corporation have no jurisdiction over the Doti, Sheaf, and Porter flowing through the borough. Formerly these rivers were comparatively clear and fi-ee from pollution. The main intercepting sewers now in course of construction will improve the condition of these streams. The bed of the streams has silted up, caused by refuse from grinding wheels, works, and factories thrown into their channels. Property situate on the banks of the streams is aflected by floods, owing to the silting up of their beds. The rivers are polluted by town sewage, liquid refuse from manufac- tures, chemical works, gasworks, paper mills, tanyards, and are offensive both to the sight and smell. The rivers are also seriously polluted by scoria from iron works, slag, cinders, small coal, and also by Avheelswarf (refuse from grinding wheels). Encroach- ments on the rivers are not prevented. The condition of the rivers is certainly a source of discomfort if not of ill-health. There are no cellar dwellings within the borough. The rate of mortality was as follows : — Year. Total Deaths. Eate per 1,000 per Annum. 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 32-17 28-65 27- 51 28- 61 Year. Total Deaths. Eate per 1,000 per Annum. 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 25 27' 28' 26' oo 71 74 63 Wo are of opinion that the improved sewerage works have had a beneficial eftect on the death rate since 1866. There are no parts of the district especially unhealthy ; POLLUTION commission:— EVIDENCE— ANSWERS TO QUERIES, Basin or the Don — continued. . — PART L SEC. I. iii Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Sheffield — conf. Dronfield Answers to Queries 1 to 25, Page ii — continued. Chesterfield there are parts near the rivers, as before st:ited, liable to be flooded. We suggest, as the best means of avoiding pollution in this district in future, that control over the river chauu'els should be vested in the Corporation, and that weirs and all similar obstructions should be removed. The conservancy of rivers should be vested in a o-eneral board, who should have control of the whole river basin ; the governing body of the united district to be elected by the local authorities. Basin of the Rother (Don). Local Government Board District. Area, statute acres. Population at last census 2 454 Inhabited houses, 523. Rateable value of district, 5,944/. 18s. The Local Government Act was adopted 11th October 1861. The Local Board have not executed public works, as water, gas, or sewerage works. The Local Board have no jurisdiction over the river Dro7ie, which flows through the district. This stream is free from obstructions, and has been so for the past 40 years. The property situated on the banks of the stream is not aff"ected by floods. The river is polluted by sewage, and by water pumped from coal mines, but not by scoria from iron works, slag, or cinders. Encroachments on the river are prevented. The con- Buxton dition of the river is not a source of ill-health district. The rate of mortality was as follows : — Rate per 1,000 per Annum. Total Year. Deaths. 1861 64 1862 50 1863 65 1864 52 1865 43 1866 62 There are no cellar dwellings in the Rate per 1,000 per Annum. Total Year. Deaths 1867 60 1868 51 1869 57 1870 72* 1871 52 The death rate increase this year was owing to an epidemic of scarlet fever. There are no parts of the district especially unhealthy, nor any liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to ofler as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Borouo-h Area, 276 statute acres. Population at last census, 12,000. Inhabited houses, 2,400. Rateable value, 26,000/. The Local Government Act was adopted in 1867 'The Corporation have executed sewerage works at a cost of 9,000/, but not any other public works. The costs were defrayed by loans on the security of the rates The Corporation have only partial jurisdiction over the rivers Hipper and Rotfie}- which flow through the town ; formerly they were in a very pure condition, and they "re now very much polluted. The beds of the rivers have silted up. Property situated on the banks is sometimes afiected by floods caused by weirs erected across" the beds of the streams. The rivers are polluted by liquid refuse from manufactories, chemical works, gas, dye, and bleachworks, tanyards, and mines, to a very great extent, but not by scoria from iron works, slag, cinders, or small coal. Encroachments on the rivers are not prevented. The condition of the streams is a source of discomfort to the inhabitants. There are no cellar dweUmgs m the town. The rate of mortahty was as follows : — Total Year. Deaths. 1861 205 1862 194 1863 265 1864 283 1865 302 1866 257 Total Year. Deaths. 1867 284 1868 315 1869 301 1870 282 1871 280 Since the sewerage works were completed and the removal of slaughter-houses from the centre of the town, the death rate has decreased. There are no parts of the town especially unhealthy. A few dwellings are occasionally flooded by the over- flowino- of the rivers. We suggest, as the best means of avoiding pollution in future, that afl liquid refuse should be Altered and deodorised before being allowed to pass into rivers and streams. Basin of the Derwent. Local Government Board District. Area, 710 statute acres. Resident population at l ist census 3 717. This is increased (in the season) from 8,000 to 10,000 by visitors, inhabited 'houses, 650 ; probable yearly increase, 20. Rateable value of district, 19 330/ The Local Government Act was adopted in 1859. The Local Board have executed waterworks at a cost of 9,700/.; gasworks, 18,000/.; sewerage works, 4 350/ • market hall, 3,100/. ; street improvements, cattle market, paving works, fare- e 2 iv RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — EVIDENCE — ANSWERS TO QUERIES. — PART I. SEC. I. Basin of the Derwent — continued. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Answers to Queries 1 to 25, Page ii— continued. Buxton — cont. Fairfield Bakewell South Darlet Matlock engines, m(;e«^, which flows through the district. It is a very clear stream and well stocked with trout and grayling. The bed of the stream is not silted up. Property situated on either bank of the river is not affected by floods. We believe the river is vslightly polluted by sewage, but not within our knowledge by manufac- turing or other refuse. Encroachments on the river are prevented. The condition of the stream is not a source of ill-health or discomfort. There are no cellar dwellings within the district. We are unable to give the total deaths and rates of mortality from 1861 to 1871, as we cannot obtain this information from the registrar. There are no parts of the district especially unhealthy. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Local Government Board. Although the parish of Matlock is divided into the Local Board Districts of Matlock and IMatlock Bath, the area, of each district has never been calculated ; it is therefore impossible, without great trouble and expense, to RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — EVIDENCE — ANSWERS TO QUERIES. — PART I. SEC. I. V Basin of the Derwent — continued. Name of Cities, B oroughs. Towns, and Districts. Answers to Queries 1 to 25, Page ii — continued. Matlock— co«<. Alfreton Heage Ripley niake a calculation as to this and other items in the Matlock district. The population at the last census was about 3,000. Inhabited houses, 680. Rateable value of district, 12,569Z. The Local Government Act was adopted in July 1862. The Local Board have executed sewerage works at a cost of 1,000/., but have not executed either water, gas, or other works. The cost Avas defrayed by loans borrowed on security of the rates. The Local Board have no jurisdiction over the river Derwent, a rapid stream, which flows through the district. The condition of this stream has been unchanged within our knowledge. The bed of the stream lias not silted up. The properties on its banks are occasionally affected by floods. The Derwent is polluted by the sewage of the district, but not to our knowledge by any other refuse. Encroach- ments on the river are prevented. The condition of the stream is not a source of ill- health. There are no cellar dwellings within the district. The rate of mortality was as follows : — Total Year. Deaths. 1861 82 1862 62 1863 59 1864 68 1865 64 1866 72 Rate per 1,000 per Annum. Total Year. Deaths. 1867 63 1868 67 1869 82 1870 72 1871 68 Rate per 1,000 per Annum. There are no parts of the town especially unhealthy, nor any liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of I'ivers and streams. Local Board of Health District. Area, 1,952 statute acres. Population at last census, 3,679. Inhabited houses, 885. Rateable value of district, 10,241/. 2s. 8d. The Public Health Act was adopted in 1851. The Local Board have executed sewerage works at a cost of 3C0/. The gasworks were constructed by, and belong to, a private company. No waterworks have been established. The cost of the sewerage works was defrayed by rates. The Corporation have no jurisdiction over the affluent of the Derwent, which flows through the district ; the condition of which stream has not changed within our knowledge. There are no ceUar dwellings within the district. We are unable to give the rate of mortality from 1861 to 1871, as the registrar cannot furnish this information. There are no parts of the district especially unhealthy, nor any liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Local Government Board District. Area, statute acres. Population at last census, 2,195. Inhabited houses, 462. Rateable value of district, 6,950/. 195. 6rf. The Local Government Act was adopted in 1863. The Local Board have not carried out any public works, as water, gas, or sewerage works. The Local Board have no jurisdiction over the river Amber, which flows through the district. The stream which forms the northern boundary of the district, flows into the river Derwent, a little beyond the boundary of the district. The condition of the streams has not changed within our knowledge. The beds of the rivers have not silted up. The property on the banks is not afl'ected by floods. The rivers are mainly polluted by town sewage ; not by manufacturing, or other refuse within our knowledge. Encroachments on the river are prevented. There are no cellar dwellings within the district. The rate of mortality was as follows : — Total Kate per 1,000 Total Rate per 1,000 Year. Deaths. per Annum. Year. Deaths. per Annum. 1861 46 200 1867 62 27-1 1862 72 31-4 1868 45 19-6 1863 53 23-1 1869 59 25-8 1864 66 28-8 1870 59 25-8 1865 58 25-3 1871 47 20-5 1866 62 27-1 There are no parts of the district especially unhealthy. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Local Government Board District. Area, statute acres. Population at last census, 5,639. Inhabited houses, 1,189. Rateable value of district, 12,530/. The Local Govern- ment Act was adopted in 1867. The Local Board have not executed any public works, but sewerage and waterworks are in contemplation. The Local Board have no jurisdic- tion over the affluents of the Derioeut, Avhich flow through the district. The condi- tion of these small streams has not changed within our knowledge. There are no cellar dwellings within the town. We are not able to give the rate of mortality between 1861 and 1871 for this district, as no register is kept by the Board. There c3 Vi EIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— EVIDENCE — ANSWERS TO QUERIES. — PART I. SEC. I. Basin oe the Derwent — contimied. Js'^ameofCitieSjBoroughs, Towns, and Districts. Ripley — cont. Ilkeston Machynlleth Aberystwith ■ Answers to Queries 1 to 25, Page \\— continued. are no parts of the town especially unhealthy. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Basin of the Trent. Local Government Board District. Area, 2,541 statute acres. Population at last census, 9,662. Inhabited houses, 2,140. Rateable value of district, 20,544/. 16*. The Local Government Act was adopted in 1864. The Local Board have executed sewerage works at a cost of 686Z. IBs. The costs were defrayed by loans from private individuals, and also on security of the rates. The water and gasworks Avere con- structed by, and belong to a private company. The Local Board have no jurisdiction over the Erewash, which flows through the district. There has not been any per- ceptible alteration in the condition of the river during the last 20 years. The bed of the river has not silted up. The property situated on the banks of the river is some- times affected by floods, owing to the tortuous form of the river channel, and also to the damming up of the water to obtain power for a water mill in the lower part of our district. The river is polluted by town sewage to a very small extent ; not to our knowledge by any manufacturing refuse. It is not polluted by scoria from iron works, slag, or cinders. Encroachments on the river are prevented. The condition of the river is not a source of ill-health or discomfort. There are no cellar dwellings in the district. We are unable to give the rate of mortality from 1861 to 1871, as no record is kept. There are no parts of the district especially unhealthy. We have no sugges- tions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Basin of the Dovey. Town. The area is the town and liberties of Machynlleth. Population at last census, 2,042. Inhabited houses, about 520. Rateable value, 5,274/. 12^. Ad. Nei- ther the Public Health Act of 1848, nor the Local Government Act has been adopted. No public works such as water or sewerage works have been carried out, but gasworks have been constructed by a private company. The river Dovey flows through the town, and is polluted by refuse from mines, chemical works, and sewage and refuse from gasworks ; not that we are aware of by scoria from iron works, slag, cinders, or other sort of refuse. Encroachments on the river are prevented. The condition of the stream is not a source of ill-health or discomfort. There are no cellar dwellings within the town. The rate of mortality was as follows : — Total Total Year. Deaths. Year. Deaths. 1861 "37" 1867 59 1862 49 1868 46 1863 72 1869 48 1864 1870 42 1865 47 1871 40 1866 52 ^There are some parts of the town less healthy than others, owing to crowded houses and having insufficient sewerage works. A portion of the town is occasionally flooded by the river. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollu- tion in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Basins of the Rheidol and Ystwith. Borough. Area, statute acres. Population at last census, 6,898. Inhabited houses, 1,365. Rateable value of borough, 20,000/. The last charter of incorjjoration was granted by Henry VIII. The Corporation have executed waterworks and sewerage works at a cost of 15,000/. The gasworks were erected by and belong to, a private company. The cost of the Avaterworks and sewerage works was defrayed by loans from private individuals borrowed on the security of the rates. The Corporation has no special jurisdiction over the river Rheidol, which flows through their district. The river Rheidol was until about 35 years ago a very pure stream abounding with salmon and trout ; but for many years they have been exterminated, and the water rendered impure by the working of lead mines in the district. The bed of the stream" has silted up to a very appreciable extent. Property on the banks of the river is not affected by floods. The river is polluted to a very great extent by mining refuse, but not by manufacturing refuse. It is not polluted by scoria from iron works, cinders, or small coal. Encroachments on the river are, as far as possible, pres ented. The condition of the river is not a source of ill-health. There are no cellar dwellings in the town. KIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : —EVIDENCE— ANSWERS TO QUERIES —PART I. SEC. I. Vll Basins of the Rheidol and YfiTwiT-E—conmued. Name of Cities,Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Abektstwith— cow^. Swansea Aberavon Answers to Queries 1 to 25, Page ii — continued. The rate of mortality was as follows : Total Year. Deaths. 1861' 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866" The total deaths and rate of mor- tality cannot be ascertained. 173 Total Tear. Deaths. 1867 165 1868 156 1869 162 1870 168 1871 15.9 The sewerage works have not materially affected the rate of mortality. There are no parts in the town especially unhealthy ; nor any liable to be Hooded. We have no special suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Basin of the Tawe. Borough. Area, 5,363 statute acres. Population at last census, 50,272. Inhabited houses, 10,000. Rateable value of district, 145,763/. The Public Health Act was adopted in 1 852. The Corporation have executed waterworks at a cost of 170,659/. 65. ; sewerage works at a cost of 52,885/. lis. : and permanent improvement works at a cost of 3,521/. 13s. lid. The costs were defrayed by loans borrowed on security of the rates. The Local Board have no jurisdiction, except under the Sanitary Act of 1866, over the river Taive. The river Tatve is seriously polluted before it enters the borough. It is polluted first by alkali works, copper works, collieries, sulphuric acid liquid, and sulphate of iron from tin-plate works, and by town sewage. It is polluted by scoriai from iron works, slag, cinders, and small coal, not within the borough. Encroachments on the river are not prevented. The condition of the river is not a source of ill-health, but of discomfort. There are no cellar dwellings in the borough. The rate of mortality was as follows : — Year. 1859" 1860 1861 1862 1863' 1864 1865 Total Deaths. Rate per 1 ,000 per Annum. >No returns. 894 1,249 1,151 20-6 28-4 25-6 Year. Total Deaths. Eate per 1,000 per Annum. 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1,336 897 954 1,242 1,323 1,101 29-2 19-2 200 25- 0 26- 8 22-9 It is difficult to say whether the sewerage works or other town improvements have influenced the rate of mortality, the fluctuations in the death rate have been so violent during the observed period ; 1844 and 1845 were marked by a very severe epidemic of scarlatina, 1866 by cholera, 1869 by scarlatina, and 1870 and 1871 by small-pox and fever. The district of Greeuhill, and the outlying district of St. John, and that part of the borough within the parish of Llangyfelach suffered most severely from cholera in 1860 ; and the former district has been suppHed with a system of deep drainage since that date. There are no districts specially liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Basin of the Avon (Glamorgan). Borough. Area, 2,644 statute acres. Population at last census, 3,396. Inhabited houses, 651. Rateable value of borough, 7,455/. The borough was incorporated by Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal in the year 1861, and the Local Govern- ment Act was adopted in the same year. The Corporation have purchased gasworks at a cost of 3,500/., and have constructed sewerage works at a cost of 4,250/. They have not executed water or any other works. The cost of these works was defrayed by loans borrowed on security of the rates. The Corporation have no jurisdiction over the river Avoti, which flows along the eastern side of the borough ; but a great portion of the water is turned out above the town to supply the Margan tin works, so that in dry weather there is very little water in that part of the river channel which passes by the town. The bed of the stream is not t^ilted up to any great extent. Property on the banks of the river is not affected by flood.s. The stream is not polluted within the borough. The fluid and solid i-efuse from the extensive works of the English Copper Company at Camavon, including copper, iron, and tin works, and coUieries, and the Margan tin works, are all cast into the river Avon. The river is also polluted by sewage and by mines. Encroachments on the river are not pre- vented. The condition of the stream is not a source of ill-health, but one of discom- fort ; and the water is rendered quite unfit for use for culinary purposes. There are no cellar dwellings in the borough. c 4 VIU KIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — EVIDENCE— ANSWERS TO QUERIES. PART L SEC, Basin of the Avon {GTjA.MouGA'tj)~contmued. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Abekavon — cotit. Bridgend Answers to Queries 1 to 25, Page ii— continued. The rate of mortality was as follows ; — Years. I860' 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 Wc are not able to give the total deaths, or the rate of mortality, as we cannot obtain this information from the registrar. There are no parts of the district especially unhealthy ; nor any liable to be flooded VVe have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future or as to tlic conservancy of rivers and streams. ' Basin of the Ogwr. Local Board of Healtli District. Area, statute acres. Population at last census, 5,836. Inhabited houses, 1,084. Rateable value of district, 14 3,31/ IO5 The Public Health Act was adopted on 5th June 1858. The Local Board have exe- cuted waterworks at a cost of 547/., but neither gas, sewerage, or other works The cost ^vas defrayed by rates. The Local Board have no jurisdiction over thp, river Ll-//nri which flows through the district. The river has a very rapid fall of 1 In 70 The bed of the river has not silted up. Property on the banks is not affected by floods. The river is polluted by town sewage to such an extent as to be rendered unfit for culinary purposes, but not detected by the ordinary means of taste and smell except in very dry seasons when evaporation goes on from the exposed parts of the bed of the river. The river is not polluted by scoria;, slag, cinders, or small coal En- croachments on the river are prevented. The condition of the stream is not a source of ill-health ; the water is not used for cooking purposes. There are no cellar dwellings in the district. The rate of mortality was as follows : — Total Year. 1861" 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 Deaths. The total deaths and rate per 1,000 cannot be ob- tained for these years from the registrar. Ill 100 Rate per 1,000 per Annum. 22 20 22' 131 (12 deaths by accident.) are no parts of the district especially unhealthy, and none liable to be ^- - ~- - - . .1 1 means of avoiding poUuliou There flooded. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams, Local Board of Health District. Area, 629 statute acres. Population at last census, 3,539. Inhabited houses, 712. Eateablc value of district, 9,954/. The Public Health Act was adopted in 1852. The Local Board have not executed water or eras works, but they have executed sewerage works at a cost of 780/. The costs were defrayed by Icafis borrowed on security of the rates. The Local Board have no juris- diction over the river Ogmorc, which flows through the district. Tlie condition of the stream is very much worse than formerly. It i's seriously polluted by to^^•n sewage, by the washing of coals from collieries, by mining refuse, and also by scoriae, slao-, cinders, and small coal. Encroachments on the river are not prevented. The con'cUlio^n of the stream is a source of great discomfort, but not of ill-health. There are no cellar dwellings in the district. We are unable to give the total deaths, or the rate of mortality from 1861 to 1871, as Ave have been unable to obtain this information from the registrar. I'here are no parts of the district especially unhealthy. There are parts of the district liable to be flooded, owing to the silting up of the bed, caused by solid refuse thrown into it. We suggest, as the best means of avoiding pollution in future, that solid and liquid refuse should be kept out of rivers and streams. The Board has caused notice to be served on one lirm, requesting them to discontinue the washing of coal in the stream, and they were assured that this practice would be dis- EIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — EVIDENCE— ANSWERS TO QUERIES. — PART I. SEC. I. Basin op the Ogwr — continued. NameofCities.BoroughsJ To^vns, and Districts. Answers to Queries 1 to 25, Page ii — continued. Bridgend — cont. Mountain Ash Aberdaee continued, but it has not been so discontinued, because they find that the Board have no power to compel them to stop it. The river Ogmore has been w^ell known from time immemorial as a salmon fishing river. The destruction of the fry by pollution haa prevented the salmon from entering the river, and they are rarely met with now, even at the spawning season. Basin of the Taff. Local Government Board District. Area, 3,026 statute acres. Population at last census, 7,457. Inhabited houses, 1,388. Eateable value of district, 34,425/. 95. The Local Government Act was adopted 16th February 1 867. The Local Board have not constructed water or gas works. There is no general system of sewerage, aud no sewers have been made where most required. The public works of improvement have cost up to the present year 5,578/. \s. Id. : this cost has been defrayed by rates. The Local Board have no jurisdiction over the river Cynon, which was formerly a very pure stream, but now is seriously polluted. The bed of the stream has not silted up. The property situate on the banks is flooded to a serious extent above Mountain Ash, but it arises principally from the sinuous character of the river. The river is considerably polluted by the town sewage of Aberdare, by gasworks, and by mines ; also by cinders and small coal from Aberdare, Aberaman, and Mountain Ash. Encroachments on the river are not prevented. The condition of the river in summer time is very olFensive, and stinks awfully, and fish are killed by black band water. There are 16 cellar dwellings in the district. The rate of mortality was as follows : — Year. Total Deaths. Rate per 1,000 per Annum. 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 We are not able to give the total deaths, or the rate of mortality for these years, as we have not been able to obtain the information from the registrar. Total Rate per 1,000 Year. Deaths. per Annum. 1866 41-0 1867 173 23-0 1868 184 24-2 1869 208 27-0 1870 181 24-0 1871 178 23-0 There has been a marked improvement in the death rate since the establishment of the Board in 1867. There are no parts of the district specially unhealthy. Some parts of the district are liable to be flooded, owing to inefficient drainage. We suggest, as the best means of avoiding pollution in future, that the tipping of scoriae into the rivers should be prohibited, and that the casting in, or allowing to flow in, of black band water, gaswork refuse, or sewage, should also be prohibited. We suggest that the sewage should be treated either by iri'igation or intermittent filtration. It is very desirable that the pollution of rivers should be absolutely prevented by an Imperial measure. Local Board of Health District. Area, 15,127 acres. Population at last census, 36,042. Inhabited houses, 6,500. Rateable value of district, 180,411/. The Public Health Act was adopted in 1854. By the Aberdare Local Board Waterworks Act. 1870, the Board have power to purchase the existing works of the Aberdare Water Company, to extend the supply of the company ; and for those purposes to raise 65,000Z. ; of this amount they have borrowed 30,000/. The Local Board have not carried out any gas or sewerage works, but have formed a public park at a cost of 6,000/. The costs were defrayed by loans borrowed from the Atlas Insurance Company on security of the rates. The Local Board have no jurisdiction over the rivers Dare, Cynon, and Aman. In former years, previously to the great increase of population in 1841, the water in the rivers was clear, but since that period, owing to increase of population and the working of the coal mines, the water has become seriously polluted. The bed of the river has also silted up from the rubbish thrown into it from ironworks. The property situated on the banks of the river is not seriously aflPected by floods. The streams are polluted by town sewage, refuse from gasworks, collieries, and ironwoi'ks, as also by scorias, slag, cinders, and small coal. The Board having no jurisdiction over the streams, cannot say whether encroachments are made. One of the canals running through the district is always in a very bad condition, owing to a very large proportion of the sewage of the town passing into the river above the Canal Company's feeder. Whenever any epidemic disease visits the neighbourhood, the locality adjoining the canal is the first to suffer. There are upwards of 100 cellar dwellings in the town. The rate of mortality was as follows : — Year. Total Deaths. Rate per 1,000 per Annum. 1859~| 186? r return was kept till 1863. 1862 J 1863 817 24-7 1864 1,138 34-4 1865 1,056 32-0 Year. 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 Total Deaths. 875 790 728 702 841 933 Rate per 1,000 per Annum. 26-5 23-9 22*0 21-2 25- 4 26- 0 30928. X RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — EVIDENCE — ANSWERS TO QUERIES. — PART I. SEC. I. Basin or the Tapp — continued. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Answers to Queries 1 to 25, Page ii — continued. Abekdare — cont. Mbrthyr Tydfil Canton The (general improvements efFected by the Board in works, scavenging, paving, supervision, and private drainage have had a beneficial influence on the death-rate. There is no one part of the district more unhealthy than another, nor any specially liable to floods. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Local Board of Health District. Area, 17,714 acres. Population at last census, 51,891. Inhabited houses, 10,798. Rateable value of district, 135,000/. Public Health Act was adopted 19th June 1850. The Local Board have constructed waterworks at a cost of 83.600/. ; sewerage works at a cost of 28,210/., and the sewerage works in pro-, gress are estimated at a cost of 40,000/. ; hospitals, 1,000/., and town hall site, 2,552/. Gasworks were constructed by, and belong to, a private company. These several costs Avere drefayed by loans borrowed on security of the rates. The Local Board have no jurisdiction over the river T«^, which flows through the district. Previously to the construction of the sewers, which were made in 1866, 1867, and 1868, the river was, in Merthyr and between Merthyr and Troedyrhiew, in a much more foul condition than at present. Before that time the river was a general receptacle of all the sewage of the district, which is now diverted from the river by the sewers. By the construction of the sewage works the sewage is now purified before it reaches the river. The most foul stream which now flows into the river is the Morlais Brook. This stream is not so much polluted by the sewage as by the dust and surface drainage of ironworks and mines. The heavy periodical floods acting on the bed of the river, which has a fall of about 22 feet to a mile, prevents the bed silting up. Some of the low-lying meadows have always been covered with water in times of heavy flood. The village of Troedy- rhiew is occasionally inundated to a depth of one or two feet. Some of the inhabitants of the village attribute this inundation to an obstruction caused near the village by one of the riparian proprietors having taken into his garden part of the river course. The river is polluted by liquid refuse from gasworks, from fellmongers' yards, drainage from mines, surface washings, and refuse v.'ater from ironworks and collieries, and from the bed of the rivei' bei]ig used as a deposit for excreta from the want of privies for cottages. This pollution is not offensive to smell, except in times of drought ; but on the occasion of a first flood after a drought the air is tainted to a considerable distance on either side of the river. Tlis river is not polluted to a great extent by scoria from ironworks, slag, cinders, or small coal. Encroachments on the river are not prevented. The condition of the river is not a source of ill-health, but of discomfort. There are no cellar dwellings, strictly so called, within the town. The rate of mortality was as follows : — Year. Total Deaths. Rate per 1,000 per Annum. Hegistration district of Merthyr Tydfil includes the parish of Merthyr Tydfil and Vaynor. The parish of Merthyr Tydfil, i.e., the Local Board District. 1859 1,574 29-81 1860 1,398 26-4 1861 1,345 25-4 1862 1,331 24-8 1863 1,387 25-5 1864 ],410 25-5 1865 1,738 30-9 y 1866 1,376 2.5-6 ' 1867 1,144 21-4 1868 1,119 21-7 1869 1,269 24-5 1870 1,530 29-5 1871 1,242 24-0^ The supply of water was commenced in 1861, together with the sewerage and drain- age works, and since 1868 they have produced the effect shown in the rates of mortality. Houses built on the flat at Troedyi-hiew are unhealthy in this sense : — that consump- tion is more prevalent in that district than elsewhere, the cause being dampness of the foundations of the houses. The houses in some of the districts are excavated out of the hill side, consequently they are daraj), and therefore unhealthy. We suggest, as the best means of avoiding pollution in future, complete drainage of the inhabited parts of the district. We have no special suggestion to offer as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Local Board of Health District. Area, statute acres. Population at last census, 7,061. Inhabited houses, 1,372. Rateable value of district, 10,532/. The Local Government Act Avas adopted in 1859. The only public works executed by the Boai'd have been lighting, drainage, and making new streets, on which about 5,450/. have been expended and charged on the owners as private improvements, except the lighting, which has been paid out of the general district rates. The costs were defrayed by loans, of which 3,000/. haA-e been borrowed from the Public Works Loan Commissioners, and the rest from private individuals, on the security of the rates. There is no river, but an open ditch flows through the district and into the river Taff. {See oral evidence, Cardiff', Part 3.) There are no KIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — EVIDENCE — ANSWERS TO QUERIES, — PART I. SEC. I. xi Basin op the Taff — continued. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Answers to Queeies 1 to 25, Page ii — continued. Canton — ronf. Cardiff - Abergavenny Blaenavon cellar dwellings in the district. We are not able to give the rate of mortality from 1861 to 1871, as this information could not be obtained from the registrar. There are no parts of the district specially unhealthy, and no parts liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of preventing pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Borough. Area, 2,327 acres. Population at last census, 39,675. Inhabited houses, 7,655. Rateable value of borough, 177,111/. The borough was incorporated under ancient chartei's, commencing 12th Edward III., 1338. The Public Health Act was adopted in 1850. The Corporation have executed sewerage works at a cost of 57,634/., and street and other improvements at a cost of 14,536/. These costs were defrayed by loans borrowed ou the security of the rates. The Corporation are the conservators of the port generally, but have no special jurisdiction over the river jTf/^j which is a tidal river flowing through the borough. The bed of the river is not silted up. Property situated on the banks is not aflected by floods. The river is polluted by town sewage and liquid refuse from manufactories, from chemical and other works, and by mines. The river is polluted also by scoria from ironworks, slag, cinders, and small coal, but not within the borough. Encroachments on the river are prevented. The condition of the river is to some extent a source of ill- health and discomfort to the inhabitants. There are no cellar dwellings in the borough. The rate of mortality was as follows :- Total Rate per 1,000 Total Rate per 1,000 Year. Deaths. per Annum. Year. Deaths. per Annum. 1861 837 23-9 1867 870 22-8 1862 695 19-4 1868 843 21-8 1863 862 25-9 1869 1,005 25-4 1864 932 25-5 1870 893 22-8 1865 867 23-4 1871 892 22-5 1866 882 23-5 Sewerage and other works of town improvement have had a beneficial effect upon the rate of mortality. The average rate for ten years previous to the drainage was 30' 1. The average for the last ten years is 22 "5. There are no parts of the town especially unhealthy. In the southern district Irish labourers reside ; house accom- modation is limited, and over-crowding to some extent exists. The rate of mortality in that locality is somewhat higher, but sanitary supervision is well maintained, and no epidemic disease has spread among that class for some years. There are no parts of the district liable to be flooded. We suggest, as the best means of avoiding pollu- tion in future, that sewage and other solid and licjuid refuse should be kept out of the river TW^'and its tributaries, and that the conservancy of rivers and streams should be placed under the control of a sanitary authority. Basin of the Usk. Township. We are not able to give the area. Population at last census, 9,131. Inhabited houses, 900. Rateable value of town, 11,000/. The town has not been incorporated, nor has the Public Health or Local Government Act been adopted. The Commissioners, under the Town Improvement Act, have executed waterworks at a cost of 5,000/. ; gasworks at a cost of 9,000/. ; sewerage works at a cost of 6,000/., and other works at a cost of 18,000/. These costs were defrayed by loan on security of the rates. The Town Commissioners have no jurisdiction over the rivers Usk and Gavenny, which flow through the town. The condition of the streams is much the same as formerly. The beds of the rivers have not silted up. Property situated on the banks of the rivers is aflected by floods. The rivers are polluted by town sewage, refuse from tan and skin works ; not polluted by scorias from ironworks, slag, cinders, or small coal within the township. The condition of the rivers is not a source of ill-health or discomfort. There are no cellar dwellings within the township. We are not able to give the total deaths and rate of mortality from 1861 to 1871, as we cannot obtain this information from the registrar. There are no parts of the borough especially unhealthy. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Local Government Board District. Area, 3,362 statute acres. Population at last census, 9,736. Inhabited houses, 1,732. Rateable value, 16,200/. The Local Government Act was adopted in 1860. The Local Board have not executed any sewerage or other works. Gas and waterworks were constructed by and belong to a private company. The Local Board have no jurisdiction over the river IMvyd, which flows through the district. Its condition has not been changed within our knowledge. The bed of the river has not silted up. Pi operty situated on the banks is not affected by floods. The river is polluted by town sewage, but not by scoriaj from ironworks, d 2 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — EVIDENCE— ANSWERS TO QUERIES. — PART I. SEC. I. Basin of the Usk — continued. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Ansaveijs to Queries 1 to 25, Page u.— continued. Blaena von — cont. Abersychan Llanfrechfa, Upper. PONTYPOOL Panteg slag, cinders, or small coal. Encroachments on the river are prevented. The con- dition of (he river is not a source of ill-health or discomfort. There are no cellar dwellings within the district. We are unable to give the total deaths or rate of mortality from 1861 to 1871, as -vre, cannot obtain this information from the reo-istrar. There are no parts of the district especially unhealthy; none liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to otfer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Local Government Board District. We are not able to give the area of the district. Population at last census, 14,569. Inhabited houses, 2,934. Rateable value of district, 30,384/. 10.s. The Local Government Act was adopted on 31st March 1864. The Local Board have not executed sewerage or other public works. Gas and water- works were constructed, but they belong to a private company. The Local Board have no jurisdiction over the Avon Llioyd, which has a fall of about 1 in 50. The bed of the river has not silted up. Property situated on either of the banks is not affected by floods. The river is not polluted within this district. Any person detected in polluting the river by solid or liquid refuse, is prosecuted by the Newport Harbour Commissioners, under the 32 & 33 Vict. c. 118. s. 18. The condition of the river is not a source of ill-health or discomfort. There are no cellar dwellings within the district. We are not able to state the total deaths or rate of mortality between the years 1861 and 1871, as we have not been able to obtain this information from the registrar. There are no parts of the district especially unhealthy ; none liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Local Government Board District. We are unable to give the area of the district. The population at last census was 2,650. Inhabited houses, 456. Rateable value of district, 6,700/. The Local Government Act was adopted in February 1871. The Local Board have executed sewerage works at a cost of 227/. 11*. M. ; but the costs were defrayed by rates. The gasworks belong to a private company ; no waterworks have been established. The Local Board have no jurisdiction over the Cwmhran Brook, Avhich flows through the district. This is polluted by solid refuse from the Cwmbran Colliery and by sewage. Encroachments on the stream are not prevented. The condition of the stream is not a source of ill-health, but is of discomfort. There are no cellar dwellings in the district. We are unable to give the total deaths and rate of mortality from 1861 to 1871, as we have been unable to obtain this information from the registrar. There are no parts of the district especially unhealthy ; none liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Local Government Board District. We are not able to give the area of the district. Population at last census, 4,833. Inhabited houses, 990. Rateable value of district, 11,127/. The Local Government Act was adopted in 1863. The local authority has not constructed water, gas, sewerage, or any other public works. The gas and other works belong to a private company. The Local Board have no jurisdiction over the river Avon Llwyd, which is a very rapidly flowing stream. The bed of the stream has not silted up. Property on either of its banks is not affected by floods. The river is polluted with sewage, but offenders detected in casting in solids are prosecuted by the I3arbour Commissioners of Newport, under 32 & 33 Vict. cap. 118, sect. 18. The condition of the river is not a source of ill-health or discomfort. There are no cellar dwellings in the district. We are not able to give the total deaths from 1861 to 1871, nor the rate of mortality, as this information cannot be ascertained from the registrar. The town is considered to be the healthiest in the South Wales district. There are no parts of the district especially unhealthy, nor any liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to offer. Local Government Board District. We are not able to give the area of the district. Population at last census, 2,761. Inhabited houses, 633. Rateable value of district, 10,557/. 10s. The Local Government Act was adopted in 1864. The Local Board have executed sewerage works at a cost of 870/. 7*. 6c?. The costs Avere defrayed partially by loan on security of the rates, and partially by rates. The Local Board have not established any waterworks. Gasworks were constructed by and belong to a private company. The Corporation have no jurisdiction over the river that flows through the district. The bed of the stream is not silted up. Property situated on either bank is not affected by floods. The river is polluted by liquid and solid refuse from mines and works, and by sewage. Encroachments on the river are not pre- vented. The condition of the river is not a source of discomfort. There are no cellar dwellings in the town. We are not able to give the total deaths or rate of mortality from 1861 to 1871, as we have not been able to obtain this information from the registrar. There are no parts of the district especially unhealthy, nor any liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. EIVEES POLLUTION COMMISSION EVIDENCE — ANSWERS TO QUERIES. — PART I. SEC. I. xiii Basin of the Usk — continued. Name of Cities,BoroughS: Towns, and Districts. Answers to Queries 1 to 25, Page ii — continued. Newport Ilfracombe TOTNES • Borough. Area, 996 statute acres. Population at last census, 26,957. Inhabited houses, 3,970. Rateable value of the borough, 96,690/. Tlie Public Health Act was adopted in 1850. The Corporation have executed sewage works at a cost of 13,000/. The cost was defrayed by loans borrowed on the security of the rates. The Corporation have no jurisdiction over the river f/s/e, but the Newport Harbour Commissioners have. The Acts conferring the powers are Newport Ilaroour Acts, 1836, 6 William 4, and 1869, 32 & 33 Vict. cap. 1 18. (Local). The powers conferred by the Act of 1869 for preventing the throwing of refuse into the river and its tributaries has since been strictly enforced. The river Usk is a tidal stream, and its condition lias not changed very materially within our knowledge. The bed of the stream is silted up, and for that reason powers were obtained under the Act of 1869 to prevent rubbish being thrown into the bed of the river Avithin 20 miles of Newport Bridge. The river is polhited by town sewage, by fluid refuse, from tin plate, chemical and gasworks, and by manufactories on its banks ; it is not now polluted by scoria from ironworks, slag, cinders, or small coal ; it is, however, polluted by refuse from ironworks, but, of course, if the offenders are detected they are summarily proceeded against by the Harbour Commissioners. The condition of the river is not a source of ill- health. There are no cellar dwellings within the borough. The rate of mortality was as follows : — Year. 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 Total Deaths. Rate per 1,000 per Annum. Not given. 500 21-5 548 22-9 650 27-0 679 27-6 716 28'0 Total Rate per 1,000 Year. Deaths. per Annum. 1867 612 24-1 1868 691 260 1869 597 20-0 1870 669 23-0 1871 877 29-0 The sewerage works, the improved water supply, and other town improvements have had a beneficial effect upon the rate of mortality. No part of the borough is especially unhealthy, nor any liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Basin of the Wilder. Local Board of Health District. Population at last census, 6,403 ; greatly augmented during the season. Inhabited houses, 800. Rateable value, 18,547/. 15s. Public Health Act was adopted in 1851. The Local Board have executed waterworks at a cost of 6,000^. ; sewerage works at a cost of 2,500/., and new markets. The costs were defrayed by loans borrowed on the security of tlie rates. The Board have no jurisdic- tion over the Wilder stream, which flow through the district. The river is not polluted, and the bed of the stream is not silted up. Property on its banks is not affected by floods. Encroachments on the river are prevented. The condition of the river is not a source of ill-health or discomfort. There are no cellar dwellings within the district. The rate of mortality was as follows Year. Total Deaths. Rate per 1,000 per Annum. 1 There flooded. 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 " 110 1870 125 1871 141 are no parts of the district especially unhealthy, nor any liable to be We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution The number of deaths for these )>years cannot be ascertained from the registrar. in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Basin of the Dart. Borough. Area, 1,127 statute acres. Population at the last census, 4,073. In- habited houses, 628. Rateable value, 13,607/. 18^. 6d. The borough was incor- porated in the reign of King John. The Corporation have executed waterworks at a cost of 1,205/., and sewerage works at a cost of 515/. 175. 8c?. The costs were defrayed by loans from private individuals on the security of the rates. The Cor- poration has partial jurisdiction over the river Dart between Seymour Hutch on the north, and Tibbicombe Style on the south, and - the Mill leat from the weir on the Dart, north, to the Bowling Green south. The condition of the river Dart has not changed much within our knowledge. The river Dart is kept in a navigable state d 3 xiv KIVEES POLLUTION COMMISSION: — EVIDENCE — ANSWEKS TO QUERIES. PART I. SEC. L Basin of the Dart — continued. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. ToTNES — cont. Tavistock Launceston Answers to Queries 1 to 25, Page \i— continued. by the Dart Navigation Commissioners, who keep a dredger working between Totnes Bridge and Langham Wood Point, a distance of about three miles towards the sea. The Dart is a tidal river, the tide is stopped by a weir above the town. Property situated on either bank of the river is not affected by floods. The river is polluted by sewage from ancient outfalls, and by refuse from mines. The refuse from mines on Dartmoor is turned into a stream called the Wehburn, which falls into the Dart about ten miles above Totnes, and for those ten miles the whole com-se of the water is much discoloured. The fish have been killed by this refuse between Totnes and the point referred to. Water from Brook Wood mine, about six or seven miles up the river, also falls into the Dart above Totnes. This refuse also destroys fish. Trout, which ^yere formerly very plentiful in the river, have been destroyed by mine refuse. The stream is not polluted by scoria from iron works, slag, cinders, or small coal. Encroachments on the river are prevented. The condition of the river is not a source of ill-health or discomfort to the inhabitants. There are no cellar dwellir.gs within the borough. We are not able to ascertain the total deaths and rate of mortality between the years 1861 and 1871. We are of opinion that sewerage and other works of town improvement have had a beneficial influence on the rate of mortality. There are no parts of the town especially unhealthy. We would suggest, as the best means of avoiding pollution in future, that the solid refuse from mines should be kept out of rivers, and that the liquid refuse from mines should be properly filtered before being allowed to flow into rivers and streams, and for the conservancy of rivers and streams the enforcement of proper regulations and the appointment of inspectors. Basin of the Tavy. Township. Area, 13,982 acres. Population at last census, 7,781. Inhabited houses, 1,199. Rateable value of the township, 35,190/. The Local Authority have not executed any public works, but water and sewerage works have been constructed by the Duke of Bedford. The gasworks were constructed by and belong to a private company. The Local Authority has no jurisdiction of the Tavy, flowing through the township, which has not changed during the last 40 years. The bed of the river has not silted up. Property situated on the banks of the river is not aflfected by floods. The river is polluted by sewage and by mines. It is not polluted by scoria from iron works, slag, cinders, or small coal. Encroachments on the river are not prevented. The condition of the river is not a source of ill-health or discomfort. There are no cellar dwellings within the township. The rate of mortality was as follows : — " ' ~ ' Rate per 1,000 per Annum. 18-62" 23-20 25-09 39-59 22-86 18-40 16- 95 17- 06 18- 29 17-40 16 -70^ Population, 7,781. Includes paupers of 25 parishes in the Tavistock Union Workhouse, the average number of inmates is 200. The sewerage works have improved the health of the iuhabitants. There are no parts of the township especially unhealthy, and none liable to be flooded. We suggest, as the best means of avoiding pollution from mines in future, that catch-pits .should be made at all the mines delivering waste water into rivers or streams, so that the suspended matter might settle, and not be allowed to flow dii-ect into the rivers and streams. Basin of the Tamar. Local Board of Health District. Area of the district, the municipal borough of Launceston, and parts of the parish of St. Stephen's, and St. Thomas the Apostle. Population at last- census, 3,458. Inhabited houses, 703. Rateable value of district, 11,073/. The Public Health Act of 1848 was adopted on the 31st July 1850. The Local Board has carried out waterworks at a cost of 6,225/. ; sewerage works at a cost of 2,075/. ; and other improvements at a cost of 300/. The gasworks were constructed by a private company. The costs were defrayed hj a loan on security of the rates, The Corporation have only jurisdiction over the I 'wer Kensey in a sanitary point of view, and in respect of any damage caused to highways abutting on the river. The river Kcvscy is less pure than it was before the sewage of the town, tan and gas works was turned into it. The bed of the river has not silted up, but there are dams at three places, supplying leats to two tanyards and one mill, which, in a dry season, Year. Total Deaths 1861 167 1862 208 1863 225 1864 355 1865 205 1866 165 1867 152 1868 153 1869 164 1870 156 1871 130 ^Population, 8,965. RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — EVIDENCE — ANSWERS TO QUERIES. — PART L SEC. I. XV Basin of the Tamar — continued. N ame of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Answers to Queries 1 to 25, Page ii — continued. LacnoeSton — cont. LiSKEARD St. Atjstell - exposes the bed of the river, and stops the full flow, and thereby causes a nuisance. Property situated on the banks of the river is not affected by floods. The river is polluted by sewage and refuse from gas and tan works. It is not polluted by scoriic from ironworks, slag, cinders, or small coal. Encroachments on the river, with the exception of the dams before mentioned, are prevented. In summer the condition of the river is very ofiensive. There are no cellar dwellings within the district. The area of the district includes parts of parishes, and therefore we are unable to give the rate of mortality ; it is estimated at 21 in 1,000. We are of opinion that the sewerage and other works of town improvement have had a beneficial effect upon the rate of mor- tality. The central p.ortion of the town is too densely populated, and must of necessity be unhealthy. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Basins of the Looe and Seaton. Borough. Area, 830 statute acres. Population at last census, 4,700. Increase very trifling. Number of inhabited houses, 910 ; yearly increase, 6. Rateable value of borough, 16,800^. The borough was incorporated by charter, granted by Richard Earl of Poitou and Cornwall, anno Domini 1240, and subsequently confirmed by several royal charters. The Governing Body have executed sewerage Avorks at a cost of 450/. The waterworks and gasworks were constructed by a private company. The cost of the sewerage works was defrayed by the borough fund, aided in some cases by highway rates. The Corporation have no jurisdiction over the streams flowing by the town. The town of Liskeard is situated midway between two rivers, called the Looe and the Seaton, each being distant about a mile from the centre of the town, and running in a southerly direction, discliargiug themselves into the English Channel. There is no discharge from the town into the Seaton, but two small streams that rise in the tovm empty themselves and flow into the Looe river about a mile from the town. The bed of the Seaton is silted up by debris from mines which are situated at the head of the stream. Property situated on the banks of the stream is not affected by floods. The Seaton is polluted by refuse from coal mines, but no sewage or other offensive matter from the town flows into that river. The sewage of the town flows into two small streams, and thence into the river Looe. The streams are not polluted hy scoriae from iron mines, slag, cinders, or other refuse. The conditions of the streams are not a source of ill-health. There are no cellar dwellings within the town. The rate of mortality was as follows : — Year. 1861"] 1862 } 1863 J 1864 1865 1866 Total Deaths. Rate per 1,000 per Annum. Total deaths and rate of mortality have not been ascertained. 139 29-57 95 20-21 128 27-23 Total Rate per 1,000 Year. Deaths. per Annum. 1867 104 22-13 1868 116 24-68 1869 109 23-19 1870 115 24-47 1871 118 25-10 There are no parts of the borough especially unhealthy, or any liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Basin of the St. Austell. Local Government Board District. Area, 186 statute acres. Population at last census, 3,803. Inhabited houses, 791 ; uninhabited, 66. Rateable value of district 9,914Z. OS. The Local Government Act was adopted on the 6th May 1865. The Local Board have carried out waterworks at a cost of 800Z. ; sewerage works at a cost of about 400/. The costs were defrayed by loans borrowed from private individuals and also on security of tlie rates. The Local Board have no jurisdiction over the stream flowing through the district. Before the existence of waterworks in the neighbourhood a clear stream of water flowed through the lower part of the town. It is now polluted with clay and other mineral matters. It is a rapidly flowing stream and is no nuisance to the town. No water is abstracted from it for domestic purposes. The bed of the stream has silted up, owing to clay washings. The bed is occasionally dredged out by the Clay Works Company. The property on the banks is sometimes affected by floods, owing to tlie silting up of the bed of the stream. The stream is polluted by clay or kaoline deposit, and by sewage and refuse from gasworks, but not by any other solid refuse from manufactories. Encroachments on the river are prevented. The condition of the stream flowing through the town is not a source of ill-health or discomfort. There are no cellar dwellings within the town. The Local Board district being part of a large parish, no separate summary of deaths is made for the Local Board district. There are no parts of the district especially unhealthy. Have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. d 4 xvi eivers pollution commission : — evidence — answers to queries.— -part i. sec. i. Basin of the Camborne. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns and Districts. Answers to Queries 1 to 25, Page ii— continued. Redruth Peneyn Basin of the Camborne. Local Board of Health District. Area, 3,763 statute acres. Population at last census, 10,685. Number of houses, 2,384. No new houses building. Rateable value, 22,409/. Local Government Act was adopted in 1853. The Local Board have' carried out waterworks at a cost of 300/. The cost was defrayed by rates. The Local Board of Health has no jurisdiction over the stream which flows through the town. The bed of the stream is silted up, caused by mining pollutions. Property on the banks is not affected by floods. The stream is polluted by refuse from gas- works and by mines, but not by scoria from iron works, slag, cinders, small coal^ or other solid refuse. Encroachments on the river are prevented. The condition of 'the stream is a source of discomfort. There are no cellar dwellings in the district. The rate of mortality was as follows : — Total Rate per 1,000 Year. 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 Total Deaths. 252 226 236 256 326 206 199 Kate per 1,000 per Annum. 22 20 20 24 31 19 19 Year. 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 Deaths. 221 208 226 218 238 187 per Annum. 21 20 22 21 23 18 There are no parts of the town especially unhealthy, but there are some liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Basin of the Fal. Borough. Area, about 289 statute acres. Population at last census, 3,636. Inha- bited houses, 600. Rateable value of borough, 6,947/. 8s. 7d. The borough was incorporated by the Municipal Corporations Act, 1836. The Public Health Act, or Local Government Act, has not been adopted. The Corporation are carrying out sewerao-e works at an estimated cost of 3,000/., but have not executed any other public works. The costs were defrayed by loans borrowed with the sanction of the Secretary of State, repayable in 30 years. The Corporation have only jurisdiction over the stream flowing through the district, as the harbour authorities. The present condition of the stream is satisfactory. The bed of the stream has not silted up within our knowledge. Property situated on the banks is not affected by floods. The stream is not polluted by liquid or solid refuse from manufactories or mines. Encroachments on the river are prevented. The condition of the stream is not a source of ill-health or discomfort. There are no cellar buildings in the town. The Corporation are unable to state the rate of mortality from the year 1861 to the year 1871, but the average rate during those years has been about 21 per 1,000. There are no parts of the town especially unhealthy, nor any liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Basin of the Hayter. Hayle Local Government Board District. Area about 250 acres. Population at last census, 1,800. Inhabited houses, 300. Rateable value, 3,897/. 8s. Sd. The Local Government Act was adopted in 1866. The Governing Body have carried out waterworks at a cost of 2,000/. ; sewerage works at a cost of 1,250/.; and other works at a cost of 250/. The cost of these several works has been defrayed jiartly by rates and partly by loans borrowed from jjrivate individuals. The Local Board has jurisdiction over the Peiifeal stream, which flows through the district. The bed of the stream is not silted up. Property situated on the banks is not affected by floods. The stream is polluted by sewage, but not by manufacturing and other refuse. Encroachments on the stream are prevented. The condition of the stream is not a source of discomfort to the inhabit- tants. There are no cellar buildings within the district. The Local Board district of Hayle is situated between two registration districts, and the Board have no means of ascertaining the rate of mortality from 1861 to 1871. There are no parts of the district especially unhealthy, nor any liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Phillack Local Government Board District. Area, 2,508 acres. Popoulation at last census, 4,165. Inhabited houses, 930. Rateable value of the district, 7,622/. The Local Government Act was adopted in 1866. The local authority have not executed either RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — EVIDENCE— ANSWERS TO QUERIES.— PART I. SEC. I. Xvii Basin of the Hatter — continued. Name of Cities,Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Answers to Queries 1 to 25, Page ii — continued. PiiiLLACK — vont. St. Ives ■ water, gas, or sewerage works ; they have no jurisdiction over the stream flowing through the district, which is pollutecl to a considerable extent by " slimes " from mines. The bed of the stream has silted up. Property on the banks is not affected by floods. Encroachments on the stream are prevented. The condition of the stream is not a source of ill-health. There are no cellar dwellings in the district. We are not able to give the rate of mortality from 1861 to 1871. In order to prevent pollution in future, refuse from mines should be prohibited from being cast into rivers and streams. Basin of the St. Ives. Borough. Area, 1,876 acres. Population at last census, 7,007. Inhabited houses, 1,674. During the last ten years the increase has been about five per annum. Rateable value of borough, 14,069/. The borough was incorporated in the first year of the reign of James II. Neither the Public Health nor the Local Government Act has been adopted, although of course they are now in force by virtue of the Public Health Act, 1872. The To\vn Council are trustees of the waterworks, and have been so since 1866, when the works were transferred to them by the other trustees. Since then the Council have expended, in building a new tank and laying down pipes and cisterns, about 500/. No other public works have been executed by them. The costs were defrayed partly out of some money handed over by the former trustees, and in part out of water rents. No rates have been levied. The Council had no jurisdiction over the river flowing through the town. During the summer months, and when the stream is very small, the condition of it is very dirty. The deep river is usually more offensive from the fact of the stream being less than is necessary to carry out the quantity of filth and other refuse daily thrown into it. The bed of the river is silted up. The property on the north side of the small river is liable to be flooded by reason of the stream overflowing its banks, and owing to the silting up of the bed. The small river is polluted by refuse from mines, also by sewage, but not by any other manufac- turing refuse ; it is polluted also by cinders and small coal. Encroachments on the river are not prevented. The condition of this river in summer is a source of much discomfort and annoyance to the inhabitants residing near it. There are no cellar dwellings within the borough. The rate of mortality was as follows : — Total Rate per 1,000 Total Rate per 1,000 Year. Deaths. per Annum. Year. Deaths. per Annum. 1861 140 20 1867 128 18 1862 130 18 1868 177 25 1863 160 22 1869 180 25 1864 160 22 1870 161 23 1865 161 23 1871 136 19 1866 146 20 There are no parts of the borough especially unhealthy. We are not prepared to oflfer any suggestions as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Basin of the LUDGVAN Local Government Board District. Area, 4,560 statute acres. Population at last census, 2,960. Inhabited houses, 595. Rateable value of district, 7,576/. 14s. The Local Government Act was adopted on the 3rd July 1864. The Governing Body have not executed any public works, as water, gas, or sewerage works ; they have no jurisdiction over the stream flowing through the district. The bed of the stream has not silted up. It is polluted by sewage, but not by mining and other refuse. Encroachments on the stream are not prevented. The condition of the stream is not a source of ill-health. There are no cellar dwellings in the district. Total Rate per 1,000 Total Rate per 1,000 Year. Deaths. per Annum. Year. Deaths. per Annum. 1861 70 23 1867 48 16 1862 55 18 1868 52 17 1863 103 34 1869 63 22 1864 64 21 1870 68 23 1865 57 18 1871 74 25 1866 50 17 30928. XVm RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— EVIDENCE— ANSWERS TO QTTERIES — PART T. SEC I Basin of the —continued. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Answers to Queries 1 to 25, Page ii— , continued. LUDGVAN — cont. Madron Penzance There no parts of the district especially unhealthy, and no parts liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding poUution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Local Board of Health District. Area, st^.tute acres. Population at last census, ^'^I'-^,^ ^'^""^ '''"y' increase. Inhabited houses, 515. Rateable value 12,75 1 1. 185. The Public Health Act was adopted on 25th May 1863. The Local PJmrd have executed sewerage works at a cost of 277/. 14.. \0d. The cost was defrayed bv loans from private individuals. The Local Board has jurisdiction over the stream flowing through the district, as also jointly with the parish of Paul over a ^trenm thi-ougli the village of Tolcarne. The condition of the strelms has no" passing, _ ^ changed within our knowledge. .... .... ^^ve not silted up. Pro- perty situated on the banks is not affected by floods. The streams are polluted bv sewage, but not by manufacturing or mining refuse. The sea forms a bar across the mouth of the rolcarne stream, which dams up the drains. There are no cellar dweUings m the district. Total Eate per 1,000 Year. Deaths. per Annum. Year. 1861 78 31 1867 1862 74 30 1868 1863 86 34 1869 1864 78 31 1870 1865 72 29 1871 1866 95 31 Total Deaths. 90 80 102 85 92 Eate per 1,000 per Annum. 30 27 34 28 31 The sewerage works of the Madron village have only just now been completed : and therefore, we are not able to say whether they have had any improved influence on the rate of mortality There are no parts of the district especially unhealthv ; nor any liable to be flooded. We have no suggestion to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, nor as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. Boi ongh. Local Board District. Area, 472 statute acres. Population 1871 10 312 Increaj^e 1,116 during the previous 10 years. Number of houses in 1871 ^'oifi- in" 1861, 2,031. Rateable value, 31,803/. 18.. 9c/. The borough was incorporated' bv charter m 1615. Public Health Act adopted 5th September 1849. Th 286 248 225 J Rate per 1,000 per Annum. Average 21-91 per 1,000. The sewerage works and other works of town improvement have not materially affected the rate of mortality. There are a few close courts and narrow street* where «ie health of the inhabitants is probably affected by the want of proper ventilation There are no districts liable to be flooded. We have no suggestions to offer as to the" best manner of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams. XIX PART I.-SECTION II QUEKIES. — 1. Have sewerage works been carried out in the city, boroug-b, town, or districts 2. Wben were they commenced? 3. When com- pleted 1 4. Describe them, and state cost ? S. Are the sewers ventilated; if so, describe mode of ventilation ? — 6. Are the sewers flushed; if so, state how often, and by what mode T 7. Is steam, hot or warm water, conveyed into the sewers ; if so, does any nuisance arise therefrom ? ■ — 8. Were many springs tapped during the execu- tion of the sewerage works; if so, state about the volume of water thus entering the sewers daily t 9. Is the level of the well water in the city, borough, town, or district affected by the sewers, and to what extent is it depressed? lO. How many waterclosets are there in the city, borough, town, or district, and are there any trough or tank closets, or self-acting tumbler tanks; if so, how many? — 11. Are they all connected with the sewers? 12. Are the sinks and gullies of houses connected with the sewers? 13. Are there any cesspools ; if so, is the overflow from them connected with the sewers? 14. Are there any cesspools, privies, middens, or ashpits within dwelling- houses? 15. What number of privies, middens, or ashpits are there? — 16. Are the privies, mid- dens, or ashpits connected with the sewers? 17. Are the privies, midder.s, or ashpits cleansed systematically, and at what intervals? IS. By whom? 19. What is the cost annually? 20. If done by Ccrporatiou or Iiocal Authority, what amount is obtained for the refuse? 21. What weight of refcse is removed annually? 22. To whatpurpose is the . efuse devoted? 23. Is there a ready sale for the refuse, and does the amount received for it exceed the cost of cleansing the privies, middens, and ashpits, and removing refuse ; or does it only cover the costs ; or is there an annual deficiency? State the amount in either case? 24. To what extent is the refuse employed? 25. Is the cleansing of the privies, middens, and ashpits complained of as a nuisance affecting the health and comfort of the inhabitants? 26. Are disinfectants used ; if so, state them, and are they efficient in preventing stench? 27. Is sickness attributed to the privies, middens, and ashpits ? NameofCities,BoroughsJ Towns, and Districts. Sheffield ANSWERS TO Queries 1 to 27, Page xix. Basin of the Don. A general system of sewerage works has been in a great measure carried out, com- ^npp.l in IRfifi fl,nd is not vet completed. The following is a description and cost of menced in 1866 and is not yet completed, the works : Sheffield Main Drainage c u S GJ Running three-quarters full. Running Full. Cost. o CO S ^ GO O O equired discharge of Sewage in 8 hours. .S A DIRECTION OP SEWER. sumed Popula 'o o . °3 =s 2 m o . ^erage depth o: in feet and inc iameter of Se feet and inohe ^11 per mile, and Dec. )tal capacity Discharga in hours. equired discha of Sewage in hours. eaves for rainf in 8 hours. otal capacity discharge in hours. eaves for rainf In 8 hours. 'er inch of ra; fall. otal capacity discharge in hours. .equired dischs of Sewage in hours. jeaves for ra fall in 24 hour er inch of ra fall. Total Cost. 'J2 ^ < *i H No. 1 Sewer, 5 ft. diameter.— icrs. Cub. ft. Cubf. Cub. ft. Cub. ft. Cub ft. Cub. ft. Cub. ft. Cub. ft. Cub. ft. S, s. d. From Blackburn Dyke through Brightside to opposite Messrs. Jessop's Works - 300,000 S,659 1,454 16-0 5-0 9-70 2,'235,S60 900,000 1,335,360 2,707,200 900,000 1,807,200 -224 8,121,600 1,800,000 6,821,600 -261 4,948 12 0 From Messrs. Jessop's Works along Brightside Lane to south end of Savile Street - 300,000 6,659 2,116 16-0 5-0 13 -30 2,828,160 900,000 1,928,160 3,178,280 900,000 2,273,280 -282 9,519,840 1,800,000 7,719,840 -819 7,194 8 0 No. 2 Sewer, 4 ft. 8 in. diameter. — From south end of Savile Street along Princess Street to Nor- folk Bridge 250,000 4,750 966 17'0 4-8 13-30 2,178,7-20 750,000 1,328,720 2,660,640 750,000 1,910,640 -832 7,981,920 1,500,000 6,481,920 -876 8,189 10 0 No. S Sewer, 4 ft. diameter.— From Norfolk Bridge along Effingham Street to Junction with Owlerton Sewer in Victoria Road - - - 250,000 4,070 955 20-0 4-0 20-00 1,849,440 750,000 1,099,440 2,244,880 750,000 1,494,480 -303 6,734,640 1,500,000 5,-234,640 -354 2,674 0 « No. 4 Sewer, 4 ft. diameter.— From Victoria Road across Blonk Street and River Don to the Shambles 165,000 1,835 275 23' 0 4-0 6-44 1,048,800 495,000 558,800 1,546,080 495,000 1,051,080 -650 4,688,'240 990,000 3,648,240 -752 770 0 0 No. 4 Sewer, 3 ft. 6 in. diameter. — Through Shambles along Bridge Street, Love Lane, Spring Street, and Russell Street to opposite Dun Street in Green Lane - - - 165,000 1,335 1,100 14-0 3-6 18-77 1,283,040 495,000 788,040 1,551.360 495,000 1,066,360 -661 4,654,080 990,000 8,664,080 -756 2,695 0 0 From opposite Dun Street along Green Lane to Penistone Road along Penistone Road to Grove Lodge . - - - 165,000 1,335 1,185 IVO 3-6 18-00 1,255,680 495,000 760,680 1,532,640 495,000 1,037,640 -642 4,597,920 990,000 3,607,920 -744 3,638 5 0 No. 5 Sewer, 8 ft. diameter.- From Junction with Owlerton Sewer in Victoria Road to top of Victoria Road 135,000 2,734 154 19-0 3-0 63-00 1,598,400 405,000 1,193,400 1,920,000 405,000 1,515,000 -457 5,760,000 810,000 4,950,000 -498 823 8 0 From top of Victoria Road along Furnival Road, across New Haymarket, along Sheaf Street and alongside the River Sheaf to Farm Bridge 135,000 2,7S4 1,303 va- rious 8-0 27-00 1.050,720 405,000 645,720 2,203,800 405,000 1,798,800 -543 6,611,400 810,000 5,801,400 -584 2,736 6 Q From Farm Bridge along St. Mary's Road to New Hereford Street . - - - 6G6 15-0 3-0 76-50 176,060 2,1-22,080 6,366,240 1,398 12 0 From St. Mary's Road along New Hereford Street to Ellin Street BramaU Lane . - - 170 15-0 3-0 31-00 1,121,280 l,351,flS0 4,055,040 857 0 0 From Hereford Street, BramaU Lane, along Ellin Street, and South Street to bottom of EccleshaU Road 273 15-0 3-0 64-40 1,615,200 1,946,400 5,839,200 578 6 0 Total Cost - - £80,448 7 0 e2 KIVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— EVIDENCE— ANSWERS TO QUERIES.— PART I. SEC. IL Basin of the T>o^— continued. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts Answers to Queries 1 to 27, Page x\iL~continued. MIEFFIELD COnt, Dronfield Chesterfield Continuation of Main Drainage. Direction of Sewer. Size of Sewer, Egg-shape. Length of Sewer. Total Cost. From Hereford Street along Hermitage Street to Little Sheflfiekl - - - . From Plauover Street along Ecclesliall Road to Eroomgrove Road - _ . From Eroomgrove Road along Eccleshall Road to Hunter's Bar - " - E rom Earm Bridge to Heeley From Grove House, Eenistone Road, to Ow- lerton Bridge - - - _ From No. 1 sewer at Baggaley Lane, along proposed new street, to top of Newhall Road, Attercliffe - - - . . From No. 1 Sewer, opposite the White Swan, Brightside, across the River Don, along Mill Lane, Carbrook Street, Broughtoa Lane, and Greenland Road to Darnall 4" 6' X 4" G' X 3" 9' X 4" C X 3" 0' 3" 0' 2" 6' 3" 0' 4" C X 3" 0' 4'' G' X 3" 0' 4" C' X 3" 0' Yards. 410 833 8G6 l,.'i83 1,000 1,117 3,100 £ s. d. 512 10 0 1,041 .5 0 909 6 0 1,978 15 0 1,250 0 0 1,39C 5 0 3,875 0 0 £10,963 1 0 The sewers are ventilated through " grids " in the surface of the street. The sewers are not flushed. feteam and hot water are conveyed into the sewers and a ercat nuisance arises therefrom. Springs were tapped during the execution of the sewera-^e works, but in no case is the volume thus entering the sewers veiy laro-e The level 1 eno'' T^^^T Y flepressed by the sewerage works. There are about 1,800 waterclosets, these and most of the sinks and guUies of houses are connected with the sewers. There are very few cesspools and not any privies, middens, or ashpits witlnn dweling houses. There are 40,000 privies and 18,000 ashpits, the greater portion of which are connected with the sewers. The privies and middens are cleansed when full by men employed by the Corporation on the application of the occupier or when notice has been given by the Coiporation and the occupier neglects to cleanse' ihe Corporation have just entered into an agreement with the "Town Manure Company, limited," for cleansing the privies, middens, and ashpits, and removal of the reiuse ; by the terms of the agreement the Company must cleanse the privies middens and ashpits once a week. The net cost of cleansing last year was 6,OOoland the Corporation received about 400/. for 60,000 tons of refuse; this was exclusive of a large quantity removed by farmers. The refuse is used for agricultural pui-poses • i n!^?./'' a?,* ready sale for the refuse, and there was a deficiency last year of nearly 6,000/. Ihe cleansing of the privies, middens, and ashpits is complained of as a nuisance ni hot weather. Carbolic acid to the extent of 300/. a year is used and is very efhcieut in preventing stink. Sickness is attributed to the privies, middens and ashpits where they are situated in crowded courts or too near dwelling houses. ' Basin of the Rother (Don). No sewerage works have been carried out by the Local Board. There are no waterclosets. The sinks and gullies of the houses are partly connected with the drains. There are no cesspools, privies, middens, or ashpits, within dwelling-houses. There are 321 privies, middens, and ashpits. These are cleansed when required by order of the inspector of nuisances by farmers in the neighbourhood. As this is not done by the Local Authority, we are unable to state the cost of cleansing, or the weight of refuse removed; but we believe it isAvholly devoted to agricultural purposes. The cleansing of the privies, middens, aud ashpits is not complained of as a nuisance afl:ectiiig the health and comfort of the inhabitants. Disinfectants are occasionally used by order of the inspector of nuisances. Sickness is not attributed to the privies middens, and ashpits. ' Sewerage works have been carried out ; they were commenced 20 years ago, and finished in 1870. They consist of egg-shaped brick mains and sanitary pipe Vanch drains, and cost about 9,000/. The sewers are ventilated by down spouts from eaves of buildings ; they are flushed occasionally from the fire plugs or water mains. Steam and hot water are not conveyed into the sewers. Springs were tapped durino- the execution of the sewerage works, but not to any appreciable extent. The level of the well water has not been depressed by the execution of the sewera,o-e Avorks. There arc 160 waterclosets; these and the sinks and gullies of the houses are con- nected with the sewers. There are no cesspools, and no privies, middens, or ashpits within dwelling houses. There are about 1,100 privies; these are not connected with. sewers. They are cleansed when required by the owners of the houses to whi(;h they are attached, or by men employed by the sanitary committee of the corporation. The cost from last January to August 1872 was 127/. \Ss. 7d., and 700 tons of refuse were removed during the above period. There is not a ready sale for the refuse, as only RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION .--EVIDENCE— ANSWERS TO QUERIES.— PART L SEC, IT. sxi Basin of the Uotiier (Boi^)— continued. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Answers to Queries 1 to 27, Page xix— continued. Chesterfield— co?«^ Buxton - Fairfield Bakewell South Darley 30 tons have been sold out of 700. The cleansinj. of the privies, middens, and ashpits IS not complained of as a nuisance affecting tlic health and comfort of the inha- bitants. Chloride of lime is used as a disinfectant, and is effective in preventing smell, bickness is not attributed to the privies, middens, and ashpits. ° Basin of the Derwent. . Sewerage works Ijave been carried out ; commenced in the year 1860 and completed m the year 1861. The mam sewers are of brick, and the brancli sewers of sanitary pipes, with proper man holes and lamp holes on the same. They are laid -it one gradient from point to point, and were designed by Robert Rawlinson, Esq , C b' C E The sewers are thoroug;hly ventilated at the man holes and lamp holes through gal- vanized wire baskets hlled with charcoal, and also by stack pipes in the etves of buildings The sewers are flushed occasionally from the hydrants of tlie water mains I he overflow irom the natural hot water and mineral water from baths flows into the sewers, but no nuisance arises therefrom. Several springs were tapped durino- the execution of the sewerage works, but we are not able to state the qi^ntity of water thus entering the sewers daily. The well water has not been depressed through the execution of the sewerage works. There are about 600 waterclosets, but no wi*?! ^L"""^'- ""'^^ the/ink, and gullies of the houses are aU connected with the sewers. There are very few cesspools, and none of them are within the prescribed distance of 100 feet of a sewer. There are no cesspools, privies, oTnSddens beneath dwelling-houses. There are about 300 privies and 400 ashpits ; these are not connected with the sewers. The privies, middens, and ashpits are deansed when application is made by the proprietors on the report of the inspector of nuisances by men employed by the Local Board. As this is only the first year in which the work has been done at the expense of the Board, we are not able to give the cost or weight of refuse removed The excrements are taken by a farmer who contracts to empty the privies at 1. 6d. each. The ashes are valueless, and are taken and tipped wherever any convenient deposit can be formed. There is no sale for this refuse, and the esti- mated deficiency is 75 . a year. The cleansing of the privies is not now complained of as a nuisance ^WecUng the health and comfort of the inhabitants. It was so com- plained of before the BoaM undertook the cleansing. No disinfectants are Sed. Sickness has not been attributed to the privies, middeSs, and ashpits. Sewerage works have been carried out, they were commenced in 1867 and were Jin^T ^T""^ P^"^^^^* --ks consist of a 12-inch pipe sewer which is carried through the district to join the main sewer of the Buxton district, and cost about 500/. The sewers are ventilated through charcoal ^ wet ^V^-f^^^«P«"-g^ in the streets. There are no special means^f flushTn. sewers. No springs were tapped during the execution of the works, and the level of the well water was not depressed thereby. There are about 30 waterclosets- these with the sinks and gullies of the houses are connected with the sewers Thert^ are no cesspools, nor any privies, middens, nor ashpits within dwelling-houses.' There are aoout 200 privies, middens, and ashpits ; these are not connected with th; sewers! They are not cleansed systematically, but by the occupiers of the premises to which hey are attached. As th s is not done by the local authorities we are unable to s ate devoted Tt'T"^'"" '^r'^^K^^ purpose to which is devoted. The cleansing of the privies, middens, and ashpits, is not complained of as a used'^Sicf:?"-" ''f 'T'''-' inhabiLts. Disinfectants are not used. Sickness is not attributed to the cleansing of privies, middens, and ashpits ablTso'f earS-o '"^^f*"^ ^ f I"''""P^1 ''''''' ^"'^ ^^^^i^d out about 30 yeais ago. The sewers are oidy ventilated through gratings in the surface of tnt To ' ^""'^''^ ^ ''''■'^'^ of wateffrL the%iver. There art about 50 waterclosets, but no trough, tank, or other closets. These are connected with the sewers, as are also the sinks and gullies of the houses. There are a few cesspools, but no cesspools, privies, middens, or ashpits within dwellinlhouser There are 300 pnvies. These are not connected with the sewers. The^ pri^ e " niiddens, and ashpits, are cleansed once in three months, or oftener if requisite,ty S o cupiers of the houses to which they are attached. As this is not done at the Expense of the local authonty, we are unable to state the cost of removal, or the purposes to 7tt -"'^^ is wholly used for agricultural purposer Tl e cleansing of the privies, middens, and ashpits is not complained of as\a nuisance affecting the health and comfort of the inhabitants. Chloridi of lime and carboHc ac d ^iddeSardSptsf -'-^^-"^ - ^^^t Sewerage works were carried out to a small extent in 1869. The sewers are not connected with the old drains but with cesspools. There are no cesspool, privies Z/::i'S: ^^-^-"-S-I— • There are about 100 priks mi den J and ashpits These are not connected with the drains. They are cleansed bv the occupiers of the houses to which they are attached, and the refuse is used fb manure The cleansing of the privies, middens, and ashpits, is not complained of as a 1^ 06 affecting the health and comfort of the inhabitants. Disi nfectants are not used Sickness is not attributed to the cleansing of the privies, middens, and aSpits e 3 Xxii RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — EVIDENCE — ANSV;-ERS TO QUERIES. — PART I. SEC. II. Basin op the Derwent — continued. NameofCitieSjBoroughs, Towns, and Districts. Answers to Queries 1 to 27, Page xix — continued. I Matlock Alfrbton Heage Ripley Ilkeston Sewerage works have been carried out, commenced about 1868, and are not yet completed. The sewerage works consist of brick mains, with sanitary pipe branch mains. The sewers are not ventilated. They are only flushed by the waste water from the reservoirs, and hydropathic establisliments. Hot water and steam from the hydropathic establishments enter the sewers, but no nuisance is perceptible therefrom. No springs were tapped during the execution of the sewerage works. .The level of the well water lias not been depressed thereby. There are 79 waterclosets in the district. These are not connected with the sewers, but some of the sinks and gullies of the houses are. There are cesspools ; some of these are connected with the sewers. There are no cesspools, privies, middens, or ashpits within dwelling-houses. There ai-e 697 privies, middens, and ashpits ; and some of these are connected w^ith the sewers. They are not cleansed systematically, but at the convenience of each owner and occupier, and at their expense. As this is not done by a contractor under the Local Board, we are unable to state the cost and weight of refuse removed, or to what purpose it is devoted. The cleansing of the privies, middens, and ashpits is not complained of as a nuisance affecting the health and comfort of the inhabitants.- Disinfecting powder is occasionally used, and is efficient in preventing smell. Sickness has not been attributed to the middens, privies, and ashpits. No sewerage works have been carried out by the governing body. The old drains are not ventilated and are not flushed. "J'here are about eight waterclosets. These are connected with the old drains, as are also the greater part of the sinks and gullies of the houses. There are no cesspools, privies, middens, or ashpits within dwelling- houses. There are about 300 privies, middens, and ashpits ; these are not connected with the drains, but they are cleansed when required by the occupiers of the property to which they belong ; and as this is not done by the local board we are unable to state the cost of cleansing, the weight of refuse removed, or the purpose to which it is devoted. The cleansing is not complained of as a nuisance affecting the health and comfort of the inhabitants. Disinfectants are not used. Sickness is not attributed to the privies, middens, and ashpits. The Board have not carried out any system of sewerage. There are only a very few waterclosets ; these and the sinks and gullies of the houses are not connected with any drains, but they are discharged on to the surface of fields or gardens. There are very few cesspools, but no cesspools, privies, middens, or ashpits within dwelling- houses. There are about 4C0 privies, middens, and ashpits ; these are not connected with the drains. They ure generally cleansed by the owners of the houses to which they are attached, and tuc contents are used as manure on the gardens. The cleansing of the privies, middens, and ashpits is not complained of as a nuisance affecting the health and comfort of the inhabitants. Disinfectants are not used. Sickness is not attributed to the privies, middens, and ashpits. Sewerage works have not been carried out, but the Board contemplate doing so. There are not more than six vfaterclosets. These are connected with cesspools, which flow into one single main drain, which runs through the district. Some of the sinks and gullies of the houses are connected with this drain. There are no cesspools, privies, middens, or ashpits, within dwelling-houses. There are about 650 privies, middens, and ashpits; these are not connected with the sewers. They are cleansed when full by farmers in the neighbourhood, who take away the refuse, but as this is not done at the expense of the Board, we are unable to state the cost or weight of refuse removed annually; but it is wholly devoted to agricultural purposes. The cleansing of the privies, middens, and ashpits is not complained of as a nuisance, affecting the health and comfort of the inhabitants. Disinfectants are used when necessary. Sickness is not attributed to the privies, middens, and ashpits. Basin of the Trent. Sewerage works have been carried out within the district. Commenced in 1867 and are not yet quite completed. The main sewers are of brick, and the branch sewers of stoneware pipes. The sewers are laid at a steep gradient, and the sewage quickly passes off. They are flushed occasionally from the hydrants on the water mains. A small quantity of steam and hot water is conveyed into the sewers, but no nuisance arises therefrom. No springs were tapped during the execution of the sewerage works, and the level of the weU water was not depressed thereby. There are 20 waterclosets. Very few of these are connected with the sewers. The sinks and gullies of the houses arc connected with the sewers. There are a few cesspools; these are connected witii the sewers. There are no cesspools, privies, middens, or ashpits within dwelling-houses. There are 1,820 privies, middens, and ashpits; some of these are connected with the sewers. These are cleansed regularly by a man employed by the Local Board, but, as this work has only been recently undertaken, Ave are unable to state the cost annually, and the weight of refuse removed, which is wholly devoted to agricultural pui-poses. The cleansing of the privies, middens, and ashpits is not now complained of as a nuisance affecting the health and comfort of the inhabitants. Disinfectants are not used. Sickness is not attributed to the privies, middens, and ashpits. RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— EVIDENCE— ANSWERS TO QUERIES.— PART I. SEC. II. xxiii Basin of the Dovet. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Machynlleth Aberystwith Swansea Aberavon Answers to Queries 1 to 27, Page continued. Basin of the Dovey. Sewerage works have been carried out to a very limited extent. There are 19 waterclosets ; these and the sinks and gullies of houses arc connected with cesspools. J here are 190 prmes, middens, and ashpits; these are cleansed when full by the owners of the houses to which thoy belong. The cleansing is not complained of as a nuisance; chloride of lime is used as a disinfectant, and is efficient in preventin"- smell oickness is not attributed to the privies and ashpits. Basins of tlie Rheidol and Ystwith. Sewerage works have been carried out. Commenced in 1847, but owin"- to the growing importance of the town are now about to be enlarged and extende^d The present sewerage works consist of brick sewers and sanitary pipe drains ; they cost about 6,000/. The old sewers are not ventilated. The new sewers wiU be venti lated by shafts. Owing to the insufficient supply of water the sewers are not flushed. No steam or hot water is conveyed into the sewers. No springs were tapped during the execution of the sewerage works, and the level of the well wate- was not depressed thereby. There are 584 waterclosets ; these and the sinks and gulhes of houses are mostly connected with the sewers. There are no cesspools unconnected with sewers. There are no cesspools, privies, middens, or ashpits within dwelling-houses. There are 612 private middens and ashpits, most of them are connected with the sewers. The middens, privies, and ashpits are cleansed at uncertain intervals ; some by the occupiers of the houses to which they are attached and some by a contractor employed by the Local Board ; no separate account is kept' but It forms part of the town's scavenging account. The Local Board obtain 50/ a year for 500 tons of refuse, which is sold for agricultural purposes. There is a ready sale for the refuse. The cleansing of the privies, middens, and ashpits is not com- plained ot iis a nuisance by the inhabitants. Disinfectants are not used. Sickness has not been attributed to the privies, middens, and ashpits. Basin of the Tawe. Sewerage works have been carried out in certain parts of the district. They were commenced in 1857, and finished in 1871. The drainage works are a combination of brick and pipe sewers, having outlets to Fabian's Bay, and a storm-Avater outlet into Swansea Bay ; the outlet for the liamlet of St. Thomas is into the River Tawe The brick sewers vary in size from 3 feet 9 by 2 feet 6, to 2 feet 3 by 1 foot 6 ; and the pipe sewers vary in size from 18 inches to 6 inches in diameter. Subordinate sewers have been constructed for the back drainage of all houses. The sewers are ventilated by shafts connected with the manholes. The sewer gases pass through <^alvauized iron trays filled with charcoal. Every drain connected with the interio? of a house is first ventilated by ventilating the gullies and pipes. The subordinate sewers only are flushed. This is done by filling a brick chamber from the water mains and sluice valves, and by self-acting flushing chambers. No steam or warm water in any quantity is conveyed into the sewers. Several springs were tapped during the con- struction of the sewers, but we cannot state the volume of water thus enterino- the sewers daily. The level of the well-water in the lower parts of the town was affected by the construction of the sewers, and depressed to about four feet. There are about 5,000 waterclosets and eight tank closets ; these are connected with the sewers. The sinks and gullies of the houses within the area of the public sewers are connected with them. There are cesspools, but the overflows from them are connected with the sewers. There are no cesspools, privies, middens, or ashpits within dwellino-- houses. There are upwards of 3,000 privies, and about 8,000 ashpits. The privie^ middens, and ashpits are not connected with the sewers. The ashpits are cleansed once a week ; in some parts of the town twice a week. The privies are cleansed by the owners of the houses to which they are attached when required, and by men employed by the Local Board of Health. The removal of the ashes only is estimated to cost 2,160/. per annum, and about 16,000 tons of ashes are removed. The contractors dispose of part of the ashes for agricultural purposes. There is not a ready sale for them. The cleansing of the privies is complained of as a nuisance, but the removal of the ashes is not complained of as a nuisance. Sickness is attributed to the privies middens, and ashpits. ' Basin of the Avon (Glamorgan). Sewerage works have been carried out ; commenced in 1867, and finished in 1869 The works consist of main brick sewers 3 feet 6 by 2 feet 6, with contributino- brick sewers 3 leet by 2 feet, and 2 feet 3 by 1 foot 9 ; also branch sewers of ""o-lazed stoneware pipes 12 inches in diameter, with floodgate at inlet and tidal vafve at outlet, at a cost of 4,250/. The sewers are ventilated by shafts. The sewers are e 4 xxlv EiVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — EVIDENCE — ANSWERS TO QUERIES. — PART I. SEC. II. Basin of the Avon (Glamougan) — continued. Name of Cities,Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Aberavon — cont. Answers to Queries 1 to 27, Page xix — continued. CwM-Dij- - Bridgend Mountain Ash Ab£BDABB ai-e frequently flushed by tlie inlet from the river Avon. No steam or hot water is conveyed into the sewers. Several springs were tapped during the execution of the sewerage Avorks, and a very large volume of water passes througli the sewers daily. Some of the private wells have been affected, and in two instances the water has been completely depressed. We are not able to state the number of water- closets ; nearly all, as well as the sinks and gullies of the houses, are connected with the sewers. There are cesspools, but the overflows are not connected with the sewers. There are no cesspools, privies, middens or ashpits within dwelling-houses. There are about 400 privies, middens, and ashpits which Avith very few exceptions, in the outlying districts, are connected with the sewers. The privies are not cleansed systematically ; but the ashpits are cleansed once a week by men employed by the Council at a cost of 30/. a year. Nothing is received for the refuse. The pri\aes are cleansed by the owners of the houses to which they are attached, and the contents arc used by farmers for manure. The cleansing of the privies, middens, and ashpits is not complained of as a nuisance aflFecting the health and comfort of the inhabitants, unless the contents are removed in the daytime, in contravention of the byelaws. We are not aware that disinfectants have been used. Sickness is not attributed to the cleansing of the privies, middens, and ashpits. Basin of the Ogwr. Sewerage works have been carried out ; commenced in 1859, and not yet completed. The sewers are formed of stoneware pipes, and have cost to the present time 450/. The sewers are not ventilated, nor are any special means of flushing them provided. Steam and hot water are not conveyed into the sewers. There were no springs tapped during the execution of the sewerage Avorks, and the level of the well water has not been depressed thereby. There are no Avaterclosets. The sinks and gullies of the liouses are connected with the sewers. There are no cesspools, nor are there any privies, middens,. or ashpits within dwelling-houses. There are 812 privies, middens, and ashpits, and nine public ashpits placed conveniently for depositing refuse. The privies, middens, and ashpits are in certain districts connected with the scAvers. They are cleansed systematically by the contractor under the Local Board who takes the refuse and pays to the Board 21. per annum for the same. The refuse is used as manure. The cleansing of the privies, middens, and ashpits, is not complained of as a nuisance affecting the health or comfort of the inhabitants. Carbolic acid and chloride of lime are used as disinfectants Avhen required. Sickness is not attributed to the privies, middens, and ashpits. Sewerage works have been carried out to a limited extent ; commenced in 1866, and completed in 1871. The scAvers are ventilated, but no special means of flushing have been adopted. Steam and hot water are not conveyed into the sewers. There Avere no springs tapped during the execution of the scAverage Avorks. The level of the Avell water has not, Avithin our knowledge, been depressed by the works. There are 280 Avaterclosets, and 35 trough or tank closets. These are being connected Avith the seAvers. The sinks and gullies of the houses are being connected Avitli the sewers. The cesspools are being abolished as fast as possible. There are no cesspools, privies, middens, or ashpits Avithin dwelling-houses. There are 95 privies, middens, and ashpits ; these are nearly all connected with the sewers. They are cleansed partially by the occupiers of the property to which they are attached, and by scavengers, ol. a year is received for the refuse removed, Avhich is devoted to agricultural purposes. The cost of cleansing the middens, and ashpits, and removing the refuse, is defrayed by giving the scavenger the refuse, and he pays 5/. per annum to the Board for it. The cleansing of the privies, middens, and ashpits is not complained of as a nuisance aftectin"- the health and comfort of the inhabitants. Carbolic acid is used as a disinfectant Avhen required. Sickness is not attributed to the privies, middens, and ashpits. Basin of the Taff. No system of sewerage works has yet been laid doAvn, but a survey has been made, and the matter is noAV under discussion of the Board. There are about 310 Avater- closets. Nearly all of the waterclosets are connected with the scAvers, as Avell as the sinks and gullies of the houses. There are cesspools, but in no case_ are they con- nected Avith the sewers. There are no privies, middens, or ashpits within dwelling- houses. There are 620 privies, but no ashpits or middens. The privies are not connected Avith the scAvers. The privies are cleansed Avhen full by the occupiers of the houses to which they are attached. As this is not done by the Local Authority Ave are not able to state the cost or quantity of refuse removed, but Ave believe it is Avliolly used as manure for gardens. Complaints are occasionally made of the mode of cleansiu"- the privies, and disinfectants are used. Sickness, especially diarrhoea and lyphoid^fever, is attributed to the privies, middens, and ashpits from overflowing, and more particularly Avhere the ground slopes, as it does here, towards the houses. No perfect system of scAverage Avorks has been carried out. There are from 50 to 60 Avaterclosets in the district ; these are conuected Avith drains, as are also the sinks RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — EVIDENCE— ANSWERS TO QUERIES.— PART I. SEC. II. Basin of the Tapf — continued. Name of Cities, Boroughs J Towns, and Districts. Answers to Queries 1 to 27, Page x\x—co7itirmed. Aberdare — co?it. Merthyr Tydfil Canton Cardiff 30928. and gullies of the houses. la a few instances cesspools are adopted, wliere there IS not any sewer near the house. There arc no cesspools, privies, middens, or ashpits within dwelling-houses. We ai-e not able to give tiu> number of privies, middens, and ashpits. There are many houses without privy accommodation. The privies, middens, and ashpits are not connected with the sewers. There is no systematic cleansing of the privies. The owners of the houses to which tliey are attaclied cleanse them when they think proper. As this is not done by tlie Local Authority we are unable to stale the cost and weiglit of refuse removed, or tlie purpose to which it is devoted. Tlie cleansing of the privies, middens, and ashpits is a nuisance. Disinfectants arc used by order of the Board, and are found etficient in preventing smell. Sickness is not par- ticularly attributable to tlie privies, but sickness does aris(! in some instances, and as soon as it is brought under the notice of the Board steps are taken to have the privies cleansed. A system of sewerage works has been carried out, commenced in I860 and com- pleted in August 1868. The sewers are laid down for the drainaoe of Merthyr Dowlais, Penydaran, Abercanaid, Pentreback, and Froedyrhiew. The^main lines run under the streets and along the banks of the river, the sub-lines in front or at the backs of houses as most convenient. The size of the sewers is regulated by the work they have to do The largest sewer is egg-shaped, 3 feet by 2 feet ; the smallest are 9-inch pipes. All sewers greater than 12 inches in diameter are of brickwork e-- shaped. Sewers of 12 inches and 9 inches in diameter are of circular stoneware soc'ket pipes. Storm outlets are provided at intervals into the Mor/ais brook and river TafF The cost of the works is 28,210/. The sewers are ventilated by open gratin-s at the suriace of the road in convenient places ; by stack pipes up the gable °ends of buildings; and by lamp-holes at the ends of some of the sewers Some of the sewers where but Uttle fall could be obtained, and where, from the proximity of s aughter-houses, they are liable to choke, are Hushed occa.sionally in dry weather • the mode of flushing is by filling with water a shaft about 2 feet square built up Irom the level ot the sewer to the surface of the ground, the water beino- let out by suddenly removing the stopper from the socket of the sewage pipe. No s'team or hot water is conveyed into the sewers. A few springs were tapped during the execution ot the sewei-age works, but they soon ceased to run. The level of the well water has not been affected by the sewerage works. There are 250 closets supplied with water from the waterworks : about 2,000 fitte.l with pan and trap without water supply There are four tank closets, but no self-acting tumbler closets. The closets and the sinks and gullies of bouses are, in the majority of cases, connected with the sewers Ihere are cesspools, but the overflow does not enter the sewers. Cesspools are bein.^ abolished as the drainage works are being carried out. There are no cesspools privies" middens, or ashpits in dwelling-houses. There are about 1,300 privies and ashpits hut these are being converted into closets as the drainage works are carried out The privies are not connected with the sewers ; they are cleansed when necessary, but at no stated periods, by the contractor for scavenging the town, ^yho receives 6s. per cubic yard for removing the contents of cesspools. The work is done under the inspection of the board s inspector of nuisances. The public ashpits are cleansed daily No special account is kept of the cost of cleansing. The refuse is buried in the scaveno-er's tip generally ; a small quantity is mixed with ashes by the scavengers and sold to farmers but nothing IS received for it. The refuse is only employed to a very small extent for nianure Ihe cleansing of the privies is sometimes complained of as a nuisance aftectino- the health and comfort of the inhabitants. MeDougall's disinfecting powder is used and is considered efiicacious in preventing smell. Whenever cases of enteric fever occur they are traced to the overflowing of cesspools or to drains used for couveyino- away house slops. No sickness is ever attributed to the public ashpits. ° A system of sewerage has been constructed for surface water only. The works were commenced soon after the formation of the Board, and have been carried on as the streets under the private improvements have been made. The drains are ventilated bygrids m the surface of the streets. The drains are not flushed. No sprin-s were tapped during the execution of the sewerage works. The level of the well water was not depressed thereby. There are about 100 ^raterclosets. These are connected with cesspools, as are also the sinks and gullies of the houses. The cesspools are not connected with the sewers. We are not aware of any cesspools, privies, middens or ashpits within dwelling-houses. There are about 1,000 privies, middens, and ash- pits ihese are not connected with the sewers. They are emptied when reouired by the occupiers of the houses to which they are attached. As this is not done by tlie Local Board, we are not able to state the cost annually, the weiENCK-ANSWERS TO QUERIES.- PAUT ,. SEC. IV. xxxvii Basin of the Eother (Don). Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Answers to Qcjeries 1 to 42, Pagk tl^^Vi— continued. Dronfield Chesterfield Buxton Basin of the Rother (Don). in leptf from 'leTlS^fZ^'" ' T'''^ K'""''' ^^"^^ P"^^^^- ^he wells vary voirs, is not filtered, and is n^ot pumped, ^t^^t^^^^^^^^Z^ service reservoirs, at Lower Linacre Ld Club ilill, bu f rrf^^^ and are not covered. The area of the district si pSied is 2 27f, f^ is constant, and direct fr-om the mains in the m^fo^^'o Nf/stlLesTo 2 or domestic purposes. The reservoirs hold water for Warly three t'imes fhp t!on which the company are required to suddIv Tho 7.Z U \ / , mmhi- from 1. 6./. to 8. {.er 'quarter In houses'o'Ae ylr u 'of S 5/ ^ o' 24^ ^' ^ upwards, and for waterclosets and baths Is. Id. per quarter in addit o,? Tl 1 T taken to prevent waste is a quarterly inspection^of tl^and fitdnl Th Jw have cost 61 522/. 15.. 5d Previously to the establislinerofre^^^teJ^or^^^^^^^^^ was supplied with water from shallow well sand pumps. The water has norbeen Basin of the Derwent. The district is supplied with water from sprin&s and streams • snrino-^ f i . eight months, and springs assisted by rivulets from a mooi fo, tbl ^ • of the year. The works were estabHshed in 1 852 and a 4 now thp'""°"'? ^TT Local Board. The reservoirs are at Hooshaw Bu^brj and VvTff! i ^ a?"'*^ ''^'^ gallons of ^vater daily are abstracted from tie ri ir. ° Tl" IreTrf tl^^^ H i"' '^'"'^ voir IS 3,274 square yards; maximum depth 16 feet, and c" L1 400 The area of the Burbage reservoir is 416 sonnro • ^'^""'"^^ gallons. 6 inches; and contents" 220,000 gal ons T^ai-ea 5 heS^tS^ ''^-^ ^ square yards; maximum depth 9 feet, and content 95,000^^^^^^^^^^^ much discolored by peat, especially in wet weather- it is nnrflu" i J " pumped, but flows by gravitation into the distSr tL area offl . 1 T \ 710 acres. Houses about 800 for domestic purposes ; no mi^acto ies T '"^^'T' intermittent at present, as the existing mains will not Z,!^ The supply ,s system to all customei's. The volume Twed tn tir i °" is 200,000 gallons a day; but ou of the a ^n InlfH^OOO '''' There is no water at pres'ent used for wateringTeeS ^ ushiii' f^we^ ^.^l^'^^^^'f ' IS direct from the mains, cisterns are used foi sunnlvino- bntl . , ^^'"^ overflow pipes from the cisterns are either coSyeT to th T^^^^ '^''^e before entering the sewers. The present supply is adequatf but tL n ^ "'^ or trapped pipes are too small to distribute it. The rate of chnrie 1 V n.i ' '''"'^ '"'"'^"'^^^ on the rateable value ; the minimum cLige s/pe anfum on n ^"^^ ^^^"'"^ 7/. per annum Waterclosets are charged 5. foftheTsT 4 for Jlir:: ^^o" each per year for all above that number." Slaughter-houses kit cha^^d A. ' '"'^ Horses 5s. for the first, and 3*. for all above onener annu^ ^le charged 1 5.. per annum. 2s. each per annum for all above one. Carriages with w^^.T ^^^^^ with two wheels 3.. per annum. The only stef? taken to n,^ ' ''""^ house to house inspection by the turncock P/'^^fnt waste are occasional date 9,400/. It is nCconteCateTto exiLdT^^^^^^ ^''"^ ''''' P''^^^^* the reservoirs. P-iously to7^e11bIiSi^^^^ with water from sti-eams. _ The water as been analys Tly p'ofL fo F ^0.? F.E.S., and ihe following is a copy of the analysis :— "^'"'^^^oi 1^ . Ciace Calvert, Royal Institution, 7, Bond Street, Manchester, November 9th 1867 top?/ ofProJessor Calvert's A7iabjsis of the Buxton Water Organic matters Mineral matter Total residue per gallon Total hardness - Permanent hardness Hogshaw ReseiToir. 2-46 2-78 Burbage Reservoir. 2-03 5-38 5*24 5 0-9 "41 Watford Reservoir. 3 '45 4-63 8-08 2" 5 degrees 5-0 degrees 3-7 degrees „ 1-8 vlil RIVEUS rOLLUTfON COMMISSION : — EVIDENCE — ANSWERS TO QUERIES. — PART I. SEC. IV. Basin of the Derwent — continued. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Answers to Queries 1 to 42, Page xxxvi — continued. Buxton — coiit. Fatrfteld Bake WELL South Darley Matlock Alfreton Heage The mineral matter consists of salts of : Chloride of Magnesium „ „ Sodium „ „ Calcium - Sulphate of Magnesium ,, „ Soda -. - - „ „ Potash Weights of the above salts Sulphate of Lime - - - Weight of the sulphate of lime Carbonate of Lime „ „ Magnesium „ „ Iron Weights of the above salts - Hogshaw Reservoir. Very small Do. Trace Rather small Very small Do. rSo Trace 0-12 Burbage Reservoir. Small Very do. Small Rather do. Trace Do. 3-88 Very small Very small Small Trace do. Small Rather small 0-81 0-92 Watford Reservoir. Small Very do. Small Rather do. Trace. Do. I'So Very small 0-49 Rather large do. Rather small 2-29 The district is supplied with water partly from springs, and stream impounded in reservoirs ; the works were established in 1856 and belong to a private company. The reservoirs are situated at Waterswallows, in the parish of Wormhill, and contain about 400,000 gallons. We do not know whether or not the water is polluted before entering the reservoirs, the water is not filtered and is not pumped. The supply is constant and direct from the mains, and 158 houses are supplied for domestic purposes. The supply is, at the present time, adequate to the requirements of the district. There is no fixed rate of charge for water. In order to prevent Avaste, occasional inspection of the fittings is made. The waterworks have cost 900/. The water has not been analysed. Previous to the establishment of the waterworks, the inhabitants obtained water from private shallow wells and streams. The district is supplied with water for domestic purposes from springs. The waterworks were established in 1831, and belong to his Grace the Duke of Rutland. The reservoirs are situated at Manner's Wood on the east side of the district. The area of the reservoir .is 1,200 yards, and the maximum depth 6 feet. The water is not pol- luted before it enters the reservoirs, and is not filtered. The supply is constant except in very dry weather. The houses are supplied direct from the mains, and the water- closets from cisterns, the overflow pipes from which are connected with soil pipes. The present supply is adequate for the requirements of the district. The waterworks cost 1 ,000/. Previously to the establishment of the waterworks, a supply was obtained from the rivers and from wells. The district is supplied with water for domestic purposes, partly from private wells and from the river. The water of the private wells has not been analysed. The supply is said to be adequate for the requirements of the district. The district is supplied with water from wells, springs, and the river. The water- works Avere established in 1860, and belong to the Matlock Waterworks Company. The reservoirs are situated in Matlock Bank above the town. The area of the reservoir is 2,592 feet ; the maximum depth 10 feet ; and the contents about 160,000 gallons. The Ayater is not polluted before entering the reservoir, is not filtered, and is not pumped, but flows by gravitation into the district. The reservoir is built entirely above the surrounding ground, and is covered. The area of district is one square mile, and 240 houses and the hydropathic establishments are supplied. The supply is inter- mittent, the mains being charged for only eight hours a day. We are not able to ^ The" arl Tt I' reservoirs IS one acre and a half, maximum depth 6 feet The w„7.V .-. r i! gravel and sand, and pumped to a high service .eser oir ' rt 1,. p.f ,''"'', reservoir is 1.200 fee.'; tlfe maximum depth fo fe. ™d eoSnT^rooi"^^^^^^^^^^ aware that the water has been analysed. couecttd in cisterns. We are not Basin of the Dovey. The town is supplied with water fi-om private shallow wells and numns TV., wnf Basins of the Rheidol and Ystwith. The borough is suppHed with water for domestic nnr,m«P. f,.. )rks were established in ...l iT„„r?„ .^"^ ^'"'1'?'^'/™™ sp""gs. works were established "u^ I'si/rnl b^n^rX^ T^'^'f ^^^^er- reservoir is in the Craio-lais Dino-le Z ^^'^^^ ^""^''^ ^^ealth. The The gathering ground is^ abou"? 6of Lc et ^iTS^^T^^l Llanbadarn Flats, wide, and 12 feet deep, and contains 164 000 ^llons Th^ w by manure applied to lands adjoining the win "wh ?:^^7'^^^^' ^^^g^tly polluted not filtered. Part of the su.ilv is'obHin,^ 1 f ^"PPlies the reservoir. The water is in the gravel to a de h TIo fee^ be as follows : When the annual rent or value of a house does not exceed 4/ 6s. 6d. a year; 41. to 6/., 7^. 7c?, ; 6/, to 8/., 8s. 8d. ; 8/. to 10/., 9^. 9d ; over 10/!] 5 per cent, per annum on the annual value. For manufacturing and trade purposes 6d' to Is. per 1,000 gallons quarterly. In order to prevent waste, complete inspection is made of the taps and fittings. The waterworks have cost 83,600/. Previously to the establishment of waterworks the inhabitants were supplied with water from wells and springs. The health of the district has been greatly promoted by an unlimited supplv of pure water. The water has only been partiaUy analysed by the Medical Officer of Health. The district is supplied with water from the Cardiff waterworks, and also by several private shallow weUs. The water is pumped from the river El>/ into a reservoir near the north-eastern boundary district, about a mile and half distant from the town. The supply is adequate for the requirements of the district. The water was analysed by Dr. W. A. Miller, Professor of Chemistry, King's College (see Cardiff, p. xlii). The borough is supplied with water from streams, and occasionally from the river Ell/. Waterworks were established in 1851, they Avere incorporated by Act of Parliament and belong to the Cardiff Waterworks Company. The impoundincr reservoirs are situate at Lisvane, four miles north of Cardiff. The sernce reservoii^ are situated at Penhill, one mile north-west ; Cogan Hill, two miles south-west • and the high-service reservoir at Landough, three miles south-west ; the pumpin<^ stations at Ely, three miles west ; and at Cogan Hill, two miles south-west. The area of the gathering ground in connection with Lisvane impounding reservoir is about tour square miles. Since the construction of the Lisvane impounding reservoir the quantity pumped from the river varies from nil to one million gaUons a day accord- ing to the dryness of the season. The area of the Lisvane reservoir is 191 acres maximum depth 20 feet, and contents 65,000,000 of gallons. The area of the Penhili reservoir is 3,300 square yards, maximum depth 16 feet, contents 3,000,000 of crallous The area of the Cogan Hill reservoir is 2,200 square yards, maximum depth 16 feet' and contents 2,000,000 of gallons. The area of Landough is 700 square yard, maxi' mum depth 16 feet, and contents about 630,000 gaUons. the water is obtained fl-om'an Xlii RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSIOX : -EVIDENCE— ANSWERS TO QUERIES.— PART I. SEC. IV Basin of the Taff — continued. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Answers to Queries 1 to 42, Page tch^yi— continued. Cardiff — cont. Akergavenny Blaenavon agricultural district where there is no other source of poUution than that incidental to the ordinary cultivation of land. The water is filtered through fine sand The Lisvane impounding reservoir is of sufficient elevation to supply the Cardiff district generally including Penhill and Cogan service reservoirs; but a special high service exists for Penarth, the water for which is pumped by a steam engine from the Cogan reservoir into the Landough reservoir, and flows to Penarth by gravitation. The high-service reservoir is built entirely above the surrounding ground and is not covered The total cost of pumping at Cogan and at Ehj, including labour, fuel, and materials is about 400/. per annum. The area of the district supplied is the borough of Cardiff and the adjoining parish of Penarth. 9,000 houses are supplied for domestic purposes but few manufactories. The supply is constant, and from 1,300,000 to 1,500,000 gallons of water are dehvered to the district daily. For street watering 90,000 gallons of water are used from March to October, and (50,000 gallons are used daily throuo-hout the year for flushing sewers. The supply is direct from the mains. The present supply is adequate for the town district. The rate of charge for water is for houses not exceedinff 20/. annual value, 6 per cent, per annum ; for houses above 20/. annual value, 5 per cent, per annum. The steps taken to prevent waste are the use of proper fitti'ncrs of improved waste preventing apparatus to waterclosets, and subsequent inspection mLde as frequently as circumstances will admit, so as to insure the fittings beino- kept in proper order, and up to the required standard. The total cost the waterworks has been 112,000/. Previously to the establishment of the waterworks the town was supplied chiefly from public and private wells. The officer of health in his report to the Local Board in 1869, states that the improved sanitary condition of the town, since provisions have been adopted in the shape of efficient drainage, of good water supply and other wholesome regulations, is remarkably striking. The water was analysed by the late Professor MiUer of King's College, F.R.S., and the following is a copy of the analysis : — Carbonate of lime Carbonate of magnesia Sulphate of magnesia Chloride of magnesium Chloride of sodium - Combustible and organic matter Nitric acid - - . Ammonia - 11 2' 1 •50 •17 •10 •77 •60 •60 a trace. •02 Total grains per gallon -. - 16-76 Hardness before boiling Hardness after boding The water is clear, and has no perceptible taste or smell. It contains but a small pro- portion of organic matter, and exerts but very little action upon per-manganate of pot- ash. It is free from nitrates and contains but very little ammonia. The hardness of the water is not great, and it is softened to a considerable extent on boihng. The water is an excellent one for domestic use. (Signed) W. Willian A. Miller, M.D., King's College, London. 17th April 1867. Basin of the Usk. The district is supplied with water for domestic purposes from springs situated about a mile from the town, and about 400 feet above the town level. Waterworks were commenced in 1861, and belong to the Abergavenny Improvement Commis- sioners. About 1,000 houses are supplied with water for domestic purposes. The supply is constant, and direct from the mains, and is adequate for the requirements of the town and district. The rate of charge for water is 5 per cent, upon the rateable value, up to 20/. for domestic supply ; the scale diminishing slightly on houses rated at more than 20/. The only step taken to prevent waste is periodical inspection of the fittings. The waterworks cost 5,000/. Previously to the establishment of the waterworks, the inhabitants obtained their supply of water from brooks, and from shallow private wells. The improved water supply has had a beneficial effect upon the inhabitants, as typhoid fever has never appeared since the introduction of the improved water supply. The district is supplied with water for domestic purposes from springs. Water- works were established in 1860, and belong to the Blaenavon Gas and Waterworks Company. The reservoirs are situated on the mountain side near the town. The water is not polluted before entering the reservoirs ; is filtered through the medium of stone, gravel, and sand. The water is not pumped, but flows by gravitation into the district. About 500 houses are supplied Avith water for domestic purposes. The supply is constant and direct from the mains, and is adequate for the requirements of the district. The rate of chai^ge for water is 6s. 6d. per annum for each cottage. The KIVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — EVIDENCE — ANSWERS TO QUERIES. — PART I. SEC. IV. xliii Basin of the Usk — continued. Name of Cities, Borouglis, Towns, and Districts. Blaenavon — cont. Abeestchan Llanfreechfa, Upper. PONTYPOOL Panteg Newport Ilfracombe Answers to Queries 1 to 42, Page xx.xvi — continued. waterworks have cost 4,000^. Previously to the establishment of the waterworks the inhabitants obtained their supply of water from springs. A very benefieial effect has been produced upon the health of the inhabitants since the introduction of the water supply. The water has not been analysed. The district is supplied with water for domestic purposes by the Pontypool Gas and Water Company. The supply is obtained from springs. Waterworks were established in 1851. The water is not filtered. The sujjply is constant, direct from the mains, and is adequate for the requirements of the district. The rate of charge varies from \s. 9d. to 2s. per quarter for cottages. The only step taken to prevent waste is, that persons detected are summoned before the magistrates. Previously to the establish- ment of waterworks, the inhabitants were supplied with water from shallow wells and springs. The improved water supply has had a beneficial effect upon the health of the inhabitants. The water was analysed by the late Professor Ilerapath, of Bristol. The district is supplied with water for domestic purposes from wells and springs, and it is said to be adequate to the requirements of the district. The water has not been analysed. The district is supplied with water for domestic purposes by the Pontypool Gas and Water Company principally from springs. The works Avere established in 1851 ; and the water is conveyed by gravitation for the supply of the district. The supply is constant and direct from the mains, and is adequate for the requirements of the town and district. The rate of charge for water varies from Is. 6d. to 2s. per quarter. There are no special steps taken to prevent waste. Previously to the establishment of the waterworks the inhabitants were supplied with water from shallow wells and springs. The water has been analysed by the late Professor Herapath, of Bristol. The district is supplied with water for domestic purposes from wells ; and the present supply is adequate for the requirements of the district. The water has not been analysed. The borough is supplied with water from springs and gathering ground. The waterworks were established in 1846, and belong to the Newport and Pllgwenlly Waterworks Company. The reservoirs are situated in Ynisybro and Stow Hill. The area of gathering ground is about 1,000 acres. The area of the reservoir is 20 acres, maximum depth 40 feet, and it contains about 80,000,000 of gallons. The water is not polluted before entering the reservoirs, and is not filtered. The water is pumped, to supply the higher levels of the district, into a reservoir containing 90,000 gallons, by a 25"horse power engine. The high service reservoir is partially built above the ground, and is covered. The area of the district supplied is about 1,000 acres. The supply is constant, and a million and a half gallons are delivered daily to about 3,900 houses, direct from the mains, for domestic purposes, and 50 manufactories for trade purposes. We are unable to state the quantity of water used for watering the streets, but it is only supplied for that purpose during the summer months. The present supply is scarcely adequate. The Company have just obtained a new Act for further extensions (Royal Assent, 22nd June 1872). The rent charged for water is 5 per cent, on the rental, where supplied by gravitation ; and 6 per cent, when pumped. In order to prevent waste, two inspectors are employed to make periodical inspections of the fittings. The waterworks have cost to the present time about 53,000/. Previously to the establishment of the waterworks, water was obtained from shallow wells. The im- proved water supply has had a beneficial effect upon the health of the inhabitants. The water has not been analysed. Basin of the Wilder. The district is supplied with Avater for domestic purposes from streams. Water- works were established in 1859, and they belong to the Local Board of Health. The water flows du'ect from streams into a reservoir about a mile from the town. The area of the reservoir is 3^ acres, average depth 20 feet. We are not able to give the contents because the reservoir is of an irregular form. The water is not polluted before entering the reservoir, is filtered through sand and gravel, and flows by gravitation into the town. The supply is intermittent, and we are unable to state the number of gallons delivered to 800 houses within the district daily for domestic purposes. The houses are both furnished with cisterns and supplied direct from the mains ; and the overflow pipes from the cisterns are connected with the soil pipes. The present supply is adequate for the requirements of the town and district. The rate of charge vaiies according to the rent of the houses. In order to prevent waste periodical inspection is made of the fittings. The waterworks, as before stated, have cost 6,000/. Previously to the establishment of the waterworks the district was supi^lied with water from private wells. There has been no marked improvement in the health of the inhabitants, as far as can be ascertained from the waterworks supply. The water has not been analysed. h 2 xliv KIVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— EVIDENCE— ANSWERS TO QUERIES. — PART I, SEC IV. Basin of the Wilder — continued. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Ansavers to Queries 1 to 42, Page xxxvi— continued. TOTNKS - Tavistock Launceston - The town is supplied with water from a spring about half a mile from the town situated about 340 feet above high-water mark, and the water is conveyed in iron pipes from the spring head to a double reservoir above the town. The works belong to the Corporation. The reservoirs or tanks are situated above the town, are 48 feet long, 36 feet wide, and 9 feet deep, and contain 186,624 gallons. The' water is not polluted before entering the reservoirs, is not filtered, and is not pumped but flows by gravitation into the town, the reservoirs are built above the surrounding ground and covered. The supply is intermittent in order to husband the water and prevent waste. We are not able to state the volume of water delivered to the district daily for domestic purposes. There is no water used for either watering streets or flushing sewers. The supply is direct from tlie mains for the few persons who have it laid on to their houses, and from five public staiidpipes in difl=erent parts of the town. The present supply is not adequate. The rate of charge for water is lOd. in the pound on the rateable value of the houses wliere the service is laid on. The water- works have cost l,20oZ. Previously to the establishment of waterworks the supply was obtained from wells. The water has not been analysed. Basin of the Tavy. The district is supplied with water for domestic purposes j^artly from shallow wells and partly from works belonging to the Duke of Bedford, which cost 7,000Z. The water is obtained from springs, and flows into a reservoir holding 395,000 gallons, the reservoir is built partially above the surrounding ground, and from thence it is delivered on the constant system direct from the mains to 751 houses, situated within an area of 150 acres. The supply is said to be adequate for the domestic requirements of a larger population. The rate of chai'ge for water is 2^ yier cent, on the rateable value of the houses. Basin of the Tamar. The district is supplied with water for domestic purposes from natural springs diverted, and flowing into reservoirs about two miles from the town. The works were established in 1854, and belong to the Local Board of Health. The reservoirs are situated at Tregadillett, at Trebursye, and at Broad Street, and contain 175,000 gallons. The water is not polluted before entering the reservoirs, and is filtered through sand. The reservoirs are partially built above ground, and are all covered. The supply is intermittent as regards the very high portions of the town, but constant in the lower parts ; and about 60,000 gallons are supplied to 703 houses within the district daily for domestic purposes. The streets are not watered as a rule, and the sewers are not flushed, but during the months of June, July, August, and September, only the waste water is used. The houses are partially supplied with cisterns, and in such case the overflow from the cisterns is connected Avith the sewers. The present supply is adequate for the supply of the district. The rate of charge for water varies from I*. 9d. in the pound for houses of the net annual value of 1/. 105. to 10c?. in the pound for houses of the annual value of 13/. 6s. 8d. In order to prevent waste, an inspection of the fittings is periodically made. The waterworks have cost 6,225/. Previously to the establishment of the waterworks, the inhabitants obtained their supply of water from wells Avhich are now abandoned. We have no means of ascertaining Avhether the improved supply of water has had a beneficial etfect upon the health of the inhabitants. The town is a very healthy one. The water supplying the lower levels was analysed by Mr. William Herapath, senior, F.C.S., Professor of Chemistry. The following is a copy of the analysis : — " Bristol Laboratoiy, Old Park, November 24th 186S. " Local Board of Health, Launceston, " Gentlemen, I have to report the result of an analysis of a sample of water forwarded for that purpose. The figures represent the grains and decimal parts contained in a gallon. Chlorate of magnesium - - - - - 1'60 Nitrate of magnesia - - - - - a trace Chloride of sodium - - - - -1-92 Sulphate of magnesia - - - - - '16 Carbon.ate of magnesia and lime - - - - 2-72 Sulphate of lime - - - - - - 4' 80 Oxide of iron a trace Humus ------- a trace Total grains - - - - - - 11*20 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION; — EVIDENCE — ANSWERS TO QUERIES — PART I. SEC. IV. xlv Basin of the Tamar — continued. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and I3istricts. LaUNCESTOX — C07lt. LiSKEARD St. Austell - Redkuih Answers to Queries 1 to 42, Page xxxvi — continued. " This is a very soft and good water, it is fit for drinking, washing, brewing, and domestic uses. Its degree of hardness is 9° before boiling, and 6° after boiling. (Signed) William Hkrapath, F.C.S., Professor of Chemistry." Basins of the Looe and Seaton. The borough is supplied with water for domestic purposes from a spring which rises in the centre of the town called " Pipe Well," fom- public wells or pumps, and also by wells or pumps belonging to private houses ; but principally by the Liskeard Water- works Company. The Liskeard Waterworks Company derives its supply from a series of springs, which rise at Poke Tor, Penhale, and Tremar Coombe, in the parish of St. Cleer, called the Tremar stream, the water from these springs is conveyed into reservoirs by pipes ; also fi'om springs which rise at Sibly Back, Cryllay, and Hend- rifton, in St. Cleer, called the Cryllay stream, the water from which runs in an open conduit about two miles from the springs, and by pipes for three miles into the reser- voirs. The waterworks belong to the Liskeard Waterworks Company, incorporated by the Liskeard Waterworks Act of 1860. The reservoirs are situated on St. Cleer down, in the parish of St. Cleer, about two miles from Liskeard. There is one reservoir divided into two equal parts for the purpose of straining the water, the area of which is 8,712 feet, the maximum depth 10 feet, and the contents o4o,.500 gallons. It is believed that the water is not polluted to any extent. It is not filtered, but strained through copper wire strainers, and flows by gravitation into the town. The water-bearing stratum of the public wells in Liskeard is Killas. The "Pipe Well " is a running stream, the source of which cannot be exactly ascertained. Ladye Well, Church Street, diameter 4 feet; depth 9 feet; Dean Well, diameter 4 feet ; depth about 28 feet. Castle Street Well, diameter 4 feet ; depth about 26 feet. Barn .Street Well, diameter 4 feet; depth about 75 feet. The supply by the Water- works Company is constant, and about 200,000 gallons of water are delivered to 760 houses within the district daily for domestic purposes. The remaining houses are supplied by public or private wells, or pumps. We are not able to give the volume of water used for watering streets, as it is only used in dry seasons. The supply from the waterworks is direct from the mains. There are very few cisterns. The overflows from the cisterns and waste pipes are connected with the sewers. The supply is quite adequate for the requirements of the town and district. The rate of charge for the water varies from 4s. Ad. per annum for houses of the annual value of Al. to 705. for houses of the annual value of 100/. The steps taken to prevent waste are constant inspection by the waterworks company. The taps and fittings of the waterworks have cost 6,500/. Previously to the establishment of the waterworks, the district was supplied by public and private wells. The water was analysed on the 21st Februaiy 1860, by Mr. Henry C. Hodge, analytical chemist of Plymouth. Basin of the St. Austell. The district is supplied with water for domestic purposes from springs in the gi'anite, about a mile and a half from the town. The water is collected in a reservoir, and conveyed from thence through mains to the town. The waterworks were established in 1786, and belong to the governing body. The area of the reservoir is 1 acre and 21 perches ; the maximum depth 7 feet, and contains 300,000 gallons. The water is not polluted before entering the reservoir, and is not filtered. It is not pumped, but flows by gravitation into the town. The supply is constant to 660 houses for domestic purposes, and about 12 manufactories or works for trade purposes, and 150,000 gallons are delivered to the district daily. About 10,000 gallons of water are used during the months of May, June, July, August, and September for watering streets and flushing sewers. The supply to the waterclosets is by cisterns, and for domestic purposes direct from the main. The overflow from the cisterns is into the sewers. The present supply is adequate for the requirements of the district. The rate of charge for water varies from 5*. on houses, the rateable value of which does not exceed ol. to 205. for houses, the rateable value of which does not exceed oOZ. In order to prevent waste a periodical inspection is made of the fittings. The waterworks have cost about 1,000/. Previously to the establishment of waterworks, the inhabitants obtained a supply of water from springs. The improved supply has had a beneficial efi'ect on the health of the inhabitants. Basin of the Camborne. The district is supplied with water obtained by driving adits into the granite formation ; the water is thence conveyed by mains into the streets, and the inhabitants have to obtain a supply from standpipes. The water is not filtered. The present h 3 xlvi RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — EVIDENCE — ANSWERS TO QUERIES. — PART I. SEC. IV. Basin of the Camborne — continued. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Answers to Queries 1 to 42, Page xxxvi — continued. Redruth — cont. supply is inadequate for the supply of the town and district. Previously to the water being obtained from its present source, the inhabitants ' had to collect the rainfall for domestic purposes. The water has not been analysed. Basin of the Fal. Penryn The borough is supplied with water for domestic purposes from gathering grounds and from wells. The waterworks were established in 1847 and belong to the Falmouth Waterworks Company. The reservoirs are situated at Antronmoor, about a mile from the town. There are five reservoirs, the area of the whole being about 20 acres, maximum depth 20 feet. The water is not polluted before entering the reser- voirs, is not filtered, and is not pumped. The area of the district supplied is about 289 acres. The supply is constant to 600 houses for domestic purposes, and two manufactories for trade purposes, and about 533,000 gallons are delivered to the borough daily. The supply is direct from mains for household purposes ; and from cisterns for waterclosets. The overflows fi'om the cisterns are connected with the drains, but not with the soil pipe. The present supply is adequate for the requirements of the town and district. The rate of charge for water is Is. in the pound on the gross rental. The only step taken to prevent waste is by the Waterworks Companj exercising control over and inspection' of the fittings. Previously to the establishment of the works, the inhabitants obtained their supply of water fi'om wells and running streams. The water has been analysed by Dr. Alfred Swain Taylor, F.R.S. Basin of the Hayter. Hayle The district is supplied with water for domestic purposes from springs and gather- ing ground. Waterworks were established in 1870, and belong to the Local Board. The reservoir is situated on the side of a hill about three-quarters of a mile from the town. The area of the gathering ground is about 3^ square miles. The area of the reservoir is 1,500 square yards, maximum depth 11 feet, and contains 1,000,000 gallons. The water is slightly polluted by surface drainage before entering the reser- voir, is not filtered, and is not pumped, but flows by gravitation to the town. The reser- voir is built partly above the surrounding ground, and is not covered. The area of the district supplied is 250 acres. The supply is constant, and about 15,000 gallons of water is delivered daily to about 300 houses for domestic pui'poses. About 2,000 gallons of water are used daily during the summer months for watering the streets. Some of the houses are supplied with cisterns, the overflow from which is connected with the sewers. The present supply is adequate to the requirements of the district. The rate of charge is 6rf. in the pound on the parish rating. The only step taken to prevent w^aste is by having waste preventers affixed to the fittings. The waterworks cost 2,000/. Previously to the establishment of the waterworks the district obtained water for domestic purposes from wells. Since the water supplied by the waterworks has been generally used typhoid fever has entirely disappeared, whilst previously to its adoption we lost from five to fifteen cases annually from this cause aloue. Scarlatina, formerly very malignant indeed, has been much milder in character ; and although we have had several cases of smalbpox imported the disease has not spread. The water has been analysed by Mr. J. H. Collins, Lecturer on Chemistry to the Medical Asso- ciation of Cornwall, and the following is a copy of the analysis : " Falmouth, March 4th 1872. — I have carefully analysed a sample of water in seven bottles supplied me by Mr. Buckle, Surveyor to the Local Board of Health, with the following results. On opening the bottles I noticed that the water was slightly turbid, and had a slight smell, but no unpleasant taste. The hardness of the water was deter- mined to be about 6 degrees Clark's scale, so that it may be considered ' soft water.' The total solid matters held in solution amounts to 17-8 grains per gallon, of which about 2'2 grains are 'organic,' a somewhat large proportion. The 'inorganic' solid matter, 15-6 grains consist of chloride of sodium (common salt), carbonate of lime, and sulphate of magnesia with traces of iron. None of these salts are at all injurious, the ' quantity' of organic matter is of less importance than its ' quality,' decayed vegetable matter being much less injurious than sewage matter. In the sample under examination I found a slight trace of nitric acid, and this, which is usually derived from sewage pollution is the only dangerous ingredient discoverable. Probably a close investigation will show that surface drainage from some farm finds its way into the reservoirs. " (Signed) J. H. Collins." RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— EVIDENCE — ANS-\VE11S TO QUERIES — I'ART I. SEC. IV. xlvii Basin or the Hayter — continued. Name of Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and Districts. Answers to Queries 1 to 42, Page xxxvi — continued. Phillack St. Ives LUDGVAN Madron - Penzance The inhabitants obtain a supply of potable water from shallow private wells. The supply is said to be adequate. The water has not been analysed. Basin of the St. Ives. The borough is supplied with water for domestic purposes from three streams con- veyed in large covered tanks to the outskirts of the town. The waterworks were estabUshed about 30 years ago, and belong to the Corporation. The tanks contain about 55,000 gallons. The area of the district supplied is about 80 acres. 350 houses are supplied with water for domestic purposes, and the remainder of the inhabitants obtain their water from public standpipes in the streets. The supply is constant, and 88,000 gallons of water are delivered to the district daily for domestic purposes. There is no water used for flushing sewers, and as the supply is very limited, none is used for watering the streets. The houses are not furnished with cisterns, but they are supplied direct from the mains. The present supply is inadequate for the require- ments of the district. The rate of charge for water varies from 3*. per annum upon houses rated at 6/. up to lO*. per annum upon houses rated at 20/. The only step taken to prevent waste is an inspection of the fittings. Previously to the establish- ment of the Avaterworks the inhabitants obtained their supply of water from wells. We are not aware that the improved water supply has had any beneficial effect upon the health of the inhabitants. The water has not been analysed. Basin of the The inhabitants obtain a supply of water for domestic purposes from shallow wells and fi-om streams. The supply is said to be adequate. The water has not been analysed. The district is supplied with water for domestic purposes by streams, wells, and pumps. The water has not been analysed. ' The borough is supplied with water for domestic purposes abstracted from streams just beyond the boundary of the borough. Waterworks were established in 1850 and belong to the Local Board of Health. About 200,000 gallons of water are abstracted from the streams daily, and conveyed into reservoirs about two miles from the town. The area of the reservoirs is about two and a quarter acres. The maximum depth is 10 feet and the contents 6,000,000 gallons. The water is polluted by cattle to some extent before entermg the reservoirs. It is not filtered and is not pumped, but flows by gravitation into the town. The area of the district supplied is 472 acres, and the number of houses 2,216, besides a railway station, gasworks, and iron foundry. The supply is constant, and 200,000 gallons are delivered to the district daily for trade and domestic purposes. The quantity of water supplied for flushing sewers and waterino- streets is very nncertain, and cannot be ascertained. Most of the waterclosets are supplied from mains direct ; some have cisterns, the overflows from which are con- nected with the sewers, but are trapped. There has been an ample supply of water for the last two years, but considerable inconvenience was experienced three years ago on account of the drought. The rate of charge for water varies from 45. Ad. per annum on houses of a rateable value not exceeding 4/. up to 29*. Sd. for houses of a rateable value not exceeding 42/. In order to prevent waste inspections of the fittings are made at regular intervals. The waterworks, as before stated, have cost 7,836/. 4s. 11c?. Previously to the establishment of the waterworks the town was supplied with water from streams, private wells, and pumps. We are unable to note any material difierence in the effect produced by the improved water supply upon the health of the inhabitants. The water has not been analysed. EIVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION : —EVIDENCE— ANSWERS TO QUERIES.— PART II. xlix PART IL STATEMENT OP RIPARIAN PROPRIETORS, AND OF MINE AGENTS AND OTHERS, IN REPLY TO QUERIES RELATING TO RIVERS AND STREAMS POLLUTED BY METALLIFEROUS AND SALT MINES, COLLIERIES (WHERE COAL IS WASHED), CHINA CLAY WORKS, AND BY THE WORKERS IN METAL. QUERIES. — Name of your estate and of the river or stream on wbieh it is situated? — 2. Has the bed of the river or stream silted up ; if so, to what cause do you attribute it 1 — 3. Bescribe the past and present condition, within your knowledge, of that part of the river or stream fiowing; by or through your estate! — 4. Xs the river or stream polluted by refuse from collieries, mines, works, and mills ; if so, to what extent 7 — 5. Has injury been done to any of your agricultural land, or produce, or cattle, by the overflowing of the river or stream? — 6. Have proceedings in Chancery or actions at law been taken by you against owners of collieries, mines, mills, or works, for alleged injury to your land, produce, or cattle, by their operations ? — 7. Have you any suggestions to offer as to the best means of avoiding pollution in future, or as to the conservancy of rivers and streams ? Name and Residence of Eiparian Proprietors and others. Day Perry Le Grice, Esq., Ti e- reij'e, Penzance. The Right Honble. The Lord Vivian Glynn, Bodmin. Robert Edyrean, Captain and Adju- tant Duke of Corn- wall's Artillery Vo- lunteers, Bodmin, Cormvall,tvustee to William Phillipps. WiLLUM BuRD, De- puty Harbour Mas- ter of Padstow. Answer to Queries. 30928. CORNWALL. My estate (Trereife) is situate in the parish of Madron on the river Neivlyn,i\iQ be-' of which has silted up. A few years ago the river abounded with trout, but soon after the tui-smelting works, called " Trereife Smelting Works," were taken by the present firm a quantity of trout were found dead, and several ducks also died in the river no trout have been in the stream since, as it is polluted by a poisonous refuse from these works. My estate is situated on the river Faioeij, the bed of which has silted up. The river was formerly clear and full of fish ; now it is so tainted with minino- refuse chiefly from St. Noot's, as to render it unfit for use by cattle, or for fish. The^water has been analysed and its deleterious qualities strongly remarked upon. Two clear affluents flow through my lands so that the cattle do not use river water, but my bailiff" last year attributed a soreness of feet, with which most of my animals were visited to the poisonous nature of the Avater, through which they were obliged to pass. No pro- ceedings in Chancery or action at law have been taken against the owners of collieries mines, mills, or works for alleged injury to my laud, produce, or cattle, althou^rh I have on several occasions threatened to do so. I am of opinion that pollution mio-ht in a great measure be avoided if mine owners were compelled to pass their refuse water through settling pits before it enters the rivers. Many promise this, but it is seldom done and a perem-ptory requirement by law would be beneficial. Butterwell estate is situated on the river Camel. The bed of the river lias silted up to a considerable extent, so that after much rain it overflows its banks, depositino- on the land a great quantity of skimpings from the tin works at Lanivet, thus reducin? Its value. The stream was formerly clear and had a good lied which enabled salmon to spawn in great numbers, yielding a revenue which is now lost. The river is lar"-ely polluted by refuse from tin mines and clay works. Great injury has been done to°our agricultural land for more than a mile in length, on cither side, by the overflowiii"' of the river and deposit of solid refuse. No proceedings in Chancery or actions at "law have been taken by me against the owners of collieries, mines, mills, or works on account of the expense I should have to incur. To avoid pollution in future I woidd suggest that it should be compulsory that the refuse water from such works should be passed through settling ponds before entering the river. I am deputy harbour master for the Port of Padstow and reside at Wadebrid'^e which place I have known for the pnst 35 years. About 10 years since there was not much mine refuse washing down the river, but since that time the water has become greatly impregnated with mud and small gravel, and the deposit of mud and -ravel at Wadebridge has greatly increased. Much cost is incurred in keeping tlie inud from gathering m front of the quays here. I have to keep the public quays clear, and it costs about , /. per year. It is my duty also to see that the occupiers of private wharves attend to the orders of the Commissioners in keeping the front of their quays clear of 1 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION ; — EVIDENCE — ANSWERS TO QUERIES. — PART II. Statement or Ripaiiian Proprietors, and of Mine Agents and others- Cornwall — Gont. Name and Residence of Riparian I'loprietors and others. Answer to Queries. Joseph Pendrav, of PoUrock. William Cakteij, of Pollrock. Colonel Gkylls,J.P., Leivar n e, Lis heard. The liioht Ilonblc. The Eiul of St. Gerjians, Port Eliot. mud, and I think it costs 50/. per yefuse AA^ater should be passed through catch-pits. Colonel Pryse, Lord Lieutenant of Car- diganshire, Ahe- rystwith. Sir Pryse Pryse, Bart., Gogerddun. CARDIGANSHIRE. My estate is situated on the rivers Claruch, Rhcidol, Ystwith and Peithyll, the bods of Avhich have all silted up to a large extent on account of the stufftipped into Ihem from the lead mines. All the streams I have named Avere in my recollection full of fish, salmon, sewiu, and trout, and the Avater beautifully pure for all purposes. Now the first three named streams are not only fishless but also devoid of all insect life. The Peithyll again contains fish as the Avashing of ore on that brook has ceased for the past 20 years, but Avhile it Avas going on the fish Avere all killed. I re-stocked the brook some time after the Avashing ceased. Great injury has been done to the fields on the banks by the overflowing of the river, and cattle and horses have been killed in great nund)ers. No proceedings in Chancery or actions at law have been taken against the owners of mines, mills, or Avorks, for alleged injury to my agricultural land, produce, or cattle by their operations. I Avould suggest that every mine owner should be compelled l)y hiAV, by the use of catch-pits, filtration, and any chemicals Avhich may be necessary, so to purify the water used on the dressing floors that it should be innocuous to fish, animals, or herbage. Government Inspectors should be appointed throughout the country (as is done in Prussia) to see these regulations carried out. My Gogerddan estate is situate on the rivers Blicidol, Clarach, Lcrry, Ccula.i, Einion, and Dovcy, and Avith the exception of the Einion the beds of' tlie rivers have silted up, caused by the Avashings fr om the lead mines. Tlie Bheidol below the mines, when it overflows, destroys the herbage, or renders it unfit for grazinsr purposes, thus deteriorating the xiAwG of land on its banks ; the Avater is useless for drinking purposes, and it is entirely without fish. The Clarach is entirely useless for human or agricultural purposes, it is over 20 years since I have seen a living thin/'. Frankland.) You are, I presume, ac- quainted Avith the Avater supply of Penzance ? — Yes.- 53. Can yon state from Avhat sources it is derived, and Avhctlicr it is derived from more than one source ? — We have Avater at the storage reservoirs, Avhich are at Trengwainton. We have also another supply to the service reserA'oir at the top of the toAvn. 64. Are those two distinct and separate sources ? — Y'^es. Tei ■race, Penzance, examined. 55. Are those the only sources from Avhich you obtain Avater ?~We get A\'ater at the Leskinnick Shoot, Avliich is what we call pot Avatcr, it is not^bften used for^drinkiug purposes, althougli it used to be. 56. Does it not mix with the general Avater supply ? — It does not. 57. For Avhat purpose is that water used? — It is taken on l)oard ships, and the people use it for Avashing, but nearly eA-ery one has water hi the house from taps. It is not generally used for drinking but for other purposes. 58. Is that Avater supphed to one particular part of the toAvn only ? — Yes, it is at the bottom of the town ; the people in that neighbourhood only take it. 59. From what source is it derived, from springs or a gathering ground ?— From springs that rise within the limits of the borough. 60. Is it supplied by gravitation, or by pumping ? By gravitation. I should say that we have another supply from Alverton Well, and that water is largely used for drinking. 61. I suppose this Avell is situated at a considerable elevation in the town ? — No, it is close at hand. Tlie Avell at Leskinnick rises at a higher part of the town. 62. That, as I understand you, is the water Avhich is supplied to ships, and to the lov>^er part of the tOAvn ? —Yes. 63. With reference to the source within the toAvn, that I imagine is pumped to a reservoir, so as to com- mand the toAvn ? — No. It rises freely in the Avinter time, and flows down through a leat to the loAver part of the toAvn, and is then taken by the people from a shoot. That is one of the original supplies of the town ; it is not so plentiful in the summer. 64. Whence does the water come that is supplied to the Queen's Hotel ? — From the high reservoirs, Avhich are at TrengAvainton. 65. The water from that reservoir, I presume, sup- plies nearly the whole of Penzance ? — Nearly the whole. 66. Is it derived from one or from many sources ? — From two sources ; one is on Trengwainton Moor, and the other is called the Nanzaglas stream. 67. Is the first spring Avater ?— Yes, and the other is also spring water. 68. Does it flow in an open stream ? — It does for some distance. 69. Does it receive any polhition of any kind in its course ? — No, I think not. 70. What is the character of the laud thi-ough which it flows ; is it grazing land ? — It is to some ex- tent grazing land, but a great deal of it is in corn and market gardens. 71. Manure is of course supplied to it ? — To some extent it is, and the land is rich. 72. Do vegetable and organic matters in the shape of falling leaves pass into the Avater ? — Yes ; the Avater comes through ponds surrounded by trees, and when the ponds overflow it comes to us. 73. I suppose that the drainage from the land to some extent finds its Avay into it ? — I think it must do so. 74. Is there any town manure used upon the land ? — Not that I kuoAV of ; in fact, I may say no. The manure is sold at the other end of the tOAvn, princi- pally at Gulval. 75. Is the AA'ater filtered after it is received into the storage rescrA oir ? — It is only filtered in one way ; that is, it is at present j-unuing through felt before it goes into the pipe ; and that is only a strainer. 76. Is there an abundant supply of water ? — At present tiiere is. 77. Has there been any scarcity ? — There is none now, but Ave have had a great scarcity. 78. About three years ago ? — Yos, and last year to some extent. 79. Have you taken in any additional sources of supply since that scarcity occurred, or do you rely upon the same sources now ? — We have not taken in RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION:-- — ORAL EVIDENCE PART III. 3 any additional source of supply, but we intend to lay down filter beds, and to have a service reservoir in connexion with them, and thal^ will bo another source of supply, for we have a great deal of waste water, which now runs over the waste sill, and which might be made useful to us. 80. You say you intend to filter the water. Is it not as a matter of fact frequently turbid ? — I do not knoAV that there is much to complain of ; it has been a little thick rather than anything else. I do not know that there is much vegetable matter about it. 81. Is the supply constant ? — Yes. 82. Do you take any special precautions against waste ? — We have inspections made by the police. They go and inspect all taps and waterclosets to see that there is no waste. 83. How often does that inspection take place ? — The police have instructions, whenever they are on their rounds, if they hear of any waste of water, to report it, and in case the person causing the waste commits the offence again, proceedings are taken against him. One inspection is made annually of every house and every closet. 84. Do the inspectors frequently find the fittings out of order ? — No. 85. Have you any so-called tell-tale pipes, which show you in the street v/here any leakage has taken place ? — No. 86. Is there no stint to the supply ? — No ; we have always a heavy pressure. 87. Does the water pass through a ferrule, or a con- traction of the pipe, which passes into a house ? — No. 88. Is either of the reservoirs covered ? — No. 89. Where is the service reservoir situated in the town ? — The service reservoirs are storage reservoirs too. The service reservoir that I mentioned is at the top of the town, which is supplied from Madron stream. That is what has often been called a service reservoir. The others are storage reservoirs, and they are much larger. They hold about 6,000,000 gallons, and they serve the town directly. 90. Does not the water pass through the service reservoir which is supplied from Madron ? — No ; we have three pipes, a 9-inch pipe, and a 12-inch pipe from the reservoirs at Trengwainton, and a 6-inch pipe from the reservoir in the town that supplies the quay. 91. Is the water from Madron well not mixed with the general supply to the town ? — -It is not. 92. To what part of the town is it supplied ?— That is very seldom supplied at all. We are only able to get it in the winter time, and in the winter time the water from the other source is better. We put it into the same pipe, having a branch to supply the lower part of the town ; when we are short of water at the storeage reservoirs we put the Madron water into the reservoir at the top end of the town. We have a branch from the mains coming from the storeage reservoirs into the service reservoir at the top of the town. We have plenty of water often running over the waste sills, and at those times we supply the service reservoir in the to^vn with water from higher reservoirs. 93. And that may occur at any time during the winter ? — Yes, at all times during the winter. 94. But in the summer it never occurs ? — Never. 95. When you do distribute the Madron water, is it distributed to the whole of the town ? — No ; there is only one part of the town that can be supplied with The witnei it ; there is a spring at Poltair between Madron and Mr. A. Morrit. Penzance, and this supplies the reservoir at the top of the town. S'-'P'- ^872. 96. There is none of the Madron water that you Penzance can take in in the summer ? — No. " 97. You then depend upon the other spring ? — Yes ; there is another spring between Penzance and Madron, and that supply goes witli the water for the higher reservoirs. 98. Is the water in the small reservoir brought directly from the spring in pipes, or does it run in an open leat ? — In an open leat. 99. Does it receive any pollution of any kind ? — Nothing but from cattle drinking, or putting their feet into it. 100. Cattle have access to it? — Yes. 101. Is the water generally liked by the inhabitants? — I should think so ; I hear no complaints. 102. Can you state what quantity is supplied per head ? — 35 gallons per head. 103. Do you know what was the hardness of the former water supply ? — I do not. 1 04. Is it soft water that you have now ? — It is. 105. In addition to the supply of water to the town, are there not some private shallow wells ? — There is the Alverton well which I have already mentioned, and there is one that we have not in use now, which is also in Alverton, a pump well. 106. Is that abandoned entirely ? — No ; it is intended to put it in use again ; it is very good water. 107. What is the depth of that well ?— About 30 feet. 108. Is it sunk into the rock ? — Yes. 109. Does the supply come from granite? — It comes through stone, but not granite. 110. Are there no other wells that are used, either public or private ? — I do not know of any that are "used. I have seen some, but they are not used. I know of one house in Alverton that has a well, but I never knew of its being used. 111. {Mr. Morton.) Are you acquainted with the course of the Chyandour river ? — I am not, but I know that it comes from a mine. 112. Is that the first pollution which it receives ? — I imagine it is ; it is at the head of the stream. 113. Is that the only mine in the course of that stream ? — Yes. 114. Are there no other sources of pollution in the co^ursc of the Chyandour — I am not aware of any. 115. Is it not from Ding Dong mine that all the red mud comes down which is carried by that stream ? —Yes. 116. Does that at all injure the harbour of Penzance ? — That is matter of opinion, some people think it does, and some think it does not. 117. Are you put to any expense for dredging? — We do not dredge at present ; but we have gone to some expense in moving sand from a bar there. 118. Have you heard any complaint made of the condition of the Chyandour stream from any person living on its banks ? — No. 119. Not from any holder of land ? — No. 120. Is the river at times flooded ? — I believe so, but I have never happened to be there when it was flooded. 121. Does it not sometimes spread over the land ? — I believe it does. withdrew. Mr. George B. Rosewall, 122. {Dr. Frankland.). Kyq you the medical officer of St. Ives ? — No ; but I have been in practice there over 20 years. 123. Do you not consider that the death rate at St. Ives is rather high ? — Lately it has been so ; but it has not been so if you take a large number of years. I think you will find that the average for the last 10 years has been 20| in 1,000. We have had it as low as 18-2, 19, and 20 per 1,000 ; but during two epi- I.R.C.S., St. Ives, examined. demies of small-pox and typhoid fever, the death rate Mr G B was raised in tAvo separate years to 25 in 1,000. Rosewall. 124. Wliat was the population of St. Ives in 1861 ? — It was somewhere about 6,400. 125. What are the epidemics which principally pre- vail at St. Ives ? — We have had in the last five years typhoid fever, which we were not at all accustomed to, and had not had for 20 years. We have also had an epidemic of small-pox, and foui- or five years ago A 2 4 PaVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — OUAL EVIDENCE — PAKT III. Mr. G. Ji. an epidemic of scfirlot fever. Our death rate rose in ItiKcirull. consequence in those years to 25 per 1,000. 7 Scr)r"li^'"2 what did you attribute the outbreak of ' " ■ typhoid fever ? — It began in one of our hamlets out Teuzauco. of St. Ives, aVjout a mile and a half from tlie town, and at that time I a( trihuted the outbi eak a i^ood deal to the water which the people draijk. Cesspools, I believe, percolated through. 127. Did the people derive their supply of water from shallow wells. Yes ; the disease began in a hamlet, and we had no fewer than 50 causes of typhoid fever in that hamlet alone. 128. Do you know whether at that time there were any imported cases ? — I think not. I believe it gene- rated itself. I endeavoured to trace it, but I could not lind any imported case. It seemed to break out spontaneously, and there were 40 or 50 cases in that hamlet. 129. Have you formed any opinion as to how it happened that, as the people had been constantly drinking the well water, they should not have been attacked by the disease before ? — It is difficult to com- prehend that, but I may say that since the cesspools were cleansed there has been scarcely any ; we have liardly had any fever since that period. It is dillicult to account for the outbreaks of fever ; they seem to come periodically. 130. In this case, I understand you did trace the cause with tolerable certainty to the water tlie people drank ? — I found that the water was affected. I was there at the time myself. I visited the place, and thoroughly inspected it, and gave orders for it to be thoroughly cleansed ; it is about a mile and a half from St. Ives. 131. Did you find palpable evidence of percolation from cesspools ? — Yes ; there were not many cases in the town. 132. The outbreak occurred iu a hamlet ? — Yes. 133. Since the abolition of cesspools, and an im- provement in the water supply, has there been no recurrence of typhoid fever ? — No. 134. What can you say with regard to scarlatina ? — I must regard that like other epidemics. Some cases, I think, of scarlet fever came into the town, and likewise some cases of small-pox. 135. I suppose there is not much overcrowding iu the town of St. Ives ? — There is a little in some parts of the town. 136. Was it chiefly in the overcrowded parts of the town that these diseases prevailed ? — We had more in those parts, certainly, than in others ; in the lowei' part of the town, where they are overcrowded. 137. Should you attribute the prevalence of epi- demic disease either to an impure water supply, or to the want of a sufficient quantity for cleansing pur- poses ? — I should not say it was on account of the quality of the water, for the water is very good there. I consider that there is no water better than the water supplied to the town, but we have barely suffi- cient. I can scarcely say that we have any for cleans- ing purposes, strictly speaking, that is, for Hushing the sewers or gutters. 138. Is water laid on to the houses? — In a great many houses ; about 300. 139. Is the supply constant ? — I can scarcely say that, for at times in the summer we have not quite sufficient, but as a rule it is constant. 140. Is the water derived from streams? — Yes, there are three streams, the two principal ones are adit streams. 141. Do they come from mines ? — Yes, they come from a former mine. 142. You mean a mine that is not in work now? — Yes, that is the best stream. The mine which supplies it has not been worked ibr 100 years, and that is in strata of granite, and the water is \evy good indeed. 143. Is it soft water ? — Yes, very pure indeed and very soft. 144. We may take ir that it is rc'ally spring -water? — Yes, and there cannot be better watei-. 145. How far does that stream run in an open channel before you impound it?— It is about a mile from the adit to the town, • 146. Is it exposed to any possible pollution ? — Very little indeed. It lias been covered over of late } (;ars, and the only pollution it is exposed to is when it passes through an estate, Avhen decayed leaves may fall into it and foul it. 147. Have cattle access to it ? — Not now, because it is nearly covered over. 148. Referring to the replies ro the queries I per- ceive that the tank, which I presume is the service reservoir, is covered ? — Yes. 149. Do you consider it desirable to cover the service reservoir ? — ^Yes. 150. In the case of a reservoir near a town — If you can properly protect it when uncovered, it would be better, but it is so very near the town that it clears itself every day. At this time of the year we have not quite sufficient water. The tank does not hold more than a day's supply ; in fact all that the tank holds is about 33,000 gallons. 151. Do you attribute to the epidemic of small- pox your higher death rate ? — Yes, and I could almost trace every case of small-pox to a case being imported. 152. Was there not any spread of it in the town ? — Yes, at that time there was, but it has not been so lately, it seems to have completely died out. 153. You do not think it had any connexion with the water supply ? — None whatever. We have had five cases of small-pox in the persons of adults brought into the town lately, but it has not spread. 154. Are there any localities which you consider to be specially unhealthy ? — No, we have a little over- crowding in some parts of the town. 155. Do you find that diseases, especially of the zymotic class, prevail more in the overcrowded parts of the town ? — I think I usually find that to be so. 156. Have you had any cholera in St. Ives ? — We had 15 years ago, but not since then. 157. Was there no cholera in 1866 ? — None at all. We had 14 cases in 1849, and since 1849 in 1854. 158. How did you account for those cases ? — They were imported from Wales. 159. How did you account for the spread of the disease ? — I remember every first case being brought in. 160. Were there any private wells then in the town? — I think not ; we have not used any private wells for the last 20 years. 161. Was there no possible means of communication by the agency of water ? — I think not. I could not trace it in any way at that period. 162. What sort of privies or closets are generally in use in the town ? — We are badly ofl' for privies. 163. Do many persons make use of one ? — No, but I think that in the town altogether there are not more than 130 privies. 164. Then I suppose many persons must go to one ? — No; in the lower part of the town, -which juts out into the sea, mauy of the people seem to go to the beach, other members of a family use the same utensil in the house, and the contents are thrown into the sea, on to the beach. 165. Do you remember in what parts of the town the cholera cases occurred ? — Mainly in the lower part of the town, not fai- from the beach, but there -were some ciises in the upper part of the town ; there were only 14 eases in all. 166. Do you recollect whether the ^\ eather was hot at the time or not ? — It Avas in warm weather, and the reason I remember it particularly is that I came into the town with a case brought in in the same carriage, so that I remember the parties being ill afterwards very well, but I could not trace it to anything more than a case being brought in, and hence it went on. 167. Would the excrementitious matters tin-own upon the beach be always carried away into the sea ? — Next tide would always remove theui, or nearly alwa}s. KIVEKS rOLLOTfON COMMISSION : — ()]{ VL EVIDKXOK — I'AiJT III. 168. If any of that stuff became dry, miglit not tliat be a means of communicating disease? — Yes; there is a little of it left, but not much. The people usually throw it down pretty low, aiul when the tide comes in, it remov(w everything of that kind. Ha. What is the name of that river ? — It is gene- rally called the Newlin river. 467. Referring to the return made of the number of deaths in Penzance, it appears that since 1859 there have been occasions when the mortality has been high ; for instance, in 1860, 214 deaths; in 1862, 235; in 1864, 275 ; and again in 1869 no fewer than 286 deaths ; were those attributable to the prevalence of any particular epidemics ? — I should first say that there is another matter in Penzance Avhich I think is detri- mental to health ; I mean the bad condition of some of the poorer cottages ; they are ill-ventilated, and, in many cases overcrowded. That matter is now referred to us to obtain various reports as to their condition and the courts in the town, and to have them all properly inspected. When the inspector comes down again to Penzance I shall make a very strong repre- sentation to him upon this subject, for it is very desir- able that the poorer cottages in Penzance should be. placed on a better footing. 468. Was it in reference to the overcrowding in those cottages that the inspectoi- blamed the autho- rities ? — Yes ; there is, for example, a cottage with a door and two front windows onlj'- ; there is no through ventilation by haviug an aperture at the back, they ' are built back to back ; but now we do all we can to prevent this, and oblige the builders to build these cottages in such a way as to give ventilation. 469. What are the special diseases that you consider are brought about by bad ventilation? — At this moment it is small-pox. In one court I belicA e that every house had small-pox in it ; there have been three or four deaths in one house down at the quay ; thei'C has also been scark't fever, and deaths often; it is very- fatal to children. 470. Can you call to mind the chief cause of the high mortality in 1869 ? — 1 think it must have been diarrhoea; the greater number were cases of children ; children will die from bad feeding, and we satisfied ourselves that it was owing to bad feeding and had nursing ; the parents gave the children sago and rolled biscuits, and the food Avas too thick ; such food brings on diarrhoea and thrush. 471. That injudicious kind of feeding is much the same everywhere, is it not ? — Yes ; in some seasons diarrhoea is more prevalent. A trifling thing upsets little children, but it is not satisfactory to us, after the amount of money we have laid out in Penzance, to have at times these outl)reaks. I should mention that con- sumptive people come here. 472. Do many people come here as invalids, and die here ? — A great many. 473. That would considerably affect the rate of mortality, would it not ? — Yes, there are several death.s every year of strangers. They are often sent to Pen- zance in the last stage of consumption, and they die here. In the second stage it would be beneficial to them. 474. Do you consider that the mode in which ex- crementitious matters are dealt Avith in Penzance has any deleterious influence upon the health of the in- habitants ? — No ; the Commissioners probably know the outlets of our sewerage ; one is away to the Avest, as far out to the rocks as it can be carried ; it is cariied out to low-water mark. It is sometimes coA^ered for several tides, and the contents are ahvays washed jiway. 475. Is there not always a risk in a seaside town that the rising of the tide Avill back up the sewer gases and force them into the houses ? — We have ventilatins shafts, and the sewers are much better ventilated than they were. We have put up eight or 10 shafts in the last 10 months. 476. Did you suffer from the cause I have men- tioned before ? — Yes, I suffered from it in my own house, but we have ventilating shafts at the end of the sewers, and some intermediate ones as well. 477. Do you knoAV of any instances recently of sewer gases finding their way into the interiors of dwelling- houses ? — I do not know of any disease that has been caused by it, but I have smelt it myself ; I think that every house ought to have a ventilating shaft of its own. 478. Are the traps in the houses generally in good condition ? — -Yes. 479. Then through defective traps there is not much risk of scAver gases coming in ? — No. Until Ave put up these shafts, the pipes being so much under water, there Avas a great deal of forcing up of the gases, and Avhen the water left the pipes of the Avestern outlet, it went off like a cannon. The eastern outfall is not so far out, it is at the back of the pier, and it goes out amongst the rocks. 480. As a matter of fact, is there any nuisance upon the shore from scAvage matter ? — I have seen it out close to the outfall near the riA-er, Avhen the Avind has been bloAving in strong. As a rule, you do not see it at the eastern outfall, you occasionally see it at the mouth of the hai'bour ; it all depends upon the set of the tide. 481. Have you had any cases of Asiatic cholera in Penzance ? — Only tAvo cases Avithin my recollection. 482. Had you no case in 1866 ? — No. 483. Or in 1854? — I think that Avas the year in Avhich Avc had two cases. 484. Were they imported ? — No ; at least one Ave fancied Avas ; in the case of a man in a low lodging- house, but he recovered. 485. Had he come into Penzance shortly before ? — Yes, he was a traveller. The other case Avas that of a man Avho was servant to a medical friend of mine. He came home with his master one evening, AA'as tiiken ill A\'ith cholera, and Avas dead in the morning by four o'clock. I have not seen a primarj^ case of Asiatic cholera myself, but we have had some severe cases of English cholera ; that is everywhere. 486. {3Ir. Morto?i.) Do you knoAv AAdio is the tenant of the fields over Avliich the Madron sewage is poured ? — They are in the occupatiou of a mau named Jeffery. 487. Do you know Avhether any nuisance is com- plained of in connexion Avith that ? — I think that the RIVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION .* —ORAL EVIDKNCE — PART III. 13 water wliicli comes from Madron is totally unfit for drinking. 488. If it is poured over the land, it is defecated there ? — We take little notice of that Madron stream now. 489. But the drainage of the village that is poured over the fields fertilizes the laud ? — Yes. 490. If there is any water in the valley hclow the fields, does that get into the Madron Brook again ? — I should say so, — the Chyandour. I do not think that it is exactly detrimental to health. But no doubt it interferes a good deal with our eastern beach ; it fouls the water, and it comes down in a very thick state from Ding Dong. 491. {Dr. Frankland.') I suppose nobody drinks that water ? — No ; we thought that by pounding it back near its source it might be made a little better than it is. 492. {Mr. 3'lorton.) Is any injury done to the land by the side of the Chyandour stream, owing to its con- dition ? — I think not. 493. Have cattle access to that water ? — No ; wc think that it has had some effect upon the harbour, — that it silts up the mouth of the harbour. 494. Do you know any instance of streams polluted by mines being a source of ill-health, or a nuisance? — No doubt they are a nuisance, but people will not drink that water, their eyes will warn them. The waters which are most prejudicial are those waters which look so nice and sparkling; they contain foul matter very often. The quantity of red matter in these streams is a protection. 49o. Do you know if any injuiy done to health by any mine-polluted stream in Cornwall ? — I cannot speak of any injury, because peoi^le do not use the water. 496. Have there not been a few cases of injury done to cattle ? — I believe so. We are not in a proper con- dition in Penzance yet, but we hope to obtain further powers. Mr. F. Boase. 17 Kept. 1872. Penzance. The witness with(h"ew. Adjourned to Redruth to-morrow at 10 o'clock. The Board Room, of the Local Board of Health, Redruth. (For the West and East Central Districts, including Helston, Falmouth, Penryn, Gavennap, St. Austell, Truko, Camborne, and RedrUth.) Wednesday, September 18th, 1872. present : Dr. Edward Frankland, F.R.S. | Mr. John Chalmers Morton. Mr. S. J. Smith, F.G.S., Secretary. Dr. Henry Harris, F.R, 497. {Dr FrankUmd.) How long have you been in practice in Redruth ? — I commenced in 1833, and I have resided, here ever since. 498. In the replies which the Commissioners have received to queries, it appears that the death rate in Redruth for 10 years has been nearly uniform, but there was one year, 1863, when it was very abnor- mally high, 31 per 1,000. Can you give us any explanation of that sudden increase in the death rate ? — Redruth is considered to be a very healthy town ; I am not quite sure whether we had not scarlatina at that time. I cannot say positively how that was. 499. In 1863 the deaths rose to 336 in the year ?— That vv^as certainly high. 500. Was there any typhoid fever in the town that year ? — I suppose we had cases of typhus fever. 501. Are such cases common in Redruth ? — Not so much now, because the town is better di-aiued, and sanitary measures have been carried out, so that we have not so much typhoid fever now as we formerly had. 502. Have you remarked an improvement iu the health of the town since drainage works have been carried out ? — Yes ; a considerable improvement. 503. What should you say were the chief epidemics that prevail occasionally in Redruth ? — Scarlet fever. 504. Have you ever had a very severe attack ? — Yes. 505. Have you attributed that to any sanitary defect in the town which could be remedied ? — I think not, because I have known many fatal cases in a country place, and a watering place, and nobody could account for it. 506. An imported case might of course affect many persons ? — Yes. 507. Is it within your experience that scarlatina spreads more rapidly in a locality which is in a bad sanitary condition than in those which arc in a good sanitary condition ? — I think so, at Camborne, for in- stance, which is conspicuous in Cornwall. In that C.S., Redruth, examined. town, for want of good sanitary measures, and lying very flat, small-pox has broken out to a great extent, and I believe there were no fewer than 77 deaths from small-pox last year. 508. Have you had many cases of small-pox in Redruth? — Not many. I do not know that more than three or four persons have been buried in the parish. 509. Do you mean in this year ? — Yes ; but we have been very free from small-pox in this parish. 510. Does scarlatina prevail now in Redruth ? — Not that I am aware of. I do not know of a case. 511. When was it that the last outbreak of that disease took place ? — Last year. 512. Was it then severe ? — Yes ; in some cases. I do not know that we buried many. I know of one family out of which they buried two young women in their teens. I was called to see one in her dying moments, and she died shortly afterwards. The medical man who attended her treated her very properly, but the case resisted all proper treatment. 513. Were many of the cases of a highly malignant character ? — I think not many. 514. Mostly of a mild form ? — Yes ; Redruth is considered to be a very healthy town. 515. How are the houses connected with the sewers in Redruth ? — There are no proper sewers. Nothing will do but a system of main and branch sewers through the town, .and every house connected with them. 516. Is there no regulcir system of sewerage in Redruth ?— No. 517. That is to say, the houses are not connected with a main sewer in the street ? — No ; but we have a very intelligent and efficient board of health, and excellent officers who carry out everything that is necessary. 518. But they do not seem to consider that provi- sion necessary ? — I suppose that money is a considera- tion to the inhabitants who spend plenty of money, and I think they are able to do it all. I do not sup- B 3 Dr. II. Harris. 18 Sept. 1872. 14 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Ih: fL Harris. poRo that there is abetter inspector in the county than IS s~~t~i«7o h^vG here. "ept^is72. How is tlie dirty water, such as the water used Eedrutli. for washing and chamber slops, disposed of in the liouses ? — There is one place called Sandow's Row, where they throw it out in front of the houses when they have finished washing ; they do not care much about cleanliness in that matter ; this dirty water remains, and accumulates at the back of nearly every house, and is much complained of. Fever and small- pox have bi-oken out there. 520. Are there any cesspools near some of the houses ? — There are some. 521. Have they any overflow ? — I suppose they have sometimes in wet weather. 522. Have yoii ever attributed any sickness to the proximity of tliose cesspools ? — I have repeatedly. 523. Do gases sometimes find their way from the cesspools into the interiors of the houses ? — No doubt ; last year it could not liave been otherwise, if they opened a door or a windoiv, it must have occurred constantly. 524. Have there been in the last five or six years many cases of typhoid or typhus fever in Redruth ? — I do not think so ; that is, in the town of Redruth. I believe there have been some in what we call the village of Churchtown, where the houses are low and the windows are small ; they do not attend to sanitary measures, and I dare say they invited disease there. 525. Were the interiors of the houses in a bad sanitary condition ? — Yes ; they have also had small- pox and typhus fever in that neighbourhood. 526. Should you attribute those diseases more to the condition of the interiors than to any bad sanitary arrangements outside, for instance, as to drainage ? — I think to both. 527. In Redruth itself, I understand you to say that there are but few cases of typhus or typhoid fever? — Yes ; we have almost banished them out of the town by proper measures being taken. 528. Had you any cholera in Redruth in the years when that disease was prevalent ? — Yes, in 1854. 529. Had you any in 1849 ? — Yes; and we had cholera when it appeared first. In 1831 and 1833 there were many fatal cases. 530. Was the attack that you had in 1849 a severe one ? — I cannot distinctly go back to dates ; although I was mixed up with every visitation of cholera, I do not remember sufficiently to speak accurately ; but we had many cases of cholera and some deaths. I am told that there were 63 deaths in 1854. 531. Do you remember whether in 1866 you had any cholera in Redruth ? — I cannot remember. I may mention that last year and the year before in every house in this neighbourhood, and in every case where typhus fever has appeared, I have always seen a choked drain, or a stinking pipe, or a cesspool, at the back door ; and in no case have I known fever to exist without it ; and in many cases that state of things still remains. 532. No doubt you consider such an unsatisfactory state of things to be very deleteiious to health ? — Very much so indeed, and I am very anxious to see all these nuisances removed, for I have in consequence, as medical officer, a great deal more work to do in Swithians and Gwennap. I boheve, if these places were removed, I should have less to do. 533. Do you consider it desirable that all excremen- titious matters should be removed while quite fresh from the neighbourhood of dwellings ? — Yes, I do. Gases proceed from decomposition, and every nuisance, and every kind of filth from the human body shoidd be thrown out as fast as possible and covered. 534. What do you think would be the best plan to adopt to accomplish that ? — Hasty removal by persons acting regularly, and covering it with dust or earth to prevent evaporation ; the greater number of the m- habitants remove their filth during the hours of the night. 535. Could you, by any arrangement, get this refuse removed with sufllicieut rapidity to prevent decompo- sition ? — There are many cases to which I could refer not in Redruth, but in the neighbourhood where they have no privies at all, and where they will not have them because it costs something to construct them. 536. Are there many waterclosets in Redruth ? — I should think there are a great many. 537. Should you say that the majority of the houses are furnished with waterclosets ? — By no means. 538. Which of the two systems of removal should you consider the best in a sanitary point of view ? — A watercloset well trapped ; but I do not approve of them in the centre of dwelling houses, or in the bottom part of a house ; they ought to be in the top part, because the gases which do the mischief would pass away through the roof, while if they are in the centre of a house they will fill the house, _ 539. Perhaps you would prefer to have them out- side a house ? — I consider thai plan safer and better. 540. For the efficient use of waterclosets, you require a system of sewerage ? — Of course, and that we have not got. 541. I suppose that the waterclosets where they exist are drained into cesspools ? — Some of them drain into a stream of water that runs down from Buller's Row, and I think an adit from a mine here ; it runs on very near to this spot, and there are many openings into it ; it runs on near Buller's Row in this town, and on to Portreath. 542. What is the name of that stream ? — It has no name. We call it a Icat, we should hardly call it a rivulet. Some people call them rivers, but I do not think they are large enough to be called rivers. 543. Is this leat or stream rendered very foul by the drainage from waterclosets ? — It is more coloured by mineral produce ; it sometimes runs down very muddy, and sometimes reddish, from the copper and tin mines. 544. Then it is polluted by mining refuse ? — Con- stantly. 545. It is never, I suppose, used for drinking ? — No, it is filthy, and is hardly ever clear. 546. Does it smell badly in the summer after the waterclosets have been drained into it ? — I cannot tell. It is after it has passed my house. I never smell anything of any imi^urity frOm it. The only impurity I smell is refuse from the gasworks, and that is horrible ; it flows into this leat close to my house. 547. The sulphate of calcium ? — Yes, that runs from the gasworks, and the stench is dreadful. 548. Does the stream run much through the town after it has passed your premises ? — It runs on to the Chapel of Ease near the Brewery, and then to the end of the town. It runs in the natural channel unless it is diverted for foundry purposes. 549. Does it affect many of the inhabitants after it has become foul in the way you have described? — I do not think it does. 550. What kind of water sujiply has Redruth, speaking of the quality of it ? — It is considered to be very wholesome water ; it is brought in from a dis- tance through iron pipes, and supplied to taps here and there in the toAvu. 551. Are those taps erected in the streets ? — Yes, in different places. 552. Is it not laid on into any of the houses ? — No ; there used to be very great complaints made about the water in this town before it was brought in, but the town is admirably supplied now with water. 553. Do those taps never fail to give a supply in a hot summer ? — No ; if they did, the state of things would be horrible. 554. Is the water soft and fit for washing pur- poses ? — The people wash with it, and I believe it is very good, although I have heard some persons say that they prcfej- rain water. 555. Is it good water for drinking purposes ? — Yes, the people drink it, and they aie very healthy after they drink it. 556. I believe it comes from adits driven into the hill-side ? — It does. RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVinENCE — PART IIL 557. And flows, I presume, in an open channel from that source ? — The cliannel is covered. 558. Do you know whether the water gets fouled in its course to the town ? — I do not think it can be. I do not think that anything can get into it. 559. Is it your opinion that it is a good wholesome water which never inflicts any injury upon the popu- lation ? — That is my opinion. 560. Has the health of the inhabitants improved since this water was supplied to them ?— It has con- siderably improved. 561. As water is not laid on to the houses, I sup- pose the waterclosets are not supplied from that source ? — I am not aware that they are, and I do not beheve that it is so. 562. How do they get water for the waterclosets ? — I suppose they use rain water from the roof. 563. But would not that be apt to fail frequently ? — Certainly ; in very dry summers. 564. Is it not therefore bad arrangement? — Cer- tainly it is not good, but it is the best that can be made under the circumstances. 565. Has it not been contemplated to give a supply under pressure ? — It has been, by having reservoirs at some distance, two of them ; and it is thought that that is the best plan that can be adopted. 566. Do you consider that the inhabitants, under the present system, obtain a sufficient supply of water to maintain proper cleanliness in their dwellinos ? Yes. ^ 567. Although they have to carry it a distance ? — Yes, but they have not got far to fetch it. 568. Are there many stand pipes in the town ? Yes ; some of the poorer classes might keep them- selves much cleaner than they do with the means they have at present, but I think that indifierence and laziness are the reasons why they do not make the best of their means ; at the same time I think they are improving. 569. {Mr. Morton.) As I understand you, there are no sewers in the town ? — There has been a good one put in at the west end of the town lately, but I do not think there are many in th"e town. 570. You have spoken of fever as being caused by choked drains ? — Yes, from the emanations and exha- lations arising from them in the shape of noxious gases. 18 Sept. 1872. Redruth. 571. There are mere surface fh-ains, but no sewers Dr H.Harris generally laid down j'— The place that I thought of ' ' at the time I mentioned it, was Lannarth, in the ad- joining parish of Gwcunap. The drains at the back of a row of houses there are choked, and they did not appear to be anxious to open them, or to clean them, and eveiy house having a collection of filth, and many of them with no privies, whatever evaporation took place must necessarily go into the houses. 572. You have praised the energy of the town surveyor ; may I ask in what way, as there are no sewers, he manages to preserve the heakh of the town.?— By being very vigilant in watching and inspecting these places, and by having the filth removed ; by his workmen, in carts by night, where the poor people cannot or will not do the work them- selves. And by seeing that the surface is kept clean ? 573, —Yes 574, town .'' Are the waters from any wells used in the -I can hardly point out any. 575. Ai-e there any private wells ? There are probably some, but I can hardly tell you where they are situated. 576. Do you know any instance of nuisance arismg from mining refuse in the course of any stream ?— No, because it is generally washed away, — there is no detention of it. 577. Has no complaint, to your knowledge, been made by occupiers of land along the course of any stream ? — I am not aware of any, because there is a free passage allcSwed for the water. I do not know that it injures the land on either side. 578. There is always a quantity of fresh material cast mto these streams, I should therefore imagme that the beds must be somewhat rising, and that the water would be apt to overflow the banks, have you known any mstance of that kind ?— I think there is something of the kind at a place near Harris's Mill, but I believe that is in the course of being remedied. We find that a deposit of sandy stuff takes place when a hatch is raised, and the water is allowed to run out into the river. 579. Can you give us the name and address of the farmer at the place you have referred to ? It is Harris's Mill, I do not know who occupies it, but there is a person caUed Blight, who I suppose is the farmer. The witness withdrew. Mr. John Hicks, 580. {Mr. Mortoii). Do you know the number of waterclosets and privies in Redruth ? — There are 800 privies. 581. Ai-e those all provided with cesspools? — JN^o, only some of them, they are some distance from the houses dug in the soil, that is, in the garden, they generally take a little earth to cover it over. 582. Are you responsible for the cleansing of these places ? — Yes, when it is required, if it is not done by the occupiers, I give them notice. 583. Does the cost of cleansing not fall upon the town of Redruth ? — No. 584. Is there any overflow from the cesspools or middens ?— Very rarely, occasionally after a very heavy fall of rain it is so, but not often. 585. Where does the overflow run ?— It o-oes off generally into the channels of the road, but^'that is only when there is a sufficient fall of rain to carry it off. 586. Are there many houses the occupiers of which use only one privy ?— In the case of the cot houses, there are two to one privy. 587. Referring to the replies to queries sent you, It appears that there are 2,384 houses ?— This includes town and parish of Redruth, but some of these houses are supplied with waterclosets ; I did not include them in the number. 588. How many waterclosets are there in the town ? —I should think about 150 in the town, but I cannot be positive as to the exact number. Redruth, examined. 589. I suppose there might be cases in which one privy would serve for many houses ?— Perhaps for three in some of the outside districts, or a little more than that, but it is very rarely so. 590. Is there any considerable number of houses which have no privy at all ? — Not a great many. 591. Are there cases in which the waste of a house is thrown out into the sti-eet ?— It is thrown into the garden. 592. Is the scavenging of the town part of your duty — It is under my direction. 593. Can you tell us the value per annum of the stuff collected ?— It is not more than about fr-om 12/. to 15/. 594. Does the cost of collection considerably exceed that sum ?— It will cost fully that to collect it, and more than that. 595. Does any complaint ever reach you of nuisance arising from the surface drainage of the town ? The complaints are very numerous. 596. Are these complaints only local as to the state of a tenant's own accommodation, or do they arise from the drainage of the town generally at any point of the river below the town ?— Having no common sewers, they arise from the drainage of the town generally. From the state in which the town is it requires a considerable deal of labour and attention, and notice has to be served almost daily upon the occupiers to clear away their dut. B 4 Mr. J. Hicks. 16 UIVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — OKAL EVIDENOK — PAKT III, r. ./. Hic/is. ^gj^ Docs the stream below you ever becomo offen- gJ~J~^g»\-, sive from focc.-il mutter drainino; into it fiom the town ? ._„ '"' — I never heard a complaint of that kind, except that liodnuh. the stream has been shifted into another course, wheie it has cut a channel ; I never heard a complaint made of any injury arising from liousc drainage. 598. Do you know of any complaints which have been made on account of waste refuse from mines falling into the stream ? — Not of its being particularly offensive or injurious, it is certainly a nuisance in the way of obstruction. .599. If the channel is ol)structed, does not the water overflow the banks ? — ^Yes, it overflows by the side. 600. Do you know of any injury having been done to land by the overflowing of mine water ? — Not near the town, but there is a stream that passes through the parish on the Avesteru side of it, between this and Ludgvan, and that is very much affected by refuse, and in the course of the last year it has overflowed and done some considerable damage. 601. Who are the tenants of that land? — One is Mr. Henry Adams and the other Mr. Blight. 602. Are there many mines above those places ? — Yes, and I have been instructed by the owner to build a new channel for the flow of the water that comes from the mine, to remove the whole of the refuse from the stamps v/here the tin is dressed, and carry it straight off. 60.3. Do you remember any stream polluted by mining refuse that was clear within your remembrance, but which is now foul ? — So far as obstruction goes, that has increased as the mines have increased, and the amount of minerals returned. The channels are fuller now than they were formerly, and the water not being sufficient to carry the refuse away, it deposits itself in the channel. 604. (Dr. Frankland.) You derive your supply of water in this town from adits driven into the hill-side, do you not ? — Yes. 605. Are we to understand that those adits are driven into granite ? — Yes, chiefly into granite ; we have no wells. 606. Your answer as to gi-anite refers to the adits ? — Yes. 607. Are they far from the town ? — They touch the town. 608. Does the water flow into open channels for any distance after it comes out of those adits ? — A pipe was put some distance into the adit, and the supply to the town comes from the adit through the pipe. 609. Then the water is never exposed to daylight at all ? — Not until passes the taps. 610. How many of these adits are there? — Our pre- sent supply is obtained from two adits, but there are more adits which ai-e accessible to the town. 611. Is there water issuing from other adits which you do not at present use ? — Yes. 612. Do the two adits of which you now avail your- self, supply separate parts of the town, or do the waters from both adits mix ? — We have about from 20 to 24 public taps which are erected suitably for the conve- nience of the people in those parts of the town where they are. 613. My question was whether the waters from the two distinct adits mixed together in the seiwice pipes within the town, or is the water from each adit con- veyed separately ? — We have a large tank from which all the pipes that supply the town take the water. 614. Do the pipes of the two adits both deliver into the same tank ? — Yes. 615. Are the other adits which are not used fiir from the town ? — No ; in l\\Q town we have two. 616. Are those adits from mines which arc entirely closed, or from mines that are being worked at present ? — At the two adits from which we are supplied with ■water there arc no mines working now. 617. In connexion with the other adits which you say deliver water in or near to the town, but which is not used, are any mines in work ? — Yes. 618. Is that the reason why you do not use the water ?-^That is partly the reason. We used it formerly, but we have an ample supply at present from the other source, and we have therefore ceased to use the other water. 619. Are you acquainted with the habits of the miners in their underground Avork ? — I am partially. 620. What is the kind of privy or closet in use doAvn in the mine, or what becomes of tlie excrements of the miners ? — I am not sufficiently informed to be al)le to say, but I think they are unfit for use. 621. Do you think that most of the refuse passes into the water that drains into the mine — Ves, I be- lieve that that is the public opinion ; it is never used for town purposes where mines arc at work, 622. From personal observation are you able to say whether tlie excrements of the miners are washed out of the mines? — No; but I judge that the deyjosits under ground find their way into the water that is taken from there. I have reflected upon that subject, and I think the system might be altered. 623. Do you think that, some system could be adopted in mines by which excrements could be kept out of the water ? — Yes, and proper contrivances in- troduced which might be taken up and cleansed, the same as they take up other things and cleanse them. 624. Do you mean something like iron Avater-tight boxes ? — Yes. 625. You think that that is feasible ? — Yes ; I do not think such a plan as that has ever been tried. 626. Do you not think it likely that boxes might be put down, and that miners Avould not go to them ? — They must be distributed in places Avhere the miners Avould meet with them. 627. Is the quantity of water supplied to you now abundantly sufficient for all puposes ? — I think we haA-e hardly enough water when it is a dry summer. 628. Do you ever find it necessary to draAv upon the other adits you have spoken of .'' — Not in the last year or tv/o. 629. Before that time did you occasionally do so ? — Yes ; Ave do it for other purposes, such as for cattle- washing, but not for cooking. 630. The Avater from the other adits does not mix with the general supply to the town ? — No. 631. Do you think that that Avater is not drunk by the people? — It might be occasionally, but they have always been desired not to do it ; it is a greater dis- tance off and they have to fetch it a little further. 632. Do you know, as a matter of fact, whether during the visita\tion of the cholera at Redruth, any of the miners Avere attacked by that disease ? — The persons attacked Averc not chiefly miners, there Avere some miners, I know. 633. Was the Avater from those adits, Avhich you say is not now used, made use of at that time — No, it Avas not. 634. Do you knoAV the hardness of the AA'ater that is used ? — We have had it analj'sed, and it has been pronounced to be a first-class water, rather soft, and there are no complaints of it when used for washing, 635. Is it generally used for washing ? — Yes, every- where, and it is considered very pure Avater, 636. What, in your judgment, would it cost to con- struct reservoirs, so that the Avater might be laid on to the houses ? — I do not think our stream is sufficiently large, unless it Avas covered over. 637. It might be a covered reservoir ? — We have two covered ones, but not of sufficient size to meet the Avants of the inhabitants in a dry summer. 638. What quantity of Avater can you store, hoAV many day's consumption ? — About a Aveek's supply. 639. What you require is a supply for about 200 days ? — Yes ; I think our present supply would not be equal to that, 640. Would it be necessary to pump it from the adits in order to effect that object, and to supply it by gravitation? — It is supplied by gravitation noAV. We have no other adits near to this place, but those two I have mentioned, except Avhere the mines are Avorking. 641. Is the present tank considered sufficiently high to supply all parts of the toAvn ? — No. RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :-— ORAL EVIDENCE PART III. 17 642. Therefore to give a regular supply to the town you must resort to some new source, or pump the water to a higher reservoir ? — Yes ; to meet the wants of the higher part of the town, there must be anotlicr source. 643. Are Ave to understand that the liighcr parts of the town are now left without any water supply ? — Yes, they are at a great distance. 644. Are they compelled to come down to the lower part of the town to get water from a stand pipe ? — -I will take the eastern part of the town, which is the highest, they have to come down a distance of 200 or 300 yards, that is the full extent of the distance, but the inhabitants do not consider that that is much inconvenience. 645. {Mr. Morton.) With regard to the size of the privy cesspools, are they large ? — They are constructed of different sizes, some are larger than others. 646. How often are^they cleansed out ? — Once in two or three months. 647. What is the size of the largest cesspool ? — About three or four yards. 648. Do you think it would contain three or four cartloads of stuff.'' — Yes. 649. Ai-c you acquainted with Camborne ? — Yes. 650. What is the population of that town — I can- not say with certainty, but I believe it is 16,000. The witness 651. Is that a town with regularly constructed streets, or is the population scattered ?— It has regularly con- structed stre(;ts. 652. Are any of the houses provided with water- closets ? — I cannot say, but I should think very rarely. 653. Do you know what provision is made in the way of privies, and whether it is sufficient ?— It is similar to Avhat is at Iledrutli. 654. Do you know how that town is supplied with water ?— It has a good suijply of water ; there is a water company. 655. {Dr. Frankland.) Do you know where the water comes from ?— From Clowanie, about four miles off. 656. ^ Does it come from a sprino- .or from an adit? —I think it comes from springs, but I am not sure about that. 657. Is the supply constant ? — Yes. 658. {Mr. Morton.:) What is the name of the stream that_ takes the drainage of Camborne ?— Red River receives the drainage. 659. Is any nuisance created in Red River by the drainage of Camborne ?— I should judge not, for there IS a large quantity of water that comes from the mines, the drainage of Camborne does not affect it much. 660. _Have you never heard of any complaints as to any nuisance proceeding from that cause ? No. withdrew. Mr. J. Hichs. 18 Sept. 1872. Hurtruth. 661. {Mr. Morton.) Are Corporation of Truro ? — Yes. 662. What is the population of Truro ? — 11,000. 663. What is the area of the district ? — About 1,103 acres ; that is the entire borough. 664. What number of houses are there ? — About 2,700. 665. Do you know the rateable value of the district? —About 30,000/. 666. What is the name of the stream into which your sewer drains ? — There are two streams, one is called the Allen and the othei- the KeuAvyn. 667. Do they unite below Truro ?— Yes, they form a junction near the town quay. 668. Does the sewage of the town run into both of those streams ? — Yes. 669. Is the condition of the rivers complained of in consequence of the sewage being carried into them ? — Yes, at one portion of them, but it is on account of the hatches, Avhich have been erected there, not being properly worked, but we have not heard many com- plaints lately. 670. Of what do these hatches consist ? — They are put up to dam back the tide. When the tide comes in they put down the hatches, and when the tide runs out the water is left. There are three on the banks of the River Kenwyn, and when they are opened, the water scours the bed and carries away the sewao-e matter. 671. Is tlie town thoroughly sewered ? — Yes, there arc about seven miles of public drains in the town. 672. Do the sewers empty themselves at more than one exit ?— Yes. 673. By how many ?— By about 16 or 18. The rivers take the place of mains. There are no open sewers. Our mains and sub-n^ains are. not very lono-. The town is cut up into three parts, and it does not require very long sewerage. The largest of our pipe drains are about 15 inches in diameter. 674. Is the town supplied with waterclosets or privies ? — There are about 300 Avaterclosets, and nearly 2,000 privies. 675. Do the privies drain into the sewers ? — Where there are wet pits, we compel the owners to put drains to them in order to drain out the liquid matter. 676. Is the subsoil of the town porous and rocky ? In the lower part the town rests upon clay, but the principal part of the town rests upon slate. 677. Are the wet pits in the lower part of the town ? — The pits which are generally in the lower 30928. Mr. William Clemens, Truro, examined, you Surveyor of the part of the town are drained - , and they are connected with the main sewer by overflow pipes on account of being water-tight. 678. Is the cleansing of the privies under the direction of the town authorities ? — Wherever there are any private pits found to be in a disagreeable and improper state, they are cleansed directly. 679. Is notice given to the owner ? — Yes. 680. Does any cost fall upon the town in connexion with the scavenging?— No, it is done by a contractor, who takes away the sweepings of the streets. 68 1 . Is not the contractor under your control ? He is under my direction. 682. Do you give notice to the contractor when you deem it necessary ?— Yes ; if I know of anything, or any case is reported to me of a nuisance, I order him to go and remove it directly. The stufi' is taken out at night time. 683. Do the waterelosets all drain into sewers, or are there any cesspools All drain into our sewers, except m the case of one, Avhere there are only eleven houses; that is carried down to the valley, and the sewage is utilized for fanning purposes. 684. There is one sewer that delivers on to the land ? — Yes. 685. Of what extent is that ?— There are eleven houses in number, that is all. 686. Is the waste from those seven or houses taken into a single field ?— Yes, it is thrown into a field, is intercepted, and utilized on the land. 687. Are any means taken to avoid a nuisance when privies are cleansed. Are any disinfectants used ? The contents of th.e privies are taken out between the hours of 11 at night and 6 in the morning. _ 688. Are disinfectants used at night^? — Yes, at times Avhen it is thought necessary. 689. Are the ashes of the house thrown into privies and middens ? — Yes, as a rule. 690. Are the whole contents of the privies and cesspools used as manure ? — They are carried away for agricultural purposes. . 691. Is no dry portion kept apart? — No, it is carried away, and used on a farm by the contractor. 692. Have no complaints reached you of any nuisance connected with the scavenging of the privies and cesspools ?— No complaint of any importance. When anyone brings a complaint to me about anything, I attend to it as soon as possible. 693. Have you never heard sickness attributed to it ? — No. Mr. W. Clemens. 18 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMiSSION :— ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr W Have you brought with yon the statistics as to Clemens. the death rate in Truro ? — Yes ; this was copied out of tlic Registrar's books. The following paper was 18 Sept. 1872. handed in : — ■ " The deaths in the borough for 1871 were rather Redruth. « under 19 in the thousand— ~~~~ " 39 per cent, had reached the age of 60, " 28 do. do. do. 70, " 13 do. do. do. 80, " and the deaths of young persons and children under *' 10 years of age, which, in 1838, were o8 per cent., " had fiiUen in 1871 to 31." 695. Is any nuisance arising from any other cause tliau the sewage of the town complained of on either of these rivers ? — I do not know of anything beyond the sewers or drainage matters. 696. Nor with regard to gasworks ? — No ; the gas- works are situated at the lower end of the town, and tlie drainage from the gasworks passes below the town into a tidal river. 697. Are there no complaints of tanyards ? — There are complaints respecting them very often. 698. Are any factories complained of? — Nothing of any consequence. 699. Are there any mining works above you ? — Not above ns ; there is one below, the mine refuse flows into the Caleuick Creek. Tliere are complaints as to ;x large amount of mineral Avashings Avhich are thrown into that creek, and it appears that it is fast silting up. 700. Will that, in your opinion, affect the navigation at all ? — That is in tlie higher part of the river and the creek. 701. Is any expense thrown upon the town of Truro for dredging ? — Yes, just at this time, in widening the channel, and taking off sharp curves. 702. Do they attribute any of the expense incurred to the deposit of mineral matter in that way ? — Yes ; and no doubt the lower part of the river will be affected considerably in a very short time by that. It is said that there are 24,000 tons of stuff annually thrown into the river from Wheal Jane mine. 703. Is that a tin mine ? — Yes. 704. Is there any copper as well as tin ? — I think not. 705. Is there any lead ? — I do not know exactly what is produced at the mine. 706. Have you heard of any complaints being made in reference to that mine, of riverside lands being affected by the overflow ? — I have not. 707. Do you know of the existence of any com- plaints of that kind in connexion Avith any other stream ? — No ; occasionally we have an overflow in the higher part of the town ; some of the basement parts of the houses have been inundated, that is, the water has been in perhaps 8 or 10 inches or a foot, in the lower floors, but that has been from natural causes after an extra fall of rain, perhaps not more than once in five years, and that has been more on account of there not being sufficient water Avay. 708. Can you giA'e us any information as to the water supply of Truro ? — Our Avater supply is provided from Avells. 709. (Dr. Frankland.) The whole of it ?— Yes, that which is used principally for drinking purposes is ; we have about 30 wells. 710. Arc those pump wells ? — Yes. 711. So that the inhabitants must goto the wells for water ? — Yes. 712. Is no water laid on to any house ? — Not from any waterworks ; no Avater is brought in by gra\'ita- tion. 713. In what kind of stratum are these wells sunk? — They are sunk doAvn generally through the sedi- mentary rock and slate ; we haA^e ofteia had a spring striking out of the quartz. 714. What is the nature of the surface soil in Truro ? — It is of a clayey nature, and a kind of marly bottom. 715. Is there no gra\-el or porous soil ? — Not par- ticularly so. 716. What is the situation of these wells generally, are they near to houses ?— They are generally sunk in the sti'cets. 717. Are they near to any sewers ? — Some of them are tolerably near, but Ave take precautions ; that is to say, we put in proper pipe drains, and cement the joints, and put clay round them, to prevent any drainage getting into the wells. 718. Are you aAvare of any cases in Avhich the per- colation from seAvers has been known to get into any of the wells ?— We have occasionally, but that occurs very seldom. I found a defect in a drain some time since, and I remedied it directly, and Ave do take eveiy precaution. I have often tested the water several times in the course of the year, in order to ascertain that it Avas in a pure state. 719. HoAv do you test it?— With a solution of per- manganate of potash. 720. Is the Avater liked by the inhabitants? — It is generally thought to be excellent, there is no better water in the kingdom, I suppose, than is got out of our well. 721. Is it sparkling and colourless? — Yes, it is beautiful AA'ater. 722. And soft ?— Not very soft. 723. Can the people wash with it ? — Yes. 724. Is there no rain water collected for Avashing purposes ? — No more than what may be collected by individuals. There is a large amount of Avater used in the lower part of the toAvn that is taken from a leat that throAA^s a quantity of water into the toAvn. It is very soft and beautiful water for washing purposes, and a very large quantity of it is used. 725. What do you mean by a "leat"? — It is a small stream of water brought from a river into the town. 726. Through what is called a shoot? — No; it is brought down through a cutting into the town. 727. Does it fall out from the end of a spout ?~No ; it comes doAvn through a leat, and it is very clear ; people go there with their barrels to get it, it is about 14 inches in depth. 728. Is that Avater quite cleai- ? — It is generally, unless after a large fall of rain or stormy weather. 729. Is it ever used for drinking purposes ? — Not that I am aware of. 730. Is it soft Avater ? — Very soft and clear. 731. Does it run for a considerable distance thi-ough the toAvn? — After it gets into the tOAvn, it flows through the granite gutters on the sides of the road. 732. It cleanses the streets ? — Yes, and we use it to flush our drains where we have a sufficient fall for the purpose. 733. I suppose some of the inhabitants of Truro go a good distance to fetch this water for washing ? — I do not apprehend that it is used except only by the people living in the lower part of the tOAvn. 734. HoAv many wells are there in the town ? — About 30. 735. Are they maintained at the public expense ? — Yes. 736. What are the depths of the Avells ?— They vary ; some are upwards of 70 feet, some are not more than 10. 737. Is there any difference in the quality of the water, comparing the very deep wells with the very shallow ones ? — Not tliat I am aware of; the water is generally good. 738. Are the shallow Avells in the lower part of the tOAvn, and the deep wells in the higher part ? — Yes. 739. What do you eventually sink into when you reach the source from which the water comes ? — It generally comes out of the slate. 740. Do you never sink into granite ? — No ; we have no granite. 741. You stated, I think, that there were 300 water- closets ? — Yes. 742. HoAv are they supplied Avith Avaler — Generally by rain water, but there are scores of people Avho have priAate Avells of their oavu in Truro, besides the public BIVEES POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. I® wells, and in those cases the proprietors very likely would have a force pump in connexion with the well, and they would get the water from the well into a, tank. 743. Do you, personally, know anything of these private wells, as to their depth, for instance ? — I have occasionally been asked to test the water in them and I have generally found it in a very good state. 744. Has the quality appeared to be like that of the water from the public wells ? — Yes. 745. Has it never been proposed to establish regular waterworks in Truro ? — Yes ; two or three attempts have been made with that object. Only the other day there was a scheme before the public, and we thought that something would come of it, but I believe it has fallen through again. 746. Can you give us any information as to the kinds of diseases that prevail in Truro ? — Diu-ing the last 10 years we have been remarkably free from epidemics of all kinds. The witness 747. Have you had any typhoid? — Yes, a little sometimes, but not a great deal ; we have had a few cases, some four or five years ago, and a few deaths. 748. Were those cases traced to any specific cause ? — 1 believe they were due more to atmospheric causes than to anything else ; it was during an extremely dry and hot summer ; it was thought so at the time. 749. Have you ever had any cholera in the town ? — 1 think not a great deal. 750. When did you have the last attack of cholera? —In 1866. 751. Were there many cases then ? — No, only a few. I am not certain, but I Ijelieve there were two or three deaths, but very few. 752. {Mr. Morton.) Are the wells to wl lieh you have referred all within the area of the town ? — Yes. 753. Have you ever run short of water in dry seasons ? — Our wells are never dry ; by continually pumping we may extract all the water. 754. Even in the dryest summer they are always productive ? — Yes. withdrew. Mr. W. Cleineiis. 18 Sept. 1872. Kudiiit)!. Henry Eogees, Esq., J 755. {Dr. Frankland.) You are Mayor of Helstone ? —Yes. 756. What is the population of Helstone ?— At the last census it was not quite 4,000 ; a reduction took place between 1861 and 1871. 757. Do yon know the death rate in Helstone ? — No. 758. Is there any river running through or near to Helstone ? — Yes, a large river, called the Cober. 759. Is that river at all polluted by mining refuse ? — I should say that it is not polluted ; there is tin slime, but it is certainly not polluted. I think I may say that some of the oldest inhabitants in the town live very near to the river, and they are about 90 years of age. 760. I presume they do not drink that water ? — The cattle do. 761. Is it tin slime exclusively that you refer to ? — • Yes. 762. No lead ?— No; it is a little reddish from the iron, from the calcining operations that are carried on above. 763. Is there no lead from the mine ? — No. 764. Or copper ? — There was a lead mine in the neighbourhood some years ago near our town, but that has not been worked for 40 years ; there was one below this river where they met occasionally with patches of copper, but they are quite exceptional. 765. Is it copper pyrites ? — I think not. Our dis- trict is essentially a tin district. 766. Is there any black jack ?— There is black jack in the ore occasionally. Ours is rather a pure tin district, and the river has a great deal of slime coming into it. It is continually flowing, and is washed into Loe Pool. 767. Does it look red to the eye ? — It does look a little red sometimes, but it is perfectly clear on a Monday morning, when the miners are not working, and the calcining operations are stopped. It is per- fectly cleai- then, and the water is used for washing purposes. Cattle drink it, and we wash our streets with it. We have no water-cart, but we have a small canal running on each side of the street, and we scoop the water out ; the street is pretty wide, and there is not any deleterious matter in it. 768. The inhabitants, I presume, do not use that water for drinking purposes ? — No. I mav remark Avith reference to the industry of the loeahty, that it is perfectly essential that this slime should continue to be there, and to go into that river. 769. Do you mean that it could not be kept out of the river without doing serious injury to the processes of manufacture carried on in the district ? — Certainly I do ; the entire value of that district would be at once ruined if it were kept out. I am largely connected with mines myself, and the whole of the refuse by P., Helstone, examined. natural flow goes into the river, and thence it is washed into Loe Pool. It fills up what would be a nice lake be- longing to a gentleman's estate, but certainly there is nothing deleterious to health, and a company has now been formed for the purpose of extracting such tin as they can find in it. 770. I suppose it would be possible to construct a kind of lake or reservoir where this flow might be de- posited on the premises of the mine itself ? — I think not. We dress so much tin in the district that it would be almost impossible, and I cannot say that I should see any advantage in it. The water is certainly not dangerous to cattle. I walk by the side of the river almost daily, aud I never smelt anything offensive from it. 771. You have spoken of a lake in a gentleman's park being filled with it ?— Yes, and he makes no ob- jection to it, for many reasons. First of all it is a con- siderable accession to the value of his property, because if he were to be instrumental in stopping the mining operations above, his property would be injured in consequence ; and not only that, but I believe he would have no right to stop them, because from time imme- morial the right to work the mines has been exercised. I should tell you, if you are not acquainted with our locality, that above the lake of which I spoke, is about six miles round; is a very large body of water, and it is separated from the sea simply by a bar of sand, and from the effect of constant rain and wind and south- westerly gales, the water overflows, that is the sea water. There is a large green that we have tlu-ough which this river passes, and, according to our charter, when the mills are stopped, the mayor by presenting the lord of the manor with a penny and halfpenny in a bag is entitled to cut through the bar of sand, which 1 did three times last year, and then there is an im- mense body of water which runs from our ground into the sea, so that there are constant washings. 772. Does the lake get washed out ?— Partially. 773. And, as I understand you, there is a con- siderable per-centage of tin in the deposit ? — Some per-centage. 774. Sufficient to make it worth while to try to extract it ? — Yes, and, as I have said before, a com- pany is now formed for that purpose. 775. Have they obtained a divid(md yet ? — No, 776. As I understand your evidence, all the parties who live upon this stream are interested in its con- tinuing in its present condition ? — Certainly. 777. And nobody would like to see it changed ? — Certainly not. The only effect it has is to destroy the clear appearance of the lake. 778. And the amenity of the place ? — Yes. 779. Have you evej' known any fish to be in it ? There are plentity of trout in Loo Pool now. Many people fish there, and catch delicious trout. C 2 IT. Rollers, Esc. 20 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PAllT III. 7/. 780. Does the water that runs out of the Lake into liogersyEsq. the pool run out in a thick state? — It percolates • • through the sand ; it is a very largo lake and deep. 8 Sept. 1872. 73 Near the lower part of it, does the water look Kedruth clear ? — It has rather a reddish hue, owing to the iron. 782. Is it not a very long time in subsiding ? — Yes ; but still the cattle walk to this water and drink it, and it is used continually for culinary purposes in the borough of Helstone. 783. Have you never heard of a case in which injury has been done to cattle by drinking it ? — No. 784. Does the river overflow its banks ? — Yes ; in very heavy wet weather, in the winter season. At present there are some feet of water, but then the overflow is upon the property of the corporation, and as a rule upon the large green. 785. Do cattle graze upon that green ? — Yes. 786. Are they never injured ? — Certainly not. We let the grazing annually to the corporation. 787. Is Helstone supplied with water ? — Yes ; as a rule, I may mention that I do not drink water at Redruth. When I come to Redruth I cannot drink their water, for the reason that our water is so very good. The water at Helstone is proverbially good. 788. What is the source from which the water is obtained ? — We have numerous wells. Five Wells is proverbial for its delicious water ; it is so good that even people who have pumps upon their premises send to get a pitcher of it every day ; it is so thoroughly delicious and cool. 789. In what strata are these wells sunk ? — They are natural springs, which have been constantly sup- plied with water from time immemorial. 790. Is the water at Five Wells from a spring ? — Fi'om springs, it is called " Five Wells " because there used to l)e live shoots. There are, I believe, four public pumps in the streets. I have two pumps on my own premises, and nearly every one in Helstone has a pump on his own jDremises. 791. Worked from a private well? — Yes ; they sink pumps, and have a very good supply of water. 792. Do they sink wells ? — Yes. 793. In what sort of strata are those wells sunk ? — In slate and granite. 794. And the water comes from them ? — Yes. 79,5. What might be the depth of these wells ? — That depends upon circumstances. Sometimes they might sink them live or six feet, and sometimes they go as low as 20 feet, or deeper. I should say that about 12 feet deep would be the average depth in the town. 796. Is the water drawn from the comparatively shallow wells as good as that from the Five Wells ? — I should not say it vvas, because the water from the Five Wells is proverbially good, but we have another called " One Well," the water from which is equally good with that from Five Wells. But of course the water will never be so good after coming through iron pipes as when taken from nature's source. I have two pumps on my premises, and I drink the water from both of them. 797. What is the source of the water that comes from Five Wells ? — Natui'al springs. -798. Out of what rock does it come ? — Just about there we have slate and granite all over the neighbour- hood. 799. Does the water from " One Well " come out of slate and granite? — Yes, as to '-'One Well," there was an adit dri\ en into a lead mine that was worked 40 years since ; the mine has been abandoned, but the water is perfectly good. 800. Aud free from lead ?— Yes. 801. (J/r. Morton.) Ha\e you known any instances of complaint on account of the state of the river above the town from occupiers of land who have suffered from the water flowing over the meadows? — The incline is pretty stiff, and sometimes we get rain so heavily that it is impossible to prevent it. But, with that exception, we have no complaints. 802. In such a case as that, Avhat amount of injury is done ; is the land spoiled for a year ? — Not at all. I have never heard of any overflow on land of that kind, or on the corporation property, which is some acres. We consider it, likewise, much better in the spring from the dressing. 803. Is the town sewered ? — Yes ; we have natural advantages which every town has not. We have canals running through 'each street, and our slope is so good that it all empties itself into the large river, the Cober, and a great deal of dirt is washed away. With the exception of a I'egularly adopted system of sewerage, Helstone is pretty well ofl. I am not going to say that it cannot be improved, because Ave have it in contemplation to establish a system of drainage under the recent Acts of Parlia- ment. We are simply unwilling to do it on the ground of expense, that is the only reason. We have several small drains in the streets, and in our prin- cipal street we have one sewer and many small drains run into that. I may state that many of the inhabi- tants wish for an improved state of drainage, aud it is simply a question of expense. 804. When you used the word " canals," did you mean well-formed roadside gutters ? — Yes, of three or four inches in depth, into which the mineral water goes. 805. Do those bring down the drainage water from the mines above you ? — Yes. 806. Does the drainage from any waterclosets enter those canals or gutters ? — Yes, it is washed away down the side of them. 807. Is water always running there ? — Nine days out of ten ; we turn it from one side of the street to the other. 808. Are many of the houses in Helstone provided with waterclosets ? — Yes, a very large number ; cer- tainly all the respectable houses, with one or two exceptions. 809. Are all the other houses provided with privies ? — I believe there is scarcely an exception. 810. Are the privies drained? — -No, we have the contents cleared away. I have given directions, in the last week, and I believe every place in the town has been visited, to have every privy cleaned. 811. Are there cesspools in connexion with the privies ? — Not as a rule. 812. Are the contents wet when taken out, or dry ? • — Some are wet and some are dry ; it depends upon the position of the pit itself, whether it is more accessible to rain, or otherwise. A great many ashes are thrown into these pits, so that they are not very disagreeable, but they are sufficiently so, and we do not allow, under our bj^elaws, anything to be carried away before 10 o'clock at night ; the removal takes place between 10 at night and 6 in the morning. 813. Is the subsoil free rock ? — Yes. 814. J)oes all the waste w\ater of the house go into the cesspool ? — No ; some is thrown into the kennel, and some is carried into the gardens. 815. I imagine that the contents of the cesspools, if all the water that was thrown into them remained there, would always be wet in spite of the ashes ? — I do not know that. I think there is evaporation and constant mixture, and it comes out in a solid state, certainly, as a rule. 816. Do not you suppose that a considerable quantity of water drains away through the free subsoil — No doubt of it, and in some dirty alleys, and among dirty people little iumoyances arise. 817. Is there not a risk of its iiltering into the wells ? — Not in many cases ; I cannot say that I never heard of such a thing, but not in the cleaner establish- ments of the place. 818. Do no complaints arise from the condition of the river below the town owing to the drainage from the town ? — No ; we have no houses immediately on the side of the river except for a very short distance, aud there the inhabitiints are very aged at this time. I may add that we are i-ather a healthy town ; we are EIVERS rOLLUTION COMMISSION — OKAL EVIDENCK— PAirr TIT, 21 not densely populated ; we have four long streets, and not many alleys. Almost everybody has a garden, for we have natural advantages in that respect, not many of the miners live in the town, they are generally artisans. 819. Was any nuisance caused or injury done to your knowledge at tlio time wlien the lead mine was at work ? — It was at work before 1 was born. The other lead mine was down immediately at the side of Loe Pool, and had nothing to do with the borough. The witness withdrew. 820. {Dr. Frankland.) Are you medical officer of Peni-yn — There is no medical officer at present 'ap- pointed, but I have been in practice there for some years. 821. How many years ? — 28 years. ' 822. What is your opinion as to the condition of the parishes of Budock and St. Gluvias, and the borough of Penryn ? — Budock is very nearly attached to Penryn, and my opinion of the state of Budock is that it is decidedly in a very unclean state at the present time ; they have not made any attempt to have any drainage there. 823. Is the place unhealthy in consequence ? — There is not at present much ill-health, but when fever was so prevalent in the neighljourhood, Budock had it very severely, and there were more deaths in that district than anywhere else. I mean from typhoid fever. 824. Was that caused, in your opinion, by emana- tions from cesspools ? — I think there is no question about it. 825. You believe that that form of epidemic got fixed in Budock in consequence of emanations from cesspools ? — Yes ; from the accumulation of a vast amount of filth in the neighbourhood. In Budock town and neighbourhood there were about 300 cases under my care, and about 35 of those attacked died. 826. Has nothing been done to remedy that state of things ? — We are now in process in the town of Penryn of making sewers, and carrying out a regular system of drainage, but it cannot be perfected until wo have the co-operation of both parishes, Budock and St. Gluvias, in which parishes they have not commenced yet. 827. Are those contiguous parishes ? — Yes. 828. Is refuse allowed to accumulate about the houses to a great extent ? — It is ; but it is not allowed to accumulate to so great an extent as it was. 829. Are there any waterclosets in Penryn ? — There are about 24 in the town. 830. Do they drain into cesspools ? — They are all connected now with the new drain. 831. Were they in existence before the new drain- age was carried out They were. 832. Then what became of the contents ? — They drained into private drains, and were carried into a tidal river. 833. Do you know what has been the death rate in Penryn during the last eight or ten years ? — 21 per 1,000. 834. Does that rate of mortality extend as the aver- age over the entire series of years ? — Yes, with the exception of the occurrence of some epidemics; it might have been increased at that time, but I think that is about the average of the whole. 835. Have you had any cholera in Penryn ?— Yes. 836. In 1849 ?— Yes. _ 837. In 1853 or 1854 ?— We have had two visita- tions of cholera, one within four years of the other, and the first about 1854. 838. Which was the most severe attack of the two ? — The latter one in 1859. 839. How many deaths occurred then 42 or 43, 840. Was the disease imported in the first instance ? — Yes ; for I know that at that time we almost esta- blished the doctrine of infection, for all the cases spread entirely from one. It was brouglit originally from Woolwich by a family of the name of Davenport, they had two or three children bad from it ; it spran<^ from them, and radiated from their place into the towi° 841. In what way do you imagine the disease was carried from that centre to other places ? — By friends visiting them, and by persons who washed the clothes of the sick. Nurses were the next persons who wer^ Mij. George Wilson Trenery, Penryn, examined. -The We there attacked ; there w.as a town nurse of tlie name of Wilcock who was attacked. 842. You say nurses were attacked ?— Yes, and they died. 843. How many nurses died ? Two. 844. Is it not the fact that nurses genei'ally escape ? —I have heard that stated before, but I suppose that at that time the disease was general, because these women formed only certain items of tlie community, and so far as our nurses were concerned llicy wei-e attacked and died. 845. Did this occur in a particular house or in an hospital ?— All in private houses. 846. Where the nurses were engaged ? Yes. 847. How is Penryn supplied with water ?- water supply of Penryn is generally very good, have a stream running down through the town is a river on either side of it, and there is a great sup- ply of water both from private Avells and reservoirs. 848. Do the inhabitants take any of their drinking water from the stream running through the streets 'i~ Yes, before it comes through the street, a short distance from its source. 849. Are the points from which the water is ab- stracted in that way below any possible sources of con- taminntion from exerementitious matters ? — Yes, when they take in the morning; when they take it 'at six o'clock in the morning it is perfectly free, but lower down, if they take it at eight o'clock, it would then be impure, and they are quite aware of that fact. They would not take the water earlier than about six o'clock in the morning, and they would not take it lower down for drinking purposes after that hour. 850. Under exceptional circumstances I suppose the water might be contaminated at an earlier hour ? The part that they take it from early in the morning cannot possibly be contaminated. I do not believe they take it from any part of that stream after it has passed the first pump. 851. How is contamination imparted to the water ? —By anything which the people choose to throw into it from their houses. 852. Do they throw dirty water out of the windows ? —Yes, and that is probably one of the ways in which it is contaminated. 853. Did any cases of cholera occur in any of the houses on this stream ? — I do not know of any. 854. Are there any private wells in the town ? Several. 855. Is the water of those wells much used — Yes, very much. 856. Is each well resorted to by the occupiers of several houses?— No; I think the wells, genei'ally speaking, are used by the individuals on tlaeir own premises. The general supply of the town comes from tbe reservoirs ; there are several taps in the town which have been provided by the council for the convenience of the public. 857. Did you find that the cholera spread to diflferent and somewhat isolated parts of the town ?— Yes, there were certainly isolated cases. 858. And cases in which you could find evidence of persons having communicated the disease by going from one part of the town to another ? — Yes, but not in all instances. 859. How do you suppose that in the isolated cases the disease was propagated ? — I cannot give any reason for it, because some of those isolated cases will occur without any communication, you cannot trace the history of them. 860. Did the majority of the cases occur upon the same stream of water ?— -Some of the cases occurred C 3 11. Royitrs, Esq. 18 Sept. 1872. Hedrnth. Mr. a. W. Trenery. 22 UTVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDJENOK — I'AKT III. Mr. G. W. above the town entirely, half a mile from the town, on 'Irenenj. elevated situations, and on a turnpike road. 8 Sept l87-> Q'^i**' above the town ? — Yes. 1, 862. At those places where would the inhabitants Redruth. obtain water from ? — They would get it from a stream running through the granite soil. 863. Would there be nobody living above them on that stream ? — Nobody. 864. Is that a stream which comes out of a mine ? — No, it comes from granite quarries chiefly. 865. Are those quarries being worked at present ? — Yes. 866. Did any cases of cholera occur amongst the workmen ? — I had none. 867. Are you not awai'e of any ? — No. 868. You have stated that typhoid fever was at one time very common in Fenryn ? — Yes, it was almost endemic there at one time, but that was many years ago. 869. How do you consider typhoid fever is pro- pagated ? — I believe that one great cause of it is the overci'owding of people in houses, for I have observed in very many instances that houses which were over- crowded had attacks of fever. The want of ventilation and the existence of open cesspools I think have a great deal to do with it. 870. Typhoid fever, I suppose, was more confined to one locality than cholera ? — No ; typhoid fever was most general throughout the town. Some of the re- spectable inhabitants were attacked by it. 871. And their houses, I suppose, were not over- crowded ? — No ; but infection was conveyed into the town. 872. Do you consider that the form of fever gene- rally called typhoid is infectious through the atmo- sphere ? — I think so decidedly. So far as my observa- tion went it was decidecQy of an infectious nature, it was typhoid fever in a most apparent form ; there was a great deal of enteric disease. 873. Has that materially ceased now since better scavenging has been introduced ? — Yes, we have scarcely had it ; we have a sporadic case now in the tovra. 874. Have you had much scarlatina in Penryn ? — Not of late ; and we never did have it in our town in a malignant form like many towns, where there has been a very great mortality. 875. Have you had any small-pox ? — Yes, a number of cases lately. 876. Is vaccination not generally practised ? — I have returned my list, and it appears from that that there were only two individuals in the whole town not vac- cinated during the last quarter. 877. When small-pox broke out in the town, was it the same then ? — ^ There are very few persons in the town who have not been vaccinated ; most of the cases of small-pox which occurred were of persons who had never been vaccinated, and there was not a single case amongst those who had been re-vaccinated. 878. What is the character of the river or stream that runs through Penryn ? — Three comes through the town ; first, there is the river that rtuis through the town, and then there are streams on the other side of it. 879. Are those streams polluted at aU ? — During the course of the stream there are several privies which empty themselves into it. 880. Do they make it very offensive ? — It does not smell so offensively, there is generally a running stream there, and these streams are seldom dry, I have known the water to be very shallow in warm summer weather, and at such times tlie streams have been ofiensive. 881. Are any of the three streams you have spoken of polluted by mining refuse ? — None of them. 882. Do you consider that the ill health of the in- habitants has in any degree resulted from the pollution of those streams ? — I think not; I never traced a case of that kind. I believe tliero was a well in Budock which is used by the inhabitants now, and was used when fever was there, and we cannot get them to desist from using it, because they like the quality of the water ; it is certainly rather of an impure descrip- tion, for there is a cesspool which I think percolates into it. The people think that because the water sparkles it is very good, that is in the parish of Budock. 883. You have no power to shut it off, because I suppose your powers do not extend to Budock ? — No ; they have talked a great deal about doing it, but they have not done it yet. I think it is rather the duty of the board of guardians to interfere, than of the board of health. 884. {Mr. Morton.) Have you power to shut up wells, the water of which is unfit for use, within your own area ? — Yes. 885. Have those powers been exercised ? — Yes, in our own town they have. 886. Are there any shallow wells still used in your own town ? — Yes. 887. But those wells which were obviously polluted have been shut up ? — Yes. 888. Are there any privies that have large cesspools in connexion with them ? — Yes, some of them are very large. 889. Do you know at what intervals they are cleansed — Generally speaking once a year. Now we have by law the power to have them cleansed once in three mouths. 890. Can you state the actual size of any of the larger ones ? — I have not measured them, but those that were large have been contracted very much. 891. Do they hold water ? — Some of them do. 892. In those cases where the stuff is removed comparatively dry, there must be waste water in the subsoil fi om filtration ? — Yes, and not only that, but the surface water gets into them. 893. Do you know any instaucea of wells being near to such cesspools ? — I do not. 894. Do you know any cases of complaints arising from mining pollution in the neighbourhood of Pen- ryn ? — Not one. 895. {Dr. Frankland.) Is the water supplied to Penryn laid on to the houses ? — In many instances it is. 896. Is the supply constant? — Yes ; in some parls of the last year, when there was not much water in the reservoir, the people had water at stated hours only, but when the reservoir is ftdl the supply is constant. 897. From what source is the water in the reservoirs obtained ? — They are chiefly fed by springs, by the river coming do^vn from the country, and running streams. 898. In their course are they at all exposed to pol- lution ? — Not that I am aware of, and I know the course of them pretty well. 899. Are there any houses upon them ? — I think not. 900. No cultivated laud or grazing for cattle ? — Yes, there is feeding for cattle, 901. Can they go into these streams? — No doubt they can. 902. Is that, in your opinion, a desirable thing for water supplied to a town ? — Certainly not, if it could be prevented. 903. Is there not a sufficient quantity of water to be obtained from springs to supply the town without the rivei- ? — No. 904. Is all the water received into one reservoir ? — No ; there arc, perhaps, two or three reservoirs. 905. Do they all receive their supply from a higher source, the water being lowered down from one to the other ? — Yes. 906. Do YOU consider the supply satisfiictory with regard to quality ? — I can only say that it was analysed by Dr. Thorne, and it was considered the healthiest water in the town ; healthier than any water from private wells. 907. Is it soft water, and good for washing ? — Yos. BIVEES POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PAUT IIL 23 908. Is it palatable in taste ? — Yes. Some time since, when the water was very scarce,, it had some kind of peaty colouring matter in it. 909. Docs that come from the river ? — No, it comes from the soil on which the water rests in the reservoir ; it rests upon a peaty slatey soil. 910. But you say there is not a sufficient abundance of it at times ? — At the present time there i."? quite sufficient, but since the time when there was a scarcity of water, there has been a new reservoir made, and that contains quite enough to prevent any scarcity occurring in futm-e ; there Avill always be an abundant supply. 911. Is the water filtered before it is distributed for use.-* — No, not from the reservoirs ; through gratings only. 912. Would the water be improved by filti-ation ? — All water would. 913. Especially river water? — There must be a quantity of decomposing material in it of various descriptions. 914. What is the distance of these reservoirs from the town ? — About a mile. 915. Do they not require to be covered — No. 916. As a ride, do the inhabitants like the water ? — Yes ; there is never any complaint against it. 917. They do not resort to shallow wells in pre- ference — No. Some persons prefer well water to any other water, but generally the inhabitants use the water of the reservoirs. 918. That water, I suppose, is not at all exposed to pollution from mines ? — No, there arc no mines what- ever in this neighbourhood. The witness withdi'ew. Mk. George Appleby Jenkins, Penryn, examined. 919. {Dr. Frankland.) You are town clerk of Pen- often makes its appearance ryn ? — Yes. 920. You wish, I believe, to make some statement to the Commission ? — Yes. With regard to Budock, part of the district which abuts on Penryn, that is now made a special drainage district, and they wore about to caiTy out a system of drainage there. A com- mittee was appointed by the vestry, and Mr. Powell, who is here, prepared a plan for that di-ainage. But in the meantime the Public Health Act Avas passed, and of course the powers are now taken out of the committee and vested in the board of guardians, as the local sanitary authorities, and they will now carry it out. 921. Wni they do so ?— That will be seen, I believe they intend to do so. 922. Do you think there is good j)rospect of the town being thoroughly sewered ? — Yes, we are anxious about it in Penryn, and we hope the Commissioners wiU bring a pressure to bear upon the authorities. It is on that spot {pointing to a map) where disease very There is a well here and there is a sewer which percolates into that well, and it would have been the first duty of the committee appointed for the special drainage of that district to have closed that well. I may state that nothing is likely to be done by the guardians respecting the well, and the pubhc are still drinking the polluted water. The facts is, the guardians have already too much to do in connexion with the administration of the poor laws, and assessments of property ; I always held an opinion that the carrying out of sanitary measures should have been entrusted to the highway boards in the different districts, at present their work is light, and they have a surveyor who could well look after the drainage at the same time that he was looking after the surface of the roads. 923. {Mr. Morton.) Is there a considerable popu- lation in Budock ? — I forget now ; there are many houses there, and I think four or five hundred people. 924. How is Budock supplied with water ? — From that well. Mr. G. \y. Trencry. 18 Sept. 1872. Rcdnith. Mr. G. A Jenkins. The witness withdrew. 925. {Mr. Morton.) RefeiTing to the replies to queries sent to Pcniyn, it appears that there are about 600 houses occupied by the population ? — About that number. 926. What number of waterclosets are there ? — About 20. 927. Are there any privies ? — Nearly every house has one. 928. Do you know the size of any of the cesspools that receive the contents of those privies ? — I should think about four feet by three. 929. Are there any much larger than that ? — There are a few exceptions ; they are generally covered over. 930. Ai-e there any accessible privies to the public ? — None that may be called public privies. 931. How often are they cleaned out? — They are quite under the superintendence of the police, and when they order them to be cleaned out, it is done ; they are brought under the police regulations. Mr. George G. Powell (Surveyor), Penryn, examined. 932. Do they drain into any sewers ? — Not directly, except in cases where they arc wet, and where I can manage to drain them I do so by perforated bricks put into the wall outside the jjit, but that is only ex- teriorly ; pipe drains are more thoroughly connected with the houses. 933. What becomes of the water — It passes into a drain ; I speak of houses where the pits are so wet that we do not know what to do with the water. 934. Does the subsoil vary ? — No, it is all of a slatey nature. 935. Do you know any instances of wells being in the neighbourhood of middens ? — -I only know of one well anj-wherc near a midden, and any water that entered that midden it passed through pipes and thence into the sea. 936. Have you had any wells stopped up in l^enryn ? — The public Avells are all stopped up. The wells that were sunk by the corporation were found to be im- pure, and they were eftectually closed. The witness withdrew. Mr. Vivian Pearce, 937. (Mr. Morton.) You are clerk to the Local Board of Health of Phillack ?— Yes. 938. What is the popidation of Phdlack? — I believe it is between 3,000 and 4,000. 939. Upon what stream is Phillack situated ? — Upon the Hayle river, which is a tidal river. 940. Is the slj-eam polluted by mineral matter from mines ? — No. 941. Is there any mining industry above Phillack ? — Not at present. 942. Is the town sewered ? — Not our ilistrict. Phillack, examined. 943. Are the houses provided with privies ?- the whole of them. 944. In cases where there are no privies, how do the people manage ? — We now issue notices to the owners to make them. 945. Hitherto what has been the practice -with regard to getting rid of chamber slops ? — Tiiey were thrown into the gardens, and by surface drainage. 946. Is there any nuisance created by the drainage of the town below you ? — No. C 4 Mr. G. G, Powell. -Not Mr. V. Pearce. 24 KIVER^ POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PAllT III. Mr. V. Pearce. 18 Sept. 1872. Kcdruth. 947. Have no complaints been made ? — No, not directly. There arc three or four open sewers which disehurf^e into the river, and occasionally a smell is caused by that. 948. Uo many people live near them ? — Yes, there are houses all along. 949. Axo any complaints made of a nuisance ? — Not directly. 950. Are the cesspools cleaned out regularly ? — They are under the supervision of the inspector of nuisances, and when he goes round, if he sees that they ought to be cleaned, he gives the parties notice, and it is done. 951. Is the place supplied with water drawn from shallow wells ? — We have five public pumps. 952. Have there been wells sunk ? — Yes, sunk in the streets. 953. Are there many private wells also? — Yes, a great number in the gardens ; the principal supply of Avater comes from them. 954. Is the town a scattered town so tliat every house has a garden ? — Yes, nearly every house has a garden. The witness withdrew. 955. Ai-e you acquainted with any tUstrict in your neighbourhood in which complaints are made of the choked state of the river owing to mining stuff getting into it ?— No. 956. {Dr. Frankland.) You say that the town is supplied with water chiefly from private wells ? — Yes ; we have five public pumps. 957. But the people also draw water from Avells ? — Yes. 958. What is the depth of those wells? — I think about 30 feet. 959. Are there not many less than that ? — No ; there may be some more and some less. 960. What is the character of the soil ? — I fancy it is clay slate. 961. Do you know from Avhat stratum the water comes ? — I cannot say. Is the water soft ? — Yes. Is it used for washing purposes ? — Yes, in some 962. 963. houses 964. 965. Is it good palatable water ? — Very good indeed. Do you believe that no sewage can get into it ? — I never heard any complaints, and I know of no such cases. Adjourned to Bodmin, 21st September, at 10 o'clock. In the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Bodmin. (For Lostwithiel and Bodmin.) Mr. H. Mudyc. 21, Sept. 1872. Bodmin. Saturday, September 21st, 1872. PRESENT : Dk. Edward Frankland, F.E.S. | Mr. John Chalmers Morton. Mr. S. J. Smith, F.G.S., Secretary. Mr. Henry Mudge, Sur 966. ( Dr. Frankland.') How long have you been in practice in Bodmin ? — Since 1830 on my own ac- count, and six years before as an apprentice. I have known Bodmin professionally since 1823. 967. Do you consider Bodmin a healthy town ? — Yes. 968. What are the chief epidemics that from time to time prevail here ? — The epidemics are those of the infantile class, such as measles, small-pox, scarlet fever, whooping cough, and so on. I am not prepared to say that we have any other epidemics here. There has only been one occasion, I think, in my experience, when typhoid fever prevailed, which was perhaps 35 years ago, it prevailed rather extensively. In 1832, when cholera was the epidemic, a case was impoi'ted into Bodmin from Torpoint when the old van system of travelling was in operation ; it began and ended in that solitary case, it never spread at all. 969. With reference to this outbreak of typhus fever, do you consider that there were any bad sanitary arrangements in the town which caused it ? — They had not then been the subject of inquiry, and I know that fever prevailed then in parts of the town where since then imperfect drainage at the backs of houses has been found which did not excite inquiry then. It came and Avent Avithout inquiry as to sanitary measures. 970. What do you consider to be the predisposing causes of measles, scarlatina, and typhoid fever ? — The predisposing causes would be dirtiness generally, an imperfect supply of or impure water, and the im- provident habits of the people which would lower the vital poAvers. 971. You think that drinking impure Avater Avould be one cause ? — Yes. 972. Have you had any scarlatina in Bodmin of late vears ? — Yes, it Avas very bad last year. geon, Bodmin, examined. 973. Would you attribute that to any special cause ? — I do not knoAV A\'hat the cause of it Avas, any more than that it was of a malignant type, but more than that I do not knoAV. 974. Was it very malignant ? — It Avas of that type. My health has been broken doAvn. I am not n6Av in the actual practice of my profession, and yet I hear of it and see some of it, and I believe I knew enough of the cases on that occasion, having personally seen some to knoAV that the disease Avas of a malignant type. 975. Were there many cases ? — Yes, hundreds. 976. Was it in consequence of that outbreak of scarlatina that an officer of the Local Government Office was sent doAvn here ? — -Mr. iMorgan came doAvn here. 977. And Mr. Harrison ? — I do not knoAv. I under- stood Mr. Morgan's Aisit to have been in relation to the contemplated scAverage. 978. HaAe you known of late years any cases of enteric fever or typhoid fever ? — Yes, a good many. 979. What do you consider that disease arises from ? — I think that generally, as far as my observation goes, it arises from the imperfect condition of the tOAvn di-ainage. 980. Do you think that impure Avater has anything to do Avith the origin and spread of that disease ? — Yes, it may, but my OAvn experience has been this, that it originates cliiefly in our toAvn in cases in Avhich I have seen imperfect drainage. There have been cases here, of Avhich I have been cognizant, A\-here I may say, in spite of all advice to the contrary, the drain of a house has been permitted fo open internally in the house, perhaps in the back kitchen, and these drains have proved peculiarly dangerous, and Ibeheve have been tiie immediate origin of typhoid fever. I RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL KVIDIONCE PART III. 26 think it is Infectious, and that it goes from those who first get it to others. 981. It is conveyed from person to person through the atmosphere, is it not ? — I think so. I may perhaps mention that I have seen persons whom I considered infected in this way, but so little in connexion with the place of infection, that I did not think the place of infection a sufficient cause, that is my idea. 982. In addition to this mode of propagation through the atmosphere, is it possible do you think that typhoid fever would be pi'opagated by the excrenieutal dis- charges of a patient gaining access to drinking water ? — I think so. 983. Are thei-e any particular parts of the town where this fever has prevailed more than in others ? — I cannot say that there are. 984. Where does Piison Lane lie ? — Just below here in the low part of the town. 985. Is it densely populated? — Yes. I may say that Bodmin stands on a slope, and Prison Lane is at its bottom. 986. Therefore it would be favourable for the ac- cumulation of filth.? — Yes, the gradient of Prison Lane is not much ; it is not a good gradient. 987. Have you known many cases of scarlet fever or typhoid fever about there ? — Yes. I have known several, not typhoid, but several cases of scarlet fever about there. 988. You said also, I think, that that would result from the use of impure water ? — Yes. 989. Do you know the Prison Lane pump ? — Yes. 990. Is the water of that pump much used by the inhabitants living about there? — It is very much used. 991. You have not, I presume, been able to trace directly any of the diseases you have mentioned to the use of that water ? — No. With regard to this particular pump I may mention that within the last fortnight, since our attention has been excited by some very intimate friends being ill, I have tried our waters with the per-manganate of potash test, and strange to say, at least it surprised me after your own Report, I could get no ill appearance out of Prison Lane pump. 992. I see that there are " two samples from Prison Lane pump " amongst those on this list, and I do not know that we have the means of ascertaining what is the difference between tlicm ; there must bo two pumps there ? — No, there is only one. 993. What is the meaning of " Two samples from Bodmiu. Prison Lane pump "? — I only guess this, but Prison Lane in the Report is called " Crockwell Street ;" there is a well in this town called " Cockwell," with- out the " r," and I fancy some one has confounded the two, but they are independent. You can correct it by the numbers. 994. With regard to Prison Lane pump, yon say that numerous cases of scarlatina and typhoid fever have occurred within a moderate distance of that pump ? — Yes, scarlet fever. I am not so sure of typhoid fever being in that neighbourhood, but scarlet fever. 995. Do you think that the patients who are there affected by the fever use this pump water ?— Some of them do, no doubt. 996. Scarlet fever is a very infectious fever, is it not ?— Yes. 997. We find that on the 1st January 1872 the water of this well consisted principally of soakage from some sewer or cesspool near it. Is that, in your opinion, a desirable water to allow to be used ? No. I may mention that Prison Lane pump is five feet deep. I know its depth for I have seen it opened, and I had a new pump put there when I was filling the office of Mayor in this town. 998. Is it the fact or not that the sewer goes within three feet of the pump ?— It goes within a few feet ; it goes down the Lane. 999. So that the sewage in making its way to the well would only have to pass through four or five feet of soil ? — Five or six feet. 30928. 1000. That would be quite inadequate, would it Mr. II Mudge not, to purify the sewage ?. — Yes. 1001. Is it desirable, in your opinion, that this well Sept. 1872. should be closed?— I should not close it, unless I found its water worse than I find it at present. 1002. What test did you apply to it ?— The orilv test that 1 applied was i)or-nianganate of potash. 1003. You are probably aware that there is a great difference of ojiinion as lo ihc value of that test ?— I have tried many of our watefs and they corresponded with your Report in every particular but that of Prison Lane well. I tried Mill Sti-ect. That was certainly very bad. And I tried Nicholas Street. That was bad, although not very bad. I tried Prison Lane, and I was put out about that, as it did not cor- respond with your Report ; so I took the trouble to try it three times over with the test I have mentioned and I got nothing. ' 1004. Did you take your sample on the same day that ours was taken ? — No ; mine has just been done. May I ask you whether you anticipate a difference between summer and winter in the samples taken ? 1005. Do you mean of the water supplied t No all of them. * 1006. I do not think there would be any differ- once in the well water, whether taken in winter or in summer. There would be in all probability a con- siderable difference in the quality of the Company's water which is collected in a reservoir ? — We have three flowing streams, of which church style is one. 1007. It is described in this list as a well six feet ieep ?— No, that [is only an erection in the church- yard over the course of the stream ; it is not a well. That explains the somewhat anomalous character of that water coming out of the churchyard. What ia called the well is six feet deep. 1008. Does any part of that water come from the soakage from the churchyard ?— I cannot tell that ; it comes from under the church, and it flows through the churchyard. 1009. Do you know the death-rate in Bodmin Yes, pretty well. I have not looked at it very recently, but we used to be below 2 per 100 or 20 ner 1,000. ^ 1010. What is the population of Bodmin ? — 4,000. I may mention that the death-rate of this town as published is always very high, but that results from the mmates of the asylum being reckoned as an integral part of our population, hence their deaths are set down to the town ; that raises the death-rate very considerably, so that in all the governmental statistics Bodmin has not its fair place, because it is made worse by the asylum. 1011. What number of patients are there in that asylum ? — About 400. 1012. Does the prison also add to the death-rate ? —Very little. In spite of the large gaol pool they cannot get the prisoners to be sick there. 1013. You spoke of one case of Asiatic cholera, has that been the only case in your experience ?— The only case that ever occurred in the town ; that was in 1832 ; it began and ended with that solitary case. 1014. Do you consider that water which receives sewage contamination ought to be drunk by a com- munity .?— Not if they can get better, or if it were at aU in excess, I should not say it is appreciable, because I see that there is some sewage contamination in church style and also in the waterworks in your own list. 1015. But in the church style well the water has been evidently filtered through such a vast quantity of soil that almost every trace of organic matter is ' destroyed in it. In the Prison Lane pump the thin^r IS quite fresh. Can you tell us whether many people use the water from the church style well ? Yes it is largely used. ' 1016. Is it considered to be a good water ? — Yes. 1017. Is it colourless and pleasant to drink ' Yes everything that is desirable. I should suppose that It IS more used than any other m the town. It is used by nearly the Avhole of the town, because the D 26 UIVKKS POLLUTION COAIMISSION S ORAL EVIDENCIC — VAUT III. Bodmin. wells fit the higher end of the town go dry in suramei-, and then tlie j)eople go to Clmreh style. 1018. Is there any great hardship in having to fetch water from that well ? — No ; the only hardship is the distance. 1019. How far is it? — Not more than 200 yards from Prison Lane. 1020. Could not the inhabitants have a water supply ? — Yes, if they pleased to pay for it. 1021. Those who refuse to pay for it can still go to the well ? — It is only voluntary ; it is not a rate ; the Water Company have no power to levy a rate, or to put one on. 1022. Do you know Breeshute well ? — Yes. 1023. Is it really a well or does it receive also a spring ? — It is a reservoir, perhaps 20 feet by 12, and 4 feet deep, receiving water from springs, I presume, around, of course it must be ; it comes out of the ground into this reservoir and trickles in at different parts. 1024. It is not accurate is it, to describe it as a well four feet deep ? — No ; the immediate source of supply is unquestionably a reservoir into which the water trickles. 1025. Is it essentially spring water ? — Yes. 1026. What is the character of the ground surround- ing it? — The character of the ground is the stratum on which our town stands, earth, and stone, and so on ; but the reservoir is immediately at the bottom of the hotel yard, and immediately above is the hotel coach- house and the long room. I mean the Royal Hotel. 1027. Of course it would be possible for percolations from the surface to mix with the spring water ? — I presume so ; it is walled in. 1028. What is your opinion of the quality of the water which is supplied by the Company? — It is very good, speaking with reference to health ; it is a little turbid sometimes, but that may be from the scouring of the pipes, which are new, or they are not very old; at least they have been laid down about one or two years. 1029. Do you consider that the water would be improved by filti-ation through sand ? — I thiuk not, by any process that you can subject it to. 1030. You think the turbidity arises from the pipes? —Yes. 1031. It is not turbid in the reservoir? — No; my impression is that the turbidity comes principally from new services being laid on, when the old pipes have been meddled with. 1032. Is the water still turbid? — No, it is found so now and then. 1033. Does it vary much in quality at different seasons of the year P — No. 1034. In your opinion it is a fairly good and whole- some water ? — I think so. 1035. Is there an abundance of it for those who like to pay for it ? — Yes. 1036. Is the supply constant ? — Yes; one day's full pumping for 24 hours will raise a quantity of water sufficient to supply the present services over a T>^eek. There is sufficient power to supply the whole town. 1037. As to the Cockwell stream or well, where is that situated ? — It is at the bottom of the hill of the Beacon Range, 100 or 200 yards. 1038. Inside the town ?— Yes. 1039. Is that used by many people ? — Yes, I should say it is largely used. 1040. Have you notic(>d tlio occurrence of any epidemic disease near that well ? — No. 1041. (Mr. Morton.) You spoke of the water supply of the town being more dependent upon this low well in dry seasons than in wet seasons ; do you know whether in the diy and wet seasons respectively there is any difference in the health of the town, or which is the healthier season ? — 1 have never heard of any difference. 1042. Is the dry or wet season the healthiest in Bodmin ? — I should say that we have generally ob- served this, that when the weather in the depth of winter has settled in either very cold and frosty, or in summer very dry and fine, disease diminishes, but as soon as you get to the variations of spring and autumn disease increases. I do not think that observations minute enough have been kept between intervening months, such as a wet month and a dry one. 1043. You cannot connect any disease with the use of the water of Prison Lane well ? — No, I cannot. 1044. Can you connect any disease in Bodmin with the polluted condition of the stream ? — I have thought that I have connected disease with the bad sewerage of the district, not with the stream jiarticularly. I do not think there is anything injurious on the borders of that stream. 1045. Not even in the neighbourhood of this well that is complained of ? — No, there is nothing there. There are no houses there but the gaol, and the gaol is the healthiest part of the town. 1046. Are you aware of any ill-health having been caused by the condition of any of the streams in the neighbom-hood which have been polluted by mining refuse ? — No. 1047. No flooding of houses ? — No ; we have no houses flooded here, our gradients are so steep. 1048. Is there no river-side hamlet which has been injured by it ? — No. 1049. With regard to the health returns, which you say are affected by the existence of the asylum in the district, does the Registrar's district include a large country population as well as a town population ? — It includes a wide area. 1050. Is the church style water used as drinking water ? — Yes, I think it is the most used in the town. 1051. Does it retain its sweetness when it is kept in a bottle for any length of time ? — It keeps in all our utensils, pitchers and bottles. 1052. Does it keep for any length of time in hot summer weather ? — Say a week. I have used it many times. I do not let it lie by; but it will retain its sweetness for a week. With regard to the great nuisance at Lostwithiel caused by the blood and offal taken from those places in the neighbourhood of Lost- withiel, and much more extensively in other parts of Cornwall, I may say that there are thousands of acres of waste land lying uncultivated which are very hungry for this refuse blood, but they are held so fast by those who have jurisdiction over them, that the blood cannot be got there. My suggestion to the Commission is that those lands in the neighbourhood of Lostwithiel should be opened up, and the trades- men who have this blood to dispose of will be only too willing to have it deposited in that locality. The witness withdrew. Mr. Henry Coom (Surveyor, Bodmin), examined. Mr. H. Coom, 1053. {Mr. Morton.) What is the population of ' Bodmin ?— About 5,000, I think. 1054. What is the number of houses ? — I do not know exactly. 1055. Is the town sewered ? — There are imperfect drains through the streets, not legular sewers from one end to the other. 1056. They are imperfect with reference to the space that they occupy in the town ? — Yes. 1057. What is the nature of their construction ? — They are masonry drains. 1058. What is the date of the sewerage system ; when were the drains made ? — There has been no regular drainage made of late years ; the old drains have been repaired in some parts, and new ones have been put in in connexion with the old ones. 1059. Is the town provided -with waterclosets, or with privies ? — In some parts with privies, and in others with waterclosets. 1060. Ai'e there many waterclosets ? — Most of the respectable houses, houses of perhaps 20/. a year, are RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL IQVIDENCK — PART III. 27 provided witli them, but I tliink the others have piincipally privies. 1061. How do you drain the waterclosets ; do they deliver into the sewers ? — They are drained into the old drains that exist. 1062. Are there no instances in which the water- closets dehver into cesspools ? — I think not. 1063. With regard to the privies, do the pits con- nect Avith the drains ? — No, they are principally in the gardens. 1064. Is the cleansing of the cesspools under your direction ? — No. 1065. How is that arranged ? — The people do it themselves principally. 1066. Have you an inspector of nuisances ? — Yes, there is the police. 1067. When any nuisance exists, is notice given to the offender to abate it ? — Yes. 1068. Are the whole contents of the cesspools re- moved by the owners ? — Yes. 1069. As to the disposal of the liquid pai't, does that find its way to some extent into your drains ? — It would naturally. 1070. Is that delivered into the river ? — Yes, eventually. 1071. Do you know how many exits there are by means of drains into the river ? — The refuse goes into a stream that goes down tJie valley, and then into the main river, the River Camel. 1072. Are there many outlets iu the course of that stream from which this liquid is discharged ? — On the stream there are several, because the streets run parallel, some of them, and all that drain fi'om the highei' part of the town fall into that. 1073. Then every drain has a direct delivery into the sti eam ? — Yes, it must fall in there. 1074. Does the stream run through the town ? — Yes. 1075. Does it equally divide the town ? — No, the larger proportion is on the south side. 1076. As regards the middens or cesspools, do you know the size of them as a rule ? — They are just a few feet square, just to take the stuff from the privies. I do not know of any large pits. 1077. Do yon know at what intervals they require cleaning out ? — That is just done at the will of the people that occupy them. 1078. With reference to their size, hoAV often must they be done as a rule ? — As a rule they should be cleaned out every month. 1079. Are they cleaned out every month ? — No. 1080. Are the drains built with cement or dry rubble ? — They are built with Plymouth lime, not hydraulic lime, that would wash off. 1081. Are there many private wells — Yes. 1082. Are there are any public wells ? — Yes, there are several public and several private wells ; most of the respectable premises have wells. 1083. That is, shallow dug wells ? — Yes, and pumps. 1084. Does the town depend for its supply of water upon that source still ? — Recently we have had a water supply from near the River Camel, and many houses now take that in preference. 1085. Have any of the wells been closed ? — None of the public wells. 1086. Have you power to close them ? — I presume the sanitary authorities have. 1087. Are any of those public wells near the course of your sewers? — Yes. the one in Prison Lane might be. 1088. How far would it be ? — Within five or six feet, or ten feet. 1089. Can you give us the number of the public wells ? — We have three ^public shoots besides public wells or pumps. 1090. With regard to tlic public wells, wliat is their position as to the di-ains ; there is one in Prison Lane, can you name any other ? — There is St. Nicholas Street. 1091. Where is that ?— Close to the drain. I have Mr. H. Coom. never seen the drain ojjened, but I think it must come . close to it. 21 Sept. 1872. 1092. Can yon name a third ? — There is very little : drainage at the hojwl of the town, Itut there are two public wells there. 1093. With regard to the two you have named, Prison Lane and St. Nicholas Street, is the Prison Lane well a deep one ? — I do not think it is very deep. 1094. Do you know the depth of the one in St. Nicholas Street ? — I do not know the depth of either of them ; they run from three to four fatiioms deep. 1095. What is the subsoil of the town ? Clay- slate. 1096. Is it rock or clay ? — It is a sort of decom- posed rock in some places, and rock in other places ; it is mixed with clay. 1097. Is it a porous material ? — Yes, where the rock is. 1098. If a drain leaks, some of its contents must spread through the surrounding ground, must they not ? — Yes, I should say so. 1099. And if a well is near the contents will go into it ? — Yes. 1 100. Is there any complaint below the town of the condition of the river arising from a nuisance caused by these drains ? — I have never heard of any ; only the gaol pool has been complained of. 1101. Is that a complaint within the town? — Yes, not as to the people of the town, but to the gaol authorities ; they have complained. 1102. What is the nature of the nuisance of which they complain ?—• They complain of the smell; they suppose that it generates disease, the accumulation of filth in the pool. 1103. Is the county gaol below the town? — Yes, adjoining this pool, there is only a road between. 1104. This pool is a still part of the stream, is it ? — Yes. The stream goes into it, and then it is pounded up to supply the mill below. 1105. The whole contents of your drain deliver into the stream above this pool ? — Yes. 1106. And the pool is offensive in hot weather ? — Yes. 1107. Do you know anything of the mining in this district ? — Yes. 1108. Do you know the Camel? — ^I do. There are none exactly on the Camel stream, but they are in the neighbourhood, and they discharge into streams that discharge into the Camel. There are none directly on the Camel. 1 109. Can you give me a list of the mines ? — There are many new ones just springing up. 1110. Take an old one. What is the most im- portant mine ? — They are tin mines principally . There are some at Lanivet, and in fact there are some above in Luxulyan. 1111. Can you give us a list of the mines? — Not off-hand, but I can get it for you. 1112. Are you aware of any complaint below the mines of a nuisance arising from the materials that are thrown into the sewers ? — I have heard that there have been complaints at Wadebridge. 1113. Do you know who has made the complaint ? — I do not. 1114. What is the nature of the complaint ? — That there is a large quantity of dirt sent down which will eventually impede the navigation. 11J5. But no nuisance has arisen yet ? — I think it has arisen partially. I think there is more stuff there than there used to be. 1116. Do you know of any injury being done to agricultural land from the overflow ? — I think there must be injury done, as I have seen it over the land. 1117. Do you know the name of the oecupiei- of the land that you have seen flooded ?— Yes. :\ri-. Scarle. at Butterwcll. I have seen the stuff over liis ground in Bodmin ; and there is Mr. Thomas, the occupier of the Boscarne estate. D ? 28 RIVERS rOLLUTION CO^IMTSSION -ORAL EVIWKKCE — PART III. Mr. H. C'oom. 1118. \^Dr. Franhland.) Do you know .inything about the water supply from the waterwork.s here ; 21 Sept. 1872. Jo you kiiow the source of the water? — Yes. Bodmi 1119. What is the nature of it; is it a spring ? — ° It comes fi'om a small stream called the Butter well stream, I think it is. 1 1 20. Does that stream flow as an open stream for some considerable distance before it enters the reser- voir ? — It flows between two woods. 1121. For what distance? — I should think not more tliau a quarter of a mile. 1122. Does it there originate in a spring ? — Yes, a small spring at the head. 1123. Do you know the character of the soil or rock out of Avhich that spring comes ? — It is the same soil as the soil of this town. It is of the same nature. 1124. What is the character of the land surround- ing it ; is it cultivated ? — It is principally wood. 1125. Is there any grazing land or ploughed land ? — It is arable land in the locaHty on one side of a very large wood. 1126. At what distance will the nearest ploughed field be from the spring ? — I should think it must adjoin, or nearly so. The witm 1127. In passing through this wood on its way to the reservoir, is this stream liable to receive the de- cayed leaves from the trees. Do they fall into it, or are they blown into it ?— Yes, where it is open, of course. 1128. It is therefore liable to be somewhat con- taminated with vegetable and organic matter ?— Some vegetation would get into it. 1129. How many days' storage will the reservoir contain ? — The water is pumped up into the reservoir at a great distance from the stream. The works are close to the town. 1130. i suppose this stream does flow into some kind of reservoir ?— Yes. There is a small reservoir to pump from. 1131. Do you kuow any source by which this water is contaminated after it is received in this reservoir —No. 1132. It is conveyed to the town in a perfectly satisfactory condition ?— Yes. It appears that the death-rate for Bodmin for five years precedin"- 1871 was 14-1, and last year, 1871, it was 23, but that was a scarlet fever year. ; withdrew. Richard Foster, Esq., li. Foster, Esq. 1133. {Mr. Morton.) You are one of the Visiting 1 Magistrates of Bodmin County Gaol ? — Yes. 1134. Have you any complaint to make of the con- dition of the stream near the county gaol ? — I have a great complaint to make of the condition of gaol pool. 1135. Is the gaol pool due to any artificial ob- struction in the stream, or is it a natural pool ? — It is formed by the drainage of the town of Bodmin dammed up for milling purposes. 1136. What is the nature of the comijlaint that you have to make ? — That it is extremely offensive to those who have to live in its immediate neighbour- hood. 1137. Is it offensive irrespective of the weather? — It is intolerable in hot weather. It is bad enough on an ordinary day, but insufferable in hot weather. 1138. Are you aware of any disease that has been traced to the condition of the stream there ? — I am thankful to say that we cannot trace any disease to the presence of the gaol pool. 11 39. You complain that it is an intolerable nuisance nevertheless ? — Yes. We have complained of it times without number as an intolerable nuisance. Nevertheless I think I can assign a reason why we have fortunately escaped disease. The extreme care and discipline exercised in the prison are calculated to prevent anything like disease, and the extreme cleanliness which is maintained in the j^rison. 1140. The nuisance arises, I presume, from the discharge of town sewage into the stream above ? — It is the stream which seems to be offensive ; the sewage there has water mixed with it, but not in Hufficient quantity to dilute it. 1141. Is the water supplied to part of the town spoiled ? — Yes. 1142. Is there any stream which runs in a channel above the town ?— Yes. 1 1 43. Then it is in fact sewage diluted ? — Yes ; but not diluted quite enough. 1144. What becomes of the sewae-e of the sraol itself, where does the gaol drain run ? — Into the same place. 1145. Is the gaol provided wholly with water- closets ? — Every cell has a watercloset properly trapped. 1146. To abate the nuisance is any remedy to be applied to it ? — I am told so ; there is a scheme under consideration, I believe. 1147. Is that an iuterceptiug sewerage scheme? — or my own knowledge I do not know, but I under- stand that something is about to be done, that is what 1 am told. f Lostwithiel, examined. 1148. Leaving Bodmin, can you give us any infor- mation as to the condition of the Eiver Fowey a Lostwithiel ? — Yes. The state of the River Fowey at Lostwithiel, as far as regards the colour of the water, is very turbid always, except on Monday mornings. 1149. The turbidity then is due to the mining industry above it, is it not ?— The mining and clay industry higher up on the stream. 1150. Is there a large deposit from the water in the navigable channel ? — Yes, it is very excessive. 1151. Can you give us any facts with respect to the decrease of the trading industry of the place in consequence of the filling of the channel ?— Baro-es that used to lie afloat loaded cannot do so now, ancf in places where there were deep pools there are pools no longer. 1152. It is necessary for a barge to come up now with less than its complete load ? — Certainlv. 1153. Are you aware of any reduction in" the rental of the quays in consequence of the spoilt part of the channel ? — Complaints are frequent from the tenants of the corporation of Lostwithiel who own the quays, and they further say that if it goes on at its present rate they can be our tenants no longer, as we shall have nothing to let. 1154. Still they pay the old rent? — Yes, at present they do ; but great complaint is made. 1155. Is the corporation at any expense in main- taining the channel ? — Yes, it has been in times past at an annual expense of ;from 11. to 8/., but we have reason to think that not 300/. a year now would keep the channel clear, so great has been the increase of the debris coming down the river Avithin the last three or four years. 1156. Are you aware of any instance of injury done to the river side lands from the floods which have been produced by the raising of the bed of the channel owing to the deposit of mining refuse ? — Not on the River Fowey, but within my district I know of such cases. 1157. Do you mean on the St. Neot's River ? — No, on the Tidi and the Seaton. 1158. {Dr. Frankla7id.) Are you acquainted with the di ainage of Lostwithiel ? — I am. 1159. Is it in a satisfactory condition at present ? — No. 1160. What is required to be done in order to put it into such a condition ? — That the whole town should be completely sewered as it is in North Street. 1161. Ai-e there open sewers now which run through the town that are offensive ? — There are what are called sewers running through two streets which are composed of masonry. I am not aware whether RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: ORAL KVIDENCK — PART III. 29 there ever was any mortar with the stones or not, but there is very Httie mortar now. 1162. Is there not an open leat which conveys offensive water, passing through one part of the town ? — Yes, there is. 1163. That I suppose it is desirable to have covered ? — It is very desirable indeed to have that covered. 1164. What is the condition of the water supply at Lostwithiel ? — The water is chiefly obtained from a shoot well, called the town shoot. 1165. Is it fetched from thence by the inhabitants ? — Yes, generally so. 1166. That supplies almost the whole of the town, I suppose, Avith drinking water ?— Yes, almost. 1167. Is that well situated near the centre of the town, or at some considerable distance from it ? — It is situated in the upper part of the town. It is a good distance from the lower parts of the town. 1168. I presume therefore that people somewhere in the lower parts of the town will use as little water as they can ? — Yes, they use as little as they possibly can. 1169. Is there anything in contemplation for the better supply of that town with water ? — It has hardly got so far as that yet. There is, owing to the build- ing of a new school, some chance of the town being better supplied with water ; and the present supply to the town might be utilized more than it is. 1170. Is the water discharged at present at a point sufficiently high to command most of the town, if it The witnes were distril)utcd in pipes ?— If it was distributed in li. Foster, Esq. pipes it might supply the greater part of the town. 1171. That, in itself, would be a great improve-. 21 Septal 872. ment, would it not ?— Yes, it would be a very great Bodmin impi'ovement. \^ 1172. And could be carried out probably without any great expense ? — Yes. 1173. What is the population of the borough > 2,000. The town itself is 1,500. 1174. Are the rates now very heavy ? No. 1175. Are you aware whether in Lostwithiel there are many slaughter-houses ? — There are a great number. 1 ] 76. For supplying the London markets ?— Yes, and the local markets. 1177. What is done with the refuse from those slaughter-houses ?— I have not the slightest idea, but I can give a guess. 1178. Is any part of the blood discharged into the sewers or open drains of the town ? — The water supply for the killing houses is not adequate to keep them clean, consequently there is blood to be seen ; it flows into an open gutter which passes down through a part of the town. ° 1179. Do you know whether this nuisance is a source of ill-health to the neighbourhood ? — It has to my knowledge been connected with that as a cause. 1180. Is it a source of discomfort ? — -Yes, to those who have to pass it, and who reside near it. withdrew. John Basset Collins, Esqui; 1181. {Dr.- FranUand.) I believe you desire to make some communication to the Commissioners ? — I believe it is a fact that the blood from the killing houses at Lostwithiel is made an article of trade, and is kept in barrels and casks, and carted away over the neighbourhood in a most oftensive, injurious, and dangerous state. I myself know that within the last month two large waggons laden with casks of putrid and most offensive blood were can-ied over nearly 20 miles of road from Lostwithiel to this town and beyond it. It had been kept in casks for a long time, and several people Avere made ill on the road, myself among others. Horses would not pass it, and that came from the killing houses. I made inquiries subsequently and I found that on another occasion the blood had been sent by railway from Lostwithiel to Bodmin Road. It had been put into barrels with the entrails of animals, and these fermented so that the barrels burst in the railway carriages and also on the road, and I understand that the railway com- pany refused to carry any more. I think that that is a subject for inquiry either by the authorities of Lostwithiel or by this Commission. 1 have the names of two or three persons who were made quite sick and ill on the occasion to which I refer. 1182. What is done with this blood ? — It is used for the purpose of manure on a large farm 10 miles beyond this ijlace. 1188. Does it then in anyway contribute to the pollution of the water ?— I do not know ; it is mixed with earth on the farm and used for manure. {The Toion Clerk.) I may state that I wrote a letter, and I was informed that this practice of carry- ing over the roads should be discontinued. {Mr. Foster.) I may remark that the corporation of Lostwithiel, of which I have the honour to be a member, has no sanitary authority whatever, and we cannot possibly control the butchers more than to see, if they are brought up by the inspector of nuisances, that justice should be done. 1184. {Mr. Morton.) An ampler supply of water would have the effect, would it not, of more thoroughly The witness e (Mayor, Bodmin), examined. washing the blood away into the river ?—{31r. Richard j b Foster^ Yes ; but the result of the blood not being CoUins, Esq. sent away to Camelford will be that the blood will be carried on to the fields in the immediate neighbour- hood of Lostwithiel, and the nuisance arising from that would be something intolerable. I do not think that any person can tell what would be the result. There is one road out of Lostwithiel which I know has been impassable for six weeks at a time from the manure taken out of the slaughter houses. They clean the slaughter houses and carry the manure there and leave it in a heap, and it is so bad that I have known horses refuse to go past the place. If you spread sand over it it is all over at once. ( The luitness.) With regard the wells in Bodmin I should say that Bodmin, as a rule, is generally sup- plied with private and pubUc pumps, and those private and public pumps have been hitherto found to answer all purposes, but within the last 20 years experience tells us that waterclosets have been more general than before. The drainage of this town, like many other towns, was simply masons' drainage, to carry off the surface water or the rain water, and the ordinary house drainage. Since the more general adoption of water- closets these drains have been held to be inefficient, and that is the reason why of late years the pumps have been regarded with prejudice. With reference to that particular pump in St. Nicholas Street, I can give the Commissioners some information. I had occasion this last week to have it opened. That there was sickness in that neighbourhood, and I had the pump closed. The people who live there thought it proper to break the locks because they were fond of using the water. The town supply was ottered to them which they refused, and in consequence I had that pump opened and looked to, and the sewage from an adjacent drain was found to be percolating through the ground into that very pump, that is, the St. Nicholas Street pump. I believe the sewage percolates into it almost at the very top, but it is capable of being cared and removed. Still at this moment that is the cause of the offensive state of that water; the drainage was found to be leaking into it. withdrew. D 3 30 BIVBES POTjLUTION COMMISSION — ORAL EVIDENCK — rAKT III. Colonel Waltek R. ( Col. W.B. 1 185. ( Mr. Morton.) Are you a resident in Bodmin ? Gilbert. _l ]i:ive resided hen! for the last 18 yccars. 1186. Are you dependent upon the Bodmin water 21 Sept. 1872. supply ?__No, I have a spring of my own. J'odnTn IIS7. Are you acquainted with the character of any of the wells in Bodmin? — I know the church stylo well. When 1 first came here we obtained water from church style, but if it was kept in a bottle for 24 hours it was found to be positively putrid, and you you could not use it. I know this that when barristers and others come to' the town, if they drink that water it simply has the effect of a dose of medicine upon them. 1 recollect Mr. Ward, who is now dead, but who was an old resident here and a surgeon, told me that ho considered the water was the cause of those gentlemen being affected as they were. I also know this, that my deputy, Mr. Vincent, if he drinks it, half a tumbler will have the effect of a dose of medicine upon him, and he always sends to my house for every drop of water that he drinks. 1188. Is this offensiveness of which you speak per- ceptible in winter as well as in summer ?— I think it is more so in summer than in winter. When there is a diminished supply of water whatever particles might come into it increase the dirty state of the water. The witne L15ERT, Bodmin, examined. 1189. Do you know what water is supplied to the gaol ? — It comes from a spring a long way out of tlio town, and is conveyed in pipes. 1190. Has tlie town a water supply ? — No indepen- dent water supply. 1191. Can you give us any information with respect to the nuisances that arise from the mines below Bodmin ? — Yes, I know the works down at Rutlieren and Nanstallon, and I have no doubt that in the course of years the river down even at PadstoAv will become unnavigable ; it is generally filling up, and they try to dredge and keep it open, but I am sure that some day it will be a very serious -thing, and the Govtjrnment will have to take it in liand if they wish to keep the harbour open. The injury done is very great to the river. I knew many pools that were of a deptli of 12 and 14 feet where it is now shallow water, there- fore the thing is gradually getting worse. 1192. Do you know of any agricultural injury being done ? — No, I do not know that the animals have been the worse for it. 1 193. Has any of the land on the river side suffered ? . — I cannot speak to that. s withdrew. Mr. John Henry Kestell examined. 3h-. . H. 1194. {Mr. Morton.) Do you occupy land in the Kestell. valley of the Camel ? — Yes. 1 195. What extent of land do you hold there ?— Two marshes. 1196. Do you mean river-side grass land ? — Yes. 1197. How many acres do you hold? — I should think about four acres. 1198. What is the value of this land per acre? — I can hardly tell you. 1199. Are you liable to floods from the water of the Camel ? — Yes. 1200. How often do you expect a flood to occur in a year ?— Sometimes twice or three or four times a year. 1201. Is that at all seasons ?— It is generally in Avinter. 1202. Do you attribute any injury to those floods ? —Yes. 1203. I suppose the injury is comparatively httle m the winter time ?— On the contrary, when it is a large river, a lot of sand comes in. 1204. Is the grass killed ?— It is at times. 1205. Does it get right again in the summer ? — It is large, rough, coarse stuff ; it has no nature in it. 1206. Have you had any stock injured by a flood ? Not that I know of, only the cattle cannot eat it after a flood. 1 207. What rent do you pay ?— It is included in the farm. 1208. Would you be willing to pay more rent if the land was not liable to these floods ?— I would for the marshes. 1209. How much an acre do you think the land would improve if it was not liable to be flooded ? — I cannot tell you. 1210. That would be the measure of the mischief which you now sufter ? — Yes. 1211. But you believe an injury is inflicted upon the land ? — Yes, certainly. 1212. Has the liability to flood been greater since the channel has been choked with the sand ? — Yes, the water comes in quicker than it did. 1213. And rises higher ? — Yes. 1214. Do you know whether the cottagers on the river side suffer any injury from the liability of the stream to flood their land ? — I do not know that I do there. 1215. I suppose there would be a certain liability to flood if there was no mine ? — Yes, but not of sand. 1216. In that case the water would be clean ? — Yes. 1217. {Dr. Frankland.) You say you have not suffered from any loss of stock ? — No, excepting that I cannot stock the land after a flood, it is in such a nasty mess with slime and gravel over it. 1218. You have not noticed any illness in the cattle ? — No. 1219. Do you know whether any lead, copper, or zinc is got out of tliis mine, or is it entirely a tin mine ? — It is a tin mine, I believe. 1220. {Mr. 3Iorton.) What is the name of the stream ? — The Camel River and the Ruthern stream ; there is a portion of each. 1221. Have both of those streams been cleared within your recollection ? — Yes. 1222. When they were clesued I suppose they were of use to you ? — I did not make much use of them ; they injured my lands. 1223. But were they of use to you and to others as a supply of water when they were clean ? — I did not use them. 1224. Will cattle drink this water now ? — I do not see them do so. 1225. Have you had any arable land flooded — Yes. 1226. Has .any injury to crops been done? — Yes; I lost some wheat. 1227. When was that? — I should think about three years ago. 1228. The summer flood is very mischievous I suppose ? — It injured my crop of Avheat. The witness mthdrew. mr. T. C)iniow. Mu. Thomas Curnow, Engineer to Waterworks, Bodmin, examined. 1229. {7yr. Franhland.) Can you describe the con- struction of the waterworks at Bodmin, and tlie water ciupply ? The supply first is a well sunk in the rock 25 feet deep. 1230. Wliat rock is that ? — A rock in the moor. 1231. Is it a granite rock ? — It is spnr and kilhis. 1232. At wli.Tt dej^tli did you find water ? — About eight feet below the surface. KIVER8 POLLUTION (iOMMLSSION : — OKAL KVIDENCK — PAItT III. 81 1233. Did yon gy on to 25 feet ?— Yes. 1234. Whnt quantity of water will this well yield in 24 lioui-s ? — We liave a second well. 123o. But first of all do you know what this Avell will yield ?— No ; I cannot tell you exactly. 1236. Do you know what the two together yield ? — Taking the two together, the Butterwell will supply the pumping engine, and they will yield enough in 24 hours to supply tlie town of Bodmin and the present customers for more than a week. 1237. Can you inform us how many gallons that represents ? — It represents about 250,000 gallons in 24 hours. 1238. That quantity, as I understand, comes out of two wells •''—It comes out of two wells and the Butterwell. That stream is brought into the pumping wells, and in each of those pumiiing wells there is a large spring coming out of the rock. 1239. Why did you bring this stream into the wells if you had plenty of water without it ? — We could get more water by sinking, by greater excavations in those wells, but by bringing the Butterwell stream into those wells we keep a supply in those two wells. 1240. Should you not get sufficient water out of the two wells without having recourse to this stream ? — Hardly enough at 'present without more excavation in the bottom. 1241. Is the well water and the water of this stream pretty much of the same quality ? — I believe so. 1242. I presume the stream will be more or less liable to have leaves and so on getting into it ? — Of course ; it is an open stream ; it comes down in an open leat. 1243. Is there any chance of any other sort of pollution getting into it during its flow ? — No. 1244. Do you consider that all the water collected in the two wells is pure and unpolluted water, and of a good quality P — Yes ; it is always considered good water. 1245. When it gets into those two wells, I under- stand that you pump it into a service reservoir ? — Yes. 1246. What height of lift has it ?— 421 feet. 1247. Where is the service reservoir situated ? — At the top of the Beacon. 1248. It is not in the town ? — No. 1249. Therefore it is not necessary to cover this reservoir ? — No. 1250. You say that the reservoir will contain a week's supply ? — Yes, fully that. 1251. The supply, I believe, is constant, day and night ? — Perhaps at this time of the year we might pump into the reservoir about once a week ; that is to say, once in the middle of the week, besides Sundays, in consequence of the lowness of the river. We have not water enough in a dry time to work the machine, without stopping the mills. 1252. Do you keep your mains in the town and the service pipes charged during the whole 24 hours ?— Yes, they are always supplied. 1253. So that any customer can draw water at any time from the main ? — Yes. 1254. Are cisterns used a great deal in the town ? — A few, but very few ; they generally draw from the mains. 1255. When was this supply first introduced into Bodmin?— In 1870. 1256. What proportion of the inhabitants use it now ?— I suppose about one third. I should not think much more. 1257. Can you give us the rate of charge for the different houses ? — Yes. 1258. Has the Avater been analysed ? — I believe so. 1259. I mean in addition to the analyses which have been made for the Local Government Act Office ? — I am not aware of its having been done but once, except analyses of the Butterwell stream and Camel presented to Parliament when the Act was obtained 1866. The witness 1260. T believe you cannot compel the use of this Mr. T. water ? — No. It is optional. Curnow. 1261. Is the water liked by the consumers ? — Very much. 21 Scpt^872. 1262. What is the quaijtity used per head by those Bodiniu who take it ? — I cannot tell. 1263. Have you any special means of preventing waste ? — No, not by the customers. 1264. Do you inspect the fittings occasionally? — I do. 1265. HoAv often do you inspect them ? — Once or twice a week. 1266. In every house ? — Yes. 1267. Do you supply the water through ferrules or apertures which only permit of a certain small quantity to come through per minute ? — We supply the water through a galvanised iron pipe screwed into the main, and at the end of the galvanised iron pipe there is a brass tap. 1268. Is there no contraction of that pipe ? — No. 1269. Do you mean a waste preventer ? — No. 1 270. Have you any such contrivance ? — No. 1271. Then you contract the pipe? — We give it a small siream. 1272. Which is kept constantly running ? — Yes. With respect to the pumping wells I wish to say that generally in all our mains, in sinking wells in shafts, after we got down under the top soil and came on to the rock, Ave generally found the most water coming between the two ; out in the wells of which I have been speaking, from the surface down about six or eight feet there is nothing but clay, and when we strike the rock, between the clay and the rock there is no water at all. We get none till we get doAvn into the rock. 1273. Is the rock fissured and cracked very much ? — No. There are no cracks in it. It is solid rock, but there are very large veins of quartz. 1274. How does the water get out of the rock. Is it not hard and compact ? — Yes, it is pretty close, but the v^ater will come from the rock, it does not matter if it is flint. The harder the rock the more the Avater where there are large veins of quartz. 1275. Then it must come through the cracks — Yes ; from the veins of quartz. 1276. We found this water to be of good quality, but at the time that the sample was taken, it Avas a little turbid. To what do you attribute that? — It might have been owing to this: we were at that time putting in a good many services, and whenever we put them in we must shut away the pressure at the stop-cock. When the service is in we go and lift this valve which forces doAvn the water, and when it comes down with such force the pressure is so great that it might scour a little rust perhaps off' the pipes. 1277. Is the Avater in the service reservoir always quite clean ? — Yes, always. 1278. As to the little stream that comes into the wells, is that never turbid ? — It is at times. In a very heavy rain it comes doAvn and mixes Avith the Butter- well. 1279. Where does it settle ? — It settles in the top pumping well. 1280. Do you pump out of that well ? — No. We pump from the lower well. It acts as a sort of catchpit. 1281. How many gallons of Avater will the top well contain ? — I do not know. It is 25 feet deep. 1282. What is its diameter ?— Six feet six. 1283. What will be the depth of water usually in it ? — I should think about 22 feet. 1284. {Mr. Morton.) How many houses do you now supply in Bodmin ? — About 180 houses. 1285. Have you any idea Avhat proportion of the population of Bodmin drink this Avater ? — I believe that the greatest part do drink it that have got it. 1286. Are you gradually increasing your supply to the town ? — Yes. withdrew. D 4 32 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. Thomas Q. Couch (Surgec Mr. T. q. 1287. {Dr. Frankland.) You are in practice in Couch. this town I believe ? — Yes. 1288. For how long have you been iu practice here ? 21 Sept^872. _About 18 years. Bodmin 1289. I suppose, like all other towns, Bodmin has . '_ its defects in respect to sanitary matters ? — Yes. 1290. What do you consider to be its chief weak points ? — The main drainage of Bodmin goes into a running stream going down to the goal, where there is a catch -pit, which is commonly called the gaol pool, which contains about nine-tenths of the sewage. 1291. Is that offensive ? — It is very offensive indeed. 1292. Is it especially so in summer ? — It is very much so indeed. 1293. Have you traced cases of sickness and ill- health to that particular source ? — Not in the gaol, and I attribute that to the very excellent sanitary arrangements within the gaol ; every prisoner is kept separate, the place is very well flushed, and there is extreme cleanliness, and attention paid to health there. 1294. Have you noticed any cases of ill-health out- side the gaol ? — No, and I attribute that to the anti- septic properties of that most offensive liquid gas tar that runs into it. 1295. Does it not run through a populous district ? — It does not ; but after leaving the gaol pool the waste water runs into the Camel. 1296. Is that in sufficient quantity to render the Camel itself offensive ? — I have heard one gentleman speak of its being very offensive sometimes. 1297. Is the water of the Camel used as drinking water below where this sewage is admitted ? — Yes, it runs on to Wadebridge. 1298. Is it used there for drinking purposes? — I do not know ; but I suppose that it is so dirty by the time it arrives there, being mixed with the main drainage, that it is not capable of being used as drink. 1299. Is there not a remedy contemplated for that state of things above this sewer ? — Yes, it is under consideration in the town council. 1300. What is to be done then with the sewage ? — It will be utilized in some way. 1301. The stream, I suppose, will be cleansed? — Yes, active measures should be taken to cleanse the stream. 1302. So that the nuisance which exists will soon cease ? — Yes. 1303. What have you found to be the chief epidemics which prevail in Bodmin from time to time ? — We have had a succession of typhoid fevers. I think about 12 months or a little more ago we had for eight or ten months a fearful epidemic of typhoid fever, and we have it now in St. Nicholas Street. 1304. Was that the street or district in which it prevailed before ? — No. 1305. Where did it prevail 12 months ago ? — It has prevailed at the upper part of Fore Street, St. Leonard's. 1306. Is that near St. Leonard's pump ? — Yes. 1307. To what do you attribute the epidemic ? — To the want of proper drainage. The pumps on the declivity get soiled. 1308. And the wells get polluted ? — Yes. With regard to the present epidemic in St. Nicholas Street I think that can be easily traced. The disease was imported from Liskeard. A person came down in- fected with it, and since then we have had repeated cases of typhoid fever in that street. I can only attribute it to the fact that the excreta by some means poisoned the wells and pumps. 1309. Do you consider that the most usual mode by which typhoid fever is propagated is through water ? — I think so. 1310. May it not be propagated through the medium of sewer gases ? — Yes, to be sure. 1311. Are there many cases of sewer gases gaining access to houses in that district? — There are many masons' drains, but not tubular drains. of County Prison) examined. 1312. Have you been able to trace any special group of cases to the use of particular well waters to which infectious matter might have got access ? — I had two cases in one house in St. Nicholas Street. I found the privy so full that it was utterly unfit to be used, they could not use it, and within I should think the length of this table was a pump, and it struck me that the filtration through the soil might very possibly have conveyed the poison from a house above, where there was another ease. 1313. What is the name of that pump? — St. Nicholas pump. 1314. Did the well appear to be supplied chiefly by percolations of that kind ? — I do not know what the source is, it is from one side of Beacon Hill. 1315. Have you noticed several cases of typhoid fever to occur in persons using the water of that well ? — Considering that I have had in my own practice I think six cases in one street almost at one and the same time, and have them there still, I impute them to a common cause. 1316. Is there an opportunity there for the excre- ments of patients affected with typhoid fever gaining access to this water ? — Yes. Our drainage is now imperfect. I should mention that the mayor on being apprised of it ordered the pump to be disused for at all events drinking purposes and cooking purposes. 1317. That pump has been locked up I believe ? — Yes. 1318. But the locks were broken off again, were they not ? — There was a little sort of discontent there at its being locked up. 1319. Is it not a fact that people often prefer water drawn from such impure sources to pure water ? — The sewage, whatever it may be, is not in such a quantity as to render the water unpalatable or offensive to the smell, but one or two j^ersons have complained that it is both unpalatable and offensive. Serjeant Dimmond told me that he has given up drinking it from knowing that it was not exactly as it should be. 1320. Is it within your knowledge that even waters contaminated with sewage are considered not un- wholesome ? — Certainly. It may be so diffused that I suppose it is not detectable. We have some good wells in this town which are poisoned, to which I believe I can trace some typhoid cases, the water from the wells being taken from choice as being good water. 1321. It is a fact, I suppose, that people do like waters containing a good deal of the products of decomposed sewage ? — Yes, I heard one person say that an old woman lived to the age of 96, and she had drunk it all her life, and I have been drinking it for the last 25 years, and it never did me any harm, and I shall continue to drink it still. 1322. I suppose there are people who are quite in- susceptible to these poisons ? — It has a sUghter effect upon some persons. I have two cases in one house in which the wife is affected very badly, and the other seems to have taken a smaller dose. 1323. Have you had a good deal of scarlatina in Bodmin ? — Not lately. 1324. Have you much diarrhoea in summer ? — No, just the ordinary amount. 1325. I believe it never i-uns into cholera in a year when cholera prevails ? — Never. 1326. Are you acquainted with the water supply by the company in Bodmin ? — Very little. We drink it. 1327. Do you consider it a good and wholesome water ? — I do. 1328. I believe there is a well called church style well ?— Yes. 1329. You cannot give us any information I sup- pose, as to where that water comes from ? — I do not know the source of it. 1330. That water, I believe, is a good deal used ?— It is a great deal used. 133L Have you ever ascertained whether it is putrescible or not ? — No. 1332. What is yoiu- opinion about it ; is it good or bad ?— T may say that I recollect a year ago a closed RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 33 tubular conduit was put in, but I do not think that is in connection with the churchyard. There is a very deep well, and I suppose the Avater conies from there. 1333. What do you consider to he the chief thin;^s that are required to put Bodmin in a good sanitary condition ?—l think the drainage that Ave have, not only in contemplation, but are actively setting about, should embrace the cleaning out of the well which runs into the Camel, and there arc some emptyings of muddy water that also pollute the river from clay works ; it is simply mud ; there is nothing deleterious in it. 1334. But it pollutes the river ? — Yes. 1335. It does not cause any offensive emanations in the river ? — Not at all ; it is simply soil. 1336. Does anybody drink that water ? — I do not think they do, I think it is too dirty to drink. 1337. Should you consider it desirable that any of these polluted wells should be closed, if possible ? — Almost every house in Bodmin has its pump at the back, and I have advised the inmates to go elsewhere for their water during the prevalence of an epidemic. 1338. There are some public pumps that are used extensively, are there are ? — There are. 1 339. Do you know Prison Lane pump ? — Yes. 1 340. The water from that pump seems to be a very bad water ? — It is very much liked by the people who drink it. We have had no epidemic in that neighbourhood, but there have been many scrofulous cases. I do not know whether they were attributable to the water or not, cripples from scrofulous diseases of the hip-joint. I should say that the sanitary con- dition of the place is very bad. 1341. I suppose you would consider that wells which i-eceived regular contributions from sewers had better be closed '? — Yes, because the sewerage of the town, although it is about to be improved, is really not worth the name of drainage. The witness 1342. It is necessary to have a good system of sewerage, as you cannot well construct (h-ains that will not lealc a little ?— Yes. 1343. It is better not to run any risk, having regard to the water which is consumed by the comnnuiity ? — No doubt. 1344. (3fr. Mortov.) You spoke of some gentleman having complained of tlic state of the river below Bodmin ; what was his name ? — lie is dead now, but I recollect his saying that it was v(>ry offensive some- times in front of his door. 1345. Do you know anyone below the town that has made complaints of the state of the river, and sLill complains ? — At the gaol the governor and tiie clei gy- man cannot open thcjir windows at any time witliout this noxious effluvium coming into their houses. 1346. If the scAvage of the town Avas kept out of the stream, the pool Avouhl be still offensive, b(!causc of the soAvage of the goal, Avould it not ? — The sewer- age, as I understand, Avould be connected with the main sewer so as to keep it clear ; they only Avant a main scAver to connect their sewerage with it." 1347. Wo have been informed that the death-rale was about 14 or 15 jjer 1,000 during the live years previously to 1871, and that in 1871 it was as high as 21 ; Avas that OAving to the epidemic of Avhich you have spoken ? — Yes ; there Avas scarlatina first, then malignant scarlatina, and then typhoid fever of a very fatal kind. 1348. Do you know any instance in which injury to health has occurred from the polluted state of the streams in this neighbourhood caused by mining refuse ? — None from the district. At Tretoil, Avhen they were A\'orking for copper, it killed all the trout ; the refuse ran into the Camel. 1349. Has there been no instance of houses being flooded in consequence of the clogged state of the channel of the river do not know of any. withdrew. Mr. r. q. (■ouch. 21 Sept. 1872. Bodmin. TuE Rev. C. M. Edward Collins, Thewardale, examined. 1350. {3Ir. 3Iorton.) I believe you are acquainted with the basin of the Camel ? — Yes, but my observa- tions have been chiefly confined to a small district in which clay Avorks have been recently discovered. 1351. Is this district in your own parish ? — Yes, the clay Avork to which my attention has been directed is in the parish in which I reside. 1352. Are the clay AVorks on the Camel, or do they drain into it 7 — The stream that goes through the clay works is the main stream that now fills the Camel with water. 1353. Were these streams clean and unpolluted within your memory ?— Perfectly so. 1354. HoAV long is it since the clay Avorks were established ? — I think the clay works to which I refer were discovei'ed in 1864, and the first return made of the clay Avas in 1866 ; they had been Avorked a little before, but the first return Avas made in 1866, and since then the brook that I speak of, Avhich Avas jjer- fectly clear before, has become and is now just as white as in the neighbourhood of St. Austell. 1355. Of what use Avas the brook to the neighbour- hood formerly? — There is a place called Waterloo, which consists of about a dozen or 20 cottages, and the people living there Avere formerly in the habit of using the Avater for Avashing and domestic purposes — not for drinking — but now I understand they cannot do so Avhen the Avater is coming down very thick. I may say, hoAvever, that in all these places the supply of good Avater is so plentiful that I do not believe any inconvenience arises fronx this. The next point is as to any injury done by the Avater. I haA^e never heard that animals Avill not drink the Avater, but at the same time, as a matter of fact, I believe that they do not do so. There are some fields near to the place Avhere there are a fcAV little streams from Avhich the people can get an abundant supply of water — therefore, practically, I do not think that any injury is done. I have not heard my own tenant complain, and, indeed, I have not 30928. heard any complaint made. I have heard of great inconvenience arising from the use of this stream as Avater power. I have a mill on the stream, and the miller, Avhen these AVOrks Avere first established, Avas very greatly incommoded by the wash of gravel and Other things that came doAvn from the Avorks, but that has been, to a great extent, remedied by the means which have been adopted in consequence of the com- plaints Avhich have been made by the miller, and he is not so much incommoded noAV as before. Of course now and then he has to clear out the leat, but not so often. Now and then after a flood, Avhen the barriers Avhich Avere interposed higher up are swept away, the miller is still considerably incom- moded by the Avash coming doAvn. Before the com- missioners leave the county I Avill make further enquiries, and let them have the; residt. The next thing I AvoTikl refer to is the injury done to the fisheries. I may say briefly that I know that fish Avill live in clayey Avater. They get very sick and very Avhite, still they do live ; but great injury is done to the breeding places. Slime is deposited by the edges of the banks, Avhich prevents the fish from spaAvuing, and if they do spaAvn, this deposit prevents the spav\"n from coming to maturity. I am speaking noAV of salmon and trout. The little brook to Avhich I have referred runs at no great distance, and I have knoAvn salmon come up within a distance of tAvo or three fields from my ovv u house. The stream is clear in other parts, but I do not think that any fish could breed in it noAV. 'I'he quantity of claj-ey Avater going into the Camel noAV is so small that I do not think it can materially affect the river, but the clay Avorks are increasing very much, and the onlj' Avay in Avhich I think the evil coiriplained of might be remedied is by a series of filter beds. With regard to the clay Avorks, I may remark that the actual process is one of depositing as much as they can of the material, and therefore, for their own sakes, they tlo that as much as they can, E Bev. C. M. E. Collhis. 31 KIVEKS rOLLUTION COMMISSION : ORAL EVIDENCE — PART IK. litv. C. M. E. (Collins. 21 Sept. 1872. Bodmin. Mr. J. D. '■ Jiri/ant. \3B6. Is it not the fact that the hist deposit pit contains liner clay than the first deposit pit ? — Yes. 1357. It is, therefore, to their own interest to de- posit as mucli as they can ? — Yes ; I have recently liad a liydraulic erected, and the stream that runs into it of course is pure to the eye ; it is called an overshot, and to my surprise the man said that it would he better to have a filter bed of about eight or ten inches of loose broken stones thrown in. This was done, and now the whole of those stones ai'c coated, although to the eye the stream is clean. So it occurred to me last night, whether, if a similar process was adopted, it might not take out a good deal of what is now flowing away. There is also in front of these clay works some grassland, and the water might be spread over it, and the gravel thrown out might be made use of. 1358. Do you know of any instances in which filtration has been attempted ? — No ; until within the last four or five years this material has been thrown away with the coarsest parts, but the mica has now at some works been converted into most excellent building material and fire-bricks. 1 have used some of them with the greatest sa tisfaction, and 1 have sent some down to the gasworks to be tested as fire-bricks. According to my belief they are perfect fire-bricks. All this material, until within the last four or five years, was thrown away, all the washings going into the river, but of course they will save all this now for their own sakes. 1359. Can you give the Commissioners any infor- mation as to the valne of the industry represented by all the works above you ? — i can only say that it is one of the most important industries in the county now, particularly in the neighbourhood of St. Austell. It is only since 1862 that it has been discovered in our own neighbourhood, so far as it affects the Camel, but there are other works now in our neighbourhood, the Avashiugs from which flow down into the Fowey liver. 1360. Do you know the value of the produce from the clay works on this stream ? — i cannot give it you ort-hand : it is not very extensive yet, but it is be- coming more so. At a meeting that was held four years ago, when it was proposed to carry a tramway from the railway into this new district, I remember that three or fbur companies gusiranteed to carry 25,000 tons over the proposed new tramway. 1361. Are these companies working now in your valley ? — Yes. It happens that the works about me were discovered owing to an observation that was made by myself, and therefore I take an interest in their working. There is only one now in the parish where I reside, belonging to Messrs, Parker on the property of Mr. Hayward. There is another on Lady Molesworth's property. The witness Me. John D. Bryant, 1367. (Mr. Mortn?!.) I believe you arc one of the Padstow Harbour Commissioners ?— Yes ; and one of a committee appointcnl to represent the Commissioners before the Rivers Pollution Commission, 1368. Have you any complaint to make as to the Avater which the mines send down to you ? — Yes. have to complain that the mines and other sources of industry above Wadebridge send down an enormous reby. 1369. Are barges able to go up the stream as far as Wadebridge ? — Yes, and vessels. 1370. C!an a fully-laden barge not get up to Wade- bridge now, whereas foi'inerly it was able to do so ? — I win explain. The Harbour Commissioners erected some works in the river at ^^'adebridge during the summer of 1871, which materially improved the navi- gation there. Before that we were sufleriug very much from the enormous quantity of mud that had been collected in the channel at Wadebridge. 1371. Have you been j)ut to any expense in dredg- in:i' the channel? — Wc formed a guide wall which 1362. Do you know of any injury which has been done to the lands on the river side ? — No, and for this reason, the river being very rapid, the banks on either side are so deep, that the water seldom overflows, and 1 have not heard of any injury. 1363. Are the watercourses in the neighbourhood of these rivers becoming clogged ? — In many places, I can see when I pass over the bridge, that where there were deep pits on either side of the river, they are gradually getting filled up. 1364. Do you know whether the wages of labour in your district have risen in consequence of the intro- duction of this industry ?— 1 think they have, indeed I know as a fact that wages have risen. In my own instance I know that now an ordinary agricultural labourer I'eceives 2s. a day. A labourer at the clay works gets that amount and an agricultural labourer receives the same. 1365. Has that rise in wages taken place recently ? — Wages have been gradually rising for several years. There are other works on another branch of the river, which I may say do not tend to pollute the river, they are granite works, but they affect the (juestion of wages very largely. I wish to mention to the Com- missioners one other matter as to the effects of sewage. Our villages are small, and principally ou a hill, and I do not think we have anything to complain of from percolation. The only instance in which I have heard of anything has been at the parsonage of the parish in which 1 reside. A little stream runs through the village, and the drains from the houses flow into it. I have heard a complaint made, but not of recent years. With regard to the mines in our immediate neighbourhood, there are none now at work, but there was a very important one, or rather it promised to be so, Wheal Onslow. The water from that mine was so impregnated with copper that it used to eat through the bands of the buckets that we used in a very short time, and there the process resorted to was one which was adopted at no gi'cat expense, and was very pro- fitable, viz., to shore the pits with a great quantity of scrap iron. Then there are the tin works which are still in operation, although not so much as formerly, but on two or three reaches of the river they arc still at work. I do not know that they do any harm, the disturbance of the soil fouls the water, but I never heard of any injury being done to fish, or to anything else. 1366. Are the deposits in the streams due to natural causes, or are they deposits from the working of old mines ? — They are due to natural causes. They can abstract tin now by different i)rocesses, and more perfectly than they could formeli3^ They find it profitable to work over again the old places that were abandoned before, they are all natural deposits. withdrew. Padstow, examined. confined the scour, and we found that that was sufficient, but we Avere put to an expense of about 1,000/. 1372. ^'^ave you had occasion to make any formal complai' > . the inconvenience and mischief you have been exposed to ? — We have complained much to the proprietors of the works which we supposed Avere the cause of this damage, but their ansAver AA^as that they did all they could to retain the silt, and Ave have no remedy against them. We complained formally to the Board of Trade on the subject, and their reply Avas that the stuff being put into the river above high Avater mark, it did not come Avithin their proA^uce, but that tliej" had referred our complaint to this Commission 1373. Js the trade of Wadebridge liable to suffer in conseipience of Avhat is going on ? — Yes, ultimately, if this continuous accumidation of silt is to go on at Wadebridge, Ave shall sufler from the navigable river bemg blocked up. 1374. Are the quays at Wadebridge private pro- perty ? — I'rclty much so. The Commissioners have one quay there A\ hich i.- AA'oi'ked, RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL KVIDENCE — I'AUT 111. 1375. Will tho qnnys become of less vfilne if this silting up continues ? — The trade of tho place is in- creasing, but the quays will comparatively become of less value. Pro])rietOTS of private quays are put to very serious expense in clearing away the mud from their property. 1376. How far down the river below \\'adebridge is this injury perceptible? — It is perceptible, 1 should think, perhaps two miles below Wadebridge. The works which the Commissioners executed in 1871 were these : They embanked part of the river there, and constructed a half tide guide-wall, and we had beliind it a large space -of ground somewhat sheltered from the run of tide. After doing this, we expected that it would take four or live years for this space to silt up, aud that it would serve as a place of deposit for the silt. But practically we have found that the Avhole space has got filled up in about 12 months, for the accumulation upon that space, which is perhaps half-a-mile square, has got a foot deep in that time. 1877. Is that owing to the action of the tide ? — Yes. But we can see that it is silt from mines pretty much which is there, and it is astonishing the quantity that has accumulated on that space. 1378. Have the complaints you have made to those whom you believe to be the cause of the mischief made them at all active in attempting to remedy it ? — Not nearly so active as we should wish. They do a little and they say that that is all they can do. 1379. What remedy do they resort to ? — They form a catch-pit, as they call it. That is in a field. Then they stop, and Ave complain again, and then they bestir themselves a little more, so that it is a sort of see-saAv state of things betAveeu us. 1380. At Pad stow Harbour do the authorities ai all complain ? — We are called the Padstow Harbour Com- The Avitness missioners, and our authority extends out info fhe sea to tlie Gull Pock, and as far u}) the river !is the tide Hows, these im])urities reach the river above that l)oint. We coinjjlained to tho Board of Trade, and lliey said it was a matter for the Rivers Pollution Connnissioiiers to deal Avith. 1381. Have the answers you have given disclosed the Avhole ground of your complaint, or is there auy- thing else that you Avish to state ? — I wisli to say that the Avash of mine refuse that comes doAvn through the bridge at Wadebridge is materially injuring the navi- gation, aud that it has put the Conunissioners to con- sideraljle expense, as Avell as private individuals, and Ave fear that if this refuse is not pre\en1ed from coming down Ave shall sustain Aery serious damage — more than Ave have already sustained. 1382. With regard to the damage you have alri.-ady sustained, can you put it into pounds, shillings, and pence. For instance, has your annual (sxpenditure been increased in consequence of the damage that has been done ? — I think I might put it in this shape, that it has cost something like between 800/. and 1,000Z. to put the river in just as good a position as it Avas three or four years ago, and that that amount of expenditure Avill have to be incurred again and again, if some measures are not taken to stop the sending down of this silt to us. The funds of the Commis- sioners applicable to this purpose are nearly ex- hausted. We borrowed this mouey ou security of the rates of the Post, and unless the Government supplies the means I do not see how it is to be done in future. 1383. Is there any other gentleman present Avho has any complaint to make as to injury done to river side lands by silt coming down from mines ? — (No ansAver.) withdrcAv. Mr. J. D. lillldlli. ^1 Sept. L972. I'oiliiiin. Mr. Thomas Martin (Mulberry 1384. {Mr. Morton.) What mine do you represent ? — The Mulberry i\Iiue, on the river Camel. 1385. Is that mine the uppermost mine on the stream ? — It is not the uppermost, but it is perhaps the most important, being the largest. 1886. What is the monthly produce of your mine in ore.? — About 20 cwt. or 30 cwt. per Aveek. 1387. What is the amount of Avagespaid per month? — Our pay sheet per month is from 216/. to 250/. 1388. What quantity of tin stuff have you to deal with daily ? — The quantity A'ai'ies fiom 70 to 110 tons. In summei' and Avintcr it varies, but the quantity of ore is about a ton and a half h\ a Aveek, or six tons in a month. 1389. Is the AvhoIe of that tin stutf stamped down to a poAvder ? — Yes. 1390. What becomes of the large remainder which corresponds Avith 70 or 80 tons a day beyond the ore that is got out ? — We have some acres of land, and at the foot of that land Ave continually raise up an em- bankment, and by that means Ave retain so much of the silt, leaving the water to filter through. In other parts of the mine we have catch-pits, and Ave pile back a large proportion of the heaA-y portions of the stuff, not for use, but to save it from going into the river. We have that operation going on throughout the whole of the year. 1391. Is there a large quantity of sediment con- tinually collecting about your works ? — Yes, there is a large quantity of sediment still passing from the mine, and as long as we continue to work the mine, we cannot prevent it. 1392. You pile back this sediment ? — Yes. As Ave haA'e so large a space of ground in that portion of the mine, Ave continually raise up a bank to retain it. In the other portion of the mine, Avhere the stamps are, there are catch-pits, and they are emptied, and it is piled back. 1393. As I understand you, there is a gi'owing heap ? — Yes ; perhaps a million tons of stuff. Mine, Wadebridge,) examined. 1394. Have you formed any idea of the quantity Mr.T.Marth of sediment that you save annually from going into the river ? — We haA'C not taken any measurement of it, but it is a veiy large pile Avhieh you may si'(\ 1395. 60 or 70 tons a day is a large quantity of stuff? — Yes, but Ave save as much as Ave can from it. 1396. Nevertheless, is not the waste obA'iously growing upon you from year to year ? — Yes. The land belongs to Lord Robarts, and he gives us eA-ery accommodation Avith regard to the use of the land beloAv us, and Ave save all the deposits that we can. 1397. Have any complaints been made to you by the occupiers of land below you ? — Not by them, but Ave have had complaints from the Hai'bour Commis- sioners. 1898. Have those complaints had any effect in causing you to take more active measures for pre- venting this pollution ? — I am not the manager of tlie mine, but 1 have used my influence in endeavouring to get the silt kept back as much as possible. 1399. What expense are you put to i)er annum in endeavouring to do this ? — We keep one man daily at work on one part and one on another pai't, and it may cost lis equal to the Avages of about two men a day, as a genei-al rule. 1400. One man, I suppose, could hardly deal with it ? — One man has only to place faggots upon the pile as it rises up ; he is continually adding bushes liere and there as it rises up. 1401. {Dr. Fraiikland.) I presume you carry on the usual processes of Avashing that Ave have Avitnessed in tin mines ? — Yes. 1402. After the muddy Avater goes through three puddles, it goes through a series of settling tanks ? — • Yes. 1403. From Avhich you afterAvards get the ore ? — Yes. 1404. HaA'e you, iu addition to those settling tanks others, Avhicli receive the muddy Avater, and which intercept a further quantity of mud that is not useful to you ? — That is the reservoir to which I referred E 2 36 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. T. Marliii 21 Sept. 1872. Bodmin. just HOW, Ui.ll wc have .it a coasidci-able distance bolow tiie iniiic. Tlic wash stuff goes into a .space of ground whieli is set apart for the reception of it. 140o. Is the sediment cleared out from time to time ? — No ; because we have a large space, and we are continually raising up a bank below ; that is con- tinually carried on from ye.ir to year on the space of ground that we have, and besides that there is a large ppace below that we shall take in ai'ter the other is filled up. 1406. Can you tell us for how many hours sub- sidence from the water takes place in the reservoir before it passes into the river ? — It runs over a wide space • it is .illowed to pcrcol.ite out over this wide space, and it deposits gravel as it washes over this Avitle space. 1407. Is there no possibility of any particles of the gravel being carried off? — There are some very light portions of it that may be carried off. 1408. Such as you would describe as sand or gravel ? — Yes ; we save what we can, so as to enable the industry to be carried on. If more must be done, it Avill very much interfere Avith the industry of our mines, as well as of all mines in the county of Cornwall. 1409. I understand that there is great difficulty in removing the very finely suspended matter ? — We liave a continuously running stre.im that must pass through the mine ; otherwise we could not find space to depo.sit every particle ; it would be impossible. 1410. I suppose it would not be possible to give it 24 hour's' sul)sidence before it left the mine ? — It would from the quantity of the water. The witness 1411. Could you not keep the muddy water separate from the other water ? — Nearly the whole of the water is to a certain degree impregnated with the wash as it passes over from one water wheel to the other, and from one work to the other. 1412. What is the total volume of water which passes through the works in that way ? — It varies very much. In the summer time we are almost de- pendent upon steam. In the winter time we have a large number of stamp heads working with water only. 1413. Can you give us an idea of the average quan- tity ? — No, for I really do not know the quantity of water, but it comes into a leat about 4^ feet wide by, when it is full, 15 inches deep. We have another stream, audi think that is about 4 feet wide and 12 inches deep. 1414. If you could intercept those coarser matters, I think the finer particles which require a long time to separate and subside, would not be deposited in the river bed at all ? — The deposit is washed out by the floods every wintei'. In the last winter it was washed out in the iq^per bends of the river. A certain deposit takes place at Wadebridge, but the depth of water at W adebridge in the last winter was greater than it had been for 40 years. In fact I believe we never had such deep water as in the last winter. 1415. i^Mr. Morton!) Do you say that the river channel at Wadebridge has not risen in the last 40 years ? — It has not. There are certain rocks in the river that have not altered, and I can point them out. withdrew. Adjourned to Tavistock, 25th September, at 10 o'clock. Mr. H. Chirh. LT) Sept. 1872. Tavistock. Ill the Board Room of the Board of Guardians, Tavistock. (For Tavistock and District.) Wednesday, September 25tli, 1872. PKESENT Dk. Edward Frankland, F.R.S. Mr. John Chalmers Morton. Mr. J. T. Smith, F.G.S., Secretary. Mr. Henry Clark, 1416. {Dr. FranMand.) Have you known for some years the river Tavy and the vicinity ? — Yes. 1417. For how many years have you known it? — I have had a pi-actical knowledge of it for 15 years. 1418. Do you consider the stream to be seriously polluted? — There is no doubt of it. 1419. What should you say, was the source or the sources of the polluting matter ? — The mines princi- pally. 1420. What are the names of the mines and the minerals ? — They are Wheal Betsy and Wheal Friend- slii[), these are tiie two principal sources of the pol- lution. 1421 . What minerals are extracted from those mines ? — Principally copper. J 422. That is a saleable commodity ? — Yes. 1423. Is there any mundic got out of the mines ? — A great deal. 1424. Is tliei'c any lead ? — I think there is some ; one is a lead mine, and the other is a copper mine. 1425. Which is the lead mine ? — Wheal Betsy. 1426. Are you aware whether any sulphate of zinc comes out of this mine blende ? — That I cannot say. 1427. What do you know as to damage done to property arising from this pollution in the river ? — Some damage is done to property when the water is used for irrigation, principally, 1 think, with regard to iish, speaking of the general deposit in the estuar3\ 1 428. Is the river subject to floods — Very much so. Edgcumbe, examined. 1429. Is silt spread over tlic land .after floods ? — Not to any large extent. 1430. Do you know of any cases of d.image done to cattle, fatal or otherwise, by the silt ? — I have no per- sonal knowledge of it, but I have heard of it. 1431. What have you to communicate with regard to injury done to fish ? — There is no doubt with regard to the damage done to fish, there have been at times, and there are now a great quantity of fi.sh in the river, and at times deleterious Avater comes down so thickly that fishing is almost impossible, and the fishery is materially injured. 1432. Are many dead fish found ? — Yes, from time to time they have been found, but the principal efiect is that it sickens the fish. They come up the river, taste the water, sicken, and go back, and they lie prin- cipally in the estuary, the fish that do come up are iu a poor condition. 1433. Do many fish sj^awn in the reaches of the river ? — Yes, in the higher reaches of the river. 1434. Do the spawning grounds lie above the reach of pollution ? — Some below spawn in the estuary. 1435. What is your notion of the eiiect of mine refuse upon the spawning grounds ? — It depends en- tirely upon the kind of refuse, by covering the spawning ground it entirely destroys it. 1436. If the spawn is covered by slimy matter, does that cause it to perish ? — Clearly. RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : -—ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 37 1437. Is tlio damage attributable to that source increasing or diminishing ' — I tliiukit is increasing. I should mention that witliin tlie last year one of the mines, Wheal Crelake, stopped working. 1 should also say, as to that particular mine, that very little injury was caused to tisli by that mine, by the water flowing from it. 1438. Do you not think that all mines cause injury to fish ? — I do not think so in the particular instance I have mentioned, that Wheal Crelake did cause injury to fish, on the ground that precautions were taken, and efficacious ones, for preventing tlie polln- Ing water from flowing into the river. 1439. What was the nature of those precautions ? — They had a system of catch-pits. 1440. Can you inform us how many days or how many hours polluted Avater from the mine those catch- pits would hold ? — I can put in some evidence that I have bearing upon that point. I will read it first, showing the cost of the slime ponds at Wheal Crelake and along the district, of emptying a series of pits, and the results. Wheal Crelake is the property of the Duke of Bedford, and the Duke compels the lessee to take reasonable precautions, and to make catch-pits in order to prevent the polluted water from getting into the stream. {A paper 7Pas read and handed in that xoill be found in Part IV.) 1441. Was the Avater clear running from the last of these slime pits? — It was almost clear and drinkable, that is only as to the taste. There may have been poison in it held in solution, but at the same time it was drinkable. 1442. I suppose nobody did drink it for a length of time ? — No. 1443. Can you at the present moment tell us the cubical contents of those pits ? — You will find those particulars in the paper I have handed in. 1444. What should you say was formerly the annual value of the fisheiy upon this river. What would it have let for. The only case that I know of, of any part of the river being let, I think Avas below Denham Bridge. I believe there that oOl. a year was paid. 1445. Was that the only rental received ? — That was the only rental received I believe, but that was not before the mines were started. I know nothing of it before the mines were started. 1446. Do you knoAv whether that rent is still re- ceived ? — No, we have an association formed now, and we issued tickets to any person for a guinea. During last year I think we issued 161 7s. 6c?. salmon licenses, and about 180 guinea tickets. 1447. Can you give us any information Avith regard to the number and weight of fish caught in different years, beginning if you could before the mines Avere started ? — We know nothing of Avhat took place before the mines Avere started. 1448. Tills Avas a case rather of continuous damage than damage suddenly arising ? — Yes. 1449. Is the river rendered offensive to the sight by pollutions ? — Yes, it is discoloured very much. Two days since and before that the rlA'cr was almost thick from leaden-coloured mud. 1450. Is the bed of theiiver silting up ? — It is. 1451. Does that cause flooding Avith a certain amount of rain, Avhich otherwise Avould not pi-oduce that effect ? — I think not, the banks are steep. 1452. Is there any offensive smell ? — No, but if a line is used in the water for a short time, and is not quickly dried, it becomes rotten. 1453. What is that OAving to? — To poison of some kind. 1454. Some acid in the Avater ? — I cannot say. 1455. (il/r. Morton.) Is there much irrigated land beloAV Tavistock ? — Not much, I think there is some irrigation from the sewage of the tOAvn. 1456. Are there any water meadoAVS that receive the Avater of the river ? — I believe not. 1457. In the case where paper mills exist, is there water from hill-side springs ? — It is obtained from other sources. 1458. I understood you to say that some injury is Mr. H. Clark. done to the water meadoAvs at one side from the pol- luted state of the Avater of the Tavy ?— Yes. 2 5 Sept. 1872. 1459. In what Avay is the injury done ? — From tlie rpj^^^^gk Avater that comes from the Tavy overflowing the \ _* meadows. 1460. That is natural flooding ? — Yes. 1461. Can you give us the name of the place Avhcre any injury has been done to cattle, and the name of the owner ? — I cannot iioav. 1462. With regard to the slime pits Ik-Ioav the mine, I understand that the removal of 360 tons of nuid every year Avas the remedy in the case of a mine yielding 200 tons of copper ore per month ? — Yes. 1463. That is not much more than a ton a day of slime for six or seven tons a day of ore ? — No. 1464. Is this ore got out by stamping ? — They do not stamp copper ore. 1465. Is it obtained by the jigging apparatus? — Yes. 1466. {Dr. Frunkland.) With regard to the Tamar will you state shortly Avhat is the eflbct of mining upon that river ? — The effect, indirectly, of the abstraction of all the Avater from the Tamar for the purposes of mining is to cause the bed of the river betAveen the tAvo Aveirs to become perfectly dry. The pollutions flowing from the mines into the Tamar ai'e very much greater in the loAver part of the river. 1467. What mines do you refer to? — O'Kel Tor, Galton, and a ncAV mine that has just started, called the Great Consols mine. That is noAV pouring into the river an enormous quantity of Avater. 1468. What minerals are raised in those mines ? — Principally copper. 1469. Do you know, in the basin of the Tamar, of any injury being done to property ? — There is irriga- tion below the head weir, and an action was brought, I believe, by a gentleman against the mine OAvners for injury done to his property, and he recovered some small damages. 1470. Then it Avas the practice to use some of this water for irrigation ? — Yes. 1471. {Mr. Morton.) You mean artificial irrigation ? —Yes. 1472. {Dr. FrunJdund.) Was that the only instance of injury to property that you kuoAV of? — That is the only instance that I knoAV of. 1473. Have you heard of any injury being done to cattle from drinking the water, or grazing over it ? — On the banks of the Tamar, beloAV the head Aveir, there has been such injury, at least I have heard so. With regard to injury to fish life, the Tamar fishery has been almost practically destroyed by the mines. I should mention that the Devon Consols Company, the largest company on the river, has by a system of catch-pits, endeaToured to mitigate the evil of pollu- tions as much as possible. 1474. Do you consider that they have succeeded in their endeavour ? — Partly they have ; the Avater goes into the riA'er comparatively clear, but there is no doubt that it contains in solution a great quantity of arsenic and other deleterious matter. 1475. Have you analysed that Avater ? — It has been analysed, and I forAvarded the analysis at the time to the inspectors of the fisheries, and I suppose it is in their office noAv. 1476. What should you assess as the money A'alue of the damage done to the fishery in the Tamar ? — I cannot assess it. The Devon Consols Company Avere compelled by the Duchy of Cornwall, Avho are the owners of the fishery, to take the fishery on the ground that the mine was so injurious to it that it would be practically useless to them. I can shoAV that in 1841 as many as 3,000 fish Avere taken at the fishing Aveir. 1477. Do you knoAV Avhat that fishing let for then ? — I do not ; but I am told that tlie Canal Coniijany used to let their fishery Oii the Tamar for 250/. a year, but that Avas before. 1478. HoAvever, a loss has fallen, as I understand you, upon the Devon Consols mine ? — Yes ; I may add that the pollution carried doAvu the Tamar, and E 3 38 •RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. 11. Clark. deposit caused, mus(- bo very injviriona, I should ^„ lliink, to the harbour of'l'Iyiiiouth. ' ' ' 1479. Is there much solid deposit; sent into the river Tavistock. from Devon Consols ? — No; but from all the others, Drake Wheal's mine especially. 1480. Are we to understand that attached to the othei- mines there are no catch-pits or other remedial .apparatus ? — To one only, 1 think, besides the Great Devon Consols, and that is not efficacious. 1481. What does it consist of, a series of catch-pits 'i — I believe there are two, 1482. Are they regularly cleared out ? — I think not. The catch-pits at Devon Consols are a source of profit to them, and therefore it is in their interest, in order to separate the copper by means of ii-on, to keep them in good working order. The other mines do not derive any profit, and therefore they take no trouble at all about it. I know that within the last few years some manganese w^orks have beim opened iit Cheerton, on a leat that flows into the Tamar. The operations carried on there are such that the refuse flowing from them has greatly discolom-ed the river. 1483. Is the ore there crushed on the mine, or does it pollute the river ? — It is crushed on the mine. 1484. What is the chai-acter of the mud that is carried down from there ? — I do not know the properties of it myself; it is thick, and the water of the river is of a dull dark reddish colour, I only speak as to the fish ; it is dirty, whether it is injurious to fish, or not, but one thing is certain that it destroys the spaAvning ground of the fish on account of the slime. In re- ference to the Plym, I am the owner of the fishery at the mouth of the Plym, and the pollution flowing from a brook, called the Tory Brook, into the Plym at Long- bridge, is as bad as it can be. It arises from clay works and from mines. 1485. Do you consider that the milky liquor from clay works is deleterious to fish ? — There is no doubt of it. I have positive evidence of that. 1486. Can yo,u explain in what way it affects fish ? — There is not a_ fish from where the clay work comes into the water at the mouth of the I'iver, and the bed of the river has been gradually filled up by the deposit from the clay work. I may mention that the pool at Lonbridge once used to let for 201. a year, then for 10/., and then for 4Z., and at last it was given up as it was practically worthless for fishing, owing to the deposit of mud in that pool. 1487. Can you at all assess the damage done to the fishery ? — I caimot assess the damage on the other side because it belongs to Lord Morley ; he is th(? owner of the clay work, and I may tell you that the occupiers of the clay works have taken some steps to prevent the clay deposit from flowing into the river. The works are very large, and there is no doubt that an enormous quantity of deposit does flow in in spite of what they do. 1488. Do you complain of the finely divided clay or of the granite sand which is liberated on washing the clay out and in rinsing it ? — I complain of both, for they both go into the river. 1489. Is there no plan for arresting this granite sand ? — Yes ; at Plympton thei-e is a catch-pit made across the river by Lord Morley, and the sand is taken away and used for building purposes, but beyond that nothing is done. 1490. With regard to the Plym generally, what should you say was the damage done to the river by mining operations ? — At the present time but little damage is done. Sir Massoy Lopes has opened some clay works above Shaugh Bridge, and at those clay works catch-pits have been made; the catch-pits over- flow, and the clay sometimes comes into the river, but he has taken every precaution to prevent any injury being done to fish. 1491. Should you say, speaking generally, that the Plym is polluted by clay works i-ather than by mines? — No ; I should say that it was not, I am speaking of the Plym proper, it is not at present i)olluted by mines practically. There was a mine on the Plym that caused considerable pollution to the river, but that mine ceased working, I believe, in 1867. The whole of the fish were destroyed from the point where the water entered the river at the mouth of it, thousands and tens of thousands of fish, to the great loss of Mr. Symous who was the lessee. 1492. What was the cause of those fish being de- stroyed ? — I believe Mr. Symons had an analysis made. {Mr. Symons.) I have not got the analysis with me, but it was said that the only poison that could be found was lead, 1493. {To the Witness.) Is there any further state- ment that you wish to make ?— No, except that I think the deposit from the mines flowing into the Laira has constantly filled it up, and must cause great injiuy to the harbour of Plymouth. 1494. Does that river empty itself into the harbour? — Yes. 1 495. Up to the present time, has there been any deposit found in the harbour that can be tracealfle to this source ? — It is apparent to the eye of every one, not in the harbour, but just above ; at low tide the water is becoming there quite shallow. 1496. As that process goes on, I suppose the deposit will be carried further and further towards the har- bour ? — No doubt. There is another river, the Lynlier, that comes from the Cornish side of the river, and I may say that from its source to its mouth it is one mass of pollution, there is not a living thing in it. 1497. Can you speak to any injury being done to property or cattle ? — Only from hearsay. I may remark, to go back to the Plym in the case that I men- tioned just now, that at the time when that water was forked out, there was a man called Francis who drank, as also did his cattle, the Vv^ater from the mine, and they were both very materially afi'ected by it. 1498. What are the mines at tlieLynher? — Many of them have stopped working, but some are working now, I do not know their names ; Kelley Gray is the principal one, 1499= Is that a lead mine ?— No, copper, 1500. Are there any lead mines ? — I think not. 1501. Does any mundic come out of the copper mine ? — I am told there is a great quantity. 1502. {Mr. Morton.) Referring to the case of injury being done by irrigation on the banks of the Tamar, you said, I think, that that was the subject of an action at law ? — Yes. 1503. Can you give us the date? — No ; but it was about three or four years ago. 1504. You also gave an instance of injury being done by water to a man and his cattle ? — Yes, that was in 1867. 1505. Can you give us his address ? — Francis Bick- ley I think will find him. 1 506. Ecferring to the slime pits below Devon Con- sols mine, is that an arrangement simply of the kind where iron is employed to pick up the copper ? — Yes. 1507. Is the copper afterwards dug up with the nnid that is deposited ? — Yes ; it is taken out from the catch-pits, 1508. The slime pits act incidentally as a means of recovering the copper ? — No, they are for the purpose, 1509. That is to say, they have slime pits to receive the mud, and they fill them with scrap iron to re- cover the copper at the same time ? — Yes ; the water leaving the mine can be precipitated when it is cleansed from the nuid, by being allowed to dribble in circular tanks on the top of iron of any description, and after it leaves the tanks it goes into the catch-pits where a deposit is made, and that deposit is of no further use. 1510. Slime pits are dug to collect the mud, but they are not necessary for the purpose of recovering the copper ? — Certainly not. The witness withdrew. RIVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EV1L>ENCK — PART III. 39 Mr. EoiiERT LuxTON, Solicitor, Tavistock, examined. 1511. {Dr. Frankland.) Hoav long have you known the Tavy ? — I began to lish in it about 48 years ago, and at that time the fishing Avas a great deal better than it has been since, but it has been gradually getting worse ; whether in consequence of their working the mines deeper, the matter that comes from them is more injurious, I cannot teU, but the rivers have been gra- dually getting worse. At the time when I began to fish first there was very good fishing in the Tavy, and fish were very plentiful also in the Walkiiam below Horrab Ridge ; but after Wheal Friendship mine began to work, there was scarcely a fish left below that mine. The two mines which have been referred to just now, Wheal Friendship and Wheal Betsy, I do not think at the lime I refer to, could have been any thing like so injurious as they have been since, because at that time the bed of the rivei' was always clear, the wat(u- nearly always clear, and fish very plentiful ; but the fishing has been gradually getting worse, and at pi'esent it is a j^erfect nuisance ; you may go a little way down this river, but you cannot fish. There have been several mines, the refuse from which has come into the Tavy, and no doubt that has increased the pollution considerably. 1512. Has the injury increascjd materially within the last few years ? — Yes, within the last 1 5 or 20 years. Latterly some of the mines have ceased work- ing, and the fishing has been a little better, btit it is still very bad. The bed of the river is covered witli slimy stuff from the mines. 1513. Do you know why it is that those to whom tlie fishery of tiiat river belongs are satisfied with only 40/. I do not. 1514. The two rivers you rei'er to are the Tavy and the Walkham ?— Yes. 1515. Is the Walkham also polluted with mining refuse ? — Yes ; there used to be very good fishing above Lockerell Bridge, l)ut below that thei e were some mines at work, and there it was spoiled. 1516. Can you speak to any injury l)eing doiu; to the fishing by refuse from clay Avorks ? — No. 1517. Are the mines to which you refer copper mines ? — Yes ; Wheal Betsy was a lead mine. Mr.U. Luxlm. 25 Sept. 1872. Tavistock. The witness withdi-ew. Mk. George W. Soltau, 1518. {Dr. Frankland.) I believe you wish to make some statement to the Commission ? — Yes. Having known the Tavy for about 50 or 60 years, I can s})eak to what it was in days past. A friend of mine, who was a lawyer, and who lived on the banks of the Tavy, had at that time a net in his house, and he told me that when he was a young man his father had the right of fisiiing on that river, that he could go down to the river whenever he felt inclined, and that he used to take the net with him, but intimated to a neighbour at the tinre that he intended to go to fish, who used to come with a donkey and panniers on either side to bring home the fish. They used to catch so large a quantity of fish that those panniers were required to carry them, and on some occasions they brought home 12 or 15 large salmon with trufF and peel, so that he could supply the neighbourhood abundantly witli fish. 1 have known that river for upwards of 40 years, and some few years ago a club was established, of which I became a mem- ber. We rented the Tavy of the owner, and took it from a weir which stood in Buckland grounds close belowLockerell Bridge, which was a peri'ect ol)struction to any fish mounting over it. Our fishery extended from that weir down to Lockerell, a distance of three miles. In those days v/e had abundance of sport witb the fly, which was only then permitted, and it used to be considered a very poor day's sport if we did not cjitch more than half-a-dozen good sized fish. Many would kill from ten to a dozen. I have known as many as 26 peel and trufi' taken out in one morning by one gentleman. On one occasion I fished with Mr. Ascott on that river, he Avas on the Edgcumbe side, and Avhen we had finished our day's fishing at Lockerell, we found that we had each taken 15 vei-y fine trutF, and they were of that weight that each of us Avas followed by some one to carry our fish. We scarcely ever went out without catching a very large quantity of fish. I should say that there Avas a hutch on the river, and that hutch Avas generally kept in operation during the time that Ave rented the fishery, for Mr. Gill, avIio inhabited Buckland Abbey, had made that stipulation Avhen he gave up his right to the fishery, that Ave should alloAv "that hutch still to continue to catch fi'ih as he wanted them. Wo used to find it thoroughly full, and Avhen Mr. Gill did not required the fish those fish Avere allowed to go again into the river, but at no time could he goto that liutch Avithout finding fish. Nets Avere occasionally used also. I believe they Avere used more to keep up the right by the rest of the family, and a considerable quantity of fish were also caught in those nets. I think you might get at the value of the river, to Avhich allusion has been made, if you were to refer to a person of the name of vSmall, wlio is still living, he used to fish in that river in days gone by, and to sup])ly the Drake family with fish ; Little Efford, examined. those that Avere not required were sold, and he Avill tell ^ you the quantity of fish that were caught at th(! peiiod to which I allude. The weir which I mentioned Avas broken down some fcAV years ago by a flood, and the consequence no doubt has been that a vast quantity of fish go up the river, but latterly the fisiiing has been materially deteriorated. Although I might go doAvn to that river and find that there Avere many fish in it that would rise to a fiy, yet you very rarely indeed can suc- ceed in taking a fish with a fly beloAv that particular part of the river which I have alluded to ; you may see fish come up and turn back Avith indifference, they will not take tlie fly. ScA'cn years ago I Avent doAvn on that bank, the day was most favoui'able, and the water was in beaittiful condition, but I could by no means catch a single fish. I knew that there Avere many fish there Ijecause many had risen the day before. While so occupied I met a gentleman, and I asked him whether he could account for the fish not taking the fly, and he told me that he had been an old fisher on the river, and he had always before got very good sport, but he said the reason was this, Avhich to me Avas a novelty, but I believe there Avas a great deal of truth in it, that it Avas in consequence of the injurious quality of the water, caused by the debris Avhich ajipears at all parts iu this neighbourhood from the mines, and some of them are almost forming small hills or mountains. There is some very large debris from a mine not very far from the Tavy called Wheal Buller ; there are immense heaps of it, but the mine has been abandoned for years. This gentlemnn said that after heavy rains these hea[)s of debris became saturated Avith Avater, that disintegration took place, and that the poisonous qualities of the minerals Avould flow out by little streams trom the debris and find their way into the river, and that it Avas the most injurious species of poison that could by pos- sibility get into the river. 1519. Can' any proof of this be adduced? — I can bring you positive proof of it, for I was one day going to call upon a person Avho inhabits a little cottage not far from Buckland Monachorum, and in going to a little cottage I passed over a little stream that crossed the road, and in looking at the stream I saAV that the holes through Avhich it percolated through the hedge Avas en- crusted on either side perfectly green, and the stones under the stream Avere also of the same greenish colour. I went to the little cottage, and I said lo the Avoman, " I suppose you must live a comfortable life " here, and keep a pig and poultry ?" " No," said she, "Ave can keep neither one nor the other. If the " poultry drink the water close to the debris at Wheal " Buller, they Avill certainly die, and we cannot let the " pigs run about the lane, because if they get to that " water, the same thing Avill take place." That little E 4 . G. W. Solum. 40 RIVEES rOLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. G. W. Sol tail. 25 Sept. 1872. Tavistock. stream empties itself into the Tavy, and there is a farm- house below. I also visited the person who kept that farm, Avho informed me, or his daugliter, that occa- sionally their chickens were poisoned, from what cause I cannot say, but probably from drinking the same wash that is due to the water from the debris. It is per- fectly idle for us to consider what is to bo done with the mines above as to getting rid of the pollution pro- ceeding from the debris, I apprehend that that would be perfectly impossible. 1520. Has no suggestion been made of a means of doing it ? — I have never heard of anything, and I do not see how you can prevent these little streams being polluted, the poison coming, according to this gentle- man's statenu'ut, after the debris has been so saturated Avith rain that the water flows into these very little streams. I think it would be well, if this gentleman's suggestion is at all correct, if these little streams were analysed. I believe you would find that they are most seriously polluted, a,nd that it is very much owing to that that the river Tavy is in such a miserable state as to taking fish. That was the opinion expi-essed, and I quite confirm the observations made by the gentleman who gave evidence last as to the great increase of pollution which has taken place lately from the new mines. Two or three days ago in the first half hour the water appeared in good order, although the fish would not take, but shortly afterwards quite a flood came down, making a perfectly straight line through the clear water, but making it quite useless to throw a fly in. That there are fish in the river I can bear testi- mony. When I went out a few days ago, I rose five or six very fine truft', but when the fish came up they turned their heads away indifferently, and there was not the slightest indication that the fish intended to take the fly. 1521. Have you not some information to give us as to the river Yealni ? — Yes ; that river is midway be- tween Plympton and Ivy Bridge. 1522. Is that river much polluted by mining refuse ? — It is very much polluted by p.aper works ; there is an extensive paper Avorks in operation at Lee Mill Bridge. 1523. Are you acquainted Avith the internal ar- rangements of those Avorks ? — No. 1524. Do they recover their esparto liquor ? — I un- derstand that they have a fcAv pits Avhich they have been constructed to receive some of the pollution fi'om the paper Avorks, but if those pits are in existence, experience shows that they are of little or no use. 1525. What injury is caused by the particular ema- nations from those Avorks ? — The river at times comes doAvn quite full, and it emits a most disagreeable smell. 1526. What kind of smell is it? — It is a most offensive smell, there is a sort of acid in it. 1527. Ai-e you familiar with the smell of esparto liquor ? — No, but at all events since that paper mill has been in existence, fish in the river Yealm haA-e almost entirely disappeared. 1528. Do you mean from their having been killed, or from their refusing to come into the river ?— I sus- pect it is from both causes. I know that they become so impregnated Avith the material tliat comes from the paper works that if you catch a fish in the river Yealm Avithin a mile from the paper Avorks it is impossible ibr any one to eat that fish. When you dress it, it smells of tar, and tastes of tar, so that the fish are perfectly useless fish on the river. They have now become extremely scarce, and very few peel go up that river, Avhereas in former days they Aveut up in great abundance, and also I'cmarkably fine salmon. Mi'. Bastard has a Aveir at the tail end of the river Avhich empties itself into the estuary near Tealmpton, and very few fish are now taken at that Aveir, nor in fact is it Avorth Avhile for any one to go out for sport on that I'iver. 1529. Canyon assign a money value to the damage that is caused ? — No, I cannot ; but 1 can say from my experience that that river Avould be a a cry valuable one if the river Avas not polluted, and if it Avere let for fly fishing, I knoAv of no river Avhere fish used to be more abundant, and Avhere there Avas better sport for peel and for truff' than the river Tealm. Where this clay Avork is in existence trout are still very abundant, the river flows through a large pond, which Lord Blachford has at his place, and that pond is ahvays splendidly supplied Avith fish, and so is the river all doAvn to Avhere this paper mill exists. 1530. As I understand it, the chief sources of pol- lution on this river are a paper mill and a elav Avork ? — At present I am not aware of any clay Avorks that do pollute it. 1531. Is it polluted only by the paper mill? — I should say so. To give you an idea of the quantity of fish that Avas at one time in that river, I may say that Mr. Young told me that Avhen he Avas a young man he Avas constantly in the habit of catching salmon, and that he has caught 22 dozen of fish on that river, in- cluding all kinds of fish, and now you Avould not catch half a dozen. 1532. Are you familiar Avitli the smell of chloride of lime — Yes. 1533. HaA'e you perceived that coming down the river ? — I have, decidedly, and I believe that that riA'-er, if this could be prevented, Avould still become a very A'aluable river. 1534. Is there much fibre that finds its way from the paper mill into liie river ?— You can see it on the rocks clinging to them near to the paper mill, and you can see it for a considerable distance down. 1535. Is the river a rapid one, or does it fall over a weir beloAV the paper mill ? — There is one Aveir Avhich is not at all an impediment to the fish going up. I believe it has been improved of late. 1536. Is the river frothy below the Aveir ? — Yes; there are a good many rocks, and the water tosses over those rocks, and then you come to little pools, and every sort of feature that you Avould Avish for in a trout stream. 1537. Have you not noticed any particular frothy appearance on the surface of the Avater ? — No ; Avhere I chiefly fished Avas near to the mill ; I used to go doAvn there, and there is a long run Avithout any rocks in it. 1538. Do you knoAV from observation that esparto grass is used in that mill ? — No. I believe they generally use coarse paper there, and not the finer sort. 1539. HoAV long has this mill been m existence ? — Eight or ten years, and I knoAv that Mr. Bastard is very anxious that something should be done in the matter, because the river goes entirely through his property after it quits the mine. 1540. {Mr Morton.) Has Mr. Bastard made any complaint as to this paper mill ? — He is not a fisher- man, and he takes it rather quietly. 1541. Has there been no action for damages ? — Nothing of the sort. He is the sole proprietor, but the public ai'e very much injured from the lack of fish. I have knoAvn them hawking fish about from the river Yealm, they Avere ahvays considered particularly fine fish, and Avere sold at a very good price, but noAv nothing of the sort can be obtained. With regard to the river Erme, near to Iaw Bridge, from the bridge upwards towards the mill, the river is abundantly supplied Avith trout, and in many instances in former days Avhen I fished that river I caught many peel in a (lay. In trout fishing you would catch many peel ; eight or 10 dozen. 1542. Of what Aveight Avere the peel? — I lun-e caught them of 3 lbs. Aveight, from that to 1 1 lb. The great injury Avhich that riA-er sustains has been almost only one, and it comes from the paper Avorks at Ivy Bridge, Avhich are conducted hy Messrs. Allen. I be- lieve they ha AC taken somestejisto j)re vent any portion of this material from floAving into the river, but still they have not been successful, and the consequence is that the fishing below Ivy Bridge is considerably deteriorated, and the river sometimes is perfectly offen- sive from the material Avhich comes from those A'ery extensive paper Avorks. KIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — OBAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 41 1 543. How long have those works been in opera- tion ? — Very many years. 1544. Over 20 years — I think so. Of late years they have been very greatly increased, and they are carrying on a very large trade. They make various sorts of paper, and some of the very best description. I believe that Messrs. Allen would do their best to prevent injury being done to the fishery below if proper steps could be pointed out to them. The river is at times in such a state as to make the fish unwilling to come up, and it smells very offensively. Near where it empties itself at the weir is Ivy Bridge, and you may see there a great quantity of discoloured water. 1545. Is it black ? — It seems to be of a whitish green colour. 1546. Is it frothy on the surface ? — I have not remarked that, but I understand that the gentleman to whom a large part of the river belongs is very anxious indeed that some steps should be taken to prevent this pollution. At one time the fishery Avas a very productive fishery, and when it belonged to Mr. Bulteel they used to catch a vast quantity of salmon and of salmon peel, so much so, that he had a little stream which he diverted from the river and formed a sort of pond. This little stream went from the pond into the river again, and salmon would sometimes come up that little stream and go into his pond, where he kept them, and at any time when he wanted a good salmon he only had to send down to this pond and he got it, but those days have all dis- appeared. 1547. Is there any other river as to which you can give us any information ? — Yes ; the Tory Brook flows into the river Plym, but I am afraid it is hopeless to do any thing in that beautiful river, which was well known in former days for trout and peel and very good fish. The river is now entirely spoiled. It flows through Mr. Strutt's park at Newnhara for two or three miles. That river was one of the most beautiful rivers in Devonshire, and was as full of trout and peel as you can imagine. Unfortunately, leave was given by the late Mr. Strutt for the construction of clay works, and an understanding was come to with Mr. Strutt that the clay works should send their refuse into this Tory Brook, and that brook is now worthless, there is not a single fish in it. 1548. The brook, I presume, does not flow through a lake ? — I take it that it must be a great feeder to the Plym for spawning ; there is no lake whatever. 1549. Are you acquainted Avith any instance of a river polluted by mining refuse or clay works flowing through a lake afterwards ? — No ; they are making large ponds on the Plym in order that the clay should be deposited before it arrives at the Plym, and I think great good might be done on the Plym if more energetic steps were taken as to the clay works at the bridge above Candover Bridge. They have opened an immense basin, and this forms an enormous opening where you may see a mountain of clay, which clay is of itself not sufficiently decomposed, I apprehend, to use, and there- fore they are digging through this large basin to get at better clay. I do not see how that clay can ever be thoroughly prevented from going into tlie river Plym unless there is some means of stopping the sediment at that particular spot, although it forms a basin, and there great detriment takes place from that sediment The witne! when very heavy floods come down, that basin gets j^jj. q \^ over full, and the consequence is that it flows into the Soltau. river Plym, and the Plym becomes white in conse- qnence for some considerable distance. Already the 25 Sept. 1872. Plym is much deteriorated as to spawning, as you can Tavistock see on the level banks the slime on the sand of the \ banks. The rocks which were before of a beautiful brown are now all encrusted with white to a consider- able extent. I am bound to say that Sir Massey Lopes has done his best to enforce upon the proprietors of that clay work the expediency of keeping it as pure as possible, but they bring down their clay in wooden troughs from Candover Bridge to Shaugh Bridge where there are several pools constructed for the pur- pose of letting this stuff deposit. I do not see how they can get over the diflnculty unless more energetic steps are taken as to the clay when it is first taken out of this large basin. I think if there was a second basin to let it deposit in with greater effect, something might be done. 1550. Could such a basin be made there ? — I should think that between the spot to which I have referred and the river, it might be done by putting a facing of rock and forming a sort of second basin to receive the water which must overflow when floods take place. 1551. Would not that be a very expensive opera- tion ? — Yes ; if it continues long, and these outbreaks take place frequently, I am afraid the trout will be injured as well as the peel and other fish. I wish, if I may be allowed to suggest, that it would be very expedient in this neighbourhood, if it was found after some time that it was impracticable to put a stop to a good deal of injury that is done through the mines, if attention could be called more especially to the trout fishing on our streams. 1552. Mr. Strutt gave leave for the opening of the clay pits ? — Yes. 1553. Through his own property ? — No. 1554. Does he receive any rent ? — None. 1555. Then it was partly from good nature? — No, it was partly owing to this. I understand that when that arrangement was made between Mr. Strutt and Lord Morley, Mr. Strutt Avished to buy a Avood that was contiguous to a Avood of his OAvn, and an arrange- ment was come to between Lord Morley and Mr. Strutt, that if Lord Morley would sell the Avood, Mr. Strutt would allow this to come to the river, not being aware at the time, that it would be so offensive. 1556. Do you know of any stream which has been injured by mining which has recovered itself after the working of the mine has been stopped ? — No ; but I have been told that there is one case and that the Plym is now full of fish. 1557-8. Do you know how long it took to recover itself? — It has been gradually recovering itself since 1867, and the Plym is now well stocked. (31r. Clark.) With regard to Sir Massey Lopes' clay works, I think it is fair to say that he gave an undertaking to the inspectors of fisheries, that in the event of the Plym being injured by his clay Avorks he would stop the Avorks, and immediately he heard that the clay Avorks were discharging into the stream, he sent Avord to the manager to say that if the pollu- tion continued, the works would be stopped. withdrew. Mr. Soltatj-Symons, Chad 1559. {M?: Morio7i.) I believe you desire to give us some information ? — I Avish to confirm Avhat has fallen from my father as to the river Yealm. As con- servator of this district, 10 years ago I summoned the owner of these paper mills for allowing poisonous refuse to come into the riA-er, and upon that occasion a nominal fine of Is. was imposed by the magistrate, on condition that they made effectual catch-pits to pre- vent the evil from continuing. HoAvever, they only made very small catch-pits, about half the size of this room, which were filled in a day or two, and were not 30928. ewood, Plympton, examined. of the slightest use. I found that I Avas not supported Mr. Soltau- by the proprietors, and the matter dropped ; and the Si/muns. same poisonous stuff has been alloAved to floAv into the river from time to time. With regard to the manner in Avhich it affects health, I may say that the popula- tion of Tealmpton are now prevented from using that water Avhen it is very low, for domestic purposes they can neither drink it nor use it for Avashing. There is a very strong taint of tar, Avhich I think- comes from a quantity of old tar ropes used in the manufac- ture of paper. The material is made up into a pulp, F 42 BIVER8 POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. Sohau- Sijmons. 25 Sept. 1872. Tavistock. and the tar of course flows out into tlie water. The few fish that have been of late caught there taste very strougly c)L tar, and you cannot eat them aa food. I have found some of the fish that 1 have caught there with their fins burned, as if it had been done by strong chloride of lime, or some chemical substance of that description. That river is now, as far as fishing is concerned, destroyed, and for domestic purposes the water is entirely useless. I have taken a great deal of interest iu our rivers for many years, and I only regret to say that they are going back rather than forward ; the fisheries are decreasing in value, because I believe that the measures which have been taken to prevent pollution have not been at all efl'ectual. With reference to the Plym, of which Mr. Clark spoke, I have rented a considerable part of that river for many years from Lord Morley, and on one occasion, from the mining opei'ations that were carried on, the whole of that part of the river which I rented was destroyed, all the fish was destroyed by mine water. On a previous occasion, in 1 864, a portion of the lower jjart of the river was entirely destroyed by mine water ; where mine water was allowed to flow in in 1864, two miles below Long- bridge, of course the fish were destroyed ; and at the time of which Mr. Clark spoke, every fish belonging to me was destroyed. Since that time there has been no water to injure the fish flowing into the Plym, above Longbridge, and now the number of fish is in- creasing in the river every year. I thiak during the last 12 years there have been more fish. 1560. {Dr. Franklcmd.) What was the character of the water that flowed into the river at the time to which you have referred ? — I had an analysis made of the water that was allowed to flow in from a mine in 1868, and the chemist who analysed that water said that the fish were poisoned by lead ; that he was unable to state what poison had killed the fish, but he found The witness small particles of lead in the fish, although not in suffi- cient quantities to destroy life. I sent him samples of the water for analysis, but I have not got the analysis, and he found that the poison in the water was quite sufiicient to poison any number of fish. 1561. Do you know whether the poisonous material was in suspension or in solution ? — No. 1562. This was a case in which the fish in the river had been destroyed, but the river afterwards recovered itself? — There was a mine which had been worked for a fev/ months, and during the process of working it, I did not see any particular injury done to the river. I believe a few fish were killed, but the mine ceased to work for some months, and it became necessary to take out the machinery, and then a great quantity of poisonous matter wag allowed to flow into the river, which destroyed every fish in it from the mouth to the source. 1563. {Mr. Morton.) Do you kno w what power the magistrates possess of inflicting fines ? You have stated that in one instance they only exercised them to the extent of imposing a fine of \s. ? — They can impose a fine of 5/. ; that, I think, is the utmost. I may say that I summoned some other parties in 1864, who aUowed polluted water to flow into a leat and into the river Plym, two miles from the source. I sum- moned them, and they were fined 21. on certain condi- tions. I think the present law is not sufiiciently strin- gent to induce proprietors to take ordinary precautions. As to the value of the fishery, I am of opinion that the Plym would be a very valuable river indeed. I do not know any river where fish increase so rapidly as iu the Plym ; there ^re most excellent spawning beds on the river, and I would give a very large sum as rent for that river if they could guarantee that nq poisonous refuse should be allowed to flow into it. withdrew. Mr. T. Stet Mr.T. Stevens. 1564. {Dr. Frankland.) You are, I believe, super- • intendent of the Tamar and Plym Fishery Works ? — Yes. 1565. What rivers come under your superintendence? — The Tamar, the Plym, the Tavy, and the Walkham, and all their tributaries. 1566. Do you find that all those rivers are polluted ? — Yes, more or less ; some to a greater extent than others. 1 567. By what are they polluted ? — By water of this kind {pointing to a bottle) from the Wheal Betsy mine, just up on the Tamar ; there is a continuous flow of at least 100 hogsheads an hour into the river Tavy from that mine. You will see the sediment in this bottle {^producing the same), that is the kind of water that flows into the Tamar from the W^heal Betsy mine. 1568. Did you take this sample yourself? — Yes. 1569. At what date ? — I cannot give you the date, but since last Monday week. 1570. Have you noticed whether the water flowing from Wheal Betsy mine does any damage ? — Yes, much damage. 1571. How would you describe it? — By destroying the fishing and filling up the spawning beds. I have never seen any evidence of matured fish being killed, but there is scarcely a young fish that you can find within a mile or a mile and a half of where this water comes into the river. 1572. Do you find any dead fish ? — No; small fish are so light, and the flow of the river is so rapid, that if there are any dead fish they are carried away. 1573. Have you noticed a deposit of slimy matter on the spawning grounds ? — Yes. 1574. Of what thickness is it ? — There is a coating all over the stones of sand, and at times when we have a heavy flood all this sand is carried away, it is not permanent ; when we have a heavy flood it is all carried olF again. In the ordinary -working there is a continuous flow of water from seven in the morning till ^ve in the evening. f^s examined. 1575. This is how it runs into the river {pointing to the bottle) ? — Yes ; that is how it leaves the mine. 1576. Does it pass through no catch-pits to arrest the sediment ? — Nothing of the kind. There is Wheal Friendship mine, that sends oiit much less than it did years ago, but there is a sediment there. It goes into the river now in less quantity, the great injury is caused by the upper mine, Wheal Betsy. 1577-8. Was the last sample you have handed in taken at the same time ? — It was taken on the 9th September. 1579. What damage have you noticed to I'esult fi-om the discharge from Wheal Friendship mine into the Tavj' ? — The damage done must be jointly with the other, because Wheal Friendship mine water comes directly into the river in contact with it as it is coming down. 1580. All the damage might be owing to one ? — Yes, or to both. 1581. Do you know the nature of the minerals in these mines ? — One is lead and the other is copper. Wheal Betsy is a lead mine, and Wheal Friendship is a copper mine. The water in this bottle {producing another sample) is from a mine called Poldice on the river Walkham, which is a large tributary of the Tavy. 1582. What sort of a mine is that ? — A tin mine, 1583. Anything else? — Not that I am aware of; there is, I believe, a little copper, it is not worked for copper but for tin. 1584. Does this bottle show the condition of the water as it flows into the river from the dressiuE: floors ? —Yes. 1585. Was this sample taken at the same time as the others ? — About the same time, all since last Monday week. 1586. Wliat injury -r; 9^ S> 2062. What is the object of that?-^Tb catc^iin^- thing that might come ; there are little greeii_siulfs ' growing in good water ; fine fibrous g\v^^p^50. killed about that number last time. ' 2065. Do you catch them ? — We kill them when the reservoir is cleaned out. 2066. Where do they come from ? — From the Red- gate side, I suspect through the pipes, they ai-e very small, and they come from the stream. 20G7. I suppose there are fish constantly in that stream ?^ — Yes, always. 2068. Have you never any scarcity of water ? — No ; there is plenty always to supply the town when the people are careful in its use, and do not let it run to waste. 2069. Do you supply the hotel with water ? — Yes. 2070. Would a sample taken there fairly represent the water you supply ? — I should think so. 2071. What is the character of the stratum from which those springs come? — Granite chiefly; what they call trap-rock. At St. Clere town we get into the granite, and just there we have five small springs on that side, and it is all piped into these streets with earthenware pipes ; you can see none of them. By St. Clere's well we have a large cistern to catch any sand that might come in. 2072. Are you referring to a place from which people draw water? — Yes, at St. Clere's well: that is the only place. H 2 Mr. J. Sumpso?i. 60 IIIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. ^r. 2073. Is there much poi)ulation round tliat well ? — J.Sampson. I cannot tell Avhat the population is; the village is a good distance from this ; the well is not in tlie middle of the village. 2074. Can no pollution get into the well ? — No. 2075. Is there any pollution of any kind in tlic other springs besides the stream you have mentioned V — Nothing at all. Nothing can get near to it ; no person can see the pipes, they are all buried. 2076. Having taken all the rest of the water from the springs in pipes to the reservoir, why did you not take the stream ? — I cannot tell. I suppose it is be- cause the directors thought it unnecessary. 2077. Is the water as it leaves the reservoir in- variably clear and transparent ?— Yes, except in very heavy rains, when a little mud comes in. We generally calculate to have to turn it out from the reservoir Avheu it gets foid. 2078. I suppose you can easily clear it out, because it is so small ? — Yes. 2079. I believe it now contains only about 250,000 gallons ? — Hardly that ; it used to contain more than that. 2080. As I understand yon, all the springs never fail in the summer, and you are always able to collect from them in 24 hours suthcieut for your purposes r — Yes; we have always as much as the pipe will carry from the Kedgate side, even if the other side should go dry for a month or six weeks in a very dry summer. . 2081. If you wished to use any springs other than the stream, you Avould require a very large reservoir ? —Yes. 2082. That, I suppose, wouhl ])c impracticable ? — Yes. 2083. Can you tell us whether cisterns are attached to the waterclosets used in this town ?— Only to a few. 2084. How is the water supplied ?— Directly from the main. 2085. Is that a safe mode of supply for the water- closets ? — I should think so. 2086. Your supjjly is, theoretically, constant; is there always a great pressure upon the pipes ? — About 80 lbs. to an inch. 2'0S7. If there was a watercloset directly connected with the main in the higher part of the town, and you turned off the water, the water Avould then run out of the main in the lower part of the town ?— Yes. 2088. Then suppose the watercloset not to be in good order, what is to prevent the contents of the pan being suelvcd in ? — It is not likely, and then again, there would be nothing but a little air to go in. 2089. That is, supposing that the closet is in good order, but I am supposing the pan of the closet to be fdled Avith foul Avater ? — It could not go in then, be- cause the pipe leading to the top of the pan goes in this Avay {describing), and is generally higher. I mean that the pipe that the Avater comes in is generally higher ; it would come in at the top of the jian, and flush round it. 2090. The pipe that delivers Avater into the pan 0[)ens into the pan ? — Yes, close at the top. 2091. Are you sure that if the pan Avas completely full none of the Avater Avould go into the pipe ? — None coidd ; 1 have never seen a pan full of Avater yet. 2092. {Mr. Morton.) Suppose there Avas a stoppage in the drain ? — Then it Avould lealv out about the house, 2093. {Dr. Franliland.) Do you not find that in houses of the loAver class these closets are not unfre- quently out of order ? — They are sometimes. 2094. And sometimes they are filled Avitli Avater ? — I have never seen one full of Avater yet, but if they should be there are no means for the Avater going back that I can see. 2095. If a pan Avere so full as to be runnhig OA'cr the edge, Avould not the Avater come OA-er the end of your pipe ? — No, because the pipe is kept behind. 2096. Would not the opening of the pipe in the pan be under the Avater ? — No, the Avater would be about an inch under the edge of the pipe. 2097. To preveiU the foul Avater of the pan being sucked back into the pipe, as I have supposed, do you rely upon the care of the proprietor or occupier ? — The cock is just here {■pointing to a sketch). 2098. Do the occupiers never leave the cocks turned, and cause a great Avaste of Avater ? — They do sometimes. 2099. Might there not be a case of this kind, that Avhen you turned the Avater off to make some repair the people might be Uable to turn the cock, and finding no Avater in the pipe, leaA-e it turned ? — I think they Avould shut it again. 2100. Would it not l)e desirable to have cisterns attached to all the waterclosets ? — Yes. 2101. Have you no power to carry that out? — I do not knoAv, but I think it Avould be better to haA'c cisterns. There Avould not be half so much Avaste of water as there is now. There is generally a joint in the pan a little way from the bottom of it, and if that Avas out of order the Avater Avould run out and Avaste, and the houses Avould get dirty. 2102. Can you tell us Avhat number of persons in Liskeard make use of the Avater from the Avater- Avorks ? — I shall be able to do so. 2103. Is your service reservoir an open one ? — Yes. 2104. At Avhat distance from the town is it ? — Tavo miles and a half. 2105. Is it near any village ? — It is half a mile from rtt. Clere A^illage. 2106. Is the reservoir fenced round ? — Yes; there is a fence seven feet high round it ; the nearest point is about 14 feet off. The reservoir covers tAvo acres of ground. 2107. Could anybody droAvn dogs in the reservoir ? — I have never known it done. 2108. Do you alloAV geese to swim on these reser- voirs ? — No. 2109. We have heard that the water is sometimes turbid as it is delivered in the town, and one witness stated that he considered that Avas due to the pipes ; is that your opinion ? — We have got a constant supply, and occasionally, Avhen Ave shut off the water to put in a service, Ave drain up a certain district ; Ave have stop-cocks to stop Avithin a short distance, but from the Avater coming rapidly through the pipes again, a little rust naturally Avill collect, and Avhen the Avater is turned on afresh it rushes through the pipe faster than usual, and stirs up anything, but in an hour it is clear again. 2110. Are the interiors of the pipes asphalted ? — They are covered Avith pitch and lacker inside. 2111. NotAvithstandiug that they get rusty ? — Yes, at i)laces Avhere holes are bored and services are put in. 2112. Does the Avater, Avhen kept for some time in a decanter or jug, deposit anything ? — I have never seen it, but I have heard some persons say that it does so at times. 2113. I understand that all the Avater comes out of the granite ? — Yes, Avith the exception of one little stream on !St. Clere doAvns, and that comes from trap- rock. 2114. Is that Avater harder than other Av.ater ? — I think not. 2115. Is it generally used in the town for Avashing ? — Yes, and for drinking as Avell. 2116. Is it better than any Avater that can be got in the town for drinking purposes ? — I never drink anything else. 2117. Is your supply gradually extending over the town ? — It has not extended much Avithin the last tAvo years. 2118. Are there some people Avho prefer the pipe Avell Avater or shalloAV Avell Avater ?— I cannot tell ; there may be. 2119. Is your water always colourless Avhen you see it in a decanter ? — No ; I have seen it some times when it has been a little foul, after Ave have put in a service ; as a general rule I believe it is clear. RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :- ORAL EVIDP:NCK — I'ART III. 61 2120. When the water is quite clear, has it a very yellow tint ? — I have not seen it. 2121. Is there any peaty matter in it ? — No. 2122. No bitter taste ?— Not that I Ituow of. 2123. Is it liked bytlie consumers? — Yes. In very heavy rains it may be a little foul ; you must expect that. It is a peaty soil that the water passes through. 2124. {Mr. Morton^ I think you have said that the supply from your works has not been taken by an increased number of people in the last two or three years — The increase has not been much ; we have not put in many services. 21 2o. Is that because you have already to supply all houses of a certain class ? — A f,^ood many of Ihem, nine-tenths of them, I suppose. We cainiot expect to extend our works nuich further. 212G. Is your supply available for any place besides Liskearil r — Yes, for some cottages bel'ween this and .St. Clere, and two houses by the side of the road are supplied from the same source. 2127. Is there any population Indow Liskcard sup- plied with water from your Avoi'ks 'i — No. Mr. The witness withdrew. William Vincent, Surveyor, Liskeard, examined. 2128. {Mr. 3Iorton.) You are a surveyor in Lis- keard ? — Yes. 2129. What statement have you to make ? — I pro- duce a plan, and I wish to state that the portion which the Commissioners will see coloured pink has been totally destroyed by the mineral water coming over the land. 2130. Of whose property are you speaking ? — The property of John Luke Peter, Esq. 2131. Has he made any complaint on account of the mischief done in this way to his property ? — Yes. 2132. To whom has his complaint been addressed ? — To the agents of the mines. 2133. I see that there are seven acres coloured pink on this plan ; do you mean that the value of those lands has been entirely destroyed ? — Entirely. 2134. Are the seven acres covered with mud, just below the mouth of the Seaton ? — Yes. 2135. Did not Mr. Luke Peter receive any compen- sation ? — Not that I am aware of. 2136. Does he propose to pursue the matter ? — Yes. The agents have been there and have seen it, and they acknowledge that the ground is destroyed. 2137. If Air. Peter takes proceedings, will the action be defended ? — I am not aware. Several meetings have been held about it, I believe, but I have not heard that he has ever had the slightest compensation for the injury done to his land. 2138. Is it clear that the mischief has been done by the water from the mines ? — Yes. 2139. Are there any further injuries up or down the stream of the same kind to which you can sneak ? — No. 2140. Is there a large mining district at the head of this stream ? — There is. 2141. What are the names of the principal mines ? — The Phoenix is the principal one. 2142. Is that a copper mine ? — Copper and tin arc produced. 2143. Is any injury, that you know of, done to cattle owing to the condition of this stream ? — I never heard that ; there may have been ; the tenant is here. 2144. What is the annual value of those lands? — It varies ; some parts would be worth more than others ; 1 1, an acre, and upwards. 2145. Is there any flat part of the stream ? — Yes. 2146. Near to the mouth of it ?— No ; the stream comes down for a considerable distance before it reaches the place I refer to. 2147. How long has this mischief been going on ? — Within the last 20 years. 2148. So that a complaint might have been made within that time ? — Yes, or within 14 or 15 years. 2149. Have you known the lands for mauy years ? — For about seven or eight years. 2150. Has the injury become greater in your time ? — Yes. 2151. Has that been by the area of flooded land being increased, or by the deposit increasing in thick- ness ? — By increasing the thickness of the deposit. -Yes, it 2152. Is the area not at all altered ?- increasing. 2153. Has the owner of the land to which you refer been joined in his complaint by any of his neigldiours ? — Yes. I have perambulated the whole of the river three miles below that, and I find that the ground is more or less damaged the whole way down. 2154. What is the extent of the injured land to which you have been referring ; a quarter of a mile? — More like half a mile. 2155. What is the length of the stream l ielow the mine ? — I cannot say, 2156. Has much larger injury been done in that half mile than in any other half mile on the banks of the river ? — I should suppose there is. 2157. The mischief still exists in the course of the river ? — Yes ; but it is the worst just above the bridge, shown upon the plan. 2158. Is there anything further that yon wish to state ? — No. 2159. {Dr. Franldand.) What minerals are raised in these mines ? — Copper and tin. 2160. And mundic ? — Yes. 2161. Is the mundic converted into saleal)le arsenic ? • — I do not know ; I think it is very probable, but not on the mines. 2162. Is the muudic conveyed away from the mines ? — I do not know, but it is so in many cases. 2163. Is the deposit you complain of poisonous ? — ' Yes. 2164. What evidence have yon of that? — I have had similar cases come under my notice where land has been destroyed by mineral water. 2165. Do you judge by its effect upon vegetation ? — Yes. 2166. But the injury you speak of would lie etpially produced by non-poisonous matter, would it not ?— Yes ; the matter that would wash over the land. 2167. H ave you known any instances of cattle bein"' l)oisoned by grazing upon land that luis been flooded by this water ? — I have not heard that there have been. I have heard no complaint. 2168. Has any injury been done to any person drinking the water ? — No. 2169. Do the cattle drink it .'—Yes. 2170. Are they injured by drinking it ? — I have never heard a complaint of that kind made. 2171. {Mr. Morton.) Have you received a copy of the printed questions addressed to riparian owjiers throughout the country ? — No. 2172. Is the Phoenix mine the only considerable mine that is above you ? — Yes ; there are others in the neighbourhood. 2173. Do you know what amount of work is done at the mine or what amount is paid monthly in wa"-es ? —No. 2174. Can you give us no information ;is to the magnitude of the mining industry above you ? — No. The witness withdrew. Mr. Thojias Ball, Picton Mills, Liskeard, examined. 2175. {Mr. Morto?i.) I believe you are the tenant 2176. Of what do you complain ?- of the land referred to by the last witness ? — Yes. done by the water. Mr. ,/. Sampson. 30 Sept. 1872. Liskcard Mr. W. Vincent. -Of the damace ^J^'- T. Ball. H 3 G2 BIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — OKAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. T. Ball. 30 Sept. 1872. Liskeard. 2177. Whiit is the nature of the diimajiju iloiie ? — It has spoiled the land. 2178. Doe.s it so covci- up tlie hiud that it will uot grow grass ? — Yes. 2179. But it was a grass liold ? — Yes, it is all meadow land. The last time it was cut was about i;} years ago, but nothing has grown since. 2180. Is it now a sandy waste ? — Yes, nothing will grow upon it. 2181. Have you ever tried it ?— I have tried it in the last summer. 2182. Did you get in deep? — You must take off the top. 2183. How deep is the sediment ? — In some places a foot. 2184. Have you known any instance of cattle suf- fering from drinking this polluted water ? — We never let them drink it if we can help it. 2185. Have you known any instances of injury done from drinking the water ? — I know it has in- jured the horses, but we never let them drink it, if we can help it. 2186. What harm does it do them? — We cannot tell ; we give them what meat we like, but if we let tiiem drink that water we find that it does them an injury. I think it must be poisonous because there used to be plenty of fish in it, and you cannot now find one in the river. 2187. The water contains mineral matter in sufii- cient quantity to account for all you see, whether that mineral matter is poisonous or not ? — It is poisonous because it has killed every fish in the river. There is not one in the river now below Phcenix mine ; there are fish above that mine. 2188. Do you know any instance of injury or loss of life in cattle from either eating muddy grass, fouled by this stream, or from drinking foul water ? — We have lost several bullocks, but we did not know whether it was from drinking the water or eating the grass. 2189. {Dr. Frankland.) Do you keep poultry, ducks, or fowls ? — We keep fowls, but not ducks. 2190. For what reason ? — Because they would go out to the stream. 2191. Do you know of any case of ducks being poisoned by resorting to that stream ? — We never kept any. I cannot say. The witness Mr. W. Horndon. 2192. The lowls are not poisoned ? — No. 2193. Do they ever drink the water of that sti eam ? — Not that I know of; we have fresh water that comes right down to the same place besides the river water. 2194. Do you know what "skimpings" are in a mine ? — Yes. 2195. Do any of those come down to you ? — Yes ; the bed of the river is almost filled as deep as this table is high. 2196. Have the fowls had access to those skimp- ings ? — No. 2197. Why can they not get at them ? — They could if they liked, but the farmyard and the river are a little way apart, and therefore they never go down to the river. 2198. Have you never lost any fowls? — Not that I know of. 2199. Do you know the tenants of the lands above you or below you ? — Yes. 2200. Have they complaints to make as you have ? —Yes. 2201. To the same extent Yes. 2202. Do you know the course of the liver for miles up and down ? — Yes, from beginning to end. 2203. There appear to be eight acres spoiled in your case ; can you form any opinion of tlic acreage along the whole course of the liver which has been spoiled in this way ? — I suppose the whole course would be about 10 miles from the Phoenix mine down to where it enters into the sea. 2204. Is any mischief done to the laud in the upper part of its course, where the stream is rapid ? — None above Phcenix mine. 2205. But below there is ? — It is all the way from Phoenix mine to where it enters the sea. 2206. Is the course of the stream rapid immediately below Phoenix mine ? — Yes, for a great way. 2207. Is any mischief done there ? — Yes. 2208. You have got eight acres spoiled in your half mile ? — Yes. 2209. Is your case worse than that of your neigh- bours ? — I do not know that it is worse. 2210. Are there 16 acres in every mile spoiled in the same way ? — I cannot say that there is so much as that. withdrew. Mr. William Horndon, Pencreeper, examined. 2211. {Mr. Mm-ton.) Are you an owner of lands ou this stream ? — Yes. 2212. Have you any cause of complaint ? — Very great, indeed. I may state that the tenant of one of the mills used to pay me 201. a year rent, but in con- sequence of the damage done to this land I have had to reduce that rent 51., and I believe it is a question whether I have made a sufficient allowance, but the tenant was satisfied. 2213. Has the annual value of the land been dimi- nished to that extent ? — Yes. 2214. Is its diminished value owing to any cost that he has been put to in clearing out his mill-pond ? — No, it has arisen solely from the ovei-flow of the water of the river, which is so prejudicial to vegetation. 2215. Is it owing to a certain acreage being de- stroyed, or to the value of the whole of the land being diminished ? — It is owing to a certain acreage being destroyed ; that is to say, some of it is perfectly de- stroyed, while other portions are very much injured. Where the water has been greater in (piautity there a great I'r injury would take place, for wherever that water does come in contact with grass and herbage there of course injury is done. 2216. 1 suppose the injury would be more likely to occur upon the land immediately above the mill than it would in other [jlaces ? — No, the meadmv which is most affecled is that which is below the mill, or rather just by the mill. 2217. For what distance down the stream does your land abut upon it? — J ihink a quarter of a mile. 2218. Do you suppose that the injury done by the water throughout the whole course of the stream amounts to 20/. a mile ? — No, because I think that a great portion of the banks is covered by wood, which would closely adjoin the banks of the river, but in this instance it is a meadow, and of course the injury done to a meadow Avould be much greater than that done to woodland. 2219. Is the injury of which you have spoken the only injury of which you have to complain ? — It is not only that, but I would if I could represent my brother, who has, I might say, a couple of miles or more. 2220. Can you explain to us the extent of the injury sustained by that propcrtj- in the course of those two miles ? — I cannot. 2221. Is this a common case along the course of the rivci ? — Yes, T belic^■o so; wherever the banks of the river are not sufficiently high in case of a flood to keep them within the banks, the water then overflows and covers the adjacent country, fields, or whatever there may be. 2222. Is the natural channel of the river getting silted up ? — I do uot think it is much. I am not awai'e that it changes its course. 2223. {Dr. Frankland.) Does the water flowing over this particular patch of land come on to the land above the weir, or below it.-* — Not above it. 2224. If the weir were done away with, the injury would be the same, would it not ? — Yes. The meadow just above, close to where the mill Icat is, is almost entiiolv protected. RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL KVIDENCE — I'ART III. 63 2225. {Mr. Morton.) With regard to the influence of the weir upon the hind, is it not possible that the injury might be done below the weir, and yet that the weir might be the cause of the injury, that is to say, the water might flow over the top of the weir and do the mischief below it. Is that the history of your case ? — I do not see how that could well lake place, inasmuch as there would be the whole quantity of the Avater that would bo taken to sup[)ly the mill, and that would diminish the stream to that extent, consequenlly there would be less probability of injury. Mr. ^\'. Utiriuioii. 30 Sept. 1672. Lislcuiinl. The witness withdrew. Mil. Dkiby Collins, Newton Ferrers, near Callington, examined. 2226. {Mr. Morton.) Will you state what your case 13 ? — My case is this. I am tlio owner of about three miles of river immediately below the gentleman who has just given evidence, and I suppose that the damage from mineral water from which we are now sutferiug has been going on for 25 years, for since then there has been a marked difference in the value of land, oven where the water has not actually overflowed, and what I mean by not overflowed is, where there is not a thick deposit of silt ; still the grass has been con- siderably injured. I should say that upon 50 acres of that land I imagine there would be a loss of about 60Z. a year, and possibly over ; that is certainly below the mark. The tenants find it impossible to keep the cattle there long together without their losing con- dition ; they leave them there for a few daj's and then they remove them to the high ground ; they are obliged to leave the gates open, so that they can get access to pure water. 2227. Have the rents of other riparian owners, whose lands have not been injui-ed, increased or dimi- The witness withdrew. nished during the same period ? — They have increased to the amount from about 20 to 25 per cent. 2228. While, on the other hand, the annual value of the other meadows has been diminished ? — Yes ; on one farm to the extent quite of 50/. or 60/. a year. 2229. Has 60/. a year been the whole extent of the mischief done to three miles of the river? — Tt is, 1 think, the whole extent of the mischief done, if you do not estimate the dnmago done to the fisliery. 2230. That is the damage done to the estate^ gene- rally ? — It is more than that. Low-lying lands, when they go with high lands, are more than their apparent value to a farm ; they are earlier in the spnug, and last longer in the autumn. 2231. Are any of the riparian owners on this stream interested in the mines above them ? — I have not heard that they are. 2232. Can you give us any information as to the magnitude of the industry above you ? — Not the least. Mr. D. C'ulli'jis. Mk. John Wilcox, Farmer, Calstop, examined. 2233. {Mr. Morton.) On what stream does your land lie ? — On a small stream that runs into the Tamar. We have several mines in our district, and the whole of the rivulets which run adjacent to our land are polluted by mineral waters. 2234. Do those waters flood your land ? — They do not do the land any damage. 2235. Is mischief done to the stock ? — Yes, espe- cially. I have had poultry killed and ducks this season from the water at the Ijottom of my orchard, which comes from a mine that has been recently worked. I have seen ducks in the stream, and I have seen them, within an hour or an hour and a half afterwards, die. 2236. What is the nature of the mine above you ?— It is of different classes — silver, silver-lead, tin, copper, antl mundic. 2237. Have you had the birds opened and examined ? — No, I saw them in the stream, and we should have lost more of them but we kept them fronr the stream. 2238. Has any injury b(!en done to your cattle ? — Not that we know of, from mineral sources ; and yet there has been damage done from arsenic Avorks in the district. 2239. To cattle ?— Yes ; and I believe there was an action in the County Court for damages, and I believe damages were recovered. 2240. Was the damage owing to the effect of the arsenic works upon the water ? — It was from eating the herbage round the arsenic works ; in fact the water is not fit for use that comes down through the arsenic works. 2241. How do you know this? — ^Eecause nothing will drink the water. I have tasted water many times myself from springs that used to be very good, when I first went to the neighbourhood to live, but the cattle will not touch it now. 2242. Is that a difficulty in your way, or have you any other good water to use ? — We have no water in that district. I presume you have heard about the waterworks, but we have no supply of wholesome water for cattle ; nor have we for human beings, un- less we draw it for at least three-quarters of a mile. All the water that has been used during this last summer in the house was drawn in barrels at least three-quarters of a mile. 2243. How long is it since you were deprived of a natural supply of water ? — Since we have been de- prived of a supply of water for our cattle it has been Mr. J. Wilcox. only during the last summer ; we always had a good supply of water for the cattle in these streams before the last summer. 2244. Have there l)een any new works opened Yes, and the new mine water is (piite thick as it goes down the stream at present. We have to diaw from Buddie's well, at the mouth of an adit on HingsLon Downs, and there we get good wholesome water. ^ 2245. (Dr. Frankland.) Is that water supplied (o l)arisli, I the town ? — It would supply the whole believe, if it could be conveyed to the town. 2246. But it is not brought ? — No ; Dr. Blaxall was down to make an estimate of the wants of the parish 12 months since. In some other parts of the parish there have been committees, and thev have done something towards improving the supply of water ; but nothing has been efficiently carried out, or is likely to be, unless some further steps are taken. I hear that the Board of Guardians have taken some stei)s. 2247. What is your population ? — Nearly 300 in the village. 2248. Is the water for the supply of those 300 all carried from Buddie's well ? — Yes, or from a stream at about the same distance. 2249. What is the name of the new works that deprived you of the water?— The mine is at East Kithill, that has been recently opened. In the course of this last season there has also been a water-wheel put up for stamping some stuff", and the slime has run into the rivulet where we used to get the water from. 2250. How flu- is the place from Liskeard ? — I suppose it is about 1 1 miles. 2251. What is the name of the stream that receives the drainage of South Kits ? — The lower part of that is called Coathill. 2252. Is there any barites got out of this mine ? I do not know, but the principal product from the mine on the hill side is tin. 2253. You say that mundic comes out of it ? Yes on the other side of the stream I referred to. The first runs on one side of my estate, and Kithill mine runs on the west side of it, so that the two streams run down one on each side, and they are both pol- luted. The witness withdrew. fl 4 64 lUVERS POLLUTION COjnriPSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mk. W. Steer, Farmer, Calstop, examined. 2254. {Mr. Mo7-ton.) Arc you an occupier of land 2258. Or of any injury to cattle ? No. in the sauK' locality as tliat first spoken of ?— Yes. 2259. Have you still a supply of drinking Avater 2255. Js your complaint the same as that of the last unaffected by the condition of the stream ? Yes. ' ''^ 2260. Is your farm down the stream ? — Yes. 2261. Do you keep ducks ? — Yes. 2262. Do they go on to this stream ? — No. 2263. How do you keep them out of it ? — Tlie dis- tance is too far for them to go. Avitncss ? — It is the same. 2256. Have you also to send far for good water? — Yes. The stream that we complain of we used to get washing water from, but now we cannot use it. 2257. Have you also to complain of the destruction of poultry ? — No, The witness withdrew. Mk. Charles Langspord, Miller, St. Dominic, examined. 2264. ( Mr. Morton.) Do you hold some land ? — Yes. 2265. Have you suffered from the condition of the i-ivor ? — Yes : it is in a very filthy poisonous state, and we are afraid to let the cattle drink the water. 2266. Has the mischief increased of late ? — It has in the last five or six years. 2267. We have heard of a sudden increase in the pollution of the water within the last summer ?— I believe all the trout have been lately killed there. 2268. Are you low down the stream ? — Yes ; just at the bottom, where it goes into the Tamar. 2269. Is there any land there Avhich has been in- j ured by lloodiug ? — At the bottom of my marsh when the tide comes up, it comes in. 2270. Do you know of any actual iTijury done to cattle froni either drinking the water or eatino- the grass which has been polluted by it ? — No, but I know that very large trouts have been killed there. 2271. You complain generally that the river is in a filthy condition ? — Yes, it is poisonous. 2272. Are the mill-ponds filled hy the sediment from the water ? — Some of them are ; we generally let them go free in the winter. 2273. Are you put to any expense in clearing out the miil-ponds ? — Not to any great extent ; we get salmon and eel come up some times, but they arc killed in a day or two. The witness withdrew. Adjourned to Aberystwith, 5th October, at 10 o'clock In the Council Chamber, Aberystwyth. (For Aberystwyth and District.) Saturday, October 5th, 1872. tresknt : Dr. Edavard Frankeand. Mr. John Chalmers Morton, F.R.S. Mr. S. J. Smith, F.G.S., Secretary. Mr. Morris Jones, M.R.C. 2274. {Dr. Franhlnnd.) You are a surgeon and have been [jraetising for sfweral years in AberystAvitli ? —Yes. 2275. How many years have you known Alieryst- with ? — I have known it for 25 years, and I have been in ))ractice since 1866. 2276. What is your opinion as to the sanitary con- dition of Aberystwith, especially as affected by water in any form, Avliether by sewage, or Avater supply ? — I think it is as favourable as it can be. With regard to the Avater supply that has been good for some years noAV, since tlicy established a pumping system, although it is not perfect. 2277. From Avhat source is the toAvn at present ^uplllicd Avith Avater ? — Partly from a reservoir above the town, and partly from a Avcll out on Glascrug Walk. 2278. What is the depth of that avcI! ?— I am told it is about 30 feet. 2279. Does the Avater from both of those sources mix in the reservoir, or is each su})plied separately ? — They mix in the reservoir. 2280. From whence does the reservoir receive an- otlier supply ? — From a Avatershed above the town, from a gathering ground on the hills. 2281. Is that land cultivated ?— Yes. 2282. Is maiuirc applied to it ? — Yes ; there are farms near to it. 2283. Do you knoAV Avhat kind of manure is applied to the land ? — Ciiiefiy farmyard nuuiure. 2284. Is any town manure carried to Ihc land? — There might be, but I am not aware of it ; not much 1 should think ; they are small farms. S., Aberystwith, examined. 2285. Do you think it would be Avell if the land was manured Aviththe town refuse ? — Not unless some process Avas applied to it. 2286. Is the Avater filtered before it is supplied from the reserA'oir ? — None of it. 2287. Is the supply to the town abundant ? — T believe so. I haA'e heard very little complaint of it this summer. I live at the liighest spot in the toAA^n, and receive the Avater every day except on Sundays. 2288. Do you consider that the supj^ly is at all times wholesome and such as should be supplied to a tOAvn like Aberystwith ? — Yes, I think it is on the Avliole, for drinking purposes. I do not mean that the supply is sufficient to cleanse the scAA'crs ; they have a constant supply on. 2289. Do you think it is desirable to IiaA'e Avater for those purposes ? — Yes ; a large quantity more. For drinking purposes there has been no deficiency. 2290. Do you consider that for drinking purposes the present Avater supply is perfectly Avholesome and good ? — I cannot say exactly Avith regard to the well water that it is perfectly Avholesome and good, but I think it is A'ery fair ; the other Avater Avhich is col- lected in the reservoir I think is good. 2291. The Avater obtained from the gathering ground is, in your opinion, better than the Avell Avater ? — Yes. 2292. What are the places surrounding the well ? — Tliere Avas a chalybeate Avell not far off from it years ago, and it is there uoav, although not used, and no doubt some of that enters into the well from Avhich Avaier is obtained. r; RIVEES POLLUTION COMMISSION :— ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 65 2293. You are afraid rather of mineral pollution than of organic poison ? — Yes. I do not think there is any danger of that. 2294. A small dash of chalybeate water would do no harm ? — No, but it would not be pleasant. 2295. Is there any iron deposit, such as oxide of iron, in the water after delivery ? — I have not noticed it yet in sufficient quantity for that ; this well water is freely diluted again by the water in the reservoir. 2296. Where is the well situated ? — It is j List by the railway station. 2297. Are there many inhabited houses near the well ? — It is just outside the town ; there are no houses beyond the well, but up to it. 2298. What is the character of the soil in which the well is sunk ? — A good deal of it is gravelly and a porous soil. 2299. How are the houses near the well drained ? — Into a main sewer, I believe. 2300. Are there any cesspools used about that spot ? — I should not be surprised that there are ; it is in a low part of the town ; there are sure to be, I think, connected with those cottages. 2301. Are any of those cesspools sufficiently near to the M'^ell to awaken your suspicions as to pollution fi"om such a source ? — I think not ; there is more danger from a culvert which carries some dirty water, which passes within a few yards of it, and some of that might percolate through the soil into it. 2302. It is not a desirable neighbourhood to have water from ? — No, I think it would better further out of the town. 2303. Is it contemplated to change ths source of supply ? — Yes, that is only a temporary one. 2304. Is it in contemplation to give an entirely new supply of Avater to the town ? — Yes. 2305. Is it your intention to depend upon the river Rheidol for a supply ? — Yes. 2306. Will the water be pumped ? — Yes. 2307. Do you consider it highly desirable that the town should be supplied with water that has never been mixed with excrementitious matters ? — Certainly, un- less it has been exposed and allowed to flow for a long distance before ; it afterwards comes to the town. 2308. Do you think that a flow for a long distance is sufficient to secure immunity from infection ? — I believe it would certainly improve the Vv'ater. 2309. I presume you mean by filtration through a certain thickness of porous stratum ? — Yes. 2310. As in the case of ochre, when you get water from a deep well ? — Yes. 2311. Do you consider that epidemic disease of any kind is communicated through the agency of water ? — Certainly. 2312. What kind of fever ?— Any of the fevers ; scarlet fever is much aggravated when you have a bad water supply. 2313. Enteric fever, typhoid fever, and scarlet fever ? — Yes. 2314. And dysentery ?— Yes, but we do not have much of that in this country. 2315. Have you ever had cholera in Aberystwith ; — Yes, a fiew cases some years ago. 2316. In what year ? — I think it was in 1866. 2317. Referring to the replies to queries sent t,o Aberystwith, I see that the death rate in 1871 is 23-2 ; that is rather a high rate, is it not, for a place like Aberystwith ? — Yes. 2318. I suppose that invalids come to this place ? — Yes, during the summer months. 2319. Is the death rate materially increased by that influx of strangers ? — Yes, in some summers it is ; that is, because the stranger population of the town is not reckoned ; sometimes we have 2,000 more inhabi- tants in the summer months than the regular po])u- lation, and that is not reckoned I suppose in tlie estimate made. 2320. What liave been the chief epidemics that have prevailed in Aberystwith ? — Except what you would call infantile diseases, scarlet fever and measles, for those are the chief epidemics, and occasionally we may have a few cases of enteric fever, we have not 30928. M.R.C.S. 5 Oct. 1872. Aberystwyth. had what might be called an epidemic since I have Mr. M. Jones been in the town. -- • ' 2321. The cases of typhoid fever have been sporadic — Yes. 2322. That is to say, tliey have not spread ? — Never, hardly. 2323. Are there any private wells used in the town or jiublic shallow wells ? — I think not at present inside the town, not one, 2324. Did the slight outbreak of cholera in 1866 arise from an imported case, or did it originate here ? — I could not trace it. I think I attended the first case in the low part of the town ; the person attacked had been resident here for many years ; that was about the first case that I became acquainted with. There was some reason to suspect that it had been imported, because it was confined chiefly to rag and bone gatherers ; more to them than to any others in the town. It was supposed that in collecting cast- off clothing and rags, the poison might have been conveyed to them in that way. 2325. Was there any direct evidence of that ? — No, we could not trace it. Many of that class of people tramp about the country ; they come into the town and stop at low lodging-houses, and sometimes leave some of their clothing behind. 2326. Were there any cholera cases among the washerwomen at that time ? — -I think there was one poor woman in High-street who went out as a washerwoman, but none of the washerwomen here would have anything to do with the clothing. I think it was chiefly burned directly afterwards. 2327. With regard to the sewerage of Aberystwith, are you satisfied with the way in which that is carried out ? — I think so ; it is tolerably well done, especially when what Mr. Arnold Taylor has suggested is carried out, but that has not yet been done. The town sewer, before it empties itself into the bed of the river, is very much exposed for some yards, and I think that if that was covered in and carried into the harbour, it would be safer. 2328. Does the sewage at present enter the river below the bridge ? — Yes. 2329. At what distance is that from the sea ? — 200 or 300 yards ; the tide comes up twice a day. 2330. Do the contents go into a tidal part of the river ? — Yes, and sometimes flow up the river with the tide. 2331. Is there a nuisance in the immediate neigh- bourhood of the outfall ? — Occasionally there is, during warm sumrder days. I have heard the people com- plain in going over the bridge of the bad smells arising from it. 2332. Are there any cottages above there with wells ?■ — Yes. 2333. Do the people there complain of any nuisance from pollution ? — I remember now one case which occurred during the cholera time ; there was a woman there who had been washing her linen and clothes at the outlet of this sewer, and she was taken ill and died within 24 hours. She lived near the outfall of the sewer. 2334. Can you remember any other case of illness occurring in the neighbourhood of the sewer that you would attribute to that foul water ? — No, I re- member none. 2335. No cases of typhoid fever ? — No ; I think the town is nearly as free as any other, in the low parts of the town. 2336. I suppose nobody drinks the river water ? Certainly not ; even the vessels are not supplied with water from the river as they used to be years ao-o ; they have it from the main pipes. 2337. Is it within your knowledge that any injury either to man or beast has iirisen from the use of the river water in any way ?— I know that from people about the country ; they have complained of it, and when I lived in tlie country I know that thcv dare not allow young horses to graze on the meadows anywhere adjoining the river. 2338. Do you know of any cases of death arising to horses ? — Not of one dying ; but I know they were seriously injured and lessened in value. 66 BIVEES POLLUTION COMMISSION : — OEAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. M. Jones, 2339. Is the injury done permanent after imbibing M.B.C.S. ig^jj poison ? — I believe it is. QcrT872 2340. Were the symptoms such as you would expect ; ■ to arise from lead poisoning ? — No ; it affected their Aberystwyth, breathing more than anything else ; but with .regard to ducks and geese, if they go down on the banks of river they get paralysis, and cannot walk. 2341. Then ducks and geese cannot be successfully kept on the banks of this stream ? — Not safely. I refer to both rivers, but the Ystwith I know most of. 2342. Are fowls aiFected if they drink the water ? — Certainly ; supposing, for example, that some of the sand of the banks of the river is mixed with mortar, if the fowls peck it, they swallow small grains of lead or mineral, and that destroys them. 2343. I presume that that effect would continue for a great many years after the mines were shut up ? — Every flood that comes down must turn up the deposit that has been there for the last 20 years. 2344. Are you a fisherman ? — It is of no use in this part of the country ; there are no fish to catch. 2345. Are you at all aware from personal observa- tion whether a river that has been poisoned from mine refuse has recovered itself aftei- the mine has ceased to be worked ? — I have heard of that. 2346. Are the sewers in Aberystwith well venti- lated ? — I think very fairly ; but as I said just now, in order to keep the sewers clean and efficient, the people must have a more abundant supply of water. 2347. Do the sewer gases in any case gain access to the interiors of dwellings ? — I cannot say about the interiors of dwellings, but they escape at the ends of the streets through the gully-holes very frequently. 2348. I suppose the slop stones in cottages are con- nected with the sewers ? — Yes, as a rule. 2349. Are they efficiently trapped ? — Not always ; very far from it. 2350. Have you had any cases of fever or other diseases that you could attribute to defective traps or sewer gases ? — I think I have known of one during the last few months in the town where scarlet fever broke out. I think every child in the house died ; four at least died in two families. 2351. Where do you suppose the offensive gases came from ? — From a trap at the back of the house. 2352. Not in the' house ? — It was just by the door. 2353. In your opinion that was caused by sewer gases ? — I think that, being so fatal, it must have been so ; there was scarlet fever in two cases in adjoin- ing cottages, with the exception that it was of a very mild type. 2354. But in a particular cottage it was in a very malignant form ? — Yes. 2355. Do you consider that the malignity of a disease like scarlatina depends upon the intensity of fhe poison ? — Yes. 2356. And those living near to a sewer opening would be more likely to be attacked by the more fatal form of the disease than those living at a distance ? —Yes. 2357. In that part of the town I suppose the in- habitants do not use waterclosets ? — Not at those cot- tages, but they do in other cases. 2358. In the cottages do they use privies ? — I cannot be certain of that. 2359. At all event the chamber slops and so on would be thrown down the gully-hole ? — Yes, or out into the street. 2360. You are speaking of a part of the town where new sewerage has not been carried out ? — Yes. 236 1 . Do you consider that those parts of the town where new sewerage has been carried out are in a perfect and satisfactory condition ? — Yes, I think so. 2362. Are the sewers in your opinion sufficiently ventilated ? — Yes. 2363. I behove you object to ventilation through gully -holes in the streets? — It is not pleasant when they come close to a man's private door ; they are generally here close to the footway. 2364. How would you propose to obviate that ? — I cannot give you any idea as to that. The witnei 2365. Do you find cases of typhoid fever sometimes occurring in the higher parts of the town especially ? — The higher parts of the town are just those that are not drained ; they drain themselves ; the sewage from those houses never enters the public sewers. 2366. I suppose as the outlet of the sewer is in a tidal river, when the tide rises the outfall is covered with water ? — Not always, unless the tides are rather high. 2367. When the outlet is covered with water, and the tide is still rising, do you perceive an escape of sewer gases from the gully-holes ? — No, not then. It is only, I think, sometimes when the wind blows in a cer- tain direction you will find it much more prevalent then. 2368. I suppose the water has the effect of ex- pelling the gases somewhere ? — Yes, there are flood gates that prevent the tide coming in, which prevents the sewage from running down. 2369. Is it or not your opinion that when a sewer opens in a tide-way, special care ought to be taken of the ventilation of the sewer ? — I think so. 2370. The opening is blocked up during that time, is it not ? — Yes. 2371. And all the water at that time that goes into the sewer must expel its own volume of sewer gas ? Certainly. 2372. Therefore, it is very desirable to have a com- plete system of ventilation in such sewers ? — Yes. 2372. You are not aware, are you, of any cases of fever or disease arising from any imperfection of that kind in the sewers of Abeiystwith ? — No. 2374. (Mr. Morto7i.) You have spoken about the injury done to stock from drinking the water of a mine polluted river ; is your knowledge derived from conversation with others, or can you specify actual cases ? — When I was a boy living on a farm in the country, I know that young horses if they happened by some accident to break through the gate to graze on the meadoAvs, if not looked after, would have some affection of their windpipe, it made them what is called roarers. 2375. Have the rivers increased in pollution since that time ? — Yes. 2376. Do you know of any cases of recent injury being done of that kind ? — No, because I have not been hving in the country^ but I hear the farmers complaining continually. 2377. Do you know of any injury having been done to the health of riparian owners ? — No, not from the condition of the river. 2378. Do you know of any injury having been done to cottagers on the riverside from increased flooding owing to the clogged condition of the river channel ? — There have been cases where perhaps water has got into the cottages, but I think only in veiy heavy floods ; when those cottages were built the water might have gone in. I have heard no complaints of that kind. 2379. Referring to the gathering ground from which the water supply of Aberystwith is obtained, is that an upland gathering ground — Yes. 2380. You spoke, I think, of some of it being cul- tivated ; is any large portion of it cultivated ? — No, it is chiefly pasture land. 2381. Is some of it ploughed land ? — Yes. 2382. Is that subject to ordinary farming, or garden farming ? — Ordinary farming. 2383. Do you know whether any of the tenants bring manure from Aberystwith to that land ? — I have no doubt of it, because it is so close to the town. 2384. With regard to the well from which a portion of the supply is obtained, is that in a district of the town which has been recently sewered i* — ^No. 2385. How is the drainage of that district carried out now ; is the outfall from a new sewer ? — No ; it is from an old culvert outside the town. The water would have been all right, only the cottagers threw their slops into the stream. withdrew. RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. (57 Mr. David Evans, Aberystwith, examined. 2386. {Mr. Morton.) You are inspector of nuisances in this town ? — Yes. 2387. Is it your duty to direct the scavenging of the town ? — No ; the surveyor does that. 2388. Can you give us any information as to the number of privies in the town ? — Yes; there are about 600. 2389. Are they being converted into waterclosets, or are the privies increasing in number ? — They are decreasing by the substitution of waterclosets. 2390. Do tlie cesspools drain into the sewers of the town ? — Yes. 2391. Can you state at wliat intervals the cesspools are cleared out? — I should say most of them every 12 months, others in the course of about two years. 2392. What is the ordinary size of a cesspool ?-— About six feet deep. 2393. How many cartloads of stuff would be taken out ? — Generally three or four. 2394. Are these cesspools built in porous soil ? — Some of them. 2395. Have you to take out the water when they are cleaned, or are they dry ? — Many of them are very wet. 2396. Are there any shallow wells in the town, the water of which is still used ? — No, only one. There is one spring at the other end of the town. 2397. Is that one near to any of these privies ? — No. 2398. What becomes of the stuff removed from the privies ?— It is used for manuring, and carried to the town depot. 2399. What quantity of that is sold in a year ? — I do not know. 2400. Do you know where it is taken ? — It is carried into the country to the diffei'ent farms. 2401. To what extent is the town at present sewered by new sewerage works ? — Two-thirds of it, or more. 2402. In the case of the rest of the town is the drainage dependent upon the old square buill drain? —Yes. 2403. Do those receive the overflow from the privies as well as the drainage from the waterclosets ? — Some of them, but very few of them. 2404. Are those old drains connected with the new sewers ? — Yes, in some parts. 2405. Do they deliver their contents directly into the river ? — Yes. 2406. By how many openings does the drainage of the town reach the river ? — By four. 2407. Do they all deliver their contents below high- water mark ? — Yes. 2408. Are the mouths of the sewers covered by high water ? — Only when the tide is high. 2409. Is any complaint made by the inhabitants of Aberystwith as to the condition of the river owing to mineral matters being brought down ? — There is com- plaint made about losing the use of the water for domestic purposes, and also about the loss of fish. 2410. Not from any deposit of sediment clogging the channel ? — No. 2411. {Dr. Frankland.) Where is the spring that you mentioned in the town situated ? — On the south side of the town. 2412. Do many people use it? — A great numbei-, the occupiers of about 20 houses. 2413. Is that a spring which issues there from the earth, or is it brought iu a culvert for some distance ? — It issues from the earth. 2414. Is there no weU sunk ? — Yes, there is a well made in a wall there. 2415. {Mr. Morton.) What do you mean by a well ? — A little place cut out at the moutli of the spring to store the water in. Mr. D, Evant. 5 Oct. 1872. Aberystwyth. The witness withdrew. Colonel Edward Lewis Prtse, Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire, Pethyll, examined. 2416. {Dr. Frankland.) I believe you wish to make some statement to the Commission ? — Yes ; but, first, I wish to hand in a memorial dated April 1871 and October 1872, signed by about 300 inhabitants of Aberystwith and the neighbourhood {handing in the same; it will be found printed at the end of the evidence of the witness). I am desirous that the facts contained in that memorial may be represented to the Home Secretary. The evidence contained in the blue book, which I hold in my hand, was taken in 1861 by the Salmon Fisheries Commissioners, on which occa- sion I gave certain evidence as to the pollution of the river by mines, which the Commissioners will find on page 171, Question 6062, and one particular portion of it with reference to the memorial I should wish to correct. I was asked a question, whether, when a river was once destroyed by pollution, fish would live in it again, and I stated that I did not think they Avould, because I had had an instance before my eyes to the contrary at my own door in a small stream, the Plith. That occurred a year before the whole of the fish were entirely destroyed by mine refuse. I have frequently tried to restore the fish, but they have not lived. But during the last five or six years I have found that fish do live perfectly well in it as well as in any pure stream in the country ; there is a case of a river having recovered itself perfectly, but it is very small. 2417. In how many years did that take place ? — In about 15 or 20 years. This is a very small twist- ing stream with no volume of water in it, so that I conclude that the sediment there would remain for a great many more years than in a larger river with large floods passing through it. 2418. Is there anything peculiar about this stream to lead you to think that it Avould recover itself sooner than other streams ? — No, on the contrary, as it is a very small stream of water, and instead of ruuniug in a straight course, it runs in a very circuitous one, with no free flow of water through it as there is in Col. large streams. I referred just now to the Darau mine. E.L. Piyse. 2419. Is that a lead mine? — Entirely, with a little . copper ; a silver lead mine. 2420. Is this a stream which usually runs clear even in flood times ? — Yes, it clears off very quickly ; there is no clay in it ; the washings very much dis- colour it, but in half a day it gets clear again. 2421. No considerable quantity of mud is brought down by the floods ? — No, there is gravel, but^no great quantity of mud ; there is no clay in it. 2422. Do you know whether the bed of the stream, as it existed while mining operations were going on, has been covered up by subsequent deposits on the top of the mining refuse ? — No, there were large heaps of refuse left after the old workings of the mine had ceased, and occasionally heavy storms will brino- a portion of that down, and for some years it did so. But I think now that that has very much ceased, and I daresay that the washings of the stream have kept up the poisoning process in that stream longer than it would have gone on, if all the debris had been carried away from the source of it. 2423. There is nothing peculiar iu the stream to lead you to expect that it would be sooner rid of this poisonous material than in other streams ? No, ou the contrary, because it is circuitous, and not a clear wash. 2424. Is it a considerable stream ? — No a very small stream. 2425. Trout, I suppose, live in it now ? — Yes, it is full of trout ; at the same time I may say, althou"-h I do not know the cause, that 1 cannot keep ducks ; but I believe the cause of it is tiiat the ducks are always burrowing down into the gravel, and that they must get something that is deleterious, at all events they do not live. 2426. When was the last occasion on which you had any ducks killed?— Two years ago. With regard I 2 68 TITVERS POIXUTION COMMISSION : ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. to my own evidence as to the inininf:^ ])ollntion of tlie rivers in tlie (lislrict, 1 lifive notliing to add to what 5 Oct. 1872. you will find in the blue book already referred to. 2427. {l^Ir. Morton.) Is there any information j,n Aberystwyth, that book regardin\ Frank/and.) You are acquainted, 1 su])pose, with the mode in which the water is supplied to houses in Aberystwith ? — Yes. 2456. Are cisterns generally in use in those houses ? — In most of them. 2457. Is the supply intermittent now ? — Yes. 2458. It is only on for about an hour in the 24 ? — About two hours. 2459. That of course is entirely insufficient ? — Yes. 2460. What you want is a constant supply ? — Yes, a regular supply. 2461 . Do you contemplate giving eventually a con- stant supply by the new works ? — Yes. 2462. Have you already obtained an Act for new waterworks ? — Yes. 2463. Shall you then entirely abandon the present sources ? — I believe so. 2464. Shall you then draw water from the river Rheidol ? — Not exactly ; we are sinking a well on the flats. 2465. Shall you get it by natural filtration from the river ? — Yes. The witnes yor, Aberystwith, examined. 2466. Are any of the waterclosets in Aberystwith connected directly with the mains of the waterworks ? — Not all of them ; only those in half of the town. 2467. Are the waterclosets supplied from cisterns in the houses, or are they supplied directly from the mains ? — All of them are supplied from cisterns. 2468. Is there no case in which a Avatercloset is connected with a street main, or is there always a ball- cock and cistern intervening between the main and the watercloset ? — Yes. 2469. Do you know anything about the ventilation of the sewers?— I do not think we have much. 2470. Are you quite correct in saying that you will entirely abandon the present water supply when the new works are carried out ? — No. 2471. Shall you use the present supply then mixed with the new one ? — I suppose so. I suppose there will be a large reservoir made. 2472. In that large reservoir will you receive the present supply from the small reservoir that you use now ? — Yes. 2473. Is that an essential part of your scheme ? — I believe it is. 2474. Could you not do without the present supply? — I think not. withdrew. Mr. James W. Slumper, Surveyor, Aberystwith, examined. ]ifj._ 2475. {Dr. Franhland.) Are you surveyor to the W. s/umpcr. new waterworks ? — Yes ; that is to say, I am not regularly appointed surveyor. I am engineer of the new works which are to be erected in this town, for which an Act was obtained in the last session of Parliament. 2476. Will you describe to us the position and the nature of the new works proposed to be carrred out ? ■ — Our system will consist of a deep underground well on the flats about half a mile out of the town. The flats just outside the town consist of a large natural underground reservoir full of springs, and those springs are to be collected into one receiving reservoir, anil the water is then to be pumped up into a new service I'eservoir, at a higher level than the existing service reservoir, and from there be distributed throughout the town. 2477. Where, in your opinion, docs this water come from ? — From natural springs. 2478. Does the water get into the the gravelly soil from the river? — I sliould think it comes principally from the surrounding hills, forming underground springs. 2479. You think it sinks into the surface of the surrounding hills and comes down into this gravelly stratum ? — Yes ; I can.not say whether any part of the river filters through or not. 2480. How far is the well you are sinking fi-om the river ? — Not a quarter of a mile. 2481. Have you had the water from the well ana- lysed ? — The w.ater has been analysed from all the existing Avells on those Llanbudarn flats. You will have a sample of the water. Midway well is another name to another of the wells. 2482. Could you not by a little extra labom* at the same ])lace dispense with your jireseut supplv for domestic purposes ? — Part of the plan is to dispense with the existing supply altogether. There is quite a sufficient snpidy of water there to dispense with the existing services altogether. It is only a question for tlie authorities to consider. It is in the summer time that the new supply is more jjarticularly wanted, and RIVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 71 as there will be an ample quantity then, there must be ample in the winter. I do not know whether it is the intention of the authorities in the winter not to use the new supply to save the expense of the pump, and go back to the old supply, or not. 2483. Seeing that the quality of the water is first rate, and that it is entirely free from all sewage animal pollution, and that the water in the existing reservoir exhibits considerable evidence of animal pollution, is it not very desirable to do away with that source of supply, if possible ? — Under those circumstances no doubt it is. 2484. Could you utilise the old supply for watering the streets and flushing the sewers ? — Yes ; that might be done. 2485. Do you contemplate a constant supply to the town ? — Yes. 2486. Is it not desirable to draw the water direct from the main ? — Yes ; there is sufficient for that purpose, but it always leads to great waste. 2487. Shall you pump up the water ? — Yes, to about 150 feet. 2488. {Mr. Morton.) Is it part of your plan to re- tain the water supply from the gathering ground 7 — No. 2489. Will the new water supply be abundant ? — It is quite possible to make it abundant, but whether the authorities will do so I cannot say. 2490. AVill the supply from the gathering ground run into the same reservoir as the one you will pump into from the new source ? — It may or may not. Mr. ./. W. Slumper. 5 Oct. 1872. Aberystwyth. The witness withdrew. Mr. David Morgan, LlangviTiyfon, examined. 2491. (Mr. Morton.) On what stream is your farm situated ? — The Ystwith. 2492. Is it close by the river ? — Yes. 2493. Can you give us any information as to the number of horses you have lost ? — Yes. 2494. From the statement you have handed in, it appears that you have had many losses during this year ?—Yes. 2495. — Do you attribute the deaths in every one of those instances to the same cause ? — Yes. 2496. Have you had the animals you have lost examined in every instance by a veterinary surgeon ? — Yes. 2497. Can you give us the name of the veterinary surgeon ? — Yes, in every case. 2498. In the year 1869 it appears that you lost two mares, one valued at 30^., and the other at 15/. Who examined the animals after death in that case ? — Mr. Jenkins, living near Tregaron. 2499. Did any of those animals suffer from paralysis ? — Yes ; they lost the power of their limbs. 2500. Was that the way in which the disease first showed itself ? — Yes. 2501. In what other way were those animals affected ? — They got quite thin. 2502. Had they inflammation of the stomach ? — Yes. 2503. Did they lose the power of motion ? — Yes ; and they lost their breath. 2504. Were the horses palsied ? — Yes ; it was like poisoning. 2505. But were they palsied ? — Some of them were. 2506. I see that you suffered a loss which you value at 148Z. during the past 23 years? — Yes; between October 1849 and June 1869 I lost seven horses, one pony, and two colts of that value. 2507. And this was over a farm of 98 acres ? — Yes. 2508. With regard to the riverside land Avhich has been spoiled by the river, how many acres have been flooded ? — About 18. 2509. Is that arable land ? — Yes, and very good. 2510. Does the water wash away the soil, or does it bring down sediment ? — No, it burns it up ; nothing can grow there. 2511. Do the young plants die ? — Yes; every one. 2512. Is there any sediment or mud upon the ploughed land ? — Yes ; it stays there. 2513. What extent of the laud is mudded up by floods ? — About three acres ; nothing grows. 2514. (Dr. Franhland.) Have you noticed that fields that have been flooded in this way and spoiled, recover themselves after a time, if no flood comes upon them ? — No. 2515. Has not such a thing occurred, where a field, owing to an exceptionally high flood, has at one time received the deposit and then not received any more for a length of time afterwards ? — Yes ; it will recover itself by being cultivated ; and the water prevented from re-flowing over it. By that treatment it would recover. 2516. In how many years have you fomid it re- cover ? — In a year or two under proper treatment. 2517. What kind of treatment do you refer to ? — By giving it more lime than I otherwise should. 2518. {Mr. Morton.) How many horses do you work on this farm ? — Four. 2519. Are the losses described in this paper, the whole of the losses you have suffered during the time mentioned ? — Yes ; I might add fowls. 2520. Are all the losses of horses put dowu by you in the statement you have handed in ? — Yes. 2521. Do you consider that the damage has been done by mine water ? — Yes. 2522. Do you attribute in every case the disease of which the horses died to bad water 'i — Yes ; altogether so. 2523. Have not your neighbours Hving below you further from the river lost horses dm-iug that time from other causes ? — No ; those who live further from the river have not suff'ered any losses of a similar kind from the mine. 2524. {Dr. Franhland.) Have you lost any horses whose death you would not attribute to mine watei; ? — Not to my knowledge. 2525. {Mr. Morton.) Do you keep cows and cattle ? — Yes. 2526. Do they suffer in the same way ? — No ; they do not die. A black cow becomes a grey cow. Mr. D. Morgan. The witness withdrew. Mk. John Jones, Tandinas, examined. 2527. {Mr. Morton.) Is your farm also upon the Ystwith ?— Yes. 2528. Do you occupy the farm of Tanycastell ? — Not at present. I did. 2529. Are you still a tenant of lands upon the river ? — Yes. 2530. What is the name of your present farm ? — Tandinas. 2531. Have you had experience of the effect of the river water ? — Yes. 2532. Have you been injured by it ? — Yes, I Avas injured. I have seen horses destroyed by it, and ground too. I have lost cows through it. 2533. How many horses have you lost during your tenancy ? — I cannot tell, but I have seen four young horses die in one year, 2534. Do you attribute that loss simply to their eating mudded grass ? — I believe so. Mr. .J. .J 01 I 4 72 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION ; — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. J. Jones. 5 Oct. 1872. Aberystwyth. Mr. H. Hughes. 2535. Were they drinking the water ? — Yes ; I do not believe it did affect them, because the poison was not strong enough. 2536. What is the extent of your farm? — Aljout 140 acres. 2537. What number of horses do you keep ? — I generally keep about five or six. 2538. What other stock ? — Cattle and cows. 2539. Have you lost any cows ? — No. 2540. Have the cattle lost condition ? — Yes, espe- cially in the milch cows. They do not give the quantity or the same quality of milk. 2541. Are you put to any expense in providing them with pure water, as you cannot resort to the river water ? — No. 2542. l)o you give them access to the river water notwithstanding your dread of it ? — I do not believe that I have let them. The grazing hurt them, not the drinking of the water. 2543. What cost have you or your landlord been put to, to hinder the river from getting on to your land ? — It cost me on one field 88/., for about 14 acres, for lime alone. 2544. In the ordinary cultivation of the land, what expense would you have incurred for lime ? — Perhaps 30/. 2545. Have you found it necessary to put on a double quantity of lime to bring the land into its natural condition for cultivation ? — Yes, and more. 2546. What is an ordinary dressing of lime in this country ? — Generally about three tons. 2547. How often does that come round ; once in 20 years ? — That depends upon the tenant. Some will do it once in four or five years. 2548. Is it the practice to lime every five or six years ? — With some. Others do it every seven years. 2549. On riverside land how much is put on ? — I put on to the field of which I spoke nearly ten tons an acre. 2550. Did you find that necessary from the con- dition into which the land had been brought by the mine water ? — Yes, before I sowed oats, and they did not ripen the whole year. After that I sowed wheat, and had a very good crop. It has been grazed ever since : 15 years. The witness 2551. Was the oat land fiooded in the year you referred to ? — No ; a large flood 20 years ago damaged the land. 2552. Was the oat crop sown upon land you were bringing into cultivation again, after it had been spoiled ? — Yes ; we used to graze it before the flood came and spoiled it, and kept milch cows upon it. I used to keep about 12, but after that it would not keep four cows, and they gave hardly any milk, and the butter was quite white. We could not sell it iu the town. 2553. On Avhose property was this land ? — Colonel Powell's. 2554. Are you able to keep poultry and ducks, and geese ? — I have not been able to do so since that flood, for two or three years. 2555. (Dr. Frurikland.) Did you say that the land Avhich was damaged 20 years ago was still damaged, and, from the same cause, is still in bad condition ? ' No ; it gives a very good crop now. 2556. Have you had any experience of the length of time necessary for land to recover from the .sill ? — I had a very good crop of Avheat the following year, but I turned horses on there in two years afterwards, and it was in that year that I lo.st four. It Avas the second year that we sowed wheat there, and the year after some oats and some rye grass. I put it down in seed afterwards in the third year, then the horses were killed. 2557. It is not your experience that horses are killed immediately after a flood ? — They are, but we never let them go then. 2558. Did the case you have spoken of occur long after a flood had taken place ? — Yes. 2559. Had no flood come over that land for four 3'ears ? — No. 2560. Still the horses were killed ? — Yes, we had a very good crop of corn there too. 2561. Under these circumstances, how do you sup- I^ose that the horses got the poison into their stomachs. Did they pull the grass up by the roots ? — Yes. 2562. They would, of course, pull some of the soil up with the roots ? — Yes. 2563. {Mr. 3Iorton.) Is the farm you now occupy near the river ? — Yes, close to it. 2564. Have you had any losses since you have been tenant of that farm ? — Not in cattle. I lost two crops of corn. withdrew. Mr. Hugh Hughes, Pontllanycahiavu, examined. 2565. {Mr. Morton.) Do you hold land on the river side ? — Yes. I am well acquainted with the river, and have been since I was a child. 2566. Have you known any injury done to laud by the Avater from the river flowing over it ? — Yes. 2567. Have you known injury done to cattle as Avell as to land ? — Yes. 2568. HoAV many acres have you knoAvn to be injured on your farm? — About 16 acres. 2569. Was the crop spoiled ? — Yes, altogether. 2570. Did this occur year after year ? — Yes. 2571. Did you not give up sowing that laud under these circumstances ? — Yes. 2572. Did you succeed in bringing that land into cultivation again ? — Never. 2573. Is the land now destroyed? — Yes. 2574. Has no attempt been made to recover it ? — No ; if the Avater was drained off it could be again cultiA'ated. 2575. What is the acreage of it ? — About 16 acres. 2576. What is the value of that laud per acre ? — The value of it Avas about 1/. an acre, but the landlord reduced the rent ; it Avas 16/., and he reduced it to 6/. on account of the land having been diminished in value. 2577. Do you knoAV any instances of injury having been done to cattle by drinking the river Avater ? — Yes, but it does me no damage in horses, because I keep them from that Avater. The coaa's are like the Scotch breed, the black breed, they drink it Avithout being hurt. 2578. Have you knoAv any instances of injury being done to sheep from eating grass that has been dirtied by the riA-er water ? — No. The Avitness withdrew. Mr. E. T^vana. Mr. Evan Evans, 2579. {Mr. Morion.) It appears from a Avritten statement handed in, that you occupy some land, and that you have lost cattle? — Yes. 2580. HoAv long ago was that ? — About 30 years ago. 2581. Do you knoAV of any injury having been done lately to cattle ? — Yes, since I have been at Glascrug. 2582. IIoAV many years ago Avas it ? — Four years. 2583. Within the last four yenis have you lost any cjiitle ? — No, but tiiey could not feed the same as they used to feed. Glascrug, examined. 2584. What extent of land do you occupy that is liable to be flooded by the liver ? — There are many acres under the river ; the river Avas running through part of the land that I had. 2585. Over what extent of the land did the water of the riA-er come in flood times ? — There is a breadth of land altogether in the bottom from 45 to 50 acres. 2586. Forty-five acres of land haAC been flooded bv i-iver Avater Avithin your knowledge — Yes. ' 2587. What rent do you pay for those 45 acres ? — From 105. to 15*, an acre according to the farm RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 73 altogether. I cannot say exactly ; the best land is -The 2588. Is the best land not by the river side ? best land is in a hilly place. The witness withdrew 2589. Is the land by the river side poor because it Mr. E. Evans. is occasionally flooded by the river ? — It is the beat land I have got if the river did not spoil it. 5 Oct. 1872. Aberystwyth. Mr. Nicholas Theophilus, 2590. {Mr. Morton.) Does your farm lie on the river side ? — I used to live there. 2591. What is the name of the river ? — The Ystwith. 2592. How far are you below a mine ? — Nine or ten miles. 2593. Do the floods injure your land ? — They do. 2594. Are you speaking now of the farm which which you at present occupy, or of the one upon which you were brought up ? — I speaii of the farm which I occupied. 2595. How much land was injured there by the river? — It contains about 40 acres statute measure. The river went in a very circuitous way through the land. 2596. Was it grass land ? — Grass and arable land. 2597. Did you sustain any loss of cattle ? — It was solely on that account because they had not depastured it. 2598. Do you now occupy land that is injured by the river ? — No ; I am not near the river now, 2599. Do you lose cattle now ? — At times. The witness Penlan, Llanilar, examined. 2600. Do you think that the cattle had a worse time of it on the former farm than they have now ? — Yes, by far ; they were put on the land in a healthy state, and they died there. 2601. Has the land that was injured been restored to its former condition ? — It is left in the state in which it was spoiled. A meadow that used to keep nine cows formerly, at the time when I left it would not keep one sheep, owing to the injury done by the water. 2602. Has the mischief increased there within the last few years, or is it just as it was ? — Some parts of Pant Mow have been improved by carrying soil and lime to it. I remember gi'owing corn on parts of it, and the corn was so heavy that we could hardly lay it down in swaiths. Before I left it I got next to nothing on the same land. In one part of it, we sowed half a quarter in, and we got 13 quarters of produce. 2603. Can you tell us what extent of land has been recovered, and at what cost ? — A great deal of expense has been incurred, and part of it is better now. withdrew. Mr. 'I'heopfdlus Mr. David Jones, Aberceiro, examined. 2604. {3Ir. Morton.) I believe you have been tenant of two farms within the last few years ? — Yes. 2605. Are they both on the same river ? — No. 2606. One was on the Clarach river ; where was the other ? — On a small stream. The one I was injured upon was the Clarach river. 2607. How far were you below the old Daran mine ? — Seven or eight miles. 2608. Is that the only mine on the river ? — No. 2609. How far are you below the lowest mine on the river ? — Perhaps four or five miles. 2610. What is the nature of the injury that has been done you by the river ? — I have had some horses killed, and cows, and some cattle. 2611. What extent of land do you occupy ? — About 100 acres. 2612. How many horses do you keep to work ? — About four. 2613. Do you breed horses ? — Yes. 2614. Were these foui- horses killed in one year ? — No, I lost two colts there in the same year, two years old. 2615. Have you suffered no loss since you have gone on to your new farm ? — No. 2616. Have you lost other cattle besides horses ? — Yes. 2617. And cows ? — Yes, three cows, and I think two bullocks. 2618. Do you attribute the death of those cattle to their eating dirty grass ? — I do. 2619. Is the mischief done still as great as ever ? — I think it is. 2620. Have there been any losses, within your knowledge, of late years ? — I think there have been some losses since I left. The witness 2621. Do you know whether any arable land has ^^^>'- ^- Jones. been spoiled by the river water ? — No, not at Llanmawr. 2622. Is any of the ground covered by mud from flood water ? — Yes, there is sometimes. 2623. Is that merely dirtying the grass, or actually covering the ground with a layer of sediment ? — It is not much covering the ground. 2624. Are all the farms on the river side liable to the same sort of injury, or was your farm more exposed than the others ? — I was the lowest of all. 2625. Did your neighbours above you suffer in the same way ? — Yes. 2626. {Dr. Frankland.) Did these losses occur im- mediately after the floods ? — Yes, in the case of the cows they did. 2627. Was it not also the case with the horses ? — No. I think the horses were injured by grazing along the river side, and pulling the grass up by the roots. 2628. Is a horse more in the habit of taking up the roots of grass than a cow ? — I cannot say that. I think it was the case with the horses. 2629. Your experience has been that the poisoning of cows and bullocks occurred immediately after floods ? — Yes, after a heavy flood. 2630. They did not suffer from grazing on the land, some time after the flood had occurred ? — No. 2631. Do you think they can be effected for a con- siderable length of time after such a flood ? — Yea, I think they can. 2632. What length of time after a flood did you lose those colts ? — I cannot say ; it was in the begin- ning of May. There was a heavy tide that backed up the river, and after it went back again this grass that did the mischief sprung up. withdrew. Mb. James Morgan, Euel, near Aberystwith, examined. 2633. {Dr. Frankland.) You live, I believe, on the banks of a small stream at Ruel ? — Yes. 2634. How long have known it? — Twenty -eight years. 2635. When you first knew it were there many fish in it ? — No ; tliere was mine water in it when I first knew it ; there were no fish in it. ■30928. 2636. For how long after that were the mines worked ? — Until within eight or ten years, until the time they stopped. 2637. Were there no fish in the river up to tlie time the mines stopped ? — None. 2638. Have there been fish in the river since ? — Yes, and there are fish now in it. K Mr. J. Morgan 74 ^I^mS POLLUTION CO»J]VIISSlDjr :— 0»AL EVIDENCE— PART III. Mr, J Morgan. 5 Oct. 1872. Aberystwyth, 2639, How loRg after the stoppage of the mines did the fish com.e Iback into the river ? — Perhaps a year or two. 2640. Is the river well stocked with fish now ? — Yes. 2641. Are they trout ? — Yes. 2642, Do you know of any damage being done to poultry ? — No ; we live too far from the brook to have the fowls injured by the stream. 2643, Have you bad any land damaged by this stream ? — Yes, in floods ; part of our lands has beep inundated by water. There is a milldam at the bottoju of our fields where the water is turned for the use of the mill ; and it used to be damme4 througj^ the brook over our lands. 2644, Were the lauds injured by the sediipept left upon them ? — Nothing would grow upon the land for some years, until we covered it with fresh soil. 2645. How many acres were covered with the sediment ? — An acre, or half an acre, 2646. What steps did you pake to remedy this damage ? — To protect the land fropj the stream, yfe carried soil to qover the damaged part. The witness k647. Was any lime supplied ? — Not jnor.e than op any other part. 2648. Have you lost any cattle ? — None. 2649. Did your cattle graze upon any part of this land that was flooded ? — They did not go on to that part; the land was barren, and the herbage was destroyed by the inundation. 2650. Was t^e sediment so thick as to cover up the grass ? — No ; there was; not much thickness of sediment. 2651. Was any damage done to the cattle drinking this water ? — There was abundance of water oyer another part. I did not see them drink this water. 2652. {Mr. Morton.) What was the date of the injury you have spoken of? — Fifteen or 20 years ago. ' 2653. Does any injury arise from floods now, when the water is not polluted by mines ? — No ; we sufier none now, because there is po mine water. The wp.ter j^pmetimes breaks oyer, but we suffer no injury. withdrew. Mr. It. Edwards. Mr. Richakd Edwards, Aberystwith, examined. 2654. {Dr Frmikland.) Cap you ppeak to the con- dition of the rivers in the neighborhood ? — Yes. 2655. Do you occupy land on any river ? — Not now. I did. 2656. Was there good fishing in the river Rheidol, and Clarach, within your knowledge ? — Plenty. 2657. How long ago was that ?^ About 40 years ago. 2658. Were there stream then? — None. any mines at the head of this 2659. The mines began to work, and the fish dis- appeared ? — Yes, You could not get a fish for 100 sovereigns. 2660. Are you sure as to the time of which you speak ? — Yes, The witness withdrew. Mr. William Ovten, Cwmbwa Mill, examined. Mr. W. Owm. 2661. {Mr. Morton.) Ai-e you occupier of land on the river side ? — Very little. 2662. Are you a fisherman ? — No ; no fish come. 2663. Used you to fish in the river ? — I never get a fish now. We used to see the fish coming up in the river many years ago, I speak of the river that comes down from the mines. 2664. Which river is that ? — The river Clarach. 2665. How long is it since you knew the Clarach as a fishing stream ? — In about 1836 or 1837. 2666. Were there plenty of fish in the river 36 years ago ? — Not plenty ; there were some fish in it then- 2667. What was the cause of the disappearance of the fish after that? — There are many mine works. Six are working on a small stream, and the fish cannot live. It is so muddy that nothing can live there. 2668. Did the mining refuse kill the fish ? — Yes ; no cattle can live if they drink the water. 2669. Have you kept poultry on the river side ?— I cannot breed any. 2670. Used you to do so 30 years ago ? — There have never been fowls, but we cannot keep a dog or a cat there, 2671. Have you tried to keep ducks 5* — Tes, apd doge and cats and pigs. We tried to breed pigs, but we cannot do it. 2672. Why should pigs mi be kept ?^When tj^e pigs come they have no hair upon them, and they die directly. We cannot breed a pig nor keep a sow. I have not lost a horse, nor cattle. It has an efiect upon them in the milk and the wind, 2673. If you let cattle out to graze by the river side you ruii a risk, but have you known any cattle killed ? — No, but it affects them. One of ours was affected in his hair and his wind. They have been injured in that way by the lead on the hair. 2674. {Dr. Franhland.) Hoav do you know that the effect upon the wind of the horse was produced by poisoned water ? — I know it very well. I never let them drink the water now nor graze by the side of the rivei-, but I had one horse, and the eftect upon him was that he made such a noise by taking the muddy stuff from the grass ; it stuck in the top of his throat. 2675. But that sort of affection is known in countries where there are no rivers polluted by mines ; the question is, how do you know that the cause of it was, in your case, a mine-poljuted stream ? — I have seen many horses affected by mine stuff, in many othei' places besides om* place. 2676. Do you know any instance of horses, be- longing to persons who do not live on the river, being alfected in that way ? — I have not happened to see one. Another thing is, they are effected in the stomach, and they die on the grass. The witness withdrew. Mr. John Edwards, senior, Rhyddir Issa, examined. Mr. J. Edwards, senior. 2677. {Mr, Morton,) Did you formerly occupy land on the Clarach ? — Yes. 2678. How long have you known the CUrach ?— I have known it for 70 years. 2679. In what condition was it when you first knew it ? — There were plenty of fish in it. 2680. How many years did it remain in that con- dition ? I think it is 35 years since the mine began. 2681. When it began, were the fish destroyed by the muddy condition of the river ? — Yes. 2682. Have you lost any horses ? — Yes. 2683. From what cause was that ? — From the mine ; from grazing dose to the river. 2684. Do you remember the time of year when this took place ? — It was in the winter. 2685. Was that meadow flooded pretty often during the winter ? — It was sometimes, 2686. Do you know whether those horses suffered immediately after a flood ? — Yes, they were affected JIIVErS pollution COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III.* 75 before May, an5 tlifey died in June ; blood flowed from tbeir nostrils in driving up hill. 2687. Were those horses examined by a veterinary surgeon ? — No. 2688. Have you also lost some cattle ? — Yes. 2689. Was that frotn grazing near the fiver ? — I tliihk it was from the hay, after it was cut off those meadows. A big flood came over it before it was dried, and when it was dried it was all wet ; it was like snow when you shook it. 2690. Was it white mud, or mildew ? — Mud from the flood. The witness 2691. Did the cattle cat the hay ?— Yes ; it was not then that it would do them harm. In the month of March they began to get bad. 2692. Has any injury of the same kind been suffered on the same land ? — Yes ; within a few years since I left it. 2693. Is AUy precaution taken, by embanking the river to stop the mischief from being done ? — Yes ; they can embank it and recover it sometimes. 2694. Is the river embanked along its course ? — Yes, k little, but high floods go over it. withdrew. Mr. ./. Edwards, senior. 5 Oct. 1872. Aberystwyth. Mr. John Edwards, junior, Ehyddir Issa, examined. 2695. {Mr. Morton.) Have you suffered any injury from the river since you have been tenant of your farm ? — Yes ; it was formerly in a much better state than it is now. We used formerly to turn the water over the land for irrigation purposes, but we do not now. 2696. How long ago is it since you did so ? — About 40 years ago. 2697. I suppose by irrigating the land you could double its value ? — It is sure to do so. 2698. Have you not sustained a considerable loss, by losing the power to irrigate ? — Yes. Now when The witness withdrew, we turn the water over the land and the cattle graze on it, of course it injures them. 2699. {Dr. Franhland.) Have you ever had the contents of the stomachs of any of the animals ana- lysed ? — Two, I believe. 2700. By whom were they analysed ? — I believe by some one in London. 2701. Have you a copy of the analysis ? — No. 2702. Do you remember the result of the analysis by the chemist ? — That the sediment from the mine was in the stomach. Mr. J. Edwards, junior. Mr. David Roberts, NanteoUenfach, examined. 2703. {Mr. Morton.) How long ago is it since you first knew the Clarach ? — Fifty-five years. 2704. Was the river then full offish ? — Yes. 2705. Can you tell us when it was that the con- dition of the river changed in that respect ? — As soon as the mine came. 2706. How many years is that ago ? — Thirty-five years, or more. 2707. Did the fish disappear in the course of a year ot two ? — There wete plenty of fish before the mine came. . , 2708. How many years did it take to kill them ? — About a year. 2709. Do you occupy land on the river side ? — Yes, 2710. Have you suffered any losses from the dirty condition of the water ? — Yes. 2711. Have you lost a mare, a colt, and a cow ? — Yes. The \Vitness 2712. Do you i-emember a field keeping 10 cows in the summer, and now five fields will not keep as many cows ? — Yes. 2713. What was the acreage of the field that kept 10 cows during the summer ? — 'About three acres, for three months in the summer. 2714. It kept 10 cows for three months ? — Yes ; it was good land. 2715. How many acres do the five fields contain ? — About 10 or 12 acres. 2716. This injury was owing, in your opinion, not to an unpropitious season, but simply to the liability of the land to be flooded by the mines? — Yes, in consequence of the rnine water coming over it. 271 7. The mine watet gets Upon the land, and dirties the gi'ass ? — Yes. 2718. Is any of this land utterly destroyed by being mudded up ?— No ; it is dirtied. withdrew. Mr. D. Roberts. TsolUAs Owen Morgan, Esq., Barristet--at-law, Aberystwith, examined. 2719. {Mri Morton.) You have some statement to make? — I have a farm that is within half a mile of the town on the river Rheidol, and the meadow is low ground. There is an embankment round the edge of it, on the river side, and a part of that embankment gave way from the floods. I have had to repair It, but I have not finished the work yet. The part that is protected still by the embankment bears a sweet grass, and what is below, where the embankment has been carried away, is very much coarser, as ybu may see from the colour of the grass. It has a reddish tint, and it is inferior. They do not mow it. They keep the other part for mowing that the embankment still protects. 2720. The part now open to the floods is grazed ? — Only that. 2721. Have any of your cattle suffered injury from grazing on that portion ? — My tenant has gone away this very day, and he can speak to it. My case is that the farm is of less value than it was, owing to the destruction of the embankment, and the flood water coming over. 2722. Was the destruction of the embankment due to natural causes ? — The floods. 2723. Do you attribute the floods to anything for which the mine owners are responsible ? — Yes ; be- cause there is much more water now brought into our valley than formerly. Part of the watef- of the L^rry IS brought to the Rheidol, and therefore the floods are more severe. 2724. I take it that the portion which flows from one valley to another is only as much as the channel will take ? — It is more than that, because it goes over the lands. 2725. Is not the portion that goes over from one to another brought by a conduit ? — Yes ; and by a series of pipes. 2726. Is the channel of the river raised by the sediment that comes from the mines ? — Not perceptibly there. 2727. Have the floods been increased by mining operations ? — Yes. 2728. Simply because that which belongs-, to one valley has been brought into another ? — Yes. When a flood comes it is sure to go over, if not one fiirm, another farm. I have known one flood that broke over a field and deposited about 200 loads of this poisonous stuff. 2729. Is it poison, or only so much mineral matter that has covered the surface ? — It is poisonous in its effects, highly so. At the Gogenan mine works, there is a large bank of refuse, after washing, raised above the pit's mouth ; and my tenant says, when a high wind drives from the east, it drives the finer parts oi K 2 T. O. Morgan, Esq. 76 • KIVElia POLLUTION C01MMIS8I0N ORAL EVIDENCE — PART IIL ^' O. the sand or dust, and that is highly poisonous, and it 2731. Do you know that villagers are put to incon- Morgan, Esq. jj^^g ^.^^.^ deteriorated my farm in value. venience and expense owing to the foul condition of OcTrs-i 2730. Has it poisoned any cattle ? — Yes ; the man the river ? — No. has repeatedly told me of hor.ses and cows being in- 2732. Is there sufficient water for the cottages and Aberystwyth, jured. I may say this that I remember the Milinda ^^ms ?— Yes. My tenant goes now to a spring? not to brook, a main branch of the Rheidol, when it was lull ^^e brook. That runs from the mine works. When- of ut, before these mines resumed work, perhaps g^,^,. , ^^^^^ ^^^^^ 36 4 0 years ago ; and now it is so foul that all the f^j. jjjg cattle, fish e poisoned. The witness withdrew. Mr. John Jones, Llangawsai, examined. Mr. J. Jones. 273;?. (Mr. Morton.) How old are you ? — I am 74 ning down to the dam there, as far up as the poor years of age. house. I have caught trout myself that came up from 2734. Where have you been in the habit of fishing ? the milldam. There are none now in the river ; but I used to fish chiefly in the Rheidol. I made my it was full in my time. On the sea shore I have seen living by it. On a flood I used lo see seven nets, crabs, prawns, shrimps, and herrings; but, because sometimes even 10 nets, .and, when very lucky, I saw they have poisoned the rivers, there are no crabs to be one net that got about 100 lbs. These fish were taken caught now, but one now and then ; no prawns and to England by carriers. no shrimps. 2735. How long ago is it since you had good 2738. Your complaint is, that not only are fish fishing ? — Perhaps 50 years. killed in the waters of the rivers, but fish are injured 2736. Was the statement you have heard read taken ^j. j^^jg^ -^^^^^ p^jg^^ ^j^^ down from your mouth by question and answer . — It rivers? — Yes. I have seen myriads of shrimps at was. every tide on the sea shore, at high tides, but none are 2737. (Dr. Frankland.) Have you anything further gg^^ ^^w. to state ? — I have seen every rivulet full of fish, run- The witness withdrew. JMr. James Morgan, Dole, examined. Mr. 2739. (Mr. Morton.) On whose land are you a some good meadows there. About 24 years ago I first J. Morgan. tenant ? Mr. Bonsall's. observed the eflTects of the mine water upon the horses. 2740. Does he own land up the river to any extent ? I lost one then, but have ever since prevented them Yes from grazing in the meadows. There is one portion 2741. Does he own land at the head of the stream ? of the land useless to sow on account of the river water —I speak of the river Rheidol. My landlord is only overflowing it. the owner of Dole farm which I occupy. There were The witness withdrew. Mr. David James, Sailmaker, Aberystwith, examined. Mr. D. James. 2742 I am a fisherman, am 63 years, and have 2744. The mine water wiU kill fish, as is proved by fished the rivers about Aberystwith from 1828 until the fact that there were fish before, and there are none the rivers ceased to have any fish in them. About now ?— There is no mistake about it. I have caught 25 years ago the fish ceased. I have also fished in the 47 fish at one haul, where the two rivers meet ; some sea for the last 50 years. Lead ore can be seen at low salmon amongst them, but that was about 40 years water on the sand near the mouth of the rivers ago. I made a good living by catching crabs and Rheidol and Ystwyth, and I have no doubt that the prawns, but now they are done entirely, it is of no use lead ore coming down the rivers cause the fish to die to go. , , , x , • 2745. (Dr. Frankland.) You have spoken of seeing '''2743 Have you anything further to state ?— I was lead ore in the sand on the sea shore ?— Yes, just passing the pier bridge last August two years, and I under the Castle at low water, spring tide, you may happened to look over the bridge ; there was a little see the mine shining in the sand when the sun is pool down below, and I saw fish all dead on the bright. bottom of the pool, they were mackarel. I stripped 2746. Are you sure that what you have seen was myself. I had a net in my hand, and I picked up really lead ore ?— Yes, I take notice of lead ore four dozen and a half quite dead from the bottom of 2747. What colour is it ?— Quite bright and b ue, at the pool The harbour was swarming the night low water you may see it, it is between the Castle and before with sprats and mackarel, and that tide they the harbour. When the sun is shining you wiU see went up to Aberystwith and died there in the pool. it. The witness withdrew. Mr. Morgan Jenkins, of Cottage, near Pentiuyn, examined. ^rr. 2748. I am 80 years of age, and am a fisherman. 1 plenty of fish in it. I observed dead fish in the river remembei the river Rheidof abounding in fish ; about as soon as the mme water began to flow down. There ~ 28 yeaJago the fish were destroyed bfthe mine water. are no fish m the river at the present time. Until the mine water came down the river there were The witness withdrew. Mr Thomas Sami:el, Pendro, Llanbadarn, examined. 2749. I remember about 43 years ago the river 2751. Is Mr. Bonsall '^J^'l^^^^^^^f^l in abundance ; in one of the fields }^ ^^752 Do vou know whether the estates in this from those meadows overflowed by the river. ^ i\ Uicn are injuieu . 2750. Whose land do you occupy ? — Mr. Bonsall's. The witness withdrew. RIVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 77 Mr. Enoch W. James, Brjnllys, examined. 2753. {M7\ Morton.) Do you occupy a farm? — Tes. 2754. On what river is the farm ? — The Lerry. 2755. Are there any mines on the river above your farm ? — Yes. 2756. Is the water polluted by those mines P-^-Ypj:. 2757. Does the water overflow your land ? — A little of it now and then. 2758. Do you suffer much injury in that Avay? — I am afraid I do. Our cattle and horses are obliged to drink from the polluted stream. 2759. How long has that been so ? — Many years now. 2760. Is it not a good farm for store stock ? — It is pretty well. 2761-2. What reason have you then to complain ? — I do not know, I do not like for my cattle and horses to have this stuff if I could afford to be without it. 2763. Are you sure that the water injures them ? — I am sure of it, we have had lead water very prevalent this last year since the adulteration has been so fre- quently running down. 276 1. Are the cows injured by the lead water ? — They have been very much of late years. 2765. Have you obtained any advice upon the sub- ject from a veterinary surgeon ? — No. 2766. Do you attribute the injury to the condition of the water that they drink ? — Indeed I cannot say. but while they had the clear water it was very scarce, one or two or three cases might then occur ; but now they occur very often, two or three or five at a time. I have had as many as six good cattle lost altogether, we lose some every year almost from the same cause. 2767. Has not that made you seek for another water supply ? — It is very difficult to get it, and, when it is hot in summer, it is impossible to keep the cattle out of it ; the river runs right through the f^irm for I dare- say upwards of a mile and a half — it is above a mile. 2768. What quantity of land is liable to be flooded on your farm ? — The low land is very extensive ; it may go over, I should say, from 50 to 60 acres now and then. 2769. Have the attacks of disease followed a flood, or do you have them at any time irrespectively of floods ? — I cannot exactly say ; they come now and then after floods and rain and cold weather, they are more apt to show themselves then than in fine weather ; we had a mill dam and a stream running through one part of the farm, and there were some wells and clean water running down to it. Before Mr. Tavin turned the mill dam into the sea, all our cattle could go there, but now they are obliged to go to the rivei'. 2770. I suppose these are attacks of disease that rain and cold weather would bring, whether the water was fouled or not by the mines — inflammatory disease due to cold weather? — It might be so; I cannot speak as to that. I know it has been worse with us than it used to be since the pollution has been so much increased. 2771. But you atttribute it to the cattle drinking the water and not to eating fouled grass? — It is due to both. 2772. Have any of your horses suffered ?— I believe they are looking worse in condition than they used Dr. FranUund.) Are you not allowed any tion by your landlord ?— No, I never asked to do. 2773 In spite of the bad water, are you able to breed good horses ?— We can turn them into a clearer place now and then. Our little river is not like the Eheidol and the Ystwith. Sometimes the works are stopped for a few years, and then the fish will come again, but Avhen the polluted water comes down again, it will kill the fish and sweep them all away at once. 2774. The mines have come into activity in the last year or two, and as I understand, your complaint refers more especially to the present time ? Y''es, it had been very much before, and when they turned the washings into the river, it swept away all the The witness withdrew. fish, and then as soon .as the river was left ftioLC, Ihey would come back again. 2775. Who is your landlord? — Sir Pryse Prysc. 2776. Is the same landlord the owner of innd where the mines are situated ?— Yes, tiiev are, in a part ; it is Mr. Pugh and Sir Pryso Pj-yse. 2777. The injury is one of which the tenant com- plains and not the landlord ?— I do not complain. J come here to tell you whatever you may ask me. 2778. But the mischief done takes money out of your pocket ? — Yes. 2779. {Di oonq>ensation for it. 2780. {Mr. Morton.) How long has the river been polluted ? — Two or three years ago salmon used to come there, and trout can keep aUvc, but a salmon gets under the roots and hides himself, and we can see them on the river side dead here and there. 2781. {Dr. Frankland.) You find dead fisli in the river ?— Plenty of them after a flood comes, the fish will come up, and when the river becomes low again, the fish will be affected by the refuse from tlie mines. 2782. Do you remember some years ago when the fish were all destroyed ? — Yes, many years ago. 2783. How soon did the river recover itself when the working of the mines then in operation was stopped? — I cannot say. I believe the trout came from the hills, from a healthier place. 2784. Did not the fish re-appear in the river after they had once been destroyed ?— Yes. 2785. Is it your opinion that a river into which mining pollutions have been poured, and in which the fish have been destroyed, will recover itself after a few years if the mining operations have been stopped ? — Yes, I am certain of it ; our little river is in that state now. It had been several times polluted, and then all the fish were swept away, but in time it would clear itself, and the fish would come back again. 2786. Have you had any experience of the recovery of land after it had been once poisoned in this way? —Not so much, but I believe that if you covered it with fresh earth, it would soon come round again. 2787. Is it your experience that liming would improve it ? — I cannot speak to that. 2788. If you keep poultry, have you lost any fowls ? — I have observed that our ducks, after they had gone down to the river, would in a few days become paralysed ; they would seem as if they were drunk and could not walk, and they would pine away. 2789. Have you lost any ?— Yes. 2790. Can you give us any notion of the average loss per annum that you have suffered from the effects of the polluted river ? — I cannot. 2791. What length of river side is included within the bounds of your farm ?— Above a mile. 2792. Is it situated on both sides of the river ? In some parts it is. 2793. Are there nearly two miles of river bank reckoning both sides ?— I should say about a mile and a half. 2794. Would 10/. well compensate you for the injury you sustain I would not take it, but I would have clean water for my cattle if I could afford it ; the water is milky at this very minute, and has been all the summer in the same state. 2795. How much a year would you be willing to give for clean water to anybody who would Iny if on? — I should be very glad if ] could have clean water for all my cattle and horses. I h.ive a good lot of cattle and horses, and I should think they would be far better with clean and healthy water. 2796. Have you lost any ?— No. I do not think It IS strong enough to kill them with us, but I believe it affects them very much. 2797. {Mr. Morton.) Do you keep geese in large numbers ? — No, some. 2798. Has any injury been done to the geese by feeding on the river side ? — No. K 3 Mr. E. W. Jamei. 5 Oct. Aberystwyth. RIVEkS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. W. Williamf. 5 Oct. 1872. Aberystwyth. 2799. {Mr. Mo7ton.^ Do you farmer ? — Yes. 2800. Where do you live ? — I have lived at Altt- (rochfach for 32 years, and I know the farm owned by Mr. Pugh on the river Lerry. The Lerry for some time has been clear, but the floods go over the low- lauds. There is some woodland on the flat, and 1 planted the timber. I remember the floods going over the woodlands and laying the trees on the o-round, and I and another man had to extricate them. At that time there was no mine in that quarter, and no harm was done to the trees. They wash ore now every other day, and occasionally every day, and where the water is still there is a great deposit of shme at the bottom afterwards. When a flood comes afterwards it scours the place out, and throws the slime on to the meadows, and then the meadows become red in colour. MR. W. Williams, Alltgochfach, examined. occupy land as a 2801. (Mr Young, through the chair.) Is the woodland of which you have spoken injured now by floods ? — '-they have been occasionally over it since the river has been polluted, but not so heavy lately. The trees are now strong, and therefore a flood does not afiect them in the same way, because they are now about 31 years old. I believe that if the mine water came over now as it did before in a flood, and the trees were young, it would injure them very greatly. 2802. What extent of meadow land is exposed to injury at present by these floods ? — I think there may be from a mile to a mile and a half in length. When it is hot in summer time, there is no place for the cattle to get the water from except the river, 2803. On the fai-m you are speaking of arc the cattle injured by drinking the Avater of the river? — I know that animals know the cause of it. die now and then, but I do not The witness witndrew. Mr. H. E. Taylor, Mining Ei Mr. 2804. {Dr. Frankland.) You are intimately ac- //. E, Taylor, quainted with the mining industry of this district, and of many other districts in the county ? — Yes. I have the management personally of 15 different mines in this county, and I am also acquainted, not only with every mine in this county, but in almost every county in England. I have also studied the question a o-ood deal since the Commissioners were here before. 2805. Can you give us any information as to the conditions under which mines are leased from the owners of the soil, especially with regard to river ■ pollutions ? In the old leases, most of which are now running out, there was not any condition, but in the new leases which have been granted within the last two or three years ])y some of the landowners, it is stipulated that " the water shall be purified, as far as " any known means will allow, as far as practically " can be done ;" that is the real wording of a lease. 2806. What do you consider would be practicable in the way of preventing any access of polluting matters to rivers ?— In this county, where there is slate formation, the ores are disseminated all through the rocks in small strings and small veins of ore, very often not thicker than the point of a pin running through perhaps a large quantity of stone, and it is necessary to crush all the stone down, in order to get the ore from it ; in fact it has to be reduced to powder. This district, therefore, differs very much from other places. In some of the mines in this district some of the ores are very poor, but they some- times contain a great deal of silver, and this allows us to go to such an extent in the way of reduction, that we reduce the whole of the matter almost as fine as emery, and everyone knows that the smaller you make 'any substance the lighter it is, but there is great difiiculty in preventing this pollution finding its way to the rivers. As to the question about sto^jping the pollution, I may say that it is done. I canuot say that we do all we might do, but we do it to a certaih extent. By providing reservoirs, settling and catch- pits, much of this stuff" is prevented from going away, and commercially it is worth our while to do it. 2807. Before you say anything further as to the catching of this fine stuff", let me ask you again whether it is necessary in any case to cast what I may call the waste rock of a mine into a stream ? — That is not necessary, but it has been done ; it is done in this country, and in every other country to a -very large extent. 2808. Is it not more done in this district than in any other mining district ?— I think not. I know other districts wlicre it is done quite as much. I have been visiting a district in the last week where they do it very much more than we do. It need not be done, but it entails expense upon the mine owners, which of course by throwing these matters into the ;ineer, Aberystwith, examined. stream they do not entail ; but there is another thing that arises there. In working mines, we are not like railway companies ; we have no Acts of Parliament ; we can only work on certain portions of ground, and the great reason why this refuse is thrown into the rivers is because we cannot get ground from land- owners on which to tip it. 2809. In many cases do you consider it necessary that you should have power granted you by the legis- lature to obtain lands in reasonable quantities for that purpose ? — Yes, we cannot get laud without. 2810. With such powers would the owner of a mine then be able to carry this stuflF on to land ? — I do not think I should say it would be impossible, it would only be a question of cost. I now speak of what I should say is absolute waste, with no lead ore in it. 2811. Do you know the Dylife mine ? — Yes. 2812. Is the refuse thrown into a stream there? — Yes, to a certain extent ; but there is not much thrown in there, most of it is what is washed away from the washing floors, and they are differently situated at that mine. It is the property of a very large landowner, and the mine is situated on gradually sloping ground ; there is no strong river running close by into which this stuff" can be thrown, and there is no power to take it away. There is there a large extent of coarse poor land which is worth nothing to farmers, all the land belongs to the same owner, and therefore he makes no objection to the refuse being there deposited, they may cover it by acres ; that is the case at the Van mine. 2813. At the Dylife mine they have a cheaper mode of disposing of this material ? — They have no other means ; if the river would not take it, it would cost more to take it elsewhere. 2814. Is it not a fact that in these mines there are large spaces in the old galleries where this refuse stuff could be stacked ? — In some cases there are. 2815. Do you consider it feasible in many cases to put it back into a mine, and not to bring it to the surface at all ? — In Inany cases it is not feasible, and for this reason that the point at which the refuse is brought out is lower than the actual workings which are all over head, therefore, in order to fill a space up with refuse, it would be necessary to wind it up by machinery placed there, and then it would not stop there without some support. 2816. Do you consider it necessary to bring all the refuse out to daylight ? — I do, in most cases. 2817. In order to separate the ore from it? — Yes, and not only that, but in order to keep the mine clear, and the workings open. There are cases where we do fill up to a very large extent. An engineer going there would hardly think that the mine was working, for ho sees no more coming out than there wiis years agoj but that is a very exceptional case. KIVERS POLLUTION COMIJUSSIGN ;— OUAL EVIDENCE — PART IIL 79 2818. To i-efer now to tjio fine slimes, T sjjppose that tlie water polluted by slii))y matter is usually but a small proportion of the toto-l quantity of water used in a mine ? — 1 can hardly say thaf ip the winter it is so, it is so in the sumfuer. When we have very little watei', almost the whole of it in a really richly pro- ductive mine is required for dressing purposes, and therefore it is mixed witli the slinies. 2819. Some of this water is invariably and must bp used for power ? — Yes, it is used for power first of all, and then for washing ; the same water «uifice§ fqr both. 2820. As I understand you, when thei'e is a scarcity of water the same water that is used for power is used for washing ? — Yes, and the operatioflS firq then reduced in proportion. 2821. In winter, apd at some mines even in summer, I believe there is a quantify of water used for power which does not go to the washings ? — There is. 2822. Would there be much difficulty ip keeping that water sepai'ate ft-om the polluted wg-tef ? — ^xes, in most cases. The watercourses that are made in this hilly country wind round and round the hiUs, and they must be made in duplicate in almost every instance. At a mine in which I am interested, we use the water first at one mine, and then send jt on to be used at another. 2823. In that case the water does not go into the river ? — It does eventually. If we kept the waters separate we should only have half the amount of power at the second mine compared with the first, and the clean water would be the only water we should have for pumping. The practice is to mix them together in order to get the whole power out of tlje water. 2824. Can you give us any notion as to the quantity of water required per ton of lead ore ? — It varies very much indeed. 2825. Within what limits ? — Unfortunately for us, we have not in this county got nearly enough water for the tons of lead ore, therefore it is diflicult to tell you. Again there is another reason which affects it very much. Some mines are very productive near the surface, and very cheap in working, while others are not productive until they get down to a great distance. 2826. Does this affect the question as to the amount of water required for power ? — Yes. 2827. I meant for washing only? — It varies, but not to the same degree. I should think that a 6-inch pipe of water would be sufficient for dressing purposes for a mine in this county to return 100 tons of ore a month without pressure, so that the pipe should be full. But then that does not reliite at all to the power requisite for the crushing of the ore. 2828. But that would represent, would it not, an essential amount of polluted water ?— Yes, that >vould be the actually polluted water. 2829. Can you tell us qfF-hand how many gallons that would be in a day ? — It is easily calculated. 2830. Does not the water also pass through a series of catch -pits before it leaves the mine ? — Yes, 2831. Is that sufficieot to collect all the s)im,e that can be profitably worked afteji-waj-ds ?— It ought to be so, and it is so in most cages. J think in the mines I have to do with it is so. 2832. Do you know the East Daran lead mine Yes. 2833. That is a bad case, is it not ? — Yes, and there what I said just now comes into question. There is a different landowner who capnot complain of the operations, and there is therefore plenty of refuse; without an Act of Parlii),ment we cannot do it. 2834. We collected some mud from a stz-eam a mile and a half below that mine, and on analysis it appeared that there was 25 per cent, of lead ore in that mud ? — That was collected at the Old Daran mine, and from the same brook which several of the farmers who have been examined to-day have alluded to. That brook bas five or six large mines upon it, besides the East Dai-an mine, and they all pour into this place. 2835. Of cpijrse sfufT like that oijght to be caught Mr. in pits before it leaves the nfine ? — Yes, if you could ^- Taylor. get it as goorj as that sample, but I think you must ^ ^ have got an exceptional sample. I should state that Uctjl^872. tliej-e is not a single ton of ore that comes out of Aberystwyth. any mine in this county that contains 25 per cent, of ■ lead ore, nor 10 per cent., nor 5 per cent., Ijefore it is reduced. In the stale that you got it, it does not con- tain on an average moi'e that 5 per cent. 2836. The lighter material had been washed away, and this was left in the bed of the brook ? — Yes. I believe that is stuff that was taken from a miller's pond who was giving evidence here just now, and in that I know that there is a great deal of lead. I have offered to take it, but never could get it. 2837. I believe that in many of these mines lead ore is reduced to such a fine state of division that it is very difficult to precipitate the whole of it ? — It is very difficult to catch lead at all. I think I have demonstrated that to you, that lead will float. At one mine, which I think is the finest for any lead ore in the . kingdom, we have some sieves as fine as 15 holes by 20, which gives you about 300 holes to a square inch, which is almost as fine as the meal of loaf flour. 2838. At the East Daran mine we took a sample of waste slime which was thrown out, and I believe went into the river after that ? — No, it goes through another operation ; some of it goes. 2839. Was that sample some that would have under- g*ie another operation Yes. You do not see any solid matter that goes away. All that goes away goes away in the flowing water. The samples which you took were from the heaps. 2840. The Commissioners understood that this was not to be worked over again, and that it really was waste slime. It contains 9^ per cent, of lead ore, and it ought not to be waste ?— No, it would not be waste. I have made a great many assays since you were here, and I find that the average of ore stuff that goes away contains about a quarter per cent., or about 5 cwt. in 100 tons. We have put up a good deal of new machinery since you were there, and I dare say we are a little better now. 2841. Supposing that a further amount of catchment was adopted to mitigate the evil, do you consider that in most cases, without going to unreasonable expense, the water could be impounded, say, for from 12 to 24 hours, before it was allowed to escape ? — If that was done I think that the difficulty about polluting rivers would be a good deal got over, but I do not think it can be done. I do not say that it would be unreason- able, but impossible for those who would have to pay for it. 2842. Supposing a mine to be situated in a gorge, as is often the case, would it not be possible, by throwing a dam across some part of the gorge, to im- pound it for the time I have stated ? — Yes, if you icould get the land nearly at the point required, after it was collected. 2843. You think you could do little without having power to take land — You must have power to take land, and after you have done that, I fail to see how it will act in the long run, with regard to the pit itself, for you must clear it out, and this ore is like flour, and it will blow into the river unless you build a house over it. In the case of some of the mines in England the farmers have requested us to throw the material into the river, because the blowing of the sand over the land does a great deal more harm than the water itself ; that is at a mine close to Wrex- ham in Denbighshire. We have great difficulty there in treating the ores as they ought to be treated. 2844. Would it not be possible to keep the refuse moderately moist so as to prevent it from blowin"- away ? — Yes, on a small scale, but on a large scale it would be impossible. Our large heaps I dare say amount to a million tons, and if you had to water them in any way, it would be a very expensive opera- tion. 2845. Do you often transfer in any way refuse to the old workings in a mine ? — No ; that mine which K 4 80 KIVEBS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — OKAL EVIDENCE PART III. Mr. has oeen referred to especially, and many others, are //. E. Taylor, filled up with refuse altogether. The broken rock occupies half as much room again as the solid rock, 5 Oct. 1872. j^jjj broken waste rock would fill up the whole of Aber^yth. ^ *° nothing about slimes, if you adopted that system in toto. 2846. I suppose that in the winter especially you hove frequently an excess of water power in the mine Yes, but not very often, for you are aware, I Ijelieve, that we have very large catch-pits or reser- voirs, and we have hundreds of acres on hundreds of miles of watercourses in this country, and therefore we are able to check the floods, and we do it to a great extent. I think that some of the old men about here will tell you that 30 years ago tliero were very much larger floods in the river than there are now ; the reason being that we have such enormous reser- voirs and we check the floods. We have not much waste power, for every now and then the water goes away. For the last four years we have not had any ' waste water, and what is not used at our own mine is used at another. 2847. You are no doubt aware of the arrangement, as in Cornish mines, of filling iron waggons with water, and so sending it away ? — Yes, and we should use them in this district, only that in order to be able to do it, you require an outflow for the water you send down. 2848. Could you not use that water on someaof your dressing floors afterwards? — Yes ; but you must have some place for it to go out, and you must pump it up again. It would cost you a great deal more than the value of the power you have got. 2849. I mean to transfer the contents of the settling reservoirs to some point considerably higher than where the deposit would be caught. At one mine they save the stuff", and the crushed material is hoisted up in that way to the floors, to a considerably greater height than that at which the stuff" had been pre- viously deposited by the water balance, to get more fall, and to repeat the washings ? — Then they }nust be better off" there than we are. It would take away all the water, which is very valuable to us. We have not sufficient water here now to crush the ore. I do it myself in the slate quarries to a very large extent, and use -water in that way. To avoid damaging the land we use refuse tips year after year, but here we have not water enough. 2850. At the Dylife mine what do they do with the deposit in the settling reservoirs ? — They do as everyone else does, all over England ; they let it go in flood times, and so does everyone else ; there is not any exception. 2851. Is there no example of a mine where the stuff" is stacked ? — I never saw one yet, and I have been over all the lead mines in England recently. 2852. The refuse from the Dylife mine goes into the Dovey ? — Yes. 2853. But that is still a good fishing stream ? — Yes, but the Dovey is a river with a very large watershed, and contains a great deal of water ; the proportion of mine water that goes into it is nothing. 2854. Is there any other mine besides the Dylife that does the same thing? — There is Sir John Conroy's mine ; they have pits there and they clean them out in the same way; that is done at 12 o'clock at night. 2855. What is your opmion as to the comparative damage done to a river by flushing out these catch- pits in flood time and allowing this stuff" to go regularly in every day ? — The damage would not be so much, except to the adjoining land ; it would be woise for the adjoining land than it is now. 2856. What is the condition of the land on the banks of the Dovey ; is the land considerably above the river or is it subject to floods ? — The Dovey in parts IS silted up like this river is, but not so badly, and tlie icason is that tlie proprietors on the Dovey have done there what the proprietors here have not done ; they have built up artiiiciul banks to keep the river in its course, while here the river has been silting up, and no counter-operations have been put in force on the banks of the river. 2857. On the Dovey they have not thrown all their refuse in ? — Because they cannot ; if they could they would ; but it does not, in a commercial sense, answer their purpose, except at Sir John Conroy's mines ; they used to do it, but they do not do it now. 2858. Is there any further statement that you would wish to make? — Yes ; there are two or three things that I wish to call your attention to, and first as to that petition which has been handed in, I did not know anything about it before. I think that Mr. Smith, on reading it, said that it was a great shame this town was not supplied with water by gi-avitation ; they propose to get it out of the river Rheidol. I know that the town never could have been supplied with water by gravitation, and any one living near the river can see that the bed of it is lower than any house in the town by many feet. At the time when the water question came on in this town prominently I proposed that the Eheidol should be brought into the town by gravitation. That could be done, but it cannot be done except by going above all the mines to supply the town by gravitation, and therefore the mines do not hurt the town. I do not think it is fair that the petition should go with such a statement uncontradicted. They want to have all the sewers flushed out, and if they wish to have the Kheidol water pure as it comes from Plynlimmon mountain, they can have it now. Of course all these matters depend upon the point, whether it is possible to purify these rivers or not. As evidence in corroboration of my opinion, I have only to repeat Colonel Fryse's own evidenci? as to the brook which flows past his own door. He gave evidence in 1861 or 1862 that a mine had been stopped for 16 years, and that the brook was still poisoned, and that the water was therefore unfit for human beings to drink or for animals. But he has said to day that it is running pure now and he extends the time to 20 years. That brook is a small stream, and at the head of it is an old mine, called Old Daran, which was worked by my a-i-andfather and Sir Hugh Middleton on a small scale on the top of the hill, that is the very source of the brook, and to show the small quantity of water that the brook carries, I may say that it was proposed and approved by one of the greatest hydraulic engineers of the day that it should be brought to Aberystwith for th3 supply of the town, and the very gentlemen whose names you find attached to the petition on the table Avere those who said that there was not enough water in that brook to supply the town. Colonel Pryse has told you to day that that mine was working 20 years ago, and next, that the water has only now got pure. In that case the quantity of water was small, and the mine was worked on a veiy small scale, and all the old workings were on the other side of the hill. Only one crushing mill was put up, and there- fore the debris that left the mine was very small in quantity. The brook has in no way silted up except at the very source, and the mayor can corroborate me when I say that there never has been enough debris allowed to go do-mi that brook to overflow the adjoining fields at all. 2859. I think Colonel Pryse's statement referred rather to the poisoning of fish? — Yes, and of ducks; but if it will poison fish, it is not fit for human pur- poses. I only want to draw an analogy between that brook and this river. That mine was working for a few years, I know not how many ; it was shut up for 20 years, and that small stream was allowed to run for 20 years before it became pure enough for fish to live in it, and to this day ducks cannot. The bed of it is not silted up at all, it is all washed away, except at the head of it where it is silted up, but these rivers here are silted up for hundreds of acres. I believe the Ystwith in some places is 100 yards wide, and every flood that comes down the river changes its bed. The farmers used to make a foot-bridge over RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 81 stepping stones ; they made it one day, and the next morning it was all gone. 1 think that the evidence of I^Hth brook is pretty conchisive about it, and tlie other brooks are the same ; the Lerry is one, it is a small river, but when it gets out where the mine comes into it, it is only a brook. The mhies have never been of great importance ; they have never been worked for many years consecutively, like others they have been stopped and gone on again. That I consider is also evidence of the great difficulty there is for these rivers ever to run pure. The Clarach brook is almost an artificial brook, because the water there is all brought from the mountains. 2860. In expressing the opinion you have as to the water running pure, you rely, as I understand you, upon the evidence given as to fish and ducks being destroyed after 20 years ? — Yes. 2861. Do you not think that this poisoning might be caused by sediment at the bottom of the river and not by the water ? — I think it is the sediment stirred up by the water. I believe that the sediment in that small brook is so small that if it took 20 years to purify it, I ask how long would it take to purify the water in these great rivers ? 2862. The clear water in that brook would be per- fectly wholesome to drink, even when the mine was working? — It was all polluted when the mine was working. 2863. As soon as the mine ceased to work, would not the brook run clear ? — No, it would keep its colour for a long time ; with every little fresh it would get coloured, but the rivers here will run pure to look at. 2864. (Mi: Morton.) Does not the water run clear on a Monday morning ? — Yes, to the eye ; in some of the places alluded to the river does not spread over at all ; in the Clarach valley it is stopped. I think the reason why the grass has been injured is that the river has silted up ; the banks have not been equally kept up. 2865. Even if mining operations were stopped, the river would still be injurious to fish and poultry, and possibly cattle for many years ? — Yes, I think so, for the next generation ; if the mines were all stopped, I think it would be. Wherever mines are working, the water must be dangerous to human beings, al- though it may run clear now and then. It takes a long while for the water to come down here in the summer time. For six days out of seven the water is not clear, and for some months in the summer through our catchment reservoirs we are able to deliver to our mines as much water as the rivers themselves contain. I have no doubt that many persons here have seen a stream coming from our mines bigger than the stream itself in summer time ; it runs very low indeed in the summer, partly because we catch all the sources. 2866. But that water is fit to drink if it is made clear ? — Yes, if it is filtered, but I fail to see how it is to be filtered. 2867. Have you had no successful filtration of the water ? — I tried what I thought would be most suc- cessful filtration about three years ago. We began to work a mine with what had previously been a pure brook ; it flows fi'om Plynlimmon mountain down to a village ; there were fish in it when we started the mine. We had a large field below us, but the laud was of little value, and after we had passed the water through the pits we let the water flow over the grass, and it killed it in a very short time. As soon as the grass got a little choked, we found that the fish were all gone, and that went over a considerable distance. 2868. The water was not clear ? — It was very nearly, you could not see it, the water was dirtied or milky ; now the fish are all killed, but the grass itself got choked almost immediately. 2869. What was the filtering material that was used ? — Only letting it flow over the field. It will catch more than anything else, but it so soon gets choked. 2870. You cannot call an operation filtration which allows 380 parts of solid matter in 100,000 to pass 30928. through ? — That is the evidence, and as T say how impossible it is to filter it, the filtering b(id was some- thing like 30 yards thick. If you were to catch the whole of it, Avhat could you catch it in ? Our produce at East Daran mine is about 70 tons of lead per month ; for every 70 tons wo get out 25 tons of material in addition. 2871. A good deal of it would subside, and then you would filter the rest ? — It all goes into the river now. 2872. If you had subsidence reservoirs capable of holding the water, say, for five hours, and you then let it go into the filter, you would probably catch half or two-thirds of the whole? — That is what I mean, you must clear out the subsidence reservoirs, and then you would have all this number of tons that would cover an acre of ground in a very short time, and you could not get ground to do it upon. 2873. Is it your opinion that there is nothing further to be done than is done now ? — Nothing, ex- cept making a culvert all the way down to the sea. I think there is nothing more to be done than that, there is no other way of saving the river without taking it into the sea. 2874. What would you propose to have done ? — I would propose to make a culvert down to the sea, one could join into another. 2875. Take, for example, the two rivers, the Rheidol and the Ystwith, what wonld be the effect of the culvert upon those rivers, would it not take all the water olF? — Yes, nearly so in the summer; but there would be plenty in the winter, or for nine months in the year ; for three months they would be almost dry. 2876. What do you suppose would be the length of the culvert ? — I think for the Rheidol it would be nearly 30 miles long, and for the YstAvith about 25. 2877. Do you not think that that would put the mining interest to unreasonable expense in getting rid of this water ? — The mining interest would never do it. 2878. If they would not do it who would ? — I do not know. 2879. Do you mean that they could not afford to do it ? — 1 mean that it would not be worth their while to do it, it would cost 100,000/. to do it, and it would be better to shut up altogether. This county is not so rich as it used to be, and it would be only two rivers after all, there would still be the Lerry and the Clarach, and they do not join. 2880. Could not they be brought into this culvert ? — No, they are on the wrong side of the hills, they are small brooks, but they are very heavily poisoned, at least the Clarach is. I am afraid there is no other way of making an ^effectual cure. I see thai in the north they do the same thing as we do, they catch the refuse in times of drought when there is not much water through the Tyne in floods. Therefore I suppose the eflect is not so much felt on the salmon, they come under the Salmon Fishery Acts. 2881. They seem to send in less of the slimy matter than you do in this district, probably more hand skimpings ? — They send all the slimes in, but they do it in floods, you would not see them do it. An engi- neer going there would find no heaps of slime, although there ought to be thousands of tons. I have no doubt that we throw hundreds of thousands of tons here every year into the sea, and if we were to accu- mulate it we should cover the whole county before long. In the north they crush the lead finer than I thought they did, and they create a great deal of slimes, but they save it in dry times, and let it go in floods. I believe it does not do so much harm. 2882. Suppose the banks were kept up to prevent flooding, and catch-pits were established to let the slime go only in times of flood, would that entirely prevent damage being done to land ? — Yes, entirely. 2883. I suppose it would not re-establish the fish- ing ? — No, because of the beds in the river, the beds are there, and they cannot be removed, there is an enormous accumulation. Mr. 11. E. Ta,ib., 5 Oct. 1872. Abcrystwytli 82 RIVEKS POLLUTION COMMlSSIOTf !-^0RAL EVIDENCE-^PART Til. Mr. 2884. You would advise either the construction of H. E. Taylor, culverts to carry the stuff direct to the sea, or catch- ^rrT(j,„ pits sufficiently large to contain a storage of water 5 Oct. 1872. pg,.jjj^pg foj. 24 hours ?— They ought to do so. Aberystwyth. 2885. Suppose you were allowed to send the slime down the stream in a time of flood, how much water could you on an average afford to impound irl those mines, how many hours' workings ? — It would depend upon the land we could obtain for the reservoir. If we could get the land, I think in most cases we could let the water go almost pure, if so, then it would do no harm. 2886. You could not store water for 61 days ? — No, it is difficult to store it for one day in a large mine. At East Daran I should like to make an acre or two there. 2887. You could do that if you had power to take land ? — Yes, I have offiired large sums of money, but could not get land at any price. 2888. I suppose you could keep the water you use for power separate from the dirty fouled water ? — In most instances you could not in this district, because the mines are all so laid by nature one below the other that the water can be used over and over again. If they were not so laid they never could have been worked. 2889. If you could introduce a catchment system between the first and second use of the water, so as to do something towards cleansing the foul water before the second use of it, would not that to a cer- tain extent remedy the evil ? — Yes, only that you have to mix the two waters to go to the second mine. Then I come to a third, the Clarach river, and where that comes out, it is not more than eight or nine feet wide, and yet that river supplies the works of six large mines employing I dare say 1,000 men. You could not in that case keep the two waters separate, because you would lose power if you did. 2890. {Dr. Franklnnd.) As I understand you, the Avater is re-usable, and is repeatedly used and trans- ferred from mine to mine ? — -Yes. 2891. If you had the means of doing it, could you not pump up the water from the lowest dressing floor to the highest to be used over again ? — Yes, if we had power to do it. 2892. Or money ? — The money would be the power to use steam. 2893. Unless you had a surplus of pure water power ? — Yes, but we have not got enough now. 2894. Do you think that nothing could be done to facilitate the re-use of Avater in that way ? — I do. Another thing is, that dirty water would not do for dressing as Avell as other water. 2895. Do they not use it in the lower mines now ? — Yes, but they have to purify it, and get water from a small stream for a portion of the dressing. You must have clean water, for if you do not, the muddy stuff carries away the lead with it, and creates slime. 2896. Then the water in its course between two mines is made to deposit its slime somewhere ? — Yes, to a certain extent, but not half enough, and there is the poison. 2897. What is done with that which subsides out of doors between the two mines, and which is not near the river ? — ^You must purify a small portion, but each mine generally has some little local stream that will do for that purpose. I should mention that these mines are not mines that take a 6-inch pipe ; they are not mines producing 100 tons a month, but only 40 or 50 tons, and they can do it Avith small Streams that they find in the locality, or little additions of water for these purposes, where clean water Is required. 2898. What are the particular purposes for which clean Avater is required ? — Chiefly the buddies ; it is the last process by Avliich the slime ore is treated, and clean water is quite indispensable. 2899. The vohnne of Avater used on the buddies is comparatively small, is it not ? — Yes. 2900. May the rest of the Avater used be dirty water ? — ^No ; there is the o|)eration caUed jigging that requires a very large quantity of clean water ; you can do it with dirty water, but not nearly so Avell ; indeed, I may say that the success of raining depends upon getting clean Avater. The other brooks which have been mentioned as having overfloAved and poisoned cattle are only small brooks, and the work- ings upon them have been very small ; they are con- sidered to be fishing brooks^ and I do not consider them any guide as to large rivers. 2901. Is it not very hard upon a farmer to have his cattle destroyed in the way described ?— Very hard indeed. I do not believe ali that they say, but there is a great deal of truth in what they say. At the mines with which I have been concerned they have kept horses ever since we commenced, 40 years ago, iand we never lost a horse. 2902. You probably gave them clean water to drink ? — No. I have worked a farm myself, and the Stream runs through the farm for nearly a mile, but I never lost any cattle nor any horses, and my agents have kept cattle ; there is one instance of a cow at East Daran mine, that cow had no other Avater to diink, and she lived there for 12 years ; she was a beautiful animal, and gave splendid milk ; she is immediately below the mine, and all the refuse is over the land, and she has had nothing else to feed upon. I do not deny that I know they do lose horses especially. 2903. What is your notion as to compensation being due to these farmers; ought they to suffer without any redress at all ? — I think it is the land- lords' view that it should fall upon the mine, but the mine has been allowed to do this damage all these years, and the landlords have got all the benefit ; they get more out of it than we do. If they choose to say, we will not have the river poisoned, and we will not grant leases, then they could stop it. 2904. Are there not cases of landowners who are not OAvners of mines ? — Yes, there are, and they have their own remedy, and they can stop the mines. I take it that they would say that the mines are more beneficial to themselves and to the county than if they were stopped. 2905. Could they stop a mine before it had been working for 20 years ? — I understand so, by obtaining an injunction. There was an instance of that kind not long ago, of a gentleman who obtained an injunction, and stopped the proceeding and let it drop ; but he knew that the mines are of more benefit than the fish, and are of moi'e importance than the small damage which is done to land, and they have allowed the works to go on. 2906. {Mr. Morton.) You have spoken of the terms of the lease under which land is let for mining pur- poses. Are mines under new leases more stringently dealt with by landlords ? — Yes. They have a clause inserted that all knoAvn means for purifying water shall be put in force and used. 2907. As a matter of fkct are new mines more stringently dealt with by the agent ? — I do not think they are. They so fai* purify the water as will pay. That is the truth, no more. 2908. Is there no instance of the catchment system being employed beyond what the interest of the miner himself would suggest ? — Yes. I know that they have done it at Sir John Conroy's mines, but it will not pay them to do it. It does not do the river any good. They turn it all in. 2909. Do they shovel it over the tip on a flood tide ? — No. The water carries it away itself. 2910. {Dr. Frankland.) Do they open the sluices of the catch-pits ? — Yes, and let the stuff out. If you did it in any other way you would do more damage and poison the land all round. 2911. Should not the cost of embanking the riTer fidl upon the mine owner ? — No; They have esta- blished a right of Avay and they have never paid ; in some instances it is done ; Ave do not keep up the banks, and if Ave Avere called upon to do it all along, Ave should shut the mine up. If it is done by the landlords, as it has been done by several of the land- OAvners, they do not feel it so much, but when it has RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 83 been neglected for 20 or 30 years, then the cost comes rather liigh. In some cases it is done hy the farmers. 2912. How would you describe the interest of the public in a mine ? — I think a mine is of the greatest value to the labouring man ; at any rate that is what is felt to be of the greatest value here. I have per- sonally had to do with 15 mines, and I have to pay 1,OOOZ. every week in hard cash to labouring men. 2913. Is that in one river basin? — No, in all put together, the Clarach, the Rheidol, and the Ystwith. We do not poison the Lerry. 2914. Can you give us the total amount of the wages paid annually ? — I think the whole is about 80,000 a year, and I should think the amount paid to merchants, many of whom I daresay live in this town, or in the county, would be another 50,000/. 2915. What would you assign to the landowners ? —20,000/. a year. 2916. Then the mines under your management, so far as the interest of labour is concerned, constitute two-thirds of the whole ? — Yes, quite so. 2917. As to the difficulty in obtaining land for catchment works and cleansing purposes, are the mines to a large extent upon Crown property ? — Not to a large extent. There are some, but there are no good ones on Ci-own property. I have one that is pro- ducing a little, but I think the number of men em- ployed on Crown property would not be more in this county than 150. Mines upon Crown property in this county never wiU be properly worked ; they are the worst landlords in the world. 2918. Does the difiBculty of obtaining land exist in many instances ? — Almost everywhere. 2919. In the case of yom- 15 mines, in how many of them does the difficulty exist ? — I should think three-fourths of them. 2920. Do you hire some land ? — We do to a very large extent, but we cannot get as much as we want, unless at a very heavy cost ; the difficulty is general. There is some small quarrel perhaps, and it can only be got over by either an Act of Parliament, or by giving greater powers to mining people to carry on their works as railway companies do. I forget to tell you about two other rivers. The Trify and the Dovey are both very much alike. They are both very good fishing rivers and contain a very much larger quantity of water in them than either of the two which have been mentioned. Captain Phelps mentioned something about a mine called Florida mine, but that has never been a mine of any conse- quence. They never sold any ore worth talking of, and they never paid any cost at all until lately. To mention that as a poisoning mine is not altogether fair as against the other ones ; a little bit of a mine that employs 20 or 30 men is not worth talking of, but at another mine upon which I carry out what I have said, they are employing about 90 men altogether. They are doing their best to purify the water, and they have made a good many pits, partly under my supervision. I granted a lease, and got aU sorts of clauses inserted, as I thought (acting for the landlord) to prevent fish being poisoned, or land injured, and they have done all they can, but there is a plain proof there that they cannot get water pure enough. 2921. Does it go tolerably clear into the river ? — Tolerably clear. They have a large bulk of water there, and the injury is not much felt ; every now and then a few fish are rolled over. 2922. Has there been no attempt made to turn the subsiding matter to account, such as for brickmaking ? — I do not think there is anything else it would make, unless bricks and tiles. In this country we have no coal. If we could find a coal bed or two we could do it clay in it. it is slaty matter with a good deal of 2923. {Dr. Frankland.) Would not that make bricks and tiles ? — Yes, with a great deal of burning. I do not think it would pay ; there ia too much sl.'ite in it. It is a great pity that something cannot be done with it ; if peat could be converted into a useful fuel, then it might be burned out. 2924. Is not that possible ? — I have never seen any- thing yet that pays. I have had some experience of it. I tried it in Ireland, whore there was no damage to pay, and it could not be done. 2925. Could not you use some fuel as a substitute for coal ? — No, we cannot get up steam with it. If they gave 30s. a ton for coal, they would be much better off, only they will not see it. 2926. The evaporative power of peat, if it is well di-ied, approaches one-half of that of coal, say four- tenths of coal ? — It is so theoretically, and I cannot understand why it does not do, but it never has done it yet. In Ireland we lost about 20,000/. by it. 2927. Do you mean in attempting to raise steam ? — No, it was for sale as fuel. 2928. But for making bricks and tiles it is a very different thing ? — I am afraid you would not get the necessary heat ; you want great heat to make good bricks, and this stuff appears to me as if it was bound to go into water. I can see no other way. I was told that they had done such wonders in the north of England, and so they have in the daytime, but not at night. They have spent a great deal of money lately in the valley of the Tees, and a great noise has been made about Tees salmon. 2929. Where have they spent the money ? — Round about Middleton, where the big mines are. They have got very large catch-pits there, and they catch a great deal of slime and let it go again into the flood ; they have nowhere else to put it. Instead of getting one ton out of 25, they get one ton out of six ; it is a rich ore. We have four times as much stuff to deal with as they have, and they have got ten times the quantity of water to carry it away, still it poisons the salmon. 2930. {Mr. 3forton.) Has the mining industry in- creased here of late years ? — I think this town is the best evidence of it. I recollect this town 20 years ago ; it was then a little bit of a place. 2931. Within the last two years, has there not been a rise in the price of lead ? — No ; there has been in labour. Lead is a little better now, but industry has not followed other articles in other mai-kets, like ix'on, coal, copper, apd tin. 2932. We were told in one case in Cornwall that they were going to spend 300/. on catch-pits ? — I should like to spend 300/. at tAvo or three mines, if I could get the land. 2933. Would the mines bear a tax of that sort without shutting them up? — Some of them would not, but the difficulty is not the 300/., you cannot get the land. 2934. {Dr. Frankland.^ In any enactment that prohibited such discharges from going into rivers as would injuriously affect the water, you think some means should be provided for enabling you to obtain land ? — I think that before any such enactment could be passed, you must shut up all the factories in Lan- cashire, for they are a great deal worse than our mines are ; look at the rivers there now, they are a great deal worse than the rivers here are, even to the nose. 2935. You would not consider it a great hardship to have to rent an acre of land ? — You cannot rent it, you must buy it, because you must spoil it. Nobody would let it to you on a rent, because it would not be of any use to him afterwards when spoiled. The witness withdrew. Mr. H. E. Taylor. 5 Oct. 1872. Aberyst\73'th. Mr. Edward Ellis, grocer, Aberystwith, examined. 2936. {Mr. Morton.) Have you been in the occu- On the Ystwith I occupied land that is open to damage pation of land on the banks of the river ? — Yes, I have occupied land on both rivers, the Rheidol and Ystwith. from the river, about 45 acres. L 2 8t KIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— OKAL EVIDENCE— PART IIL V) . E Ellis. 5 Oct. 1872. Aberystwyth. 2937. Have you suffered from the flooding of that land ? — Yes. 2938. Was much of it liable to be flooded ?— The whole 45 acres. 2939. Was the land grazed ? — It was so/netimes, that was before the present mode of grinding in a mine ; it was the most productive land in the country, and worth 21. an ace. They used to open a fence for the water to flow in dm"ing floods to irrigate the land and to manure it, the crops I understand were excellent. 2940. As I understand you, the sediment from the water then was valuable, now it injures the land ? — Yes, it is quite poisonous. 2941. Have any of your cattle suffered injury from eating dirty grass there ? — Not on the Ystwith, on the Rheidol they have. I was taught a lesson on the Rheidol, and I acted upon it on the Ystwith side. 1 kept my horses away from the water. The effects were to be seen on the sheep and the milking cows, they would never thrive by grazing on that land, no matter what quantity of grass there was, and the butter was always very poor. If we sent the cattle to other parts of the land we had good butter, of fine flavour and fine colour, but if they fed on the flats near the river, the colour of the butter would be changed. 2942. What is the present value of those 45 acres that were then worth 21. an acre ? — I had an eight acre field when I took the farm, and I had it limed and manured. I put lime upon it, on an average from three to three and a half tons per acre, and I sowed it with wheat. I had an excellent crop of wheat, but before I could take it away a flood came and covered the wheat when it was ready, some of it already cut, and other parts ready to cut ; the last crop I had from it failed. I occupied the farm for five years, and I never had half the value of the rent. It stood me in about 305. an acre. I was obliged to abandon it altogether because it produced nothing, this was on the lowest part of the land. 2943. The ground, as I understand you, was covered with sediment brought down by floods ?~Yes. 2944. What do you suppose was the loss in annual value ? — I considered that I lost by that field alone 40/. a year, or say 20/. I had to keep the cattle in another part of the farm for a length of time till more ram came to wash the sediment off the grass before I could turn cattle, sheep, or anything else into 2945. Have you made no attempt to recover that land and make it as fertile as before ?— It could be done by lime, but when the field was liable to be flooded two or three times, it was of no use liming it. 1 limed It one year twice, but the flood came over and spoiled the whole. I had also a small piece of land on the banks of the Rheidol. I did not know the ettect that the water had upon animals, but I have actually seen colts grazing there, and they have got quite stiff, their joints Avere quite locked up and they died. I could see the effects in the breathing of the horses, they would appear as if broken-winded, what some people would call roaring, but it was I con- sidered the effect of the mine water. 2946. Are you now speaking of your own horses ? — Yes. 2947. Was the flood owing to any defect in the embankment, or was it so unusually high that it got over a good embankment ?— It got over an un- usually good embankment, and all the embankments before it, and covered my land : 45 acres were for several days under water. 2948. (Dr. Frankland.) Is it only in times of flood that you suffered from this river ?— I considered that the flood carried the sludge over the fields. 2949. And then the land was rendered unfertile and sterile Yes, nothing would grow upon it. 2950. Did any of your cattle graze upon that land after the flood .'—Not for some time. I think I could turn cattle in sometimes, some barren cattle, but I never ventured to turn a horse into it. I have seen in a field that I ploughed, sediment six inches deep in the ground, and in the following year I might have an ordinary crop, but when that land was turned again it was quite sterile. 2951. Do you think that limine effect of the muddy water ? — Yes. 2952. {Mr. Morton.) Do you know of any instance in which lands spoiled by the mud deposited by floods have been planted successfully with trees ?— No. up counteracts the The witness withdrew. Adjourned to Machynlleth, Monday next, 7th inst., at 10 o'clock. In the Town Hall, Machynlleth, (For Machtnlleth and District.) Mr. J. Bdl. ■ • Oct. 1872. Monday, October 7th, 1872. PRESENT : Dr. Edward Frankland, F.R.S. | Mr. John Chalmers Morton. Mr. S. J. Smith, F.Gr.S., Secretary . Mr. James Bell, Uxbridge Road, Surbiton, Surrey, examined. 2953. {Dr. Frankland.) Ai'e you one of the con- servators of the river Dovey ? — Yes. 2954. How long have you known that river ? — About five years. 2955. Is it much polluted at the present time ? — It was more polluted two or three years ago than it is now. I cannot speak so much to the pollution as some of the other Avituesses. I only speak as a fisherman. I come up ten or a dozen times in the course of the year, and I have seen the river quite white. This year it is veiy much better. 2956. Have you seen fish lying on the banks dead ? —Yes, 1 have seen fish lying on the banks dead ; and I have also seen fish in a drunken state, rolling about, evidently poisoned by something. 2957. Can you assign any money value to the injury state of the fishing was many know what the old years ago. 2958. Are you aware of any injury being done to property of other kinds, to the land ? — I see that the grass on the banks seems to be much damaged at places, and the herbage. 2959. You have, I believe, some statement to make as to the purification of this and the surrounding rivers? — I have taken some interest in getting this river purified. I have been in correspondence with a gentleman who was formerly an inspector of mines in Prussia, and he gave me the Prussian plan for purify- ing mines. Before a person is allowed to open a mine in Pi nssia, he has to give notice to the Government, and the Government Inspector will not allow a mine done to the fishing ? — I cannot do that. I do not to he opened until he can certify that sufficient means RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE - PART III. R5 have been taken to keep all pollution from the river into which the refuse flows ; until that is done to his satisfaction no mine is opened. That is the plan pur- sued by the Prussian Government, and this is a copy of the plan {handing in the same ; this will be found in Part IK). 2960. Have you personally seen this arrangement carried out in Prussia ? — No. I should say, as to the plan, that the inspector says that their lead mines are mostly in the limestone formation, and the limestone neutralizes the acid to a great extent that comes from the pyrites, or whatever it is. In consequence of his saying that there was no acid in these Prussian mines which would injure the water, I laid the whole of the facts before Mr. Church, a chemist, w-ho has also given me a further plan for purifying the water in case there should be acid in it. 2961. The samples that were sent to Mr. Church for analysis seem to have been in some way excep- tional; we have scarcely any such samples. The waters generally of the mines in this neighbourhood are not acid, therefore you may assume that what would be efficient in Prussia would be so here ?— What made me particularly point Mr. Church's attention to the acid was this. I visited the Rhoswydol works with Colonel Pryse two years ago Avhen they were in full work, and from which much foul stuff flowed into the river. We took samples 20 or 30 yards from the place where the refuse flowed in, and I had them care- fully put into bottles and sealed, and sent to Mr. Church for analysis. I will hand in his original analysis {handing in the same ; this will be found in Part IV.) ; and there is another analysis which I will hand in of a sample taken from the same works when they were not so much in work, they are both original {hand- ing in the same ; this loill be found in Part IV.). 2962. I see that there were three samples on the last occasion sent, and those were all perfectly neutral? — Yes, not acid ; the works were not then in full play, and we had further samples taken. The witness 2963. Are you practically acquainted with mining operations ? — I cannot say that I am, not sulficiently to give any evidence worth having. 2964. Cannot you give us any trustworthy opinion as to whether the Prussian system would be ajiplicable to this district, without doing serious injury to the mining industry ? — No. 2965. Do you consider that the Dovey is in a better condition this year than it has been hitherto ? — It is in a very much better condition. The chief reason is that the mines have not liad such a successful year as before, not so much lead has been got, and tliere- fore they have not washed down so much slime ; there has been more water, no doubt, and there is a vast quantity more fish this year. 2966. Has the water been less turbid? — Yes, I cannot complain of the water this year, it seems pure. The Twymin that comes down to it seems quite in a harmless state. I never saw it so pure. 2967. How many mines have been at woi'k during the last year ? — I tiiink the river keeper can answer that question. There is a mine called Cwmbwa, and I believe all the parties are taking steps in a moderate way, but Sir John Conroy has been very careful about it. 2968. Have you anything further to state ? — No. 2969. {Mr. Morton.) Do you know whether the means adopted in Prussia are efficient ? — Quite so, the rivers are full of fi§h. 2970. The inspector, under whose directions a mine is opened, finds that his methods are really efficient for the purpose ? — Yes, perfectly so ; not the slightest damage is done to the fish in Pi'ussia, and places are mentioned in the paper I have handed in, where the fish are not iujured in any way. 2971. Does the paper describe the processes fully ? — Yes, and the plan. 2972. Do you know of any otlier injury lacing done by a polluted river other than to fish ? — Not of my own knowledge. withdrew. Mr. J. Bell. 7 Oct. 1872. MachvuUcth. Mr. James Panton, River Keeper, 2973. {Dr. Frankland.) Are you Keeper to the Fishing Association? — "Yes. 2974. Your duty I believe is to take care of the fish ?— Yes. 2975. Can you give us a list of the mines ? — There are four mines that flow into the Dovey. 2976. Do you know how long they have been work- ing ? — No. 2977. Can you give us the names of them ? — The Tyissa (Llanbrynmair), the Dylife, the Rhoswydol, and the Cwmbwa. They have been working during my service here, four years and nine months. 2978. Did you know the river when it was in a pure state ? — It is as i)ure this year as in any season that I have seen it. 2979. For how many years do you remember it ? — Five summers. 2980. To what do you attribute the improved con- dition of the river this year ? — For one thing there is not so much lead got at any of the mines, at least for the first two miles, and another thing is they are retaining more of their skimpings and rubbish than they used to do. 2981. Have the other mines been at work also ? — Yes, but not fully. 2982. One cause of the purer condition of the river is that the industry has been diminished ? — Yes. 2983. Do you know of any other cause that would tend towards the improvement of the river? — The retention of the stufi". 2984. Is not some of the improvement this year owing to there being a greater quantity of water in the river ? — Yes, certainly. 2985. Can you give us any information as to the value of tlie fishing ? — No. 2986. In what way would the value ^of the fishing be represented ; does the income arise from subscrip- Frydd Mill, Machynlleth, examined. tions? — Yes, I believe it does, but I cannot fully Mr. J. Panton. explain it. 2987. Are there any fishings at the mouth of the river in nets ? — Yes. 2988. Would the rental of those fishings represent some of the income 7 — Yes, most of them are held by license, except those that are held by the club. 2989. Do you know of any other mischief being done on the banks of the river by the polluted state of the water ? — No, except by the lead mines. 2990. Is any injury done to the land on the river side ? — Yes, where the water flows it injures the grass very much. 2991. Can you give us examples of that ? — I can show you samples. 2992. Do you remember any particular farm now of which you can speak as to the amount of injury it received ? — I could not say what injury it has received in exact amount. I have not seen it in its original state ; the contaminated water has been running over it since I have been here. 2993. Is the injury done during flood times only ? — Yes, when the water goes on to the grass. 2994. Do you know of any mischief having been done to cattle ? — Yes, the farmers complain of that chiefly, and injury done to the owners. 2995. Is the river being silted up by the floods ? — Yes, some parts of it is, you can see less or more of it in many places. 2996. Are the floods inci-easing in intensity on that account ? — I do not think they are. 2997. The raising of a bank in the river would cause a quantity of water to flow over, which before would have travelled harmlessly in its bed ? — I do not think there are sufficient ingredients in the bottom of the river to cause any difierence in that rcepect. 2998. {Dr. Frankland.) Have you inspected any of the four mines you mentioned ? — Yes. L 3 86 KIVEBS POLIiUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 7 Oct. 1872. MachynlLtli. Mr. J. Panton. 2999. Have you ascertained what has been done at each ofthein in order to prevent ihe stuff being can-ied into the river ? — They have all more or less ponds to filter the water. 3000. Do you consider that in any one of the four cases those ari'angcments are satisfactory ? — Yes, I believe they are satisfactory as far as they are put into operation at all of the four mines, if they would only clean them out when they are filled. 3001. Do you consider that mischief is done by those setting ponds not being cleaned out ? — It helps a great deal if a pond is not fully cleaned out, it must be worthless, and be full of sludge and mud. 3002. Have you seen them when they have been full of sludge ? — Yes, I have. 3003. What is done with the sludge and mud that is taken out of the ponds ? — It is just laid on the bank of the pond, or as near as it is found convenient. 3004. They do lieep it out of the river ? — Yes, they do a lot of it. 3005. Does it find its way in afterwards when rain foils? — The stuff that is put close on the banks is washed in, some of it. 3006. Is it not very fine stuff — Yes, very fine. 3007. Have you seen it blown about by the winds ? — Yes, when it was dry enough ; it will not blow away very much because it cakes together mostly, but it will blow away a little if it is loose, not much. 3008. Do you think that aioy further number of settling ponds at any of the mmes would be an im- provement ? — Yes, double action ponds would be a great improvement. The witness 3009. Are they all single action ponds that exist at present ? — Yes, they liave a number of them, and if as many more were made it would cause a double action. 3010. You would have one series of ponds filling whilst the other was being emptied of the sludge ? — Yes. 3011. Who is the lord of the manor of the Dovey ? — Sir Watkin Wynn, I believe. I think he has moat of it. 3012. Does he make any stipulations when he lets a mine as to what is to be done ? — I could not answer that question. 3013. Have you known of any injuiy being done to cattle in consequence of drinking the water — No. 3014. I suijpose it is not much used for domestic purposes ? — They use none of it, as far as I know. 3015. Is that on account of its being polluted, or is better water used ? — It is owing to its being polluted ; it was formerly used, I have been told, when it was convenient. 3016. {Mr. Morton.) We heard at Aberystwith that they discharge this slime into the river purposely at flood time, that the sluices are lifted, and the stuff allowed to go away, do you know anything of that ? — I have not seen it. 3017. We were told that it was done at midniglit? — I have not heard of it. 3018. Have you any reason to believe that anything of that sort is done here ? — It could not be done, because the sludge is there. withdrew. Sackville Phelps, Esq. S. Phelps, Esq, 3019. {Dr. Frankland.) Are you one of the con- servators of the Dovey ? — Yes. 3020. How long have you known the river ? — About 22 years. 3021. What alteration has taken place during that time ? — I am sorry to say a very marked one in every respect. When I first came here I was merely driving through Wales for the purpose of fishing here and there, and it was then so good that although I only intended to stop a week, I found the fishing so much better than any other place I had ever fished in that I stfiyed there all that autumn. Next year I came and took a house here, and I have remained in it ever since, principally in consequence of the goodness of the fish- ing at that time, and also from Sir Watkin Wynn's kindness in giving me some shooting. 3022. When did the fishing fall off?— After the change of proprietorship in the Dylife mine principally. When I first came here the Dylife mine was in the occupation, T think, of private hands, and worked in a very small way, but it was then sold, and a company was formed, and since that time there has been a very great change. 3023. Has the river gradually deteriorated down to the present time ? — Yes. When I first came there was fish in the Twymin. I may mention that some few years since Mr. Wilcox and myself, taking a great interest in the fishing, took evidence in the neigh- bourhood, and amongst the rest one man told us that a few years since he killed 16 salmon in a pool close to the village of Llaubrinymair. 3024. Have you found the fishing better in the pre- sent year than it was formerly ? — ^It is better this year, but that is very easily accounted for. We have had an viinisual quantity of rain, and they have not got the f5ame quantity of ore this year in the mines that they used to get ; there is a great falling oft' in every mine. When I first came here if I fished down stream from Cew Macs I have often caught more fish than I could carry, and was obliged to leave them behind and send a man with a horse to fetch them home. 3025. Can you assign a money value to the fishing on the Dovey ? — I may mention that I was fishing on one occasion with two noblemen, and one of them said he would give, or in fact he offered. Sir Watkin Wynn , Machynlleth, examined. 300/. or 400Z. a year for the fishing ; and a year or two afterwards another nobleman was here and he said the same thing. I believe he made Sir Watkin Wynn the same offer, but Sir Watkin Wynn said that it was his wish that the fishing should be kept for the enjoyment of the people in the neighbourhood, and declined tlie offer. 3026. What do you suppose anybody would give for it now ? — It is quite of a nominal value — it is worth scarcely anything. 3027. Are there not people who fish with rods upon the Dovey ? — Yes, there are a few rods. We have a club, or an association, which is formed to preserve the river, and there are a certain number of members' tickets which are sold, and any gentleman can come and pay for a ticket and fish for a week, a mouth, or a day, but the fishing has sadly fallen off. 3028. What is the price of a ticket ? — Three guineas a year, 7s. 6d. a week, and half-a-crown a day. 3029. How many fishermen take tickets — I can- not tell you without seeing the treasurer's book, but they barely pay the expenses ; formerly we could afford to keep five regular keepers, and now we have reduced them to two. 3030. Do you receive anything like 100/. by sale of fish ? — No. When I first came the coaches used to take away tons of fish down at the mouth of the river, but I do not think they send any away now. They were caught by nets then. 303 1 . Then I suppose the net fishery at the mouth of the river had a greater money value than the rod fisliing on the river ? — Yes, but I am sorry to say that the fishermen complain. There is only one boat be- . sides our own. We have a certain right of fisherv. We rent our boat of Sir Watkin Wynn for 20/. a year. W^e have a net, and it is his wish that we should work this net twice a week in order to sell the fish to the population, but we hardly get fish enough to pay the men for working the net. There is only one net besides ours ; this is for fishing the estuary below our water, and the men said that they should not work it this year, but a lady gave the poor men lier license, else they said that the fishing was so deteriorated tliat they did not care to go to the expense of taking out a license. RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 87 3032. I suppose in former years nets and fixed engines of various kinds were used Avhich would bo illegal now ? — I can hai dly tell you, but they poached immensely at that time ; there were coracles poaching at night. 3033. You think that the river was not fished in at that time in a way that would be illegal now ? — No ; except the ordinary poaching. 3034. You cannot account, as I understand you, for the falling off of the fish at the mouth of the river ; that is not owing to the different mode of fishing ? — Most decidedly not. 3035. Do you know the value of the salmon that was annually caught formerly at the mouth of the river by nets ? — No ; but the quantity that was caught there was very considerable indeed. 3036. Have you visited the four mines on the river ? —Yes, at different times, but not for some considerable time. I have often in former years gone there. 3037. You are probably not acquainted with the arrangements for catching the slime? — Yes, I am aware of what they have done. I was there when they Avere making the pits, and I have been there sitice, but I have not seen what Sir John Conroy has done at his mine. At the Rhoswydol mine there was scarcely anything done ; in consequence of Mr. BeU writing to the people, they asked me to go up there and see what they were doing, and it is a mere nothing. 3038. At the Dylife mine, do you consider that the arrangements are tolerably satisfactory ? — So far as they go they are satisfactory, but there are not enough pools, I think. The whole thing is constructed on a wrong principle, and it is the case with all the mines ; instead of the water getting an even flow from pool to pool, and the water being distributed over as great a length as possible, they confine the water in this way (Jmnding in a sketch). The more they confine the water the greater the force with which it goes into those pools {describing). There is a strong current from here to there {j^ointing to the sketch), and so it flows ; the water is never stagnant, it is always in a state of disquiet. If the water flowed gradually from pool to pool there would be only a little interruption of the water in this space {explaining hy the sketch). 3039. Does not that represent the Prussian system of catch-pits ? — But it is a very bad one. Some years ago a friend of mine brought an action against some people, and they adopted a system which they found to pay ; at that time they let the water flow from one to the other, and it was astonishing the difference it made immediately. 3040. Do you know the area of the catch-pits at Dylife ? — No ; but I should not think that they are more than a quarter of an acre ; the whole of them are very small ; there are half a dozen pools about the size of this room. 3041. Do you know of any mine that has larger catch-pils ? — No. I think the great fault is that the same pits are always in use ; they want two sets of pools to catch the slime, so as to allow one set to get quiet while the other set is being cleaned out. If they used one set of pools for two hours, and shut it off, and let the water rest, and had another set of pools, it would be a different thing. 3042. Do you know whether the slime that is taken out of the settling ponds at the Dylife mine is worked over again ? — I think not. The fault thei'e is this, that the water does not all go into these pools ; it flows along a watercourse, and the banks are perpetually breaking down, and the water is always going into the river direct, there is a water wheel where the water is used, and it goes into the river there without going into these pockets, as it were {describing). 3043. If they only use that water for power, it does not become du-tied, does it ? — Yes, they use it for power after they have washed with it. I am quite sure that the proprietors of all the mines are most anxious to do what is right, but probably they do not quite know what to do ; I do not blame them. I am sorry to say that whenever our water-keepers go to the mines they always find things out of gear, and there is some excUsc made, — the banks are broken s. Phelps, Esq. down, or something of that sort. I remember the keepers on one occasion, after going to one mine, find- 7 Oct. I87a. ing the water from the watercourse flowing in a terrible 7 " state across a road, so they went to the mine, and to ^ ' their astonishment they found the water going direct into the river, and there was no attempt made to turn it into the pools. They spoke to the captain, and he said that it was only accidental for a minute or two. After leaving the mine they sat down by the brook to smoke their pipes, but, before they had finished, to their astonishment down the water came again after their backs were turned. I am confident that the only method of curing the mines is this, to adopt the Prussian system, and have an inspector of mines. It is useless to leave the matter in private hands ; in Prussia no mine is allowed to be opened until the in- spector has visited the mine and has seen that that mine is provided with proper catch-pits, then they have a permit to work that mine. Then the inspector also at different times visits the mines, in order to see that everything is in working gear, the same as a factory inspector does here. I am convinced that no system that can be adopted in these mines wiU be satisfactory, or do any good, until we have an inspection from mine to mine, with full power to take proceedings when anything is found wrong. The hands that are em- ployed are not expected to see that everything is in proper order, but I am sure the proprietors would be grieved if they were aware of the inattention that was paid to their wishes by their employes. 3044. I believe on the Dovey all the royalties belong to Sir Watkin Wynn ? — I think they do. 3045. Does he not make some stipulations as to the purification of the water ? — I am not aware of that, but I know that he is excessively anxious that everything should be done ; what steps he takes I do not know. 3046. Could not Sir Watkin Wynn appoint an in- spector ? — No, because that would be an invidious thing for him to do ; he would not like to do that ; it would be a disagreeable thing for him to proceed against a neighbour. 3047. Do you think that the government ought to do it ? — Most decidedly. I think that one inspector would be quite suflicient to inspect every mine in Wales. I may mention that I am still more struck with the injury the mines have done to the land than' to the water since I have been here. I am sorry to say that I farm myself and I take a keen interest in farming, but the depreciation in the value of landed property is beyond conception. I am sure that there are, not only small patches, but entire fields on the Dovey side which were formerly worth 50s. an acre, where there was fine grazing for cattle ; the farmers were doing well and fattening cattle, but now I see the land burned up with not a blade of grass in it, and it is not worth 1 /. an acre. There are entire fields about Glandovey where I know a tenant used to graze beasts, and a short time ago I saw his cattle coming into the fair, and instead of driving fat he was driving some lean bullocks in. I said to him, you used to have the best steers in the county, but the man shrugged his shoulders and said, that is over now. Those beasts that he would have got 20^. apiece for before now only fetch 11 Z. There is a farm below the one I have just mentioned at Abertfiydlan, where the old tenant lost 13 horses in 16 years, and the succeeding tenant has lost three horses in four years. 3048. Is that loss attributable entirely to the mining refuse ? — Yes ; the horses are never affected otherwise, it salivates them. 3049. ( Mr. Morton.) Are you aware what the effect of floods was in former days before a mine existed ? — No. What people think is this, that what injures the cattle is not the water they drink, for the water has no mineral acid in it, but it is the mundic or arsenic, it is like silt and it settles on the grass, and then it is that the horses eat it, after a flood, and then they are injured; it is not the drmking water, but it is the L 4 88 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: ORAL EVIDENCE PART 7 Oct. 1872. Machynlleth. S. Phelps, Esq. mundic or arsenic deposited on the leaves, or blades of giuss. 3050. We find that the water after it has settled may be drunk with impunity ? — Yes, I should not mind drinking it myself. 30ol. j)o the cattle suffer from paralysis ? — I can- not t.'il you. A gentleman saw a bullock dead some years ago immediately below one of these mines ; he was a medical man, and when he got there they were opening the beast, and he said that the coats of the stomach were covered with ore. 3052. Do you know whether the rental of any of tlie farms on the river side has been lowered in con- sequence of the injury done to it ? — I cannot toll you, but the man who lost the horses told me that he was obliged to go away, as his losses were so great. These farms would command a much greater rent from the actual improvement of land that is going on if jt were not for this ; a farm that was formerly only worth 200/. a year would be worth 300Z. or 400/. now. 3053. Are the owners of any of these river side farms also the owners of any of the mines above ? — One of Sir Watkin Wynn's farms is affected, but not to any great extent ; it is not injured. 3054. Is not he the owner of much of the land in this valley ? — Not in the lower part of it where the land is injured. Where it runs through Sir Watkin Wynn's property it is dry high land ; the river does not overflow that. 3055. You said that you were sorry that a par- ticular mine bad not been in such vigoi'ous work. I suppose you would not have the river restored to a state of purity by shutting up the mine ? — No, I s hould be sorry to see that ; I see no necessity for it, if pi'oiier means are adopted. 3056. The interest of the owner in the water, as I understand you, amounts to 300/. a year at the most ? — Yes ; that was formerly the worth of it ; two noble- men offered Sir Watkin Wynn 300/. a year for the fishing. 30o7. Do you know what the value would be of a mine yielding 300/. a year in royalty ? — I suppose ten times that. Another thing is this, that it is not only the agricultural value of the land that is depreciated, but also this, for instance, I will take one estate, I have no doubt that that one estate is depreciated to the value of 300/. a year, I mean the land ; I am referi'ing now to Lord Vane's property. 3058. What length of river does he own ? — A very considerable length. I think he might have four or five miles. 3059. Your belief is that it is possible to remedy this nuisance without injuring the mines ? — Quite so. I have a little to say with regard to the mines, and that is that the water might be carried from them direct into the sea at a very inconsiderable expense by means of a narrow watercourse. 5,000/. or 6,000/. would do it I should think, if the railway company would allow them to adopt their levels. 3060. What proportion of the affluents of the Dovey are unpolluted ? ^The entire river north of Twymin, also the Dylissis, and one or two little streams ; one was entirely free from pollution, but I am sorry to say that there is a factory upon it, and one of their machines burst and killed a great many fish, but I believe steps may be taken to remedy that. 3061. (Dr. Fra?i7dand.) Has that only occurred on one occasion ? — Yes. 3062. That was very fatal to the fish, was it not ? — Yes, it killed about 60 salmon in one night. 3063. Do you know the name of the brook below the Khoswydol mine where you say the bullock was found dead ? — The Twymin. I do not know the name of the farm, but it was above Sir John Convoy's mine. 3064. (Mr. Morton.) Do you of your own know- ledge know anything of the Prussian rivers ? — No, I cannot say that I do. With regard to the rivers what I have noticed is this, that the floods do greater injuiy than they used to do. There is nuich greater waste on the river side than there was formerly, and that is attributable I have no doubt to this cause, that when a flood washed away the soil from the laud at the edge of the river, it deposited fresh soil in former times and the river varied its course and washed its bank away, the whole of the deposit was alluvial and good manure, for as fast as it was deposited on the edge of the stones grass grew. It was found to grow there as on the edge of the sea, but now the deposit, instead of being rich alluvial soil, is merely the skimpings from the mines, and you may take it in your hand and there is no alluvial soil and no vegetable matter in it. The con- sequence is that now there is nothing for the grass to grow upon, and the next flood will sweep it away. Formerly it was different, grass sprang up ; but now the width of the waste at the river side is double what it used to be. 3065. Can you name any place where the width of the river has doubled in this way ? — Yes, at Lord Vane's farm. 3066. Has that been in consequence of the destruc- tion of the river-side. deposit? — Yes, in a great mea- sure. WJien one bank is swept away it does not accumulate on the other as it used to do. Above the place I have mentioned thei-e is a much greater waste than tliere used to be. I think in one case it amounts to a couple of acres of land. 3067. Have you any idea as to what extent of acreage has been lost in that way on Lord Vane's pro- perty ? — I should think two acres at least on one farm alone. It is more all down the river, and where it does collect the land that receives it is not of the same value ; in fact it is of very inferior value to what it used to be. Formerly it was all actual good soil, but now it is valueless, like sea sand. 3068. Are you acquainted with Lord Vane's pro- perty ? — Yes, well. 3069. Do you know whether the rental of the estate has been diminished by the injuries done to it by the altered condition of the river ? — -I am not aware how that is, but I do not hesitate to say this, that Lord Vane's farm would have been worth twice as much formerly what it is now. I mean those portions of it that are liable to be flooded. Formerly every flood enriched the land, but now every flood does harm in- stead of doing good ; it is covered all over with grit and other stufl'. 3070. Do you know of any instance in which litiga- tion has arisen out of the mischief that has been done ? — I think not. With the permission of the Commis- sion, I will hand in a specimen of the turf (liandiny in the same). The land from which that was taken, within my knowledge, was worth 505. an acre some years ago. 3071. How far from the river was this taken ? — About 25 yards. 3072. How far back from the river woidd you have to go before you got on to better stuflf? — Perhaps 10 or 15 yards. This is from the middle of a field {handing in another specimen). That was worth 50s. an acre a few years ago. 3073. How often is the land liable to be flooded in a year ? — That depends upon the season. 3074. Has it been flooded since the spring ? — It was flooded last week. I wish to draw the attention of the Commissioners to the great difference it has made in the actual herbage gro^vn. Formerly there was clover grown. This is another specimen from the mouth of a stream ; those are the only two grasses that grow there {handing in the same). 3075. You say that land that formerly yielded this {pointing to a specimen), now produces that (pointiiig to another specimeii) ? — Yes. 3076. How long have you known this land ? — 22 years. 3077. How long has it taken to alter the character of the product ? — The last 12 years. 3078. You would say that if a horse had the one sort of grass to go to, it would not have gone to cat the other ? — Yes. With respect to this land 1 may say that formerly if you had analysed a piece of the ground you would have seen the richest sort of RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE— PART III. 89 grass growing, clover, the very grass that the farmer a[)preciates the most, or cattle ; but insteiid of that, if you go now into the middle of a field where the flood goes near, and look at the grass, you only find black bent, and that sort of Avhite downy looking grass, wliich is the most valueless grass of all. 3079. {Dr. FranlilaiuL) Formerly although there were floods over this land they did not produce the same effect ? — No ; formerly where the floods Avent the land was tlie best. 3080. {Mr. Morton.) Is there any expenditure in- curred by tlie landlords on the river side in forming an embankment ? — Yes. Mr. Tliurston went to a very great expense, and Lord Vane has gone to great expense in trying to divert it at once. 3081. {Dr. Franklcmd.) Is there anything further that you wish to state? — I have said, I think, nearly all that I had to say ; but I may mention that some years ago I took out of the river a quantity of dead fish, and I sent some of them to Professor Church to analyse. These were very small fish, and he said that their vital organs were too small for analysis ; but he said that from the appearance of the gills he had no doubt they had been killed by mineral acid. He sent me a quan- tity of litmus paper, and asked me to get some water from a mine and put the paper in it. I got some water, and what I put in the night before, the next morning it was perfectly red. I then poured some into another saucer, and I could seethe colour stealing over the paper as it got moist. Another piece I left in for half an hour, and it became nearly red. I sent the paper back to Professor Church, and' he said there was no doubt that the water was strongly impregnated with this acid. He suggested that it ought to come into con- tact with some alkali, and he mentioned limestone, but I thought that chalk would be more satisfactory. I may The witness add that on the banks of the river there is enormous injury done to pasture land ; but you cannot see it this year for this reason, that wo have had 14 inches of water more than usual, and tlie consciquence is that the fields are green, but in ordinary seasons you can distinguish the fields that have been flooded by the deterioration of tlu^ land. 3082. That was atlributable, liowevcr, not to the acid contained in the floods, but to the fact of those engaged in mining throwing away their valuable ore, was it not ? — It depreciated the value of the land. One great thing is this, that not only does it injure the value of property here, but it also deteriorates the value of the property all the way down generally. I have a house here, and it makes an immense deal of difference where T am living in the summer ; As^e liave no hunting here, and if the fish are killed, the property is of much less value. 3083. The amenity of the stream is destroyed Exactly so. I believe it was mentioned, Avhen the Commissioners Avere here on the last occasion, that at the Dylife mine the sludge Avas turned into the river. If that is the case it is useless to adopt any system. I heard a short time ago, in confidence, that in spite of all Sir WatkinWynn's anxiety and the proprietors' to prevent it from that mine, at night the refuse Avas all turned into the river. 3084. {Mr. 3Iorton.) Do you kuoAV that the people did that Avith a guilty conscience ? — It was told to me in confidence ; I should not have mentioned it if it had not been that Mr. Taylor mentioned it publicly at Aberystwith. I am sure that that is done, and that the proprietors of the mines are not conscious of it. That is another proof of the great necessity of having a government inspector. AvithdrcAv. S. Phelp.1, Eiq. 7 Oct. 1872. Machynlleth. Mk. Hugh Lloyd, Machynlleth, examined 3085. {Dr. Franklcmd.) Hoav long have you been in practice ui Machynlleth — I liave been qualified for about 40 years. 3086. Will you have the kindness to state Avhat are the chief epidemics that prevail in Machynlleth ? — Excepting the ordinary epidemics, such as scarlatina, of which Avc have cases noAV, they are what you call ordinary cases. I may say that Ave are occasionally visited Avith typhoid fever, and a malignant form of scarlatina. 3087. You are subject to some extent to typhoid fever ? — Yes. 3088. To what sanitary defect would yon attribute that ? — I consider that the drainage is very imperfecj; indeed here. I do not know what it is in other places, but I adopt merely the vicAv of those Avho say what it might be Avith proper drainage, and Avhat it is at present. 3089. The toAvn, I believe, is not regularly scAvered? — It is very imperfectly seAvered, particularly in some localities. The main scAvers, perhaps, go on tolerably well, but they want flushing, that is the main point here. There is water that could be got for it, and it was proposed by my late brother two years ago ; it is the only method for keeping them clean. There are in all cases of drainage, first of all good main drains, and secondly bi-anch drains, having a regular flushing method of clearing the main drains. ° 3090. Are privies or waterclosets in use here ? Mostly privies. 3091. Ai'e they emptied from time to time ? Yes. 3092. Does the emptying of them cause a nuisance? — No, I think not ; except at the time that they are emptied, Avhen the matter is slopped on the road, but that is merely temporary. 3093. What is the character of the subsoil into which the ash-pits and middens are sunk ? — Gravel 3094. Porous?— Yes. 3095. Does the liquid soak aAvay from it ? — Yes, no doubt ; it goes down and percolates. There is a stream coming from above, and it settles regularly doAvuAvards. 30928. In sinking pumps doAvn to a certain depth this spring is on the upper side and goes doAvn, so that all the drainage down beloAV, that is to say, the loAver percola- tion, AA'ould form Avells and go to the bottom ; and I have not the least doubt that if there was a privy near the Avell, the contents would percolate into the Avell. 3096. Are there such Avells as you describe used iu the toAvn ? — There Avas one here {pointing to the map), but it AA^as found that the drainage from the privies percolated into it, and it Avas stopped. 3097. Is that Avell no longer used ? — No; and it has not been for years. 3098. How is thetoAvn supplied Avith AvaternoAV ? — Mainly from ordinary jnnnps and single Avells, and from a Avell down below here, called the Garrison Avell. One great defect is this, that although there is a sulli- cient fall as a rule for the drains, they settle doAvn close to the toAvn, and from there doAvn again it is nearly, if not quite, level ; there is a very small fall. I merely speak now as to the condition of the drains. It appears to me that the main drains could be carried a quarter of a mile off, and their contents there deposited in tanks, and then be utilized for agricultural purposes, for irrigation. 3099. You are not prepared to enter into the ques- tion of hoAV the soAvers are to be made, but you con- sider that their present condition is A'cry unsatisfactory? — Very much so. 3100. Is the Garrison avcU used by many people ? — Yes ; it is very largely used. 3101. Can you give us the names of tAvo or three other wells in tlie town that are largely used ? — Tliere is no other well ; there is a small trill of Avater, but that is not at all interfered Avith in regard to draina<;e. 3102. You spoke of pumps being used, I suppose they are sunk into private Avells ? — Yes, partly private and partly public. There are certain single wells that are attached to so many houses ; that is to say, sup- posing there are four or fiA'e or a dozen houses, they have the priAnlege of going to a certain well, they sink a pump. M Mr. II. Lloyd. 90 BIVBRS' POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE PART III. Mr. 3103. Cm you name two or three of those that are H. Lloyd. mostly used in the town ? — I think there is one that is 7 Oct~1872 ™"ch used near this place. I think that the more thej J ■ are used the better. Machynlleth. ^ ^ ^4. You think that the water is good ? — Yes ; I think it is. 3105. Can you give us the name of a third pump ? — There are a great number about here. 3106. I meau one that would be likely to differ from the one near you ? — There are a great number of them all together. 3107. Do you not consider that any of the wells that are used extensively supply water of a suspicious character ? — No, I do not. I may mention that on one occasion, owing to some little symptoms of disturbance in the stomach and bowels, and as this occurred in houses situated up above, I thought that the surface water got into the well ; but I think myself that that is sufficiently guarded against. I always like to have a pump covered over and flagged, and then walled and afterwards paved, or covered with flagging again in order to keep the surface water out of it, for I consider that worse than percolated water from other places. 3108. Can you give us the name of the well in the highest part of the town ? — It is near the lock -up house ; there are one or two wells there, one at the workhouse and one at the lock-up. 3109. Is the well near to your house lower down ?— Yes. 3110. And Garrison well lower still? — That is down below in the lower part of the town. 3111. Can you give us the depths of those wells approximately ? — They are very considerable. 3112. What is the depth of the well near your house ? — I cannot say, but they generally range from 20 to 30 feet in depth. 3113. Are they sunk in a porous soil ? — Almost all of them are sunk in a gravelly soil. 3114. At what distance are those wells from the privies of the houses ? — The privies and the wells are interspersed. 3115. Does the liquid part of the refuse from the privies percolate into the soil ? — It takes its regular course in the process of percolation, and goes down the same as if it were going through a great filter. 3116. Do you suppose that we should find evidence in those wells of privy stuff gaining access to the water, or do you consider that percolation through 20 or 30 feet of this porous soil is a sufficient safeguard against the conveyance of infection ? — I am not aware that it is, but I will take now the Garrison well, that must more or less receive the percolation of all the privies up above here, that is the only outlet except a new sort of sunk well at the gas station, excepting that all the main percolation from above entirely almost leads to the exit of the Garrison well. I believe that that water would be the best test for you to judge of the nature of the percolation from all the privies and drainage up above. That is the only opening there is for the percolating material that comes from above. 3117. That will undoubtedly contain percolation from the cesspools and cesspits ?— Of course. If you dug in any place down below there you would have a well. This is the only open well, it is a very fine well, and it is a sad misfortune that it is not improved and made a better place for general purposes, it might be made into a magnificent place, for it contains delicious water. 3118. Is there not water available that could be brought in by gravitation fi-om outside the town ? — I should not recommend that, where you can have good sunk wells. I would never recommend either lead or iron to be used, but plain wood or glazed pottery. 3119. What is your objection to iron pipes ? — The greatest in the world. I can take you to a person's house close by to see them in the morning, they are obliged to pump I do not know how much out of it before they can get the rust away. 3120. But the rust would not do them any harm, would it ? — No, but it is not very agreeable to look at, when you can have a find kind of alder or soft woodn, those certainly are far superior to anything of a metal kind. 3121. Would you say that the soakage from a cesspit, aftei' it has passed through 20 or 30 feet of porous soil, is fit to (Iriuk ? — I said that the wells were 20 or 30 feet deep from the surface. 3122. Do you consider that the soakage from a cesspit is fit to drink, after it has passed through 30 or 40 feet of porous soil ? — I cannot tell you that, some wells are very Ioav, and others recei\-e more of the percolation from the privies, they are hardly 10 feet in depth, and there is more of the surface current carried into the wells. Wells do not i-eceive so much percolation as if they were on a level down below, the wells are from 20 to 30 feet deep. 3123. And the privies 10 feet deep? — They vary, some of them are perhaps hardly 10 feet. 3124. What is there to prevent the water from sinking perpendicularly ? — It might do so just in this manner and go down in this Avay {describing). If it were on a level only 30 feet from a well, which is from 20 to 30 feet deep, and if this was on the surface {describing), it might go partly by it and round it. 3125. If you were pumping water out of a well, I suppose the level of the water in the well would be generally a little lower than in the surrounding stratum, and there would be a tendency to draw into the well ? — It is difiicult almost to say what would be the sup- ply stratum, or the depth of it. In the summer time you find, excepting in the case of very deep wells, that wells get dry. If you had a privy nearly on the surface, possibly it might go on, a certain portion Avould go entirely into the well, and another portion would go elsewhere, but many of these walls are built up from a certain depth. Generally speaking the spring that supplies the well is from the bottom. 3126. I suppose those wells that are situated very near to cesspools never get dry ? — I do not think we have what are commonly called cesspools. 3127. Or middens ? — They are merely isolated or distinct privies, there are no cesspools that I know of. 3128. iSupposing you could clear away the whole of the houses and leave only those privies or pits, would not the soil to a great extent be honey-combed by them ? — I do not know, unfortunately there is perhaps only one privy to three or four cottages. 3129. Is that, in your opinion, a satisfactory an-ange- ment ? — I think not. 3130. I suppose there is a chance of the propaga- tion of infectious disease ? — With the lower class of cottages it is undoubtedly so. 3131. Do you know what the mortality is in this town ? — I cannot tell. 3132. Have you ever had any cholera here ? — We have never had a case of Asiatic cholera ; there have been many cases of cholera associated closely with it, bu t never a case of pure Asiatic cholera. 3133. Do outbreaks of typhoid fever occur fre- quently ? — No. 3 1 34. When did the last one occur ? — About three years ago. 3135. How many deaths happened then ? — I cannot tell ; probably there might have been eight or ten. 3136. Out of a population of how many? — About 1,600 theu ; it is about 2,000 now. 3137. How do you consider that typhoid fever is propagated ? — It is very difficult to tell ; it is a very mysterious sort of visitor ; it is often assumed that there are so many conditions connected with typhoid fever that it is very difficult clearly to make it out ; it no doubt arises from decayed material, effete material in a peculiar state of fermentation. 3138. I am referring to the propagation from per- son to person ? — No doubt it has its localities, for instance, where eftete material is in a state of putrefac- tion, and particularly where putrefying vegetable and animal matters, and all those sort of things that ai-e injurious to the genend health exist in all cases, whether of cholera, typhoid fever, typus fever, or RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 91 smfill-pox, those conditions will make it of a very malignant kind, and particularly if certain atmospheric influences assist. 3139. Is it not the general opinion amongst the medical profession that typhoid fever is communicable from person to person through exci-ementitious mat- ters ? — I have no doubt that it is communicable from person to pei'son so, and I believe every kind of in- fectious disease is ; but it is assumed that in all cases of a virulent kind, particularly cholera and typhoid fever, anything that goes into the intestines, either in drink or meat, contributes very materially to the deve- lopment of this disorder. 3140. Does not the infectious matter in tyjjhoid fever exist chiefly in the discharges from the bowels ? — Yes, more or less it does. Likewise in all effluvia from the body, take, for instance, exhalation or per- spiration, but mainly the former, nature seems to have provided means by the evacuations to get quit of the poisonous condition of the system. The witnei 3141. If those evacuations go into the water, and j^^^ it is drunk, it must be very injurious, must it not ? — H. Lloyd. Then it is poisoned. 3142. {Mr. Morton.) With respect to the privies 7 Oct. 1872. and cesspools, are they emptied out fi-eciuently ? — „ 7 7 They are not regularly emptied out ; they are done ^ ' ' when they are so surcharged that it becomes a matter of necessity to do so. 3143. I suppose that one of these privy ash-pits, 10 feet deep, takes a long time to fill ? — Yes ; perhaps a year, 3144. Is it the case that these privies remain un- emptied for a year ? — Certainly. 3145. Then of course all the liquid filters from them ? — Yes ; it either evaporates or filters : the con- tents are not quite consistent, but they have a sort of semi-consistency. 3146. Are the tanks not water-tight ? — No ; they are built from below, but the lower part allows of percolation. withdrew. * Sir John Conkot, Bakt., Arbi 3147. {Dr. Frankland.) I believe you are the pro- prietor of a mine upon a tributary of the Dovey ? — Yes. 3148. How long has the mine been in work? — I believe there has been a mine worked at Ty Issa for a very long period. My grandfather commenced the present works about 1 845, and I have had the manage- ment of them since 1869. 3149. Has the intensity of the working been in- creased during that time ? — Yes ; the intensity of the working was increased very much about the years 1867 and 1868, but it fell off again very considerably during a part of last year, and also dui'ing this year. I have many fewer men underground now than there were in 1869. 3150. Have any complaints been made to you as to the damage done to the river arising from your mine specially ? — There has always been a certain amount of complaint from the fishery association until recently. With regard to the damage which is done to the fish, the general complaint is not with reference to my mine more than to those above. 3151. Have you taken any precautions against the pollution of the stream ? — I have done everything I could to prevent it. 3152. We saw when we visited your mine, that very elaborate experiments were in operation, may I ask you whether those experiments have been alto- gether successful ? — No ; the water which runs out is not perfectly clear, I am sorry to say, or anything like it. If the Commissioners recollect, when they were there the water soaked away through the bottom of some new pits, and came out perfectly clear at the time. That went on for, I am informed, about two weeks, and at the end of that time the gravel bed silted up, and the pits held the water like ordinary pits. The water settles to a certain extent there, hut not completely. 3153. Those pits were constructed, I believe, as filters at the time ? — It was accidental ; they were not intentionally so made. The intention was to have settling pits, but from the nature of the soil in Avhich those pits were made, they happened to act as filters. 3154. The water which soaked away, and of which we took a sample was exceedingly satisfactory ? — Yes, I have drunk some of it. 3155. But that, I believe, is a process that would be impracticable on a large scale ? — To the best of my belief it would be impracticable, on account of the expense, as the filter bed Avould silt up very quickly, and AVould have to be renewed ; you must move off" all the gravel and all the slime with it. I do not know what thickness of gravel is required to purify water. In the case to which I have referred the point at which the clear water issued was 18 feet below the level of the pits, and 60 feet distant horizontally ; one rfield Grange, Reading, examined. may say that probably the water percolated through j about 70 feet of gravel. Coimm, Bart. 3156. I presume the gravel in that case formed the " - — • bottom of the catch-pit ? — Yes, it did. 3157. Have you known any experiments tried by covering that gravel with a stratum of sand two or three feet thick ? — No. 3158. Of course the sand would soon get blocked up, but it could be removed ? — Yes ; the experiment has never been tried, but I imagine that the sand would block very soon. My mine captain will be able to speak more upon that point. 3159. Has he tried the experiment ? — I think not. 3160. Can you tell us what proportion of the water or rather during how many hours water could be im- pounded in those tanks which you had last year ? — I cannot tell you, but I find that at the present moment they are using about 33 cubic feet of water per minute. 3161. Is that for all purposes? — It is simply for washing ; that is nearly a ton of water a minute. 3162. Do you consider that in your own case it would be practicable to impound that water for a period of 24 hours, before letting it escape ? — I should not like to say. I instructed my captain to take a sample of the water as it flows from the two upper pits into the lower one, containing the finest slime that we attempt to catch. This was put into a glass last Thursday week, and it had to stand till Monday before it got sufiiciently clear to enable you to see the bottom of the glass. 3163. What was the depth of the glass ? — T believe ifwas a common tumbler, it is standing still at the office, and I am told that it is not perfectly clear yet. 3164. How many days has it been standing al- together ? — Ten days. I suppose the greater part of it had settled in about four days. 3165. Supposing you could impound this water for 24 hours, do not you think that nearly all the slime would settle during that time that would otherwise bo deposited in the bed of the river ? — Not having tried the experiment I cannot say. Where there are large deep pools in the river it is just possible that if the water stood there for a certain time it might settle. 3166. Do you mean for more than 24 hours ? — I think it is possible but not very likely. 3167. Do you not throw any of your skimpiugs into the stream ? — No. 3168. Is it not customary in mines to preserve the slimes that have been worked over by one or two processes for a further operation ? — Yes, it is usual to keep the slimes, and we dress them over and over again until they become so fine that we have no method of treating them. We have now slimes that I believe would pay very well to di"ess if we had some M 2 92 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PAllT III. Sir J. Conroy, Bart- 7 Oct. 1872. Machynlleth, machine that would dress them. I believe that is the state of the case at present. 3169. Is it the fact that the very fine slimes of lead are washed away along with the other ? — I believe they are. 3170. Even from the buddle? — They say that an ordinary I'ound buddle saves more ore than almost anything else. I believe there are slimes that it is almost impossible to wash, they are so very fine. 3171. At all events it is not an uncommon thing I believe for many thousand tons of these slimes to be preserved for months in a mine for the purpose of being re-worked ? — They are not preserved so long as that with us before being dressed. They are dressed in rotation and as soon as we can ; we have the waste stacked, but we do not work it again. 3172. You preserve it ? — Yes, nothing that settles is ever permitted to go away again. 3173. How have you stacked or kept the slimes in this way on a mine ? — Piled up in great heaps. 3174. Do you find that the slimes are liable to wash away in rainy weather? — I do not think so. 3175. Or blow away in dry weather? — Not the slimes, some of the fine skimpings blow about with the wind more than the slimes. 3176. In your opinion would it be quite practi- _ cable to place those slimes that are taken out of "pits in heaps upon land if you had land to put them upon ? — I think so. I do not know of any difficulty ; the slime cakes into a kind of hard sort of mud. 3177. Does it not blow about like road dust ? — In very dry weather it blows about a little. 3178. That is to say on the surface ?— Yes. 3179. People trample upon it, and very likely that loosens it? — Yes, after dry weather it Ijecomes dry on the top, and the wind will blow it a little way. 3180. Have you ever tried to utilize the waste slime in any way ? — I have not, but Mr. Franlc Buckland was at the mines a short time since, and he wished for a sample of it to send to London, to some potteries there. 3181. Has any attempt been made to convert it into bricks or tiles ? — I believe they do so at the Van mines, but I believe that the effect of burning bricks is to destroy all vegetation near, at least that is what I have heard. 3182. Have they any special supply of fuel there or with what do they burn the bricks ? — I cannot say, but they are near a railway. 3183. As far as you are aware, none of these slimes are flushed out into the river at any time ? — As far as I 'Mi\ aware, nothing that we ever catch is pei'mitted to go into the river again. 3184. What is the distance from the lowest catch- pit to the river ? — I cannot exactly say. 3185. 1 suppose it is impossible to use very slimy water over again for washing ? — I believe that it would not wash the ore so well, and, secondly, the expense of pumping would be so very large. It was stated in the Mining Journal a week orjtwo since that at a meeting held at Camborne one of the authorities mentioned as a fact that dirty water would not wash ore clean, whether that is so I am unable to say from experience, but Captain Williams, of the Van Mine, stated on the day the Commissioners were at that mine, that, being very short of water there, they were obliged during the summer t o use the same water for Avashing over and over again, but that they had to keep the fine slimes till the winter in order to get clean water to wash them, as the dirty water would not do. 3186. Are you aware of any salt of any kind, which, when added to the water, causes the slime to settle more ? — No, I am not. 3187. Have you anything further io state ? — The first statement that I should like to make is that at the present time Ave know of no means of making the ore merchantable without washing it. The other state- ment is simply a hearsay matter, but I wish to make it, Avith reference to the Prussian plan. Mr. Bell was kind enough to send me an account of it, and I believe I am right m stating that h'; said it Avas in operation on the river that Hoavs through Eras. It was stated that the river came from lead mines, and that the river Avas perfectly clear. I have never been to Ems, but I mentioned the fact to Mr. Henry Taylor of AberystAvith, and he told me that he had been' informed that the river at Ems Avas very dirty. I give you that as a mere bit of hearsay evidence. I may add that we keep all the water that is used for Avorking the ma- chinery entirely distinct from the water that is used for Avashing the ores. 3188. Would that be a process applicable, in your opinion, in most mines ? — In many mines it would not, where the Avater is very short. I do not think that they could do it in Cardiganshire where the water is taken on from mine to mine,' all the mine water I believe must be collected together. 3189. In that case how do they manage to use water that has been already used by tAvo or three other mines for their Avashing ? — I suppose they have to do it. 3190. Does it not settle in the AA'ay at all ? — I !r than let them remain ? — No doubt of it, txd'ore decomposition sets in. ooSo. Are there many places ospocialiy unhoallliy in Chesterfield ? — 1 should say there are no more than elsewhere : if there are, they are on the bank of the river. 3584. Do you attribute any part of the unhealthi ness of the people in the town to the condition of the river ? — I have never been able to trace it to that. 3585. What is your experience generally of the neighbourhood, of foul water to the dwellings ? — As a lulc; they are unhealthy, -35S6. Have you found that they do act in pro- ducing certain specific diseases, or in lowering the tone of the system ? — In lowering the tone of the system, and producing a low typhoid condition, 3587. I believe there are no weUs used in Chester- field ? — Yes, there are, 3588. How many are used, do you suppose ? — I cannot say, but I know there aie some. I am living in a house now where there is a good well, and I was lately living in another house where there was a well, and I drank the water of that well for five or six years. 3589. Are they chiefly private wells of which you are speaking ? — Yes. I believe there is only one public well, and that is in the market place. 3590. Is that well much used ? — I never see it used except for watering purposes ; we have a very good supjjly from the water company. 3591. Is that supply ample for all purposes? — I think it is pi'etty good. 3592. What is your opinion of its quality ? — I think it is good ; it is very soft. 3593. Do you know the sources of this Avater ? — I imagine that it comes from some springs ; from the sui'face, I should think fi-om the moors. The water comes from that direction ; I have never been to the source, but the reservoir is in that direction, and the water appears to come down in various natural con- duits from there ; in wet weather it comes doAvn in a considerable amount. I imagine that a good deal of it is surface water. 3594. Is there any cultivated land about there ? — Yes. 3595. On which manure is used ? — Yes, quantities. 3596. What sort of manure is it ? — Horse manure, and pei^ly manure, ashes, and manure from inidden.s. 3597. And privy stulf from Chesterfield ? — No doubt ; the farmers carry it away and use it. 3598. Do you consider that that is objectionable ? —Yes. 3599. I suppose the company have no power to pro- hibit the use of any kind of manure that the farmers may choose to take ? — I am not aware that they have any power. 3600. Is any part of the water spring Avater ? — I have no doubt that there ai-e some sjn-ings. In my journeys I see various brooks and small rivulets, that appear to lead towards the reservoir, and I have no doubt that they pass into it ; it is very good water ; I know several natural springs in a village, and the people have nothing else ; I have no doubt that part of that finds its way into the reservoir. 3601. As far as your experience goes of this water, I understand you to say that you consider it a healthy and satisfactory supply ? — I beheve it is. 3602. Is it generally delivered clear and bright, or turbid ? — It is rather turbid in wet weather ; as a rule it is bright. 3603. It might be turbid now, perhaps ? — I do not think it is even now ; we use it without filtration in my family ; we use the company's water, and we do not filter it. 3604. Do you use it for thinking purposes.' — Yes, but it is a little turbid sometimes. As a rule it is very bright. I used well water for years without any ill- efi'ect. I analysed the water from the well ; I had it very constantly. I drank it, and all my family, without suffering from it. 3605. What is the depth of that well ?— 70 or 80 feet into the solid I'ock ; the reservoir in which it is con- tained is cut out of the solid rock. The one I have now we do not often use, but I do drink it. 3606. Did the rock come up nearly to the surface in which the well was excavated ? — Not very far Irom RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART HI. 103 a great number of wells if ; the , as they call it, is close under the surface within a few feet ; the rock is not very deep. 3607. Was there any protection against surface water from the poi-ous stratum getting into the well ? — Not that I am aware of ; I am not aware that any got in ; I never saw it turbid, or smelling badly. I used to try it. 3608. What is the rock that the water came from ? — I think it is limestone. 3609. Is the public well excavated in the same rock ? — I am not aware, but I have no doubt it all comes fi'om tlie same source in the town have been filled up. 3610. As far as your experience has gone, no sub- stantial injury has been done to the health of the population of Chesterfield and the neighbourhood, by foul water of any kind ? — I am not aware of any direct injury being done. I cannot trace any case, or any general cases. 3611. Are there no cases of persons living near the river who have complained ? — There are, I have no doubt, at times when the water is very low in hot seasons, emanations, which have produced, no doubt, residts not satisfactory, and a lowering of the general health. 3612. Morton.') I think you spoke of a farmer occupying land within the area of the gathering The witness ground of the company, who no doubt used <;omo petty stuff ?— Yes. 3613. Do you know whether at any time they liave used town manure ? — Yes, I have seen it. 3614. The contents of the privies and middens ?— Yes, and the ashes mixed with the excrements. 3615. Did the cases of typhoid fever to which you have referred occur in the town ? — I can hardly tell you now, but we have had tliem in the town, and have had tliem removed into the hospital of the union. 3616. They were not specially characteristic of a moor district ? — I think not. 3617. Have you known any instance of ill-health having been caused by the condition of the river out- side the town at any of the villages below ? — No, but I have heard complaints from Stavcley, where the inhabitants drink that water. They have, complained that they were obliged to drink the water mixed with the sewage of Chesterfield. I should say that it was not an unhealthy place. 3618. Do the whole of the inhabitants of the village drink that water ? — More or less they use it. I beheve I think tlie river there joins the canal, and I believe they obtain their water from that. There is a junction with the river here and the canal. I believe it is the canal water they get, although the water of Chesterfield passes into it. withdrew. Mr. J. niueit, M.R.('.S. 14 Oct. 1S7J. Chesterfield. Me. David Douglas, 3619. (Dr. Frankland.) Are you manager of the Chesterfield Gas and Water Company's works ? — 3620. Do you take special charge of the water- works ? — I take charge of both. 3621. From what sources do you derive a supply of water ? — Entirely from Linacre or Holme Brook. 3622. Is it taken into a reservoir and impounded ? — Into two reservoirs. 3623. For what average length of time does it stop in the reserv6irs ? — I have not calculated it, but this summer our reservoirs have always been full, and never have lowered at all ; the water flowing in has been equal to our requirements, even at the dryest times. . 3624. On the 14th October last year, how long would the water have been in the reservoirs ? — I cannot say. 3625. Does the Linacre brook come down from the moorland above you ? — Yes. 3626. And drains over, according to the last wit- ness, some cultivated land ? — I do not know of any ; it is pasture land entirely, moorland, some parts of it woodland. I know of no cultivated land ; if there is any it must be very small. 3627. Do you know of no land on which manure is put ? — It must be a very small quantity, if any. 3628. Do you know of any grass land to which manure is applied ? — I know of some grass land, but not of much manure being put upon it ; it is a very hilly, bleak, wild place altogether, and the land that is farmed there is very poor land. 3629. Is the land drained ?— I do not think it is at all drained. 3630. Does the water flow over the surface into the brook and into your reservoirs ? Yes. 3631. In what condition is it when you get it into the reservoirs ? — Very clean and very fine. 3632. Is the brook fed by many springs? — No ; there are two springs, I believe, at the top of the Linacre brook, but a very small quantity of water indeed. 3633. So that it is almost all surface water? — Yes. 3634. What is the character of the soil there, the stratum ? — There is clay and stone, nothing else ; a sort of gritty stone. 3635. Is there any peaty matter upon it ? — None whatever. The water is clear and free from colour ; in a decanter you would not see any brown tint. Chesterfield, examined. 3636. Or yellow ? — If there is a yellowish colour, it is after an unusually heavy rain, and if you waited you would see it settle. 3637. Do you filter the water ? — No, we subside it ; we find no necessity for filtration, it is no good. I do not have it filtered in my house. When the water comes on to my table I drink it straight from the reservoir. 3638. You would, I presume, consider that it should always be clear and bright ? — Yes, sufficiently clear and bright to put on to the table without filtration. 3639. On the 14th October last it was slightly turbid ; was that an exceptional thing — Yes. 3640. I suppose it is generally used for washing purposes in the town ? — Yes. 3641. Do they collect rain-water for washing ? — There may be some few cases. I know many large houses where they have done away with the soft- water apparatus. I have been to-day to a very large house at Tapton where they at one time had a very largo soft-water cistern, but they have not one now ; they are all done away with. 3642. There are, we understand, a few private wells and one public well in the town ? — Yes. 3643. Are they used by the inhabitants ? — Very little indeed ; in fact so little that the butchers in the market who come from different towns, in several cases pay us a water rate for cleansing their stalls, although the pump is close by the side of them. 3644. Have you heard of any cases where people, having a private well, use the water from it in prefer- ence to your supply .'—Yes, they use it in some houses because it is harder water. I think there are four houses belonging to Dr. Black, in Hill Street, and the tenants have frequently complained of the water there. 3645. Ai-c they compelled to use it ? — Yes, by the landlord. 3646. They do not use it from preference ? — No. 3647. Do you not know of any cases where the people prefer well water to your Avater ? — No. 3648. I believe your supply is constant ? — Yes. 3649. Is it so in the very dryest weather ? — Yes. 3650. What is the quantity of water per head that you supply ?— I have not any definite means of know- ing that, but it is between 20 and 30 gallons, perhaps about 26 gallons per head a day. 3651. HoAv do you prevent the waste of water ? — We have recently appointed an inspector of taps ;ind fittings. A man goes round and inquires in all the houses and examines every tap and every fitting in N 4 Mr. D. Douglas. 104 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART IH. Mr. the neighbourhood ; that has lessened the waste, and D. Douylas. that wiJl be ke[)t gohig, ~ _^ 3652. I suppose that even 26 gallons a head per 14 (_jjt^872. mdicate some waste ? — Very considerable ; but it Chesterfield. ^"^'^^ much more than that until 1 began the system of inspection, and now the loss is coming down very much. 3653. Do you consider that a town chiefly sui)plied with waterclosets consumes much more water than a town that is chiefly provided with privies ? — Un- doubtedly. 3654. What would be about the increase ? — I can- not answer that, but I have no doubt that they use inoi'e water. I believe that there is a very large amount of leakage from waterclosets. People are apt to think that, if they have a watercloset, they are entitled to waste the water down the pipe to keep it clean ; they want a stream through it. 3655. Do you supply much water for trade pur- poses ? — Yes ; we supply a considerable quantity for tanneries and breweries principally. 3656. Do you know the aggregate quantity that you supply ? — I have not taken it out, but there is a con- siderable quantity of water supplied without meter. 3657. Will you furnish us with these data at a subsequent time ? — Yes. 3658. I see that this supply has been furnished at Cliestorfield since the year 1825 ? — Yes. 3659. Have there been any imi^rovemeuts in the works during that time ? — Very considerable. The first reservoir, constructed in 1825, was a reservoir about twice the size of this room ; it was taken at a very much lower point down the stream, consequently there was a veiy considerable amount of cultivated land there. Since that time that site has been entirely abandoned, and we have gone as high up the stream as we can get, so that the drainage area should be almost entirely moorland. 3660. How many miles higher up the sti-eam have you gone ? — A mile and a half. 3661. Plave you also increased your storage capa- city ? — Yes ; it was scarcely worth speaking of at that time, now it is about 170,000,000 gallons. 3662. Have you never filtered the water ? — No. 3663. At what distance is your nearest reservoir from the town ? — Three miles. 3664. Is there no necessity to cover it ? — No, I do tliink there are more than two or three houses on the dniiiiage area ; it is not worth considering. 3665. Does the sewage of those houses run into the stream ? — No, I believe it is emptied into their farmyards. I have been up the stream, and I can see nothing oifensive from those houses at all. 3666. Are those three farmhouses ? — I do not say that there are three, there is one, and some houses besides. 3667. I suppose the surface washings, also from those fixrmstcads, will be liable to get into the stream ? — Yes, but they are at a consiilerable distance from it, they are not on the stream, but a considerable distance from the reservoir, a mile away. Tlie witnes 3668. Are they not on any affluent of the stream ? — I think not ; the water would be filtered through the soil, and never reach us at all. 3669. How is the connexion between the water- closets and your radius made in Chesterfiehl? — Until very recently there has been very little inspection of the waterworks in the town. I have just begun, and shall insist upon making them all alter them, so as to have every watercloset with a separate cistern. In many cases it is not so, and there has been a good deal of laxity in looking after all the fittings, in addition to which, it is a very difficult matter to beat the Chester- field people in anything which affects their pockets or prejudices. 3670. This condition of things must be a fertile cause of great v/aste of water ? — Yes, very great. 3671. The closet-pan is in fact directly connected with your main ? — Yes, in some cases. 3672. Have you ever known of any regulation of the contents of a pan into the pipe ? — Yes. I have not personally had any complaint of it, but 1 have no doubt that in some cases it might be so. I have now prepared, and they are being delivered at this present time, a set of regulations which are intended to be put in force to entirely avoid that ; the company are desirous of doing it, and they are going to great expense to caiiy it out. 3673. {Mr. Morton.) What distance is the reservoir from the head of the brook ? — I should say about a mile, the upper one. 3674. What width is the drainage area at the reser- voir ? — Not a mile. 3675. Half a mile on either side ? — Yes. 3676. The whole of your gathering ground is a mile long and a mile wide at the foot ? — That is at the upper reservoir. I can scarcely say how much gathering ground there is altogether. I think it is 1,450 acres. 3677. Do you know every field in it.' — Nearly every field in it. I have been round to try it. 3678. Are there any farms Avithin that area as well as the moorland ? — No. 3679. Is the farm you have mentioned the only one there ? — -I believe there is another. 3680. Are they dairy farms ? — No. 3681. Breeding farms ? — They have cattle and sheep, i^rincipally sheep. Mr. Rogers, I believe, keeps four or five cows and sends milk to Shelfield. 3682. Have they to buy any straw to use ? — I do not know. 3683. Is there no ploughed land ? — Very little. 3684. Do those men purchase manure ? — I do not know that they do. 3685. Are you certain that none of the town manure goes up to that laud } — I cannot tell you, but 1 tliiuk the report shows that they have sold only 30 loads altogether. 3686. There must be a considerable store accumula- ting at the depot ? — Yes, but I do not think it is likely to go up there. 3687. Is not manure carted up there ? — I never saw any manure carted up there yet. withdrew. Mr. William B. Robinson, Bri Mr. W. B. 3688. {Dr. Franldand.) I believe you are the pi'o- liobinson, prietorof a pill -box manufiictory in Brampton ? — Yes. 3689. You have, I believe, some statement to make ? — I have been informed by the Mayor in Council, that in the return which was sent to you it is stated that I objected to give information to the gentleman who was sent round to gather information for your Commission. I have simply to say that a gentleman called upon me, a young man, who stated that he came from the Rivers Pollution Commission, and who very imperatively said, '• I want to see the process of your manufacture ;" that rather threw me olF my balance, and I said, " You will " not have anything further in the way of cxplana- " tion." I have since learned that this young man Avas the son of Mr. Rolliiison, the architect. If I had mpton. Chesterfield, examined. known the gentleman, the information required should have been given to him, and the reception he had would have been very different, but he was perfectly iraknown to me at the time, and coming as he did, he did not get the information I should otherwise have given him. I may say that Mr. Rolliuson was in- correct in his statement, that there was only one colliery on the banks of the river. Knowing Brampton so well, having known it for the last 30 years, I am able lo say that there are five collieries — I believe four or five — which empty their waters into the river ; they are all some short distance from it, but there are five collieries which empty their Avaters into the Hipper and Linacre Brook. They do not Avash the coal, the Avater is pumped from the mine. f RIVEBS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 105 3690. Is that water foul ?— The water is apparently clear, but there are several manufactories on the river where they use water for steam purposes ; tliey use it to condense and to boil with. It must be well known that tlie water coming out of the pit is not in the state that the river would be, it would be soft like the Chesterfield water ; but it was not liked for the collieries, where they get hard water, and get the boilers fouled by apparently clean water. 3691. Do you consider that some of these waters, although not all of them, get hardened ? — Yes, and at times the water is damaged for bleaching purposes. 3692. Do you use this water ? — Yes. 3693. Does it injure your boilers by incrustation ? — Yes ; so much so that I may state that the Hipper river, just above where the wash belonging to the pump mill Mr. RoUinson spoke of is, a great part of the water is diverted into a dam, and it runs down through Mr. Coke's fields into the river below, and the river water coming from the collieries was so much polluted that we bought from our neighbour the right to use the water that came from the cut. One great thing which I believe people have to object to is the accumulation of potters' rammell in the river ; it consists of broken pots and broken brick ends, which come out of the kilns. In flood time they throw these things into the river, and consequently they fill the river up, and dam up the sewers, which all come from various properties. 3694. Do you know of any injury being done to land on the river side by this raising of the bed of the river ? — It is an injury done to all the property round, simply by stopping up the natural flow. 3695. Does it cause floods in the river ? — Yes, and up the sewers. 3696. {Mr. Morton.) Are these sewers agricultural drains, or house drains ?■ — House drains. 3697. {Br. FranJdand.) We have been told that tlie discharge which comes from your factory is sometimes coloured ? — There is a great difl'ererce between stain- ing paper at the works and putting stain on to the paper ; sometimes the benches which the hands work on get discoloured, and they want washing down, and it is only at this time when the place is being waslied down that there can be any colour go from our works. 3698. Do you stain the paper for the pill boxes yourselves ? — Yes. 3699. Is there no refuse from the preparation of the stain that goes into the sewers ? — No, nothing beyond washing the benches down. 3700. There is no boiling out of dye woods ? — Nothing of that kind. 3701. Do you prepare the dyes yourself ? — We pre- pare them as they arcs used. 3702. They are not of such a character as to cause any waste of the material in the preparation ? — Nothing of the kind ; it is no more than dutying the benches, as I have explained. 3703. You consider that it is the washing of the benches which has given rise to the notion that the sewage is coloured by what comes from your m.anu- factory ?— Yes, I might say that the sewer whicli conies through our property drains three or four pro- perties beyond our house — properties generally ; there are two public-houses that drain into it. 3704. That is ordinary sewage ? — Yes ; there was a small dye-house that drained into it, but that I think is done away with. 3705. What might be the volume of discoloured liquid that would be discharged into the sewer at your works within 24 hours ? — Perhaps a bucketful. 3706. What sized stream does it go into? — We generally send our condensed water down that place from the engine. 3707. The water that is used to cool the conden- sers ? — Yes. 3708. Is there a considerable stream ? — Yes, gene- rally. 3709. Is a bucket of washing water sufficient to colour it ? — Yes. 3710. Then a little colour goes a long way ? — Yes. 3711. {Mr. Morton.^ Does the coal pit water which you have said is clayey in the outset become ochrous and dirty by exposure ? — I believe the water which comes from the pits, and is delivered into the Hipper, is not of an ochry kind, but the water that comes from the pits on the Linacre brook is ochry. 3712. Is the watei' from the five other pits fouled in that way ? — That I cannot tell. There are three which deliver their water into the Hipper. I think there are some, but the ochry water pi'incipally comes from the old workings. 3713. In the preparation of dye for your own pur- poses, is it obtained by extraction or grinding up the purchased dye with oil — Our dye is principally cochi- neal dye, or aniline dye. 3714. Do you use green paper in your processes? — No, not without it is a purchased green paper. 3715. Is there any arsenic in any of your colours? — I believe there may be a fraction of arsenic among the aniline dyes. Mr. W. B. Jldhinson. 14 Oct. 1872. Chestfifield. The witness withdi-ew. Mk. John Ewing, farmer, Tupton, examined. 3716. {Mr. Morton.) Do you occupy land at Tup- ton ? — Yes. 3717. How many acres ? — About six or seven acres. 3718. Is your farm on the river side? — Yes, on the river Rother, at the top end of it. 3719. How much of that land is liable to flood ? — About an acre and a half is covered very often now. 3720. Is the land more often covered now than it used to be ? — Yes, coal is being got so far under this land, as far as they can get, that there is a settling in the river, and the land as well. 3721. Is mud deposited in the bed of the river, so that the same quantity of water which used to pass harmlessly now overflows your land ? — Yes; and there are sets in the river of deep water which used to be shallow. 3722. Has the land sunk ?— Yes. 3723. Is that owing to the coal workino-s below 3725. What mischief is done to you ? — The injury j^fj.^ j Ewivg. done to cattle. 3726. Have you lost any cattle?— Not cattle, but we have sustained great injury ; we cannot put them to the water in that river ; they do not do well with it ; there is a scum of gas on the top of the water, and they cannot get anything to drink but what comes through that scum. 3727. Do you feed those cattle ? — We dairy, chiefly. 3728. Does it affect the produce of the cows ? — Yes ; the river is fuU of it, and we cannot put them into this field to do any good ; there is a quantity of grass, but they will not eat it ; it spoils the bottom portion of the field. 3729. How many cows do you keep ? — Three or four, and sheep as well. 3730. Are there no collieries above you at which coal is washed ?^ — Not that come into that stream. you? — Yes, and the river as well ; and they turn the 3731. Do you know Clay Cross Colliery? — Yes gas water into it from the gasworks, and the water from the pits often comes down as well. 3724. Your complaint is that the river is black from coal washings ? — No, from gas water coming from the gas house, and sediment coming from the pits — ochry water, — there are no washings of coal. 30928, but they do not wash coal there. In the summer time it is not fit for cattle to drink at all. 3732. How much do you suppose the injury done to you iu a year amounts to ? — I have not calculated it. I merely say that the water in tiie river is not fit for ca ttle to drink, and they do not do well with it 0 106 KIVERS POLLUXION COMMISSION ; — ORAL EVIDENCE PART III. Mr. J. Eioing. 14 Oct. 1872. Chesterfield. 3733. {Dr. Frankland.) You have spoken of a scum on the surface, which is caused by gas refuse ? — Yes. 3734. There would be no scum from the coal water ? —No. 3735. Do you consider it is the scum that does the greatest amount of damage ? — Yes ; the cattle refuse the water ; they will not drink it through the scum. 3736. Do you find, when they do drink the water, that it affects them injuriously? — We have not ex- perienced it yet, but it overflows the land, and leaves The witness this gas scum all over the grass, and the cattle will not eat it. 3737. Where are the gasworks that you speak of?— At Clay Cross. 3738. Is it for the village, or is it for the coal workmg ?— It is for the viUage as well as for the coal working. 3739. Do they allow aU these products to pass into the river ?— They sell a portion of the gas tar : aU the rest goes into the river. withdrew. Mk. Thomas Elliott, miller, Whittington, near Chesterfield. Mr. r. Elliott. 3740. {Mr. Morton.) What complaint have you to make ? — I complain of the coal washing. 3741. What stream runs by you ? — The river Whit- ting. 3742. Does it receive any coal washing ? — Yes, it is filling the brook up very fast. 3743. Are you injured by its filling up the lodge above the mill ? — Yea, and not only that, but the brook also is filling above the mill, and above the mill-pond it is filled up ; it is of no use emptying that out, because it soon fills up again. It will be filled up again in 12 months if it is cleared out. 3744. How long has this grievance continued ? — It is nearly five years since I bought the property ; we cleared it out then, and I think in two years it was full again, nearly. When I bought it the water was pretty nearly clear, and there were plenty of fish in the brook, but now not a fish can live in it. 3745. What is the cause of that; is it wholly from the coal washings ? — No ; the water is the cause of killing the fish ; it is quite ochry ; sometimes you can see the bottom of the dam, and it is quite ochry ; that is when they have been cleaning some old hollows out. 3746. Have the coal woi-kings much extended in the last five or six years ? — Yes, a good deal. 3747. Is water pumped out of them ? — Yes, a deal of water. 3748. How much injury per annum do you suppose is done ? — I cannot say exactly ; perhaps 40/. or 50/. a year. 3749. What might l)e the rent of your property ? — • I let it to my son at 40Z. a year ; but I consider it is better worth 80/. if it were not for the foul water. 3750. What was the rental upon Avhich you pur- chased it ? — It was an old mill, and I pulled it down and rebuilt it. I have laid out above 2,000/. upon that mill and a bit of land. 3751. {Dr. Frankland.) Do you consider that this ochry water has been partly the cause of kilUne the fish ?— Yes. 3752. Has it had much to do with the silting up of your lodge 1 — Yes. 3753. How ? — The water as it comes down is as black as ink, and it settles, when the water gets still, in our lodge. 3754. Is not the water of a lightish brown colour ? —Yes. 3755. I understood you ;to say that you had got both ochry water and coal washing water ; why do you consider that the ochry water leaves much deposit ? if the deposit is black, would it not be rather from the coal washing water ? — Yes. 3756. Have you ever analysed this deposit ? — No. 3757. Then what makes you think it is the ochry water that deposits a good deal of stuff ; is it only your own opinion ? — Only my opinion. 3758. Have you detected any ochry matter separate from the coal washing ? — Yes ; sometimes it is ochry on one side. When there is no coal washing there is a good deal of ochre, but the small coal is fiUing up die dam. I think, however, that the other is most injurious to the fish and for cattle. 3759. {Mr. Morton.) What do you do with the mud that you talce out of the mill lodge?— In the first place, when I cleaned it out I wheeled it out into a field, and since then we have sent what we have got out down the stream. 3760. Did you treat it as manure and spread it over the grass when you took it out first ? — Yes. 3761. How did that answer — Very well. 3762. Did it do good ?— Yes, but it accumulated before these pits were adopted. 3763. It was a different sort of mud then ? — Yes. 3764. Now you do not use it for a top dressing ?— No. ^ " 3765. Does the mud become red, as if it contained iron, when it is exposed to the air Some part of it does, but there is not much of that sort. 3766. Do you know of any injury having been done to grass lands below you caused by the stuff you send down ?— Yes, there is a place, and nearly half of it is covered over by this coal slag. 3767. Have you any grass land spoiled in that way ? — Yes, a small quantity. 3768. The land is spoiled for pasture ?— Yes ; we had to clear it off, or else it would have been spoiled. 3769. Do you know of any injury being done to cattle from drinking the water ?— They sometimes will not drink it, if it is very bad. We have an engine, and the water is not fit to use for the boiler scarcely ; we do use it, because we have no other. 3770. {Dr. Frankland.) Does it corrode the boiler ? — No, it is so dirty. 3771. Does it produce a crust on the boiler ? — Yes, very hard. 3772. Has it to be removed by a chisel and hammer ? — Yes ; it is backing the water up to the wheel ; at first the water went clear away from the wheel, but now the brook is filling up below, and holds back the water. 3773. That diminishes your power ? — Yes. 3774. Can you give us any estimate of the diminished power arising from that cause ?— We could drive three mill-stones, but when we stopped this morning we could scarcely drive one. 3775. Is not that owing to a flood ?— No, it is not ; small coal, slack, gets into the dolphin, and it wears it away till it gets too little. 3776. Should you say, as the general result of this coal washing stuff, that the power in your mill has been diminished to the extent of one third i*— Pretty nearly that. 3777. ^You have not substituted steam power for it yet — No, but I am putting in a water-wheel to do away with the dolphin on account of this muddy water. 3778. Which would otherwise not have been neces- sary ? — No. 3779. {Mr. Mm-ton.) How long does a dolphin last ? — Mine has been in use for four years, 3780. During those four years has the power of the dolphin fallen from three to one ? — Very nearly that ; I am sm-e it has been diminished by one half, 3781. If you replaced the worn parts would you not recover your power at once ? — Yes, perhaps I might, but this coal slack gets in, and it soon wears it away again. 3782. What would be the cost of replacing the worn parts of the dolphin — Perhaps 50/, 3783. {Dr. Fratikland.) As I understand, part of the reduction in the power is due to the backing up of RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART IIL 107 the water, owing to the raising of the bed of the stream beyond you ? — Yes, that will diminish it. 3784. Did you not say that the water backed up on to your dolphin ? — Yes. 3785. And you lose power in that way ? — Yes, a little. 3786. How many inches or feet should you say are Mr. T. Elliott. backed up ? — About six inches J should think, and it keeps getting a little more. I can perceive it ; we can sec it in the day time. 3787. {Mr. Morton.) "What is the fall at your mill ? — Thirteen feet, head and fall. 14 Oct. 1872. Chesterfield. The witness Avithdrew. Adjourned till to-morrow at Newport at 10 o clock. In the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Newport. (Fob Newport and District.) Tuesday, October ISth, 187 a. PRESENT ; Dr. Edwabd Frankland, F.R.S. | Mr. John Chalmers Morton. Mr. S. J. Smith, F.Gr.S., Secretary. Dr. Benjamin Davies, 3788. {Dr. Frankland.) You are, 1 believe, medical officer of health for Newport ?— Yes. 3789. How long have you held that appointment ? — Eleven years. 3790. Have you known Newport for a longer period than that ? — About 14 years, altogether. 3791. Referring to the reply to the query as to the rate of mortality, it appears that you have had rather a varying rate in Newport ? — Yes. 3792. It has been very high indeed sometimes ? — Yes, dependent upon any current epidemic. Any epi- demic that we have generally raises the death rate in Newport. We have had an epidemic of small-pox lately, which raised the mortality. 3793. Have you had any typhoid fever? — Very little, we have generally been free from typhoid fever, and it has only been within the last six years that I have separated typhus fever from typhoid fever in my return to the Board of Health. Within that time we have had 142 deaths from typhus fever, and only 15 from typhoid fever, in six years. 3794. Is not that rather a singular proportion ? — Yes, very small indeed for typhoid. 3795. Do you remember whether in the year 1864, and the two following years you had any typhoid fever ? — At that time I did not separate the two fevers, but returned them under the head of "continued fever." In 1864 we had 21 deaths from continued " fever, in 1865 18, and in 1866 100 deaths from typhoid, and five from typhus fever. 3796. That form of fever accounted for the high death rate in 1866, but hardly so in 1864 and 1865 ? — No. In 1866 there were 100 deaths from typhoid fever and five from typhus. 3797. What was the number of deaths in 1864 ? — We had 21 from continued fever, but I did not then separate the two complaints. In 1864 we had an epidemic of whooping cough, and in that year also an epidemic of scarlet fever, which caused a considerable mortality among children. That, I think, accounts for the high rate of mortality at the end of the year. 3798. What was the cause of the high rate of mortality in the year 1865 ? — Scarlet fever again, and measles were very prevalent, also small-pox. 3799. How many deaths occurred from small -pox ? — Fourteen in one quarter, 33 in another quarter, and eight in another, making together 55 deaths in the year from small-pox. 3800. Do you consider that the prevalence of small- pox is caused in any way by foul water or di-ainage ? — I do not ; I believe it spreads simply by contagion. 3801. It would be perhaps afi"ected to some extent by the cleanliness of the people and the water they used in washing ? — Yes, and by overcrowding ; the town is very much overcrowded. Alon-Llwyd, examined. 3802. To what did you attribute the outbreak and jj,, B. Davies. prevalence of scarlet fever ? — To infection and over- crowding again. 15 Oct. 1872. 3803. Do you think that imperfect di-ainage and the escape of sewer gases into the dwellings had any- thing to do Avith it? — I tliink not in this town. 3804. You would say, I presume, that sewer gases and foul emanations would favour the spread of that disease ? — Yes ; by lowering the health of children, and in that way predisposing them to be attacked by it. I do not think that scarlet fever can be originated by sewer gases, unless they contain the poison of the disease, the special virus. 3805. If you had a few cases of scarlatina in the town, and the excrements of the patients passed into the sewers, and the sewer gases penetrated other houses, might not the disease be propagated in that way ? — It is possible. 3806. I suppose there are no direct proofs of that ? — None. There have been proofs here of propaga- tion by clothing, of people going from one house to another, and carrying it about them ; there are proofs of that in abundance. 3807. With regard to typhus fever, what do you consider is the cause of that in the town ? — That I believe is due to overcrowding and a good deal of destitution, which has prevailed. Until the good times that we have now in the town, there has been a great deal of poverty, destitution, and overcrowding. 3808. Is low diet favourable to the development of fever ? — Yes ; we have a difficulty in providing houses for the working classes here, and the conse- quence is that the town is very much overcrowded, at least those parts which are inhabited by the labouring classes. 3809. Can typhus fever be propagated through the medium of sewer gases ? — I can only speak from what I have been taught. We are taught that typhus is essentially a disease caused by overcrowding, but that typhoid is a fever that may be propagated by emana- tions from isolated human beings crowded together in a narrow space, where one or two may be suiiering from the disease. 3810. There seems to be a good deal of evidence as to the propagation of typhoid fever through sewer gases, but so far as I am aware, there is no such evidence as to typhus fever. I believe not. 3811. I believe typhus fever is infectious, in the sense of being communicated from person to person, and much more so than typhoid ? — Yes ; that I believe is only effected by discharges from the body. 3812. Is not that the general opinion in the pro- fession now ? — Yes. O 2 108 KIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— ORAL EVIDENCE PART ••B.Davies. 3813. Do you consider that tlioso di,scliur<;os con- 5 Oct~l87 iuf'ectiou8 matters after they arc mixed with ° ' drinking water ? — 1 do, decidedly. Newport. 3814. Th rough drinking water then, infection may — ... be conveyed ? — Yes. 3815. As well as through gaseous emanations? — Yes ; the last slight outbreak of typhoid that we had in the town, could he traced to the case of a man, who went over to a suburb on the other side of the river, a mile away, to empty a very foul cesspool; he came home shortly afterwards, and soon typhoid fever showed itself in him, and it was propagaled from him to two or three other people in the immediate neighbourhood. There was no typhoid fever in the town at the time but that. 381G. Tn 1866 had you any cholera? — Yes; we had 14 deaths from cholera in that year, and 15 from cholei-aie diarrhoja, 3817. Was the disease imported in the first instance ? — Yes, from Lontlon, that was the first case we had ; a woman came down from London with it. 3818. How did it spread ? — We could not trace it very distinctly ; that was the first case. We had a few other cases, which I believe were brought in by the shipping. We could trace no direct continuity in the cases, and I believe they were nearly all imported. 3819. Can you speak to the Avater supply in New- port? — -Yes; our water here is exceedingly good, and the supply constant. 3820. There were, 1 believe, at that time a few wells used in the town ? — There are not many wells in the town altogether. There are only six public pumps now open, and two of those are out of order, and not ns!id, so that there are in fact only four now in use. J examine the water from time to time, and find it on the whole pretty good. I have advised the Board of Health to close the pumps, but they are not dis- posed to do so, on account of the inconvenience it would be to some of the people living near. 3821. Do you know the well in the yard of the King's Head Hotel ?— No. 3822. Do you know Baines' well ? — Yes ; I examined it yesterday. 3823. That water contains a very small Droportion of organic matter, but a large pi-oportion of the residue of sewage ?— And yet it is a very favourite well in the town ; people get their water from it coming long distances, and it is carried about. I have applied the permanganate test ; we had the well opened last year, and one surveyor reported then that there were no drains anywhere near likely to leak into that. We ' had all the wells examined, and with the same result, with the exception of the well at the " Salutation." Some years ago we sent a company up some water to examine that was contaminated with sewage ; it has since been only used for cattle. The Board of Health did not feel inclined to close it altogether, but they ordered a board to be put up to state that it was only to be used for watering horses and cattle, and not for drinking. 3824. Have you opened Baines' well — Yes. 3825. Can you tell us the depth of it ? — I think it is 12 feet deep. 3826. In what stratum is it sunk ? — In gravel, I think. The formation is the old red sandstone. 3827. Does the well penetrate into the rock ? — I think it does, because it is just at the slope of the hill. It is at the outcrop of the sandstone ; there is a cemetery, an old churchyard, a little higher up on the hill. 3828. That might account for some of the previous contamination. We found a large proportion of chlo- rine in this water, which is almost a certain indication that animal matter has in the condition of sewage found its way into it ; should you consider that water derived from such a source was fit for use ? — No ; and I have repeatedly brought the matter before our board, and advised them to have all the public pumps closed. We have such an excellent supply of water from the company that pumps are quite an anomaly here. 3829. Yon have stated that the water supply of a private company is of a good quality ? — Yes. 3830. You .are quite satisfied with it ? — Yes, and it IS beyond the possibility of contamination by sewage. A reservoir some miles out of the town receives tlie watershed of a high mountain range where there are hardly any houses. _ 3831. The only question is, have you sufficient of It.?— I think SO; there has never been any short supply, and the company are going to give us a further supply. I have heard complaints made from time to tinae as to this water, and that the company do not filter it. The consequence is, that after heavy floods and high winds, the water is deliv(;red every now and then rather thick, it is simply a question of expense. If the town are not satisfied with it, it would cost a gi-eat denl of money to erect filterin'-- beds, and then it is a question whether each house" holder may not very inexpensively do for himself what the company must do on a larger scale. 3832. Would it not be more costly for each house- • holder to filter the water than if it were done by the company, at a small additional charge ? — It is, of course, a question simply of expense. 3833. Among the poorer parts of the population it is very difficult to get water filtered, and they are very careless in the use of water ?— Yes. The water is sometimes thick after heavy rains in the winter, or if there has been much wind stirring up the water in the reservoir. 3834. You would, I suppose, recommend that the water should be filtered ?— Yes, if the public were disposed to pay the price for it. 3835. I think you stated that you had not known of the escape of offensive gases from sewers into dweUings ? — We have in the upper parts of the town complaints occasionally of the escape of gases during the prevalence of an easterly -wind and a high tide. I have smelt the gases in my own house. 3836. I presume that the ventilation of the sewers is not so perfect as it might be ? — It is very fair in- deed, we have many openings in the streets. I do not consider it is sufficient to meet an exceptional case like that, but it is only during the spring months with an easterly wind and high tides that we smell anything. 3837. You would, I presume, say that the escape of sewer gases into houses was a dangerous thing ? — Certainly. 3838. Do you attribute any case of ill-health to that cause ? — I have not been able to trace any. 3839. When you speak of overcrowding being the cause of ill-health, you mean, of course, with all those collateral circumstances which attend overcrowding, for example, there is very often a deficiency of food and bad ventilation in the dwellings of the poor ? — Yes. 3840. Also dirt and carelessness as to the disposal of excrementitious matters ? — Yes, there is a cood deal of that, and we endeavour to keep such places in as good order as we can. There is rather a deficiency of privies in some of the low parts of the town, but still on the whole they are very fairly supplied. 3841. I believe there are no privies or cesspools within the houses ? — No; there are very few cesspools in the town altogether, they are all trapped and have communications with the sowers. 3842. What is the construction of a privy ? — It is a privy ynxh a cast-iron eject which the people flush with water themselves, it is in fact a kind of water- closet. 3843. And there is a communication with the sewers.' — Yes. The excrementitious matters are flushed away at once. 3844. Are these privies kept in good order.' — In the Irish quarter we cannot get the people to keep them very well, and every now and then M-e have to prosecute, and bring the oft'cnders before the magis- trates. There are two insjiectors of nuisances in Ne-wport who go round and visit these places to see that they are kept in tolerable .order. RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— ORAL EVIDENCE — PART IIL 109 3843. Are they connected with the main sewers ?— Yes. 3846. You say that the people must flusli them out themselves, have tliey to cany water to them ? — Yes, there is no pipe attached. 3847. Do they not often neglect to carry the water ? Yes, the habits of some of them are very filthy. 3848. Have you frequently found offensive emana- tions proceeding from these places ? — Yes, simply from the filthy habits of the people, the wood-work of the closet gets foul, and then they go and perch upon it, they will not set upon it, and the place gets very filthy. 3849. Are you satisfied with that mode of dealing with the excrementitious matters ?-^It would be better if there was a pipe attached to each closet. 3850. So as to prevent a waste of water? — Yes, and so that they might turn the water on every time. 3851. {Mr. Morto7i.) Are these closets inside the houses ? — No, outside in the back yards ; we have no closets or privies in the houses here. 3852. I suppose that none of these places are so situated that there can be any soakage of any kind into dwelling houses?—! think not: they are in the 'back yard. 3853. Quite detached ? — Yes, quite detached fvoiw the houses as a rule. 3854. Have you any complaint to make of a nui- sance from the river or the harbour, caused by dis- charges from the town into them ? — No ; we have no population between this and the sea, and there is no one to complain. 3855. Does the tide rise very high ? — Yes, as high as 35 feet at Newport Bridge. 3856. Is there a very rapid current always past the mouth of the sewer ?— Yes, and it is all swept away, I believe. 3857. Do you know of any other discharges into the river besides the sewage of the town ; from manu- factories, for instance ? — Yes ; I have on one or two occasions examined some pickle or refuse water from tan works. 3858. Are those works situated within the town ? — No, they are all outside the town. 3859. Does none of that refuse get into the sewei-s ? — None. 3860. Have you known any injury done to the public health in any case by those discharges ? — Not to the health of human beings, only to fish, I think. 3861. Can you give us any instance of injury being done to the land ? — No. 3862. {Di-. Frankland.) What should jou say were the permanent defects in Newport at present in its sanitary arrangements ? — One great defect is, the want of sufficient accommodation for the working classes. There is a difficulty in obtaining land upon anything like reasonable terms on which to build houses, and the consequence is, when we have large works going on, that there is a large immigration of working men into the town, and we have no room for them ; the town is very much overcrowded. vSome four or five years ago I got, with the consent,of the Board, certain rules adopted to regulate overcrowded houses under the Sanitary Act of 1866, and we have endeavoured to provide 300 cubic feet for every man, woman, and child, irrespectively of age ; we have endeavoured to work out that, but in the most crowded parts of the town 1 must confess very inefiiciently, as we have no room for the people ; we could not turn them out into the streets. 3863. That you consider is the most prominent defect in your sanitary arrangements ? — Yes ; the water supply is exceedingly good, and I believe that the sewerage on the whole is good. Tlie great defect in the town is the want of sufficient house accommo- dation for labouring men. Dr. D. Davies. 15 Oct. 1872. Newport. The witness withdrew. Me. Henet Williams, Newport, examined Are you inspector of nui 3864. (Mr. Morton.) sances ? — Yes. 3865. You are, I presume, responsible for the clean- liness of the town ? — Yes. 3866. Is the town thoroughly sewered ?— Yes. 3867. Are the drains from every house connected with a sewer? — Yes, I believe of every house in Newport. 3868. Is there a grid in every house connected with the sewers ? — Yes ; I know only of one instance in the borough where it is not so ; if there should be anything wrong at any time, it is immediately attended to. 3869. We have been informed that the privies are virtually water-closets? — Yes, with ejects. 3870. What is done with the other refuse, the house ashes ? — It is carted away twice a week by the scavengers. 3871. Where is it stored ? — In baskets or boxes at the backs of the premises, and it is brought out twice a week to be taken away by the ash carts. 3872. Where is it taken to ? — It is taken away and sold to the farmers for manure. 3873. What do they give for it ? — I cannot say. 3874. Is it of any agricultural value at all ? — Yes, about 6d. a load. 3875. Is there any difficulty in disposing of it ? — Sometimes there is, and sometimes not. 3876. Is it carted to tips in the neighbourhood of the town?— Yes, and sold from the tips. Sometimes it goes in the canal boats, and at other times it is sold to fanners from the heap. 3877. By how many exits do the outfall sewers discharge themselves ? — I cannot tell you. 3878. Does the fouled water run direct inio the river, without any attempt being made to filter it ? — Yes, it runs direct into the river. 3879. Is there no deposit in the river, or any possibility of it ? — No, there is always a current of water going down. 3880. Is there no bar and no dredging required at the mouth of the stream by any cause from any de- posit ? — No, nothing can pass to require it. 3881. Are there no cesspools in the town? — I do not know. 3882. Has the alteration been a recent one from the old form of privy to a watercloset ? — Formerly there were cesspools in the town, when the town w^as not drained. About 10 or 15 years ago they had a general system of drainage in the town, and then a connexion was made with the main sewers, which has continued since. 3883. What measures do you take to keep the privies clean, is it by personal periodical inspection ? — Yes. 3884. What power have you over them ? — If Ave find that a privy has not been properly flushed out, we have a byelaw to this effect, that if the people do not do it we summon them before the magistrates, and they are fined. 3885. Is that frequently done ? — No, it is not necessary. 3886. How many cases have you brought before the magistrates in the last year ? — I cannot tell, 3887. Have you had any ? — I know only of one. 3888. Was that one within the town, or on the outskirts of the town ? — In the outskirts. 3889. Are all cases of that kind in the outskirts of the town ? — Yes, they are. 3890. If there were any within the town you would certainly know of it ? — Yes, and more than that, the streets have been visited from house to house, and notices have been served, seeing also to the connexions. O 3 Mr. H, Williams. EIVERS POLLXTfldN COMMISSION OEAt :BVIDENCE~1»ABT III. Mr. H. Williams. 15 Oct. 1872. Newport. If there arc any cesspools, they are only in the out- skirts of the town. 3891. In houses I suppose with gardens ? — Yes. 3892. Have you never heard any complaints made of the discharge of sewer gases through the grids in cottages ? — If there should be, it is generally on the top, from some deficiency, and if so, we serve notice upon the landlord, and get the thing remedied. 3893. Do the people apply to you in such cases ? — Yes. 3894. Have you many applications of that kind in a year ? — Not a great many. 3895. (Dr. Frankland.) In the case of parties who are summoned for neglecting to keep their closets in proper order, what fines are inflicted ? — They generally get them removed as soon as they receive the summons, and if they do that, they are let olF by the magistrate, if they take proper care, or on paying the costs. If they are stubborn they are fined so much a day, if the The witness refuse is not removed in two or three days, that is ihe general order. 3896. What is the maximum fine that you have ever known inflicted ?— As much as IDs., the costs, and so much a day, after some time, that is to say, if the nuisance is not abated after three days, which are given them to do the work. 3897. (Mr. Morton.) Do you use disinfectants ?— Yes. 3898. That is part of your duty ? Yes. 3899. (Dr. Frankland.) How are the disinfectants applied ?— They are applied in this Avay. If there should be any nuisance, or an overflow of one of these ejects, we generally put some in until we can get the place cleared, carbolic powder, or charcoal. 3900. There is no such thing as removing excre- mentitious matter at all, except in the way you have described in the town ?— No, we do not require it. withdrew. Mr. Conyers Kirbt, A.I, Mr. C. Kirbt/, 3901. (Dr. Frankland.) You are surveyor for A. I., C.E. Newport? — Yes. 3902. How long have you held that office ? — Between 12 and 13 years. 3903. Are you well acquainted with the part of the town which is most densely populated ? — Yes. 3904. Can you give us any idea of the maximum density of population in Newport, how many people to an acre ? — I cannot tell you that, but there are often from a dozen to 20 persons in a house in the lower parts of the town, where they sub-let, 3905. In what sort of a house? — A house of 18 feet frontage, most of the houses of that class have from seven to eight rooms in them. 3906. How many people in a house ? — There are sometimes from 12 to 20. 3907. In a house containing only seven rooms the overcrowding must be a great evil ? — Yes. 3908. How many bedrooms are there in a house of that size ? — In these houses they are almost all of them bedrooms, except the kitchen. 3909. Do you know any instances of a whole family living in a single room ? — There have been such instances, but I do not think there are now. The chief diflBculty here is the want of suitable houses and a cheap rent for people of that class. 3910. What does a man with a family of four children pay per week for the cheapest kind of house he can get ? — Three or four shillings a week, but then they sub-let the house, and try to recoup them- selves in that way. 3911. Do they get a complete tenement for 3s. or 45. a week ? — Yes. 3912. Are you acquainted with the wells that are still used in Newport ? — Yes. 3913. Do you know the well in the yard of the King's Head Hotel ? — I know there is one there, but that is a private well. 3914. What is its depth 7 — I do not know its depth. 3915. I presume you know Baines' Avell ? — I do. 3916. What is the depth of that ?— I think about 12 feet. 3917. How many people probably make use of that water ? — The whole of the persons in that district of the town more or less use it, and a very favorite well of water it is. 3918. Do they use it for drinking and making tea? — Yes. 3919. They would not use it for washing purposes ? — No, they are .all A\athin easy reach of the waterworks. 3920. Do they prefer that well water for drinking to the waterworks supply ? — Yes, in the summer time more especially, it is cool and more palatable. 3921. The supply from the waterewks is constant, is it not ? — Yes ; they are not under a parliamentary obligation to make it constant, but in practice it is so, except when they are doing any repairs, then it is turned off. ., C.E., Newport, examined. 3922. Do all consumers in the poorer quarter obtain water direct from the main ? — Yes, they do, there is not always a tap to each house in some of the' poorer quarters, perhaps there half a dozen houses to one tap in a court, it is all within easy reach of them. 3923. Have they not any cisterns ? — None at all. 3924. How do you account for the preference shown for the weU water over the water from the company, beyond the temperature of it ?— It sparkles, and it is very palatable. I think it is its freshness, it is popular and every one likes it. 3925. What should you say about the clearness or otherwise of the company's supply?—! think it is very seldom that there is anything the matter with it. When they are obliged to turn off" the water, when they are making repairs, it is sometimes muddy when it is turned on again. When the company was first formed, that was before the pipes were coated Avith tar, or anything of that kind, so that there was no oxidation inside in the old pipes. 3926. They were not coated inside ? — No. 3927. Does the turbidity occur very rarely ? — That is my opinion, it is not general, only after a heavy flood, it sometimes happens then as well as at the time I have mentioned, when the water is turned off for repairs. 3928. Is the well water always clear, so far as you know ? — We have had complaints occasionally, but very seldom, some two or three times since I have been in Newport, in nine cases out of ten it is all right in that respect. 3929. Are you altogether satisfied with the water supply in Newport ? — In the summer time, for two or three summers back, there has been rather a scarcity and then you have to turn it off" at nights to economize it a little, but they are going in for a larger supplv. In other respects there is a very good supply. I believe there is a good deal more water used ' here which finds its way into the drains than in any other town I know of. Theyj^state themselves that there is something like a million and a half of gallons used every day, and that in a toAvn of 30,000 inhabitant that gives about 50 gallons per head a day, which is very high. 3930. There must be a good deal of waste goin"- on ?--Yes, there is, although they have inspectors to stop it. I think in a great measure it is owing to the system which they have here of having the privies, as wc call them, and the Avaterclosets of the houses supplied direct from the main without any cisterns. 3931. Is there no cistern between the main and the closet ? — No, it drains through the Avaste water pipe, but stiU it has its adA antages. 3932. HaA-e you known any inconvenience to arise from this direct connexion between the pan of the closet and the main, have there been any cases in which the water has been sucked back into the pipes from the closet pans ? — No, that would be I think with the intermittent supply, scarcely so with a con- RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART IIL 111 stant supply, as there is no vacuum in the pipe, because there is always water in it. 3933. You spoke just now of repairs, what would occur if the water was turned off, and the water was out of the pipe ? — If the taps were left open, it would be so. 3934. Suppose the closet pan to be out of order and filled with foul liquid, and then somebody came and turned the tap, and finding no water coming left it turned, which is a very common thing, might not the water then go back into the pipe ? — Yes, 3935. Do you consider that it is a desirable arrange- ment to have a direct communication ? — No, not in that respect, but it is so seldom that ic happens that it would be much more undesirable if there was an intermittent supply of water, practically we have a constant one. 3936. It was stated in evidence at Berwick-on- Tweed that mischief of this kind not unfrequently occurred, that the foul water regurgitated back into the pipes ? — Yes, but there are not many here that are so directly connected with the mains. 3937. Is it the general system here to have a direct communication from the mains to the closets ? — Yes, to waterclosets in the better class of houses, but in the poorer class of houses where there are many privies the water has to be lifted in a bucket and to be carried. 3938. In that case there is no direct connexion ?— No ; but I mention that to account for the large con- sumption of water. 3939. You have stated that the Company's vrater is sometimes tui'ned off during the night ? — Yes ; in the summer time it has been. Two years ago when there was an exceptionally dry season it was so more particularly, but they have made some arrangement lately, or 12 months ago ; they have increased the depth of water, and they have raised the bank of the overflow, so that they have a larger supply in their present reservoir than they had, and they also have it in contemplation to make a very much larger reservoir, to hold something like 80,000,000 gallons. 3940. Have you had any difficulty in obtaining water when a fire has broken out in the town ? — I think there has been one or two cases of that kind, but as a rule there is no difl&culty. 3941. Was it during the summer season when the water was turned off in the night ? — I think so. 3942. Are there some parts of the town which the water does not reach ? — The higher parts, at Stow Hill, which is at the summit of the town, the water does just reach there, and that is all ; there is not enough pressure to lift it to the tops of the houses. 3943. Does it only reach the basement ? — Yes ; in the reservoir which they have in contemplation they will remedy all that as it wiU be at a considerably higher level. 3944. Will it command the upper parts of all the houses ? — Yes ; it will be something like from 200 to 300 feet above the general level of the town. 3945. How many feet will that be above the highest point of the town ? — About 60 feet above the highest part of the town. 3946. When this new supply is brought in, and the new reservoir brought into operation, will the supply of water be then in every respect perfectly satisfactory ? — Yes ; for many years I think there has been a good supply, but they have not made the most of it. 3947. Do you use water for flushing out the sewers ? — Yes, for some ; the smaller ones we do in the summer time. 3948. On what terms do you obtain water from the Company for that purpose ? — We do not require much, and for that we pay them 101. a year. For the smaller sewers only we do not use it, it is for the larger ones. 3949. Are you restricted to a certain quantity of water ; does it pass through a meter ? — No, it does not go through a meter, but there is an understand- ing that we are to^ give them notice when we are going to use it, which may perhaps bo some dozen times in Mr. C. Kirhy, the course of a summer. A. I., C.E. 3950. Do you r)av only a fair and reasonable charge ? —Yes. J ^ J J ^15 Oct. 1872. 3951. How are the sewers ventilated? — There are Newport, two manholes with openings to the streets. _______ 3952. Is that the sole mode of ventilation ? — Yes ; those manholes are pretty close together. 3953. What might be the amount of air space in a manhole, the sectional area of communication with the external atmosphere ? — It comes through a pipe of something like 9 inches in diameter, brought up to the surface of the street. 3954. Is there any grating to that pipe ? — Yes ; that is a section of it {handing in the same). 3955. Is the grating on the surface of the road, and not in the pipe itself? — No ; there is a little cess under the grating, a short end of the pipe communi- cating from the cess to the manhole. The drainage from the surface of the road is generally through gratings. 3956. Does not the grating get choked up by horse dung ? — It does get so, but we look to it and have it cleaned out. 3957. Is the sectional area of a 9-inch pipe effective for ventilation ? — I think so. 3958. The area of the openings in the grating would be more than that I presume ? — I do not know that it would be much more. If the opening of the grating were larger it would not be of any use, because that is the diameter of the pipe. 3959. Is the area of the grating greater than the area of the pipe ? — It is somewhat greater, but not very much in excess of it ; it is a grating of something like 6 inches wide by a foot long. 3960. Are those gratings on your main sewers ?-— Yes, on our new main sewers. 3961. Have you any length of sewers without ventilation of any kind ? — Several of the old sewers under the houses are not ventilated in that way. There are many old drains in this town that were put in before the system of drainage was agreed upon, and they were ventilated as far as possible ; they run obliquely under the houses. 3962. Is there no possibility of ventilating those old drains ? — Not where they go under houses. We have made holes in them from time to time, and put ventilators in them as we found it necessary. 3963. If there is any complaint of gas finding its way into the houses, do you attend to the sewers in that case ? — Yes ; we never hear of that. 3964. Are the branch sewers usually earthenware pipes ? — No ; as a rule the branches are all brick- work ; very few earthen pipes have been used here. « My predecessor, Mr. Williams, found in practice that the cost of making sewers of 18 inches, and in smaller sizes, was not materially more than earthenware pipes would have been at that time, 12 years ago, and there- fore he used brick sewers in preference to those pipes. 3965. We were told a short time ago that the tide rises 35 feet here at the spring tides ? — Yes, at extra- ordinary spring tides. 3966. Of course a tide like that would back up the sewers ? — Yes, and it does. 3967. Does it occasion a powerful rush of gas from the manholes in the street ? — It does occasionally cause a rush of gas through the sewers. I cannot say that it is very powerful, but it depends to a great extent upon the wind. With an easterly wind there is a greater rush up the sewers through the manholes than at other times at spring tides. 3968. Have you ascertained the quantity of addi- tional pressure inside your sewers on those exceptional occasions ? — I never made an experiment of that kind. 3969. Is the pressure of gas in the sewer at any time so great as to force through the ordinary syphon trap ? — - Not to that extent. The sewers are all connected one with another, even those that go into different outlets. If the gas cannot come up O 4 112 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. C. Kirby, A.I., C.E. 15 Oct. 1872. Newport. Mr. a Cullum. through the manholes it woukl ho diffusccl tliroughout a larger area of the sewers. Six or seven years ago we had a shaft put on to the highest parts of the town, to see if there would be any current, hut there was no appreciable current even there, where we should have expected to find it most. 3970, Not even when the tide was comino; up Yes, but not very much ; there was some, but nothing nearly so powerful as you would have imagined. 3971. IIow many of these manlioles are there in the town altogether ? — I daresay from 200 to 300, or more. 3972. I presume they give a sufficient vent to the gases ? — I think I may say that, looking at the fact that the seM'ers are connected together, there are no blind ends. I do not believe that the sewer gases get up into the houses to any extent ; of course if there was defective workmanship, they might perhaps do so. 3973. {Mr. Mortoji.) Is there no sewer above any of these manholes, no end of a sewer anywhere ? — No, we have manholes at the ends, and all such places. 3974. Are there any of rhe unventilated side sewers found there connected with the main sewers in the lower part of the town ? — Yes ; some of the old main sewers are connected with the new ones below. The witness 397-5. In that case the tide coming in, would cut otf and isolate those side sewers necessarily and force the gaseous contents upwards, would it not ?— Yes, and being connected, the gases would be driven through the new ones. 3976. Do these complaints as to sewer gases in houses always happen in the case of the unventilated side sewers ?— No ; I do not know of any com]ilaints as to sewer gases that are to be attributed to that. We almost invariably find it the case that when there are complaints of that kind, and the thing is examined into, there is always some defect found, eitiier that the water has evaporated, or run out of a hole in the trap. 3977. Are there any works in the town that dis- charge hot water into the sewers? — I think not; there is one or two works of that sort, but they are condensing waters. I think there is only one or two. I have urged upon the Board to get that cured first, and that is done now, as it is awkw^ard for our men to travel the sewers if they are liable to have a cold stream or a hot stream of water coming upon them. 3978. Do you knov^ of any nuisance existing on the bank of the river from any manufactui'ing drainage ? — Not within the borough. 3979. Or at the mouth of the river ? — I have no personal knowledge of that, but I hear it complained of. withdrew. Me. Charles Cullum, Newport, examined. 3980. {Dr. Frankland.) Are you secretary of the Newport Water Company ? — I am. 3981. How long have you known the works ? — ■ Eleven years. 3982. Where is the gathering ground situated from which the water supply is obtained ?— At the foot of Twmbarlum, from the highest mountain, from aepring there, then v/e have partly rainfall. 3983. What should you say were the proportions of the two kinds of water finding their Avay into your reservoir, speaking of the surface water? — I should say about two-thirds springs. 3984. Should you get two-thirds of a million and a half of gallons a day from those springs ? — Yes ; we have reservoirs where we accumulate the water. 3985. Do you supply a million and a half of gallons daily ? — Yes. 3986. Should you say that those springs would yield about a third of that quantity daily ? — I have not gone into the calculation. 3987. Are the springs abundant ? — -Yes, always. 3988. Do they run pretty evenly both in dry weather and wet weather ? — No, there is less in dry weather. 3989. Much less ? — Very much less. 3990. Do you impound all the smface water that runs out of this watershed ? — No, there are several brooks that run away from it. 3991. Have you any means of separating the flood water from the ordinary rain-water draining from this district ? — We let it run away through a bye-wash when it is flooded, we drain it into a bye-wash. 3992. As a rule you do not impound flood water ? — Never. 3993. How many days' storage have you in your reservoir ? — Sixty. 8994. When the new reservoir is finished, what advantage shall you gain ? — We shall then be able to keep 150 days' supply. 3995. Is not the land above your reservoir from which the water drains, all uncultivated ? — Yes, where we have the rainfall. 8996. Does no part of that land receive manure of any kind ? — I believe not. 3997. What is the character of the land, is it moor- land ? — No, pasturage ; there is a great deal of mountain and wood. 3998. The pasture I suppose will receive some kind of manure ? — Not in that district, it is all mountain- ous there. 3999. Is it pastured by sheep or by cattle ? — By sheep principally, it is a wild mpuntainous counti'y. 4000. Is the water filtered before delivery in New- port ? — Before the water turns into the town, and enters private houses, we have a fine sieve that the water passes through, and all impurities will be caught in the sieve ; we clean it out once in six months. 4001. As I understand you, you have between your storage reservoir and the consumers' a high ser- vice reservoir ? — No, Ave have it, but all the Avater does not run through it to supply the toAvn, it supplies a pump well ; Ave pump it up and it runs through. 4002. The supply for a town generally comes direct from the storage reservoir ? — Yes. 4003. Where is the small service reservoir situated from Avhich you pump ?~At the back of our office. 4004. Is it covered ? — No, but it is in contemplation to cover it. The engineer has suggested that the buildings round there are increasing. The reservoir into Avhich we pump is not covered, the one at the back of the office, but the water stays there only for a very short time, it is pumped up and the water is continually moA'ing. We have also a pipe that leads into the sewers, and if Ave find any impurities in it, we let the water run out into the sewers four or five times a day. 4005. What is the area of the well from which the pump raises the water ? — About 60 by 40 feet. 4006. It is your intention to cover it ? — Yes, I believe that is in contemplation. 4007. Is your supply of Avater liked by the inhabit- ants, or do they complain about the quality of it } — They complain A'cry rarely. 4008. What do they then complain of ?— There is a certain amount of iron piping, and AA'hen we stop the Avater for the pm-pose of executing any repairs that may shake the pipe, and then a little iron may run into the Avater. 4009. Is that the only source of turbidity in your Avater ? — .No, another cause is when the wind is very strong, that may strike against the bank and cause the Avater to be a little cloudy, but it will remain so only a very short time, the sediment sinks to the bottom. 4010. On an average hoAv many days in a vear will the Avater you deliA^er be in any degree cloudy — In our office we have very rarely found it cloudv. Whether it is 10 days or 20 days a year, I do not know, but it is not cloudy in our office, it is only so perhaps in the loAver parts of the town, not in the reservoir, at the back of the office, it is in the maia reservoii'. RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — OKAL EVIDKNOK — PART III. 113 4011. If it is cloudy in the mnm reservoir, it will be cloudy in your office, will it not — Our datum line is 60 feet above tlie dock, and it is not cloudy there. 4012. In the reply to the query as to the quantity of water supplied each day, it appears that you supply a milhon and a half of gallons daily ? — Yes. 4013. To what population is that supplied? — 30,000. 4014. That is more than 50 gallons a head? — Yes ; it is a very large quantity. 4015. What quantity of water do you supply to works or to manufactories ? — Five gallons per head more for manufactories, which will make it 55 gallons per head per day, that is to say, live gallons would be the full quantity for manufactories. 401(i. Is there a clear supply of 50 gallons for domestic purposes ? — Yes. 4017. How do you prevent waste ? — The directors have appointed two inspectors who go round to the houses and report all cases of waste of water, or of fittings being out of order ; then we send the parties notice to put them in repair. 4018. Do they find out many such cases? — We are lessening the number — it was tried 12 months ago — and I believe now tlie quantity would be less. 4019. Is it frequently found that the fittings are out of order ? — Yes ; in the lower part of the town we find that the poorer class of people allow the taps to run into the drains, and there is no doubt that there is an immense waste of water from waterclosets ; they keep the handles up and allow the water to run down. 4020. How are the closets supplied with water from the mains ? — No, from a cistern, some of them up above, and others right into the watercloset ; by lifting the handle the water runs. Now the directors are introducing patent cisterns, and in that case it is simply charged, and then they must raise the handle before the water will faU again. 4021. I understand that, in many cases now, the mains are directly connected with the pans of the waterclosets ? — Yes, in many cases. 4022. Do you think that that is a desirable arrange- ment ? — No ; and we stop i^ in all new cases. 4023. Have you no power to stop it in the old cases ? — 'Yes, I think we have. 4024. Is it not likely that a good deal of waste arises from such an arrangement as that ? — It corre- sponds v/itli other towns. I find that they have the flame fault to find there, but that is the great cause of the waste, letting the water run into the drains. 4025. Have you known any cases of water being driven back again from the pan of the closet into your mains when you have run ofi" the water ? — It would be impossible, the pressure is too great. 4026. Suppose you emptied the mains from the reservoir, what would happen then ? — It would not go back, because it is always on an inchnation. 4027. How many feet above the pan will the in- clined pipe go ? — It will vary according to situation. 4028. Would it go 30 feet above the pipe ? — No. 4029. In that case the water might go back, if the pan was no higher ? — If the pressure was off, but it is a constant pressure. 4030. Have you not to repair your pipes sometimes ? —Yes. 4031. Must you not then run off the water and turn off the pressure ? — Yes. 4032. And the water would run out of the main ? — Yes. 4033. Would not that ci'eate a vacuum in the upper part of the main ? — Yes. 4034. Then suppose that accidentally the pan of a closet was full of foul water, might not that be sucked back again ? — There is an inner part of tlie taps. 4035. But you must suppose that the tap is turned, for people very often leave a tap turned ? — We have no stop taps. 4036. They have to raise the handle and keep it raised ? — Yes. 30928. 4037. Have you had this water analysed ? — No ; Mr. C. Oulluiit but Dr. Buchanan was down here, and he told me that he had seen the water and tried it, and he spoke 0'='- 'shi- very liighly of it. 4038. Does the liardness vary from time to time ? '"' 1. — Yes, it does, according to tlie rain, whether it is in a larger quantity or not. 4039. If you recollect the 21st June 1871, when we took our sample, what would have been the con- dition of the water in the reservoir then, would it have been mainly spring water, or mainly gathering ground water? — That would depend ui)on the slate of the weather before. 4040. Do you know the limits of vaiiatiou in th(; liardness of the Avater ? — No. 4041. {Mr. Morton.) Is there any consideral)le number of houses that are above the; level to which your water supply reaches in Newport ? — Yes. 4042. A large number ?— About 500, I think, by gravitation. 4043. Are they supplied by pumping ? — Yes; about 3,800 people. 4044. Does your reservoir at which you pump in every case command those houses, or is there any number of^ houses above that reservoir ? — There are several above it. _ 4045. Is there any considerable area within the limits of the town not built upon, but which may be built upon ? — Yes, there is some land above it out of the town, but our new works would command that. 4046. Do you know whether there are any cottages or homesteads within the area of the gather- ing ground ? — I think not. 4047. Do you supply stand pipes in the streets ? — Yes, I think about eight or nine. 4048. Do you remember the circumstances of the town before your company was formed ? — No ; but I remember in one or two cases, when the people wanted to get water they used to be waiting at the well all night before they could get their turn to get a supply. 4049. Have those sources of supply been shut up by the authorities, or by voluntary action ? — By voluntary action, some of them. Lately we found that the sewage must get into them as the water turned bad, and the people came to us. 4050. Have none of the wells been sliut up by • authority ?— Yes ; one, the " Salutation " public pump. I do not know of any private Avells. 4051. In every case when a well has been shut by authority, I suppose a stand pipe has been provided, which you supplied ?— When the town council orders us to put one, we put it, and we charge it in the watering of the streets, a certain sum per annum. 4052. Are there any drinking fountains ? — Two. 4053. Are there no water taps to which the people have access ? — Only the two in the two drinking fountains, which we supply water to. ° 4054. In cases where you supply the poorer dis- tricts, is the water carried into each house ? Yes, in some cases, but in other cases there is one tap to a certain number of houses. 4055. Have you formed any opinion as to what the demand upon you should be for waterclosets daily, or what quantity goes through the 400 waterclosets', have you any idea ? — No. 4056. What is the price charged for waterclosets ? — 105., and 10s. for a bath. 4057. {Dr. Frankland.) That, I presume, is in ad- dition to the usual charge for water supplied to a house ? — Yes ; that does not apply to cottages. 4058. {Mr. Morton.) Is there any charge made for the use of water in privies which is carried to them by hand ? — The directors have made no charge. 4059. What proportion of the population in New- port is supplied with pump water from your own works? — About 3,800. 4060. What is the quantity pumped daily ? — 120,000 gallons oil tlie average. 4061. In that case you supply only 30 gallons per head ? — Yes. P tl4 UIVKUS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — Oli/VL EVIDENCE — IWUT III. Mr. (.. Cullum. \r> Oct. 1872. Newport. 4062. Have those houses waterclosels ? — A gi-eat many of tliem, but there arc no manufactories there. 4063. I low do you account for the consumption of the enormous su{)ply to the rest of the town, what be- comes of it ?— The old fittings in many of the houses have leakages, and perhaps there are leakages in the mains, and when the men go into the sewers they find it out. 4064. loss by materially, Are yon endeavouring to overcome this more I'igid inspection ? — I Ix'lieve so, very The witness withdrew. Mr. William Treharne Rees, near Newport, examined. Mr. W. T. Bees. 4065. {Mr. Morton.) Are you acquainted with the area from which the water company obtain their supply ? — Yes. 4066. What is the extent of it ? — I do not know the acreage. 4067. Is much of it enclosed land ? — It is principally enclosed. 4068. Is a portion of it moor land ? — A very small portion of the upper part. 4069. Is any of it woodland ? — A considerable part of it. 4070. Is it all pasture ? — Not all, part is arable, and part pasture. 4071. Is it cultivated in the ordinary ^ay for the growth of corn roots ? — Yes, in the ordinary mode of cultivating land in this district. 4072. Is it highly farmed up there ? — I should not say so. 4073. Do the farmers purchase manure ? — I may say that the district is not very highly farmed, in the upper part of it, Rogers Town, from whence the water is supplied, is not highly cultivated, and therefore the water is not contaminated by artificial manures. 4074. Is there any town manure taken to that land ? — I should think a small proportion, but not much. 4075. Do you know what quantity of arable land there is within that area ? — I cannot teU you off hand. 4076. Are there many fields of ploughed land ? — There might be perhaps 1 50 acres. The witness 4077. Are there many homesteads within the dis- trict, many separate farms ? — Not many, perhaps half a dozen. 4078. Can you say what population may be resident within an area of 1,000 acres? — The population is not very thick where the water is collected, there may be 200 or 30Cf people. 4079. 300 people on the land which drains to the reservoir ? — I think that is rather beyond the number for the whole area the population is thin. 4080. Is there any hamlet up there or any detached cottages ? — They are all detached, there is not a village. 4081. Is the land drained, or is it surface water exclusively that is caught ? — Surface water chiefly. 4082. {Dr. Frankland.) Is there a church within the district ? — Yes, at Heniles. 4083. And I pi-esume a churchyard also ? — ^Yes. 4084. Are there many interments in that church- yard ? — Very few indeed. 4085. Is the church an old one ? — Yes, very old. 4086. You have spoken about town manure being carried up there, where is that got from ? — The little that is carried up is got fi'om the district. 4087. That, I presume, would only consist of street sweepings ? — Yes. 4088. Are there no middens up there ? — No. 4089. Do you reside up there ? — No. withdrew. Mr. Robert Geethin Mr. 4090. {3Ir. Morto7i.) Are you harbour master of R. Geethbiy, Newport ? — -Yes. 4091. Are you acquainted with the powers you possess under this Act ? — Yes. 4092. I see that in the 18th clause it is stated — It is not lawful to cast, throw, or put, or cause or suffer to fall or pass into the River Usk, or its tribu- taries, within a distance of 20 miles from Newport Bridge, any gravel, or other solid substance, or any other matters which may lessen the depth of the water in any part of the said river, and a penalty is provided. Is there any instance in which you have used the powers which that clause gives you ? — There have been several. 4093. Have you had upon any recent occasion to put them in force ? — One of the cases occurred about a month ago, or six weeks. 4094. Can you give us the particulars of that case ? — ^A large quantity of earth had been thrown into the Usk, about three miles below Usk, by a farmer living on the spot, and he was convicted. A summons was obtained against him, and he was fined 21. for what he had done. 4095. Was that the last occasion ? — Yes. 4096. Have these cases been very numerous ? — We have had, upon the whole, I think about eight or nine convictions. 4097. Against whom were the others ? — Against manufiictm-ers. Two of them were at Pontypool. We obtained three convictions there, for casting cinders into a tributary of the Usk, the Afon Llwyd. 4098. In those cases had the material been thrown in, or merely allowed to fall in ? — Each portion of it had been tipped in. 4099. Have you applied for a remedy against any person ■\\'lio i)laced his material on the edge of a river in such a position as that a flood would carry it away ^, Newport, examined. if it came ? — In our neighbourhood no one is per- mitted to do so. If they do it, we obtain a summons against them. 4100. In hoAV many years have five or six convictions been obtained ? — Three years. The Act is only about three years old. 4101. On obtaining these powers, did you imme- diately put them in foice ? — Yes, almost immediately. We knew that the practice was in existence before. 4102. {Dr, Frcmhlmid.) You have no power, I think, given to you to prevent a mixture of solid and liquid being turned into the river ? — [ believe not. 4103. People might mix any quantity of sohd with water, and turn it in, might they not ? — We have had no instance of that kind that I am aware of except sewage. 4104. Have you never proceeded against any parties for doing that ? — Never. 4105. Do you suffer much in the harbour fi'om sUt and solid matter brought doAvn by the river ? — No doubt the river is shallower than it was two years ago. 4106. Do you dredge at all ? — No. 4107. How far would these soundings represent the present depths of the water in your river ? — That is the present depth of the water at low-water spring tides now. 4108. It is not a river, I believe, very extensively polluted by mining industry ? — No, it is not. 4109. Do you suffer at all from that cause — Not in the river here, we cannot, we have nothing of the kind. 4110. Did Captain Aldridge make a report to you about these solid matters being cast into the river ? — This is his report {handing in the same ; this will he found in Part IV.). 4111. Was it in consequence of that report, that you applied for powers to prevent the casting in of RIVEJIS rOLLUTION COMMISSION : — OKAL EVIDKNCK- -I'AET III. 115 solid material ? — The necessity foi' them had been long felt. Knowing that there was so much stuff thrown into the tributaries of our river, it was felt that powers should be obtained to prevent people from doing so. 4112. Are you satisfied with the working of that clause ? — Yes ; I think it prevents a good deal of stuff from finding its way in. 4113. (^Mr. Morton.) Do you not dredge at all ? — No. 4114. Then you only feared that mischief might be done — Yes. When it comes it seems to lessen the depth of the water from time to time. As far as the evil to the river goes, it is much shallower than it was 20 or 30 years ago. 4115. How much shallower is it at any particular point ? — Our sandbanks seem to have been increased, but not considerably by it. 4116. Have the instances in wliich you have pro- secuted ofl'cnders, been within the limits of the distance to which your powers extend ? — The whole of tfiem have been within a circuit of 20 miles. The witne 4117. Have any of them been at the extreme distance? — Some of them have been nearly at the U. (iv.cthing. extreme distance. 4118. Is there no offender near Newport upon 15 Oct. 1872. whom you can lay your hands? — No. Newport 4119. Are you aware of any tipping from mines . that is injuring the channel of the river ? — Yes, from the coal mines. We have had one or two convictions against such people. 4120. What distance up the river was that ? — About five or six miles. 4121. How many prosecutions have you had altogether ? — Eight or nine. 4122. How many of them have been against the owners of coal mines ? — The principal one was at Ebbw Vale. 4123. Did they all occur on tributaries of the river, or on the main stream ? — One was on the main stream, and the rest were on tributaries. 4124. How many miles off did the nearest instance occur ? — Five miles, at Abercare. 4125. And some of them 20 miles off? — Nearly, not quite. withdrew. Mr. Matthew B. Jackson, C.E., examined. 4126. {Dr. Franklaticl.) Have you directed your attention to the filtration of turbid water from mines ? — Yes, from lead mines. 4127. You have handed in a report? — Yes. 4128. This report describes a certain process of filtration which you recommend through peat ? — Yes. 4129. You begin by subsidence? — Yes. 4130. For what length of time would you allow the water to subside ? — That depends upon circum- stances. 4131. Have you experimented on water with peat, that has first subsided for 12 hours ? — I have. 4132. On a large scale? — No, on a small scale only. 4133. Can you give us the quantity of muddy water that was clarified by 100 lbs. of peat ? — No, I cannot Mr. M. B. Jackson, C.E. The witness withdrew. Mk. Francis Moggeridge, Caerleon, examined. 4134. {Dr. Fra,nkland.) You are, I believe, a tin plate manufacturer in this district ? — Yes. 4135. Will you be so good as to describe shortly the process of making tin plates ? — The only portion of our manufacture likely to pollute the river is turning in the copperas washings from the plates. 4136. Do you use sulphuric acid or muriatic acid? — Sulphuric acid. 4137. In some works, do they not use muriatic acid r — No, not in my experience, not in tin plate works. We never use it. 4.138. What you get is in fact copperas, or sulphate of iron ? — Yes. 4139. How much of that is made per ton of tin plate, or can you give us an estimate of the quantity that is produced ? — The average is 1 1 lbs. of vitriol, per box of tin plate. 4140. What is the weight of a box of tin plate ?■ — On the average it would be 1^ cwts. 4141. How much vitriol would that require? — 11 lbs. 4142. Is all that vitriol eventually converted into copperas ? — Yes, it is weakened by a mixture of water with it ; the iron plates require to be washed down in vitriol and water, a,bout one-third is vitriol, and two-thirds water. 4143. Do you dip the iron plates into vitriol, re- move them whilst still wet, and wash them with water ? — They are dipped first in vitriol and water ; they are then taken out of the vitriol which is heated, and washed through in running water. 4144. In that operation would not a small quantity of copperas be lost ? — Yes, a vei^ small quantity, merely the droppings from the plates. 4145. Is there any process by which you recover this copperas in your works ? — Yes, we have. We encouraged a patent that was taken out, and experi- ments were made at our works. It was called Pugs- ley's patent. 4146. In what does that patent process consist ? — It is by evaporation ; it is by distilling in leaden vats the lefuse copperas, which is then poured into casks, and it forms a crystallization round the cask, which j^jj. we call copperas. After it is distilled, the water is F. Moyyeridije. distilled and evaporates. The vitriol then becomes fit for use, and again goes back, mixed with pure vitriol, and is used over again. 4147. In evaporating the copperas solution, do you condense the steam coming out from it ? — No, it is condensed next by boiling. It is distilled three times, and the third time the water entirely disappears by evaporation. 4148. The distillation consists of evaporation and condensation ? — It is evaporated only. 4149. Then in the three evaporations, I presume, there is crystallization between them ? — Yes, each time there is a crystallization. The third time it is very small indeed, and the vitriol becomes purified. 4150. When you have a fresh batch of vitriol and water, do you never turn any of it into the stream ? — None of it goes into the stream ; it is used over and over again. 4151. Do you find a ready sale for the copperas you get out ? — Yes, and it is a source of considerable profit, instead of being a dead loss, as it was before. 4152. What is it worth per ton? — It varies ; it is about 305. a ton now. 4153. Is this process extensively cai-ried out in tin plate works ? — Yes, in many w^orks now on the tribu- taries of the Usk. I think the metal works now employ it. There are still some works at which it is not employed, and they are in consequence still sufferers. Not only do we destroy fish, but destroy each other ; we destroy the boilers by the acid, the vitriol in the water. 4154. What quantity of copperas do you produce in your works in a year ? — About 250 tons. 4155. Have you found that the market price of copperas has been at all aflected since this process came into operation ? — I cannot say ; we never sold any before. It is about seven years since we adopted this pau'iit. 4156. Hiks tlie price varied during that time ?— - Yes, slightly ; 5s. perhaps ; it has not varied more. P 2 116 RTVRIiS I'OLLTITION COMMISSION: — ORAL KVIDKNCE PART III. Mr. 4157. Is the price Jis high now as when you began ? F. Moi : — OKAt EVIDElJCE — PART ttl. 119 deaths, only what I described ; the cows are more liable to abortions. 4294. How many years have you known the stream ? — More than half a century. 4295. Did you ever know it clear? — Yes, more clear than it is now. 4296. Does the injury you have spoken of occur more now than it did 20 years ago ? — Yes ; 1 know that diseases of tlie lungs among cattle are more prevalent than they used to be. 4297. Do you know of any injury having been done to grass land on the river side ? — Not parti- cularly. 4298. Is the river more liable to flood than it was ? —No. The witness 4299. Has the channel silted up by anything having been done to it ? — I believe the bottom of the river is rather higlicr tlian it used to ha from cinders coming down ii'om the works. 4300. Is tlierc no river washing above you ? — Not any. 4301. Is the river discolored some times? — Yes ; it is like yellow paint. 4302. Is the fishing value of the river, in your opinion injured ? — There are no eels now. 4303. Have you any other complaint to make ? — No. 4304. In some parts of the district is copperas water used for the cure of the foot and mouth disease ? No. witlidrew. Mr. D. Llewellyn. 15 Oct. 1872. Newport. Me. John Parsons, Lodge Farm, Llantarnam, examined. 4305. {Mr. Morton.) What river runs by your land ? — Llantarnam Brook. 4306. Is that an affluent of the Afon-Llwyd ? — Yes. 4307. Are there any tin plate works above you ? —Yes. 4308. What extent of your land abuts upon the river ? — About 110 acres. 4309. Is it all river side land ? — Yes. 4310. Is any of it liable to flooding ? — About two acres. 4311. Is yours a dairy farm ? — Yes. 4312. What stock do you keep ? — I have 25 cows. 4313. How many young cattle? — I have generally a dozen. , 4314. Have you suffered any losses.^ — I have lost about from 17 to 20 during the last four or five years from abortions. The witness 4315. Is that at all a new thing in the neighbour- hood ? — Yes. 4316. Has it been of common occurrence ? — Yes, in the last four or five years. 4317. Who is your neighbour immediately below you ? — Mr. Lawrence. 4318. Has he lost any calves in that way ? — Yes. 4319. Have those above you also lost any ? — Yes. 4320. Do your cows drink the water of this brook ? — Yes, there is none other for them to drink. 4321. Do you believe that it is owing to the foul water they drink that these losses have happened ? — Yes. 4322. Have you heard people talk of the condition in which the river was formerly ? — No. 4323. Do you think the land suffers from being flooded ?— No. 4324. Have you made any complaints to your land- lord on this score ? — No. withdrew. Mr. J. Parsons, Mr. Henry Lawrence, Tir Isha Farm, Llandarnam, examined. 4325. {Mr. Morton^ What is the extent of your farm ?— About 200 acres. 4326. How many cows do you keep ? — About 25. 4327. What number of young stock ? — About 50 head of cattle, and 25 head of young stock. 4328. Have you any complaint to make as to the condition of the river on account of injury done to the young stock ? — No ; but our cattle, when the water comes down very thick, will not drink it. They have other water which they can drink, and they drink from that. Sometimes this water comes down thick for two hours at a time, and then it clears again. 4329. What complaint have you to make against it ? — I consider it is a nuisance if the cattle cannot have water when they want it. 4330. Have the cows suflered from drinking it ? — I cannot say that, we have not had any loss of that kind. 4331. You complain of it as a nuisance ? — Yes, I see dead fish in the water very frequently. 4332. Does the stream always come down when in a foul state in flushes ? — Yes, it comes down perhaps two or three times a week for about a couple of hours at a time, and then when the Afon-Llwyd floods witli us that injures the grass, it leaves a dark cast on the grass, and nothing likes the grass for some time after. 4333. Have you known that to occur for years ? — For about 10 years. 4334. Is the injury of which you complain an in- creasing one, or a diminishing one ? — It has increased lately, it has been coming down a great deal stronger in the last few years. 4335. Do you consider that your farm is injured by the condition of the river ? — I do. many li. Mr. Lawrence. The witness withdrew. Mr. Thomas Baker, 4336. {Mr. Morton.) Do you occupy land on the banks of the river ? — Yes, the Ebbw river. 4337. Is the land alluvial or flat river side land ? — Yes. 4338. How are your cattle supplied with water ? — They are all supplied from the river. 4339. Do the ditches fill as the water rises ? — Yes. 4340. Do the ditches always contain water in the natural condition of the river ? — Yes, supplied by main reens. {Mr. Bees.) I may say that I am surveyor of the Level, and my attention has been directed, not only to drain it, but to supply it with water when necessary. The Ebbw water is the only means of supply we have, and by artificial means we turn the whole river upon the Level to supply it with water, but lately the water has been so contaminated by refuse that our reens. St. Bride's, examined. which are artificial arteries to carry the water, fill up, ]\fj. and every three or four years we have to cast them, T. Baker. and the water is so stinking that although it is the only water the inhabitants have for domestic purposes yet they are obliged to use it, notwithstanding the stench proceeding fi-om it. Much complaint has been made, and Mr. Baker is employed to cast those reens when occasion requires. Mr. Llewellyn also told you that the eels were dying. Mr. Baker can speak also to that fact. 4341. {Mr. Morton, to the wit7iess.) You occupy laud ? — Yes. 4342. Are you the owner of stock ? — Yes. 4343. Does your stock suffer ? — Yes, I believe so. 4344. Do you keep cows ? — Yes. 4345. Do they sutt'er ? — I believe the cows will not drink the water at all times. P 4 120 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. 4346. How are they supplied with water ? — They T. Baker. go into the grips in the land and try to get water . there. T bought six cattle from Ireland, a fortnight _J ' ■ ago, and I put them on the side of the main reen ; Newport. they went to drink the water, and this water all came . from the river, and they would not drink it, and they went back to try and get water in the grip. They looked as empty as possible for days. 4347. Have you had cattle die from drinking the water in a foul state ? — I cannot say that. 4348. With regard to the inhabitants of the dis- trict ; do you live in it ? — Yes. 4349. How are you supplied with water ? — That is the water we drink. 4350. Have you any wells ? — No ; we save as much as we can from the shoots, but when out of that we are obliged to take this water. 4351. Is this mischief an increasing one, or how many years have you known it to occur ? — Twenty years, and it is rather growing. 4352. Is this the only supply of water to the whole district ? — Yes. 4353. What is the extent of the district ?— 8,000 acres. The witne! 4354. What is the population of the district ?— About 2,000 people live upon it. 4355. Are there several villages ? — Not many ? there is St. Bride's and Peterston. 4356. Is the population wholly agricultural ? — Yes. _ 4357. Is the supply of water to the whole of this district simply the river water which is brought down these reens ? — There are some springs, the water from which I understand through the summer is absorbed before it gets into the river. The inhabi- tants dig wells to hold the water, and they prefer the stagnant water in those wells to the other. 4358. What is the subsoil in this district? It is all alluvial. 4359. Is the river tidal at that point ?— Not where we turn it out ; we are a considerable distance above. 4360. But it is completely a tidal district ?— Quite so : but the influx of the tide is prevented by means of artificial wells and banks. 4361. Is the evidence given by the tenant farmers characteristic of the whole district generally? I should say it was ; the whole district suffers in the same way. withdrew. Mr. Richard Harris, Rhy Mr. It. Ham's. 4362. (M?: Morton.) Do you occuj^y land on the same level ? — Yes ; I have to complain of the water coming from the tin works on the Rumney. 4363. How far is your farm below those works ? — About half a mile. 4364. What is the extent of it ?— It may be 150 acres. The portion which I wish to talk of is on the side of it abutting on the river. 4365. What is the length of it ? — It probably runs through the land for about 400 yards. 4366. What complaint have you to make ? — That the grass is overflowed by the water ; it kills all vegetation, and nothing grows there. 4367. What extent of your land has been spoiled ? — Under an acre. The witne wern Farm, Machen, examined. 4368. Are they simply patches of land along the river side ? — It is where it runs before it comes into the river. 4369. Do the floods spread over a larger area than that ? — Yes, from the river ; not from the brook. 4370. Do you complain of the brook water, or of the rLver water ?— The brook water ; it comes down from the tin works. 4371. Has any injury been done to any of your cattle ? — During a dry summer they do not seem to do well. The fact is, it is the only water they have to drink, and just at that time they seem to scour a good deal whUe they drink that water ; it is a strong mix- ture altogether, when it comes in dry weather. ° 3 withdrew. Mk. Thomas Colbori Ml'. 4372. {Mr. Mortoii.) Are you solicitor to the Ebbw T. Cul/ionie. Vale, the Mauteglo, and other companies ? — Yes, which works are on tributares of the Usk, on the Ebbw, and on the Afou-Llwyd. 4373. You have I believe some information to give us ? — Yes. First of all I have carefully made out, knowing the amounts to which the various companies have been brought up, that five and a half millions are an under estimate of the capital invested in the iron works, and collieries, of Monmouthshire. 4374. Are you now confining yourself to particular river valleys ? — Yes. 4375. Within the Usk valley ? — Within the tri- butaries of the Usk, and within the circuit embraced by that clause in the Harbour Act. I do not include miscellaneous works or tin works, which would at least i-cpresent another half million The bulk of the amount I have mentioned is made up of one, two, or three large sums of capital, such as the very large iron works, where I think from 35,000 to 40,000 hands may be taken as the number employed, which would bring the population dependent upon them, say, to 120,000, and you will understand simply iron works and collieries. The distribution of wages during the year amounts to something like 1,800,000/., and I believe that that is an under estimate. 4376. Have you any idea of the annual value of these works, adding the price of labour to other outgoings, and adding that to the owners' profits ? — During some disastrous years I should say that a great many of them did not see five per cent. The Ebbw Vale Company, whose capital and outlay re- present at least, two millions and a half, are at this time dividing not more than at the rate of 7^ per 5, Newport, examined. cent. As to the South Wales colliery, in which I am a shareholder, and. in which our capital is over 100,000/., I think for three years, or four years, we had no dividend, and accumulated a considerable sum against our profit and loss, indeed we are carrying on at an actual loss. 4377. I suppose there is a very considerable income derived from this industry, if not large enough to provide the means of any possible remedy ? — I do not know exactly as to that, but fractions tell, where you have to raise so many hundred thousand tons of coal, or to manufacture so many thousand tons of iron, in a year the fractional expense tells up in a very large sum, and runs very much into the question of carrying on the works at a profit or loss, eighths or sixteenths might be as important as in other cases 5/. notes would be. 4378. I suppose a very small fraction of a penny would suflice to cover the cost of any remedy ? — Not if you asked all the coal masters, or the iron' masters, to adopt some process that have been suggested for crushing ore Not if you asked them or the coal- masters to haul up all the refuse from their coal mines to the tops of the hills, Avhich in some cases they are bound by machinery, where tipping room is scarce in the valleys, to do very often, and that is a most serious outlay. Many of the collieries are sunk in valleys, for the purpose of lea-\-ing some land to tip in sinking down, but the valleys being confined it is impossible, unless by such clauses or such arrange- ments as render it financially impossible to carry on the works, to prevent the washings of ore getting to some extent into the river. KIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE— PART Ifl. 121 4379. {Dr. Franklcmd.) Are there not many aban- doned galleries in large mines ? — I believe the rule in good mining is to pile back your works as you proceed, and not to leave them as gathering reservoirs for the water coming down into one seam ; ther(! are a few districts in which large seams of coal have been worked out, and as the other setlms are worked out you must go to a large expenditure at the lower depths. If you had been accumulating all this waste where you wei'e before, you could not cany on your operations, and in fact we are bound by our leases not to accumulate refuse, if we did, the landlords would forfeit our leases. 4380. My question is this, whether it would not be possible to stack up in the abandoned galleries of the mines a good deal of stuff' that is now hauled to the surface as in lead mines ? — No, it would be impos- sible I should say. I do not understand the question about the shale, but the small coal. {Mr. Cart'wright.) In all cases where it can be done it is always done, they will not bring a can of rubbish out of the work, if they can stow it in the work. 4381. {Ml. Morton.) There are cases where you are forced to carry it up to the top of a hill,- — have you then used all your available uudergi'ound space ? {Mr. Cartwright.) No man would lift it up out of a mine if he had a place to deposit it underground. {TVitfiess.) With regard to the small coal, that is brought out by the colliers and is the result to some extent of the screening that goes on at the mouth of the pit, and which could not be done underneath. The shale to a very small extent gets into the river ; that is all tipped by the side of the pit, but you will find a very small quantity of shale coming into the river, if anything came into it it would be the refuse or the ashes from the furnaces. 4382. {Dr. Frcaikland.) From the coal washings ? — I have not seen coal washings where the small coal is washed for coking, and it is not the rule, nor would it come into the river, that is done generally at another part of the works. 4383. But the water used in the washing process goes usually into the river ? — I have not noticed that. I know that at the Blaina works the coal washing is done at some considerable distance from the river. 4384. But the water, I suppose, must run down into the river ; that cannot be helped ? — That cannot be helped. In the summer time water is priceless nearly at the works, and every kind of apparatus has been used at the works I have mentioned to econo- mise the use of the water, to pump it back, and even to allow it to cool at the furnaces. 4385. Do they not allow any of the coal washing water to go into the river, or into any stream ? — All the water finds its way in the same way down there. 4386. If it would pay one manufacturer who washes his coal to do that it would pay another ? — One set of works have facilities in one way, and another in another way, one in their coal, another in their ironstone, and another in their position for a market. It is a constant study at the large iron works to utilize and economize labour, and the appliances of water, because after all it reduces itself to a question of so much cost in the production of the finished mate- rial. Anything that you can say to convince the iron mas- ter or the coal master will reduce cost he will listen to. 4387. Supposing that one coal owner has an unlimited supply of water, will it not cost him less to allow the dirty water to run into the river than to pump it back again ? — He would prefer fresh water. 4388. There it is not a question of economy, but I presume if it were insisted upon that he should keep the water out of the river, he could do it as well as other manufacturers who do it, because he wants the water ? — I should not like to answer that question, but the coal washing is a very small question. {Mr. Cartinright.) I do not think it applies to this district. I have known this district for more than 30 years, and I really hardly know any parties who wash their coals. 4389. {To Witness.) What is the area of the dis» trict to which your statistics refer, or do they refer 30928. only to the Usk district ? — I liavo included in them ' all the iron works and collieries from the llhymncy on the one side to the Glenavon on the other side, and these are all within 20 miles. 4390. Have you heard any complaints made in con- sequence of dirty water being sent out from any of these collieries — 1 have never licard any complaint that has been made, I believe, against any tipping. The tips against which com})laint,s have been made have been the tips of refuse from underneath the furnaces, and the ashes from the furnaces, which have accumulated to an enormous extent ; that is not a question of fractions in the cost of a ton of iron, but a very serious expense. Then there have been complaints made against some of the iron masters by reason either of the tips being too near the rivers, tributaries to the Usk, or being undermined, or being carelessly put there, so that a portion of the tips have been washed under and let into the river. That has not been any question of pollution which has been taken up by the Harbour Commissioners as tending to silt up the bed of the river. Coal tar is quite a new question. I have never heard any complaint of that nature against any of the iron works. 4391. What do yon say with regard to cinders ? — That is a question of filling up the river, not of pol- lution. I never heard that the water was the worse for that for ordinary purposes. 4392. But we understand that that is to be avoided ? — Yes, so far as is practicable. With regard to that clause a remark was made that there was no difficulty in the works. In obtaining that clause it is only fair to say that no notice was given to the iron masters, who were mostly interested in the application made for that clause. It was one clause in an omnibus bill of the Harbour Commissioners. At that moment the iron masters were not represented, nor the Harbour Commissioners, so that they Were entirely taken aback when they heard of the clause having been passed. 4393. !ft appears that it is the practice to put cinders in at the head of the river, they go down into the harbour, and they have to be taken out of the river there. Is it right that the coal owners should send stuff down that has to be taken out by the Har- bour Commissioners ? — Certainly not. Take for ex- ample the Ebbw Vale Company, who are the largest exporters of iron from this port, no people can be more anxious about it, but they cannot always avoid either the acts of servants, or remake the country and give more tipping ground than exists. They have an enormous population dependent upon their carrying on their works at a profit, and it is sometimes a question. When I hear agriculturists talking about railway works, after all, they have been the source from which an increased value has been given to everything round here. Hie enormous population that I was speaking of is quite dependent upon these works ; the enormous population of Newport is quite dependent upon the coal and iron trades. 4394. I suppose the port itself is of some value ? — Certainly. 4395. Would it not be fair, if there is an iron manu- facturer who has not got land to put cinders upon, and is compelled to put cinders by the river side, that he should pay for dredging them out of the river if they found their way in ?— Everything in reason, anything that is fairly preventable, and that does not annihilate the district, or prevent the works being carried on with a fair return for the capital for the benefit of the population, I am quite sure the coal and iron masters are quite willing to do. I should say this, that my ge- neral knowledge of the iron masters and colliery owners is this, that they would consider it. If you come to the question of the destruction of the port, that is one thing, but if you come to the question of keeping the river so entirely pure that you may have salmon and trout in it, as well as in old times, then I say that that question is at variance with the emi)loyment of 30,000 or 40,000 people. We say that you cannot expect so much purity in the streams that pass through this district, as in trout and salmon streams in tl)e middle of Wales. Q Mr. T. Colborne. 15 Oct. 1872. Newport. 122 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Newport. Mr. ' 4396. If it came to the question of dredging the T. Colhorne. golid refuse out of the harbour, would you not consider ~ that the persons who put it in ought to be at the 15 Oct. 1872. (jxpenso of taking it out ?— If you can prove it. I know that on one occasion the Ebbw Vale Company was fined, and Mr. Darby, the managing director, took I'ather different views as to the extent of the damage that had been done, and I do not know that it has been brotight home so entirely to those operations, and no evidence has been given I believe as to dredging from the docks. 4397. Do you know of any cases in which it is absolutely necessary to throw cinders into the rivers ? — No ; but there are cases where tips have been made, where it is impossible, I believe, unless by extraor- dinary means, to prevent occasionally a flood from sweeping away a portion of that collection. I do not think that tlie iron-masters or the coal owners are fairly responsible Ibr that; up to the passing of this section two years ago some of our predecessors in these works were allowed to go on, le of acres ?— I think there is plenty of land there belonging to Lord Abergavenny. 4517. {Mr. Morton.) Are you at some distance below the town ? — Yes. 4518. Is there any land that would be suitable for the purpose above it ?— Yes ; there is a large meadow close to the town, and there is abundance of room there now. 4519. Is the land tolerably level between the town and the river ? — Yes, very level. withdrew. Mr. D. Steele, C.E. to Mr. Dyne SxEEtE, C, 4520. {Dr. Frunkland.) You have, I believe, some plan for cleansing the sewage of the whole of the Usk basin ?— I am thoroughly acquainted with the whole of that basin, and I shall be prepared to answer any questions with regard to any particular locality, as to how the sewage could be disposed of. I believe that in nearly every case it can be disposed of by gravita- 4521. In the case of Abergavenny, what would you propose to do ?— There would be no difBculty, I think, in disposing of the entire sewage of Abergavenny, by gravitation, if you could obtain laud over which to distribute it. 4522. How much land should you require for that purpose ?— It is a small town, and it would not require much. 4523. How much do you suppose ?— A few acres 4524. By what process should you propose cleanse the sewage ?— I think the best process is that which has been recently introduced at Merthyr, which IS by first draining the subsoil, and then distributino- the sewage over the surface, and making the area of the ground you purchase a natural filter of the effluent water, or the sewage that issues from it ; it has been lound by experience to be perfectly pure and free. 4525. Are you acquainted with the filter grounds at Merthyr ? — Yes. 4526. Do you consider that they act satisfactorUy ? —1 think It IS the most perfect plan that was ever introduced. 4527. Would you think it advisable to apply the same system to the sewage of Abergavenny ?— Yes. 4528. At what distance below Abei'gavennv, and upon whose laud would you have those filters?— I have iiot gone into that matter; I am now giving general evidence as to the contour of the country, "v«^' that kind could be adopted without any A^oo ^ w ''''"^'^ °^t''^^'^ necessary land. 452J. Would you not require two or thi-ee acres for the sewage ot Abergavenny ?— Yes; but a good deal depends upon the quality of the subsoil and the depth to which It could be drained. If it is a very porous soil, a smaller area could be usefuUy employed. If the gravel into which it would be drained was a thin oert it would require a lai-ger area. 4530. Do you know the character of the soil below 0 .E., Newport, examined. Abergavenny ?~It is mostly gravel overlying the red sandstone. 4531. Do you think it could be dramed to a depth of six feet ? — More than that. 4532. Would you propose to treat the sewage before conveying it to the filters by any chemical process ?— No ; only to free it from the grosser impurities, by passing it through rollers of slag, aud other means of separating the grosser matters, which would then be sold as manure, and the rest be distributed into the large filters. 4533. ■ You could not, I presume, conduct this pro- cess, Avithout having the necessary amount of land ' — No. 4534. Is there not a great indisposition on the part of landlords to part with land for this purpose ? I am not aware of that. I think, as a general mle, we have found in many instances that there has been an indis- position to do so on account of a supposed nuisance. I am not aware locally of what indisposition there would be amongst landowners. 4535. From your experience of the operation of these filters at Merthyr Tydfil do you think that there is any reasonable ground to apprehend a nuisance ? — I think not at all ; I think it is a mistaken idea altogether. 4536. Supposing that a landowner has his residence close to the filters at Merthyr, do you think he would smeU anything ? — No; except on very exceptional occasions. 4537. Have you any remarks to make as to any other districts in these river basins ? — No ; except that a system of filtration can be applied to anv place where there is a natural fall. There is no difficulty about it then ; it is a question simply of obtaining ground on which to distribute the sewage. 4538. I suppose the expense would be enormously increased if you had to pump up the sewage 7 — Yes ; that is a very serious objection. 4539. If you had a choice of ground near to a town where pumping would be required, and there was ground three or four miles away which did not requu-e pumping, even in a case like that of Abergaveuny, would you select the more remote place ? — Certainly. 4540. That gi-eater distance of three or four miles would be more than compensated for by the expense of RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART IIL 127 pumping on the land near to the town ? — Yes ; the interest of the money expended in actually pumping ■would exceed the cost of the outlay in the other case ; that is, for an extended sewer. 4541. Do they apply any chemical process to the sewage of Merthyr before it is filtered ? — Not to any extent, I believe. 4542. Do they not apply lime to it ? — Yes ; to a small extent. 4543. Do you not think that that has much to do with the success of the process ? — No ; nothing. 4544. Are you aware of any case in which this intermittent filtration has been applied on a tolerably large scale without some previous treatment ^ — Not at this moment. 4545. Is the sewage, as delivered at Merthyr, very muddy and turbid, and not clarified ? — Not at all. 4546. (^Mr. Morton.') Is the plan pursued at Merthyr the only example of that mode of treating sewage that you know of? — Yes ; in this district. 4547. Do you think there is a possibility of utilising the sewage of Newport ? — I think only by pumping. 4548. Is it possible to take a considerable propor- tion of sewage like that of Newport on to land ? — Yes. 4549. In a case of that kind you would diminish the cost of dealing with the sewage outflow by taking -as much as would fall by natural gravitation in that way, and' pumping only the remainder ? — In any case you would not pump what you could get by gravi- tation. 4550. I believe there is no other considerable central population on the TJsk, besides that of Abergavenny and Newport ? — I think not. The witness 4551. Do you know the case of Brecon ? — Yes. 4552. What is the population at Brecon? — ;Much the same us at Abergavenny. 4553. Is there equal facihty there of dealing with the sewage in the same way ? — Yes. 4554. The fall of the river is rapid, is it not ? — Quite as much as that of the river at Abergavenny, if not more so. The Usk is the same. 4555. Is the river considerably silted up, or is it silting up ? — Yes ; I think it is very rapidly silting up. 4556. Can you give us the depth of the channel at any particular point, is it altered ? — There is a place below the dock and there is a bank forming there very rapidly. You can hardly go down the river without seeing large deposits, and they equally come from the ironworks. 4557. Is it not the case that the exact course of the channel varies from year to year ? — No, I think it is gradually completely filling up the river. 4558. Will the necessity for dredging arise shortly, do you expect ? — Our river is so favourably situated with regard to the tide, and it is so enormous in height, that it almost prevents the necessity for dredging, which would have occurred in a river less favourably situated, but the time must come when dredging must be resorted to. 4559. Do you know whether the silting up in any place higher up is increasing the height of the floods ? — I am not aware of it. 4560. Is the silting up of the river confined to the tidal part of it ? — To the estuary entirely. Directly the debris is brought down by the tide, it is deposited after a rapid flow down. withdrew. Mr. D. Steele, C.E. 15 Oct. 1872. The witness subsequently {October 18, 1872) forwarded the folloimng statement to the Commission^ expressing a desire that it might be pri^itcd with his evidence. The estuary of the Usk, more especially the navigable portion, is filling up rapidly ; enormous banks are forming at various points, and particularly below the entrance to the Newport Dock, which bank is now two or three feet above the dock cill. Vessels proceeding up the river on early flood have taken the ground here and have been jeopardised. Another bank just below the mouth of the River Ebbw has grown immensely of late years, and all these banks are formed of rubbish from the ironworks and collieries, and are concreted together in a hard mass that no tide or current can move. During neap tides the navi- gation of the river is even now much impeded by shoals, and if things continue as at present a few years will tell a serious tale on the trade of the port. The remedy for all this serious mischief is to stop the depositing of rubbish of any kind within 10 yards (on a horizontal line) of the highest flood mark of any stream. The system on the hills is to tip rubbish and cinders right up to the ordinary water-line of the ytream ; these tips are of great height and contain thousands of tons ; the first flood carries away the toe of the tip which brings down the whole mass, and the torrent sweeps it away to be deposited in the estuary. This accounts for the enormous mass of rubbish brought down by every flood. I have myself seen at an ironworks in this county the whole of the men tuj-ned out of the mills and forges, some 200 hands, to shovel ashes and rubbish into the river during a thunder storm. A year or two back I was professionally consulted on a case of damage to land near Caerleon. A flood had brought down such a vast quantity of rubbish from the ironworks that the river bed was filled up, and breaking over the adjoining land the flood deposited the stuff over 3 or 4 acres of prime meadow to a depth of 2 feet to 2 feet 6 inches. The river at the same time cut a new course for itself, right through a field of corn across a bend of the river. The deposit was composed entirely of forge ashes, cinders, brick ends from the furnaces, and the usual ironworks refuse. The Newport Harbour Qommissioners have extensive powers to prevent aU this, but the means employed are very defective. County police are employed to detect offenders, and the chief culprits are county magistrates. The harbour-master goes on the hills occasionally, but being a sailor he naturally finds himself at sea amongst the rubbish tips of ironworks. All works can easily avoid throwing their refuse into rivers ; all that is needed is an inchne to hoist the material up the hillside and there tip it. I can point to many collieries where this is done, where tip room is insufficient. Statutory powers would also be needed to compel its being done in all cases. A competent pubhc officer, sufficiently independent by position to be clear of local influence how- ever powerful, should, in my opinion, have charge of a district, and be responsible for, and put in motion the ma- chinery of the law against all offenders. Newport. Mk. Arthur Davis Berrii 4561. (Dr. Frankland.) You are chairman of the Board of Conservators of the river Usk ? Yes. 4562. Is your surveillance confined to this river basin ? — I am also a conservator of the Rumney, and a member of the Carmarthen Fishery Board, but I have given most attention to this basin. 4563. Do you hand in a report ? — Yes {handing in the same, see Part IV.). 4564. There is an Act of Parliament which enables you to prevent the casting into the Usk of any sohd matters ? — The Board of Conservators have no power to work that Act, it is the Harbour Commissioners. They have frequently apphed to us to give them in- formation through the water bailiffs, which we have done, and there have been I think about seven or eight convictions under the Harbour Commissioners Act. TON, Abergavenny, examined. 4565. Are you unable to initate proceedings ? — Yes. Mr. A. D, 4566. Can you give us the particulars of those con- Berrington. victions, and for what ofiences they were obtained ? — The clerk of the Harbour Commissioners can do that. There was the case of a farmer' which was mentioned by the harbour master. I remember another case which occurred at some works a little below Ponty- pool, on the Afon Llwyd. The refuse was tipped along side the stream and liable to be carried down, and it was carried down by the floods. In that case a conviction was obtained. There was another case on the Clarach at Mr. Jaynes's works, about two miles above the mouth of the Clarach, where the whole of his cinders were tipped direct into the river. There was a sort of retaining wall against the river, and everything Avas poured out and tipped into the actual Q 4 128 RIVEES POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE PART III. Mr. A. D. water. In that case the water bailiffs jjave informa- Berrinyton. ^j^jj Harbour Commissioners, and a boy who 5 (J t 1872 ^^^^ wheeling several barrowsful of these cinders ' ' into the river was convicted, and the manager also. Newport. -^'^^ ^^^^^^g '^^ted under the orders of the 1 malinger, was fined only 21., but the manager was fined 8/. That happened at Crickhowell, and I believe that was the heaviest fine wh.ich has been imposed under the Act. 4567. I suppose these fines eventually fall upon the masters? — I believe that is the idea of the magistrates in imposing the fines. 4568. What should you say were the chief causes from which the river Usk now suffei-s ? — The upper part of the Usk is comparatively pure. There are tanyards which discharges into the Usk high up, about 60 miles from it.s mouth. They throw all their refuse into the river, and the tanyards at .IJrecon also do the same. There is also the sew- age of Brecon, but there is no great pollution until you come to the mouth of the Clydach which runs into the Usk, four miles above Abergavenny. The Clydach is very much polluted in the upper part of it. The Manteglo Company, which is represented by Mr. Colborne, have large works there, and their tips are almost directed into the river itself. The river falls from a height of 1,100 feet to 250 feet in a distance of eight or nine miles, so that everything that is put into it must be carried out at the other end as through a sluice. I think there would be no difficulty in the case of these collieries and iron mines, if they adopted some course for the benefit of those who live on the river banks, which they have in many cases adopted for their own banks ; where the bank is small it is easy to turn a culvert over, and it is done constantly. If the valley is very deep and narrow they are able to tip an enormous quantity of rubbish into this culvert. On the upper part of the Clydach the stream is bridged over at very short intervals, and indeed one third of it is altogether culvert. It is very easy to cover over, and an enormous amount of room for deposit would then be available. 4569. I suppose that kind of material is the chief source of what I may call solid pollution ? — Yes, it is at present. The cinders which are tipped from the different bridges are very injurious, and being some- what lighter than the stuff tipped from the collieries, they will be carried further down. I have brought with me a specimen {handing in the same), which was taken from the gravel, perhaps about 13 miles down the river below the mouth of the Clydach. This {handing in another specimen')- y^z& taken up from the gravel on my own property. I do not mean to say that all the gravel was the same, but it was all taken out of one place. The upper part of the gravel would be composed of large stones, the second part of small stones, and then there would be a great bed like what I have produced. 4570. What would be the proportion of cinders and scoriaa as distinguished from natural gravel in this bed ? — I think so far down as that not above one-fourth. I understand that Mr. Geething has lately noticed a great deposit of these ashes, and very much lower down, a dozen miles lower down the river. I do not think this is being thrown in now. I think this all came from Mr. Jaynes's works, as to which works a conviction was obtained by the Har- bour Commissioners. I think this is merely travel- ling down now, and that in the course of time it may be exhausted. 4571. Do you know of any other solid matter being cast into the stream ? — There are some very large lime- kilns on the Clydach, and the refuse lime in a quick state is tipped from these limekdns on to the bank of the river, and washed down by every stream and every flood. 4572. Is the lime screened, or where does the small lime come from ?— It is the refuse lime, which is not clear enough to send out. There is a great deal of it, and they do a very large trade there. They have, I believe, six very large kilns, and they send lime all over Herefordshire and Monmouthshire. 4573. Of course that is very deleterious to fish ?— Yes. I noticed only the other day that they tip theiv refuse from their quarries into the stream "tliere, and it goes down. 4574. Is it all quicklime ?— No ; there is a great quantity of loose stones which have got in in working the limestone, but this tends to fill up the bed of the river. 4575. Is the material which is sent in from the limekilns almost invariably in a state of quicklime, or is it sometimes unburned lime? — No, it is in the state of quicklime, what comes from the kilns. 4576. That, I suppose, would not contribute to the obstruction of the river ?— No ; the quantity would not be very great, but it would be very injurious to fish. 4577. It would naturally be converted into chalk, and be carried down in a very fine state ?— Yes. 4578. Are these the only solid pollutions you are acquainted with ?— Coming further down the river, the Afon Llwyd, as to which you have already had evidence, is very much polluted, partly by coal washing on its tributaries, especially the Cwmbran brook, which is very much polluted by coal washing, and by tips of various kinds. I believe that the tin plate works at Pant Mow tip in a great deal of their solid refuse, without a large amount of vitriol. They have now adopted a process for utilizing their vitriol, which I think ought to be entirely successful, but still I hear complaints that it does come down in places where I think it can only come from their works. 4579. What is the nature of the solid refuse which ib sent into the river ? — Cinders and stone. They arc building new works, and the earth which they dig out in making new foundations, and the rough stone rubbish from the buildings, I have seen all thrown in, and it all tends to fill up the bed of the river. 4580. Referring now to liquid pollutions, what are the chief things which at present affect the rivers ? — I should say that above these works there are iron- works and collieries, which also discharge a great deal of solid refuse into the rivers ; and the same on the Ebbw, there is an immense deal of solid pollution there. 4581. Is that from the mines, or from the fur- naces ? — From both ; everything is tipped into the rivers in these parts. The naphtha works generally tip in all their refuse, all their tar, and all the filth that comes from their works. 4582. Do they make charcoal ? — Yes ; I have seen on the Ebbw the tar which, in properly conducted works, is mixed with small coal and burned again, to some extent tipped, in a semi-liquid state, into the water of the Ebbw. 4583. With regard to the liquid pollution which floats on the surface of the water, how does that sink to the bottom ? — It sinks. You will see some on the surface like an irridescent film, and some of it sinks to the bottom of any ditch it runs through ; if you stir it, it mixes with the water again. 4584. Are you at all acquainted with the habits of fish ?— Tolerably well. 4585. Do you believe that this pollution will be deleterious on spawning beds ? — Yes. 4586. And very injurious to fish life ? — Yes. I have an old bottle here which contains some water that was taken from the naphtha works at Usk, as it ran into the brook, a tributary of the Usk, the water is all evaporated, but the deposit will give you some idea of wliat is discharged into the river. 4587. Is much of this i-efuse discharged into the stream ? — Yes, in places, that is from the Usk. There are some works of the same kind on a tributary of the Ebbw. There are two or three works on the Ebbw, and one at the head of the Eumney of the same kind. 4588. Do you consider that the solid refuse dis- charged into the rivers from coal mines and iron works is deleterious to fish ? — Yes, no doubt of it, it sickens them. I cannot say that it would actually kill them, but all fishermen know that when the refuse from the Clydach is coming down, if there is a RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 129 flood in that river, the stuff which it brings down is mixed with the Usk, and the fish will not take a fly, because they are sickened. 4589. Is it not a fact that in any turbid river fish either will not take a fly or they make but a feeble attempt to do so ? — If you fished in the Usk I think you Avould find that where the water from the Clydach was coiniu"- down the fish would not take a f{y, but when there has been a flood up above in Breconshire, where there are no pollutions, however thick it is, if it is clear enough for the fish to see a fly, they Avill take it ; I think that taking the same thickness of water, although of a different colour, fish will take in the one that is in pure water, but not in another. 4590. You do not think that it is a question of seeing the fly clearly ? — No, I think not. 4591. To what should you attribute the chief liquid pollutions in these rivers ? — The chief causes of the pollutions certainly have been the vitriol from the tin plate works ; I hope they are very much better than they have been, and I think the manufac- turers will find that it is for their interest to utilize the pickle, and I must say that most of them have shown every readiness, when they could do it without any loss, to adopt a process. 4592. Do you consider that there are still consider- able pollutions arising from that source which aflect the river Usk ? — There is a good deal still, particularly on the Afon Llwyd ; I am told that at the highest tin ■works on the Afon Llwyd they still discharge a good deal of vitriol into the water, and there can be no excuse for it, as they have every facility as it appeared to me to have very efficient tanks, if properly woi'ked. There were two or three places where we thought there might be an outlay suggested for the purpose of providing tanks. It was promised to be done, and if that had been done I do not see how except from carelessness there could be any escape. 4593. Do you consider that sewage is inimical to fish? I do not consider that sewage is injurious to fish, that is, fresh sewage, if it has stood in a pool and got putrified then it is so. 4594. Would it not also be so if sewage in a suffi- cient quantity is discharged into a river, and travels for six, eight, or ten miles, until the river has had time to get into a turbid slate ? — Certainly. 4595. Is that possible in the Usk ? — The discharge from Abergavenny is such that the river in sunimer time is full of sewage weed for a considerable distance. 4596. Sewage fungus ? — Yes, I have seen it more than a mile from the town quite thick, and fishermen in wading complain that they stir it up with their feet, and even lower down than that. 4597. Have you ever seen the river black or blackish in colour below Abergavenny ? — Yes, but I cannot say whether it was attributable to sewage or not. 4598. It might have been from coal washings ? — Yes, at Abergavenny for some distance down, except at a very short distance from Newport, the only mineral pollutions, that come in would be from the Clydach. 4599. Does that discharge above Abergavenny ? — Yes, about two miles. 4600. Does that bring down coal washing water ? I am not aware of it, it brings down cinders, and it brings down a good deal of solid deposit from the col- lieries and iron mines. 4601. Probably the blackness you have mentioned would scarcely be accounted for by that tributary coming in ? — I think not, it is generally of a grey colour, when there is a flood in the Clydach. 4602. Are you aware that water Avhich becomes blackish in the Trify from a mixture with sewage is highly poisonous to fish ? — I believe it to be so. 4603. Are you aware that if you take iron water and fresh sewage and apply the test of live fish to them, the sewage will come off victorious ? — Yes. 4604. But if it had got decomposed the sewage might be more fatal ? — Yes. 4605. You would recommend that all the sewage should be purified before it goes into the river in the interests of the fish alone ? — Yes ; health I think is the main point. 30928. 4606. What should you say are the chief sources of polhition aff(!cting health in tiie river ? — There is a very large; number of people who draw all their water su[)ply from the river, and I think that all those towns which turn their sewage into the river must pollute it, and in th(! case of an outbreak of cholera I think the disease would be very largely spread in that way. 46,07. Can you enumerate the towns or villages which take water from the river below each other ? — I do not think that any towns derive their water fVfjin the river, there is a large; scattered po[)ulation, and they fetch it in pails. 4608. Is it the habit in this basin to obtain water from the river ? — Yes, very much so. 4609. Are there not many springs up the river- side? — Yes, in some parts there aic, and in other parts there are none. There is a good deal of alluvial ground on each side of the river where there are very few springs, and the persons living there draw their water from the river. 4610. Do you know of any injury having been done to river-side property in consequence of what you have stated ? — I have seen land damaged along the Cwmbran Brook and the Afon Llwyd by floods, they bring down this sort of stuff {pointing to the speci- men), it is quite a useless pernicious deposit, and leave it on the land, and the land is injured. The bed of these brooks has been raised from time to time, and I have heard landowners complain very much that the brooks flood more thau they used to do. 4611. Do you know of any injury having been done to cattle by drinking the water, or grazing on those flooded fields ?— Not myself, but the other day I was talking to the manager of some works on the Cwmbran Brook, and he said that he had lost an animal, I think it was a young steer, from drinking the water. I liad the animal opened, and the medical man's impression was that the death Avas caused by a large quantity of solid matter in suspension in the water. 4612. Not from any poisonous ingredient? — No; that was his impression. 4613. {Mr. Morton.) Can you put any money value on the fishing in the river ?— I can hardly say, in parts the fisheries on the rivers might let for 200/. a year, pei- haps, but there is a great deal of extra value to be taken into account in that computation, because people own land and their houses let to great advantage. I have known a comparatively sum 11 house let furnished for 100/. a month, because there was a small fishery attached to it. 4614. Is the value of the fishing in your opinion diminishing ? — No ; the value of the salmon fishery is not diminishing, because these pollutions apply only to a small parr, the lower part of the river, and in the autumn and winter especially wo have plenty of water, so that the fish arc enabled to run up. When the pollutions are diluted in that w-ay a large stock of breeding fish is kept up in the river, and the salinon fisheries are still increasing in value, but the river fish, trout and other fish, are certainly decreasing ; the anglers remark that the salmon do not take the fly so readily as they did. ^ 4615. I suppose the fishing might be diminished m productiveness, and yet increasing in value ?— Yes, the productiveness has increased in the case of salmon, but not in the case of trout. 4616. Do you know of any instance of injury being done to residential in-operty owing to the iliiuinished value of the fishing in its neighbourhood ? — Thal- would be so in the llev. Augustus Morgan's case at Carnarvon. The fishing weir there is of no value : that refers to the Rumney. 4617. Is there no such instance on the LTsk ? — I remember the case of the Llantarnam Brook that runs iuto the Afon Llwvd ; the pollution there entirely killed every fish in the brook. Great complaints were made, and some steps were taken, I believe. 4618. Is there any case in which a river that has been spoiled by drainage has been subsequently re- stored by the adoption of any remedies ? — The only tin works that we have are on the Afon Llwyd and the R Mr. A. D. licrrinijton. 15 Oct. 1872. Newport. 130 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART IIL Mr. A. n. lierrinyton. 15 Oct. 1872. Newport. Col. C. Lyne. Ebbw and they are in a very bad state, although I am told that they are a little better than they used to be ; the Atbu Llwyd has certainly improved. I have The witness withdrew heard of salmon running ui) into Mr. Morgan's works into a leat there, but I doubt whether that would be the case now. Colonel Charles Lyne, Newport, examined 4619. {Dr. Frankland.) Will you state what office you hold ? — I am deputy chairman of the Harbour Commissioners, secretary to the Board of Conser- vators of the Usk and Ebbw, also secretary to the Usk Fishery Association, and a member of the Board of Conservators of the Rumuey. With the permission of the Commission I will confine my observations to three distinct points, and first of all with regard to (hat which is the most important, namely, the com- mercial part of it as relating to the shipping interest of this district; I fear very much that unless some stronger legal enactment be passed to prevent these tippings into this river, which is of very great magni- tude, and upon which an enormous trade is carried on, it will be very much injured in the course of years, which are not very far distant. 4620. Do you mean an enactment that shall take in a larger area ? — I mean an enactment that shall take in a larger area, and which shall not be confined in the manner in which it is confined by the clause in the Harbour Commissioners Act. That is a penal clause, and it is very difficult to obtain a conviction under it, for this reason, that the master is not answerable for the act of the servant, you must prove the act against the person, and him only can you convict, and that is a very difficult matter. When I have been standing on one side of the river I have seen trucks contain- ing some seven or eight tons of scoria; deliberately carried down by trams and poured into the bed of the river, and yet there was no means of obtaining a con- viction. You have to prove who the offender who actually committed the ofl^nce was, who might be A, B, or C, but which you do not know. 4621. You have witnessed this ? — Over and over again, and on one occasion Avith the harbour master, the man was on the other side of the river. 4622. What is your proposal to remedy this state of things ? — That the master themselves should be made answerable for the acts of their servants. It has been the custom and is still to deposit scoria; to the extent of milHons of tons, not in the actual bed of the river but by the side of the river, which is equally injurious to the river, and has the same effect so far as our works are concerned, as if it was tipped into it, the first^ flood washes it away, and when the flood has passed, it is again put upon the dry land apparently waiting again for the first fresh that comes. At those works in the upper hills a deposit has been made of the scoria, in a great measure to prevent damage being done to the land, but they cannot obtain land, although there are many instances in which it could be obtained without the least difficulty, but it would to some extent injure it by taking away from it its agricultural value. 4623. Could they not build a river weir with laro-e bricks of scoria; ?— Yes ; if they would do that, and arch over the river, and deposit the refuse on it, that would be another mode of preventing the evil which is going on in our river. I may mention that there is a report of Captain Aldridge's, and you have heard the evidence of Mr. Steele, the harbour master, that our river is gradually filling up, at the mouth of the Ebbw specially. We all know that as we are prooressiuo-, a larger and deeper class of ship is coming intx) use, and I believe, although formerly in this port the coasting trade was not of so much moment, yet at the present time larger ships of a greater depth of water some- times take as much as 2,500 tons of mineral produce away, and these iron masters are killing the goose with t\w golden eggs, 4624. As 1 understand you, you tlesire to have an Act to put them undt^- a suflicient penalty to prevent the discharge of all solid matters into rivers ?— Yes : and to do all we can to protect the commercial interest! 1 am satisfied that it is a mere matter of a little expen- diture, and that it will not injure their own work; at all, but prevent that injury in future, which certainly wdl come before many anticipate, if the present practice IS not stopped. The next point I wish to refer to IS with regard to the damage done by reason of the pollutions from these iron works, coal works, and tin works; but especially with reference to the injury that IS done to the tenants of river-side lands by reason of their being unable to obtain water which is fit for human beings, let alone cattle, to drink. These people are dependent upon the water which flows through the river Eumney and the Ebbw, and they have a long distance to go before they can get any other. They have springs, but they can get this in the winter. During the winter months, the water in the river is not so injurious, but in the dry months of summer they have to resort, bad as it is, to this bad water, or dio- httle mud holes ; and their cattle, instead of drinkinS the water, have to go elsewhere ; or if they do drink this water, we have heard the result, that they get sickened, and the young stock die. _ 4625. Can you give us any information as to the diminished value of river-side lands owing to what you have described ?— I cannot give any illustrations of it, but it stands to reason, I think, that if the tenants could obtain water for their cattle, and were not liable to having their land overflowed, and having many acres covered with scoria;, the land, instead of fetching 1/. an acre, would fetch 30*. an acre ; that speaks for itself. Then as to the fisheries, the pollu- tions no doubt have been such as very much to injure these rivers ; they are somewhat improving now, but in that improvement Ave are after all to a gi-eat extent at the mercy of the gentlemen on the sides of the rivers carrying out that which they ought to have carried out years ago. They may to-morrow say, it may not be so remunerative as the process they have been in the habit of adopting, and they may adhere to the old system, and there we require leo-is- lative enactment to compel to do that which is neces- sary. It has been proved that it can be done, but in many instances it is not done, I fear, although they have adopted the plan. There are times when, if care is not taken, these various contrivances will be getting out of order, and then it will be said. We do our best, this is a pure accident ; but tliese pure accidents are always occurring. Tanks have been put up to catch the refuse, but they are alloAved to fill and overflow, and when that takes place they are useless. I can tell you of an instance Avhere for a Avhole mile the river was destroyed, and at another nearly two miles of a most beautiful brook, with a fine park attached to it, were destroyed ; cA ery living thing in that river Avas destroyed ; there Avere hun- dred Aveights of trout and other fish taken from it, some of them weighing 2 lbs. and 3 ibs. That was about five years ago. 4626. You mean destroyed for a time ? — Yes ; there is no difficulty whatever in the prevention of it. There is one obserA ation that I Avish to make Avith regard to the injury AA-hich is said to arise from the coal works. I have made several experiments upon the water coming from the old coal mines, and although I haA'e tried 20 experiments I cannot giA'c you a single instance where it ever killed a fish, and therefore l"do not attribute the injury done to the fish to the water coming" from the coal mines. 4627. Does that Avater deposit any ochrous mud — Yes ; I think it sickens the fish, and in time it would no doubt kill them ; but my experiments extended over from tAvo or three hours to tAvo or three davs, and the more stjignant the Avater got, the worse it Avas. I think that tlie pollution from the scAvage of Aber- gavenny is exceedingly dimgerous. I can speak from experience, for half a mile beloAv the toAAm the stench has been so abominable that I have felt perfectly sick from it, and as to any fish risiuir to a flv in the ncish- RIVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL KVIDENOK — PAKT IIL 131 bourhood, I do not believe they will do it unless they are very hungry indeed. 4628. Is the stench offensive when the water is very lo^v V — Yes ; with regard to NeAvport I do not believe that the sewage of Newport is at all injurious to fish. 4629. What are the relative volumes of sewage in the rivers at Abergavenny and at Newport ? — One is the sewage from about 6,000 people, and the other from 30,000 inhabitants. l^'4630. {Mr. Morton.) What is the relative volume of the drainage of the town and of the river that runs by the town of Abergavenny ? — It is enormous. I cannot tell you the quantity of water passing by, but it is nothing approaching to Newport. 4631. {Dr. Frankland.) Would the volume of water be ten times as much as that of the sewage ? — Yes, in dry weather, I should say a hundred times. 4632. (ilfr. 3Iorton.) In the case of Abergavenny they have a water supply ? — Yes. 4633. Do you know the gathering ground that supplies the town ? — No. 4634. Does it extend to some hundreds of acres ? — Abergavenny is supplied from most excellent springs, straight out of the hill side. The witness Mr. William Williams, 4641. {Mr. Morton.)! believe you are agent for the Pontypool Park estate ? — 1 am. 4642. In cases where works are situated at the heads of valleys, is not the land exceedingly narrow, flat, and limited in extent, where the scoriae and rubbish are deposited ? — In some parts it is so. Doubtless there would be an expense, but that is a mere matter of pounds, shillings, and pence, in taking it up to a greater height than they do. In making a deposit, instead of taking it 20 or 30 feet it ought to be taken 50 or 60 feet, if necessary, Jrather than damage me down below. 4643. The next point is as to whether it would be practicable without considerabledelay to acquire powers The witness r> Oct. 187a. Kc WJ)()|-t. 4635. At its lowest the Qsk is a considerable ('<'!■ C Lyne. stream, is it not ? — Yes. 4636. Even in tlu! summer months ? — Yes. 4637. Are there any parts of the stream, where it is fordable ? — There are parts of the river that are fordable. 4638. At its lowest, is the sewage that runs from Abergavenny very small in volume ? — Yes, but it is sufhcient to pollute the river, and very injurious I think to the inhabitants, the tanks are formed in a very thickly populated part of the town, and amongst a low population. 4639. Do you know of any instance of laud being irrigated with river water ? — No, I should say, with regard to the mode of utilizing the water, that although I think Pugsley's patent is an admirable one, yet it does not do away with that which you have heard of to-day, namely, the white pickle. By the other mode you do absorb the entirety of the water ; I mean the sawdust method. 4640. {Dr. Frankland.) I suppose the white pickle might be used as a basis for making the other pickle ? — I suppose it might be boiled over and over again. withdrew. Pontypool, examined. to culvert or cover the river, so as to command both banks, with the object of tipping over the same ? — It is a mere question of arching, 4644. A considerable outlay would be incurred, would it not ? — Merely the expense of a brick arch across, which would not be wider than this room. 4645. Generally speaking, it is not usual for both banks to belong to the same land owner, and it may be difficult on the opposite bank to obtain land ibr the purpose ? — I think that is not so in Monmouth- shire. 4646. {Dr. Frankland.) So far as you know, does the land on both sides of these brooks belong to the same proprietor ? — I think so generally. withdrew. Adjourned to to-morrow at Cardiff, at 10 o'clock. In the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Cardiff. (For Cardiff and District.) Mr. W. Williams. Wednesday, October IGth, 1872. PRESENT Dr. Ed-ward Frankland, F.R.S. | Me. John Chalmers Morton. Me. S. J. Smith, F.G.S., Secretary. Me. Thomas Waring, M 4647. {Mr. Morton.) Are you surveyor of Cardiff? —Yes. 4648. Did you sign the return which has been made to the Commission ? — Yes. 4649. The area of the borough is 2,327 acres ? — Yes. 4650. What proportion of that is built upon ? — About one half. 4651. Between 1,100 and 1,200 acres ?— Yes. 4652. There are nearly 40,000 inhabitants ? — Yes. 4653. Is the area round Cardiff also densely popu- lated ? — Yes, the immediate neighbourhood. 4654. Are thei'e separate authorities immediately adjoining Cardiff which have jurisdiction over con- siderable centres of population ? — There are. Roath on the eastern side, and Canton on the western side ; they are under the Local Government Act ; there is also the district of Llandaff, which is under the Sanitary Act. 4655. Can yon give us the populations in those separate districts ? — The population of Canton above Roath would be about 9,000 ; of Canton, about 7,000. 4656. Have those different districts separate systems of drainage ? — The Roath district has an entirely separate system, with the exception of about 15 acres, I.C.E., Cardiff, examined. which 15 acres drain into the Canton sewers, by an ari'angement made between the two boards. 4657. Is that a densely populated part of the dis- trict ? — Yes, most so. 4658. Is the other part also drained ? — The other part of Roath is principally drained to the sea, but there is a considerable portion of Canton that is undrained, speaking of the land which is built upon, and which is being built upon. 4659. Has it a separate exit for its own drainage ? — Yes ; referring to Canton, there is a system sur- face drainage, the outfall of which is into the river Taff, opposite the Town Hall, through an outlet into the Whitehouse Brook, a quarter of a mile long on the opposite side of the river, within the western boundary of the Cardiff district. 4660. Is that brook an open stream ? — Yes, from Avhat is called the Whitehouse Brook, downward to Whitehouse Bridge, being about half a mile from this place, is now an open stream. 4661. Is any nuisance complained of? — It has been very much complained of for the last three or four years. 4662. Is there a considerable population resident on the banks of that stream ? — A population is springing Mr. T. Wariny, M.I.C.E. 132 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE PART M,: T. Waring, M.I.C.E. 16 Oct. 1872. Cardift'. np, and thore is a considerable population in proportion to its k-npth, on its banks now. 46(i3. Doos tlie drainage of CarditF enter the river through more than one exit? — The only portion of the drainage of Cardilf which enters the river at all is on the west side, adjoining the Canton district ; that is what we call surface water drainage, taking the house slops, having no connexion with any privies or cess- pools. 4664. Is there no outfall into the river which dis- cbarges sewage ? — There is no outfall which can-ies excrementitious matters, but there is, cf course, a good deal of urine and house slops, and vegetable water which at present runs into the river, in that western district only. 4665. Would a sample of sewage taken out of that place represent the tlood water of the town exclusively, or the rain water of the town ? — No, it would represent sewage matter rather. 4666. Vfould it include all the liquid sewage and chamber slops ? — Yes, to a great extent. 4667. There are cases in which the separate system is adopted, one for the rainfall, and the other for the liquid refuse of the town ; in such a case T take it that the rainfall system of sewers would still be liable to be used as you use this system of sewers ? — Yes. 4668. Would a sample of Avater taken at the moutli of this sewer represent the rainfall sewage of the town, together with whatever Avaste liquids might be thrown into it ? — I think so. 4669. Is CarditF entirely supplied with waterclosets, or are there also privies ? — You may take it as being wholly supplied with Avaterclosets, though the western portion is supplied with privies ; perhaps 100 houses in the outlying districts are not yet reached by the main sewer. 4670. Are there any cesspools containing excremen- titious matters allowed within the town ? — No. 4671. Are these so-called waterclosets well con- structed waterclosets, or merely pans with seats, where they pour the water down ? — There are syphon pans in all the respectable houses, second-class houses — in fact all houses of about 15/. a year ; each house has a separate Avatercloset, and as a rule it is supplied Avith Avater direct into a cistern ; it is supplied in the ordinary manner. In the cottage properties it is usual not to put any Avatercloset service, because that is found to lead to an immense amount of AA^aste, and to alm.ost an impossibility of keeping the apparatus iu order, oAviug to the Avaut of proper supervision over children and other careless people, for they are con- tinually making it a matter of amusement to work the valves, and the consequence is that pans have been adopted, and they arc flushed out by hand. 4672. You mean that Avater is carried to them ? — Yes. 4673. Are these waterclosets Avithiu the cottages, or are they in courts outside? — They are outside always. 4674. With regard to the scavenging of the toAvn, and the solid refuse, what becomes of all that, and the house ash, ;uul the street sweepings ? — The ashes are collected daily from all the principal streets in the toAvn, Avith the vieAv of bringing them to the front, to the scavengers, who take them aAvay CA^ery morning, or during the day. In the poorer dAvellings in the suburbs these things are stored for two or three days, and are collected tAvo or three times a week. They are remoA'cd and sold to farmers, and used for agricul- tural ])urposes, for the top dressing of land. 4675. Do the farmers buy the mere house ashes ? It includes also vegetable matter ; no excrementitious matter. 4676. Is it of any agricultural value ? — Yes. 4677. Do you find any difficulty in disposing of it ? — It is not sold very readily at a very Ioav price. 4678. Is it anyAvhere used to level the ground with ? —No. 4679. Do you know anything of any attempt having been made to utilize the scAvage ? — There is an irrio-a- tion farm in part of the parish of Roath, which Avas established by Lord Tredegar, and Avhich has been in operation for the last tAVO years. 4680. What is the extent of the land there ?_I3 o 14 acres. 4681. Is scAvage applied to the land by gi-avitation or IS It pumped ?— It is pumped. 4682. On Avhat terms does Lord Tredegar obtain the scAvage ?— It is sewage which belongs to himself. 4683. Has any complaint been made of any nuisance arising from the use of it ?— No, not from that part. 4684. Have you any complaint to make of any nuisance existing in the river above the bridge ?— My attention has only been clraAvn to sanitary r^atters in that respect, but with regard to anything above the bridge I have never had any reason to complain. 4685. Does the drainage from any considerable population pass into the river near you ?— Within four or fiA'e miles. 4686. What is the name of the toAvn or village ? —It is called Walnut Tree Bridge. Portobello, and Tafi Vale, and all the Avay up the river, are villao-es containing 4,000 or 5,000 people in each, until you come to Pontypridd, and on to Merthyr, where they are carrying out a system of seAvage irrigation, and they purpose to deal with all above Pontypridd, that is, all in their OAvn parish. 4687. Is there a large population there ?— Yes, at Pontypridd. 4688. Does the present arrangement there create any nuisance in the river ?— Undoubtedly, and com- plaints have been made continually of the nuisance in the river, down here, as Avell as up there. 4689. Have any plans for the abatement of that nuisance been devised and carried out in consequence of the complaints which have been made ? — No, but the complaints must have been in consequence of there being a nuisance. 4690. Is any quantity of sediment brought down the river in consequence of any deposit on its banks ? — I cannot speak to that. 4691. Is there any dredging carried on in the harbour ? — Yes, constant dredging. 4692. To what is the need of that attributable ?— A good deal to the influx of mud from the tide, but to Avhat extent from other causes I do not know, probably from Avashing down gravel and materials from the river. 4693. Do you knoAV the river basin of the Taff ? — Yes, pretty Avell. 4694. What are the principal pollutions iu the course of this river or its tributaries ? — The principal works on the banks of the river, although I cannot speak positively to the amount of the population, are tin Avorks and a number of iron Avorks at Pontypridd, colliery Avorks and iron Avorks all up the river. 4695. Do you consider that the iron works are a source of pollution ?— They are rather a source of obstruction. 4696. Is the tin plate industry largely developed in that basin ? — Very considerably. 4697. Is there any coal washing in the valley ? — I think not. Any pollution from mines Avould arise from pumping. We haA'e that occasionally in some parts from the collieries in the hills, and the river comes doAvn much more discoloured sometimes than at others, it being, I think, on account of the pumping, but I have not seen it. ° 4698. Do you knoAV of any remedies AA'hich have been adopted of late by any of the manufiicturers or coal Avorkers to abate this nuisance ? — I do not know of any. I do not think there are any. 4699. Is no attempt made, to your knoAvledge, to prevent the discharge of the Avaste matters from°a tin district ? — I am not aware, 4700. Can you give us any information as to the value of these industries in the Taff valley ? — No, 4701. { Dr. Frank/and.) I think you stated that the tAVO principal sewers in Cardiff, chiefly convey surfiice water into the river, and other excrementitious matters into the sea ? — There is one principal scAver, the main sewer of the district, Avhich takes the excrementitious matters into the sea. The other sewer is a temporary one now, because the Board have had it under con- sideration for some time to connect it with their prin- cipal scAverage. It is only recently withm that district RTVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDKKCE — rAUT III. 133 that houses have been built on tliat side of the river, hence the necessity for draining that side has not arisen before. I do not look at that as a ])ublic sewer at all, the sewer is made only as a part of a system, which Avill, I presume, next year be completed ; probably the water which tliat sewer discharges into the river is surface water and is the refuse water from the houses that you can see in five minutes. 4702. The sewer that goes out to the sea has an outlet ; is that covered at high Avater ? — It is closed at high water for three hours and a half. 4703. Are you acquainted with the water supply to the town ? — Only generally. 4704. Do not the works belong to the Corporation ? ■ — No, there is a private company. 4705. Are you satisfied with the supply of water given by that company ? — Yes, now. 4706. Is the quality of the water good ? — Yes. 4707. Is the quantity of it abundant ? — 'Yes. 4708. At all times ?— Yes. 4709. Is the service a constant one ? — Yes. 4710. Do you use much of the water for flushing out the sewers ? — No, we do use a portion of it, but our flushing of the sewers is done by an ovei'flow from the river ; we do not require, except in a certain portion of the town, the other water. We had originally an arrangement with the company by which we took their water, but afterwards we made an alteration in the mode of flushing, and it was confined to a certain part of the tov/n. There is an agreement which gives the town all the water they require for sewer flushing, street watering, urinals, and fountains, and all matters required by the local board of health, not by the Cor- poration, at the rate of 2^ per 1,000 gallons. 4711. What arrangement have you for the ventila- tion of the sewers in Cardiff"? — Generally speaking we have ventilating shafts direct from the sewer into the street or road ; that was the original mode. In the sewers made under my superintendence I have ado])ted charcoal chambers on the surface of the street, with a vertical shaft leading into the charcoal chamber, and I do not find that any complaint is made with regard to the revolution of the gases. In many cases in the old part of the town, before the original ventilating shafts were constructed, complaints were made of course of the emission of foul air, and we then had those to a great extent altered, and the whole of them are being now gradually converted ; we shall have 300 shafts altogether. 4712. Is charcoal efficient in destroying odour ? — Yes, I find no complaints about it. I do not perceive any foul smell. 4713. How often is the charcoal changed ? — About once in six months. 4714. Is the same charcoal used again after burning ? — No, it is destroyed. 4715. Do you find that the use of charcoal in this way interferes with the complete ventilation of the sewers ; does it at all interfere with the escape of the gases ? — Not materially ; I was very much afraid that it would. 4716. Do the men who walk in the sewers not complain of the gas being too foul for them there ? — No, we have only two men who ever go into the sewers ; throughout the Avhole 20 miles of sewers there are half a dozen communications with built chimneys, and with the gasworks chimney, which improve our ventilation very considerably. 4717. Those communications will for a certain length of time create a partial vacuum in the sewers so that the current would be rather downwards through these charcoal pans ? — In the immediate vicinity only, it does not extend far, I had it tried four or five years ago with an anemometer, and I found that it did not extend nearly so far as I expected, not above 100 yards. The draught into the chimney of the gasworks is tremendous, so much so as almost to interfere with the current of water in the sewer, but the involution of the air through the ventilating entrances was very much less than I expected it would be. 4718. Did you ascertain the difference in the pros- Mr. sure inside the sewer and outside ? — No. Wariwi, 4719. Do you apply rain spouts anywhere for ven- M.I.i^.h. tilating sewers? — Yes, occasionally, but it is not a ic Oct 18"' system that I would recommend. ' 4720. As a rule, are the traps in the houses which Cardiff conununicate with the sewers in good condition ? — I , think they are in a fair condition. 4721. Do you hear complaints occasionally of the escape of sewer gases into any of the houses ? — Very rarely ; we never have any traps in the houses except in the sinks, but we have them in the yards. 4722. Have you ever known of an escape of gas into a house through the undue pressure of the gas iu the sewer ? — I think there have been cases of that kind, Avith strong south winds. When you get a Avind blowing into the ventilating shaft at the south end of the system, and through the outfall doors, to some extent you get then an upAvard pressure, which might haA'e an effect to that extent ; but that has been a great deal remedied by the construction of the ncAV outfall seAver, Avhich Avas constructed two years ago under an arrangement betAveen Lord Bute's trustees and the corporation, giving a very large space either for a reservoir or reservoirs of Avater. Since that Avas made the same complaint has not arisen. 4723. What depth of Avater Avould gases, under the most favourable circumstances, the wind blowing up the seAvers, displace ? — I cannot say. 4724. In the case of traps being actually forced, do you know what the depth of Avater Avill be there ? — The depth of Avater in a trap would not be more than a couple of inches ; they are small D traps. 4725. You could not command pressure sufficient to force it into the scAver, could you ? — I am taking the depth of the Avater in the trap ; the depth would probably be about half an inch, but Ave adopt now in all cases a connexion Avith the scAver, and put a metal flap at the mouth of the pipe that stops it. 4726. Are Ave to understand that the privies and middens in the tOAvn are drained into this outfall sewer, and the refuse so goes to the sea ? — There are no middens in the tOAvn; stable middens are drained into the sewers. 4727. Would you describe Cardiff as being essen- tially a AA'atercloset tOAvn ? — Yes. 4728. {Mr. Morton.) What height does the tide rise above your outfall ? — It rises to the top door, about 10 feet, and the outfall is closed for three hours and a half sometimes. 4729. Does the Avater enter into the seAver ? — No. 4730. What depth is the sewer iu the lowest part of the toAvn ? — 10 feet. 4731. Are there any cellar dAvellings in the town ? —No. 4732. With regard to the system of drains Avhich are supposed to take only surface Avater, Avhat is the extent of area that they drain ? — The extent of the area is about 15 or 20 acres. 4733. What amount of population is resident in that area ? — Not more than 1,200 persons. 4734. {Mr. Shcrleij, through the Chair.) What becomes of the sewage matter from that part of Cardiff Avliich is distributed on the Avest side of the i-iver Taff"? — The excrementitious matter is deposited for the present in cesspools Avithin the purlieus of the houses. 4735. Is that so invariably ; take the union, for instance ? — The excrementitious matter from the union runs doAvn into the Taff'. 4736. Does not the bulk of the same kind of matter Avhich arises on the Avestern side of the river, also come into the riA er? — Not the excrementitious matter. 4737. Is it only the union ? — Yes, only the union. There is, as far as I knoAv, not a single cesspool con- nected. What .may be done surreptitiously one. cannot always knoAV, but no provision is made for any con- nexions between the cesspools in the district. 4738. {Dr. Frankland.) Where does the overflow fi-om those cesspools go ? — They are not supposed to overflow. R 3 134 KIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— ORAL EVIDENCE PART Mr. T. Waring, M.I.C.E. Is the soil a porous one ? — It is a gravelly 16 Oct. 1872. Cardiff. 4739. soil. 4740. {Mr. SUerln/, through the Chair.) What becomes of the excrcraentitious sewage mattcu' of the district of Grangctowii ; does not that go into the river ? — Yes, it goes into the river direct, the whole of it, but that is out of the borough. 4741. {Mr. Morton.) What population is there at that place ^ — I think about 2,000. 4742. Referring to the area which has the surface drains in it, what is the extent within or without your jurisdiction that drains out of it?— The extent of that would, I suppose, be 200 acres. 4743. What population is resident within those 200 acres ?— Probably 8,000 or 9,000 altogetlier. 4744. Is that population perfectly provided with watercloset arrangements ?— That population is pro- vided with cesspools, and waterclosets or privies. 4745. Which are connected with your other system of sewers ? — Which are not connected with any system of sewers except the brook. 4746. Is there any direct drainage of waterclosets or sewers into that outfall ? — There is a direct drainage of sewers, not of waterclosets, and not of excremen- titious matter. All the sewers in the Canton district, which are called surface drains, are discharged into that brook. 4747. {Dr. Frankland.) Are there any private wells still in use in Cardiff? — There are a few, but very few, in the upper part of the town. 4748. Have any wells in the town been closed of late years by the local board of health ?— A number of ^ wells have been closed. I do not know that any private wells have been closed, or that any authority has been required. We have powers in this way that if there is not a sufficient supply of wholesome water to the inhabitants, we can compel that supply, so that if the wells used were found to be foul, we should have power to compel a supply of other water than well water, and that would naturally lead to the aban- donment of the wells. That has been, not from any powers we have exercised, but from the force of cir- cumstances throughout the town generally, and where pumps and wells existed they have been given up and the water company's supply taken, 4749. I understand that all the public wells are now disused ? — ^Yes, they are closed. 4750. In that part of the town where cesspools still exist, are there any wells in use ?— 1 think there are not any private wells ; there may be in the northern part of the town some, I daresay there are, in the vicinity of cesspools, but, generally speakmg, I should say not. 4751. Would not those wells be peculiarly liable to contamination from the cesspools being in porous gravelly soil ? — I think so. 4752. Is the gravel a water-bearmg stratum, from which the wells derive their supply ? — Yes, but they do not go below it. 4753. What is there below the gravel ?— Marl. 4754. {Mr. Sherlei/, through tJie Chair.) One of the Commissioners has asked you with regard to the The witness sewage of the towns higher up the river Taff, has your attention been directed to the sewage of LlandafF, and what becomes of it?— Yes, the sewage of Llandaff IS brought down into a tank about a mile up the river, fi-om which tank the sewage was intended to be used by farmers, to be distributed over the land by water carts, but I am afraid that the fanners do not suffi- ciently appreciate the value of the sewage, and a oood deal of the overflow therefore runs into the river.° 4755. I suppose every flood fiUs that cesspool, and carries the surplus contents into the river ?— One would suppose so, but I do not know it. 4756. Do you not know that there is no outlet fbr the sewage of Llandaff, wliere there are waterclosets, except into the river Taff ?— Yes, practically it gets there, except what the farmers take. I think a little irrigation is carried out over a meadow. 4757. {Dr. Frankland.) Do you find the river above the town seriously polluted by sewage ?— No, I should say not. 4758. Does the river ever smell in dry weather in the summer time ? — I have smelt it at Cardiff brido'e, but not higher. ^ ' 4759. Is Cardiff bridge below any of your own sewer outfalls ? — No, it is above. 4760. You have smelt it there ?— l^es, I think probably from the flowing tide. 4761. Is there any offensive smell on the sea shore near where the sewer outfall is ?— No, at the point of delivery to the sea you do not find it ; there is no smell, except what you would get from the actual now, that is to say, there is no continuing smell. 4762. Is any solid sewage matter dropped on the shore there — No. 4763. Does no offensive mud accumulate about the place ? — No. 4764. How does the current set along the shore ?— I think that the ebb current has a trend outwards. 4765. {Mr. Morton.) Is the outfall of which you are speaking above or below a weir that diverts the course of the river immediately above the town, the second outfall ? — It is a mile and a half below the weir. 4766. Does the tide run up far beyond Cardiff ?— It runs up to the foot of the weir. 4767. Is the whole of the water of the river diverted at the weir in the ordinary state of the river ?— No, in dry weather it is. 4768. Is it an old weir, or has it been recently erected ? — It was erected, I believe, in 1831. 4769. Is the property above the weir affected by the water being artificially raised there ? — I do not know. 4770. Do you know whether there Avere any com- plaints at the time, or is it all the property of land- owners ?— The property of one landowner runs up for about a mile. _ 4771. Does Loi d Bute's property- extend on both sides of the river ? — Yes. 4772. Is the effect of the weir lost at the distance of a mile up? — I do not know, but I think it must be, as the river has a rapid fall. withdrew. Mr. Daniel Jones, con Mr. B. Jones ^773. {Mr. Morton.) Are you a member of the local board of health ? — Yes. 4774. In the replies to queries sent by the Commis- sioners to the local board of health, it is stated that nearly all the sewage from Rhondda valley and Taff vale is discharged into the Taff river ? Y'es. 4775. And that many of the privies are built over and against the stream ? — Y''es, over in some places, and against in others, the holes are in the bottom, and the mud is discharged into the river. 4776. Do you know this from your own observa- tion ? — Yes, up as far as Aberdare, 4777. How is the drainage on the south side of the city of Llandaff effected .^— It is delivered into a meadow, iu a small tank, east of the land at Millbrook. ractor, Cardiff, examined. 4778. Where does it flow then ? — It flows into Mill- brook a little lower down. 4779. Is there considerable subsidence effected in the tank ? — No ; the whole of the sewage first goes through a 12-inch pipe, which is across the brook, and it is continually overflowing; it is overflowing this morning into the river. 4780. It goes into the tank first ? — Yes, which is about a third of the size of this room, and when that is filled it overflows, and passes along the old ditch into the mill stream lower dowu. 4781. Is there much solid stuff dug out of the tank ? — I do not know, but it is full now. 4782. Have you ever known it to be emptied ? — Yes. RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE— PART III. 135 4783. How long ago ? — I cannot tell you. 4784. Is the overflow from the tank which runs into the mill stream offensive ? — It is the sewage of a large part of Llandaff, and it must therefore be offensive. 4785. Have you known it to smell offensively in summer time ? — No, it is out of the ordinary way of the traflac, it is in a private field, and no person will go there. 4786. What have you to say about the drainage of St. John's and St. Mary's parishes ? — The whole of it passes down the Taff, it is delivered into the Taff just outside here, a quarter of a mile down, above Cardiff bridge, and south of it. 4787. Is that the western sewer ? — Yes, on the western side of the Taff. 4788. Have you observed the nature of that dis- charge, whether it is offensive ? — Yes, it is. 4789. You have known it to smeU ? — Yes. 4790. As to the surface water and liquid sewage from the Canton board of health district, what be- comes of that? — A large proportion of it comes into the Whitehouse Ditch, and is a very great nuisance into the parish of St. Mary's. 4791. Is that ditch an affluent of the Taff? — It is. 4792. Where does it enter the Taff ? — Just opposite the Town Hall, 4793. Is that a nuisance in the town ? — Yes, a very great nuisance. 4794. Is that sewage not treated in any way ? — No. 4795. Not even subsided in a tank ? — No, it is in its native state. 4796. What have you to say about the sewage of Upper and Lower bridge in the parish of Llandaff? — The whole of that is delivered into the Taff about a mile from here opposite the old sea lock-gate. 4797. Can you inform us approximately what is the number of gallons per day delivered at any of those places ? — No. 4798. Are all the places you have named supplied with water by the company ? — All Cardiff is supplied with water, more or less. A great ;part of Canton is supplied also. Llandaff City is not supplied with water. It is difficult to get it, because it stands above the level of the reservoii-. I believe that the soil of the district of Canton is very porous, and there are upwards of a thousand cesspools continually de- positing filth and filling up the soil, and there are 1,300 liouses. I took the account out of the rate book, and the whole of those houses have more or less cesspools, that is the rule. 4799. Do these cesspools rapidly fill up ? — Yes, with surface water, and then there is a flow of filth over the yards belonging to the houses in many cases. 4800. Does it find its way into the gully-holes ? — No, they are not connected with the street. Many of them overflow into the back yards of the houses. Tiie witness 4801. What becomes of the matter then ? — I do not know ; it poisons the neighbourhood, that is all. It goes nowhere, 4802. Are there any wells about the place ? — Yes, plenty. 4803. Does this stuff get into the wells ? — Yes, in some cases I have seen cesspools overflowing into wells. 4804. Have many complaints been made by the inhabitants of this state of things ? — Yes, continual complaints have been made. 4805. What sort of houses do you mean, are they poor houses ? — Hanging from 8/. to 1,000/., and from that upwards. Some gentlemen live there, but the majority of them are working men's houses. 4806. Do many of the families of the working men drink the water of those wells ? — They have nothing else to drink. 4807. Are they not supplied with the company's water ? — In some cases they are, in many cases the water is laid on, bvit of course where it is not laid on, the people get water from the wells, or borrow it from neighbours. 4808. Are there no stand pipes in the streets ? — None, 4809. The people are compelled then to use the v/ater of those wells ? — Yes, if they use any, 4810. Has any considerable proportion of the popu- lation been compelled to use it?— There is a small per-centage now. The supply by the company has superseded the wells, 4811. Have the water company no power to com- pel the use of its water, or rather to charge for it, whether it is used or not ? — No; 4812. {Dr. Fra7ikland.) Can you name any particular well in that district that is largely used ? — One of my workmen \Aio lives in Stag Terrace asked me a week ago what he was to do ; that the water from the house was full of worms, and he wanted to know how he could get better water to drink. I said I do not know, unless you go to the board of health. 4813. Is that well expressly for the use of this man and the occupants of his house, or is it used by many other persons ? — There is a court there. 4814. Does the sewage of Llandaff create a nuisance in the river Taff? — The quantity is too small to affect the river. 4815. {Mr. fValdron, through t/ie Chair.) — You have stated that there are many houses in Canton, the tenants of which do not use the water supplied by the company, how many are there ? — I cannot say, but the number is continually decreasing. 4816. I understand that there are only six which are supplied in the whole district ? — I cannot say, but I know complaints have been made. withdrew. Mr. D. Jone*. 16 Oct. 1872. Cardiff. Mr. John Stewart Corbett, J.P., Cardiff, examined. 4817. {Mr. Mort07i.) You are, I believe, a magis- trate for the county of Glamoi-gan ? — Yes. 4818. And agent for the Marquis of Bute ? — Yes. 4819. Are you acquainted with the rivers that run into the Taff' and with the course of that river ? — Yes. 4820. Are you also acquainted with the various sources of pollution from which those rivers suffer ? — With some of them. 4821. Will you be good enough to enumerate them ? — There are some paper mills on the river Ely that send out some very deleterious matters. 4822. Do those paper mills ci'eate a nuisance in the course of the river Ely? — Yes, they kill the fish. A great many dead fish have been picked up since the erection of those works. 4823. Have the works proved a nuisance to persons living on the Ixiuks of the river ? — I cannot say. 4824. Does the refuse cause any offensive smell ? — i never heard of that. 4825. Is esparto grass used at those paper mills ? — Yes, to a great extent, 4826. Has that been of recent years only ? — It is not many years since they have been erected, perhajjs four or five years. 4827. Is there no other source of pollufion that you have to complain of, from any tin-plate works, for example ?— There is a great quantity of a.^hes thrown into the river from the Meiin Griffith Works which come down the river to a great extent, 4828. Is the bed of the river raised to any extent by the solid matter discharged into it ? — I see a great deal of the ashes in the stuff' that is washed down the river, and they constantly have to wash out the feeder that supplies the docks ; the principal part of it is ashes, and stuff of that kind, that comes down the river, 4829. Can you tell us the annual expense incurred in keeping that channel clear ? — No. 15 4 Mr. J. S. Corbett, J.P. 136 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. J. s. 4830. Is it a considei-cable item ? — I think it must Corbett, J.P. be. 4831. Do you know whether these solid matters 16 Oct. 1872. i-aise the bed of the river at any ])oint, and whether it 7 has increased tlic liabihty to floods in this district ? — Cardiff. J- (..iiiuot say that, but that is not the only place where things of this kind come down the river. I see it also from the different collieries all the Avay up the river ; they throw ashes in, or anything else that is inconvenient to them. 4832. Would they be thro^vn into any difficulty if that practice were forbidden ? — They would only have to get other tipping grounds. 4833. Are tipping grounds always to be had? — Yes, at a price. 4834. Is the TafF still a fishing river ? — There is very little fish in it now. 4835. Was it formerly of value in that respect ? — I have heard some of the old people say that they used to take as many as 100 fish in a tide, — salmon, suAvin, and trout, — but that lately none have been taken. 4836. Is the weir we have heard of provided with a fish ladder ? — The fall of the weir is so shallow that it does not require any. 4837. Does any nuisance arise from the discharge into the Lee of the sewer at Grange town ? — I can- not say. I have not experienced any inconvenience from it. 4838. If there is any nuisance in these streams, it would be difficult perhaps to define the share of it that belongs to this particular sewer ? — Yes. 4839. If the towns upon the river were required to utilize their sewage, and were no longer permitted to discharge it into the river, do you think there would be any difficulty in obtaining land for the purpose ; take the case of Llandatf, for instance ? — At Llandatf there might be, for they could not use the sewage matter without incurring great expense in pumping it. 4840. The sewage of the town of Cardifl' is no nuisance ; it goes right away ? — Yes. 4841. Would the sewage of LlandafF find its way on to the surface by natural gavitation at any distance from the town ? — Very easily. LlandafF lies high conqiared with Cardiff. 4842. Is the laud below it residential land ? — No, it is agricultural land. 4843. Do you think there would be any difficulty in obtaining land for a sewage fiirm ? — Not the slightest, i think they would be very glad to have it. 4844. {Mr. Slicrley, through the Chair.) I believe Mr. Maconochie, the engineer of Lord Bute's trustees, has the care of dredging the feeder? — Yes. 4845. Do you know that he is unwell and cannot attend here ? — Yes. 4846. Can you tell the Commissioners what is about the expense Avhich Lord Bute's trustees incur in dredging the feeder, the necessity for which is caused by these ashes coming down ? — Mr. Maconochie makes it out to be about 260/. a year. 4847. {Mr. Morton.) Is that the same feeder that you referred to just now ? — Yes, which supplies the docks. 4848. Does the bulk of the stuff which has to be dredged out of the feeder come, in your opinion, from the tips which have been established on the banks of the river higher up ? — A very large proportion of it. does. 4849. Does it consist of spoil and refuse? — Yes. 4850. If t!ie propri(itors of the works from which it comes thought fit to go to the expense of hiring tipping ground in the neighbourhood of their works iustead of tipping the stuff over the banks, it would of course not come down the river ? — No. 485 L {Dr. Frankland.) Do you think they could obtain land in their neighbourhood ? — Yes, I should certainly say so. 4852. Can you tell us at what price ? — From 501. to 200/. an acre. 4853. {Mr. Shcrley, through the Chair.) Would that be the pui'chase value ? — Yes. 4854. Mr. Coleman is a tenant of Lord Bute's, and about a mile of that land is situated between the works and the junction of the feeder with the river TafT', so that this refuse which comes down from the works would pass his mill before it came to the feeder ? — Yes. 4855. Have you ever heard Mr. Coleman make any complaint of the effect of these ashes and clinkers coming down to his mill ? — Yes, and he has been at the expense of keeping his mill-race clean. Some of the cinders, he says, float and damage his water wheels, 4856. {Mr. Morton.) Is he himself at any expense in clearing out this channel ? — Yes, he does it all himself, but I do not know the expense of it. 4857. Does this feeder carry the mud and stuff further into the docks at Cardiff? — A great deal of it goes into the docks. 4858. Are the docks dredged o\it. constantly ? — They dredge them occasionally. 4859. Is the stuff black that is taken out .'^ — Yes, it Avould be black from the coal tipping. 4860. {Dr. Franklarid.) Do you know any instances of applications being made for land to put. this stuff upon ? — Not in the neighbourhood that I am speakin"- of. 4861. {Mr. Sherlej/, through the Chair.) It is not the ordinary practice, is it, to tip on the river ; .most of the colliery owners do hire tijjping ground, do tliey not ? — Yes. 4862. Is it not the usual practice ? — Yes, but tliey will tip into the river if they cau get an opportunity. 4863. {Dr. Franhland.) So far as your experience has gone, there has been no great difficulty in renting laud for the purpose ? — I should say not. 4864. {Mr. Booker, through the Chair.) You have stated that some of the ashes from the Melingritfith tin plate works are tijjped into the river ? — Yes. 4865. Can you say to what extent that bears a pro- portion to what you have stated generally ? — I cannot tell to what extent, but I have seen an immense heap in the river, and the floods have washed it down, then it is tipped again. 4866. Do you know how long that has been the practice ? — I do not, but it has been so for some years. 4867. Over 100 years, perhaps ? — I cannot say. 4868. Do you know the position of these works ? — I do. 4869. Are you aware that they stand on a promon- tory ? — Yes 4870. Would it not therefore be almost impossible to find other ground on Avhich to put the stufi'? — I do not think so ; I think that you might get ground to tip upon. 4871. You know, do you not, that these ashes are entirely innocuous and that they do not pollute the river ? — Perhaps they do not, but they fill up the feeder. 4872. You stated just now that 100 fish had been taken out at one tide in days gone by ? — That was in the Ely. 4873. Are you aware that the Taff is still inhabited by (rout ? — I believe it is. 4874. But that salmon and sewin do not run up so freely as they used to do ? — I believe they do not. 4875. Do you think that that is traceable to the in- creased amount of traffic at the mouth of the liver ? — I think it is, a great deal of it ; it is not altogether to be put down to the works. 4876. That Avhich comes into the river from the works, I understand you to say, is in no way dele- terious ? — I did not say that ; I do not know that. 4877. {2Ir. Morton.) In the caso of the works referred to, do you tliiuk there would be any difficulty in throwing an arch over the stream, or on either side of it, and so procuring tipping ground for the ashes ? — That might be an expensive mode. 4878. Is it a small stream ? — No, it is a considerable stream there ; of course the stufi' might be taken away on a tramroad to some distance, it is possible to get rid of it without putting it into the river. KIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 137 4879. {Dr. Franldand.) Would it be more expen- sive to take it away on a tramway to suitable land, or to dredge it out of the harbour ? — I cannot answer that question. The witness withdrew, 4880. {Mr. Booker, through the Chair.') You can- not say what proportion of it is attribula!)le to my works ? — No, but a great deal of it. {Mr. Waring.) With regard to the Llandaff drain- age .1 wish to state that I laid out a scheme for the sanitary authorities of Llandaff, and at that time the outfall which now exists was only looked upon as a teinporary measure. What I recommend them to do was to retain some land nearer the river, between the present outfall and the river which was of a light gravelly nature, which was suitable for iri'igiuion, and suificient for the (jnantity of refuse coming down in the aggregate; ; it looks lai-go, taking the (hiily flow, but it is small. It was delayed on account of the in- creased expense that would l)e incurred by so doing. It has never been abandoned as far as I know and it may be taken up at any time. Mr. .J. S. C(irl)i:tt, J. P. 16 Oct. 1872. Me. Charles Hayes, examined. 4881. {Mr. Morton.) Are you in the employ of the trustees of the Marquis of Bute ? — Yes. 4882. Do you superintend a gang of men who are em]iloyed to dredge the feeder of which we have heard ? — Yes. 4883. The feeder being the channel from the weir on the river to the docks ? — Yes. 4884. How many men are employed in that dredg- ing ? — There have been six ; there are five now, 4885. For how many months in a year are you employed in that work ? — I think in 1869 nearly the whole year all but one month since that we have not done quite so much. 4886. Is it winter or summer woi-k ? — Very nearly all the year round. 4887. For how many months have you been engaged in the past year ? — I cannot say, lor at certain times we are at the feeder, and sometimes not. The witness 4888. Are you there half your time ? — Yes, and 71/,-. C. Hayes. more than that. 4889. What quantity of stuff do you iakc; out in a year ? — From 400 to 500 yards of stuff. 4890. What is it like ?— I should s;iy that it was coal ashes, small coal, and the like of that. 4891. Black stuff? — Yes; some black cinders, and some furnace clinkers (specimens of which were pro- duced). 4892. Have those all been taken out at one place ? — Yes, at one place. 4893. {Dr. Frankland.) Do you know whether any ships are supplied with water from this fec. Jones. 4924. Is there nothing else which comes into this river that is injurious to fish ? — I cannot speak to 16 Oct. 1872. anything else. ■; — : 4925. Do you know anything about the jfishing in the TafF?— Yes, I have been there fishing with the rod several times. 4926. Is there anything coming into the TafF which in your opinion injures the river ? — The only thing that 1 can find is the cinders from the tips ; when a fresh comes down it scours the bed of the river, and ' there is no doubt it does no good, no fish will spawn below that in spawning thne. 4927. Is it the spawn that is killed, or the fish themselves ? — The spawn there is no doubt, I never found a dead fish there. 4928. Are the spawning beds below the cinder tips in the river ? — Yes, they have been spawning all the way from there upwards. I do not think you will find any now. 4929. Are there any tin-plate works on the TafF? — Yes, the Melingriffith works.; 4930. What is turned into the river from those works ? — From the washings of the tin, there is some vitriol and one thing and the other. The water is quite yellow, and there is no water hardly in the river ; you find no fish. 4931. Ai'e the shores covered with yellow stuff? — Yes. 4932. Have you seen any injury done to fish by that? — There are no fish there hardly, only one by chance. 4933. Were there many fish there before the tin works were established ? — Yes. 4934. Did they disappear soon after the works were established ? — That I cannot tell you. 4935. {Mr. Booker, through the Chair.) When did you fish in the Taff last ? — I fished once or twice a year with a rod. 4936. What sort of bait do you use ? — Sometimes one, and sometimes another ; I might try a fly. 4937. Did you ever see the water in a thick state from the Melingriffith tips ? — Yes, only this morning. The witne 4938. Is not the river in a state of liigh flood ? — I do not know, there is some fresh in it. 4939. When were you upon that river last ? — About three weeks ago. 4940. Did you see the river yellow from vitriol then ? — I say it is yeliow ; I saw it yellow. 4941. Where ?— Above Llandafl- weir. 4942. Are you sure that that colour was produced by vitriol ? — Yes, from tlie tin plate works, it could be nothing else. 4943. Are you aware that no vitriol goes into the river Taft' from Melingriffith works ? — I do not say that it is the stuff from there. 4944. Are you aware that there is a quarry cut out of the red conglomerate which pours its water into the river Ijetwecn Melingriffith and Llanda.ff weir, which makes the river red ? — No, I beg your pardon. 4945. {Mr. Morton.) What is the usual colour of the flood water in the river ? — It is hke the colour of the washings on the road. 4946. {Mr. Booker.) Do you know that the people who live on the banks of the river Taff have two names for the Taff floods ?— No. 4947. Did you never know that they called the black flood the Merthyr flood, and the red flood the Breconshire flood ? — I never heard of that. 4948. You say that before the tin-plate works were established on the Taff you found many fish in the river, but that since that time you cannot find any. How long ago is it since the Meliugriff'th works were established on the Taff ? — I have not found the river till the last few years in the way that it is. 4949. You say that the principal spawning beds of the salmon are below Llandaff weir ? — I am speaking from the mouth at the sea up to Melingriffth. 4950. Is not the water from near Llandaff weir to Melingriffith, and to the red bridge over the rail- way, deep heavy water, and the bed of the river no spawning bed at all ? — No. 4951. Are not the spawning beds as much above Melingriffith works as below ? — When the water goes up the fish will not go. 5 withdrew. Me. George Colman, Mr. 4952. {Mr. Morton.) Are you the tenant of lands G. Colman. belonging to Lord Bute ? — I am. 4953. Are you in the occupation of the Llandaff miUs ? — Yes. 4954. Do you remember the river Tafl' for many years ? — Yes. 4955. Ai-e the Llandaff mills on the Taff? — Yes. 4956. Has the condition of the river altered within your memory ? — Yes, I believe it has near the mouth of the river ; not in the channel. 4957. Is the water now as it w^as in your remem- brance, a long time ago ? — The only difierence that I know is that there are more cinders coming down now th;m there used to be. 4958. To what do you attribute that ? — To the iron •works. 4959. Has there been a large extension of that in- dustry witliin the last few years ? — Yes. 4960. Have you been put to any expense, in con- sequence of these cinders, and other mineral matters being brought down by the river ? — Nothing Avorth notice ; we have to take them out as they come to the millhead. 4961. Is there a considerable quantity taken out every year, in front of your weir ? — Just behind the floodgates invariably. 4962. What is the nature of the stuff that is taken out ? — A kind of cinders. 4963. Is there more now than there was some years ago ? — They come to the surface of the water, and we take them out with a rake. 4964. Is there more now than there was some years ago ? — I cannot remember. " 4965. Do you remember the river as a fisherman ? —Yes. landaff MiUs, examined. 4966. What is the condition of it now, as compared with some years ago ? — There is not the same quantity of fish coming up. 4967". To what do you attribute that ? — I am not competent to say ; I rather think it is because there is something comes from the works, and gets into the water. 4968. To what annual expense are you put, in rak- ing out the ashes, and clinkers that come down the stream ? — I do not think it puts me to any expense. 4969. Have you no complaint to make in that respect ? — No. 4970. Do you occupy land on the banks of the river ? — -Yes. 497 1 . Are floods injurious to you ? — Sometimes they are, but we have pretty good control over the water. 4972. Is there any water meadow on the banks of the river near you ? — I do not think there is. The Taff Vale water never did any good as irrigation. 4973. {Mr. Sherley, through the Chair.) I believe it is on our land that a cesspool is built that receives the sewage of Llandaff? — Yes. 4974. When it gets full, what becomes of the over- flow ; does it go into the river Taff down the ditch ? ■ — The greater part of it gets into the gravel, and re- mains there, I think ; at all events the sediment. 4975. How often -n-ill that cesspool get fiUed ? — It gets filled in very rainy weather. 4976. In 48 hours ?• — Yes ; there is another cess- pool on the way and scarcely anything comes into my cesspool until that one is filled. 4977. Was there ever a time when you were able to let the fishing at your mill? — Yes; I let it 1o ]Mr. Crawshay and ho gave me 10/. a year for it. laVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 139 4978. Could you get anything for it now ? — No ; it is not worth anything now. 4979. {Mr. Morton.) Does the water that leaves you pass through this channel into Bute harbour through the feeder ? — Yes. 4980. And which we understand to be the source of the water supply for the shipping in the harbour ? —Yes. The witness 4981. How is it that the people drink the water and that fish are killed by it ? — I am not aware that the fish die. 4982. Why do you not get the same rent for the fishing as you did formerly ? — I only did it to please Mr. Crawshay, at the time. 4983. {3Ir. Shcrleij.) I suppose you cannot let your fishing, because there are no fish ? — I do not think there are ; I have not seen any. withdrew. Mr. G. Colman. IC Oct. 1872. Cardiff. Mb. Thomas Booker examined. 4984. (Dr. Frcmhlnnd.) Are you a tin-plate master? — Yes, and coal master, and iron manu- facturer. 4985. Are your works situated on the Tafi:'? — Yes. 4986. How long have they been in existence? — Over 100 years. 4987. Has the manufacture increased considerably of late ? — Not of late, but within the last 20 years, considerably. 4988. Should you say that during the last 10 years it has been nearly stationary ? — Yes. 4989. In the processes employed in the manufacture of tin plates, what polluting liquids • are produced ? — We use sulphuric and muriatic acids. 4990. What are they converted into ? — They are used for the purpose of deoxidizing the iron, and cleaning the surface of the plates, so as to make them capable of receiving a coating of tin. 4991. In that operation the sulphuric acid is con- verted into sulphate of iron, or copperas, and the muriatic acid into chloride of iron ? — Yes. 4992. Do you use both of those acids ? — Yes, occasionally. 4993. What is the reason for using muriatic acid ? — Sulphui-ic acid will not answer our pm-pose in all cases. 4994. Are these the only polluting liquids ? — Yes. 4995. What do you do with them ? — We reconvert them in the same way, as was well described to you at Newport, by Mr. Moggeridge, under Pugsley's patent. 4996. That patent, Ave understood, was applicable only to sulphate of iron or copperas ? — Yes. 4997. You use it also for muriate of iron ? — Yes. 4998. Pugsley's patent, as I understand it, crystal- lizes out the copperas from the liquid, using the resi- dual liquid towards making a fresh bath ? — Yes. 4999. Is it crystallized out ? — Yes. 5000. Is it evaporated to dryness ? — Yes, quite. 5001. Do you find a market for it ? — Yes. 6002, What is it sold for ? — They all go into the same market. 5003. Do you put them into the same cask ? — No. 5004. Does not the muriate of iron soon get wet and moist ? — No. 5005. Is it sent out in casks ?— Yes. 5006. What do you get a ton for it ? — I forget, but I know that the copperas goes at about 35a\ a ton, the other is in very small quantities, it is very seldom one uses it. 5007. Are we to understand that you let nothing go into the river ? — Not a single trace of anything. 5008. We heard yesterday of a white liquor ? — The technical term which they use is " white pickle," and "black pickle." The whole of the other, the vitriol and the sulphuric acid, is taken together, and put into a series of baths, and thoroughly evaporated and crystallized into green copperas. 5009. Is the white pickle treated in the same way ? —Yes. 5010. It is a mistake to say that any copperas goes fi'om that ? — Yes : it has not been so for many years. I have used Pugsley's patent now for the last eight to ten years, but previously, and for many years, before the management of these works fell upon my shoulders, the whole of the refuse acids now economized used to go straight into the river. 5011. Is this process of recovering the copperas a profitable one ? — Certaiidy, not to a large extent ; it quite pays its way, and something over, 5012. Do you find no difficulty in carrying out the pi'ocess ? — Not the slightest ; it does not interfere with the other operations, and it is capable of profitable application in any tin works. 501 3. Are you acquainted with the process of wire drawing ? — No, but I am acquainted with the process of rolling wire, 5014. And galvanizing ? — Not personally, beyond this, that I make sheet iron for galvanizing purposes. I have been in the works. 5015. Do you know that a similar pickle is used there ? — Yes. 5016. Could not the same process be applied there ? — I am not aware what the component parts of the liquid are in which they dip then- galvanized sheets. 5017. It is very similar to your own, is it not ? — The same acid ? 5018. Yes ; they occasionally use also muriatic acid ? — It is the same thing as we use ; no doubt it can be reduced tro green copperas, 5019. Does not Mr. Pugsley contemplate the appli- cation of his process in other works ? — I cannot tell you. 5020. Have you caught any fish in the river below you ? — Frequently. 5021. What fish are they ? — Trout. 5022. Do not salmon and sewiu come up the river now ? — Not as they used to do. I think it is owing to the great increase in the traffic at the mouth of the river, that the fish do not like to come in. 5023. I believe jom tip your cinders ? — That has been always the case for the last hundred years. Up to within the last seven or eight years, all the refuse and ashes used to go in. 5024. What weight of cinders and ashes do you produce in the course of a year ? — I cannot state, but a considerable quantity. 5025. What quantity of coals is consumed ? — The quantity of coals consumed- on the works on the river would be something like 600 tons a week. 5026. Would 10 per cent, of that coal be ashes ? — Yes, more I should think. 5027. Is not great economy requu-ed in the burning ? —Yes, 5028. Do you say that it would be impossible to deposit this refuse so as to be out of reach of the stream ? — Yes, quite impossible. 5029. Ai-e you on a promontory ? — Yes ; the river at that point is about from 80 to 100 yards broad, and you would have to cross it, and then to tip. 5030. Would about 40 yards be the length of a tramway ? — Yes, but you would have to bridge over the river, and a bridge would be soon washed away when the TafF came down in an angry fiood. 5031. Do you mean to say that you are hemmed in by the river, and by the Merthyr and Aberdare canal ? — No ; the river is on one side, the feeder on the other, and the Tafi" Vale on another side. 5032. Should you have any difficulty in getting across the I'eeder ? — No. 5033. Might you not there have laud ? — Not if I can send them down the river. 5034. {Mr. Sherlcy.) Have you not got some land that you might use for tipping ? — Yes, but at a very great expense, and it would be a sin to use it. S 2 140 lUVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — OllAL EVIDKNOK — PART III. Mr. 5035. Do you have your tips on the river side at T. Boofter. Pantcg, as well us at Molingriffith ? — Yes, but not so as to interfere with the river. 6 Oct. 1 872. 5036. Suppose you Avere to tip a waggon load of Cardiff. ^^^^ *° *^ *'P' "^ould not some roll down into the L stream at Pantcg ? — Yes, but very little. 5037. Practically it is at the side of the river ? — Yes, it is on the bank of the river. 5038. There is no promontory there, I believe ? No, but tlie Taft" Valley there is so narrow, and the room is so circumscribed ; there are in that narrow gorge the Taff Vale railway, the river Taff, the Gla- morgansliire canal, and the Panteg and Melingriffith railway, as thick on the ground as they can be, and we ai'e straightened for room. 5039. Ill point of practice, does not tlie proprietor of a colliery generally provide ground to tip his spoil upon ?— Yes, generally speaking, you can answer that fjuestion yourself. The rule is that spoil ground is always arranged for. 5040. As an adjunct to the taking ? — Yes. 5041. {Dr. Frankland.) What is the land that sur- rounds your works ; was it granted to you with that view 't — It was granted to my grand uncle somewhere .ibout the 3'ear 1720. 5042. Was it granted for that purpose ? — Yes, it was granted according to the custom which I have continued. 5043. As I understand yon, tliis land was granted to you ill ftrder that you might have room to put spoil ui)on ? — Ivooia to build our works ; I presume there must liave been this understanding, or else the custom would not have been observed. 5044. You think there was an understanding that the cinders should go into the river, and that you should be enabled to cultivate the land ? — The land is The witnes incapable of cultivation, because it is all covered with the works, the whole of it. 5045. Is there no room for the deposit of spoil on any of the land that belongs to you ? — No ; there is absolutely no room at all. 5046. {Mr. Sherley.) What was the land that yon alluded to which you said it would be so sinful to use for spoil land ?— I mean the land upon either side of the Melingriffith works, 5047. {Dr. Frankland.) At the Melingriffith tin works, is there not also a great cinder tip ? — Yes. 5048. Have you not there sufficient land to put the cinders upon ? — By going to a very large expense ; I should have to bridge over the feeder, and to cover valuable land with cinders. 5049. Have you not now upon your works bridges over the feeder, and do not the works themselves, in fact, bridge it over in some places? — Yes, but not in such a way as would take it to the ground that Mr. Sherl.'y refers to, nor to any piece of ground. 5050. What is the width of the feeder ?— About 25 or 30 feet. 50.: 1. What would be the width of the river there ? — The river there would be 80 yards wide, I should think. 5052. Your reason for saying that it would be a sin to put the cinders on to this land is founded, I presume, upon the land being fertile ? — Yes. 5053. And not on account of its being occujiied by Avorks ? — No, the land is most fertile. It is so situated, with reference to the Taff Vale railway, that it is very valuable from that point of view. 5054. What is the value of the land ? — I cannot tell yon. 5055. {Mr. Morto7i.) Is it worth ol. an acre ? — No, but it is as fertile as any land can be. vcdthdrew Mr. George Sout Mr. G. South. 5056. {Dr. Frankland.) Are you secretary to the CardiiF Waterworks Company ? — Yes. 5057. Are you well acquainted with the district of Canton ? — Yes. 5058. Did you carry out a system of water pipes through the district ? — I did. 5059. Have you been in the habit frerpiently of p.'issing through the district, and inspecting houses as to the supply of water to them ? — Yes, constantly. 5060. Are there many houses in Canton Avhich are not su])plied by the Waterworks Company? — I am not .aware of there being many. I think there may be perhaps IVom half-a-dozen to ten. 5061. Is that merely a guess, or can you enumerate them ? — I can mention six of them within my own knowledge. 5062. May there not be some with which you are not acquainted ? — I do not think so. Most of the new streets are laid out, and almost each of them has come under my own observation. 5063 I suppose, if not supplied, they are not sup- plied because the owners of the houses will not rent your water ? — There is one particular place as to which the company has never been applied to, there is a well in a small square, the well is in the centre, and the tenants seem to be satisfied Avith it. 5064. Are there any cesspools about that well ? — There must be at some distance, at the backs of the houses. 5065. Is the district densely populated ? — No, it is the extreme south-west portion of Canton. 5066. What is the name of the Avell ? — It is called Canton Square well. 5067. Do you know Stag Terrace well ? — I do not remember it. 5068. Do you suppose that Canton Square Avell will go on to continue to supply the inhabitants of that square with Avater ? — I should imagine so. 5069. Do they not offer to take your Avator ? — No, I have had no complaint. [, Cardiff, examined. 5070. Have you ever known the cesspools to over- flow into any of the wells ? — On one occasion, some seven or eight years ago, one case came under my notice. 5071. Did you actually sec the scAvage or overflow from the cesspool going into the Avell ? — No, not into the Avell, but I had occasion to test the quality of tiie Avater, and I found that it Avas highly impi egnated with sewage. 5072. Did it smell ?— Yes. 5073. Did the people refuse to drink it on that account ? — Yes. 5074. Then, in fact, the water of that Avell Avas not drank ? — No, it was not. 5075. Were steps taken to prevent any further use of it ? — Yes, the circumstance came to the knoAvledge of the local authorities of the district, and immediately afterwards I received an order to supply Avater to the houses, and it was done. 5076. Has the use of that water been discontinued ever since ? — I believe so ; Ave supply the property with water noAv. 5077. {Mr. Morton.) Do you supply the shipping in the harbour with water ? — We supply the Avest dock, that is, the old dock, and a small portion of the east dock. 5078. HoAV do the remainder obtain their supply of water ? — By pipes suppUed by the Avorks. 5079. Is that a special Avater supply ? — Yes. 5080. Where do those pipes draw the Avater from ? — They draw it from the feeder. 5081. Is that supply delivered at the edge of the harbour ? — Yes, they have a system of pipes running down each side. 5082. Is the feeder at such a level that the water in the pipe deliv-ers its contents above the surface of the ground at the dock ? — No, it has to be lifted by steam poAver. 5083. Does it deliver itself into a tank ? — Yes, by gravitation into a tank, but then it is pumpod up into the tank somcAvhere aliout 30 feet from the surface. RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 141 5084. Is that the principal source of supply for the shijjping in the east dock? — Yes, in conjunction with tlic company's own supply. 5085. What proportion does your contribution bear to the other. Do you supply half of it ? — Yes, I think somewhere about that. I cannot say exactly what quantity is taken from the other pipes. 5086. Is there not another way in which the water of the feeder is collected for the use of the ship- ping ? — I believe there is some boat. 5087. Are there not two ways in which the water of the feeder is collected, one by pumping up and delivery by gravitation, and the other by means of a water boat ?— I believe so. 5088. Is the water boat moored in the stream ? — Yes, but it moves about. 5089. How does the boat collect the water, does it go into the stream and use a pump and raise the water, and then move on to a ship's side and supply it ? — Yes, and when the boat gets empty, it is taken back to its usual mooring place, the valves are opened, and the water passes through a filtering apparatus, and the boat then takes the water over to the dock. 5090. Is there a feeder on board the boat ? — I have not seen it, but I am told that it filters through gi'avel. 5091. You mean that the filter is on board the boat? — Yes, the boat is so constructed as to form first a filter and then a tank. 5092. Excepting this filter, the water is taken direct fi'om the river, and then carried away to supply the shipping ? — Yes. 5093. {Dr. Frankiand.) Does the boat go a con- siderable distance up the feeder to obtain the water, or does it get it down near to the dock ? — I will ex- plain it by this map {explaminc/ the same). 5094. {The Mayor ^) Have you never seen ships' boats bringing their casks to the mouth of the feeder, and filling them at the top of the west dock ? — Frequently. 5095. And the ^rater obtained there comes down the Taff" through the feeder, does it not ? — Yes. 5096. Do not the crews of the vessels like the water ? — They prefer the water that they take from the springs. 5097. Do you mean your ordinary supply ? — Yes, the company's supply. 5098. What quantity of water is delivered by the water boat in the course of a year ? — I cannot answer that. 5099. Is it chiefly to foreign shipping that water is taken by the boat from the feeder ? — Yes ; foreigners are not so well acquainted with English customs, and they are not so particular as to taking dirty water. 5100. {Mr. Morton^ Does not the water boat fur- nish a supply to English vessels as well ? — Yes, in the east dock, not in the west dock. If) Oct. 1872. Cardiff. 5101. With regard to the water which you say is Mr. G. Sootk. pumped into a tank, and thence sup|)licd to the shipping, is that water filtered ? — I believe it does pass through some kind of filtering medium. 5102. That is the whole, the water taken by the water boat from the head of the dock, and the water pumped from the dock into a tank, which you supply ? — That is all. 5103. Besides that, it is the custom to send boats from the ships into the feeder for water ? — Yes. 5104. {Mr. Jones, through the Chair.) With re- gard to the number of houses in Canton which are supplied with water, is the row of houses facing Canton Connnon supplied with water ? — Yes, we have just begun to supply them. 5105. How long since ? — Eight or nine months. 5106. Have they been supplied all that time ? — Yes. 5107. Do you know the number of houses in Canton Square? — There are -four in the square, and two offices. 5108. Ai-e there not 15 houses there ? — Not that I am aware of. 5109. Do you know a small street called Stag Terrace and Tavern Road, where there is a row of small cottages ? — No they have been lately put up. 5110. Do you know the three houses adjoining to where T live ? — Yes. 5111. Do you supply those houses with water ? — I cannot exactly answei-, unless you give me the names of the parties. 5112. Do you know how many houses there are in Canton altogether ? — I cannot answer the question exactly. We call our districts very difierently from what you do. For instance, we call the Canton portion of the town of Llandaff", a portion of Canton, we call it altogether. I cannot tell you what you call Canton proper. 5113. Put it as the Canton board of health district ? — No, because the board of health does not apply to it. 5114. Do you know the number of houses supplied in that district ? — I cannot tell you without referring to my papers. 5115. Do you still say that there are not more than six houses supplied with water ? — Not more than 10. There are not perhaps a dozen in Canton, and that does not include Llandafi^. 5116. {Dr. Frankiand.) Are you not speaking of the total area of the local board of health ? — No. 5117. The Cantoii that you speak of is a division of you own, as it appears in your own books ? — Yes. 5118. {Mr. Jones, through the Chair.) That does not apply to the whole of the district that I am speaking of ? — No. The witness withdrew. Mr. Henry Gooch, 5119. {Dr. Frankiand.) Are you engineer to the Cardiff" Waterworks Company ? — Yes. 5120. Will you describe to us the district which you supply with water ? — We supply Cardiff and the ad- joining parishes, about 14 parishes in all. 5121. What is the total population of the district that you supply with water ? — About 58,500 inha- bitants. 5122. I believe you do not supply the whole of the distinct of Canton with water ? — We do not, but we are able to supply the whole of Canton with water. I suppose there are 50 or 60 houses that we do not supply. 5123. Is that in the local board of health district ? —Yes, 5124. What are the sources of your water supply ? — Our principal source is from the streams at Llani- shen and Lisvane. 5125. How are those streams fed, by springs or surface drainage ? — By surface drainage ; there may be a few springs. Cardiff, examined. 5126. What is the character of the gathering Mr. 11. Goorh ground ? — Pasture and arable ground principally ; per- haps half of it is arable, a third pasturage, and the remainder is woodland and waste. 5127. Is much manure used upon the arable land r — It is farmed very high. 5128. What kind of manure is used upon the arable land ? — Mostly manure from the farms. 5129. Is there any privy stuff used ? — No ; I think it is rather too far fi'om Cardiff for it to be taken. 5130. Is there no other place nearer from which it might be taken up to the land ? — It might be taken below our rain shed, but there would not be much taken. I should hardly think any, because the drain- age of Cardiff passes into sewers, so that there is not much house manure. 5131. {Mr. Morton.) Is there any ? — I am not aware that there is any. 5132. {Dr. Frankiand.) Have you any control over the occupiers of those lands, with reference to the quantity of manure they are to apply ? — No further S 3 142 KIVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— ORAL EVIDENCE PART 16 Oct. 1872. Mr. H. Gooch. than that we prevent them contaminating the water ; that has, of course, a limited application, as they claim to make, to a great extent, a similar use of the water Cardiff vfl^&t they did before we came there. L 5133. Do they wash sheep in it? — Yes; but by a special arrangement made we do not draw water at that time ; and we have also made one or two places for that operation to be continued, below our tanks they may use it. There is a little sheep-washing carried on on the farms that lie very high up on the hills, and when that is taking place, the water is diverted for two or three days. 5134. Do you always receive notice before the washing begins — Yes ; we have a man who visits the places now and then, and keeps himself acquainted with what is going on. 5135. You ascertain when the washing is going to take place ? — Yes, and sometimes they give us notice ; but it requires a little looking after. 5136. How many people do you suppose live on the area of land which you utilise for water ? — I cannot tell you ; it is dotted here and there with farms ; there are no villages. 5137. How many farms are there — There may be a dozen, perhaps. 5138. Are many cattle kept upon those fiirms ? I do not know how many ; I should not say that there were many cattle. 5139. What is the distance of the centre of this land from Cardiff? — About five miles. 5140. What height would it be above high- water mark ? — Our reservoir level, I suppose, would be about 120 feet above high-water mark. 5141. Is your supply a constant one ? — Yes. 5142. How long is the water retained in the reser- voir before it is distributed 7 — The water circulates through the reservoir. 5143. How many days' supply will your reservoir contain ?— If we shut ofl' the inlet, the reservoir would contain, perhaps, a supply for 40 or 50 days. 5144. Is the water at all coloured when it comes into your reservoir ? — No ; it is readily diverted, and prevented from coming in in times of flood. If it is objectionable in any waj-, we can turn it aside. 5145. Through how mauy feet of sand do you filter the water before it is delivered ?— The depth of the sand is three feet, and the area of the surface of sand is 1,300 square yards. 5146. Have you ample filtering power there ? — We filter about 1,000 or 1,200 gallons in 24 hours through a square yard of sand. 5147. Do you find that the filters choke in the month of July ?— Yes ; that is to say, they choke mostly in about spring time ; sometimes a filter will be stopped for a couple of days, and it will require cleaning, but that is an exception. 5148. Have you a duplicate set of filters, so that you can use one set at one time and another at an- other? — The filters are in three portions, and we cleanse one at a time. 5149. So that two-thirds of the whole area are only in use at the same time ? — We use the whole of them at once, as a rule, unless there is anything to attend to ; we clean them occasionally, and taking the year through I may say that we clean them once a week or once a fortnight, or oftener. 5150. In consequence of the filters getting choked, are you ever required to distribute unfiltered water ? —No. 5151. Is the water as delivered in the town always clear and transparent ? — Always. 5152. Where could we obtain an average sample of the water I should think from the fountain at the Town Hall. 5153. Does that not pass through any special filter? —Nothing special; it is just as it comes from the mam. 5154. Have you always in your reservoir an ample supply of water for delivery ?— Yes. In a very dry season we should have to supplement it by pumping fi^om the Ely river, but that is more for Ihe purpose of keeping the engines in order ; the water is- run to waste into the river again. 5155. I believe you had the Avater analysed by the late Pi-ofessor Miller, and he reported of it favourably? — Yes. 5156. Was that before you used it, or after the works were completed ?— After the works were com- pleted. 5157. This relates to the supply proper in the town ; but I understand that you also supply other water for special purposes, for shipping ?— Yes ; the supply of water for the shipping at Penarth is mainly obtained from other sources. The Bute Docks are supphed, half by us and half by the Bute authorities. 5158. Does the water of the Bute Docks belong to you ?— No ; it belongs to the Bute authorities. 5159. Do you distribute any water from the feeder of which we have heard ?— No ; we have nothing to do with that. 5160. Do you know whether many wells are used in the town still -There are a few private wells, but not many, in CarditF. 5161. Are there more in Canton ?— Yes, and a few m Eoath village ; Ely is supplied from wells, and per- haps from the river. Liandaff is not supplied with water by us. 5162. Have you had your attention directed to the quality of the water of those wells ?— Some years ago the water from one of them was analysed, and since then we have supplied the premises. There is also a well at the union workhouse, which now supplies that place, and the water of that well was found to be better than the water of the wells generally. 5163. Is the union workhouse supplied from the well now entirely? — Yes. 5164. Is the water you supply liked by your cus- tomers ? — Yes. 5165. Have you heard no complaints about it — No. 5166. {Mr. Morton.) As to the area from which you derive your water, is a large portion of it arable land ? — About half of it is arable. 5167., Is it a stock farming district or a dairy farm- ing district ? — Both stock and gi-ass, I should think. 5168. Do you know the population of the district ? —No. 5169. Is there no village or hamlet in it ? — No. 5170. Is there no church ? — Yes, but that is below our drainage shed. 5171. {Dr. Franhland^ Do you know the well at the union workhouse ? — Not much of it ; but I recol- lect seeing a few years ago a report that the water had been analysed, and that it turned out better than was expected. 5172. Have you ever heard any complaints made about the water ? — No. The witness withdrew. Mr. Henry James Paine, M.R.C.S., Cardiff, examined. Mr. 5173. {Dr. Frartkland.) Are you member of the H. .J. Fame, Koyal College of Surgeons ? — I am a Doctor of Medi- M.lt.C.S. cine of St. Andrews, a member of the Eoyal College ' of England, and a Licentiate of the Apothecaries Company. 5174. Did you sign the return that was sent to the Commissioners ? — Yes. 5175. I see by the death rate that you have some- times rather an excessive mortalitj' for a town of this size ? — We have had, but the mortality has very much decreased of late years. There have been .two or three exceptioual yeai-s when the mortality has run high ; for instance, when epidemic diseases oc- cmxed, such as in one year lately we had a large RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 143 mortality from cholera, and at other times an excep- tionally large mortality from scarlatina and infantile diseases. 5176. I see that in the years 1863 and 1864 there was an exceptionally large mortality, 29-94 and 25-53 ? — It was so. 5177. Do you remember the year 1832 ? — No ; the first year in which I took an interest in sanitary matters was 1847. 5178. Do you remember the year 1849 ? — Yes ; that was the year in which cholera spread in a very severe form, and there were in that year 350 deaths from cholera, and 43 from diarrhoea and dysentery, which partook very much of the character of cholera. 5179. To what did you attribute that outbreak of cholera ? — It was special ; it had been introduced from the shipping ; the first cases of cholera were so intro- duced in 1849. 5180. Had you any cases of cholera in 1848 ? — No ; cholera was introduced into Cardiff in 1849, not in 1848. In 1848 we had three cases of death 1-egistered from cholera, but they partook of that kind of cholera that we see yearly, English cholera. In the year 1849 we had an epidemic of cholera. In 1854 we had again an importation of cholera, and we had 175 cases. 5181. Was the next visitation of cholera in 1866 ? — In 1866 we had cholera in an epidemic form, Imt the mortality was then reduced to 47. On those occasions, speaking now of the cholera in 1854 and also 1866, the cases were of a more severe type according to the best of my recollection, that is, they were fatal in a shorter number of hours, than in 1849. I merely mention that to show that the type of the disease was quite as severe, but there was a gradual reduction, not merely niimerically, but with the extra- ordinary increase of population that took place within three years. 5182. While the virulence of the disease had rather increased than otherwise ? — Yes, it struck me on both occasions ; every case of cholera was reported to me, and to the best of my knowledge I visited every case, and individual cases were equally, if not more, severe ; a larger proportion ran through their course more rapidly than before. 5183. What might have been the per-centage of deaths on each visitation ? — In 1849, when cholera was so severe, the deaths were at the rate of 54 per 1,000. 5184. What was the per-centage of deaths in the number attacked ? — I do not know that I can give you that. 5185. That would be a test of the relative viru- lence of the disease in the three visitations ? — Yes. 5186. Are you of opinion that on all three occa- sions the disease was clearly traceable to importations into Cardiff ? — Yes, there is no doubt of it. I think the earlier cases occurred among the shipping. 5187. How do you consider that the disease was propagated from the first cases ? — I do not know any- thing beyond the fixct that cases had occurred among sailors. I do not know that I can speak positively from recollection, but I think it more than probable that it was conveyed locally where sailors would be likely to be. 5188. Was the disease confined to one particular locality in the town ? — No ; and I instance that to show that the disease spread over the whole town, but that it did not spread with the same severity. The town had been very mucli improved by the sanitary measures which had been adopted, and therefore, although the town might be said to be tainted, the disease did not spread to the extent that it did in the early visitation. I am now speaking of the two latter visitations as contrasted with 1849. At that time we had neither Avater supply nor drainage in the town, and the only Avay therefore in which we could meet the disease was by doing everything in our power with the very limited means we had at our command. 5189. In 1849 and in 1854 you had no regular •water supply and no proper system of di-ainage, but in 1856 you had a new water supply, and a portion of Mr. the town was drained ? — Yes. 5190. What was the nature of the water supply in M.i^t,. 1849 ? — In 1849 a report was made by Mr. Kammcl jq jg^g. who came down on a petition l)y the town to consider the expediency of applying the Board of Healtli Act, ^ Cardiff. and he inquired into the sulyect of the water supply, which he found was chiefly obtained from welLs. There were three or four public wells, and the other supply was obtained from private wells in houses. 5191. Do you know at all what the depth of those wells was ? — No ; but Mr. Rammel says " The public " supply of water for washing, cleaning, and ordinary " domestic purposes is obtained from the canal, the " River Taff, or from a few pumps in different parts " of the town, some of Avhich are fed from the canal, " and others by means of wells sunk through the " gravel and marl strata, upon which the ui)per part " of the town is situated. The supply, however, " ajjpears to be insufficient and uncertain, obtained at " considerable inconvenience and much labor by the " inhabitants, and the quality generally much dete- riorated by the filtration necessarily taking place " in an ill-drained soil. Water is obtained at 18 or " 20 feet depth ; there are private pumps in some of " the houses, but in many instances the water from " them is so affected by leakage from neighbouring " cesspools, and by the general surface drainage per- " colating the gravelly soil of the upper part of the " town, that it cannot be used for drinking." In 1866 I was requested on the 23rd of July to visit a vessel called the " Cormorant " which had arrived in the roads with a corpse on board ; the deceased had died from cholera while off St. Ives ; the vessel came direct from the East London Docks, where cholera existed ; this was the first case of cholera that was reported to me. The next day I was called to visit the Sabina, a steam vessel, also from the East London Docks, with a case of cholera on board. On the 10th of August a seaman belonging to a French vessel was taken ill with cholera and died. On the 11th a poor woman attending one of the cases of cholera was seized with the disease and died after she was removed to her own home in Hannah Street. 5192. There you had several cases of cholera? — Yes ; an alarming outbreak of cholera causing much anxiety, 5193. Do you clearly, in your own mind, separate the two parts of the town that Mr. Rammel speaks of, one of which is overlaid by clay, while the other is gravel to the surface ? — Yes ; the part of the town more especially built on clay is the part on the southern side of the South Wales railway. I think the South Wales railway nearly crosses it. 5194. The part overlaid by clay v^ould be nearest to the area of the docks ? — Yes. 5195. I presume there is not a large population residing upon the clay part of the district ? — Yes, there is. 5196. Taking that part of the town which is built upon stiff clay at the surface, and comparing it with that part of the town which is gravel, or loam and gravel, at the surface, did you observe any difference in regard to the cases of cholera ? — There would be a difference from two causes possibly, and one material cause was, that the poorer class of the inhabitants resided in that district, in the clay district, and the houses for the whole, although not all of them, yet a large majority of them, were on the clay. 5197. Are the better parts of the town built upon the gravel ? — Yes. 5198. What difference did you observe in the cases occurring in the two districts ? — Only that they were less in proportion to the number of inhabitants in the upper part of the town, and that may have been to some extent, although not altogether, from the class of people who inhabited the places, and the houses being less crowded than in the other parts, and .'dl the collateral circumstances. 5199. What might have been the relative populations of the two districts at that time, speaking now of S 4 144 KIVEUS I'OLLUTION COMMISSION : —OUA L EVIDENCE — PAKT III, 1849 ? — The population of the town was then estimated H. J. Paine, at 16,000. There was at that time an excess of 395 M.R.C.S. deaths, or thereabouts, that Mr. Rammel in his report " _ speaks of, for the decennial period previous to his visit ; IG Oct. 18/- ^Yie mortality of the town exceeded 30 per 1,000. Cardiff* 5200. What I want to ascertain is the relative populations in the two districts at the time I have mentioned, living on the clay surface and the gravel surface ? — In the parish of St. John, which lies on the gravel, there were 44 deaths from cholera in a pupula- tion of 7,000. In the parish of St. Mary, which lies on the clay chiefly, there Avere 303 deaths in a poula- tion of 9,000. 5201. Is it your impression that the number of deaths was greater among the population living on the clay than among those living on the gravel ?— I will furnish you with that information. 5202. I suppose the water supply in the two dis- tricts at the time was very much the same, that is, from shallow wells sunk in the strata below ? — Yes. 5203. In the one case they Avould have been sunk through clay at the surface, and in the other case they would have gone altogether through gravel ? — Yes. 5204. What may be the thickness of the clay in the clay portion of the district ? — I cannot tell you. 5205. As I understand your evidence, all the water that these people could get was drawn from shallow wells ? — Yes, it was, all of it. 5206. Was there no water then used that was taken from the feeder ? — I think so, but I am not quite clear about it. In the report it is stated that there was not a pump connected with the feeder. I believe that one of the pumping supplies was from a pump connected with it. 5207. But no part of the water would have been supplied from the clay district ? — Possibly not. I be- hove that many persons Hving in the neighbourhood of the canal used to get a supply by cans and buckets from the feeder. I know that a complaint was made that people got access to the feeder and supplied themselves with the water; that is, the feeder which supplies the West Bute dock. 5208. And most of the people obtaining their sup- ply from that source would be on the gravelly portion of the district ? — I am speaking now of the inhabitants of the more southern parts of the district, the Irish locality, north of William Street and Thomas Street, and other places. 5209. Did any portion of the inhabitants in the Irish district obtain their water from the feeder ? — I believe so. I beheve that complaints were made on the part of those connected with the feeder that the water was taken. 5210. Was there an unusually large proportion of cases of cholera in that district ? — Yes, most decidedly, larger than in any other. 5211. Was it more severe there than down by the side of the Bute west dock, proceeding southwards ? — I think so, and that it was highest in the districts where the Irish live. We have a large Irish popula- tion now, and had then a considerable number of men- dicant Irish houses, the accommodation being totally inadequate to the demand. They were very much crowded together, and that might have been one of the collateral circumstances that caused the cholera to be more severe then. 5212. Were there at that time in the district no inhabitants but the Irish who were supplied with water from the feeder ? — I think not. 5213. Were you able, in any particular group of cases, to trace; the propagation ol' the disease in any way from person to person ? — No, except this, that in the year 1854 I adopted, to a very great extent, a plan which I was cinabled to carry out, that wherever cholera cases occurred, I used to get the inhabitants to move from the houses, leaving only the cholera case itself in the house, and I pnt'a nurse there, and in every case of cholera that I saw afterwards I in- quired, and could in no case find, that any case of cholera wsis attributable to the parties who had left the house, only in two or three instances. I could in no case find that cholera was introduced by people who had left an infected house to go to another. In very rare instances in either of the two later epidemics could I trace any introduction from these cases. In the later visitation in 1865, I could only trace three or four instances in which a second member of the same family had cholera, and those were cases where I could not succeed, from special causes, in getting them to leave the house. In those cases a second or a third case would have occurred. 5214. It appears from your evidence that the disease was localised ?— Yes. After its introduction, when it occurred in a house one was enabled, by the plan I adopted, to confine it to an individual case. 5215. But the people remaining in the immediate locality were more liable to be attacked while those who ^vent away escaped ? — I found no instance of a second member of a family being attacked. In no case of cholera could I trace any contagion or infec- tion being introduced by one who had left an infected house. 5216. Did you observe whether the disease Avas communicated to washerwomen particularly ? — There was one case, I think, which I have read to you of a poor woman who had attended to cases of cholera on board ship, and she took it home. I think, as nearly as I can remember, that it was considered she had taken it from washing the linen. 5217. In any of the three outbreaks were you able to ascertain whether the choleraic discharges which had dried on the linen were peculiarly liable to convey infection ? — I have no recollection of that, because we used to have the linen destroyed in every case, as well as the clothes worn by the patient. 5218. Was that invariably done in all the three out- breaks ? — Not in 1849, because we had not then the machinery, there was no Board of Health or Diseases Prevention Act in existence. 5219. Did you notice in 1849 that the disease was propagated by soiled linen? — The cases were then very numerous, and I should think that in all proba- bility it would have been so, but I cannot speak posi- tively about that. One of the means adopted in the two latter epidemics was the destruction of the clothing. 5220. What do you consider to be the most common mode of propagating cholora ? — I think exhalations from the excreta. 5221. If the excreta by any chance "got mixed with water, and it was drunk in that condition, it would, of course, be dangerous ? — There cannot be a doubt about it. 5222. In 1849 did any cholera cases occur in or near the feeder ? — I have ascertained that there were 55 deaths from cholera in the houses closely adjacent to the feeder, but this reply must be qualified as the whole of the water supply of Cardiff, was bad as stated. See Q. 5192. 5223. In 1849 and also in 1854 and 1866?— Yes; I cannot speak from memory now, but I have no doubt that they did. 5224. Was it in 1849 that the inhabitants of the Irish quarter received their water supply partly from the feeder ? — Among others they did, but there' was a certain number who received it from the nearest wells. In 1854, I recollect distinctly meeting with cases of cholera, where the water was obtained from a well in a house. At the time Avhen the town was first sup- plied with water there was some portion of the houses which did not receive a water sui)p]y, and in more than one instance I found cholera cases in those houses Avhere they got their supply from a well. A very remarkable instance occurred, that being one of the excitants of the disease, in the last epidemic, showing the ill effects of an impure water supply. I made a report of it to the board of health, in Avhich there is this passage : " The first case that occurred among " the inhabitants of the town was that of a female " aged 69, residing in Little Frederick-street. Upon " receiving information from the medical gentleman " I visited the case. I may here state that I am KIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — OUAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 145 " greatly indebted to my professional brethren for " the ready manner in which they called my atten- " tion to any cases under their individual care, as " it enabled nie to visit and inquire, wiMi very few " exceptions, into every case. At this house, the " only cause accounting for the disease was that the " supply of water was obtained from a well, and this " well was closely adjacent to the cesspool. The infor- " mation I obtained of the ill effects of impure water " supply were very marked in the few instances I " am enabled to select. When I visited a large foreign " vessel named the Antonia, I found a fatal case had " occurred during the night, but the deceased had " not been attended by a medical man. I inquired " fully into the circumstances of the case, as I did " in every other instance I visited. The ship was a " large one of 3,000 tons burthen, was clean and comfortable, having a crew of 43 men. I inspected " these personally, and found 13 suffering from severe " diarrhoea, the whole of whom had been taken ill " within the last few hours. The crew were well " provisioned, and had every accommodation they " required. Upon my questioning the captain as to " the purity of the water, he stated that his tanks " were properly supplied from the Company's water, " and that the men had free access to it ; but upon " going more fully into the subject, he recollected " that within the last few days lais tanks had been " emptied for the purpose of having them cleansed, " and during this time the men had to supply the " ship with water, and were desired to get it in small " barrels. This was done, he feared, from the water " in the Bute Ship Canal, which receives the bilge " water and sewage from 300 or 400 vessels con- " stantly in the port, and therefore to some degree " may be considered an elongated cesspool. The use " of this water was immediately forbidden, a fresh " supply obtained, and the crew from that time, " although remaining in the port some weeks, were " free from disease. Two other houses in Cardiff " obtained their supply of water from wells. But " the strongest instance of the ill effects of an impure " water supply was that of the houses in North " Morgan Street, Canton. On receiving information " of the circumstance of several deaths from cholera '• I visited this street, and elicited the following " facts : — The disease existed in a block of nine houses, " four houses being in the upper part of North Morgan " Street, the remaining five in Wellington Street, In " No. 1, a family of eight persons resided : in this " family three were ill with choleraic diarrhaja, and " two with cholera. The two with cholera died. The " water supply was from a well, and used by the " inmates of this and the three adjoining houses. " The inmates, when they could, endeavoured to *' obtain water from neighbours who had their supply " from the Company's water ; but as this was illegal, " it could not often be allowed. The children had " free access to the well water, and used it for " drinking. I examined the water, having obtained " it myself ; it smelt abominably, and was coloured. " On testing it with 10 drops of the permanganate " of potash to 1 ounce of the water, the decoloration " commenced immediately ; in 12 hours the water " was colourless. The occupier of this house, as " well as the others in which the disease occurred, " attributed the illness to this water. In the next " house a family of six resided ; thi ee of these had " choleraic diarrhoea. In the next house five resided, " of whom four had the choleraic diarrhoea. In the " next, three resided ; one had the choleraic dian-hoea, " and one died of cholera. The next house contained " a family of eight persons. These did not use the " pump water, as they were afraid to do it, but ob- " tained their supply from neighbours. None of these " were ill. The next house had 13 inhabitants ; one " of these had diarrhoea, one died of cholera. In " this house the inmates sought for water as they '• could from their neighbours ; but when this could " not be obtained, they used the well water. The " remaining three houses had their supply from the 30928. " Company's water, and at no time during the Mr. " epidemic suffered from illness. These houses, until //. ./. Paine, " August, obtained their supply of Avater from the M.R.L'.S. " Company's water but at that time it was cut of!'. ^"7"' " This was much to be regretted, as the district was " then threatened with cholera. The subsoil of Can- Cai'litf. " ton is a very light porous gravel, and always filled " with water, so much so that whenever any work " in the shape of laying pipes in the streets is being " carried on at the depth of two feet, the water is " obliged to be pumped out of the excavations. The " district is badly drained, the surface water is only " partially carried off, and surface impurities sink " into the subsoil. There is no deep drainage, con- " sequently no waterclosets. The fluid contents of " these cesspools can but percolate through the light " gravel, and, wherever wells are sunk, must pollute " them. I requested the committee to forward some " of the water to London for analysis by an eminent " chemist, who reported as follows : — The Analysis of the water obtained from North Morgan Street. Grains in Imporial Gallon. Carbonate of lime and magnesia - 24 54 Sulphate of lime and magnesia - - 36 60 Chloride of sodium - - - - 27 18 Iron alumina - - 0 22 Silica . - - - - - 0 30 Organic matter and loss - - 3 09 Total - 91 83 " He makes the following observations : — ' This " ' water is by no means fit for a town supply. It is " ' objectionably hard, the hardness before boiling " ' being 60 degrees, after boiling, 44. The amount " ' of organic matter is relatively excessive. The " ' large quantity of common salt found in it denotes " ' some connexion with either sea water or " ' sewage.' " 5225. Do you think thei-e would have been any communication between the sea water and that well ? — It is a very light porous soil, and possibly some of the sea water at high tides did find its way to the well. 5226. As the general result of your observations, have you noticed that there has been a difference in the mortality from cholera amongst persons using the water supplied to the town and those who use the well water ? — I think so, because in 1854 there was a much lower rate of mortality ; the town was then pretty well supplied with the company's water and in 1865 the town was almost entirely supplied with that water. It is a very exceptional case where I find a house that is not supplied with the company's water. In 1866, with a population double that of 1849, we had a mortality of only 47, the estimated population of the town then being 37,500. 5227. In the last epidemic in 1866, did you ascertain whether the water had been drunk by those patients whose cases ended fatally ? — That was one of the questions put at the time. I have got a history of that epidemic, and I will furnish you with an answer from that. 5228. {Mr, Morton.) What is the average number of seamen to be found constantly in the port of Cardiff? —About 4,000. 5229. Is it the practice of those men to live on shore, or on board their ships? — To a great extent on board their ships ; I do not think they could get accommodation in the town. 5230. {Dr. Frankla7id.) The chief part of their secretions would pass into the dock, would they not ? —Yes. 5231. What proportion of the 4,000 seamen would be found in the West Bute dock ? — When I spoke of 4,000 I meant both in the East and West docks; the East dock is a dock of later construction. 5232. Is any water used for drinking from East Bute dock, or was there at the time you are referring to ? — That is a dock of more recent construction than T 146 KIVEfiS POLLtitiO^r COMMIBSIOK :~OltAL EVIUET^OE PART 111. Mr. the West Bute dock. The greater number of vessels ^MRC^s"' ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^"te dock ^ ' ' ' ■ being intended for the reception of vessels of the 16 Oct. 1872. lai'J^est tonnage. The way in which water is obtained now, 1 believe, is by a communication between the Cardiff. feed er and tlie head of the docl<. They have a vessel : tliat is moved about, and it takes the water from the feeder just before it enters into the dock, so that When I spoke of this in 1849, when a considerable numbfer of cases of cholera occurred on boatd one ship^ the meii used to help themselves with water from the Bute dock by dipping buckets over the ship's side, so that it may be said that they obtained them supply from an elongated cesspool. 5233. Does that mode of supplying ships with water prevail at the present day ? — No ; it is obtained from the feeder just before it gets into the dock. 5234. But they get it from the feeder, do they not —If the men choose to get it, or the ship's captain tries to evade the expense of buying water, the pro- bability is that they might help themselves. 5235. Has not the captain of a ship to purchase water in either case ? — He has to pay for water, if it is obtained from the boat. What I mean is, that they can only get water for so many hours from the boat on application, and they have to pay for it, and there is the temptation to help themselves from the dock itself, as was done in ths case of the " Sabrina." 5236. I suppose the water in the dock would be worse than the water in the feeder ? — No doubt ; the water in the feeder would not receive it, but in a httle degree only, when the water was being let in, possibly some little might flow in, but not to any great extent. 5237. Does not the feeder receive a considerable quantity of sewage which is in the river from which it is derived ?— The river would, of course, contain sewage, and the feeder gets its supply from the river ; but after it leaves the river, to go into the B.ute dock, I do not think it gets any further contamination. 5238. Do not you consider that the Avater from the feeder, bearing in mind that the TafF receives a con- siderable amount of sewage before it gets down to a certain point, is not fit for the supply of the shipping ? — Yes ; I do not know what quantity of sewage is contained in it, but in all probability there would be a considerable deposit of solid matter, and it might be otherwise polluted by vegetable matter falling into the river as it flowed along. 5239. Have you seen choleraic discharges mixed with water, and have you noticed the extent to which those would subside in any given time ? — No, 1 have not, but I know that there is a great deposit of whitish floccident matter, whether mixed with Avater or not I do not remember, but I think it is mOre probable. In all excreta I would encourage them to put water, with disinfectants to destroy the organic matter. 5240. Are you aware that Choleraic discharges mixed with a thousandfold their volume of water will still remain after the lapse of" a month ? — I should expect that it would be so. 5241. And that the matters in suspension consti- tuting the turbidity would be likely as it was deposited to propagate the disease ? — Yes, 5242. Is it not most undesirable that water should be used for drinking purposes, which has been Con- taminated by excrementitious mattei-s ? Most deci- dedly. 5243. Unless it has been thoroughly filtered? Yes. 5244. Are you acquainted with the present water supply of CarditF ?■ — Yes. 5245. Are you entirely satisfied with the quality of the water ? — Yes, I am ; I reqtiested the company to send up a sample of the water. I am not very clear whether I did not have water brought ; at all events I know that some was sent up, and an analysis Avas then made by Professor Miller of ffing's College. An ana- lysis had been made before by Mr. Spencer some years ago ; his analysis was also satisfactory. I had some water taken, and I think it Avas examined by Professor Brand, and he Avas satisfied with it.. 5246. Do you consider that in its efi"ect upon con- sumers it is a perfectly wholesome water ? — I believe it to be so. ' 5247. Is it ahvays delivered in a clear and tratis- pareut condition ?— During flood times Ave have had occasionally to complain of its being a little turbid, and I believe it has been so at times when there has been a flood. I have seen a Colour in it, but that i^ very rare. Since the water supply has been obtained from the northern range of hills I believe that com- plaint very rarely arises. 1 have had no complaint made to me for a long time, but I used at one time tO hear complaints when the Avater was obtained from other sources. 5248. When was the change made in the source of supply ? — In 1 863. 5249. Would the discoloured water of which you have spoken find its way into the supply after it has passed the filters ? — I imagine it does not do so now, because I so rarely hear a complaint of the water that I am supplied with being coloured. I never see so, nor do the inmates of my house ever complain of the water being coloured. They have not done so for some considerable time. 5250. Has it been always clear and transparent ? — I have heard no complaints, and therefore I imagine it has been so. 5251. Have you had any typhoid fever in Cardiff ? —Typhoid fever of late years has been in no instance gi-eat. Speaking of the fever cases that I have had in my hands for the last 40 years, in no instance has the mortality from fever been more than 1 pel' 1,000, and that, I think, may be taken as a very small rate of mortality. 5252. Is there any particular district in the town peculiarly liable to attacks of typhoid fever ?— No ; on the contrary, some parts of the town which are now under sanitary supervision Avere formerly rarely free from fever. 5253. Do your duties extend to Canton ? — No ; I have only the borough of Cardiff and the parishes of St. Mary and St. John to attend to. 5254. Did you observe any sudden alteration or diminution in the rate of mortality from typhoid fe\-er Avhen the improved Avater supply Avas introduced ? — Yes, and I think the annual mortality tables AArill shoAV that (Jiandmg in the same). 5255. Do these shoAV the absolute number of fatal cases ? — Yes, copied from the register at the time. 5256. When was the neAv supply of water intro- duced ? — I think it commenced in 1852. 5257. It appears that there Avas a sudden reduction then, but in 1859 there Avas an increase, although not to the extent that had prevailed before. It rose from 10 to 20 and to 42 cases, and then in the next year it fell to 35 cases. Can you account for that in any way ? — The population had got very large at that time. In 1851 the population Avas 18,000 and a few hundreds, in 1861 it was 32,000, and in 1871 it was 40,000. 5258. Has the poptdation of Cardiff increased at a very rapid rate ? — It increased at one time more rapidly than it does noAV ; it does not increase so much nOAV becaiise houses ai-e not built to the same extent. In 1851 the population of Llaudaff Avas 1,831, in 1861 it had risen to 6,585. In 1851 the population of Roath was 394, and in 1861 it had increased to 3,044. In 1871 the population of Llaudaff exceeded 11,000, and in the same year the population of Roath exceeded 7,000, that is in consequence of our excess of poptda- tion not finding house accommodation in the town, and going to the suburbs. 5259. You do not consider, as to ihcl-ease of popu- lation, that there has been a material increase in the density of the population over a given area ? — No, because all the houses which are occupied by the lower classes A\'here they are crowded, are under my supervision, and they are all visited, a certain number eveiy night, and a certain number every day, to see that they are not overcrowded. I am satisfied that the density of population in the houses of the labouring class is considerably less than it was formerly. I give BTVEIJS PQI^T^UTION COMMISSION: — OIIAL EVIDENC^-rPAKT III. 147 a certain area, tliq houses have all been measured, and I allow, where the bedrooms are not occupied in the daytime, a cubic space of 400 feet. And in houses where there is no chance of the bedrooms being occu- pied during the day, I require 5,000, 6,000, or 7,000 cubic feet. 5260. How do you consider that typhoid fever is propagated ? — Of late years we have npt seen typhoid fevers in an epidemic form. I believe it to be entirely in a sporadic form. A considerable number of the cases of fever registered are of young children, merely infantile fevers. Now, I more frequently find that fever is quite as fatal among the better classes as among the poorer people in the town. I do not find that fever exists more among the poorer classes than among the better classes, ami I find no more registered deaths during the years that I speak of in those stieets that are very much occupied by the poorer classes, which I think is hkely to be owing to increased sani- tary provisions. 5261. How do you consider that the sporadic cases arise ? Possibly from individual causes, such as de- rangement of the secreting oi'gans, or from eating improper food ; not frqm any epidemic or endemic causes, but from causes connected with the individual. You will not find fever occurring in more than one instance in a house. 5262. As a rule, do you find that only one case occurs in a house ?— Yes ; that is the rule in Cardiff. 5263. Do you consider that typhoid fever can origi- nate in an individual without a communication of infection of any kind ? — Yes, I think that individual causes may exist in a particular case ; for instance, a man may have derangement of the stomach or biliary secretions, and that niight set up a low type of fever, the patient being a little out of health. 5264. Might not that run into typhoid ? — Yes, 5265. Being once estabhshed, I presume it could be communicated through the medipm either of air or -y^rater ? — Yes, wherever there are any disordered ex- cretions from the skin, although I do not think it exists to any great degree, from the circumstance that yqu do not find even in those cases others taking it into a house, still there is no doubt that it might operate. 5266. I presume from that answer that you do nqt attribute these cases to any escape of sewer gases into the houses ? — I think not, except from waterclosets, the communication being imperfect from the p^q to the communicating pipe, and the sewer might possibly throw back some gases, which might be objectionable, but I cannot say that I have heard that complained of ; it would affect all the inmates, and not one indi- vidual more than the others, unless in a very slight degree, that individual being a little out of health. 5267. Do you consider that the sewage of Cardiff is in a satisfactory condition ? — Yes, I think we have every reason to believe so, from the mortality tables. The mortality of Cardiff 10 years before Mr. Rammel's report was 30 per 1,000, and since then the average mortality has only been a decimal above 22 per 1,000, and in some cases sometimes as low as 19 in 1,000. In certain years there are infantile cases of measles, and that springs it up. 5268. Have you never had it down to 19, except in 1862 ? — In 1860 it was down to 19-1 per 1,000, and in 1862, 19 per 1,000: at other times 20 per 1,000. During the present year we have been down as low as 18 and 19 per 1,000 ; that existed for some time, and then there Avas a little rise two or three weeks ago from infantile diarrhoea, the excess of the mortality was almost to be measured by the infantile diarrhcea. 5269. Do you find greater mortality among the sailors who come into the port than amongst the in- habitants of the place ? — I do not know that we have any considerable mortality amongst them. The num- ber of our inquests is large, but a great proportion of those inquests are in cases of drowning from the shipping, or accidents on board ship. 5270^ Is it a common thing for whole families to live on board ship ? — No, you will find that there is a large proportion of inquests in Cardiff. I have a table that Avill give you the rate qf raorti^llty from Mr. different causes. ^^'I'r'J'n""' 5271. Do you mean among the sailors? — Yes, the M.R.C .S. drowning cases. In another table you will find that jq o<;t. i872. the population, and the causes of dgath, an; classified. 5272. Have you ever found gases escaping from the Cardiff. sewers into the hoqses through defective tri^ps ? — It has sometimes happened that a liousq has smelt a little from the watercloset, Imt I think you may tiikc it that the complaint is not very often made. 5273. Have you ever traced any cases of disease to that source ? — I speak of cases where fever has occurred, and one has sometimes referred it to th;it cause. I have a distinct recollection that some persons have complained of it. 5274. You would probably only become acquainted with the circumstance that the sewer gas had escaped into a house when the disease had broken out in it ? — Yes ; sometimes I know wlien there is a particular nuisance near a house. I get a letter when therii is no disease, but the inhabitants are afraid of it. 5275. Have you ever observed an escape of gas in your house ? — No ; I am very well satisfied with it. 5276. Are you acquainted with Aberdare or Merthyr Tydfil ? — Not to any extent. 5277. Do you know whether, previously to the occurrence of these cholera cases in Cardiff, any cases had occurred in those towns ? — No. I almost fancy that the cholera broke out first to some extent below, and then it corroborated the statement that cholera follows the course of rivers, and goes upwards. 5278. Did you attend any cases of cholera in the Rhondda Valley ? — I was requested by the owners of property there, in consequence of an outbreak of cholera there, and its formidable character, to visit the place, and to inquire into the circumstances ; that was in the year 1854. The introduction of the disease was traceable to some drovers who had taken some cattle down to the infected district, to Neath, and I think one of them came back, and was taken ill on his way back and died a few hours afterwards. For some days there was a very alarming outburst, and the con- fusion in the locality was frightful, so much so that it became almost depopulated from the people running away. Means were taken to remedy the predisposing causes, and after a little while the epidemic ceased. It was clearly a case of cholera imported into the dis- trict, and it was in a condition to receive it and to propagate it there. I visited almost all the houses, and there I found sewage matter on the surface of some of the gardens, and in one square where the cholera had been very fatal, there was a privy that was in the centre, and which was used by the whole of the inhabitants, and the sewage had escaped over the square, and was lying on the surface. 5279. What was the nature of the Avater supply there ? — The water supply was from a mountain stream, and to supply the inhabitants of a hamlet, at the top of the stream a tube was placed before it went into the town, and it got contaminated ; it was at a little distance from the northern portion of the hamlet ; but the greater supply, to save the trouble of going up there, was got from another source. When the stream passed over a little place Avhere the inhabitants are, they made a dam to hold it up and got it from there, but that was a very impure Avater. 5280. Was it contaminated by excrementitious matter ? — Yes, from the surface ; and the district Avas in a fearful condition. If there was any large amount of moisture or water on the top, it Avould find its way in there. Just after the water floAved from the pipe, people went with their cans and pails to receive the water. It then formed for itself abed, and afterwards went through the town, and in this bed or basin butchers used to Avash the entrails of animals, and throw everything into it, it all Avent into the Avater. 5281. Is this place on the river above Cardiil"? — Yes ; I am speaking now of the Rhondda Valley. It has been very much improA'ed of late, and 1 daresay things are better ; but for some time afterAvards there Avas a considerable amount of fever there. T 2 148 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : - ORAL K VIOENCE— PART III. 5282. Does the Rhondda Valley drain into the Taff? — Tlie Rhondda river runs into the Taff. 5283. Did the cholera outbreak in 1854, in the Rhondda Valley, occur after the outbreak in Cardiff ? —After the outbreak in Cardiff ; because I know that it was in the midst of the cholera epidemic that I was sent for to visit the locality ; the cholera had existed for some time in the district. 5284. Was there no connexion between that out- break and the outbreak in Cardiff? — No ; it was traceable clearly to the drovers. 5285. Was there no evidence of the propagation of tlie disease down the stream from the Rhondda Valley ? — No ; I thiuk there were only hamlets and villages in the course of the river. I did not visit Ihem, and I cannot speak to their condition. I have no i^ersonal knowledge of the other districts. 5286. Did no instances occur among the crews of the ships in Cardiff after the outbreak in the Rhondda "Valley ? — I do not think I could trace any. 5287. Had the outbreak in Cardiff subsided before the outbreak occurred in the Rhondda Valley ? — I do not think it had. 5288. Did it commence in Cardiff first ? — Yes. 5289. {Mr. Morton.) Does not the Rhondda Valley, Aberdare, and the Merthyr Tydfil districts drain into the Taff?— Yes. 5290. And the drainage all comes down through the feeder into the dock ? — All the water that comes into the feeder comes from that river, and it some- times comes over a weir that is here ; I do not think that the water is used for anything. 5291. (Dr. FranUand.) Have you suffered much from scarlatina in Cardiff of late years ? — Yes ; there was a considerable mortality last year or the year before. 5292. Do you believe that that had anything to do with impure water in any shape ? — No ; I think not. An epidemic from time to time occurs, and when it does occur, it necessarily is considerable in a large population like this. I do not know that it is rela- tively as large or larger than in other places, but there must be a considerable number of deaths from it ; perhaps only to the same extent, or the numbers may be larger from the circumstance that some of the houses are crowded ; that may cause the disease among the poorer classes to be more fatal. 5293. Is it more intensely infectious than either cholera or typhoid fever ? — Yes, I think so ; of all diseases it is the one most difficult to meet. 5294. Is it of all diseases the most infections ? — Yes ; it is the one that I always feel there is the greatest difficulty in encountering. The witness 5295. Have you had much small-pox in Cardiff?— We have had an unusual amount of small-pox, but not to the same extent that there has been in other dis- tricts ; and for a long time, although we were con- tinually in apprehension of it by the introduction of cases from other districts, we were able for 15 months to stamp it out, or prevent any extension of it ; but as the disease in the district became moi'e prevalent, and cases were imported, we were obliged at last to suc- cumb to it to some extent, because we were then not able to bring our powers to bear so thoroughly upon It as we had done at the commencement when the cases were fewer. It depends upon circumstances, such as those which occur among families which you cannot interfere Avith. In the case of lodging-houses we had no difficulty in dealing with them, but when the disease spread among the better classes, we could not bring our powers to bear in Ihe same way. 5296. Do you attribute the prevalence of small-pox, in any degree, to impure water of any kind ?— No. 5297. What diseases, speaking generally, are com- municable through impure water ? — I think typhoid fever and cholera ; the other would be only a collateral circumstance, that anything in the water which mihtated against a good state of health, would make a person succumb to the disease who otherwise might not do so. 5298. Would that observation equally apply to cho- lera ?— Yes ; I think that whenever an individual falls away from a certain status of health, he becomes more amenable to the laws of disease, and succumbs more readily. You will often find disease introduced into a locality where there are no predisposing causes, and you will find that the disease will prevail there to a very minimum extent ; while the same amount of disease introduced into a less favoured district would be more fatal, the inhabitants not being able to resist the virulence of the poison. 5299. I understood you to say a short time ago that choleraic excrements, if they gained access to water would communicate disease to those who drank it ? Yes ; but I thought your remarks applied to the water supply of Cardiff now. 5300. No ; I meant speaking generally ? — Speaking generally, I have no doubt that in typhoid fever and cholera, and especially dysentery, anything affecting the alimentary canal would be communicable by water. 5301. {Mr. Morton.) Do you know any instances of ill-health which were attributable to the polluted water of the rivers in this district, particularly where the pollution was caused by refuse from mines ? — No; my attention has never been called to that. 5302. I suppose mineral pollutions are less likely to produce ill effects upon health than organic impurities? — No doubt. withdrew. 5303. {Dr. Franhland.) Are you a fisherman ? — Yes, jiud have been so for many years. 5304. How long have you fished in the river Ely ? — 1 have fished in that river for 48 years. 5305. Were fish more plentiful in that river in foi-mer years than they are now ? — Yes. Mk. Edward Edwards, Fisherman, Cardiff, examined. 5306. To Avhat do you attribute the falling off? I cannot give you any idea of that, no more than this, that it mainly came from the paper manufactory ; it Avas that that sent the salmon cut of the bay, and everything else ; none come into the river now ; that is all the cause that I know of. The witness withdrew. Mr. Charles Edward E 5307. {Mr. Morton.) Did you lay out the drainage in this district on the right bank of the river ? — I will (-xjilain. Grangetown is a portion of the parish of CiwtXWY (c:}j)laini7ig on the map). 5308. Is the drainage system that you have laid out designed for the relief of the inhabitants of the tAvo districts of Grangetown and Penarth ? — They are distinct, that is to say, the diainage of Grangetown is confined to Gi'aiigctown. 5309. What population is there ? — 2,000. 5310. Is every house in that district connected with the drainage — Yes. ernard, Cardiff, examined. 5311. Is the whole of the scAvage discharged at one exit ?— Yes. 5312. Does the sewage undergo any treatment aftcrAvards ? — No ; the volume is so small that no nuisance arises. 5313. Does the tide run up past the exit? — Yes, it is at the very extremity of the land AA'here there is a tloAv that comes in, and the river floAV goes in the direction of the scAver, and carries it down to the sea. 5314. By Avhat depth of water is the outfall coA-ered ? — Three feet, and more than that at Cardiff. I think KIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PAUT III. 149 it would make 13 feet there; it is three feet lower than the CardiiF outfall. o315. Is it properly trapped ? — Yes. 6316. What population is there in the Penarth district?— 3,000. 5317. Is the outfall there directly into the tide ? — There are three outfalls from the nature of the ground, two go into the sea and one into the Ely. 5318. Are the whole of the houses in that district connected Avitli the sewers ? — Yes, with the exception of one ; it was not thought advisable to make a sewer to one house, because it is isolated from other houses. It is a residence, all the other parts are thoroughly drained. 5319. Are the houses in that district provided with privies or with waterclosets ? — They are all provided with waterclosets ; it is a new district. When this drainage was laid out, 20 years ago, there was only one house there, now there are 3,000. 5;)20. Is it from any of those sewers that the drainage Avater is pumped which is used upon land belonging to Lord Tredegar ? — No, that is on the other side. I wish to state with regard to the owners of Grange- town and Penarth, for they belong to the same owners, that they considered it their duty to lay out a proper system of drainage. 5321. And that has been done by the owners of the property in both cases ? — Yes. 5322. Are they not within the town of Cardiff ? — No, they are outside the borough. We form part of the parish of Llandaif in one case, and Penarth is a parish of itself. 5323. Is no complaint made of any nuisance below you arising from the discharge of the Grangetown sewage ? — No. 5324. {Mr. Clark, through the Chair.) Was the sewerage laid out with a Adew to accommodate the whole district ? — It was laid out so that if a district came, we might accommodate you. That was the reason for making the outfall three feet lower. The witnei 5325. Is the outfall uncovered at low water ? — Mr. jj; C. E. licrnar'l. 5326. ITow long does it remain uncovered ? — About ()^t~1872 two hours. ^ 5327. Does much water at low water come down Carfl'fF. the river at all ? — In tlie summer time not. much, but the tide flows, and the tide runs in a direction whicli carries it all out at the ebb of the tide. 5328. {Mr. Morton.) Docs the tide carry the other away ? — Yes. 5329. Even in summer time, when the flow is at its minimum, does no nuisance arise from the dis- charge from the sewer ? — No, there is none. I am responsible for that. If there Avas a nuisance, we should immediately remedy it. 5330. In what way would you do that ? — It would be necessary to deodorize it. We could not have a sewage farm. 5331. {Mr. Clark, through the Chair.) What quantity of sewage a-day do you tliink flo-ws through the sewer ? — T should say 20 gallons a-head per day from a population of 2,000. 5332. Arc all the houses supplied with water- closets ? — Yes, every one. There is no local board. I am the only authority in that matter. The only thing we cannot interfere with is the overcrowding of the houses, and there are occasionally fever cases in the upper part ; it is a labouring population. 5333. {Dr. Frankland.) Do you ventilate your sewers ? — Yes. 5334. Are they thoroughly and eflficicntly venti- lated ? — Yes, and they act well. 5335. Do you pass the gases through charcoal ? — No, they have not been sufficiently offensive yet to require that. The population is not large enough, and the streets are all wide. 5336. Have you never heard any complaints made ? — Never; the only complaint W(? hear of occasionally is of a smell from the gasworks in the adjoining parish, which is, I know, very ofiensive. 1 withdrew. Mr. Thomas Thorn' 5337. {Mr. Morton.) Are you inspector of nuisances for the Canton local board of health } — Yes. 5338. Is it part of your duty to see that no privies or cesspools are allowed to drain into the surface drains ? — Yes, only part of my duty. 5339. Do you find out all cases of that kind ? — As far as I can I do. 5340. Does any cesspool at the present time drain into a surface drain ? — Not one at present . 5341. Into what do the surface drains run ? — Into the main drains in the streets, which empty them- selves within the borough of Cardiff. 5342. Does the sewage go into the surface drains of Cardiff, or into the sewer which discharges its con- tents into the sea ? — It goes into Whitehouse Ditch, I am told. 5343. The water that passes out of your surface drain, I suppose, is not very clear and transparent, is it ?— I have never seen it at the mouth of the drain, but it is within the borough of Cardiff. 5344. Do you try to keep as much excrement out of it as you can ? — I think I have kept all out as far as I know. 5345. Do the inhabitants who live in the district of Canton, which is drained by the surface di-ains, like other people, throw their chamber slops out into the yards, and into gully-holes ? — I do not know that they do, but into the roads. 5346. If thrown into the roads, they will make then- Avay into the surface drains, will they not ? — No ; some will go into the sewer. 5347. Is there no drain there ? — No. 5348. Taking the whole of Canton, are there many localities in Avhich chamber slops are thrown down gully-holes ? — I have never seen it done. 5349. Where are they emptied ? — Into the water- closets. >N, Canton, examined. 5350. Does the servant always throAv the chamber slops down the watercloset ? — I cannot say. 7". Thornton. 5351. Are all the houses furnished with water- closets ? — As far as I know they are ; in some cases they have got one to three or four houses, and in other cases there is one closet to two houses. 5352. In such cases do you suppose that all the servants in three or four houses take the Avhole of the chamber slops to the closet ? — In some houses they have no servant. 5353. How far might the watercloset be from Ihe houses, the furthest distance 7 — Sometimes at some distance from them, and sometimes close by ; some are four or five yards off, and some as nmch as 20 yards. ' 5354. Are there any grids in the yards at those cottages ? — Yes, in some cases. 5355. Would they be nearer to the house than the watercloset? — Some of them arc close to the houses. 5356. Would there not be a great temptation to throw the slops down the grids ? — Yes, but I have never seen them do it ; if they did, they Avould bo summoned. If I saw it done 1 should report the persons to the board. 5357. Have you any power to prevent them from throwing the chamber slops down the grid ? — They ought not to do so. 5358. You are not able to say positively, as you cannot constantly inspect the Avhole of the 1,300 houses, that nothing but surface water finds its Avay into the drains ? — No, I cannot say so. 5359. {Mr. Clark, through the Chair.) Are you an inspector of police ? — Yes. 5360. Have you charge of the district ? — Yes. 5361. How many men haA C you under your direc- tion ?T— 12 men. T 3 1 150 KIVERS rOLLUTION COMMISSION; — ORAI. E;ViPE;i^CE~PA:^'f Mr. y. Thornton. 16 Oct. 1872. Cardiff. 5362. What district do you superintend ? — A divi- sion of about 16 miles in circuit. 5363. How often do you visit the 1,300 houses ? — During the time of the small-pox I visited as many as 200 houses in a day. 5364. Are you in the habit of constantly visiting the houses ? — Yes ; I visit them as often as my time will allow. 5365. Are you instructed to prevent the people from throwing their chamber slops down ? — I never had any special orders given to me ; but I have stopped them from doing it if I knew it was done. 5366. They are not allowed to do it according to the rules of the board ? — No. 5367. Where do all the kitchen slops go ? — They flow into the drains. 5368. How often are they required to empty the cesspools ? — As often as I give them notice to do it, when I find them full. 5369. Do you only find that out when you see that they are running over ? — Yes. 5370. Vf hei'e docs the overflow run to then — On to the surface. 5371. And into a surface grid ? — I never saw that done yet. 5372. Have you ever looked particularly after that? — I have many times, as far as my time will allow me. 5373. What number of privies have you in your district ? — I cannot tell you. The witness 5374. Are they all supplied vpith cesspools ? — No. 5375. What is done in those cases ? — They have cesspools underneajih them, I mean the common pri- vies ; and when they are full, they are emptied. 5376. How many cesspools have you had occasion to order to be emptied this year I cannot tell you. 5377. Have you directed a dozen to be emptied ?— Yes. ^ 5378. Or 50 ?— I think not 50 in this year. 5379. {Mr. Morton.) How many houses are thet-e altogether ?— 1,300. 5380. Are the whole of them emptied once in six years ? — Many of them are done -without notice being given ; but those are only the exceptionally bad ones. 5381. In the case of those which are emptied with- out notice, how are the contents taken away ? — There is a cart taken round by the scavengers, and the stufl' is taken, I believe, to some neighbouring gardens. 5382. In that case who pays the cost of removal ? — The person who owns the cesspool. 5383. Is water laid on in all the houses ? — In the greater number of them. 5384. Is there any counpxion between the water supply and the watercloset ? — No ; some are inside the kitchen, and some are outside. 5385. Have the waterclosets a regular supply of water, or are there only pans ? — There are none at all ; there are very few pans ; they are only common privies, such as you see in the country. withdrew. Mr. Henkt Hawkins, Mr. 5386. {Mr. Morton^ Is it your duty to form con- H. Hawkins, nexions between the house and surface drains and the ■ main drains ? — Yes. 5387. Whiit are the surface drains, are they merely gutters in the i-oad ? — No ; they are pipes which are laid into the main drain. 5388. Do they lie underneath the surface ? — Yes, the pipes do. 5389. Is no connexion allowed to be made between the privy cesspools and the drains — No. 5390. Is there no instance in wl^iph a privy cess- pool is connected with the drains ? — Not oue. 5391. Do you not perceive any offensive smell at the mouth of your drains ? — No. 5392. Are no waterclosets allowed to be discharged into those drains ? — No. 5393. Where does the watercloset drainage go to ? —It only sinks into the ground. 5394. What kind of houses are they, are they poor houses ? — Different sorts. 5395. In the case of a good house, is the water- closet of that house not connected with your drain ? — Not in one instance. 5396. Is it quite within your knowledge that none of the waterclosets in Canton are connected with the drainage ? — There is not one that I know of. 5397. Are you likely to know, if it is the case ? — Yes. 5398. Do the waterclosets deliver their contents into tanks ? — There ai'e tanks under the closets. 5399. You are speaking now of privies, are you not ? — Yes. 5400. Can it be seen that there is no watercloset stuff' coming down the drains ? — I have not seen any. 5401. {Mr. Clark, through the Chair.) Who is it that lays the pipe through the premises ? — The man who takes it : and I have to see that it is done in a proper manner. 5402. Are you the only person employed to connect the pipes in this way? — Yes. 5403. \^'here do the pipes lead to, to the back of the house ? — Yes, just outside the back kitchen. 5404. What connexion is there at the back of the house, what does it lead to ? — It leads to a bit of a basin formed by a couple of bricks to take it to a grid. 5405. Do the people throw do-mi all their slops at that place, all from the house ? — Yes. [ason. Canton, examined. 5406. The whole of the slops from the house are thrown down there ?— Yes, and off" the roof also ; it is close to the back kitchen. 5407. {Mr. Morton.) Could all the chamber slops be thrown down the grid ? — No, they could not go through ; there is a trap. 5408. Do yo.u mean tq say that the contents of a chamber-pot Avill not go through ? — I have never seen it. 5409. Have you constructed any of these privies ? - — Yes. 5410. What are they like ; is there a closet outside the house with a seat ? — Yes. 5411. What is there beneath the seat ? — A pit. 5412. Does the pit run under the floor of the house ? — In some cases I have made them outside, but in others they run right imder the floor. 5413. How are these places cleaned out where the pit is immediately under the seat ? — They open the floor and remove the seat. 5414. Is the pit a large sized one ? — In some cases it is. 5415. How many cart loads of stuff" could be t^ken out of one of those pits at a time ? — About three. 5416. Is it wet when it is taken out ? — Sometimes it is. 5417. What sort of subsoil is there generally ? — Gravel ; the upper part of Canton is di-yer than the lower part. 5418. {3Ir. Clark, through the Chair.) Who is the scavenger ? — Mr. Matthew Howell. 5419. How many carts does he keep ? — One is kept, but carts are employed. 5420. When the closets are emptied, where do the carts come from ; is it only the scavenger's cart 7 — He employs a cart. 5421. {Dr. Franhland.) Do you know anything about the wells in Canton ? — Yes. 5422. Are any of them near the square pits which you have been describing, which you make under the seats and behind the priN-ies ? — No, but the well is close by the house in every case. 5423. And therefore cannot be far from the house closet ? — Yes. 5424. How far ? — Some of them are about 60 or 70 feet. RIVERS POLLUTION COM]\tlSSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 151 5425. What is the distance of the nearest well to a house ? — The nearest closet is about 25 feet ; there is no well there. 5426. Are there lione within lO feet of a house ? — Yes, there are two within 10 feet of the back kitchen. 5427. Are there any wells near to that house ? — No. 5428. No wells froni which people drink water ?— No, there are 60 or 70 feet between the nearest cesspit and a well. 5429. {Mr. Morton.) Are these pits into which the stuff falls cemented at the bottom ? — No. 5430. As I understand, you dig a hole in the grave and build four walls round it, put a seat on the top, and then roof it over, and that is a privy ? — Yes, 5431. Does that privy suffice in some -cases for more than one house, or has every house its own privy ? — I cannot say that eveiy one has, but to the best of my knowledge it is generally so. 5432. Do you know a place in Canton called vStag Terrace, which is surrounded by houses ? — I know it, but that is not surrounded by houses, that is a street. 5433. How many houses are there in it? — From eight to ten. 5434. And how many privies ? — I cannot tell you. 5435. (Dr. Frankland.) Do you know Stag Terrace well ? — No ; I know that there was a well there, but I cannot say that it is there now. 5436. How far was that well when you knew it, from any of the privies, the nearest ? — 1 cannot tell y^^- . . . 5437. You were not thinking about that well, were you, when you said that they were 60 or 70 feet away ? — No ; it is two years ago since I saw it. 5438. Can you not tell us how far that was from any of the privies ? — No, but I know it cannot be far if it is there. 5439. Are tliose privies wet ones or dry ones ? — They are dryer because the ground is higher. 5440. Do they all drain into a well? — I do not know. 5441. Where does the water go to ? — I do not know. 5442. {Mr. Clark, throngh the Chair.) Terrace drained 1- — Part of it is. 5443. Plow much of it is drained ? Is Stag I do not know. 5444. Did yoll lay down the drains ? — Yes, I drained one part of it. I made the main drain up the road into it. 5445. How long was that drain ? — About seven feet. 5446. Did yovi liiake kny (JonniJctions with it ? — Yes, off the road, it turned itlto it. 5447. {Mr. Morton.) It was yoiir business to make the house and surface draitis into the ihain drain ? — Yes, into the maiu drain ; it is turned out of the street into the Savern Road to take the water. 5448. Did you make any connexions between the houses and that drain ? — No. 5449. {Mr. Clark, through the Chair.) Do you know whether Canton common is drained ? — It is not drained. 5450. Is Canton Market drained ? — No. 5451. Which way does the water flow from Canton common ? — It is drained to the Ely river, 5452. You say that Canton market is not di'ained ? —Yes. 5453. {Mr. Morton.) How many houses are there in that part of Canton which is not drained ? — I do not know. 5454. Is it thickly populated, or are there many houses there ? — There are a good many houses. 5455. Are there more than 100 houses there ? — I cannot tell you. 5456. As many as 100 ? — There may be. 5457. Is it veiy thickly populated ? — Yes. 5458. Is there any stagnant water in front of the houses at Canton common? — Yes. 5459. Does any drainage get into that pool from the road ? — Yes, from the road, but not from the houses. I made it 12 or 14 years ago. 5460. Is the water supplied by the company used in Stag Terrace ? — T cannot tell, 5461. ( The Mai/ or.) Are you quite positive that none of the surface water in front of those houses at Canton common gets into that stagnant pool ? — I do not know, 5462. You are not certain about it ? — No. 5463. Where does the back water go to ? — I believe down to Joe Sevan's houses ; I do not know that they have made any cesspools there, but I never put one of them there. Mr. H, Hawkim. 16 Oct. 1872, Cardiir. The witness withdrew. Mr, Reginald Peaese, L.R.C.] 5464. {Dr. Fravkland.) Are you medical officer of the local board of health at Canton ? — Yes. 5465. How long have you had that district under your charge ? — I think for about 12 months. 5466. WiU you state shortly what are the chief sanitary defects in that district ? — I should first say that it is a young district at present, and that it is in course of development. 5467. Is the sewerage in a satisfactory condition ? — ■ It only consists of superficial sewerage ; there is no sewerage connected with the closets, and the foecal matter deposited by the inhabitants is taken away in carts and used for manuring purposes. 5468. Is that done at considerable intervals ? — No ; in the first place, the inspector calls my attention to it when he finds that the closets are beginning to get full, or there is any necessity to empty them, and they are emptied as occasion demands. 5469. How long on the average will it take to fill a privy so as to require to be emptied ? — I think that very much depends upon circumstances, I find that some privies get filled very quickly, and some take a little longer time to fill, but as a general rule, when we find them threatening to overflow, or when they come near to the surface, I always order them to be emptied, but that is always done at a seasonable time ; not in summer weather, it is generally done in the winter. 5470. Do you mean that you would aUow them to remain all the summer ? — No ; it is the worst cases that we should have under our notice during the winter. '., M.R.C.S,, Canton, examined, 5471. Are there cases in Canton of privies that are Mr. R. Fearse, emptied about once a month ? — I think not. ^ M.R.C.S. 5472. Or once in two months ? — ^No ; I think if you were to say once in 8 or 12 months, that would be the very shortest time. 5473. Do you think it desirable that the excrements of a population should remain in their immediate vicinity all that time ? — I cannot .say, but I do believe that the new closet system is a bad one. I believe that the board of health have had it under their considera- tion for a long time to adopt some better plan, but the board is a young board at present and it has done nothihg yet. I should strongly object to the closet system altogether. 5474. Do you mean the system of privies ? — Yes; I believe it would be to their interest to adopt a better plan of closet. 5475. Are there any waterclosets in the district ? — I think there are some attached to some of the larger houses, but they empty themselves, as far as I know, into cesspools in a garden, or in ground, which is inde- pendent of drainage. As a general rule, there are no waterclosets in the houses, they are aU out-of-door closets. 5476. In the houses which are provided Avith water- closets, where does the overflow go to ? — I think in most cases, where there are closets, they have large gardens attached ; there are very few that have closets, but those few I believe have large gardens, and the QXCVQtib run into a cesspool made in the ground, T 4 152 RIVEUS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART I ^'t w'/^p"^' cesspool gets full, will the sewage run MRCS ^^^"^ garden ?— I do not know, but at the ' ■ houses I am thinking of it matters little to the people k; Oct. 1872. whether it overflows or not, for there is plenty of ground round them. In the settled part of the place I Cardiff. think vou would not find any waterclosets. I do not know of oue in the proprietary parts of the place. •5478. Do you not consider that that mode of dealing with the excrementitious matter is a very unadvisable one ? — The board have long considered the closets bad. 5479. Is it in contemplation to do away with them ? — Yes, and to make some improvement. 5480. How is Canton supplied with water?- — There may l)e a few wells in existence, but they are exceptions to tlic rule. The ])eople are almost entirely supplied witli water by the company. Where there are wells I have tested the water and have found no impurity. I believe that some of the water was tested by the late Mr. Hancock, of Bristol. 5481. Are you acquainted with the well in Stag Terrace?— No; Stag Terrace is a little blind thorough- fare, containing perhaps a dozen cottages, it leads into a market garden, that is the end of it. I did not know that there was a well there. 5482. Have you not tested the water of that well No. 5483. Do you know what water is used in Stag Te rrace for domestic purposes ? — I do not know ; I always recommend the company's water. If I found that tlie water was biul, I should apply to the board of health to give directions to shut up the well. I have tested what I thought was the worst tainted water, and 1 have found the water good. 5484. What test did you apply ? — The permanganate of potash, and left it for a certain time. 5485. Do you know whether any house in Sta"- Terrace is supplied with water by the company ? — 1 cannot say that I do. 5486. Do you know the Canton well ? — Yes, on the common ; it is a well in Canton Square. 5487. Have you tested the water of that well > Yes, I have, and the water, I think, cannot be taken as a bad sample of water; there is a good deal of surface water that you fancy would run into it, but that is very much better than it was; it has been filled up iu a great measure. 5488. Have you detected any nitrates in it } No 5489. Or chlorides ?— No. 5490. Altogether, do you consider the water supply in C^anton to be in a satisfactory state ? — Yes ; there may be a few wells in existence, but I suppose they will be in the course of time done away with. 5491. What are the principal epidemic diseases that prevail in Cauton ? — There has lately been ahttle small-pox, and we had scarlet fever and measles before that. 5492. Have you had any cases of typhoid fever ? Yes ; I had a family laid up the other day with it, and I also had another family laid up living on the main road. 5493. Do you mean a whole family ? — Yes ; more or less, but I could not find any external cause for it; there is the old thing, the closets, which are objection- able, but I cannot say that I could discover any positive reason for it. 5494. Are the closets generally near to the houses ? — There is a good long yard between the house and the closets, a good strip of land between the two. 5495. How are the houses supplied with water ? — They receive the company's water. 5496. Do the people go to the wells for water for drinking purposes — I think where tliey are supplied with the company's water the well is disused entirely, it is out of )-epair in many ca4;es, and the police have done away with it. 5497. Are there any cases of famili&s being afilict«d with typhoid fever in the neighbourhood of Stag Terrace ? — No. 5498. Or Canton Square ?— No. 5499. Do you know of any wells being still open in that neighbourhood, and used ?_I do not tliink they use any well water. 5500. Do you know whether any well is used by other people living thereabouts ? — I tliink not. 5501. Were you medical officer iu Canton' durino- the visitation of cholera in 1866 ?— I was there, but I was not parish officer ; I have known Canton for the last 15 years. 5502. At the visitation of cholera in 1866, had you any cases in Canton ?— I suppose that that was when we had it ; I remember that several deaths took place. 5503. Did you at all investigate the cause of the outbreak at that time?— I almost foi'get what I did do, but I know that it increased my work a good deal at the time, and, so far as using general I'ucjuis for fumigating the houses, that was done. 5504. Do you know what the death rate iu Canton is? — No; the registrar up to this time has not fur- nished it. The question of the death rate has been before the board of health for their approval, Imt they have not yet decided upon it. 5.:0.j. Do the sewer gi-ids in Canton emit any offensive smell ? — I have not smelt anything offensive. 5506. Do you know the outlet of the sewer? Yes ; it is Whitehouse ditch. 5507. Does that smell?— I noticed that it smelt some time ago, but not lately. I have also noticed that the water appears very similar to the muddy water that you would find in a street, but not any particular discoloration. 5508. It was muddy ?— Yes, very muddy, l)ut I did not see any sewage matter in it. 5509. I suppose nobody drinks that water? — No, it is too bad. ' 5510. (Mr. Morton.) You say that you have smelt it ?— Yes, I have, but it is belter now ; I have not smelt it lately. 5511. In dry weather does it sometimes stink abominably ?— Yes, very badly ; it is a great nuisance. 5512. Is it within your power to order any of these wells to be closed ?— Yes, hy applying first to the board of health. 5513. Do you know whether any of the wells have been closed ?— Yes, a great number have been closed within the last year. 5514. Has that been done by the authority of tlic board ?— The board have ordered it to be done on the suggestion of myself, or of somebody connected with that matter. 5515. In addition to the wells which have been closed by the authority of the board, have any of them been disused by the inhabitants in consequence of the better supply they have received from the company ? — I think that the inhabitants have assisted materially in doing away with them. 5516. Has the pump been taken away in any case ? — In many cases the pump has beeupuUed down. Since they have been allowed to tumble in, they have been boarded over. 5517. What becomes of the excrementitious matter which is carted awav from the cesspits ? — It is u'ied to manure the different market gardens iu the neio^h- bourhood. 5518. Is any of it carried away for a distance of three or four miles by the farmers ? — I think not. 5519. Is any of it taken to manure the ground from which the water iu the reservoir is drained ? — 1 do not think it is carried so far as that. It would be quite a job to carry it that distance. 5520. {Mr. Clark, through the Chair.) "Who gene- rally carts it away ? — I think that lately a market gar- dener has had the stuff for carting it away. 5521. How long has the board of health been established at Canton ? — I can hardly say. 5522. For ten j'ears ? — I should not like to say. 5523. Have no steps been taken to provide proper drainage in Canton ? — AH the surface drains have been made since the board have been established, that is, all the new ones. The old drains were little pipes RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : —ORAL KVIDENCE — I' ART III. 153 which soon became filled up Avith mud, and were no good. 5524. Are not the present drains (piitc iuadcqnal-c for the requirements of the district ?— They are quite inadequate, I snpi)ose, for the purpose of taking away the sewage matter, but they were only laid down for the purpose of serving as superficial drains, they were never meant for anything else. 5525. Has not a committee of the local board recently made a report upon the subject of the drani- age of Canton ?— Not that I know of, not an official report. They have had some meetings upon the subject of deep drains, and to consider, ] suppose, the desirability of carrying them out. 5526. Is it your opinion that it is necessary it should be done ? — I agree that something is required to be done with regard to the sewage matter, and that the present state of the closets is unsatisfactory. The board of health intend to remedy that. 5527. Are you not of opinion that a system of deep drainage is absolutely necessary.' — That is not my profession. I think it is desirable to remove the sewage, and to have a different system of closets. 5528. My question is whether, in your opinion, it is not necessary that there should be a complete system of deep drainage in Canton ?— I have already said that the closet system is defective, and I believe it is the intention of the board to remedy it. 5529. When do you order the cesspools to be emptied ? — If the inspector gives notice for a cesspool to be emptied to the occupier or the owner of the property, and it is not complied with, he then calls in my aid, and the person who has neglected to do as he The witness was required, is sumnioned and he is compelled to empty it. ... 5530. Do you yoii-f-elf not take the. initiative m the matter? I leave the inspector of nuisiuices to report the cases to me, and I only interfere when it becomes necessary for linn to rciiort, or if there is any illness in the neighbourhood, tiien 1 make it my business to go and look at that district. 5531. I find in the report this passage, "There " being no outlet for this district, your board has " been" compelled to avail itself of an open ditch " running into part of the Canton district and (',m\)iy- " ing into the river Taff ; which in consecpieuce of " bcdng continually dammed up by the floods of the " rivei^ and every recurring tide, together with the '• want of suflieient fidl for flushing, renders the pre- " sent system of sewerage quite inadequate for the " requirements of the district." That refers to tho Whitehouse ditch, does it not ? — I suppose so. 5532. Is that your only outfall ? — I do not think I can speak to that. 5533. {Dr. Fra?iJdand.) What opinion would you express as to the general health of your district ? — The general health of Canton is decidedly good. We have had our share of epidemics, but we have not had a severe visitation of them. We have had small- pox, not confined to any one house, but the cases have been sprinkled about the place. 5534. Have you much scarlatina ? — I do not know that there is any ; we have had scarlet fever. 5535. Has it been severe j'— Yes, in most cases ; it v/as last summer ; but we have not had an unusual share, considering the population. withdrew. Mr. It. I'rnrsn, L.n.c.i'., M.li.C.S. If) Oi't. 1872. Ciinliir. Mr. Alexander Bassett, 5536. (Mr. Morton.) Are you a mining engineer and a member of the Institute ? — Yes. 5537. Do you represent Lord Tredegar ? — Yes, as mining engineer. 5538. Can you give us any account of the experi- ment that has been made in sewage utilisation ? — Yes ; I onlv received notice this morning to attend, and therefore I am not prepared with such complete in- formation as I should have Hked to put forward. In March last year we took a field on a fivrm belonging to Lord Tredegar in order to pump the sewage which came from the^Eoath district. The field consisted of 14 acres, and was ploughed up, and a portion of it, consisting of six acres has been sown Avith rye grass ; the ground within that area was in a very foul con- dition, and consequently the crops that were grown last year were not a fair result of the experiment ; but this year I may say that the sewage has been pumped up by a small centrifugal pump and conveyed over the land by wooden carriers, small tributaries being carried over the beds by earthenware carriers, the space between being about 20 feet in width, and the quantity pumped up being something like 200 gallons a minute. 5539. For how many days has this pumping been in operation in the past year ? — Whenever there has been wet weather the pump has not been worked.^ I should think that during three-fourths of that time the pumping has been going on. 5540. That is to say, for about 10 hours a day at 200 gallons a minute ?— Yes, it has not been quite continuous, for this reason. We have got a tank con- structed by the side of the sewer which holds a certain quantity, and that allows us to pump on for about an hour. Then the engine stops for a short time, and we go on pumping again, so that it is not continuous pumping. 5541. This quantity of sewage has been ])ut on to how many acros of ground?— Somewhere about 20 acres of ground. 5542. There being, I think you said, six acres of rye grass ? — Yes, and about 14 acres of other produce, mangolds, cabbages, beetroot, carrots, and parsiiips. 5543. Have you had much more than a good 30928. C.E., Cardift', examined. ordinary agricultural crop ?— I will tell you what we had in mangolds last year ; one acre produced 36 tons, they were sown in May and taken up in December, and the roots weighed from 17 lbs. to 18 lbs. each. 5544. Had any other manure been applied to the land ?_No. only the s(!wage. 5545. Had the land been in good order previously.-' —No, it had been down in grass for many years, an.d it ought to have gone through a process of cleaning during the winter ; if it had done so it would have been in a better condition ; it was the old turf ploughed up ; and I was told by the gardener who had charge of it that if there had been time to clean the ground it Avould have produced much better results. 5546. Can vou state what the cost of pumping was i —We paid nothing for the sewage. There was an engine-man and a small engine of about seven horse- power, and the cost was probably about 100/., and the ensine-mivn who was employed. We use 1^ cwt. of coal per day, but that would do a great deal more work than tlie engine is doing ; a ton of coal lasts about a fortnight. 5547. Does any efliuent water run from your land, or does it all sink into the earth ?— It all sinks away into the earth. 5548. Has anybody made any compliunt to you r— No, only on one"' occasion, and I will state the reason. In order to dam up the sewage in the sewer a flood- •rtite was put down which threw the water back into some of the houses neur to us, but when I heanl of that I immediately had it done away with, and con- structed ii tank to hold sewage. Since that time I have heard no comphuut. 5549. Are you acquainted with some scheme for the purpose of utilising the whole of the sewage of Cardifi' ? —Yes; sometime ago I gave the matter some attention, and I am under the impression that the whole of the district between Cardiff and Newport, which I may say is a waterlog^-ed district, would be materially improved if the sewaije from Cardifi" was taken over that land. I made an offer to the Town Council in order to see whether some terms might not be arranged to take the sewa-e and apply it in the way 1 mention, giving me some^time to consider the matter and an opportunity Mr. A. Basseti, C.E. 154 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: ORAL EVIDENCE PART lU. Mr. A. BasscH, C.E. 16 Oct. 1872, Cardiff. to a])[)ly to tlic landlords to sec what they would do, but r sui)])ose my offer was not sufficient to induce the Town Council to accept ray terms. I offered the first yeai', 200/. the second year, and 300/. for 21 years. I mentioned the matter to afriend of mine in London, and he was of opinion that the district between Cardiff and Newport, which is, as I said before, alluvial, and which produces with the water upon it, not moi'e than ;35,f. an acre, would be greatly improved, in the first place, if it were properly drained, atul next if either the sewage water oi' proper manure was put over it. Con- sid(!ring that Newport is only a short distance from Cai'diff, I thought that the matter was worthy of con- sideration whethei' the sewage of Cardiff, and I mean also the smvage of Canton and of Roath should not be so applied. Jf the Town Council were to come to tluj conclusion that my scheme is a feasible one, I should at once move in the matter. .5550. If your scheme were carried out, how many square miles should you be able to fertilise ? — ^The area fertilised would dejjcnd u])on the quantity of sewage we slionld be able to get. The quantity of land that would l)e available between Cardiff and Newport below the railway would be about 5,000 or 6,000 acres. 5551. Do you know the quantity of sewage that is produced in Cardifi' ? — I imagine that it is about 25 gallons per head of the population. 5552. Do you think that the excrements of 40,000 human beings of all ages would be of as much agri- cidtural value as the excrements of 40,000 sheejJ ? — I cannot form any opinion upon that. 5553. Your scheme, I suppose, would involve the purchase of lands ? — No ; I have thought that it was possil)lc! tluit the landlords might make some arrange- luen!, in fact the scheme is one that requires a good deal of consideration before it is determined to carry it out and what should be done ; I thought that the first thing was to ascertain Avhat sewage could l)e oljtained. How it would be dealt with afterwards would be a matter of detixil for further consideration. 1 might say as to the grass, that the rye grass now, at least since this year, was sown in February 1872, and we have been cutting every three weeks from the month of May down to August, and the height of the grass would probably rise to 18 or 20 inches. 5554. Have you weighed it ? — Yes ; it is sold in bag>, and each bag will weigh 70 lljs., there are tAvo bags to a [)ereh, it will produce 10 tons of green grass per acre, and that is sold at 6rf. per bag, which realises 8/. an acre, that is what we have been doing. 5555. Do you mean that you realise 8/. an acre eveiy three weeks ? — Yes. 5556. Do you know the total amount which has been received from that land ? — I can let you have it. 5557. Will you be kind enough to let us know what has been the actual money receipt from those six acres of Italian lye grass during the year ? — I Avill furnish you with it. 5558. Ai"e you acquainted with the river above ? — Yes, I know the Avhole district intimately, and all the valleys. 5559. What are the valleys from Avhich the river suflcrs ? — I look upon the river Taff and all the ri\'ers as the main seAver through the district, and I believe that the drainage from the Avhole of the population, more; or less, finds its way into the rivers. 5560. What are the industries in these valleys ? — Coal and iron Avorks; there are only two tin-plate Avorks theic. 5561. Wliat number of hands are employed at those Avorks ? — I cannot tell you exactly. The Avitness 5562. Are there any paper mills?— Only one, on the river Ely. 5563. Are there any tan yards ?— There is not any tan yard that I know of, at least not above Cardiff, north of Cardiff. 5564. Is there any coal washing in the district ? Yes, but I do not think that any water from coal washings finds its way into the Taff; it is at the head of the Bargo, Taff, which is Avashed by the Dowlais lion Company. 5565. Js there any other coal Avashing besides that m the district H — Not, I think, in the Taff. 5566. Or in any of its tributaries ? —I knoAv of no other coal washing establishment but the Dowlais. 5567. {Dr. FrunUand.) When you sav that the whole of the population is drained into the i-iver Avhich makes it a common sewer, I suppose that you would except Merthyr Tydfil from that ?— The sewage from Merthyr Avas some time ago turned into the river, but uoAV it is diverted by a main scAver, and I think that the only way to render the river perfectly harmless, is by diverting all polluted or seAvage Avater from the river, and putting it into a water-tight sewer, and using it for the land. 5568. Sewage water also passes into the river at Merthyr after it is purified ?— It was all sent into the river some time ago, but now I think it goes entirely on to the surface. 5569. It goes down to TroedyiiiieAv, and there it is filtered through the soil ?— Yes, and then it is purified. 5570. Have you seen that process carried out ? Yes. 5571. What is your opinion of it ?— It appeared to me to be very nicely laid out. I Avent there some time ago Avith the gentleman who laid it out, Mr Bailey Denton. 5572. Did you see the effluent water come out ? Yes, l)ut I did not drink any of it. 5573. {Mr. jMorton.) Is there any difficulty in ob- taining land in connexion with the tips that Ave have heard of in the case of coal pits, so as to extend the area?— No; it is ahvays usual, I believe, in granting leases to make conditions upon that subject." I have charge of something like 60 colUeries in this country, and in the Gloucestershire district, and in every case Ave find tip room to deposit the refuse upon. There may be in some cases some difficulty in getting land, and parties Avould have to go to some expense to carry the refuse aAvay some little distance beyond it, but I am not aAvare of any very great difficulty. 5574. {Dr. Fra7ikland.) Would it, in your opinion, be a serious hardship to the coal proprietors to be compelled to buy laud, say 100 iiciW? — No. 5575. {3Ir. Morton.) Do you kuoAv the tip at the Melingriffith Works ?— Yes. 5576. Do you know Avhether the proijrietor has any difficulty there, or do you think there is any possi- bility in that case of obtaining land ? — I think there is no difficulty, it is a question of bridging the river Tail". 5577. Is it not rather a question of bridging the feeder Avhich runs through the Avorks ? — T have not paid any particular attention to that question ; there is land beloAV, close by a farmyard there. There is no doubt that the present practice has been carried on for a very long time, and I have been surprised that it has not Ijeen stopped before. It is very easy to get rid of the refuse by tipping it into the river. 5578. Is it over the eilgc of the tip that all the stuff is throAvn in ? — Yes, the Avater flowing down by the side of it. withdrcAV. Mi{, William Pri Mr. ir. Price. 5579. {Dr. Frankland.) Do you attend to present a memorial from certain gentlemen and otheis A\'ho have bigninl it ? — Yes, from Cardiff Green. 5580. Are tlieir complaints fully set forth in the memorial ? — Yes. E, Cardift", examined. 5581. Is it the drainage from Canton that pollutes this stream ? — It is my idea that it is ; that has been mine and other men's experience. 5582. Is it ofteusive in all states of the Aveather ? — It is more oflensive in the case of high tides and heavy rains than at any other times. RTVEK8 POLLUTION COMMISSION :-()!! AL KVTDENCE- PAUT HI. 155 5583. How do you oxpl.iin that it is more ofteusivc at, the time of h\ss, nnd i have known of a great many cases of diarrhoea in tlie immediate neighbourhood of the ditch lately, or in the last four months. 5588. Have there been more cases of Illness in the immediate neighbourhood of the ditch than at a distance from it ?— Yes, many more. withdrew. Adjourned to Merthyr Tydfil to to-morrow at 10 o'clock. In tlie Board Room, Local Board of Health, Merthyr Tydfil. (FoK Merthyk Ttdpil and District.) Thursday, October 17th, 1872 PRESENT : Dr. Edward Frankland, F.R.S. | Mr. S. J. Smith, F.G.S., Sccretari/. o Mr. John Chalmers Mouwiif'. Mr. Thomas Jones Dyke, F.R.C 5589. {Dr Frankland.) Arc you medical officer of health for Merthyr Tydfil ?— Yes, and I have been so for seven years. 5590. During that time have you been intimately- acquainted with the sanitary condition of the town ? —Yes. 5591. In reply to the query sent to the Local Board of Health, did you prepare the return of the death-rate from the year 1859 to 1871 ?— Yes. 5592. It appears that in the year 1867 you had a very low death-rate for Merthyr, 21-4, and in 1868, 21-7; then in 1869 it rose to 24-5, and in 1870 it reached 29-5. Can you give us any explanation of this great rise in the death-rate ?— The occurrence is noted in my reports of epidemic diseases affecting children, principally whooping cough, measles, and scarlet fever, and relapsing fever affecting adults. 5593. During the years 1869 and 1870, had you many cases of scarlatina and scarlet fever ? — 1870 was a year of scarlet fever. In that year there were 144 deaths: whooping cough, 142; typhus, 35; measles, 44 ; enteric fever, 17 ; and relapsing fever, 2. 5594. Was relapsing fever worst in 1869 ? — No. It commenced in 1870 and continued during the spring of 1871. 5595. Do you consider that in the years 1869 and 1870, the sanitary condition of Merthyr Tydfil was unsatisfactory ? — No, it was most satisfactory ; it was the occurrence of this particular epidemic that caused the higher rate of mortality. 5596. To wliat did you attribute the epidemic ? — The spread of whooping cough was, in my opinion, due to the number of people residing in the houses, and the constant intercommunication between the children in schools and in a great measure the won- derful curiosity of mothers in taking their healthy children into sick people's houses. 5597. Was the sewage of Merthyi- Tydfil in a satis- factory condition during those years ? — Yes, as a rule, but there were a number of houses unconnected with sewers. 5598. Was every house in Merthyr Tydfil satis- factorily drained ? — Certainly not. 5599. Were there many defects of that kind ? — A very large number. 5600. Out of the whole number of houses, 10,000, how many are connected with the sewers ? — About 3,500. .S., Merthyr Tydfil, examined. 5601 Is such a condition of things conducive to the outbreak and spread of zymotic diseases ?— Certainly. 5602 Do you know why those houses are not con- nected with the sewers ?— Lord Justice James, by an order in Chancery, iirevented furtho- proceedings being taken to form connexions. 5603. Then, in fact, you are not permitted to make those connexions ? — No. 5604. That order, I believe, was issued m con- sequence of complaints having been made of the dis- charge of the sewage of Merthyr into t!ie Tail It was. • 1 (• 5605. Has anything been since done to get rul oi that cause of complaint?— I believe most efficient meaus have been taken. ^ 5606. Do you mean by filtering the sewage .-'—J .y downward intermittent filtration of the sewage through six feet of earth. . 5607. Have you watched this process continually i — Yes. . „ ... 5608. Do you consider that it works satistactorily — Most satisfactorily. _ . 5609. Are you now relieved from the injunction rorbidding you to connect the houses with the sewers ? —We are not. Permission has been given, I believe, in consequence of a statement made by Mr. Bailey Denton, that the purification of the sewage has been eftected, to connect a certain number, but not exceed- ino- one-third more. I am told now that permission ha°s uot been given, and that the injunction is still m force. 5610. Do you say that you can now connect one- third more ?— I cannot with certainty answer the question. 5611. Has it been a serious impediment to the satis- factory sanitary condition of Merthyr, that this state of things has existed so long ?— Most certainly. 1 attribute a great deal of disease and a large amount ot mortality in 1870, 1871, and 1872 to the prevention of an extension of the connexions between the houses and the sewers. 5612. Do you think it is very necessary that tlie fsecal matter of the population should be rapidly removed ?— It is most necessary, as its presence is the direct cause of a vast number of sicknesses, and there- fore of mortality. . 5613. Is that portion of the towu^ Avhich is at present sewered satisfactorily sewered ?~1 certainly U 2 Mr. T. J. Vykc, F.It.C.S. 17 Oct. 1872. Merthyr Tydfil. 156 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE PART Mr. tliiiik tliat it is in a satisfactory condition, that the ■^^•^•!'/""> scAvers work admirably, and the drains also. I'.KX^S. 5(314. Are they Avell ventilated ? — They are, I 7 Oct 187" think, efficiently ventilated. ' 56Io. Have you heard com])laints made of sewer ertliyr Tydfil, gases escaping into the houses connected Avith the ■ — • main drainage tlirough the traps or grids ? — No. 5616. Is it generally the case that the houses in the sewered districts have any connexion with the sewers through sinks or slop stones ? — Occasionally in Ihe larger houses it is so. In the smaller house the slops are thrown outside the house on to a trapped grating wliicli communicates with the sewers. 5617. Is the grating in all cases trapped ? — Yes. 561ft. Are watercloscts common in Merthyr, or are there privies, ashpits, and middens ? — Under the old arrangement cesspits were the rule. About half the number of the houses were supplied with privies and cesspools; the others Avere Avholly unjjrovided witli any m.eans for covering the faecal matter deposited day by day. 5619. Were those cesspools covered over ? — A. privy Avas coA'ercd over them, holes being dug iu tlie earth Avith a built-up priA'y over some 5620. IIoAV often Avere those phiccs emptied ? — Wlien they l)ecame full to o\'ertIoAving and running over the contents Avere occasionally removed, and often by making an additional hole in the neiglibour- hood of the other one and running it in. The number of houses on one occasion examined Avas 9,880, and out of those about half of them had conveniences, and a uum-ber of them at the time of the inspection, in August 1866, were full to ovarii oAving. 5621. Were those- cesspools Avatertight? — No. 5622. Then the liquid must partly have soaked away r — Yes, and if a house happened to be situated beloAV another, the permeations tlirough were tOAvards . the loAVcr one from the upper one. There is one particular noighbourhood, Penj-darren, Avhere the lionses stand on the hill side, on a slope, there are tvA'o streets, (he upper street runs north-east and south- Avesf, and the sewered portion of the upper street Avould be at an elevation of 20 or 30 feet above the second street. The houses are back to back there, and the priA'y contents from the upper roAV ran towards the loAver one. T attended that place for 14 years, and I observed thnt in the loAver range of houses the mortality from scarlet fever and measles Avas infinitely greater than in the upper parts. 5623. Were there any shalloAv Avells in the district.? — A great many in the olden time. 5624. HoAv long haA'e they been disused ? — Since the Avaterwoi'ks were introduced. 5625. I see in the report you have handed in that tliero Avere seven pumps at Penydarren, and three attached to Tydfil's Avell, so that there Avcrc 10 pumps still in use ? — The total is 180 in LoAver Merthyr and 10 in Upper Merthyr. 5626. Were all those in use in 1866 ? — Yes, accord- ing to the returns then given. 5627. Have many of them been since discontinued ? — My impression is that there is not one in use noAv. 5628. Have you ever observed the eflfect of soakage from those cesspools into any of the Avells in use in Merthyr ? — Yes, it Avas very frequently the case. I do not recollect any particular case then, except one in Tydfil's welk In the cholera time there was one instance there that Avas very prominently put for- Avard under the head of " Influence of Avater contami- " nated Avith soAvage," and you Avill see in my report at the bottom of page 71 this passage : — " As to the " pernicious influence of such a Avater, Mr. Allday " slates that he Avas in attendance upon a tradesman " Avho Avas affected Avith and died of cholera ; his " wife and son Avere also ill of the disease, but re- " covered. This family used the Avater of a Avell, " Avhich, upon inquiry at tiie time, Mr. Allday ascer- " tained, became most offensive Avhen kept for 24 " hours. Tiie use of it was at once discontinued. I " have, hoAvever, obtained some, and find that is very " highly charged Avith sulphuretted hydrogen gas," 5629. Is that the only case in Avhich you have traced disease to the use of polluted Avater ? — Yes, during the last period. ^ 5630. Had you any cholera in Merthyr in 1866 ? — Yes, terribly. 5631. How many deaths occurred ?— 119, and 17 from diarrhasa, in all 136. 5632. IIoAv Avas the disease first introduced into the town ? — I have endeavoured in my report to point out how it came. It broke out in four ditferent spots Avidely separated from each other, and all within 24 hours. 5633. Did the disease spread from those four centres ? — Yes, it did, round and round until the Avhoie of tlie town became polluted by poisonous exhidations from choleraic excretions. 5634. Did you direct your attention at all to the mode in which it was communicated from person to person from those centres ?— At page 53 of my report you will see this passage, " No communication " had taken place betAveen any of the three first " afliicled Avith each other, or Avith any other place ia " Avhicli cholera had been." 5635. Were those three of the first centres of which you spoke ?— Yes. Abercannaid, case No. 10 ; Quarry RoAV, case No. 2; Morris Court, case No. 4: and Cwm Canol, a street at DoAvlais, case No. 5. You will perceive that nearly all those cases occurred from (he 24th August to the 26th ; and on page 53 in the fourth paragraph you Avill see, " In endeavouring to "■ make out the advent of the disease, the facts stated " as to the first six cases are of moment. Taking " Merthyr Parish Church as the centre, case 1 waa " affected on the 22nd August at Abercannaid, tAVO '•' miles south of the church ; case 2 on the same day " at Quarry Roav, three-quarters of a mile north of " the church ; case 4 Avas an old woman Avho lived " about 100 yards from the church, she was affected " on the 24th ; Avhile eases 5 and 6 broke out on that " day at DoAvlais, tAvo miles north-east of the church." " I should mention that this history has puzzled Mr. Symons excessively. 5636. Taking case No. 1, from Avhat source AA-ere the jiersons living iu David Square, Abercannaid, supplied Avith Avater ? — From the Avaterworks. 5637. Is there any Avell there that they used before they obtained that supply ? — There is a canal close by at the back of the houses, and a brook at a short distance. Wells, if any, if they had been used, Avould liave been on the other side of the canal. I do not knoAv that they were used, but there Avere springs. 5638. Were they not exposed to excrementitious pollutions as far as you kuoAv .'—I think not. 5639. Has it been ascertained hoAv long choleraic poison requires for incubation ? — It has not been ascertained ; but my own feeling, from acquaintance Avith cholera from 1832 to 1866, and every one of the epidemics, is, that from 60 to 80 hours are about the time. 5640. Was there any evidence, or Avas it ascertained m those cases whether the people had been aAA-ay from home during that time ? — The ansAver to that is on page 53 in the fifth paragraj)h. " In cases 1, 2, 5, and 6 it has been distinctly proved to my thorough " conviction that no contact Avith anything infected, " nor Avith any person affected, nor any communica- " tion Avith each other could have taken place. In " case 4 the aged Irish Avoman Avas employed at a " rag store in picking and cleaning rags, so it is very " possible that she may have come in contact with " clothing brought from Aberdare, Avhere cholera " then prevailed." 5641. Did it prevail in Aberdare before it appeared in Merthyr ? — Yes, I think for about a fortnight. On page 52 of my Kcport you Avill see this passage under the head of " Dates of first outbreak in South Wales." " On the 6th July the epidemic broke out at LlaneUy, " in Carmarthenshire ; at SAvansea on the 23rd July ; " Briton Ferry on the 28th ; at Aberdare, in Cwm- " bach on the 1st August ; Millstreet on the 9th " August; and Hirwain on the 18tli. On the 3rd, RIVERS POLHTTION COSIMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 157 " 10th, 13th, and 22nd August seamen afflicted with " cholera were under treatment at Cardiff." 5642. Were you convinced that those people had remained at home during the time possibly required for the incubation of the disease ? — Yes, from the returns that the medical gentlemen attending them gave me ; they were convinced that they had not been from home. 5643. Of course picking and cleaning rags would be a very likely cause of infection ? — Yes. 5644. Did you form any opinion as to the mode in which the disease was propagated from those first centres ? — In every instance we were able to trace all the succeeding cases to communication with one or other of those four centres. 5645. What was the nature of that communication ? —Personal communication by going into the houses and remaining there, assisting in attending to the sick, or in washing the clothes of the sick. 5646. Were many laundresses affected in Merthyr ? — A consideraljle number in the last epidemic, and it was remarked that in the epidemic of 1849 not a washerwoman was left here ; they were all swept away. 5647. That has been observed almost evervwhere? —Yes. 5648. Have yon been able to ascertain whether it is necessary for cholera excretions to become dry as dust before infection is conveyed in soiled linen, for instance? — Wet and moist will do quite as badly, exposed in the hands of washerwomen, with warm water added to them. 5649. Do you think infection was conveyed iu the washing tub ? — I believe so. 5650. The linen would probably be brought in a dry condition to the washerwomen ? — As a rule, not. As a rule the linen soiled by cholera people is carried direct from the bed and put into a tub. Hei'e, throughout the epidemic, the things were Avashed as quickly as possible for the double purpose -of getting rid of the offensive stuff and using the same clothes again for the same people. 5651. Would they have been boiled iu the first instance ? — The rule was to put them into hot water with soda and to boil them. My direction constantly was to soak them in cold water for 24 hours witii dis- infectants, and to pour off the whole of that water I found, when that was done ethciently, that no evil result happened. 5652. Is it your impression that cholera contagion can be conveyed by exhalations from water either warm or cold ? — Certainly not by any exhalations from cold water, but by the exhalations of hot water certainly. 5653. Do you remember any cases in which you imagined that cholera was conveyed through sewer gases ? — None here. I call your attention to the case of the old rag gatherer, Case 4, at page 53, " An un- " trapped gully at end of court ; also heaps of ashes " steeped with excrement, &c. House, no ventilation." Then in Case 3, " A drain which carries aAvay house " slops from houses above, runs under the house." That is a consequence of the way in which the houses are drained. It is not peculiar to IMerthyr, but in every case where there is higher ground behind a house the drain runs under the house to the front to convey the water away, and those drains as a rule in Merthyr have been formed by a flat brick at the bottom and a side brick on each side, and then the paving stones on which the people live is laid over that, so that any exhalations from the little drain passes through a crack in the paving stones into the house. It runs obliquely of course from one corner to the other. One portion of the house is used as a living room, and the other is the bed-room, and it has been invariably observed that in that bed-room enteric fever occurs, in that bed-room cholera occurs constantly, and in fact wherever enteric fever habitates there cholera has invariably gone, in each of the four epidemics. Wherever these underdrains have been made, in 99 cases out of 100, one is able to say before hand, that a cholera house would be that house which had an Mr, undcrdrain. j''- J- Uyhe, 5654. What was done with the excrementitious F.It.C.S. matters in most cases of cholera attacks? — The rule n Oct 1872 in 1849, and afterwards in 1866, was, by order of the |_ board, to supply to persons any quantity of sulphate of Merthyr Tydfil, lime, Macdougal's powder, and carbonate of lime. — Sulphate of lime was directed to be addcjd, to 1)0 put into the commodes for use, and the carbonate of lime was directed to be put with the water into the tubs where the linen was to be cleansed, cold water being poured in and allowed to soak for 24 hours. 5655. Do you believe that those directions were imivcrsally complied with ? — Yes, or very generally. 5656. After that disinfection, Avere the mattcn's thrown into the privy hole ?— Generally into the gutter in front of the house. 5657. Was it a dry season while this was going on ? — At page 12 of ray report it appears that the rainfall was 17 inches in the quarter before September, 11 inches in September, August 3*82. July very dry, only 2 * 64, and in the previous quarter from April to June it was unusually dry, 8*22. 5658. In throwing these excrementitious matters into the gutters in front of houses do you think that any considerable portions of them might get dried up in the street, and be converted into dust ? — I think it is quite possible. 5659. Would not that be a possible mode of spread- ing disease ? — Certainly. 5660. Did you find it Avas absolutely necessary for people to go into the houses of the cholera patients to get infected, Avere there not cases of people going merely into an infected neighbourhood, and taking the disease? — I Avas not able to trace that ; but through the ener- getic assistance of inspector Howell, he Avas able to trace CA-ery case to communication with the people in an infected house. 5661. I believe it is a fact that in hospitals, where cleanliness is attended to, the nurses in the cholera wards almost invariably escape ? — Yes. 5662. Can you in any Avay reconcile those tAvo facts, that in the eases of dirty dwellings, people going to see the patients are attacked, Avhile nurses in cholera hospitals escape under apparently similar conditions ? — I think it is just the same as taking a dram of spirits, Avhicli might upset a person's stomach con- stantly, Avhereas, if it Avas largely diluted Avith Avater it Avould haA"e a very much smaller effect. A person going into a small unventilated room in AA'hich the exhalations from the cholera patients, their breath as Aveil as their excretions, are, the room being charged Avith all these, would be more liable to take the disease than on entering a hospital that Avas thoroughly ventilated, and in which everything v/as clean. 5663. Do yon consider that the breath of a cholera patient is infectious ? — I must consider it so. 5664. Are you aAA'are that that is not the general opinion ? — No ; I think there are cases Avhich prove it. 5665. I presume that in a house in Avhicli one or tAvo cholera cases have occurred, there Avould almost necessarily be a quantity of dust, which Avould bo impregnated with cholera excretions? — I cannot quite see that. 5666. AVould not those excretions be liable to be stopped on the floor of the room ? — Yes ; they might be occasionally ; but, as a rule, all the motions of the patients are passed either on to the sheets, or on to the bedding, or in a commode of any kind. As a rule, except in the case of children, the exci'ements are not passed on to the floor. I do remember that Avhen youiig children were first attacked Avith diarrhoea, the floors in the houses Avherc they liA'ed, Avcre constantly soiled by them, but the habit here AA"ould be at once to take a sm.all shovel of ashes from under the grate, and throw it on to the excrements, and so remove them. 5667. Your experience appears to have been, that even in severe cases of cholera, Avhere the discharges from the boAvels are very excessive, none of the matter U 3 158 KIVEHS POLLUTION COMMISSION : - OKAL EVIDENCE — PAUT III. Mr. is allowed, or very I'.irely, to escape on to the floor, ^int c's"' ^'^^^^ :i'lults ?— Yes. ■ 5668. I uudorstaiul you to say that in your opinion 17 Oct. 1872 ^^^^ propogation of disease in Mertbyr occurred through the atmosphere, as distinguislied from the mode of Mcrthyr Tydfil, communieation tlirough water? — Certainly. 5669. Except in the case of the washerwoman, and even there the atmosphere intervened ? — Yes ; 1 know of no instance in which cholera during the Epidemic of 1 866 was owing, except in one case stated in the report, to the drinking of water, the reason being that the water supply to Merthyr was obtained from a pure source seven miles from here. 5670. I see that one of the centres from which the disease was spread was near to Tydfil'swell ? — Yes, but that well has been stopped up for a considerable time. 5671. Was it stopped up in 1866 ?— Certainly ; that is a large district containing a large number of people ; 6950. As this is called Merthyr Tydfil, Tydfil's well is the name of a sub-district formed by itself merely for statistical purposes. It is an isolated district, known as the District of Tydfil's well. There was a well there, but it has been loug closed by the order of the Board. 5672. So far as you know, is there any well water used in the town ? — I cannot go the length of saying that there is none, but it is in a very few cases. 5673. Have you been able to close any of these wells ? — That I do not know. 5674. Do you recollect any previous outbreaks of cholera in 1854 for instance ? — I do. 5675. Did you observe anything peculiar in the manifestations of the disease on that occasion as dis- tinguished from the outbreak in 1866 ? — The only difference was, that there was no water supply then. At that time a number of cases came to my knowledge of people having drunk water which had been polluted by excrements. 5676. Was the attack ia 1854 a more severe one than in 1866? — I forget now how that was. At page 62 of my report you will see that in 1849 thei'e were 1,432 deaths out of a population of 44,278. In 1854 there were 424 deaths out of a population of 47,000 ; and in 1866 there were 136 deaths out of a l)opulation of 53,480. 5677. So that, in the first instance, in 1854, one out of 112 died ; and in 1866, one out of 391 ?— Ye%. 5678. The epidemic then became gradually milder ? ■ — Yes. 5679. You say that even |_in 1854 there was no satisfactory water supply to the town ? — There Avas not. 5680. The results you have quoted would seem to disconnect the epidemics very considerably from the water supply to the town — That is my impression. 5681. Are there any other circumstances to which you could attribute the greater severity of the epidemic in 1849, as compared with that of 1866, and that of 1854 as compared with the outbreak of 1866 ? — The most prominent circumstance was this, that between 1849 and 1854 the town was efficiently scavenged ; no scavenging existed before ; no removal of ashes of any kind ; but from 1850, when the local board of health was established, till 1854, the scavenging of the town was efficiently done, and in tliat way a large source of the propagation of cholera, and of enteric fever, was done away with ; the ashes of the town were then removed. 5682. Were uot the ashes of the town removed in 1854 ? — No, they were put in the middle of the street and left there in 1849. 5683. That Avould have given an ample opportunity for the contagious gernas of cholera to become dust dry? — Yes. I would call your particular attention to what occurred in 1849. It appesired then in the mouth of July, which was an intensely dry month, and the disease spread like a fire on the prairie. 5684. In 1854 had not that condition of things been greatly ameliorated ?— Yes. 5685. Was the mitigation in the severity of the attack as great in 1854 as in 1865? — The scavenging was, if possible, better done ; but still, in addition to that, an abundant supply of the purest water was given to the inhabitants. In 1854 it was done eflicieutly. 5686. As efficiently in 1854 as in 1866?— It was not quite so extensively done in that year, certainly. 5687. Would you attribute the difference in the intensity of the three epidemics chiefly to the im- proved system of scavenging ?— Partially to that cause, but chiefly to the abundent supply of water. 5688. The deaths were still reduced ? — The rate of mortality was reduced by the cleanliness of the places surrounding the houses. Then, when in addition to the greatci' cleanliness of the neighbourhood, the people had an abundant supply of water, the snake Avas not only scotched but killed, and in all respects, I believe, as we go on with our improvements, we shall rank with Birmingham, if not be better, after a few years. 5689. { Mr. Morton.) Are we to understand that in 1849 tlu; vvliole of the excrements of the people of Merthyr were thrown into the street along with the ashes ? — In every case in which there were no cesspools. 5690. Chamber slops and everything ? — Yes, urine and washing slops. 5691. I see there is a district of Lower Merthyr called Caedraw ? — Yes. 5692. Is that in a good sanitary condition now ? — It is immensely improved to what it used to be. 5693. Was it formerly one of the worst parts of the town 'i — In 1849 it was the very worst part of the whole district, and the inhabitants suffered fearfully from cholera. 5694. I see that it was rather bad in 1854 ? — Yes. 5695. Was that the district that was so behindhand with regard to scavenging ? — Yes, and for this reason. The river Taff bounds it in one place, and there is a field. On the outside of it the river TafF runs, it is an island, and there is a feeder drawn from the Taff to run through the ironworks all along here {describing on a plan). All the liquid refuse of the lower part of the town, and of Caedraw is dropped along the river side ; it was, indeed, the privy of the whole of the people in that district, and v/as at that time full always of disgusting filth. It has now been nearly all of it enclosed, and built up. Part of it has been sold, and now that nuisance does not exist. Besides which most of the houses in Caedraw have been connected with a sewer, and that sewer was the second one made in Merthyr by one of our early surveyors. 5696. How was Caedraw supplied with water in 1854 ? — From some wells on the opposite side of the river. I may remark, especially Avith reference to that, that there was one well said to be infiltrated by Avater from the canal, Avhich is a little more to the Avest above it. 5697. Is the canal water A-ery dirty Avater — It was stated in evidence by a gentleman, Mr. Shapton, that while children AA-ere Availing to fill their pitchers Avith water, it infected the air all around them. 5698. That Avell, I suppose, was very liable to be polluted ? — Yes. 5799. Can you gnve us any information as to George ToAA'n ? — Yes ; that was also greatly distinguished for fatal cases of cholera, both in 1849 and in 1854. 5700. How Avcre the inhabitants supplied with Avater ? — 1 think it would have been from a AveU, running under a mine tip, but J thiuk it AA^as uot pol- luted. Certainly the drainage in front of the houses Avould naturally account for any spread of the cholera. There are tAvo long rows of houses, and the slops Avould run all the AA'ay doAA'n in front of the houses to the canal, and all those slops Avould run to the drain. My impression is that in 1832 and 1849 it AA'as in this roAV the mischief principally occurred. 5701. Was there cholera in Merthyr in 1832 ? — Yes, in the midst of winter. 5702. Is this a small place ?— It contains 1 7,000 or 18,000. EIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — I'ART III. 159 5703. How mauy deaths occurred at that time from cholera? — I cannot say. I think about 400. That was a very large proportion in 1832. 5704. You have already stated, I think, that you consider the present supply of water to Mcrthyr to be thoroughly satisfactory ? — Yes. 5705. Both in quantity and quality ? — Yes. 5706. Is the supply never short ? — Never. 5707. Is the supply constant to the poorer parts of the town ? — It is. 5708. With regard to the sewerage of the town, do you consider that it is absolutely necessary to its satis- factory sanitary condition to have all the houses con- nected with the sewers as quickly as possible ? — -I do. And I would add that it is absolutely necessary that every closet should have a supply of water to it. I say this especially with regard to diseases, such as enteric fever and cholera. 5709. Do you find that when water closets are attached to the poorer tenements they are abused, and the water wasted ? — If they are attached to a single house, or two or three, there is no abuse of them, but when they are attached to a row of six or eight the more quickly they become stopped and foul. 5710. Are there many such cases in Merthyr ? — Certainly there are a good many. 5711. Do you consider it a satisfactory state of things that a number of people should bo obliged to go to one and the same closet ? — No ; most unsatis- factory. 5712. Would not that practice always have a ten- dency to spread epidemic diseases ? — Certainly it would. I have already pointed that out. 5713. Have you found in your experience that such results are sure to follow ? — Yes. 5714. Are steps likely to be taken to supply the inhabitants with more of these closets ? — Certainly ; I hope so. The efforts of the Board are now being directed to that end. 5715. I suppose the owners of the houses supply this accommodation ? — Yes. 5716. Are they sometimes backward in doing so ? — Yes, fi'equently. 5717. Have you power to supplement what might be considered defective accommodation of that kind ? — Not to supply what might be considered sufficient. It would be a question for the justice, and for him to say what he thought was fit to be done ; not for the board. 5718. Have you any complaiuts to make of the state of the river as it flows through Merthyr ? — None. 5719. You do not attribute any ill health to the polluted state of the water ? — No. 5720. Above Mei-thyr how is the river polluted — By refuse from iron and coal mines, and from street sweepings. 5721. Do you believe that much sewage finds its way into the river ? — Directly, I should think none, but indirectly, from being washed off by the rain, to a considerable extent. 5722. Is it not considered that coal washings and iron work pollutions are not of a character likely to affect the health of the population ? — They are not. 5723. Does the river smell off"ensively in summer •weather ? — I have never noticed it, not for the last 20 years. 5724. Do you knov/ of any injury having been done to health in or al)out the town, arising from polluted water of any kind ? — I do not. 5725. Do you know of any practical injury being done to health from substances in the river channel, owing either to matters which have been tipped in or to the existence of weirs ? — No. 5726. Is there no flooding of houses above those obstructions ? — Yes, at TroedjThicw, a certain amount of flooding takes place. 5727. Is that owing to the natural condition of the channel, or from any artificial interference with it ? • This is my own feeling. The Taff runs north and south. There is a bridge at Tioedyrhiew. and just above that bridge tlievc is a little brook which comes in, that winds backwards and forwards in this way {describing). There are rows of houses along that part, and at this point {describing) there is an engine house. The river is deepened there (describing), and the mill pond which is taken from Meithyr runs into the river again. The effect of the river of course coming down here with this larg(i flow of water is to silt up against that point {describing), and so to dam back to a certain extent th(i water in the ditch. There is a great deal of water that flows down this little brook, and it happens that the houses in the street have been flooded from the water Ijeing dammed back. The surveyor is careful to keep this bar clear. 5728. Is this bar owing to any artificial cause ? — No ; it is only the natural result of the two streams meeting. 5729. Is there no tipping place on this stream ? — No ; it is simply the water that is used in the iron works. • It is largely charged with small coal and detritus, but with nothing else. I am aware that there is a bit of a garden taken in out of the river, and that that throws the river course a little towards this side. I do )iot think it affects this point at all {describing), but it causes a flooding ; the rock crops up just there {describing). 5730. There is no artificial cause at all for this damming back that you know of? — No. 5731. Did you not say that you had not perceived any offensiveness in the river water in the last 20 years ? — Yes. 5732. Has it not been offensive below ? — A.fter the sewage was run into the river the water was certainly offensive to look at, and there were vegetations in it that ought not to have been there. 5733. Were they offensive to the smell in certain conditions of the weather ? — I did not smell them myself, but I was told so. 5734. Do you know of any outbreak of disease in any hamlet or river-side houses, below Merthyr which could be fairly said to be attributable to the offensive condition of the water in the river ? — No, not a single case, and I have all the records and dates which have been collected in the last seven years. 5735. Which are the hamlets below which might be affected in that way ? — One side is Forest, and the other Taff, and Cwm Canol, on the west side of the river, and Forest hamlet is on the east side. They are all in the parish of Merthyr. I think the points I am referring to are distant from Merthyr three miles. I am told that it would extend to seven miles. 5736. When the river was offensive, was there no sickness in either of those localities arising from pol- lutions ? — No, there is no recorded death arising from illness of that kind. 5737. Has the nuisance now entirely ceased ? — Yes. 5738. {3Ir. Overton, through the Chair.) You have stated that the river Avas worse below. Do you mean to say that the water is not just as bad at Troedyrhiew Bridge as after the refuse or the sewage has entered the river ? — There has been a difference since the filtration works have been established. Before ihc present system was introduced, it was owing to the touring out of the sewage into the rivei', before the present works were in operation. 5739. After the water down at Troedj'rhiew where the water has been diverted to supply some works, returns to the river, is it or not less pure than the water we return to the river, after it has passed through the sewage grounds ? — The water in the Taff' between Troedyrhiew Bridge and the point at whicli the sewage outlet used to run in, is polluted by the refuse from the ironworks, which the Avater contains in suspension. That is obtained in its passage through the Avorks, and it is poured out into the river at Troe- dyrhiew Bridge. Therefore, the Avater beloAV the point Avliere it runs in is left more pure than the Avater which Avould come doAvn from the north to that poinl. The effluent scAvage Avater is as nearly pure as man Ciiu make it, except that it is slightly silted. 5740. Then it is far more pure than the water of the Taff' itself ?— Yes. U 4 Mr. T. J. Dyhc, F.n.c.s. 17 Oct. 1872. Merthyr Tydfil. 160 KIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — OKAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. T. J. Dyke, F.R.C.S. 17 Oct. 1872, Mcrthyr Tydfil. 5741. Do you know the Moiiais Brook? — Yes, it is very much infected witli refuse from tlie Dowlais, juid PeiiydiUTcn Ironworks, coal refuse, and mine refuse, and the droppings of animals employed in the Avorks. 5742. Is there merely that organic pollution that you mentioned last in the water? — I have never tested it. 5743. Does it ever smell in the summer time, or in hot weather ? — Not to my knowledge. The stream is rapid, and there is a large amount of Avarm Avater in it. 3744, I presume it is ofiensive to the sight ? — It is dirty and filthy. 5745. Do you consider that it deteriorates the health of the inliabitants of tlie district ? — I have never been able to trace any sickness to it, and I have attended that district professionally for 14 years. 5746. You are not prepared to say that it is pre- judicial to health ? — Certainly not. 5747. I suppose this Avater is rendered useless even for Avashing purposes ? — Quite so. 5748. Was the Avater of Morlais Brook ever in your recollection used for drinking purposes ? — No, I do The Avitness not think it Avas used for that purpose Avhen I was at school there. 5749. Are tliere any cattle grazing on the banks along side of it ? — There are no lields there. 5750. {Mr. Morton.) Are there any details in A our reports to shoAV the increase and density of the poim- lation. At page 64, 1 see that one cholera epidemic killed 1-117 per 1,000 at DoAvlais, 5-88 at Tydfil's Well, the population being 15,000 at Dowlais, and 7,000 at Tydfil's Well. Can you give the areas over Avhich those people lived ? — I cannot. 5751. Is Tydfil's Well more thickly populated than DoAvlais ?— Certain parts of Tydfil's Well and certain parts of DoAvlais are about equally populated, and it is in those thickly peoi)led districts, Avhere the low class of houses are, that the mortality mostly occurred. 5752. Would the rate here given of the deaths per thousand correspond in any Avay Avith the density of the population in this district? — No, it Avas dependent iu my mind upon the particularly objectionable con- dition of the habitations. They Avcre unAcntilaied, dilapidated, and overcroAvded, and the people them- selves Avere of the poorer and least careful class. AvithdrcAv. Mr. Williams. Me. Thomas Williams, Merthyr, examJneu 5753. {Mr. 3'lorton.) Are you clerk to the local board of health of Merthyr ? — Yes. 5754. For hoAV many years have you been so ? — ■ About three. 5755. Has it been during that pei-iod that the toAvn of Merthyr has been forced to take special means lor the defecation of the scAvage ? — No, previously to that. An injunction Avas obtained in September 1868. 5756. At Avhose instance Avas it obtained ? — At the instance of Messrs. Nixon, Taylor, and Corrie, the OAvners of a certain colliery situate bcloAV Troedyr- hicAV, 5757. What Avas llieir complaint? — They com- plained that the Avater of the river Avas fouled by the introduction of sewage into it. 5758. Did they represent the interests of a con- siderable population round here ? — No, they repre- sented in reality only themselves. 5759. Did they not represent any long resident population there ? — No, in fact there is no such population. 5760. Had they any special ground for their com- plaint at that time ; Avas it the fact tiiat the nuisance had increased ?— No doubt it had existed for some- time. I do not knoAV that it had increased at the time that they commenced their i^roceediugs. 5761. Had the scAverage ofthetoAvnbeen A'igorously carried out at that time ? — The seAverage at that time, I believe, was completed. 5762. HoAv many houses were connected Avith the scAvers at that time ? — About 3,500. 5763. What Avas the nature of the application that Avas made to the Court of Chancery ? — The applica- tion Avas for an injunction to restrain us from per- mitting the sewage to enter the river, and also to prevent us from making any further connexions Avith our system of scAvers. 5764. Was the application in ])oth cases assented to ? — It Avas. 5765. HoAV did you manage to prevent the Avater from running doAvnliill ? — That Ave could not do, and that continued for some time. That matter Avas deferred from time to time ; that is to say, the in- junction Avas not actually put in force from the fiict that it Avas impossible to put it in force. Then at a subs(!quent period Mr. Bailey Denton Avas selected by the court to devise some temporary means. 5766. Previously to that time had you taken certain means to defecate the scAvage? — Yes. 5767. What Averc the means that you adopted — They consisted of straining tanks. 5768. Had you not taken land for the purpose ? — Yes. 5769. I mean before the application to the Court of Chancery ? — Yes. {Mr. Overtoil.) It Avas the intention of the board to carry out a system of scAvage irrigation, but Ave found that it Avould require a considerable time to obtain the requisite poAvers, and that delayed us for tAvo years. First of all Ave applied to get the consent of the Secretary of State, and then Ave found that Ave Avere obliged to fight the question over again before a committee of the House- of Commons. 5770. ( To the ivitness.) Was it the injunction of the Court of Chancery Avhich urged you to make an attempt to procure laud } — No ; the scheme, I believe, Avas fully matured before that; it Avas simply the delay, as Mr. Overton has explained. It AA'as necessary first to obtain a provisional order from the Home Secretary, and then it Avas necessojy that that pro- visional order should be confirmed by an Act of Parliament before Ave could acquire the land that Avas necessary. 5771. In the course of this period of delay Messrs. Nixon intervened Avith their application to the court ? — Just so. 5772. Had the plans for the defecation of the seAvagc bj laud been matured previously to Messrs. Nixon's application for an injunction against you ? — I believe so. 5773. At Avhat period did Mr. Bailey Denton come in ? — When the matter Avent before the Lords Justices; thereupon it Avas decided that tlie board should in the meantime adopt some temporaiy scheme in order to mitigate the evil. They did carry out a certain scheme, but that scheme the court Avas not satisfied Avith. Thereupon the court decided that a scheme should be carried out to the satisfaction of some engineer to be appointed by the Court, and Sir. Bailey Denton Avas appointed. 5774. HoAV was the dissatisfaction of the court Avith the scheme that you Avere carrying out, declared ? — Upon the application of Messrs. Nixon, Taylor, and Corrie, they represented that our means Avere not such as to produce the desired effect. 5775. Were they not likely to be such, or Avere they actually failing to do AA'hat Avas required ? — The Avorks Avere simply to mitigate the evil ; they Avere not intended as a means of disposing of the scAA'age effectually, but simply as a temporary expedient. 5776. What area of laud had you taken for the juirpose of cleansing the sewage upon at the time Aviieu the process Avas declai'ed to be a failure ? — We had no land then. 5777. When you had acquired land AA'as Mr. Bailey Denton called in, or directed by the court to interfere, and to provide for tlie reception of the scAvage ? — No; BIVEES POLLUTION COMMISSION :~OKAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 161 it was simply with reference to the limited area of 20 acres for downward intermittent filtration. 5778. Had this land been in any way selected for the reception of the sewage before Mr. Bailey Denton was reqnired to prepare it ? — Not that I am aware of. 5779. Do yon know what steps were taken b}'- Mr. Bailey Denton ? — I cannot describe tlieni, the sm-veyor will tell you ; it was deep under-drainage. 5780. Is the injunction still in force ? — Yes. 5781. Are you prepared now to disregard it, or in what way will you regain your liberty ? — Mr. Bailey Denton has reported to the court that this filtering area is capable of taking an additional quantity of sewage, that is to say, one-third more than that which is already now supplied. I have here a copy of Mr. Bailey Denton's Report [lianding hi the same). 5782. What is the present population draining on to that level ? — I cannot tell you. 5783. What extent of liberty do you suppose that report gives you ? — I do not "think it gives us any liberty at all. 5784. Does not it give you liberty to add one-third of the number of houses now connected with the sewers ? — It does not legally authorize us to do that, that is simply a report to the court, but it does not follow that the court will be governed by it ; we are connecting the houses. 5785. You are connecting the houses, believing that the means you are adopting is an efficient means of defecation, and risking the chance of being blamed for disobeying the orders of the Court ? — Yes. 5786. In the meantime you are making these con- nexions, believing that the complainant will have no chance of success if he applies for the enforcement of the injunction hereafter ? — So long as we do not exceed the terms mentioned in that report, Ave think we are safe ; we are acting upon that report under advice. 5787. What means shall you take for the purpose of dissolving the injunction — Ultimately we must make an application to the court, when our system is complete, to dissolve the injunction. I mean when the original project is complete. 5788. The original project, including a larger area of land ? — Yes. 5789. Y'ou will not apply for a dissolution of the injunction, I suppose, until the whole of the area is prepared for the reception of the sewage ? — No. 5790. Do you not think that the present area pro- perly drained is sufficient to effect the defecation of the sewage of 60 or 70 times 2,000 people ?— That I cannot express an opinion upon. 5791. Is it because you have not confidence in the scheme as at present limited, that you delay your The witness application for tlie dissolution of the injunction ? — Mr. Not at all; we do not think thiit we are justified in 3"- Williams. going before the court to dissolve our iilj unction until we have carried out our sclieme in its entirety. In making these connexions we also act under the advice Jkjerthyr Tydfil of counsel, they suggesting that we should make con- nexions to the extent indicated in Mr. Bailey Denton's report, and allow Messrs. Nixon, Taylor A: f lorrie to go before the court again if they think fit. 5792. You fully intend to carry out the whole scheme ? — Yes, subject to some modification. 5793. {Dr. FranJiland.) Do you intend to utilize the whole of the land that you scheduled in ap])lying for power to take land for this jmrpose ? — Tbat I cannot say. We have not actually acquired the whole of it yet ; whether we shall take the whole or not I cannot say, the board have not quite decided upon it. 5794. You have not taken your conduit, I sup- pose, to the extreme part of the land yet ? — Yes, wc have on the one side of the river, but not on the western side. 5795. On the western side you would have to take the greatest distance, would you not ? — I think so. 5796. What was the scheme that was contemplated before the application for the injunction took place? — The scheme was one of sewage irrigation, 5797. Do you consider that your action was not a little accelerated by the injunction? — To tell you the truth, I think it was. 5798. Do you consider that the filtering areas are working satisfactorily at present ? — Yes, I do. 5799. Are you going immediately to send down about one-third more sewage ? — Yes, about one-third more. 5800. When will that alteration be made ? — I cannot tell you Avhat time it will occupy in making the connexions, but the connexions are being made from day to day, and the quantity is daily increasing. 5801. {Mr. Overton, through the Chair.) I believe Messrs. Nixon,' Taylor and Company are coal pro- prietors ? — Yes. 5802. They do not possess, I believe, any land in the parish at all ? — No, nor are they resident here. 5803. They took some mineral property to work the coal mines ? — Yes. 5804. I believe one of the first things they did after- wards was to try to divide the parish in order to get themselves released from the responsibility of con- tributing to the rates of the town ? — Yes. 5805. And they made an application to that effect to us ?— Yes, they proposed to forego the injunction if they were exempted from rates, and that the board positively refused. withdrew. Mr. Samuel Harpur, ]\ 5806. {Mr. Mortoji.) You are engineer and sur- veyor to the local board of health ? — I am. 5807. How many years have you held that office ? — Nine years. 5808. Referring the replies to queries furnished by the local board of health, it apjiears that the popula- tion of the district is upwards of 50,000 ? — Yes. 5809. Is there a large population outside the limits of the board of health district? — It includes the whole of the parish ; ours is a very large parish, eight miles in length, over three miles in width, and comprising an area of 17,714 acres, or nearly 28 square miles. 5810. What proportion of the area of the local board of health district is built upon? — The area that is built upon is comparatively small, it does not exceed 300 acres. 5811. Is the whole of the district sewered? — Yes, there is a sewer in every street, and it is taken to within 100 feet of every house, except in the case of a few isolated houses on the mountain side. 30928. erthyr Tydfil, examined. 5812. Is that so with regard to all the houses? — Mr. There are 10,000 houses, and it is true of between Harpur. 9,000 and 10,000 of them. • 5813. Are the connexions made by you, or are they carried out by the owners of the houses ? — The Avork is done at the expense of the owners of the houses. 5814. Had you power to insist upon connexions being made ? — Yes. 5815. Has that poAver been taken from you Avith regard to the greater part of them ? — Yes, since 1868, Avhen an injunction Avas obtained in the Court of Chancery to restrain us from continuing to connect the liouses. 5816. Was your scheme for the purpose of connect- ing all the houses Avith the scAvers complete at the time when the injunction Avhich restrnined you was obtained ? — Yes, quite couqilete. 5817. Is the Avhole of the scAverage of the district so connected that the drainage runs out at one exit ? — Not quite so ; there are two outlets, one of them is at the loAver part of Troedyrhiew, Avhich is a small district, lying at too Ioav a level to discharge its drainage with the general flow of the seAvagc, so that X 162 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. a small outlet suffices for the sewage of about 2,000 S. Harpur. inhabitants. 5818. What' becomes of all the sewage? — It runs 17 Oct. 1 872. .jj^^ ^j^g gj^j^g outlet and on to the land, but into a [erthyr Tydfil xc('ption of the contents of the closets. S. Harjmr. 5875. Do you not suppose that the sewage, wluju _^ tlie whole of the connexions are made good, will very ^^'^ materially increase in strength, and that it will not be MerthvrTvdf materially increascid in quantity? — I believe it will be materially increased in strength, if not materially increased in quantity. 5876. What proportion of the personal waste of this unconnected population at present finds its way into the sewers do you suppose ; I mean of the excre- mentitious matters ? — I daresay a third of the ex- crementitious matters of the population not connected directly with the di'ains, gets into the sewers. 5877. If there are 20,000 persons directly connected and 30,000 persons indirectly connected with the sewers, the whole of the filth in sewage may be taken as representing 20,000 persons in the one case, and 10,000 persons in the other ; or in other words the excrementitious matter from 30,000 people ? — Yes. 5878. Do you agree with Mr. Bailey Denton in supposing that the filtration works below Troedyi-hiew are incapable of dealing with more than one third of additional inhabitants ? — I do not agree with that. I do not think that Mr. Bailey Denton puts it as a matter of course, but he merely gives that to keep himself within safe limits. 5879. How much additional waste do you think the whole of that land is capable of defecating ? — I do not think we can suppose that the 20 acres and the 50 acres are capable of taking more than they are taking now. I think that they are sufl[iciently sewaged. 5880. You mean sufficiently in the interest of the crops upon them ? — Yes. 5881. But I mean how much more filth would that land defecate or cleanse ? — If the whole of that land was laid down and treated systematically or deep drained, I think it would be sufficient for the whole of our population. 5882. Of what area of land have you the command below? — About 160 or 170 acres. 5883. Is that area naturally well adapted for the reception of sewage ? — A good deal of it is. 5884. Would it involve great cost to prepare it as a sewage farm ? — Not very great. 5885. How much per acre do you suppose ? — About 20/. per acre. 5886. Is it intended to carry out the whole scheme as originally contemplated by you ? — I cannot say otherwise at present, but the board have not taken the whole of the land that was referenced. 5887. Have they taken the narrow portion on the eastside ? — Yes.^ 5888. {Dr. Frankland.) Can you describe to us the exact mode in which these intermittent filters are worked on the 20 acres ? — Yes. The 20 acres are divided into four 5-acre divisions, and five acres receive the sewage for six hours every day, so that in 24 hours the 20 acres receive the 24 hours' sewage, or as much of the 24 hours sewage as they have to dispose ofj that we cannot use profitably on the irrigation land. 5889. Then I presume you require to keep one man at least upon the spot all night ? — Not all night, he leaves at 10 o'clock at night and goes again at 4 in the morning. 5890. Is that shifting regularly and constantly done ? — Yes. , 5891. Did you notice when the whole of the sewage was being passed on to the 20 acres, any tendency for the land to choke up ? — No. 5892. Did it always remain sufficiently open and porous ? — Yes, it requires attention and digging to prevent the scum of the sewage forming on the surface, there is a scum of about an eighth of an inch in thickness, nothing further, not to choke the land underneath it. Unless the sewage itself were pre- viously quite clarified, there would be a tendency to form a scum. We do not clarify our sewage, we only strain it. If there were precipitants used, or chemi« X8 KIVEES POLLUTION COMMISSIOK : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. cals applied, so that it passed off clarified, there Avould S. Harpur. be no tendency to scumming. 5893. Do you think that the eighth of an inch 17 Oct. 1872. then entirely absent ? — Yes. A th tT dfil 5894. Is it the fact that the sewage which runs on ' to these filters is very turbid ? — Yes, a large pro- portion of solid matter is removed, what remains in is in suspension, but that might be taken down by pi'e- cipitants and chemicals, not simply by a straining process. 5895. Might it not. he taken down by lime if you had subsidence tanks for the sewage to rest upon ? — Yes, probably a good deal of it. 5896. Have you ever known perfectly clarified sewage to be filtered upon that principle ? — Never. 5897. Does the sewage stagnate for any length of time in these gutters ? — No. 5898. How long may it be from the time of running on until it disappears beneath the surface of the ground ? — It never remains in sight for more than an hour after the sewage is cut oif. The channels through which the sewage flows to the different carriers are swept out every six hours. 5899. What is your opinion as to the action of the filters, supposing the sewage to be allowed to run on just as it came without being strained ? — I think in that case there would be a very considerable accumu- lation of solid matter on the surface, all that which was taken out from the straining tanks would remain on the surface and become a nuisance. 5,900. Of what does the material consist that you take out of the tanks ? — Fseces, garbage, and vegetable matter, paper, and things of that kind, in fact all the ordinary solid sewage of a town. 5901. Is there much road grit in it? — A little, not much. Our sewer is three miles from the outlet, and it has to pass through a syphon on the way, which intercepts a good deal of it, and we take it out there. 5902. Is that much trouble to you ? — No, very little. 5903. You say that about one-half of the sewage is now used upon 50 acres ? — Yes. 5904. The remaining half being clarified and cleansed on the 20 acres ? — Yes. 5905. Could you obtain a sample of the effluent water from the 50 acres ? — No, it all goes into the same effluent stream. The 20 acres are situated in tlio middle of the 50, and the irrigated land lying out- side it all converges to one point, so that you cannot separate the effluent water of the irrigated land from the other. 5906. There is no separate drain ? — I think not. 5907. Can you give us the. cost of the land and the laying out of the 20 acres ? — The cost was about 105/. an acre, and the cost of forming the carriers, deep draining, forming the surface, and everything on the 20 acres, was something over 4,000/., including Mr. Bailey Denton's charges ; but I will furnish you with the full particulars. 5908. Would that sum include everything except the purchase of the land ?— Yes. 5909. If you had to do this again at your leisure could you do it at a lower cost ? — Yes, I could do it for half the money. 5910. That is your estimate, half the money ? — Yes. I may state that the whole of the work carried out under Mr. Bailey Denton was done, as he said, tentatively, that is to say, when he began he did not know what the end of it would be. 1 am confid<»nt that he began with the view of using the laud under your suggestion simply as a great filter bed, without any cultivation whatever. It ended by forming the land into plots for cultivation. The Avhole of the work was done by day work, and therefore it was not done so cheaply as if it had been done by contract. A great deal of the work was done twice and some of it three times over. It. was set out and re-set out, and altered backwards and forwards, until it assumed its present shape, and that is why I say that it could be done for half the money. 5911. Such filters had not in fact been previously constructed ? — Not anywhere ; the idea was perfectly new. 5912. You have said that you thought the 20 acres would not cleanse much more than the quantity you put upon it as a maximum ; on what grounds do you say that ? — I say that under the present arrangement it might be so, because if we put much more on than we are now using, we should damage the vegetation instead of improving it. 5913. But suppose you decided upon sacrificing the vegetation what would your opinion then be ? — Then I think that Ave might cleanse the whole of the sewage of the town. 5914. I think you have stated that you had not noticed any sign of the land being overdosed ? — No, not so far as the cleansing is concerned. I have had trial holes dug practically to ascertain if there were any traces of sewage getting into the land without injuring the soil, but we cannot find any such traces. 5915. What is the natural colour of the soil at the place you are referring to ? — Brown, or a dirty red. 5916. Do you find anywhere at a considerable dis- tance from the surface any tendency to turn black — None. 5917. The original colour is preserved ? — Yes. 5918. Have you ever on any occasion observed that the effluent water from this land appeared to be im- perfectly cleansed ? — Only on one occasion, when the sewage had broken thi-ough into a drain, but that was an exceptional case. 59 1 9. Was that owing to accident or to some mis- construction of the drain ? — It was owing to accident, and from the fact that the drains were constructed at a time of a very severe frost. They were filled up with frosty earth, and it was a very long time before they were cleared — months and months. 5920. Are you aware whether fish live in the stream ? — Little fish do. 5921. Have you seen any trout in it ? — No. 5922. Are there any trout in the neighbouring TafF? — Very few indeed. 5923. Have you ever tried the experiment of putting trout into it ? — No. 5924. {Mr. James, through the Chair). Is not the surfiice of the 20 acres covered with black stuff" like manure ? — I have just explained that there is a ten- dency to form a slight scum on the surface. 5925. I^ it not two or three inches thick in some places ? — No. 5926. Not in the furrow where the water runs up ? — No. There might be a spot just at the exit of the water as it drains out of tlie channel, where there would be a little more than the eighth of an inch ; but I have never seen it unless it was at the spot where the stuff had been gathered and laid. 5927. (^Dr. Fraiiklaiid). With regard to the scum, does that rise to the top of the sewage itself,' or is it left on the land as the sewage sinks through ? — It is left on the land as the sewage sinks through, 5928. Have you endeavoured to ascertain whether it is possible to filter all the suspended matter from the sewage by any kind of sand filter before it goes over these intermittent filters ? — No. 5929. What is your opinion as an engineer as to the possibility of doing that? — I think it is quite possible to do it, but the area for the purpose must be very large, or it would soon choke up, and you would have to scoop off the scum that would settle there. 5930. How often do jow think that would require to be done ? — That would depend entirely upon the area of the filter beds. With a limited area it would require to be done every two or three days. 5931. Suppose, for exauqjle, you filtered at the same rate that w'ater companies do ? — I may say that w-e have four excellent filters in connexion w'ith our water works here, and we filter all the water. If we had the same area of filter beds for the sewage, for the flow of the sewage is almost equal to the flow of the water, I have no doubt that we should have to scoop the filter beds every second day. RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— ORAL F.VIDENCK— PART III. 165 5932. "Would that be a costly opei'ation ?— Yes. 5933. What should you say would bo the cost of filtering a million gallons of sewage in that way ?— The cost would probably be 15s. per million gallons. 5934. What is the cost of filtering a million gallons of water ? — Not more than 2s. 5935. What is the cost of liming a million gallons of sewage ? As we lime it now, the cost is very little, about' 05. a day per million gallons. 5936. Then there would be the cost of cleansing your straining tanks ? — Yes. 5937. Would that be included in the 5s. ? — No. 5938. AVliat should you say was the total cost of treating a million gallons of sewage as you treat it now ? — About 15s. as it is. 5939. Nearly as much as the filtration ?— Yes ; but then the cost of the filter beds would be very much greater. 5940. Have you taken into consideration that each time you scooped the filter beds, you would take oif a stratum of a quarter of an inch of sand ?— No, I have not, but we should certainly require to renew the sand more frequently. We could not wash that sand and replace it as we can the sand at the water- works. 5941. What would it cost you per cubic yard to provide that sand ?— The cost at Troedyrhiew would be about 8s. 5942. How often do you clean the filters out ? — Every week. 5943. What quantity do you get out? — About 10 tons. _ , 5944. Are you acquainted with General Scott s mode of treatment ? — I have only read of it. 5945. Have you been called in to advise the Aversychan local board?— Yes, their sewage now runs into the river Avon Llwyd, one of the rivers you had under your consideration at Newport near the head of the river. 5946. Does it run into the river at present in an entirely untreated condition ?— Entirely so. 5947. Have you made any recommendation to the local board ? — Yes, I recommended the local board to take 100 acres of land below Pontypool Road Station, near the racecourse, and there apply the sewage for the purpose of irrigation and utilization. 5948. Would that be irrigation proper, wet irriga- tion, or would there also be intermittent filtration ? — I have merely suggested v/et irrigation for 10,000 in- habitants over 100 acres. 5949. {Mr. Morton.) How far are these sewage filtration grounds from any dwellings ? — 300 yards. 5950. Is any complaint ever made to you of any nuisance ? — None whatever. 5951. Does it make no difference whether the wind sets up or down the valley ? — I have heard no com- plaints. 5952. Have you observed any nuisance in the neighbourhood of the grounds or upon them by smell ? The only nuisance 1 have observed is from decaying vegetables and the application of- solid sewage, then there is a little smell, about as much as there is from spreading farmyard manure, nothing more. 5953. You mean the stuff that is taken out of tanks and mixed with ashes ? — Yes. 5954. The whole of the water of the town is equally divided so far as the four plots are concerned, is it not ?— Yes. 5955. Looking at the manner in which each quarter is treated, is it not the fact that some portions of that area deal with very much larger quantities of the sewage than others ? — Yes. 5956. Do you imagine that every square yard receives its aliquot part ? — I believe that every five acres have their equal share, but I do not say that every square yard of the five acres has its equal share. 5957. Take the case of one of the furrows from end to end, and suppose it to be 20 yards long, do not the first five yards receive more than the last five yards ? —They do, a great deal more, because they absorb the sewage before it can pass forward. 5958. The portions next to the carrier receive and act upon very much more than their fair share of the liquid applied to the whole plot ? — Yes. 5959. Have you formed any opinion as to the pro- portions between the quantity received by the first five yards as compared with the quantity rciceived by any other five yards in passing to the end of one of these furrows ? — I have not formed an opinion, but 1 think you may assume that the first liall' of the plot takes twice as much as the latter hall'. 5960. Do not two or three hours elapse before the liquid arrives at the further end ? — Yes. 5961. Therefore during those two or three hours the front of tlie bed receives all the sewage, and during the remainder of the time it gets its share in addition to what passes over it wit li the rest ? — Yes, the lower half will take more than its proportion. 5962. Notwithstanding this uneveiiness in the dis- tribution, no nuisance you say has ever arisen except in one accidental case ?— No. 5963. No spoiling of the effluent water has been observed, notwithstanding this unevenness of distri- bution ? — No. 5964. Suppose the whole area received as much as the maximum upon any one part of it, Avould it be correct to say that the effluent water would not be offensive ? — As far as I could judge it would, but that can only be answered by actual experience. 5965. Supposing that the whole area of land did receive the maximum that any one portion does receive, how much additional sewage would be received by it, three or four times as much ? — At least double the quantity. 5966. {Dr. Franhhmd.) Is there anything of im- portance draining into your sewers besides actual sewage ? — There is very little underground water. 5967. I mean surface impurity besides sewage, are there any slaughter-houses ? — Yes. 5968. Do they drain into the sewers ? — Yes, tiiey are the ordinary slaughter-houses of the population. 5969. Are blood and garbage washed into the sewers ? — With the exception of what is retained by the .slaughterers themselves, and they retain a certain quantity for their own purposes, the rest is all washeil into the sewers. 5970. Does that tend to clog up any part of your system ? — No. Anything of a nature that would clog up the system is arrested by the strainers ; garbagt^ and clotted blood we do arrest. 5971. (yl/r. 3Iorton.) Have you seen any sign of injury to the plants from the excessive quantity of water put upon that area? — Only in a very few isolated instances, where the ridge has by some means got down too low, and where the vegetation of the plant has come in contact with the sewage ; then there has been injury done. 5972. As a rule, is the crop a large one ? — The crop in these cairiers is generally most luxuriant. 5973. {Dr. Frankland.) Does that seem to indicate that a little more would do it good ? — My opinion is that you cannot apply too much, if you give it in a proper form, so as to keep it to the roots, and not let it get into the vegetation, the leaves, and drain it away, and not leave it to stagnate there. 5974. In the back part of the plot, I take it, there would be more liability to stagnation than in the front part of the plot ? — Yes, of course the land is not all equal in its character ? some of the beds are a little more tenacious than others, and not so porous as others ; in that case the water gets forward and stag- nates slightly at the lower end of the plot for an hour or two. 5275. Is there none of this land that contains any appreciable quantity of clay ? — No ; some of it con- tains iron, and that we find to be injurious to the plants, they do not flourish in it as they do in the other kind of land. 5976. Are you aware or not whether iron helps to purify the sewage at all ? — I cannot tell whether it X 3 Mr. S. Harpur. 17 Oct. 1872. MortliyrTydfil. 166 RIVKES POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE PART Mr. S. Harpur. 17 Oct. 1872. Merthyr Tydfil naturally, I think, it would have that -Yes, they does or not tendency. 5977. You find it deleterious to plants ?- are stunted, and do not grow so luxuriantly. 5978. Have you applied any tests as to the black- ness in the land at the end of the furrows nearest to the carriers ?— In the middle of the plot I have not tested it, that portion nearest to the carriers that would receive most sewage. 5979. {Mr. Morton.) Is there a ready demand for the vegetables that you grow upon the land ?— Yes. Last year there was a very strong prejudice against them, but that prejudice, I am glad to say, has entirely gone, and there is a very considerable demand, espe- cially for cabbages ; the larger portion of the area is planted with cabbages. • 5980. {Dr. Frcmklcmd.) How far is the place where you have been recommending irrigation from Merthyr Tydfil ?— 26 miles. 5981. {Mr. Morton.) Is there any reason to com- plain of the condition of the water that -comes down from Dowlais, the Morlais Brook ?— I do not hear of any complaint ; the water is certainly very much discoloured. 5982. But not filthy It is filthy to the eye, but not perceptible to the smell. 5983. What_ are the industries above Merthyr ? — Collieries and ironworks. 5984. Ai-e there any coal washings.? — I never heard of them. 5985. Does the water from the coal washing on the hills pass down this valley ?— It does not belong to this part of the valley ; it is down at Quaker's Yard. 5986. {Dr. Franklcmd.) Does the stream smell offensively ?— I have not observed it. 5987. Do you observe any silting up in the brook that occasions inconvenience ? — No. There is a very rapid fall between the point where it joins the Morlais Brook and Dowlais ; there is a fall of 200 feet in two miles. 5988. At the time when we took our sample, on the 19th June 1871, was the water in its normal condi- tion ? — Yes. 5989. Are you acquainted with the water supply to Merthyr ? — Yes, I am manager of the waterworks and resident engineer. 5990. How far is your gathering ground from Merthyr ? — Eight miles. 5991. Do you derive the whole of your supply from surfaced drainage ? — Yes. 5992. Are there no springs ? — There are some springs on the gathering ground ; there is a stream and small spi'ings. 5993. What is the nature of the surface — It is red sandstone, right to the surface ; there is a coating of grass. 5994. Is the ground used for grazing ? — Yes, by sheep and mountain ponies. 5995. Is it essentially mountain land ? — Yes. 5996. Is any manure put upon it ?— No manure, except in connection with three or four little farm- steads, but very little, and that is only the manure which they produce on their own farms. 5997. Are there any drains from those farmsteads into your brook ? — I think not. 5998. Could you, if you please, prevent them from di'aming into the brook ?— Yes, we have power to prevent the pollution of the stream, but the drainage is so insignificant that it is hardly worth while inter- fering Avith them. 5999. Are you speaking of drainage from the land or from the farmyards ?— I mean the whole of the drainage. 6000. {3Ir. Morton.) Is there any sheep-washing in the district No, wo have interfered and prevented that. There was a system of sheep- washing in various places on this river, but lately the board of health have agreed to make a certain' allowance to them for taking the sheep below the reservoir. 6001. {Dr. Frankland.) How many days' storage have you in your reservoirs In the large reservoir we have storage for more than 12 months. 6002. Have you some other reservoirs besides the large one ?— We have a service reservoir at Merthyr. 6003. What will it hold ?— About 2,000,000 gallons. We are usmg about 1,000,000 gallons a day ; that large reservoir will hold 400,000,000 gallons, and that IS more than a year's storage. 6004. {Mr. Morton.) Is it a natural lake to any extent ?— It is ahaost a lake ; the land is naturally formed very suitably for making a lake. 6006. {Dr. Frankland.) Do you filter the water? — Yes, entirely; none is dehvered without being filtered. 6006. Is the water invariably clear and transparent ? —It is clear and transparent, but at the same time, after heavy rains, there is a slight discoloration. 6007. That is from matter in solution ? — Yes. 6008. {Mr. Morton:) Is the grass up there'green or brown ?— Brown ; there is a large quantity of ferns. 6009. {Dr. Frankland.) Are your mains coated with asphalte in the interior ? 6010. Do they become at times a little rustv Yes. ^ ' 6011. Is that liable occasionally to make the water look turbid ?— I do not think it is , we never have the water turbid ; it is never discolored, excepting after heavy rains. 6012. The discoloration I presume is due to peaty matter ? — Yes, on the gathering ground. 6013. Is it a very peaty district ?— There are many peat bogs there. . 6014. Do the springs ooze out from the peat bogs ? —Yes ; there is a fall of 20 feet to the mile in°the main pipe. _ 6015. It is stated in the return that there are no cisterns, except in a very few cases ; perhaps 12 ? That is, cisterns for house supply. 6016. What is your mode of supplying water- closets ? — By small cisterns. 6017. Have you any closets directly connected with the main without an intervening cistern ? Not with- out something, a stop-cock ; there is no direct com- munication. 6018. Have you met with any cases in which the pipe delivering the water in the pan of the closet is in dii ect communication with the main, except that it is shut oft" by a stop-cock or valve .'—There are very few instances of that kind. 6019. You would not, I presume, consider that a desirable state of things ? — No, we are now gettino- them altered. ° 6020. Have you ever known a case where the excrementitious matter has been sucked into the pipes ? — No, that could not happen, because it would not be connected with the main, and even in the few instances to which I referred there are not more than half-a-dozen in the whole place. The pipe is con- nected with the top of the pan, with the rim of the pan, and it would be possible, supposing the pipe was left open, and the water drawn out of the mains, for a little foul air to get in. 6021. Might not this happen, suppose, for exam- ple, the pan was out of order, and it was full of foul water, and then you emptied the main, and somebody came and turned the tap to let on the water 1— Yes. 6022. Such an arrangement would also have a tenden(;y to waste the water Of course ; we find the little pipes themselves very troublesome and very expensive, especially in frosty weather, when they are apt to burst, but there are not more than half-a-dozen of them. 6023. Have you ever had occasion to shut off the water in a dry season for a portion of the day ? — Never, excepting now and then, for a portion of the night ; we have occiisionally in a very dry season shut it off from 1 1 at night till 5 in the morning. 6024. Does that cause much iucouvenieuce ? — No. KIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 167 6025. For domestic purposes how much water do you supply per head ? — About 20 gallons ; that is, four gallons for trade purposes, and 16 gallons for domestic purposes. 6026. Woidd you call this a Avatercloset town ? — Scarcely so. It is a town that will be thoroughly drained and closets provided, but it is not strictly a watercloset town. 6027. How will they be worked ? — By water being carried and poured down the closets, the water will not be laid on in every instance. 6028. That I presume is a precaution against yfa,ste ? — Yes, and it is a precaution that we can put in practice in Merthyr better than it can be put in practice in many other places, as we have a very great fall between the closets and the sewers. Between the outlet ot the sewers and the upper end of the district there is a fall of 700 feet, and we can generally com- mand a very considerable fall between the closets and the sewersj so that anything that passes through the trap of the pan is necessarily carried forward into the sewer. 6029. Do you take any further precautions against waste ? — Only by inspection. We employ three turn- cocks, whom we regard as water inspectors, and three inspectors of nuisances for Merthyr and for Dowlais, and lodging-house inspectors, and they are all required to do as much as they can to prevent waste. 6030. The quantity of water actually used for domestic purposes appears to be smaller than is used in many other towns ; for example in Norwich for domestic purposes it is -50 gallons per head, how do you account for the ditference ? — Because our waste is very much less than theirs, but I cannot conceive how it is possible for 50 gallons per head to be fairly used in Norwich. In other places an abundant supply of water is given, but not more than 12 gallons per head for domestic purposes. 6031. Have you used any of those contrivances which are called waste preventers ? — No. 6032. The supply is unlimited?— Yes, and there is a good deal of waste notwithstanding all our care. 6033. Do you consider that a certain amount of waste is of any use in clearing out the sewers ? — No, not in our case as we have small sewers, and such an abundant fall that they rapidly clear themselves ; they require very much less water than sewers generally. 6034. I suppose tliat in any case the ainoiint of water wasted in that way from a great number of taps, would be more usefully employed by being sent in a large body down the sewers ? — Decidedly. 6035. Is the water liked by the inhabitants? — Yes. 6036. {Mr. Morton.) Are any of the privies inside the houses ? — No, they are all outside. 6037. When water is supplied to all of them, for I imagine that the greater number are still unconnected with your sewers, do you anticipate a much larger use of water in the town ? — Not unless we apply a water apparatus to each closet. If the board insist upon laying on water, and connecting water pipes with a little cistern in connection with each closet, 1 anticipate that our water supply will be insufficient for the pur- pose. I should dread the idea of connecting every closet, and I should say that the 50 gallons per head consumed at Norwich are consumed chiefly by the waterclosets. 6038. Does not that large consumption imply great carelessness in the inspection of the fittings ? — Yes, and in the character of the fittings, for if they had double valve closets in good order, there would not be much waste. In the case of a single valve closet, they may pull down the handle and hang a little weight to it, and it will run all day, and never cease running, 6039. I suppose if the closets were directly con- nected with the main, there would be still more danger ? — Yes. 6040. What is the pressure upon the fittings in the upper part of the town ? — It varies very much. Our pressure is about 100 lbs. to the square inch, in other parts it is upwards of 200 lbs., and a little above us above 100 lbs., we regulate the pressure by regulating the valve. Our district being so very uneven, we supply from four different pressures. One part of the district we supply direct from the filter beds. We supply Dowlais by piunping, and we supply Merthyr from the pressure of the Penydarren gauge. We supply Troedyrhiew from another pressure ; we insert, in the line of main to Troedyrhiew another regulating valve which takes over the pressure ; the average pressure is about 200 lbs. 6041. What quantity of water in your judgment should be properly used in a closet each time ? — I think six quarts would be plenty. Mr. iS. Harpur, 17 Oct. 1872. Merthyr Tydfil. The witness withdrew. Mr. James Newberry, 6042. {Mr. Morton.) I believe you have some state- ment to make as to the level of the water at Troedyr- liiew ? Yes, I and my friends attend here as a small deputation appointed by the inhabitants of Troedyr- hiew to wait upon you for the purpose of laying before you the state of the river at Troedyrhiew, and to point out the various encroachments which have been made upon the river, which cause it to overflow its bank and inundate the weir. The encroachment to which I refer has caused the river to silt up its bed to such an extent that we are now liable to be inundated at every flood. 6043. Is there no bare rock in the channel near you ? — Yes, there is bare rock on one side. 6044. Is that below you ? — It is under the bridge, and on that bare rock encroachments have been recently made, the object being as we suppose to improve the gardens which have been abruptly thrown out into the river on the western side of it. I believe it is 12 years ago since those gardens were com- menced ; there has been a plan of carrying those o-ardens into the river until they are now 40 feet wide, and they take off fully half the original breadth of the river. 6045. Does not a flood sometimes come down ? — This has been done so systematically that a flood never would remove it. First of all there was a layer of stone, and then a layer of earth, and so on, and willows are allowed to grow for 12 mouths or Troedyrhiew, examined, two years, and they are laid down, and then they put earth and stones on the top of them again. Such has been the system of forming these gardens that they have sprung up as I may say, out of the river, and they are so high that the water will never come over them, and nothing will ever be able to move them, it is now one solid mass of roots, 6046, Do you know where the original bank of the river stood ? — There are gentlemen living in the neighbovu'hood who know where it stood, 6047. Do you know it yourself? — No. 6018. Are you able to say to what extent these gardens have been projected into the river bed ? — -I can say that since I have been in Troedyrhiew, about 12 years, they have been projected about 40 feet, and there was a flight of steps there which went down to the water out of the original garden before I came to Troedyrhiew, by which means they fetched water for the purpose of watering tlie vegetables. That flight of steps I believe is there now, but it is all covered up outside, and there are about 40 feet encroached upon, as I may say, in the bed of the river. 6049. Has this projection any eflijct upon the height of the water level ? — Yes, a great eftect. On the eastern side of the river tliere has been an en- croachment thrown out, so that the encroachment on the western side should not cause the river to drive away the bank on the opposite side. Therefore for self-protection, they have been oljUged to make an X 4 Mr. J. Newberry. 168 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE PART III. Mr. J. Newberry. 17 Oct. 1872. Merthyr Tydfil. encroachment on the other side, to throw the flow of the water back again to those gardens. The conse- quence of all this is, tliat they have narrowed tlie bed of the river so nmcli tliat the water rises more than twice (lie height it ought to rise in flood time, and in consequence of rising so high, it forms a sort of bay, and it bays the water back. Then everything that is heavier than the water drops to the bottom, and that has Jiad the effect of silting up the bed of the river for upwards of 200 yards. 6050. Uo you now suffer more from floods than you used to do — Yes. Within the last 12 months we have not had very heavy floods, but about six weeks ago we had merely an ordinary flood, and it was then within half an inch of coming into my house, which stands in the very centre of the village. I believe that the floor of my house is from six to eight inches above the road, and the flood was within half an inch of coming in one Sunday morning. I have had the water flowing over the grids of my house, and I have been walking about the house up to my knees in water. Since all this began the house has settled, such is the nature uf the soil, and the wooden floors are rotting to a great degree ; there is no ventilation under these wooden floors, and the consequence is that in a very short time for want of ventilation, they will all rot away. 6051. Is Troedyrhiew sewered ? — There is a sewer that goes through Troedyrhiew. 6052. As I understand you, the ground may be soaked with water and yet the sewer would not take the subsoil water away ? — It is not allowed to go into it. 6053. Do you know of any other cause besides the the encroachments on the river bed close by you, which tend to increase the height of a flood ? — I know of no other cause, the river now rises to a certain height and backs into the streets of Troedyrhiew, and it will get worse and worse, until we have the river running right through the place, the whole of the flat part of Traedyrhiew is one sea of water. 6054. Is there a great fall of water near to these encroachments in the case of a flood ? — It is nearly flat. 6055. If the encroachments cause the water to rise to an unnatural level immediately below them there must be a fall if the encroachments act like a weir ? — It is just in the immediate neighbourhood of the encroachments just where it is made so narrow that the water has hoUoAved out for itself a bed, and stuff has been carried down below and deposited a little lower down. What we complain of is the narrowness of the river at that very spot. The witness 6056. Is the level of the flood as high below the encroachment as it is above it ?— No, it is not. 6057. If those encroachments were removed, the water would fall, would it not, immediately above them ?— Yes, there Avould then be a greater expanse for the water, and the consequence would be that it would never rise so high. 6058. To whom does the land belong on either side of the gardens.?— It has been abandoned by the origmal landlord on one side at all events, but certain persons who have leased the ground have thought proper to add a little to the ground by their encroach- ments on the river, and have made nice gardens where they had no business to be. 6059. Is there no sewerage in Troedyrhiew, except the main sewer which comes from Merthyr and passes through ? — I know of none. 6060. How are the excrements disposed of at Troedyrhiew ? — Some of them go into the main sewer from Merthyr, and the others go into cesspools. I believe that the sewage from nearly the whole of the flat part of Troedyrhiew goes into cesspools. 6061. Are the cesspools sunk in porous soil ? — The cesspools are sunk to a depth, 1 think of nearly three feet, and then in a bed of clay three feet more. 6062. Does the hquid portion soak away ?- not think it does. 6063. Where does the overflow go to ? — It not overflow, it percolates through the ground. ^..^ other portion is moved occasionally to manure the gardens, I think. 6064. From whence does the water supply for Troedyrhiew come ? — There is nothing more than washing water there that I knoAv of. 6065. Where do the inhabitants obtain drinking water and water for cooking They get it from the water supply ; we have the Merthyr supply. 6066. Are there no wells used at Troedyrhiew ? I do not think that there are any wells used now; we have a very abundant supply of very good water from the Merthyr Company, and the wells are not required. 6067. Do you attribute any ill health to the un- drained condition of Troedyrhiew ? — I do. I do not think you will find a house in the flat part of Troedyrhiew without there being persons suflTering from rheumatism ; even children are afflicted with rheumatism. 6068. {3Ir. Ilarpur.) I beg to state that there is a sewer laid through every street within 100 feet of every house in Troedyrhiew. withdrew. -I do does The Mr. George Overton, Mr. 6069. {Dr. Frankland.) Are you chairman of the Overton. Pontypridd ironworks ? — Yes. 6070. You wish, I believe, to give some explana- tion ? — Yes. At the place which has been just re- ferred to there Avas an old stone bridge over the Taft', and the board of health removed that bridge. Close to the bridge on one side there was an engine-house belonging to the canal company, for pumping water to the canal. On the opposite side there is property belonging to my family. Tjiey took down this engine- house, re-erected it and altered it, and put up a larger and more powerful engine. They then took a supply of water a little above the bridge, 20 yards higher than before, and what has been stated is that when they cleared out this, they threw the rubbish below. There is a gentleman there who is the leaseholder, and they have gardens there, and he directly took advantage of getting all the stufl" that he could, and he has embanked the place, and has extended his gardens into the river, a distance of 45 feet ; the con- sequence was that he reduced the passage for the water very considerably, but he has made a very splendid embankment of it, and it now defies all the storms. The parties on the opposite side very uatu- Pontypridd, examined. rally were obliged in self-defence to put up the same kind of embankment on their side, and no doubt the inhabitants on the other side began to put down some large stones to defend themselves. The consequence is that, between Scylla on the one side and Charybdis on the other, there is no doubt that the water is pounded back. This is a very flat jMace, and for half a mile there is only a fall of six feet. 6071. If these encroachments on the river banks were removed, by how much do you think a flood would be reduced in height ? — I think it would secure them ; there are about 200 houses, which I must say are. liable to be flooded. 6072. Would the level of the flood be reduced to the extent of two feet ? — Yes, if those encroachments Avere removed away, I believe they would not be flooded at all. The people have applied to the board about it, and I have always told them that I did not think we could interfere, for we have always thought here that Ave had no authority. It is not a sanitary matter, althotigh it may directly aflect the health of the inhabitants there. 6073. Are you acquainted ydth. the course of the Taft' below them ? — Yes. RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— ORAL EVIDENCE— TART III. 6074. Do you know any instance of any encroach- ments of similar magnituile arising from the growth of tips on the river side ? — I cannot recall to my re- collection a single mine work until you get to Mi-. Booker's near to Cardiff; those places follow gene- rally from the working of mines. When yon get to Troedyrhiew there arc no pits ; there is a single one which is now in progress, and they have gone down several feet, but there is not a single pit or mine in Mr. actual operation l:.elow Troedyrhiew. The ironwork.s G. Over ton. tip into these brooks in all directions, but there is ^^^^ nothing from any coal works of any importance. 6075. Is there any tip from the ironwork which M^TtliyrTvdfil. encroaches on the nuiiu river Taff? — I believe you " will find that th<7 ;dl do more or less. The witness withdrew. Mr. Thomas Lewis. 6076. {Dr. Frankland.) What is it that you wish to communicate to the Commissioners ? — I have been acquainted with the river Tatf for 40 years, and the complaint I have to make is against the state of different parts of the rivers, especially the Rhondda, and as to the tips and the refuse that come into the river from collieries and the refuse from coke ovens. I think that is worse than the refuse from pits. I have seen them tipping it into the river, and then the steam was coming up when it was quite warm. 6077. When they were quenching ' the coke ? — Yes. 6078. Do they wash the coal ? — No. 6079. Is not that a very polluting operation ? — I know that it has an effect on the fishing. I have fished in the Rhondda many times, but I cannot get any trout there now. There is another tributary, and there is a large colliery at the top of it, but they do not tip into the river refuse at all, and you will find splendid trout in that river. 6080. In the Rhondda you can find no fish, and on that river there are tips from coal works ? — Yes. 6081. Is any water pumped out of the coal works into the river "? — Yes, above. 6082. Is that ochry water ? — It might be so. I think it is. 6083. I understand you to say that you think the quenching of the coke does the fish most damage ?— I really think so. 6084. Is there any refuse from coke ovens that is put into the river ? — Yes ; above Pontypridd ; 2\ miles from Pontypridd. Merthyr, examined. 6085. Do you complain of that, or of tlie (pieneli- ing of the coke? — Yes, from the different tips through the valley. 6086. Do you know how much refuse there would be from a ton of coke ?— I cannot tell you exactly, but there might be one-fifth of small ashes. 6087. About 4 cwt. of waste from a ton ? — Not so much as that, but there is a good deal. 6088. Have you never endeavoured to ascertain the exact quantity ? — No. 6089. Is all this refuse washed down the rivers ? — Yes, 6090. Do you consider that it poisons the fish or injures the spawning grounds ? — I consider so, from the time that I have seen it in that way. Trout Avere at one time to be got there, but none are to be got there now. There is another Avater that comes into the Taft' from Quaker s Yard, from another colliery, and that also injures the fishing a great deal, comiug from the black land, or some coal or other. That comes into the Taff, and as it pours down below, there are sewin and salmon below, which at the present time are prevented from comiug up. They cannot come an inch further. 6091. For what reason ? — Because they cannot come up the river. 6092. {Mr. Mortoji.) Is it only on behalf of the fish that you speak ? — ^Yes. 6093. Have you no complaint to make as to the health of the people on the banks of the rivers ? — No. 6094. Is there no nuisance of any kind of which you have to complain, which either invades the houses or affects the people living on the banks ? — No. Mr. T. Lc The witness withdrew. Adjourned to Swansea to-morrow at 10 o'clock. In the Guildhall, Swansea. (Fob Swansea and District.) Friday, October 18th, 1872. PRESENT : Dr. Edward Frankland, F.R.S. | Mr. John Chalmers Morton. Mr. S. J. Smith, F.G.8., Secretary. Mr. Edward Cousins examined 6095, {Mr, Morton.) Are you the borough engineer ? —Yes. 6096. Have you filled that ofiice long? — For IS there are many outlying districts which are not yet drained. years. 6097. Referring to the replies to queries sent to the board of health, it appears that there are about 50,000 persons living on 5,000 statute acres ? — Yes. 6098. What portion of that area is still unbuilt upon ? — I should think that about one-fourth is built upon. 6099. Have you any statistics as to area and popu- lation living in particular districts within the town, so as to shew what the maximum density of popula- tion is ? — I am not provided with that. 6100. Is the town entirely sewered ? — The prin- cipal part of the town proper is wholly sewered, but 30928. 6101 . Are all the houses connected with the sewers ? — The whole of the houses are connected within the area of the parts that are drained. 6102. Is the town what you would call a water- closet town ? — It is. 6103. The whole of it? — In those districts where the sewers have been extended it it entirely a water- closet system. 6104. Is there a privy such as we have heard of recently, to which water nnist be carried for flushing purposes, or is it provided with a valve and direct cannexion with the water main ? — -The whole of them are supplied with valves which are connected directly with the sewers. Mr. E. Cousins, 18 Oct. 1872. Swansea. 170 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE PART IIL Mr. ^ 6105. Arc there any privies with cesspools attached ^""s*"'- within the area of the town ? — There are very few 3 Oct 1872 Gxceiition« — In certain places there may be where the '_ ' sewers have not been quite extended to all within Swansea. reacli ; the sewers are connected. 6106. Is the sewage discharged from more than one exit ? — The sewer of the town proper is the principal outlet, which is near the mouth of the river, it is also the storm water outlet into the bay. Then there is another part of the district on the eastern side of the river called the hamlet of St. Thomas, which is drained into another outlet, and which discharges also into the river near the mouth. 6107. Is the sewage at all dealt with for the pur- pose of defecation before it is discharged into the river ? — No. 6108. Does any nuisance exist at these outlets ? — They are not complained of. There was a few years ago a nuisance from the town outlet, it discharged at tlie quay wall, and ran over a part of the bay, and deposited a quantity of sewage which was exposed for a number of hours each day. 6109. Is there a large area of land exposed at low water ? — In the town proper it is taken out from the old outlet into the bed of the river, the sewage is carried direct into the channel of the river where the tide is going out and so carried out to sea. 6110. Is there a considerable area enclosed within the docks here ? — About 24 acres altogether. 6111. Have they any connexion with the river on the landward side ? — One of them, the north dock is the old bed of the river, then there is a new cut for the river on the eastern side of it ; there is an inlet to both ends of that dock, and occasionally the river water mixes with the sea water, but principally I think it is sea water that is in those docks. 61 12. As I understand you one of the dock receives into it water from the river and from the sea ? — ■ They are both connected with the river, but they contain comparatively a smaller proportion of river water. 6113. Is there a large population afloat in the ordinary state of business within the docks ? — Yes. 6114. What number of ships are there and how many people afloat every night in the docks ? — I can scarcely answer that question, but I suppose we may have on the average 300 or 400 vessels of various sizes constantly in the docks. 6115. Is the water in the docks ever a source of nuisance ? — I never heard it complained of. 6116. Has there ever been a proposal to utilize the sewage of Swansea ? — I am just now in the receipt of one. A few days ago an offer was made to deal with the sewage upon the A. B.C. principle. 6117. By the precipitating method? — Yes, but there has not yet been a meeting of the board to take the proposal into consideration. 6118. Are you aware that a report has been made upon that process by this commission after a thoi-ough investigation of it at Leamingon ? — Yes. 6119. Has any attempt been made to utilize the drainage water of Swansea upon land in the neigh- bourhood of the town ? — No. 6120. Are there any facilities for it? — I think by pumping it might be done. 6121. Is your outfall below the level of high -water mjirk ? — It is about 18 feet below high-water mark. 6122. Is the outlet properly trapped or provided with valves to hinder the access of sea water ? — Yes, it has self-acting valves. 6123. Is that an efficient arrangement or does the sea water rise into it ? — The sea water does rise, it is not perfectly tight. 6124. At high-water does the water in the sewer stand very much below the level of the Avater in the river ? — Yes, it does, except when a heavy rainfall occurs at tlie same time ; then I have known the water to I'ise considerably higher in the sewer than in the bay. 6125. Are the sewers thoroughly ventilated ? — Yes. 6126. Have you ever heard any complaints made on account of the escape of sewer gases into houses in consequence of the displacement of the sewage by the rising of the tide, and by the access of the water to the sewers at high-water ? — Not any. I have taken special means in connexion with all the private drainage of houses connected with sewers, to provide ventilation independently of the ventilation in the main sewers by ventilating grids and air shafts. 6127. Are there many of those air shafts within the area of the town ? — There are some special ones, and others where rain shoots have been found in such suitable situations as to serve as air shafts. 6128. In those cases are the down spouts of the houses properly connected Avith the sewers to make them act efficiently ? — Yes. 6129. Ilave any complaints been made by the oc- cupants of the upper storeys of such houses as to any smell ? — Never. 6130. With regard to the scavenging of the town, I suppose that the waste of the streets and the waste of such privy cesspools as still remain are carried to a manure depot, is that so ? — There are several of them left, there are depots found by the local board for parts of the district. It is a condition under the contract that the contractor shall remove for the town district all the refuse out of the borough to this depot, and that they shall send it out for agricultural purposes. 6131. As I understand you the scavenging of the town is done by a contractor ? — There are fom- con- tractors. 6132. Whose contracts refer to four different areas ? —Yes. 6133. Is it the business of your inspector of nui- sances to see that each contract is thoroughly carried out ? — Yes, in the town. In addition to the inspector of nuisances we have an inspector specially appointed to see that the work is properly carried out, and to see that the contractors caiTy out their contracts in a proper manner. 6134. With regard to the refuse, how does it arrive at the depot, and what becomes of it then ? — It is not used for any purpose, it is left there as a place of deposit. It requires to be filled in, and it is filled in to be hereafter utilized for railway purposes. 6135. It is first sent to a depot ? — Yes. 6136. Is the depot a hollow pit which has been gradually filled ? — Yes. 6137. Is that depot likely to be built upon here- after ? — The refuse is intended for railway sidings connected with the Great Western Railway. 6138. You have a tip, and the purpose to which the refuse is to be hereafter applied is thoroughly known ? — Yes. 6139. Is no part of this manure carried to the land anywhere ? — A very little of it, and that is one difficulty which the board have been labouring under in getting farmers to utilize the town sewage, they do not seem to appreciate it. 6140. Perhaps it is not worth carrying any con- siderable distance ?— No. 6141. Is none of it carried back to the area from which you obtain your water supply ? — -No. 6142. Is it the business of the contractor to look after the condition of the slaughter-houses ? — No, that would come under the control of the inspector of nuisances. The slaughter-houses belong to the local board or the corporation, they are now let to a contractor. 6143. Where is the worst of the garbage taken to ? — That is used on the land, it is sent from the slaughter-house daily in covered water-tight carts, which is a condition of the letting, and it is used upon the land. 6144. Is it taken to any particular farm, or can any farmer take it away if he jjleases ? — That is a matter for the contractor ; I lielieve he now disposes of it to a farmer on the hill at the top of the town, but it is quite competent for him to let other farmers have it if they Avish. BIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — OUAL EVIDENCE — PAUT 111. 171 6145. Is the area from which the water supply is brought to Swansea cultivated land to any extent ? — Only to a very small extent, it is principally common land. 6146. Is it moor laud ?— Yes. 6147. Ai-e there any farmers within that area ? — 1 believe there are three or four small farms. 6148. With their homesteads ? — Yes. 6149. Is there any village up there ? — Not above •the watershed. 6150. You would take care I suppose to forbid the cari-iage of any of this filthy stuff to those farms ? — Yes. 6151. You have power to do so ? — Yes, but I very seldom see any manure there at all. 6152. Referring now to the docks and harbour generally, is any dredging required ? — Yes. 6153. Is the necessity for that dredging due simply to natural causes, or is it in any degree due to the silt brought down by the river ?— I think it is prin- cipally from the silt brought down by the river. 6154. What is the nature of the stuff that is taken out ? — Principally fine silt, with boulders. 6155. Is it black ? — Yes, it is dark coloured. 6156. Do you attribute the necessity for dredging to offences committed against the river below you, or would the river in its natural condition bring if down ?— I think the river in its natural condition brings it down. 6157. You do not attribute it to any tips from which coal slag and coal shale are washed down ? — Yes ; there is a considerable quantity of that washed down. 6158. Do you know the course of the river above you ? — Yes. 6159. Is there any flooding on the banks of the river ? — No, because the banks of the river are very steep on either side, there is no serious flooding. 6160. Is the shore near Swansea level ? — Yes, opposite Morris town there is a marsh which is occasionally flooded in winter time. 6161. Is it more liable to be flooded now than it was? — I think not. 6162. Is there no indication of shallowness of channel owing to the coming down of the silt and to which the greater frequency of floods might be attributable ? — I think not. 6163. What sources of pollution are there on the banks of the river above the borough ? — There are several colliery workings and tin plate works which send down sulphuric acid, there are also alkali works. 6164. Are there any works on the river that require clean water, such as paper making ? — No, the principal pollution is from the alkali works, they colour the water with sulphuric acid, and sulphate of iron. 6165. Do you know whether any process is being adopted at the tin plate works for the recovery of the sulphuric acid ? — I am not aware that anything has been done yet. 6166. {Dr. Frcmklfmd.) What is the name of the river that runs down into the harbour ? — The Towy. 6167. Have you any complaint to make of the river being polluted as it enters the town ? — There is considerable pollution in it from the works. 6168. Which works are they ?— The tin plate works and the collieries principally. 6169. Does that cause the river to be discoloured ? — Very much so. 6170. Does it ever smell offensively ? — I have not observed tliat it is offensive in smell. 6171. What is the general colour of the river ? — A deep yellow. 6172. Is that caused by the ochry water that is sent in from the collieries ? — Partially so ; but it is principally, I think, from the tin-plate works. 6173. You are no doubt aware that more than a year ago we visited this district, and examined into the streams and their pollutions ? — Yes. 6174. Does the water from colliery at Morris Mr. town go into the river ?— Yes. _ ^- 6175. Is that one of the forms of pollution tliat jg ^^^^ would aft'ect you here? — To a certain extent it would. Swansea. 6176. Then there is the Charles pit and Llansamlet colliery ? — Yes, that is another. 6177. Are you much affected by that? — It all flows into the river. 6178. It appears that it contains a considerable proportion of suspended matter ? — Yes. 6179. You cannot of course identify in tlie matters dredged up what comes from any particular colliery or collieries from furnace refuse ? — No ; but I do not think there is much from the coUicry you have just mentioned to affect the silting up of the river. 6180. Is the water of the river in any part of its course below that colliery used for drinking ? — Not any part of it. 6181. Then there is the Lower Forest Colliery in Morris town. Do you know that ? — Yes. 6182. Do you consider that worse than the last one I mentioned, the Charles pit ? — I believe that the quality of the water is very similar, if anything it is worse. 6183. Then there is the Pantryfellan colliery ? — • Yes. 6184. Does that also drain into the river ? — Yes. 6185. Does not it discharge very acid water into the river ? — Yes, which passes down the stream for some considerable distance before it enters the river. 6186. Is there any navigation in that part of the river ? — Not quite so high as that ; nearly so. 6187. I suppose that the water bears a very small proportion to the whole quantity in the rivei', and that it would not be likely to affect the iron fastenings of ships ? — No. The water, which has arsenic in it, has, I believe, a serious effect on iron. I mean from Charles pit. There were some samples of iron shewn at the time of your visit from Charles pit, which were almost destroyed. 6188. Has not the effect been noticed of the Pantry- fellan water upon iron ? — Yes, but not to any great extent. 6189. Do you think it would not affect the iron- work of vessels lying in the river ? — -I tliink not ; the quantity coming down the river would be so diluted that it would probably not have much effect. 6190. Ai'e the cattle on the banks liable to drink this water sometimes coming down from the colliery before it enters the river ? — Not below that point, but higher up. It is probable, I think, that the cattle do drink the water higher up. There are several other collieries higher up the valley than these, and some are veiy extensive works. 6191. Have jow heard of any damage being done to cattle by drinking that water ? — Never. 6192. Can you give us the cost per annum of dredging in your harbour ? — I cannot state it. It is done under the harbour trustees, but I will get the information for you. 6193. You are acquainted, I believe, with the water supply of the town ? — .Yes. 6194. What is the character of the gathering ground from which the water is collected ? — It is principally moor land or common land. 6195. Is none of it arable land ? — Very httle of it indeed. 6196. Is any manure used upon that land? Scarcely any. 6197. Is all the water that is collected in the reservoirs surface water, or is a good deal of it spring water ? — A good deal of it is spring water; it is the stream and the river. 6198. What river is it ? — It is the river Lliw. 6199. Is it near its source where you impound it ? — It is within a few hours in a straight line to its source. Y 2 172 KIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION ; — ORAL EVIDKNCE — PART III. Mr. 6200. In the middle of summer I presume that the E. Cousins, stream would be fed in a great measure by the springs ? — Yes, altogether. 18 Oct 1872 C5 ' ? o ■ 6201. Our sample of the water supply was taken on Swansea. '^^^^ June, and I suppose that at that time the water would have been mainly spring water ? — Yes, but mixed, of course, with the storage water in the impounding reservoir. ^ 6202. How many days' storage Avould there have been in the reservoir at that time ? — I should think that we should have had a storage there from about February or March. 6203. At that time must there not have been a quantity of surface water coming in ? — Yes ; the reservoir was full, I think, in March in that year. 6204. Is there any peaty substance in the water ? — Very little. 6205. Does the appearance of the water as delivered in the town vary from time to time ? — Not to any extent. 6206. Does it ever look yellowish in a large decanter ? — Yes, it does occasionally after a heavy rain. 6207. I do not quite understand how such a large storage reservoir can be suddenly affected by rain ? — The only way in which I can account for it is, that the storm water coming in at the upper end of the valley, passes along and does not mix with the whole body of the water, and so gets to the outlet sooner. 6208. {Mr. Morton.) Do you draw the water from near the surface ? — Yes ; there are several points where they draw nearest to the surface and so the Avater falls in the reservoir; we draw at a lower point. 6209. {Dr. Franldand.) What is the soil at the surface, is there much soil or is it rocky ? — We have got red sandstone near to the surface ; in some parts of t)ie gathering ground the coal crops out. 6210. Is it the old red sandstone ?— Yes. 6211. I believe you do not filter the water? — No. 6212. Is it not liable in times of flood to be de- livered rather turbid ? — No ; ground has been taken for the purpose of constructing a filter bed. At first it was thought, owing to the great purity of the water, that it would not be found necessary, but still I think it possible that a filtering bed shortly will be made. 6213. Arc there any wells in the town, either public or private ? — There are no public wells, and very few private ones. I am not aware of any private wells being used for drinking purposes. A short time after the waterworks were constructed, people had a liking for the well water, because it looked clearer and more sparkling than the other water did, and they thought it was of better quality, but I think they have got over their prejudice, and that very few, if any, wells are used in the town at all. Every house in the district, I believe, is noAV supplied, except some very outlying ones, with Avater from the waterworks. 6214. Are there no public wells at all? — Not any. 6215. At the present time is the water supply liked by the inhabitants ? — Yes. 6216. Is the supply a constant one ? — Yes, except in the summer time, and then it is intei-mittent. 6217. For how many hours is water then supplied ? — It depends upon the dryness of the season. This year we have had a good supply of Avater, and it has been kept on during the day time and shut oflF in the evening. 6218. Are you contemplating any additional source so that you may have at all times an abundant sup- ply ? — Ground has been purchased for the construc- tion of another reservoir at a further part of the ground taken for the original waterworks. According to the original scheme there Avere three reservoirs intended in connexion with the neAV scheme, but only one of those reservoirs has been constructed. Land has now been purchased on which to construct a second reservoir, but the local board have not yet decided upon carrying it out. 6219. Would the gathering ground furnish you with an ample supply of water if you had two stora<^e reservoirs?—! think it would, but the reservoir now speak of Avould include an additional piece of gathering ground in another valley ; that subject has been also considered, to construct another reservoir in the same valley as the Lliw reservoir at a higher point. 6220. What quantity of water is now supplied per head of the population ? — About 20 gallons per head. 6221. Is that for both domestic and trade pur- poses ? — Yes. 6222. What steps do you take to prevent waste of water ? — We have got an inspector of nuisances and certain other pohcemen, whose duty it is to report all cases in which there is a waste of water, and pro- ceedings are taken at once to remedy it. 6223. Do you supply some places out of your district Avith water? — Yes, some fcAV houses imme- diately adjoining the boundary of the borough, but in the district. 6224. Taking the population of your borough, according to the return that has been made, there will be 30 gallons per head suppHed, but you supply a larger population than 50,000, do you not ? — There are 1,500,000 gallons for the population ; then there are Avorks which are additional to the 20 gallons per head, and the other 10 gallons of the 30 Avill go chiefly to works and to railways. 6225. HoAv many inspectors have you to look after imperfect fittings ? — There are five altogether. 6226. HoAv many times in the course of a year will any single house be visited by them ? — There are no periodical visitations made. Up to very recently there Avas only one inspector, and it was not his whole duty to report upon the defects of the fittings ; but recently four of the police have been appointed to report also. 6227. Have you any of those contrivances called waste preventers in Swansea? — We have only got one. We had a fcAV fixed in the outlying districts, but they have been removed recently. 6228. What Avas the construction of the Avaste pre- venter ? — It was simply an arrangement by which a certain quantity only was let in, and the receptacle was filled, and as you opened a vah'e to let it out it shut in the inlet by a double valve. 6229. Have you or not made use of any of those constructing discs that reduce the channel of supply to the size of a needle ? — No. 6230. Do the inhabitants generally draAV water direct from the main, or do they use cisterns 'i — They draw principally direct from the main; they have cisterns for waterclosets. ^ 6231. Are all the Avaterclosets furnished with cisterns ? — Yes. 6232. Is there any direct connexion between the pan of the closet and your water main ? — No, we do not allow that. 6233. That you consider objectionable "i — Yes. 6234. Have you ever known the water to be drawn back in such a case from a closet pan out of repair into the main — I have not known that to occur, but I can quite understand it being possible. 6235. Have you a high-service reservoir ? — Not the highest; it is intended that we should have another high-service reservoir, but that has not yet been constructed. The reserA'oir we are noAv using Avas originally intended as the low-service reservoir. 6236. Does the water come down directly from the storage reservoir into the mains ? — It comes directly from the storage reservoir into the town, and that Avhich is not used passes on into the loAver service reservoir. 6237. You do not pump any part of it ? — No ; it is intended to pump part of it into the high service reservoir, but it is not yet carried out. RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 173 6238. I understand that the low service reservoir is in the town ? — Yes. 6239. Is it covered ? — No, it is open, tit least it is in the outskirts of the tov/n. 6240. Would it not be better to have it covered ? — Undoubtedly. 6241. Does any scum collect on the surface of it ? — Not any, it is in the western part of the town away from the smoke and the prevailing wind blows from it. 6242. Can you tell us about the rate of chai-ge for water is for domestic purposes ? — Houses above 10/. a year rental are charged 5 per cent, upon the fuli rental. I will let you have a scale of the charges. 6243. How much have the waterworks cost ? — The whole of the waterworks old and new have cost a little over 1 70,000/., that is, the whole expenses con- nected with the various schemes for a water supply, the purchase of the old works, the Act of Parliament and the construction of the new ones. 6244. Do you consider that the waterworks pay their way ? — Scarcely. They pay a very good per centage on the outlay, and the new works, but scarcely to bear upon the 170,000/. 6245. From what source was the town supplied with water previously to the establishment of the waterwoi'ks ? — There were the old waterworks which were constructed some 25 years ago. I think they The witness called it the Brynmawr reservoir which is not used now, and that only 8uj)plied a very small portion of the town. The other parts of the town are supplied from wells and a spring from the canal and other sources. 6246. (Afi: Morton.) Is there a large population on the river above you out of the borough ? — Yes, there is. 6247. - Are there any considerable villages or towns abov e you ? — Yes, there is Clydach one place, Porty- dowy another, Ystylyfera another, and Ystagunlas. 6248. Are these villages dependant upon any par- ticular industry ? — Ystylyfera is principally connected with mines and iron works and tin plate works, and so is Ystagunlas. 6249. What do you suppose to be the population of those villages } — I should think that Ystylyfera would contain 4,000. 6250. Is there any nuisance on the river which you consider is due to the drainage from those villages ? — I rather think so. 6251. If there is, does it reach you down here? — ■ No, we do not feel it here, Ystylyfera is four miles up the river, and the population of Ystagunlas is 12,328. 6252. That includes not only a river side village or town, but a large population in the agricultural districts round it ? — Yes, withdrew. Mr. E. Cousins. 18 Oct. 1872. Swansea. Mr. Ebenezer Davis, 6253. {Dr. FranJdand.) You are I believe a mem- ber of the Royal College of Surgeons ? — Yes. 6254. And medical officer of health for Swansea ? — Yes. 6255. How long have you held the appointment of medical officer? — From the end of the year 1865. 6256. Have you known Swansea for a longer period than that ? — I have known it since 1857. 6257. I see by the return made to the Commis- sioners that Swansea has been rather subject to epidemic attacks ? — Yes, it has been during the last 12 years. 6258. Do you remember the visitation of cholera in 1866 ?— I do. 6259. I presume not any previous visitation ? — There was a slight epidemic here in 1850. 6260. Do you remember anything about the epidemic of 1832 ? — Yes; the deaths were 151 among the population, and I have estimated the rate of mortality to be 7 • 5 per 1,000. In 1849 there were 201 deaths, the estimated rate being 7 • 7 per 1,000. In 1854 Swansea suffered very slightly, there Avere 14 deaths only, the estimate rate being 0-5. In 1866 the deaths were 363 and the estimate rate of mortality was 7 "9 or nearly 8. 6261. Can you at all account for the low rate of mortality in the visitation of 1854 ? — The only way in which I can account for it is, that it entered the town at a later period of the year, and that might have had some influence. With regard to the sanitary con- dition of the town we were in a very much better position in 1866 than in 1854, for the drainage of the town and a water supply had then been added. 6262. Did you ascertain how cholera Avas intro- duced in 1866 ? — The first cases of cholera outside the borough occurred in the Morristown district as early as May. The first case appeared on the 22nd May in the person of a working collier just outside the borough boundary, the disease existed there during the greater part of June, and killed five persons, two in one house and three in another. 6263. Were the later cases proved to have had any communication with the first patient ?-— They were not, but tlie cases occurred principally along the course of a little stream, which run down from the hills in Morristown. 6264. Did the case of the collier occur among the subsequent cases on that stream ? — Yes ; the first case was at a lower level than the subsequent ones. Swansea, examined. 6265. Do you think it likely that cholera contagion was conveyed by the stream to the people below ? — I do not think so, because I do not believe that the water was used by the persons living below. 6266. Is it likely that any contagious matter was conveyed from the one case which occurred down the stream to persons living below ? — I do not think it could be so. 6267. For tlie reason that you have given, that the persons living lower down on the stream did not drink the water? — Yes, and the subsequent cases were higher up the stream than the first. 6268. Is it a thing of frequent occurrence that cholera goes up a stream ? — I believe it is. 6269. How would you account for that ? — I think it is more probably connected with currents of air passing up valleys through which the water will come down. 6270. Then you think that the contagion is con- veyed through the atmosphere ? — I am inclined to think so, to that extent. 6271. Is there generally mucli communication from person to person along the banks of a stream of this kind? — Yes, a good deal. 6272. And it might be conveyed in that way ? — Yes, and by the social habits of the people to which I attribute the great extension of cholera in the outlying districts of Swansea. I mean the habits of the class in which cholera first shewed itself; they mix together and go a good deal into each other's houses. 6273. What is the condition of the privies or water- closets or conveniences that were used in those districts where the outbreak first took place ? — The bed of the soil is for the most part a collection of soil. If a cesspool of proper depth is dug in many parts of that district it Avill fill with water. 6274. Are there any wells that are used near to those cesspools ? — I think the water supply used by persons in the outlying districts was generally obtained from streams coming down from the mountain above, and which were removed from any sources of contami- nation. There were some cases of wells that were shut up at the time by the action of the board of guardians, but I am now speaking of the part outside the borough boundary. 6275. Were there no persons living upon this stream above the point where the water was drunk ? — Yes, there were, but this stream of water come down frona an old mine working. Y 3 Mr. E. Davis, 174 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL KVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. E. Davis. 6276. Was it an abandoned mine ? — Yes, there had been some j)iuni)ing operations carried on preparatory 18 Oct. 1872. to the re-opening of the mine. • 6277. Do you think the excrements of the miuei'S bwansea. ^yould have been likely to get into the water that was pumped ? — That is possible. 6278. Do you know whether any men were at work in the mine from which the water had been pumped ? — No. The epidemic did not spread from that- part of the district, because for a month there was an entire absence of cholera in the borough ; it subsequently made its appearance near the town in July, it Avas at first quite localised and disappeared before it appeared in the town. 6279. When did it first appear in the town ? — The first date was on the 9th July, and on the 23rd the cholera appeared simultaneously iu parts of the town that were widely separated from each other. 6280. Could you trace any communication Avith previous cases of disease in any one of those fresh outbreaks ?— The nearest coiniexion was in the case of the first death in the month of July, which occurred in the person of a woman who had been in the neigh- bourhood of Llanelly where cholera was prevailing, but not within three or four miles of the place. 6281. Was any connexion traced between the oi'iginal centres in Swansea and the cases that after- wards happened ? — None whatever. 6282. Did you endeavour to trace out any such connexion ? — 1 did. 6283. What in your opinion were the defects, if you considered them so, in the sanitary arrangements of Swansea, which facilitated this outbreak ? — The defects I consider were imperfect drainage, over- crowding to some extent, and great deficiency of accommodation iu houses for the labouring class. 6284. When you speak of a deficiency in drainage do you mean that the excrementitious matters of the people were kej^t near to their dwellings ? — In the part that suffered more severely, it was so, there were cesspools constantly in use. 6285. Were the cesspools under ground, or at the top exposed to the air ? — They were shallow cesspools and covered. 6286. Were they middens ? — No, they vrere not. 6287. The excrements alone were there ? — Yes. 6288. Were they exposed to the air, or covered over ? — They were covered. 6289. What was the kind of privy or closet that was used, was it a watercloset ? — Not at that time in the worst jjarts of the town. 6290. Was there a wooden seat to them ? — Yes. 6291. With no water to flush them ? — No. I ^6292. Would the excrementitious matters be liable to get dried on the seat of the closet, or any where near it ? — Not that year, because we had an unusually heavy rainfall. 6293. But those places were covered over ? — Yes. 6294. The atmosphere was damp ? — Yes, I may say, as to the Avater supply, that those parts of the town which suffered most severely, and those parts of the town which did not suffer at all, were precisely in the same condition, the water was drawn from taps, from a continuous service, without the interven- tion of any receptacle Avhatever. 6295. Was it not substantially nearly the same water that is supplied now ? — Yes, the same water. 6296. So that the water could not have had any thing to do with it ? — Not in Swansea as I believe. 6297. Do you believe that that disease Avas pro- pagated by the drying of choleia discharges, and their dissemination as dust through the atmosphere ? — No, I do not think so. 6298. Is it not the fact that Avhen a sevei'e case of cholera occurs iu a room a good deal of the discharges partly from the bowels, and partly from the mouth, get slopped on the floor? — That is frequently the case. 6299. That I presume might get dry, and by people treading about on the floor be converted into dust ? — ^es, but their usual practice is to throw it into water, uninstructed persons generally do that, they generally cover the linen with Avater, and take it out of the house. 6300. Were several persons frequently affected in the same house ? — Yes, frequently. 6301. Did the disease spread from house to house in the same district, or did it occur rather sporadi- cally ? — It spread from house to house. 6302. So that persons living in a particular district where the cholera commenced were much more likely to take it than those living at a distance ? — Yes. 6303. Although the sanitary condition of both districts might be much the same ? — In some cases it Avould be so. I think that the cholera Avas confined to a certain class in SAvansea, and that it was veiy much localised in certain streets. 6304. Were the whole of those places to which it Avas confined in a bad sanitary condition ? — No, some parts of the town had, at my instance been connected Avith the main sewers in that very year, and they suftered, though not so severely as I believe they Avould have suffered. 6305. Can yoa account for the disease making its appearance in those of more favoured localities ? — The population were of the same class, and the pro- bability is that there was communication. 6306. Iu those localities Avhere cholera occurred, I suppose the ashes of the houses Avould have been put some where in the yards ?— Yes, in the yards, but ashpits were not uniformly constructed in many of those houses, and a good many of the aslies were thrown on the surface of the j^ards at the back. 6307. Is it not the custom when cholera or choleraic diarrhoea, or even simple diarrhoea, occurs iu children, and the discharge falls on the floor, that ashes are throAvn over them, and the whole swept up and taken out of the house ? — Yes. 6308. Would all that be spread over the street afterwards ? — Yes, or over the back premises. 6309. That I presume might also, unless the weather was very wet, become dust dry, and affect the atmosphere ? — It would be very likely to do so. 6310. I see that in 1869 you again had an elevation of the death-rate from 19 or 20 per 1,000 to 25, and that you attribute principally to an epidemic of scarlatina ? — Yes ; there were 268 deaths in 1869 from scarlet fever. 6311. To Avhat sanitary defect, in your opinion, was that owing ? — I cannot connect it with any special sanitary defect. 6312. Was everything perfect then? — No, I do not think so, but it was spread uniformly over the town ; the parts that Avere in a better sanitary con- dition and the parts that were in a worse sanitary condition suffered equally. i 6313. That, I presume, is a disease which will very readily spread from a bad clistrict to a good one ? — Yes, I believe it is less dependent upon bad sanitary conditions than some other diseases are. 6314. As to its spreading ? — Yes. 6315. Should you say that as to its origin, or can it originate without introduction ? — I believe it must be in some way or other introduced. 6316. Then you think that its spread is less depen- dent upon sanitary conditions than of other zymotic diseases ? — Yes, the birth-rate is very hisrh in Swansea. 6317. That ought not to cause the death-rate to be higher ? — It ought to balance it. Our birth-rate as between 1863 and 1865 Avas 47 per 1,000 and in 1866, 44 per 1,000. It got doAvn gradually then until during three-quarters of this year it has been up to nearly 40 per 1,000. 6318. Do you think there is a good deal of neglect by their mothers of young children ? — I think there is. 6319. Are the mothers employed in some of the manufactming operations } — No ; Avheu I said that there was neglect on the part of the mothers, of course I mean unintelligent neglect. KIVEES POLLUTIOK COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. 175 6320. Do not the- mothers leave their children ? — No. 6321. Do you attribute the prevalence of scarlatina iu any way to the influence of foul water, either sewage or fonl river or canal water ? — No, I do not at all. 6322. Were all the sewers in good condition where this outbreak of scarlatina occurred ? — Scarlatina was prevalent in the outlying districts to which sewer works have not been extended yet ; but it was also very prevalent in the town, and in the best parts of it. 6323. In 1870 it appears that the death-rate was again somewhat higher than in 1869, and that you attribute to small-pox and fever ? — Yes. 6324. Then it dropped down last year to 21*9 ? — Yes, but that is a mistake, and I should like to correct it. It ought to be 22 • 9. This year it has been for three-quarters, and up to this time 20 • 3. 6325. Small-pox, I presume, has no connexion with foul water of any kind ? — I do not know that it has. 6326. Has it any connexion with a defective water supply in some cases, and the want of cleanliness con- sequent upon that ? — Yes. I think it is much more likely to be extended in a community that is not clean and of dirty habits. 6327. What kind of fever occurred in 1870 and 1871 ? — The fever made its appearance late in 1870, and the number of deaths from fever in 1870 was low, 14 rather less than about 0*3. In 1871 it was very high. We had then relapsing fever and typhus fever. 6328. No typhoid fever ? — Yes. some cases ; but the great mortality was due to typhus fever. I may say that since 1866 the death-rate from fever in Swansea has been about 0 • 5 per 1,000. Last year (1870) it rose to 63 deaths, and that was at the rate of 1-3 per 1,000. 6329. What are the conditions which you consider favourable for the spread of relapsing fever and typhus fever ? — Overcrowding and poverty. 6330. Is not relapsing fever dependent in a great measure upon poverty ? — Yes, it is very contagious when it once gets into a house. 6331. Are not both of those forms of fever very contagious ? — Yes. 6332. Much more so than typhoid fever ? — Yes. 6333. Is either of them dependent in any way upon defective sewerage or the use of foul water for domestic purposes ? — Not to the extent that typhoid fever would be, but I believe that they would be both aggravated by those deficiencies. 6334. Do you consider that any such cause was active in 1870 or 1871 in fiivouring those epidemics in Swansea ? — I do not think that the supply of water in the summer was as good as it ought to have been, and not so continuous as subsequently. In conse- quence of the hot weather the water was turned ofl" for a certain number of hours in the day, and that I considered a misfortune during the prevalence of an epidemic. 6335. I believe the people had no cisterns ?— No. Arrangements were not provided for an intermittent supply, and therefore they felt the want of water more than they otherwise would have done. 6336. That I believe was a kind of accidental occurrence owing to peculiai-ly dry summer ? — It has occurred for several summers. 6337. You really want a better supply of water ? — I think so, and our present supply better cared for. 6338. To preserve it from waste — Yes. I think there is a great deal of waste in Swansea still. 6339. Are there some places iu Swansea that use 50 gallons a day for domestic purposes, while you use perhaps no more than 20 ? — Yes. 6340. Have you anything to complain of with regard to the quality of the water ? — No, I have not. It is not filtered before it is pumped into the town, and it is occasionally therefore slightly turbid, and that, I think, is rather |hard upon the poorer popula- Mr, E.Davis. tion, who do not possess filters. 6341. Do you consider that the matter in suspen- 18 Oct. 1872. sion in the water when it is turbid is of a deleterious g^vansea. character or liable to become so ? — I do not. 6342. Does this want of a sufficient supply of water, in your opinion, lead the people to the use of alcoholic drinks more than would otherwise be the case ? — I think perhaps it does. 6343. Is the water supply very soft? — Yes; I think the total hardness is only 21 per cent., and the permanent hardness 1 per cent. 6344. Is it, in your opinion, good for a population to drink soft water ? — I can give you no oi)inIon upon that. 6345. Have you had any exjierience of the use of hard and soft waters by different populations ? — No. If I had my choice I think I should })refer water that was slightly harder than this is. 6346. Do you consider the presence of a consider- able quantity of Hme in water is necessary for the formation of bone in animals ? — Not a considerable quantity, but I think a larger quantity than we have in this water. 6347. Do you find that diseases which are referable to a want of phosphate of lime in the bones are common here ? — Not at all. 6348. Why then do you think the water would be better with more lime in it ? — I think it would make the water pleasanter to drink. 6349. I suppose that in many solid articles of diet there is plenty of lime to supply the system with that material ? — Yes, I think so. 6350. Is it not a fact that people drinking very soft water like this will nevertheless discharge in their urine a very much larger quantity of lime than goes into the system iu the water they drink ? — Yes, because it goes into a solid material. 6351. May we take it that it in the case of people who drink almost distilled water, there is an excess of lime going out from the system? — Yes; I have omitted to state that up to 1871 we were gradually reducing our death-rate from phthisis, but in that year the average got up again. 6352. Do you suff'er much from phthisi.s in Swan- sea ? — The average death-rate per 1,000 in the town is 2-5. 6353. There has lately been a theory advanced that phthisis is also a zymotic disease ; what is your opinion about that, and do you think it depends upon the moisture or dryness of the soil for its propaga- tion ? — It was in working out that theory that I made observations as to the rediTced death-rate. The death-rate from phthisis has been becoming stationaiy since 1865, it was less in 1870 than in 1866, and still less in the interval, but in the last year (1871) it Avent up slightly. 6354. Was the last year a wetter and colder year thau usual ? — I do not think so ; 1871 was not very wet, but it was wetter than the two previous years. 6355. Might that have had something to do with the matter ? — Probably it had. 6356. I believe there are no wells used in the tOAvn for drinking purposes ? — There are two, I think, used occasionally, but they have not been used, except by persons who prefer to drink that water. 6357. Are those public or private wells ? — There are two public wells, one of them is scarcely used, and the other I think more as a fancy ; we think that the Avater is specially good. 6358. By how many people is it used ? — I cannot say. I do not think it is used by any family. 6359. Where is this well situated ? — On Mount Pleasant, on high ground, leading up towards the union. 6360. Do you think it is likely to be contaminated by soakage from the sewers ?— I do not think either of the wells are. • 6361. Do you consider it good water ? — I do. 6362. What should you consider are at this moment the chief sanitary defects in Swansea ? — The chief Y 4 176 RIVEES POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART III. Mr. E. Davis, sanitary defect is the want of an extension of the . main sewerage to all parts of the borough, or to those 18 Oct. 1872. pai'ts thnt are populated. ■ (3363. Should you attribute any evil to overcrowd- Swansea. ing ? — Yes; I should mention that as well, as being another source of common injury to the public health. (5364. Do you attribute to the river, as it comes down to you, any shai'C in the spread of ejjidemic diseases ? — J should do so if it were more used by tlie people ; but it is not used for drinking or washing purposes. 6365. Does it receive much sewage before it comes down to Swansea ? — I do not know what it receives outside of the Swansea district, but I do not think it receives much sewage in the outlying districts, except what percolates through the soil before it gets there. 6366. Is there no drain of any consequence which discharges directly into it ? — No. 6367. As a matter of fact, I believe it does not smell offensively, even in dry weather ? — I never heard that it did. 6368. Does the discharge of the Swansea sewage nt the outfall cause any oft'ensive smell in the neigh- liourhood ? — I have never known it complained of. I believe a fcAV years ago there was an extension of the outlet more into the channel of the river, and I think there Avas an arrangement for trapping it during the flow of the tide. 6369. I presume, therefore, that very little sewage comes out during the flow of the tide ? — It ought not, and it is not intended to do so. 6370. {31r. 3Iorton.) Do you know of any injury done to the public health arising from any I'iver pollu- tion, or foul discharge from any of the large works in the neighbourhood ? — No. 6371. You do not attribute any injury to health to drainage from the tin plate works in the neighbour- The witnesi hood ? — No ; I think it is clear that however ob- jectionable they may be as regards the existence of lish, they Avould not be objectionable in a sanitary jjoint of view. I think that the acid discharges from tin plate Avorks would rather have a purifying in- fluence than otherwise. 6372. Or discharges from tan yards — I do not know that ; but I only know of one in the town. 6373. Is that at all a nuisance ? — I have not heard it complained of. 6374. Should you say the same of refuse from paper Avorks } — There are none. 6375. Are there any chemical Avorks ? — Yes, there arc some, but I do not knoAV of any injury arising to the public health, although the refuse goes ihlo the river, for this simple reason, that the river is not used. 6376. {Dr. Frankland.) I presume that the specific gravity of seAvage is considerably less than that of sea Avater ? — Yes. 6377. Consequently it will fl.oat on the surface some time ? — Yes. 6378. Therefore the sewage discharged before Ihe tide comes in Avould be likely to be floated past tlio toAvn up tiie river ? — Yes. 6379. Have you noticed any offensive matter left on the banks of the river from that cause ? — No, I have not. 6380. I believe it is in contemplation to subject the sewage to some purifying process before it passes into the river ? — I hope so ; it is urgently wanted in the outlying districts, and an extension of the scAverage. 6381. I find that it is in contemplation to clarify the scAvage before it is discharged into the harbour ? — Yes ; it is discharged into the harbour at present Avithout undergoing that process. {The Mayor.) I should be very Avilling to be taxed for that being done. Avithdrew. John G. Glasbrooke, J. G. 6382. {Dr. Frankland.) Do you think that in Glasbrooke, every case some metliod might be adopted to keep stuff out of riA'crs, such as ashes and slags from iron furnaces, or Avhat Avould you do Avitli the water that is pumped out from collieries ? — You cannot do anything with it unless you stop the working of the colliery ; it Avould kill the fish. The witne.' Esq., Mayoi", examined. 6383. If that state of things could be remedied by putting lime into it, Avould you object to that ? — It Avould be very difficult to get a place to keep it ; the Avater contains alum and very little iron from our collieries. I think that every town should utilize its own sewage, and that no stuff of any kind should be thrown into any river. )S withdreAv. Mr. William I Mr. 6384. {Dr. FranMand^ I believe you are the W. Fugsley. patentee of a process for recovering sulphate of iron or copperas from waste liquor produced in tin plate Avorks ? — Yes. 6385. HoAv long has this process been in operation ? ■ — For about nine years. 6386. In hoAv many Avorks has it been applied ? — 31. 6387. Can you furnish us Avitli a copy of your Specification ? — I Avill send one to your office in London. 6388. Will you be good enough to explain to us what the process is? — It is a process for utilizing sulphuric acid, that is, the Avaste pickle after it has been used in cleaning the black tins, in cleaning the oxide of iron from the plates. 6889. Will you be good enough just to describe the process from begining to end ? — First of all it is the practice to use suljihuric acid in Avater to clean the plates. 6390. What proportion of sulphuric acid in the water is used ? — The quantity is about from eight j)ounds to nine pounds to a box, that is, the sulphuric acid and the Avater mixed together. 6391. What are the proportions of sulphuric acid aud Avater mixed together ? — They Avill put about GSLEY examined. 20 gallons of Avater to CA-ery eight pounds of sulphuric acid. 6392. To that it is rather a Aveak mixture of sul- phuric acid? — Yes. 6393. What is done next ? — Then they put in the plates, but after using this mixture it gets so im- pregnated Avith oxide of ii-on that it becomes useless. Therefore my process has been adopted and used, acd they let it run out after it becomes thickened. 6394. What is the sulphuric acid couA^erted into ? — The sulphuric acid after it has been used gets so impregnated Avith oxide of iron that it becomes per- fectly useless, so far as cleaning the plates again goes. Tiien it is alloAved to run aAvay into the river, or it Avas ; noAv I take it, it comes noAV into my apparatus and there it remains for one week, and the result is that a certain amount of ciystals is formed. 6395. What is the nature of the apparatus ? — First of all there are tanks into Avhich it goes and it is alloAved to l emain there for a certain time. (j3S6. Are they leaden tanks ? — No, Avooden ones. It remains there for one week, and some other water is taken into the boilers. 6397. What is the object of allowing it to remain in the tanks for a week r — To alloAv so much iron to RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — ORAL EVIDENCE— PART III. 177 cryshilizc, that is, the copperas, as soon as I can get it cleai'. 6398. The copperas is sulphate of iron ? — Yes. After it gets clear, as we cannot take all the iron out, I put it into a boiler and boil it, say in No. 1 down to one third, then we put it out again into leaden tanks and there it crystalizes again. 6399. In the first process of crystalization, does the liquor go into the vat cold ? — No not quite cold but warm from the pickle. 6400. You do not evaporate dry at all? — No, it is after it has been for a week in the boilers, and then we concentrate it down to one-third, and then when we run it on again it crystalizes again, and it gets less iron in it. It settles for four days and then it goes back again, say, into No. 2, and is jiumped into tlie leaden boiler again, and then it is brought out and it crystalizes. 6401. What is the depth of the boiler? — It is 6 feet 6 by 18 inches deep, then it is run out from there again and tili the iron that is in the acid crys- talizes and gets out there. Then they take the liquid from it and send it back to the pickler and use it over again. That is vitriol of about 14' 50 specific gravity, and that process saves about lib. to a box throughout, and where there are 1,000 boxes made per Aveek they make from 3 tons 15 cwt. to 4 tons of copperas a week. 6402. How much does it cost per ton to make that copperas? — For 1,000 boxes made a guinea a week, and about one ton of coal, small coal, per day. 6408. At the present price of coal, what would be the cost of producing a ton of copperas ? — At the present price of coal the cost of coal per ton of copperas would not be more than about 2s. 6d. 6404. What do they sell it for ? — It is now worth '60s. in the works per ton. 6405. Do you mean that the remaining 27s. 6d. is clear profit ? — Yes. 6406 Do you include labor and everything else in the 2s. 6d. per ton ? — Labour and everything costs 2s. 6d. per ton. 6407. I want to know the total cost to the manu- facturer of producing one ton of copperas ? — Where there are 1,000 boxes per week made there are from 3 tons 15 cwt. to 4 tons of copperas, and there are 1,000 lbs. of vitriol worth 3s. Ad. a lb., that would be 3/. something. 6408. Vitriol must be used to clearuthe plates, and you ought not to debit the copperas with that vitrei, it would be run away ? — Yes. 6409. What I want to know is, the difference to the manufacturer in expense between throwing this stuff as waste into the river and evaporating it by your process and getting the copperas out of it ? — It Avould be at least a saving of 50 per cent, to hira on his outlay. 6410. Do you know how much tlie labor costs per ton of copperas ? — Altogether, including labor, coals, and everything, it would not cost more about 5s. a ton. 6411. Do you think that would cover everything ? — Yes. 6412. Would it cover interest of money spent upon plant ? — No, it would not, it would be for the making the buildings necessary for the apparatus would be about 150/. for every 1,000 boxes. 6413. {Mr. Mortoii). You mean that it would be necessai-y for the manufacturer to expend 150/. in a case where he made 1,000 boxes per week ? — Yes. 6414. In addition to all his other expenses how many men would he employ ? — One. 6415. How much coal a week ? — One ton per week. 6416. There would be the wages of one man, and the cost of one ton of coal as the Aveekly cost ? — Yes. 6417. What would be produced ? — There would be from 3 tons 15 cwt. to 4 tons of copperas, and that would be worth 305. a ton in the works, I am giving that for it. 6418. {Dr. FranklanxT). Does not the maiuifacturer pay you a royalty ? — He pays me about 100/, per mill, 30928. that is altogcth(!r, that covers everything, he buys it out and out. 6419. That would not come; to much per ton ? — No. 6420. In how many mills is your process noAV used ? — I have got it introduc(;d into about 31 works now. 6421. is it only used in tin ])late works ? — Only there. 6422. Are you aequainteul with tiie process of gal- vanizing iron and drawing iron wire ? — Yes. 6423. Do they not in those manufactures use acid in much the same way ? — Yes, but they use a Aveaker solution; it only just pays, not like the other applica- tion of it, it is too weak a solution, it Avill pay its expenses. 6424. Do you say that from actual experience ? — ■ Yes. 6425. There would be no loss ? — None whatever. 6426. In neither one case nor the other ? — No. 6427. Theirs is a Aveaker liquid, thsit Avhich is pro- duced in tin plate Avorks is a better pickle ? — Yes. 6428. And you deal Avith that ? — I let it go into a tank, and let it settle, that is taken to the black pickle and used instead of Avater, and then it comes Avitli the black pickle 1o me to prevent any of it going into the river ; they do not use more than 81bs. or 91bs. of acid to a box, 6429. After all the tin plates dipped in black pickle are Avashed in water ? — Yes. 6430. And that goes into the river ? — Yes. 6431. What is the per-centage of copperas in that Avater ? — Very little ; it oxidizes in the trough, but there is very little ; it is merely washing the plates as they are put in the Avater directly. It will not kill a fish ; it is too weak ; it is very easy to filter it, 6432. {Mr. Morton.) Do you know of any other process that is available for the purpose of stopping this nuisance ? — I do not know of anything else that Avould do it. 6433. We have heard of the stuff being thrown on to saAvdust ? — I am A ery Avell acquainted Avith that process, but I do not believe it has been done effec- tively at all. 6434. I suppose, in f:iirness to you, we ought to consider also that the manufacturer recovers some of the original acid ? — He does ; he recovers 1 lb. to every box, and that is Avorth a lb. Avhere the process is properly carried ovtt. 6435. That is one of the items to the good ? — Yes, in addition to the copperas. 6436. That is in the case of making 1,000 boxes a Aveek ? — Yes. 6437. {Dr. Frunkland.) Does Mr. Booker use your process ? — Yes. 6438. Does any stuff noAV go into the I'iver ? — It ought not ; but there are Avorks Avhere the men are careless, and if they are not looked after it does go into the river. 6439. On the Rumney do any persons use your process ?— Yes ; and for tAvo years they worked it A'cry Avell, but, Avhat with one thing and another, Mr. Woodruft" hlid a great deal of trouble Avith it. They never provided a place nearly large enough for it. It worked very Avell for tAvo years, and the Avorks increased. 6440. {Mr. Morton.') Do you require them to pay you a royalty before they start ? — They do not pay me a farthing until they get all their money back. 6441. Do you receive any royalty in that case ? — • It is a lump sum ; so much a mill. 6442. (Dr. FranhlcDid.) Have you ever been called upon to apply your process in order to prevent river pollution in galvanizing AA'orks or Avire Avorks ? — Yes, in Avire Avorks, at ]\Ir. Hall's Avorks. He put up a A'ery good place there for a time, and carried it out very Avell. Tlion he enlarged the Avorks, and Avanted ground. I made that brook at first perfectly clear, and the fish came up there, but Avhen the Avater came down a<;iiin I have had fish brought to me quite dead ; it blinds them. I kuoAV also that several farmers have Z 178 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION : — ORAL EVIDENCE — PART IIL Mr. W. Pugsley. 18 Oct. 1872. Swuasca. lost cows, and things of that sort, by drinking that water. I lived in that neighbourhood for several years. 6443. Do you know that copperas when turned into a river is fatal to cattle ? — Yes ; I believe that the cattle died from drinking sulphate of iron in the water. In summer time there is scarcely any water down but what comes down from these that comes works. 6444. Do you think that they would drink it if it tasted very badly ?— They must drink something. 6445. In small quantities it Avould be rather good for them, would it not ?— Yes, I should think it was a tonic. The witness withdrew. Adjourned sine die. PART IV. WRITTEN EVIDENCE— CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS OF WITNESSES ON SPECIAL SUBJECTS. ' Letter from Tho- mas CoKNisii, Esq., Solicitor, Penzance, addressed to the Ri- vers Pollution Com- mission, dated 29th January 1873. Letter from Tho- mas Cornish, Esq., Solicitor, Penzance, addressed to the pur- sers of mines on the Bed river. Average monthly labour cost (1872), including- salaries, of some of tlie larger mines in the Western District, Cornwall. I sent the enclosed letter to 26 mines on the Red river. Two of my letters were to mines which had stopped, and came back to me through the Dead Letter Office, but 16 of the mines have answered me, and I send their answers. In the case of an ordinary industry the labour cost would show the confidence of the proprietor in the business. His other outlays would be fixed capital in machinery and of floating capital in re-producible raw material. But the miner besides his wages and the money he spends in machinery spends a lot of money every month in timber and other materials for consumption underground which he never expects under any circumstances or in any form to see at surface again. I also forward a copy of a letter addressed to John St. Aubyn, Esq., M.P. {see beloiu) giving my " mining figures." Letter to the Pursers of Mines on the Red river. " Dear Sir, Penzance, 15th January 1873. For a matter unconnected with any business I want to ascertain the average monthly 'labour cost' of some of the larger of the western mines in the year 1872, including in the term ' labour cost ' all salaries. " Will you kindly help me by allowing your clerk to put the name of the mine and the figure on the enclosed post card. " Yours very truly, " (Signed) Tho. Coknish." Answers from the Pursers of Mines on the Red river. West Basset, average for 12 months, 1,514^. Os. Qcl. Wheal Builer, 429/. 15s. 2d. Carn Brea Mine, average labour cost per month, 2,100/. South Condurrow mine, 844Z. Qs. Od. North Wheal Crofty, lUogan, 650/. South Wheal Crofty, average labour cost for 13 months (4 weeks) of 1872 is 1,040/. lis. 7d. East Wheal Seton, 250/. 95. 4(/. Dolcoath Mine, Camborne, labour cost in 1872 amounted to 45,333/. 6s. 10c?., paid in 13 four weeks months. Wheal Emily Henrietta, lUogan, average monthly labour cost, including agencies, 218/. 18s. Id. South Wheal Frances, Illogan, average monthly labour cost, including agencies, 704/. 2s. 9c?. East Grenville, 292/. 10s. Od. Wheal Grenville, 677/. 10s. 11c?. North Roskear Mine, average monthly labour cost for 1872, 684/. 9s. 8c?. South Roskear Mine, average of last 10 months (from the commencement of the mine) per month, 235/. Tincroft Mine, average labour cost per month, 1,600/. West Wheal, Seton, monthly labour cost. 1872. January February March April May June £ 1,370 1,324 1,302 1,495 1,322 1,392 d. 0 10 10 2 10 10 1872. July August September - October November - December - £ 1,398 1,398 1,418 1,397 1,404 1,308 d. 4 6 9 4 5 2 Z 2 180 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :-EVIDENCE .-—CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS.— PART IV. Letter from Tho- jfAS CoRNisir, Esq., Solicitor, Penzance, giving " mining figures " addressed to Jolin St. Aubyn, Esq., M.P. Memorandum from Messrs. John Lover- ING and Company, china clay and stone merchants, St. Aus- tell, Cornwall, ad- dressed to the Rivers Pollution Commis- sion, dated 2ud April 1873. Approximate estimate of the value of the mineral produce of the Stannaries compiled with a view to ascertain the rateable value of mines in Corn- wall and Devon. " -^^^^ T*^!^^' . ., , , Penzance, 26th April 1871. ni e :t '"P°;^^'i'^? ''^"s^ei; yo"i- question as to what would be the rateable value ot the metallic minerals m Devon and Cornwall under Mr. Go^chen's clause because we have none of us yet been able to ascertain any basis on which such' a rating could be assessed ; but the following figures compiled from Professor Hunt'« •mineral statistics" for 1869 (the latest published) and from a return of calls and dividends given in the ' West Briton ' of 12th January last will help you to form an approximate estimate of the value of the mineral produce of the Stannaries _ "In the eight years 1862 (the earliest year for which I have returns) to 1869 inclusive an average per annum of 142 tin mines in the Stannaries produced (that i« deducted from the ' corpus ' of the counties of Devon and Cornwall) ■— " Tin to the value of During the same period an average of 157 copper mines produced - Average per Annum (894,990/. ) = (848,014/. ) = In doing this calls were made to the amount of - £ 7,159,963 6,784,110 13,994,073 2,502,290 Total 16,496,363 " And the profits divided were 1,168,017/. "That is to say, sixteen millions and a half of land, and capital was sold by those working mines in the Stannaries for a total price of under 1,200,000/. " In other words every sixpence of profit divided represented upwards of Is. paid in calls and 6s. paid in produce. "This statement takes no account of the unexhausted value of the machinery and permanent works in 1862, because set off against the same item in 1869. This statement shows that metalliferous mines in the Stannaries do not as a whole yield any beneficial occupancy. " They work because they are lotteries. "Taking the copper dues at dish and tin at (which would be a little abo^e the average) these same mines during the same period' yielded lord's dues — Averajje per Annum. Total. Copper Tin - 47,112/. 40,682/. 376,895/. 325,453/. " You can take the present average rate of the Stannaries counties at 3s. 6d. in the pound, but it is impossible to give you a return of the amount of rate which dues would yield, because (and especially in such unions as Redruth, Helston, and Penzance) the assessment of dues would disturb the rateable value of the parishes to a very large extent, in some cases to the extent of from one third to one half the whole value of the parish, and the amount of rate in the pound would of course be altered accordingly. " Yours veiy truly, " John St. Aubyn, Esq., M.P., (Signed) Tho. Cornish. " 84, Eaton Place." I beg to hand yon the following notes for your guidance in making the estimate that you require, and am sorry that my absence from home has prevented my sendino- it sooner. * _ There are in this and the neighbouring china clay districts situate as follows viz., in ' ' Luxuleyan and St. Blazey parishes - St. Austell and Roche St. Mewan - . - St. Stephen's and St. Dennis - Penzance and Helston Blisland and Bodmin Lee Moor and other parts of Devon 3 works^ 61 9 37 2 3 55 5) 55 J :: } 110 works. 7 Total 122 works. The value of the whole industry of those works is estimated as follows by Mr. John Lovering, of St. Austell. The produce for the year ending 31st December 1872, amounts to about 200,000 tons of china clay (one-third of which being used in the inanufacturo of earthenware, and the remaining two-thirds for paper makino-. bleach- ing, and other purposes). It is shipped in the neighbouring ports, viz., Charlestown, Pan, Pentavau, Fowey, Plymouth, Newquay, and Falmouth. The average price it commanded was 21^. per ton, amounting to 210,000/., delivered on board ship at the ports mentioned. RIVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION :-EVIDENCE :-COKIlESPONDENCE AND KEPORTS.-PART IV. 181 Memorandum from Messrs. John Lover- iNG and Company — continued. Which may be considered to yiekl in — Royalty to the landowners . - - - Wages to labourers . . - - ■ Rates and taxes for the locality Cost of carriage to the shi]), inekuling ([uay (hies and shipping charges - - - - - Cost of fuel for drying tin; clay and working machinery Interest on capital and profit - to the capitalist wlio works the mines - - - - - /^ths ^i-ths „\,th ./„ths ,',ths j^.ths £ 42,000 42,000 lOj.'jOO 42,000 42,000 31,500 2j;t]is 210,000 In addition to the china clay there is about 30,000 tons of china s^o?«c raised and shipped from St. Stephen's, St. Dennis, and St. Austell districts ; and sold at an average of 22s. per ton on board ship, and Avhich is used solely in the manufacture of earthenware - - 33,000 £243,000 Joseph Sidney Pedlak, of Ruthern Bridge Farm. John Searle, Batterwell Farm. of Thomas Shephard, of Burlawn Tregoose Farm. Joseph Pendray, of Poll)rock Farm. RIVER CAMEL, CORNWALL. Evidence as to the Injury suffered by Agricultural Tenants, from the Mineral Deposits from the Lanivet and Mulberry Tin Mines being carried into the river Camel. Occupies a farm called Ruthern Bridge under Captain Edyvean, about SO acres on the left and rio-ht of the river Ruthern, which runs into the river Camel at the lower end of the farm. The river adjoins about three-quarters of a mile; his farm is often over-flooded in the winter, sometimes in the summer, and the water generally covered about 20 acres ; the water generally receded very quickly. When the water receded larae quantities of sand remained on the ground and did not wash oflT ; he was obliged take sand off by manual and cart labour. The sand always came down from Mulberry Mine in the parish of Lanivet, and consisted of the rubbish and slime which came from the workings of the mine which ran into the river therefrom ; the slime would remain on the ground and continue there until the rain came and washed it away Trout used to be very plentiful, but of late years no trout has been seen there'- the river is completely poisoned, and the cattle, particularly horses, would not drink'from its water. Considers the damage and loss sustained amount to about 5/. per annum The river always ran down a clear stream except in heavy rains, when it became dirty but now the water is always dirty and filthy and thick. The rivers Camel and Ruthern ahva.ys ran down clear and wholesome, and fit for human and cattle use, but now it is unwholesome and ]Hiddly, and horses will not drink thereout. The river generally overflowed two or three times a year. His laud adjoiaing the river was generally in tillage. Occupies a farm called Batterwell on the left-hand of the Camel, under Captain Edyvean • about 40 acres, about three-quarters of a mile against the river. Has the like complaint to make as Mr. Pedlar. Suffers much more from the sand v^ashed into his farm than Mr. Pedlar; bis land is very much covered by the sand. The Lanivet West Down Mine does the. damage to his land. About two acres damaged. Only o-rows coarse stuff. Sustains sometimes much damage, other times not so much. Averages about 21. or 3/. per annum loss. Occupies Burlawn Tregoose under Molesworth Trustees. About 90 years. About one mile fronta"e of the Camel. Complains in the same manner as Mr. P(Hllar. His iniuries arise fVom the Mulberry and Lanivet Mines. The land belonging to Mr. Collins adjoins the Moleswortli land, and witness thinks about an acre of laud partially damat^ed both to-rether about 21. per annum, might be about the damage. Ihe miners coultfprevent the" sand going into the river, but they cannot altogether ])revent the dirty water <-oing dovro, although they could do so partially by cess-pits, and not to send the water down until after the expiration of a day the cess-pits would take all the settlement, and the water would run down purer. Occupies Polbrock, about 4^ acres, under the Molesworth Trustees. The Camel runs throu'-h his place. Recollects when tlie river ran down very clear. Since his recollection the river has been very much filled up; where there used to be 10 or 12 feet of water is now none at all; principally filled up by sand coming dovai from the Mulberry and Lanivet Mines. The barging and shipping have been s .flernig from the river fiUino- up by the sand from the mines. Has lately thrown up euibankments to prevent the sand coming in ; it has cost him more than 20Z. in embanking and keeping back the sand. Z 3 182 RIV'EKS I'OLLUTION COMMISSION :— EVIDENCE :— CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS.— PART IV. John IIkn TLH, of G reat Farm. RY KkS- Grogley Samukl Buscomce, of Burlawii Farm. Edwin Stephens, of Grogley Farm. Joseph Pedlae, of Burlawn Farm. Martin TnoMAs, of Boscanie Farm. Report by Messrs. J. D. Bryant, S. W. Adams, aud S. Pol- lard to the Improve- ment Committee of the Commissioners for the Port of Padstow. Occupies Great Grogley, about 250 acres, under Lady Molesworth. Parts of the farm abut on tlie river Camel and on the Ruthern stream, which runs into the river at llutliern Bridge. Ho recollects when the water in the Ruthern stream was clear and pure. Fishermen used to fish in it, aud when a boy remembers it was a good trout stream. Ihe water for several years past has been foul and muddy, and the bed of the stream choked with sand and mud from the tin mines iu the neighbourhood All the fish have been destroyed. Thousands of tons of mineral sand must have come down every year. Witness has sufi-ered considerable damage from the sand aud mud bein<^ washed over his land by the winter floods. Hundreds of tons have been deposited on his_ marshes. The mineral sand destroys the herbage, and he has had his wheat crop seriously injured by the overflow of the water. Does not believe that the miners take mucli trouble lo keep the sand and mud back from going into the river. Occupies Burlawn under Mr. Tremayne. About 170 acres on the right side of the Camel suffers in the same manner as the others by the overflowing of the river Ca7nel aud by the depositing of the sand on the fields on his farm and to the extent of a <^reat reduction m its value ; it is not worth half its vahie it was 15 or 16 years ao-o °The drams are choked and the land injured by the sand. The damage has taken pFace since the opening of the mines ; free from the damage they now suffer when the mines were not in work. Occupies Grogley. Complains in the same style. The mines have occasioned the loss of fish, the stoppage of the barges, and the sand thrown over the land by the filling up of the river aud poisoning the watei-, which horses refuse to drink. Occupies Burlawn pillow, on the right-hand side of the river Camel. Has lost an orchard by the water being ponded back. The orchard was valuable some 15 years smce, but now gone back, principally injured from the refuse of the mines comin<^ down the river ; is gradually filling up thereby. ° Occupies Boscarne under Rev. George S. Prior. On the right hand of the river has sustained no injury from the sand coming down, but fully coincides with the observa- tions of the other persons. Some years since there were many pools in the river but now these pools are filled in by the sand coming down from the mines. The pools 'were generally the hiding places of the fish when the water was low in the river * ' Report on the Influx of Silt into the River Camel. Having j3een requested by you to survey the river Camel in order to ascertain the source ot the influx of, silt into the river which is washed down into the commercial harbour at Wadebridge, we examined the river and its tributaries on the 15th April and beg to report thereon as follows : — ' 1. The river Camel and its tributaries appear at present to be in an unexceptionable state with the exception of the tributary which comes down the Ruthern Valley and joins the Camel near the Grogley station of the Wadebridge Railway, and the smaller tributary which joins the Camel at Nanstallan. 2. On examining the Ruthern Valley stream we find that immediately above Ruthern Bridge a torrent of water and silt is being driven into the river from the Mulberry Tin Mine. _ This torrent rushes down a paved sluice at the rate of about five miles an hour ; it was 7 feet wide and 8 inches deep when we saw it, and it carried with it an immense quantity of mine refuse. From its appearance aud our subsequent inquiries we consider that this torrent discharges into the river 50 tons of solid matter in every 24 hours. ■' 3. We were courteously received at the Mulberry Mine, which we proceeded to exnmme, aud we were aflbrded such information as we asked for, except in one par- ticular, and which is referred to hereafter in paragraph 9 of this Report. 4. Near the river banks we found 68 head of stamps worked by a powerful water- wheel. Here Ave observed men deliberately shovelling the refuse from the washino- pits into gutters, through which water was rushiug and carrying the refuse into the river. There are no catch -pits here. 5. Proceeding fartlier up the mine we found 16 head of stamps worked by a water- wheel. There is no catch-pit here, but one could be easily formed. 6. The other works of this mine beyond the 16 head of stamps last referred to are at a considerable elevation, and catch-pits could be constructed with facility and economy, but nothing of the kind appears to have been attempted. Beyond this point are 64 head of stamps Avorked by a steam engme, aud 48 by a waterwheel; 19 of the latter were idle at the time of our visit. 7. The water flowing into the mine above the works was clear. On leavino- the floors of the above-mentioned 68 and 48 head of stamps, more than one half of the water, forming a stream 3 feet wide and 5 inches deep, and running about three miles an hour, Avas carried into the bed of the stream and down to the river Camel. The residue of the water Avas carried through Avhat Avas shown to us as a catch-pit, but Avluch bore no resemblance AAdialcA-er to one, aud appeared to us to be a catch place for rctaiumg the coarser stuff escaping from the stamps iu order to re-stamp it. KIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— EVIDENCE :— CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS.— PART IV. 183 Report by Messrs. J. D. Bryant, S. W. Adams, unci S. Pol- lard — continued. John bargeman, ber 1872. Billing, Septem- 8. This catch, place of ti i;ingulav shape, containing perhaps 1^ acres, and from its base to apex 180 to 200 feet. The base had been constructed by a dam formed of o-ravel and fa"-gots being placed across a guUy. This dam is about 10 feet in average height, and the space behind it is quite filled up by solid matter, and from base to apex there was a regular rise of about 5 feet. " Tiie water flowing over this deposit appeared " to us more likely to acquire than deposit silt." 9. From the imperfect construction of this dam, merely faggots placed on gravel, the whole affair seemed very dangerous and liable, in the event of a heavy rainfoU in the basin of the country behind the mine, to be carried bodily into the river. Tha.t this is not a groundless apprehension is proved by the fact that the accumu- lation behind the dam referred to had been much higher than it was when we were there as we observed ridges and banks on the surface of the accumulation 2 feet to 2 feet 7 inches above its general level, the material or deposit between which had evidently been carried away by the rush of water ; how this was, or when, was the point on which we received no infonnation, as referred to in paragraph 3 of this Report. 10. Two streams. Mulberry and ff it/del, unite above Ruthern Bridge. The one from the Mulberry Valley does not at all times afford water enough for the Avorks at Mulberry. A dam has been placed across the stream in Withiel Valley opposite Ti-egawn, and the water has been led by a leat round the hill and brought into Mul- berry Mine to work the stamps mentioned in paragraph 4 of this Report. 11. We visited this dam and found the admission of water to Mulberry Mine leat governed by a flood hatch. Just above this point we found the river running over its natural bed in a comparatively clear state (there had been heavy showers the previous night) although slightly coloured with a pink or reddish tinge. Brynn Mine is situate some miles above this place, and from the state of the banks and bottom of the stream we judged that at some previous time silt had been flooded down from Brynn Mine. 12. On proceeding to Brynn Mine we were informed by the person we found there what we had been told before by the agent at Mulberry, that Brynn Mine had been working about seven months, and for the first five months had sent the waste into the stream flowing on to Ruthern Bridge, but for the last two months had pool'd it. This appears to have been the case, but their so-called pools are now full of waste stuff, and the silt is again washing away. Owing to scarcity of water this waste is settling in the course of its progress down the stream awaiting the winter freshets to be carried onwards to the river and to Wadebridge. Thirty-six head of stamps are worked by steam at Brynn, and 36 more head are pre- pared for. On the opposite side of the valley another steam engine and stamps are ready to go to work, so that shortly upwards of 100 head of stamps may be at work hereabout. 13. Brynn and Mulberry are the only works on the stieam which form the Ruthern tributary to the Camel river. 14. We next proceeded to examine the works on the banks of the tributary joining the Camel at Nanstallan. 15. About a mile from Lanivet towards St. Austell we found a small set of about a dozen stamps used to crush stuff brought from Wheal Sarah, about 2| miles distant. There is no catch-pit here, although the situation is very convenient for constructing pits. 1 6. Further towards St. Austell is a small affair called East Beam, which has been idle for the last six months. 17. Near Lanivet are some small wheels and about two dozen and a half stamps, which are worked in an intermittent and desultory manner. Although they may be very conveniently made, there are no catch-pits here. 18. The works on the Nanstallan tributary are at present of small moment, but require careful watching, as, in the event of a spurt in mining in this district, they might be a source of much damage. 19. We filled a two-gallon jar from the sluice mentioned in paragraph 2 of this Report, as perhaps the Commissioners may wish to have it tested chemically for poisonous matters. We are, &c. (Signed) J. D. Bryant, A Commissionei'. Saml. W. Adams, Laud Agent, Plympton. Dated April 1871. Saml. Pollard. RIVER TIDI, CORNWALL. Evidence as to the Pollution of the River Tidi, so far as affects the Lands of the Earl of Saint Germans and the Navigation of the River. I am a bargeman, and have worked a barge on the Tidi river for the last 45 years. Until within the last 10 or 11 years there was no sand whatever in Tideford river. We used then to have 7 feet of water at Mr. Sansom's (now Mr. Blake's) quay, when there was 14 feet of water at Devonport Dockyard. This is the rule we always went by for many years. About 10 years ago the sand began to come down. It came mostly in the winter, when the river was swollen by floods. Tlie sand has been Z 4 184 RIVERS rOLLUTION COMMISSION :— EVIDENCE : — CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS. — PART IV. John Billing continued. Thomas Haddy, bai-ffemau, Septem- bcA872. Thomas Henry Geake, merchant, September 1872. increasing ever since. Jt sliifts from lime to time after heavy floods. ' The sand lias filled up the bed of the river -very considerably from Tideford Bridge to Morvalo Granary. There is not so much water at Mr. Blake's quay now as there was 10 years ago by at least 14 inches. It makes a great difference to the navigation of the river. We lose, on the average, tliree trips in a month by it. There is a great deal of sand in the river lower down than Morvalo Granary, especially in the turn of 'the river. A great deal of sand is taken out of tlie river for building purposes by barges, anil horses and carts. 1 am a bargeman, and have worked a barge up and down the Tideford I'iver regularly for more than 20 years. When 1 first knew the river there was no sand in the°bed of the river, but now there is a very large quantity. It began to come down 8 to 10. years ago. It accumulated very' fast, and has choked up the bed of the river very much. There is not so much water at Mr. Blake's quay as there was seven or eight years ago by at least a foot. We calculate on there being a foot of water less than there used to be. We always take our calculations from the tide-tables, which are published every year, and give the depth of water at Devonport Dockyard at high water for every day in the year. There used to be 7 feet of water or thereabouts at Tideford quays when there was 14 feet at Devonport Dockyard ; now we have scarcely 6 feet. The pools in the bed of the river Avhere the water was deepest are now filled up with sand. We cannot make so many trips as wc used to ; it makes three or four trips per month difference to us, and causes us much loss and inconvenience. The sand narrows the ehaunel of the river in dry summers, but the winter floods wash down some of the banks into the channel of the river. The sand affects the bed of the river mostly between Mr. Geake's quay and Morvalo Granary, but there is a great deal below that point. I am a merchant, and reside at Saint German's. 1 have known the Tidi river for 30 years. For the last 12 years I have occupied the quay, limekilns, and jjreraises called the Higher Quay at Tideford, and my father occupied them for four years pre- viously. There is a much larger quantity of sand in the river at Tideford now than there was when I first rented the quay. It has been accumulating very much for the last 10 or 11 years, and the water at the quay is not so deep by more than a foot as it used to be. The navigation of the river is very much interfered with, as barges cannot get into the quay at the same lift of the tide as they could formerly. This inflicts a loss on those engaged in the navigation of the river. The sand shifts with the winter floods, but accumulates again in dry seasons. The sand is washed down the river from the mines chiefly from Wheal Wrey and Wheal Ludcott, as more sand comes from these mines than any of the others. Robert Seinsbury, formerly gamekeeper to the Earl of St. Germans. Thomas Olver, of St. Germans. Isaac Brickwood, of Tideford, Septem- ber 1872. I was formerly gamekeeper to the Earl of St. Germans. I first went there in 1848, and have lived in the parish ever since. When I first went to St. Germans, and for some years afterwards, Ave had veiy good fishing ground at Stone ])oo\ and other places between Tideford Iliglicr Quay and Treduan Mills. There was a large quantity of salmon peal, and trout in the river. The water was then clear, and a very fair bottom to the river, without sand, and nice pools. The pools are now filled up Avith sand. When I first knew Stone pool it was 5 feet deep, and there Avas abundance of fish in it ; noAV the pool is not 2 feet deep. There was a salmon trip above Tideford Bridge, Avhich Avas much used for some years after I went Avith Lord St. Germans, and large quantities of fish were caught here. In consequence of the mineral Avater desti-oying the fish the trip Avas discon- tinued, and all that remains of it is now choked up Avith sand, Salmon sometimes come u]i the river now, but they cannot breed there. If they deposit spaAvn the sand Avhich Avashes doAvn destroys them before they are hatched. There are no peal in the river How, only very few trout, Avhich come doAvn from the rivulets Avhich run into the river. I am 73 years of age. I have lived in the parish of St. Germans all my lifetime and at Tideford for nearly 40 years. I very Avell recollect the time AA'hen there was a quantity of salmon, salmon peal, and trout in Tideford river. The river Avas then very much frequented by anglers. I knew the trij) above Tideford Bridge, and have seen a great many fish taken out of it. There are very fcAv fish in the river noAV ; they cannot live in the Avater. I kncAV Avhen Stone pool Avas 5 or 6 feet deep, and plenty of fish in it ; noAvthe Avater in Stone pool Avill not take a boy up to knees. It is filled up Avith sand Avhich has been coming doAvn the river from the mines for several years })ast, and the bed of the river is filling up. Great quantities of sand are taken away for building purposes. There Avas Httle or no sand in the river until the mines Avent on. 1 have lived at Tideford for upAvards of 25 years. Until Avithin the last 10 years there was not a cartload of sand in the river between Tideford Bridge and the quays. The sand has been accumulating in the river very fast for the last seven years or more. T take out a great many cartloads of sand at Mr. Billing's quay every year, and draw it aAvay for buildings. 'Sand is also taken away in barges ; there is enough there to supply the Avhole neighbourhood. The bed of the river has filled up very much within the last seven years. "Barges cannot come up at the same lift of the tide as they used to, or so close to the quay Avail, 1 knew the trip aboA^e Tideford Bridge ; it is quite JUvfirs Pollutiou Commissioa DIMENSIONS OF EACH PIT. lenffth 80 feet. BreaxUJvWfeel. BepUvSfeet. k Embankment of etvrttv arui suJbsoiJL 3 feet thick B FartitLoro of „ , B ° , S Oidlet " SixLe Launder 18 irv.witie' by 1Z irt .deep. PLAN OF CATCH PITS AT WHEAL CRELAKE COPPER MINE for the, mtercepUoTL ami clexmstng of the water from the, Bressiitg Floors before it falls into the RIVER TA V Y. (Scale.. - 32 Feet to an. Inch . ^. ^ -y Stanfardls be£^J:6tah 55 GuLruig- Cross. KIVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— EVIDENCE :—CORRESPONDEXCE AND REPORTS.— PART IV. 185 Isaac Brickwood — continued. Laavrence Dyer, of Tideford, Septem- ber 1872. useless now, and has been left go down. It is quite clicked up with sand. There used to be plenty of salmon, salmon peal, and trout in the river, and at times they were very plentiful ; now there are only a few trout, and those not very good. I have worked a barge in Tideford river for 16 years. For the last eight years a great denl of sand has come down the river fronr the mines. There is not so much water at Tideford Quays as there used to be by 1 foot at least in coneequence of sand having filled up the bed of the river. There was no sand there until the mines went to work. Statement by Cap- tain Wji. Hooper, late Agent of the Wheal Crelake Mine, referred to in the evi- dence of Mr. Henry Clark, Part HI., p. 37, Q. 1440. Particulars referred to in the Evidence of Henry Clark, Part III., p. 37, Q. 1440. WHEAL CEELAKE MINE, NEAR TAVISTOCK, DEVON. Slime Pits. As regards Crelake Slime Pits, the cost of cleansing was 1/. IO5. per pit, the first pit filled about three times a year, the second twice, and the third once ; the fourth was never cleaned out, the fifth and sixth had very little in them when the mine stopped, the water from the last pit was almost clean enough to drink, and Crelake work always con- tained a large quantity of slime. I consider these pits the best I have ever seen. It was a 15-inch launder that carried the Avater around in the different pits. Cost of Constructing and Cleansing Slime Pits at Wheal Crelake. Excavating 400 cubic yards at 6c?. - - - - Side launder of l\ in. board, 18 inches wide and 12 inches deep = 703 feet of boarding, at 4^rf. - - - Making ditto and sundries (say) . - - - Land occupied by the series of six pits, Oa. Or. 24p., at 100/. per acre ------- £ 10 13 1 s. 0 3 16 d. 0 3 9 15 0 0 40 0 0 Annual Cost of Emptying a Series of Six Pits.* £ s. d. Emptying 1st pic, three times at 30^. - - -4100 „ 2nd „ twice „ - - -300 „ 3rd „ once „ - - - 1 10 0 Land required for depositing slime on, say, 20 perches per annum, at 100/. per acre - - - - - 12 10 0 21 10 0 Note. — A series of six pits of the dimensions of those at Wheal Crelake, are sufficient to cleanse the waters of a mine returning 200 tons of copper ore and mundic per month, or the same quantity of lead ore, even if the matrix associated with the ores be as soft and slimy as that at Wheal Crelake (it could not well be more so), the cost of precipitating the slime suspended in the waters from the dressing floors would therefore be about 2d. per annum per ton of mineral sold. Results obtained from the Slime Pits at Wheal Crelake. Slime arresled in No. 1 pit per annum, three times filled at 60 tons „ „ No. 2 „ „ twice „ „ „ „ No. 3 „ „ once „ „ Slime arrested by the above pits per annum - - 360 Note. — Unless arrested by these pits the above quantity of slime must have been carried annually into the river Tavy, which is the natural channel for the drainage of water from this mine. The pits were constructed in 1868, and were kept in daily use till 1871, when the mine ceased to work. No. 4 pit was not emptied during the time, but had filled just as the mine stopped. Pits Nos. o and 6 never filled ; they were about half filled with slime at the close of operations. Tons. J 80 120 60 30928. * This is the cost of Hftino; and cariying the slime hj- hand labour, but where it can be flushed out of the first pits by water, and conveyed to a second series at a lower level, and there allowed to dry, the cost -would be much less. Aa 186 KIVEES POLLUTION COMMISSION --EVIDENCE :— CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS. —PART IV. Particulai'S referred to in the evidence of Henry Clark — con- tinued. Evidence of Mr. Richard George Coke, Civil and Min- ing Engineer, on the polkition of the Ri- vers Hipper and Ro- ther, 1 4th of October 1872. DEVON GREAT CONSOLS. Area of Slime Pits and Slime Seats. Slime leat from Wheal Maria to Wheal Thomas Pits in Wheal Maria - - - _ „ Wheal Fanny - - - . „ Wheal A. Maria - , - „ Wheal Josiah - „ Wheal Emma - - . _ 4.. R. p. 7 1 25 0 2 11 1 1 0 3 0 2 2 3 20 1 1 21 16 1 39 POLLUTION OF THE RIVERS HIPPER AND ROTHER, DERBY- SHIRE. I am a civil and mining engineer, residing at Tapton Grove, near Chesterfield, and have offices in the town. I have observed for a considerable period the jJoUution of the rivers Hippei- and Hothci: The former takes its rise on the high moor land at Holy Moor side, near the Trigono- metrical Station at Hipperseik, 1,225 feet above the sea-level, and is gradually increased by several small streams about Walton and Brampton, and after receiving the water of the Hol/i or Linacre Brook, near the gasworks and Old Torye, flows by the south side of the town, forming the river Rother and Muster Brook, near the Horns Bridge, at the junction of the Derby and Chesterfield turnpike roads. The river Rother flows from a spring called Rother, in the village of Pilsley, six miles south of Chesterfield, passing by North Wingfield Church and Tapton, then following the direction of the Midland Railway to Chesterfield, where it forms the river Hipper, as before mentioned. The united rivers at this point are called the Rother, which then skirts the east side of the town to Taptou Mill, where a portion of the water is diverted to act as a feeder for the Chesterfield and Gainsboro' Canal ; the remainder follows the bed of the river to the conflux of the rivers Drone and Whiting, near Whittington, and forming the river Do7i, near Rotherliam. The several sources of the river are shown on the map in Vol. I. of this Report. As these streams are entirely dependent on rainfalls, it is evident that in dry seasons their yield is very limited, consequently the rivers skirting the borough, and for some distance beyond, emit a most offensive odour, the water being very turbid and black. The construction of the large impounding reservoir at Linacre Wood for the supply of the town diverts the water from the Holm or Linacre Brook, at a time when it is most required, to increase the volume and purify the stream. The sources of pollution may be classed under the following heads, viz. : — Sewage. Coal Washing. Refuse from Industrial Processes, &c. The first contributes very largely to the fouling of the river at Chesterfield. The outlets of all sewers and surface drains terminating in the stream, also privies, pig-sties, &c., are placed close to the banks. The corporation have recently placed on the outlets of the main sewers a charcoal filter tank, which no doubt retains a portion of the solid and most offensive matter, but leaves the effluent water discoloured and foul. 2. Coal washing. I produce a report dated December 27th, IQIOXwhich will be found printed at pp. 187-192), describing this matter fuUy, and may add, the injuries to the river and land are becoming more serious daily. 3. Refuse from the streets, tan-yards, bleach works, gasworks, &c. The town of Chesterfield having a considerable elevation above the river, it neces- sarily follows that during heavy rains the whole of the street surfaces ai"e cleansed and the refuse passed direct into the river. The pollution of the Avater from gasworks, tan-yards, &c. is of limited extent, but should not be allowed. In the Brampton district the river appears to be used as a common sewer, and the receptacle for ashes and other debris, as there is no sufficient drainage yet provided for the large population. With the excepton of the new drains recently laid down in Chesterfield, the sewers are very old and of faulty construction, being merely reservoirs of deposit ; there is no ventilation of any kind, and the complaints of sewer gas entering the dwellings are very frequent ; a heavy rainfall flushes the sewers, and the small filtering tanks are soon filled with sewage, the surplus passing into and fouling the stream. Few towns have greater natural advantages for a complete system of drainage than Chesterfield, there being ample fall for the sewers in every direction ; the sub-strata consists of ratchil and sandstone rock, a section of which can now be seen at the corner of Church Lane and Packers Row. Lastly, if I may be permitted to offer an opinion as to the best means of diverting the sewage and other refuse from the rivers under consideration, I would suggest that a proper system of drains should be laid in Brampton, commuuiciiting with a main sewer to be constructed from Brampton Church to the gasworks, there to enter an inter- cepting sewer placed by the river side from this point to the meadows near the railway RIVERS POLLUTION commission: — evidence correspondence and reports. — PART IV. 187 Evidence of Mr. EicHARD George Coke — continued. station. Into this sewer every drain from the town would enter ; after the solid matter had been separated, the liquid portion would be pumped by hydraulic or steam power to Dobbin Ching and Bady Hill Farms, where there is a large acreage of ground turned over by ironstone workings, and admirably adapted for sewage irrigation ; this land is parched in summer, the drainage being too rapid. The injury to the rivers by washing coal may be remedied by the construction of subsiding tanks, the deposit of the refuse soon takes place, and tlie water above may be drawn off perfectly clear and free from any impurity. Few towns have the advantages of Chesterfield in the removal of fouling matter from the streams at a small cost. Report to J. G. Cottingham, Esq., agent to His Grace the Duke of Devon- shire ; to Captain Douglas, agent to the Right Honourable the Earl Fitzwilliam ; to John Horncastle, Esq., agent to the Right Honourable the Earl Manvers ; to R. Turnbill, Esq., agent to the trustees of the late Sir R. Sitwell, Baronet, Chesterfield, Dec. 27th, 1870 ; by Richard George Coke, Civil and Mining Engineer. RIVER ROTHER, DERBYSHIRE. Pollution of the River Rother and adjacent lands by coal washing at Collieries in Barlow, Dunston, Whittington, and also northwards from Lockoford near Chesterfield through Staveley, Eckington, Killamarsh, and Beighton, all in the county of Derby. In compliance with the instructions received from you, 24th July 1867, that I should carefully examine and report on the state of the river Rother from Chesterfield to Beighton, and the injury done' by coal washing to the stream, the owners and occupiers of mill dams, also the freeholders and tenants of lands adjoining, whose names are signed to a memorial annexed to this report. On making a preliminary examination by walking over the whole distance, and also the rivers Whitting and Drone, with the Stidbrook and Barlow Brook to the source of pollution, there appeared abundant proof that a most serious injury had been inilicted on your memorialists, and which was rapidly increasing, by the further introduction of coal washing machinery at new collieries, the polluted water passing into the river Rother. This system of coal washing was probably inti'oduced from Bohemia or copied from the successful apparatus designed by the late Mr. Herbert Mackworth. The economy of the process is important, the water purification, separating the earthy and other matter from the small coal, which is then capable of being converted- into a good coke, the two principal causes of clinker being removed, viz., carbonate of lime, and iron pyrites. The coal for washing is very moderate, not exceeding 'id. per ton. A machine will turn out from 120 to 150 tons daily of washed slack, each ton requiring over 600 gallons of water, which becomes polluted, and in this state is passed into the river, rendering it intensely black and turbid and totally unfit for domestic purposes or cattle ;_ the sediment being there deposited is carried over the meadow'lands by floods to the great injury of the tenant farmer, one of whom, Mr. Crawshaw, has carted off his pasture 200 loads at his own cost. The collieries using this machinery with the number of coke ovens are annexed. At the Devonshire Silkstone and Whittington Collieries large quantities of coal are carried with the polluted water into the stream ; at the latter place the poor inhabitants collect what they can for house fuel. At the junction of this colliery with the river Rother, the whole bed of the river for some distance is 18 inches deep of coal refuse. The colliery being at an elevation of 62 feet above the river, the debris is carried down very rapidly and there are no dams or catch basins to prevent it. At several of the collieries referred to there are sumps or dams constructed to allow the polluted water to subside before passing it into the river, but in nearly all cases the labour of cleaning them out appears to prohibit this being done, and the sumps are allowed to fill and remain so, particularly at Mr. Marrisou's coke works, where they have not been cleaned out for months. At the Devonshire Silkstone Colliery a few perforated iron plates as interceptors have been fixed, but are entirely inefficient and receiving no attention whatever. The burning of coke is let to contractors at per ton, and so long as this work is done to the satisfaction of their employers, the cleaning of sumps is a secondary matter and therefore are practically useless. The chief object appears to be, the ob- taining the maximum profit, the consequence is the large quantity of polluting matter which might and ought to be intercepted is carried direct into the stream, causing the great injury complained of. The water at Mr. Marrison's coke ovens is used over and over again by means of a centrifugal pump, which has been set to work in March last, but as the sumps are seldom or ever cleaned out, much refuse passes into the river. The small waste coke at these and also other works is placed too near the edge of the stream, the result is, in heavy rains a considerable quantity of it is washed into the liver, and which is most injurious to grass lands. Assuming the total number of coke ovens to be 670, and allowing a fair deduction for those empty and under repairs, 500,000 gallons of water would be daily required for washing the small coal, and which is now delivered in its impure state, into the river Rother, a quantity sufficient in dry seasons to render the water useless for many miles in the direction of its course. Very frequent examinations have been made by myself and assistants of the state of the streams and river Rother. Firstly, when the storm waters caused the banks to overflow, and secondly, when they had subsided, observing the injury to the mill dams and herbage. A a 2 188 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— EVIDENCE :— CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS.— PART The exceptional dry season of 1868, and also the present year, have prevented the flooding of the low lands to some extent, but the injury to the water in the streams and river has been much aggravated by a want of scour to remove the debris. The mill dams 'are silted up and require frequent cleaning ; the one at Whittino-tou Mill is full at this time, and most of the others have their capacity for holdinn- Avliter much reduced. ° The herbage on grass lands is entirely destroyed where there is much deposit of the silt, and we found in the large meadows, near Kenishaw Hall that the small coal had been drawn under the surface for several inches by the root of the plant, and which causes the natural gi-ass to be supplanted by an inferior herbao-e. The rainfall affects this subject so much it will be necessary to show the exact quantity Avhich fell during the several months in each year, a statement of which is annexed, commencing August 1867 to December 27th, 1870. It may be observed that when the rainfall is gradual there is not any flooding, but from October to February, when there are frequently many wet days near too-e'ther and little or no evaporation, the river banks often overflow. ° ' A marked difference has been observed since the completion of the second lar"-e reservoir at Liuacre for the Chesterfield Waterworks Company, which impounds one hundred million gallons of water, and being collected chiefly during the winter and spring months, it prevents this large quantity of water passing into the river Bother, and reduces the scour to some extent. _ On referring to the explanatory map prepared for this report it will be seen the river Bother fjom Loekoford, near Chesterfield, to Beighton has only a small fall and the current is much impeded by the tortuous course of the stream, which in summer seasons reduces the velocity to less than 2 feet per second. The result of tlie coal washing may be stated in a few words. The water is ren- dered entirely useless for domestic purposes or for cattle, no fish can live in the stream, and tlie bed of the river is gradually lifted with small coai, a portion of which i< removed by si orra water lower down the stream, or placed on the banks, or low jneadow lands, to the gi oat injury of the tenant farmer whose herbage is destroyed ; the poisonous effect being very apparent wherever the deposits of the silt are made. The river banks at this time, and after a recent flood, are covered Avith a filthy black slime, and the bed lifted in some places above 2 feet, and although a heavy flood may scour a portion away, it becomes apparent that a grievous injury is done to all the riparian proprietors whose lands are on the level of tlie banks or who require the water for their tenants' stock. The analysis of the water taken from the coal washing machinery as it enters the river is annexed. The deposit of earthy matter varies from |th to -^th for each gallon of water ; the recent coal washing machinery removes much of the small coal, but the above deposit can only be taken away by constructing several intercepting dams of considerable area and great attention being paid to the removal of the refuse. It is no part of my duty to point out the proper way of purifying the water polluted by coal washing, but from experiments I have made, the object can be gained at a moderate cost. The system now adopted is to reduce the cost of making coke to a minimum, the injury to the river is never thought of, the small cost of cleaning the residuum lodges prohibits their being done, and in many cases will continue so to do, unless a determined and effectual resistance is at once made. No doubt a very large amount of capital has been invested in coal washing machinery, coke ovens, railway sidings, &c., and in dealing with the question of the defilement of the river and streams it became necessary to make frequent examinations, in order to arrive at a correct decision, although the ascertaining of the facts involved considerable time and trotible. The result of this inquiry may be summed up by stating, — Firstly. The water in a portion of the Sudbrook, Barlow Brook, rivers Whitting and Rather are polluted by coal washing to such an extent as to prohibit the use of it for domestic purposes or cattle, entailing a loss on the tenant farmer. Secondly. This refuse is gradually lifting the bed of the river for a considerable extent, such lifting or contraction of the water channel causing the storm waters rapidly to overflow the banks and flood the meadow lands, to the injury of the herbage, requiring several years of scour to bring the bed of the river back to its original position. Thirdly. The tenants of the mills on the rivers Whitting and Rotlicr are seriously injured by the silting up of their mill dams, and the owners will have to submit to reduced rents in consequence. Remedy. The only effectual remedy will be an injunction from the Court of Chancery, to be served on all manufacturers of coke contributing to the injury. The case is so clear and the permanent injury to owners of property adjoining the river so great, that there will not be any difficulty in obtaining this prohibition. It would answer no good purpose to serve a legal notice, warning the colliery owners to desist from polluting the water, as it would require the constant care of an expe- rienced person to see proper means were adopted to prevent the pollution, and this would be a work of considerable labour, as the distance to be examined exceeds 20 miles, which will be added to, as coal washing machinery is now erecting near Dronfield, the water from which will pass into the rivers Drone, TV/titting, and Mother . In my opinion, it cannot be pleaded as a bar to legal proceedings that some of the riparian proprietors are parties to their own injury by leasing the coal and granting Report by Richard George Coke — con- tinued. RIVEKS POLLUTION COMMISSION EVIDENCE CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS,— PART IV. 189 Report by Richard Gkorge Coke — co7i- tinued. their tenants all facilities for converting it into marketable products. They could grant no power or right over the river. " Every owner of the bank of a flowing river has a right to the flow of the stream througli his land in its natural nurity. If an owner of the bank higher up tiirows dirt an.l ashes or gas refuse "into it, so as to dchle the Avater and make it unht for use to the damage of another proprietor who has been m the habit of using the water, au action is maintainable for the injury,unless a title to d<. file the water by grant or prescription can be shown." Murgatroyd v. Robinson, 25 Law Jour. Q.B. 233. No doubt many of the mining leases were granted before coal washing was known, therefore the lessors could not have been aware of the injury it would occasion In conclusion, this inquiry has taken a considerable time to complete owin > > Limestone. ; Limestone. < Hurdle. Hurdle. " Presuming that the settling pits and conduit are adopted, should it not be possible to let the effluent water discharge itself by means of a spout into an arrangement such as that here figured. Conduit. Spout Basket of burnt inch bones (bone black or bone charcoal). " The basket should be made of stout wicker-work, just close enough to keep in its charge of burnt bones, which .should amount to about one cwt. at least. The oVct is to bring atmospheric air, the water, an.l the charcoal together. A basket with its charge ought to cost less than 20.., and to la.t some time in efficient working order. " The cover of the basket is made slightly conical, and the bottom should be more closely Avovcn than the top or sides. " By passing through such an arrangement as that here suggested the water acquires much oxygen,\s well as loses some, if not all, of its remaining impurities. It is at least worth a trial." Report by Cavt. Alldridge to the Harbour Commis- sioners of the river Usk, Newport, Mon- mouthshire, 7th Feb- ruary 1868, and re- ferred to in the cvi- POLLUTION OF THE USK AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. Onhmdino- to you my survey of the river Usk I may be allowed to make the f 11 wina rpn?xvks — Mv survcy was based on an ordnance distance supplied at my ^IsTirSoW Sh Hemy James (Director General of the Ordnance Survey) Sween g^t. Woollos Church 'and the Usk ligl^thouse, from which J ^^ave con^u ed mv nrincipal triangulation and protracted my ivork to the scale ot 1^ luclies to a Sute m fe The coast line has been carefully delineated and measured, the low- ^i rfe itu^e ha been accurately drawn and put in by ang es taken at numerous atSn? long edge and from the shore. The soundings, given in feet, have been BIVEES POLLUTION COMMISSION :— EVIDENCE : — CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS. — PART IV. 197 dence of Mr. Robert Geethiug, harbour master, Q. 4110, p. 114, Part III. Report by Arthuk Davis Bekrington, Esq., of Aberga- venny, on the pollu- tion of the Vsk and its tributaries, Oct. 1872, referred to in his evidence,PartIII., Q. 4563, page 127. correctly taken and reduced to a low water zero of the oOth August 1 867, bein"- a mean spring of the whole year, on which day the rise and fall was accurately measured by levelling, and reference marks cut on the stone bridge at Newport, the dock sill gauge, the magazine door step, at tlic powder-house point, and on the lower magazine. The river was free from " freshes " and the weather settled fine, affording a most favourable opportunity for the purpose, and defining the low-water summer level. A register of the tides was also taken during my sounding operations. The depths of water have likewise been given at high water over the banks and in tlie channel of the river corresponding with the same high water of 30th August 1867 which showed 32 feet on the dock sill gauge. The strengtli of the tide has been determined in various places by anchoring a boat in the stream and with a line carefully marked and logship for the purpose takin"- a mean of the times of 100 feet of line running out, and proportioning for the rate per hour the direction of tlie stream has likewise been given. Throughout my operations I was greatly favoured in the weatlier, so that I can with every confidence give in the result of my labours. The river TJsk affords many and great facilities to the shipping trade. It is easy of access, has sufficient rise of tide for the largest class of ships, is free from rocky bottom or other impediment, and vessels may ground almost anywhere with impunity and without fear of washing, steam tugs are ahvays in attendance and licensed pilots on the look out. There are good floating docks capable of receiving large sized ships, and steamers of oOO tons and upwards ground in safety at the coal jetties, which extend for a mile and a half below Newport Bridge. The Usk light is bright red, visible 11 miles, and exhibits a white b'ght ^vhen fairly in the entrance of the river, and also shows a while strip of light when below tho powder house point (or in Bridgewaterman's Reach). On looking at the size and form of the casement of the lighthouse, the idea strikes me of what a capital case- mated battery it might have afforded when consti'ucting^ in the event of war, for the protection of the river and shipping in the docks, he. I have to notice the accumulation of stones, scoria, and other matter below the powder-house point and at the entrance of the river Ehlno, which must come down from above on the ebb tide. I have taken up several of these apparent stones, and on handling them, been surprised at their lightness, until, on closer examination I have found them to be scoria or cinders rounded and smoothed through the action of the water and continued rolling downwards on the ebb until met by the flood tide, when they become deposited, and accumulate from the fact that they will not roll up hill again. This is a great evil and injury to the river, and powers should be obtained, if possible, to prevent it. I produce one specimen, picked up fi om under water, where my boat touched the gi'ound, of what the rest is like. The river becomes ' almost ponded or barred (upwards) from just below the powder-house point, and where there is a slight fall at low water, and I have endeavoured to shoAV this in my section on the chart, and the reason of the difference of rise and fall at Nevsport Brid'^e and the entrance of the river. From the reference marks cut dri Newport Bridoe, dock sill gauge, powder house, and lower magazine, any futur/ changes might easily be determined, and I would venture to suggest that an examiiiafion ghould be duly made from time to time for that purpose. Pollution of the Usk and its Tributaries/ji e^^A The worst pollutions of the Usk, caused by mines and works, have arisen from the Chjdach, the ATpon Lhoyd, and the Ebbw tributaries ; but y^a4- by year other sources of injury spring up, and the sewage of the towns of Brecon, Bry^Taa^r, Abergavenny, Usk, Pontypool, &c. are now poured into it. A large population is dependen't on the' river for its water supply, and the consequences which must follow an outbreak of cholera would be most serious. The river is everywhere made the receptacle for all kinds of refuse. At Defynock on the Senny, a large tributary of the Ush, the tanyards discharge the whole of their refuse of every kind into the stream. Immediately above Brecon a large quantity of water is abstracted by the canal company ; indeed, in a dry summer they take the whole river, and immediately below this point the refuse of the town is poured in. It has, I believe, recently been in contemplation to expend a considerable sum of money in turning the whole of the drainage of the town, which is at present imperfectly carried out, into the Usk Brecon is particularly well situated for sewage irrigation, as the town is built on a steep slope from the river, and there is abundance of flat land below it. The authorities of the Brecon gaol, which has recently been enlarged, have made new works for conveyin"' the sewage into the river. To the remonstrances of the Board of Conservators they replied that they were only repeating what they had done before. The tanyards at Brecon also discharge all their refuse into the river. It is needless to point out that this is quite unnecessary for the purposes of the trade. At Crickhowell the river is further polluted with sewage, and about two miles below It receives the waters of the Cli/dacli, a very rapid stream, with a Ml of more than 800 feet in seven miles, which consequently carries down with it all pollutions into the main river. At the head of the Clydach is Brynmawr, a place of 7 000 inhabitants. The arrangements with regard to the sewage are the most dis"-ustin.r I have seen. It is conveyed from the town by a circular culvert 2 feet 5^ rnches°in B b 3 198 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— EVIDENCE —CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS.— PART IV. Eeport by AuTiiuK tliameter. This culvert is wholly inadequate to carry the drainage, and at times I am Davis BkkkingtOxN informed it bur.sts out in all directions. In the midst of the lower houses of the town —continued. there is :i small open tai k, from which an 8-inch pipe is led to a closed tank, and then continued for a considerable distance to a farm, whore the sewage is used for irrigation; the 8-inch pipe, wlien in use, is of course Avholly inadequate to convey the sewage, which chokes the 2 feet 5^ inch culvert, and the object of the open tank is to provide an overflow. From this the waste sewage runs in front of the houses, through channels of its own making, down the hill-side to the Clydach. Those Avho' live in the houses complain lutterly of the nuisance, but they say they are told by the authorities of the Local Board of Health that the -law compels them to submit to it. For a mile and a half above the point where the sewage reaches it, the Clydach is lined with tips from iron and coal mines, Avhich are washed down by every flood into the Usk. liunning in a deep narrow valley it lias at frequent intervals been arched o\'er to carry tips or embankmenls, and it Avould l)e desirable that where space is rccjuired lor fresh tips the same course should be adopted. Below the town of Bryn- mawr is the Elwg Le\ el, where the llavod Company work the coal and the Nantyglo Company the ironstone. Both com^Tanies tip the whole of their refuse into the stream, and nearly at the same point the waste from the Nantynielin level is tipped into a rapid tributary, which carries it down the feAv jards of its course l)efore it reaches the Clydach. Still further down, the ironworks called the Upper and Lower Forge, used formerly to do great injury by tipping their ashes and other refuse into the stream to such an extent that the Avbole of the gravels throughout the course of the Vsk, below its junction with the Clydach, were black with cinders, slag, &c. The lower works have long been discontinued ; the upper are still at Avork. lu the year 1866 I spoke to the manager about the nuisance, who informed me that it w^as intended to lengthen the culvert over the stream so as to obtain more tipping room. This has not, however, been done, but the rubbish is run across the present culvert and tipped on a field opposite the works. The minor waste of the works, and the refuse Hme, in a quick state, from a large limekiln above tlie works, were, however, until very lately thrown into the Clydach, but since the same proprietor has been convicted under the Newport tiarbour pommissioners' Act the practice appears to have been discontinued. _ Immediately below these works a very rapid tributary enters ihe Clydach ; on it are six huge limekilns belonging to the Clydach and Abergavenny Lime and Stone Com- pany, which dischai-ge their refuse quick lime on to its banks from a great height, and in such a manner that every storm must wash the lime down into the brook. At a recent visit (Oct. 1), I also observed that the refuse from one of the quarries was being tipped into the actual water of the brook, Avhich was exceedingly discoloured. ^ Low(ir^ down are the ironworks of Mr. Payne, who is also the proprietor of the Upper Foi-ge before mentioned. Here the Avhole of the , refuse Avas tipped directly into _ the stream until a foAv months since, Avhen the NcAvport Harbour Commissioners obtained a conviction under their Act. It is noAv tipped on a field opposite the Avorks. The quantity of cinders Avhich has collected since this course has been adopted is A'ery large, and giA-es some idea of the injury Avhich Avas formerly done. I Avill produce a S])ecimen of the deposit from the Clydach throAvn up on the gravels of the Usk, 9\ miles by road, and nearly 13 miles by river below their junction. I should, perhaps, explain that in the year 1868 the Newport Harbour Commis- sioners obtained the opinion of Lieut. Aldridge Avith reference to a bar A\'hich was forming at the mouth of the Ush, and Avhich seriously interfered Avith the navigation. He reported that it Avas composed of the refuse of the Avorks, Avliich had been tipped into the river. Accordingly in the Session of 1869 the Commissioners obtained an Act containing a clause which prohibited the tipping of any solid refuse into the river Usk and its tributaries Avithin 20 miles of NeAvport Bridge. Under this clause they have obtained several convictions, and the practice is consequently in many cases being abandoned. The process is, however, a slow one, and much yet remains to be done. BeloAV the mouth of the Clydach, at Llangrwyny, there are some paper mills near the bank of the Usk. Here the Avliole of the Aviiste Avas formerly discharged directly into the rivei-. In consequence of the representations of Mr. Walpole, one of the inspectors of Salmon Fisheries, some tanks Avere made at a nominal expense in the loAv ground beneath the Avorks, and the liquid Avas directed into them. As, however, ■ the manager neglects to have the tanks cleaned out Avhen full they are of but little use. At Abergavenny the sewage of the toAvn is first filtered in an open yard in the midst of the houses, causing a great nuisance, and then dischai-ged into the Usk. On this point ]Mr. Batt and Mr. Hanbury Williams, I believe, intend to offer evidence. The nuisance is very great, and I have myself observed the sewage seed in large quantities in the river a mile below the outlet. The ground is well adapted for sewage irrigation. The tan-yards add to the nuisance by discharging a poi'tion of their Avaste into the Kcnipy brook.Avhich also receives the sewage, &c. from a large lunatic asylum, and the toAvn refuse is frequently deposited on the banks of the Usk to be carried away by the first flood. At l^sk the sewage of the toAvn is dischai'gcd into the river at the bridge, and con- sequently close to the turnpike road. I have even knoAvn cesspools cleared out and the refuse throAvn on :',nd over the bridge. A project is talked of for draining the Avhole toAvn more efl'ectnally into the river. The fall is slight, but there is abundance of loAV laud below the toAvn suitable for irrigation. A great nuisance is also created here by some naptha Avorks, Avhich pollute the Olway, a tributary of the Usk. These AVorks arc managed in a very slovenly manner, and the residents in the toAvn complain much of the oflensive smell. The tish have almost disappeared from the brook betAveeu RIVRS POLLUTION COMMISSION :— EVIDENCE : — CORRESPONDETOE AND REPORTS.— PART IV. 199 Report by Arthur Davis Berrington — continued. Letter from A. Davis Berrington, Esq., of Pant-y-Gir- tre, Abergavenny, Oc- tober 27, 1872, ad- dressed to the Secre- tary to the Rivers Pollution Commis- sion. Letter from Chas. J. Parkes, Esq., J.P., addressed to Mr. A. D. Berring- ton, Oct. 23, 1872, and referred to in his letter to the Secre- tary to the Rivers Pollution Commis- sion. Letter from the Garth Iron and Tin Plate Com- pany, Newport, Mon- mouth, to the Secre- tary to the Rivers Pollution Commis- sion, dated 12th Oc- tober 1872. tlie works and i(s junction with the Usk, and it has been given in evidence before the magistrates that what few there are when taken are rendered unfit for food by tiic strong taste of tar wliicli they have contracted. Near Caerhiou the Soar hvook and (lie Afon Liwi/d How into the T^s/t. Tlie latter IS polluted to a ruinous extent by tlie tin-plate v/ori^s, collieries, iron mines, and iron- Avorks upon ils banks. The fishermen have described to me the effect produced on the salmon by a flood in tiie Afo,i Lhv/jd, stating tliat it drives thein straight out of the main river. The landowners complain that the bed of the stream is raised by the solid refuse poured into it, and their lands are thus exposed (o floods which cover tlieir fields with injurious matter, and tlie farmers complain in many cases that their cattle are killed by the polluted water. With regard to this brook and the Ehbw, which falls into the Usk below Newport, I understand that Mr. Lyne, Mr. Muggridge, and others intend to offer evidence, which I shall be liai)py to supplement if necessary' Id is much to be desired that immediate steps should be taken to arrest the -rowin- pollution of the Usk and to restore it, so far as possible, to its original purity. The -board ot Conservators have frequently been appealed to by manufacturers themselves to restrain those above them under the 5th section of the Salmon Fisheries Act of 1861 but that clause is so very weak that there is considerable difficulty in takino- action under it. Great disappointment has been felt at the withdrawal of the clauses which were originally contained in the Public Health Bill of last session During the inquiry at Newport on the 15tli inst. the Commissioners appeared desirous of obtaining information respecting the injurious character of mine water in this district. The evidence then given was all to the effect that it was not injurious but I have since received the enclosed letter from Mr. Parkes, a magistrate and a^^ent to Miss Webb, a lady of large property uear Pontypool. The Glyn Ponds were oriain, ally formed by the Monmouthshire Canal Company for supplying their canal with water. They are situated in a vallev l)etweeu the Afou Llwyd and the Ehbio and in addition to the natural drainage of the locality a portion of a brook discharo-ino- into the Ebhw IS diverted into them. I understand that about 184.5 some water'^from old mines of coal and iron was turned into this brook ; that all the fish in the ponds, which were of considerable extent (perhaps 50 acres), were destroyed, and that Miss Webb in consequence refused to allow the polluted stream to be taken thi'ou"-h her lands Unfortunately the canal company have abandoned this source of supply, a railway has been made through the bed of the ponds, and the Monmouthshire canal is fed thimio-h the Brecon canal from a weir at Brecon, by which, in a dry season, the whole of the Avater of the Usk at that point is abstracted. I need hardly say that I do not agree with the conclusions drawn in the latter part of Mr. Parkes's letter. I can only account for the conflict of evidence by supposino- that the water which comes fresh from a mine is less prejudicial tlian that which hal been allowed to accumulate in old workings. The latter is certainly very foul _ I have been referring to rent rolls and letter books to enable mo to give the informa- tion I promised you as to the destruction of the fish in the Glyn Ponds by Ihe intro- duction of i^ineral water, and I find that in 1847 the tenancy of the watercourse through Miss Webb's farm was determined on that account. Subsequently, in 1850, the Monmouthshire Canal Company, upon undertakino- to convey pure spring water only, was ])ermitted to again bring water to their relier- voir, and this continued until they ceased to require the supply in consequence of the completion of their railway to Newport. But the feature you feel interested in is the effect the mineral water had upon the fish, and 1 am enabled to tell you it entirely destroyed them. I believe it was an opening made to unwater some coal works about the year 1845, which dischar9 purchase of 5 1 cattl e 649 5 0 do. I horse 10 0 0 »J do. farm im. 96 6 4 plements. JJ do. provender 136 16 2 do. seeds 52 6 10 do. straw 10 16 4 n cattle keep 14 0 0 farm labour - 689 17 7 » do. (hops) - 157 11 8 J) bailiff's wages 66 10 1 )) rates and taxes 108 11 1 J» miscellaneous ex- penses. 98 7 1 )) outstanding ac- counts. 88 4 9 £ 890 d. 6 969 10 8 1,209 2 3 519 12 f? £3,588 11 1 Dd 4 216 RIVERS POLLTJTION COMMISSION :•— STATISTICS RELATING TO TOWN SEWAGE.— PART V. Statistics relating to the Disposal of Town Sewage — continued. Name of Urban or Rural Sanitary Authority. Answers to Queries.— -By Irrigation. TuNBRiDGE Wells {Kent (tnd Sussex) C07lt. Northern Sewage Farm. Profit and Loss Account for the Year ending the 2oth of March 1873. Receipts. To sale of 29 hnllocks „ do. rye grass ,, do. wheat - „ do. mangolds „ do. manure „ do. carrots and parsnips. ,, do. fagots - „ cattle and sheep keep. „ cottage and garden rents. „ outstanding ac- counts. £ s. d. 707 10 2 236 16 0 90 10 0 74 10 8 .1.38 10 6 C 8 6 13 16 0 8 11 0 45 0 0 £ s. il. 1,321 12 10 33 19 10 Auste7i's Valuation made to 25th March 1873. To 4 horses ,, 26 beasts „ manures „ hay, straw, and man- golds, corn in stacks and granary. „ cultivations and young seeds. „ implements of hus- bandry. „ sheep keep - „ labour applying sewage. 12.5 432 30 230 257 129 287 5 27 10 0 10 0 5 0 10 0 5 0 11 0 18 0 16 0 6 0 1,526 11 0 £2,882 3 8 EXPENTJITUEE. By -valuation on the 25th March 1872, brought forward. „ purchase of 30 cattle „ do. farm imple- ments, seeds provender - straw (/. £ s. 1,305 12 407 10 0 26 14 10 do. do. do. 23 1.5 139 4 30 15 7 11 0 628 0 4 farm labour - bailiff 's wages insurance rates and taxes miscellaneous penscs. outstanding counts. 446 10 82 10 9 0 75 7 57 2 670 11 24 7 By balance 253 11 £2,882 3 Southern Sewage Farm. Profit and Loss Account for the Year ending the 2oth of March 1873. Receipts. £ s. d. To sale of 49 beasts 1,121 7 6 „ do. rye grass 90 1 0 „ do. hay 25 0 0 „ do. wheat - 95 7 0 „ do. manure 36 0 0 ., do. mangolds and 44 0 1 Swedes. „ do. hops (less 736 1 11 commission, &c. on sale). „ sale of fagots and 25 3 0 cord wood. „ sheep keep - 46 8 0 ,, cottage rents 30 11 2 0 0 0 0 ,, outstanding ac- counts. Austen's Valuation made to 25th March 1873. To 5 horses - - 200 0 0 „ 24 beasts - - 375 0 0 „ manures - - 105 „ bay, straw, and 357 roots. „ corn cultivations j-oung seeds. „ implements, cord 298 19 6 wood, fagots, &c. „ hop poles, digging, ^40 10 0 dressing, &c. „ sheep keep - - 29 0 0 „ labour applyhig 27 6 0 sewage. ~ - 160 8 and 188 4 2,249 19 155 11 2,081 8 0 Expenditure. £ s. By valuation on the 25th March 1872, brought forward. „ purchase of 25 cattle 321 0 „ do. farm im- 16 1 plements. „ do. provender 207 12 „ do. seeds - 25 10 do. straw - 10 18 farm labour - labour on hops hop pocketing bailiff's wages rates and taxes miscellaneous penses. outstanding counts. By balance d. 668 8 295 10 30 3 70 0 102 17 101 13 2,236 581 2 0 1,268 12 17 16 383 £4,486 19 5 £4,486 19 5 RIVERS POLLUTION COMMISSION: — STATISTICS RELATING TO TOWN SEWAGE.— PART V. 2l7 Statistics relating to the Disposal op Town Sewage— co%^m«^