Retrospect--London Bridge--Sheerness Dockyard--Plymouth
Breakwater and Victualling Yard--Steam Vessels for the
Navy--Harbours--Railways--Broad and Narrow Gauge--Atmospheric
Railway--Water Supply and Sewage.
I have thus endeavoured to give, in the foregoing narrative, an account
of my professional and private life as near as my memory would serve.
I have not had a single date, or note-book, or journal to refer to; so
that many inaccuracies may have occurred, particularly with regard to the
dates, although the facts and circumstances are, I believe, pretty fairly
narrated.
In my professional career I consider that I have executed the following
works:
I. London Bridge. This was designed by my father, as far as the general
outline and proportions, but he did not live long enough to design any
details, such as the depth of the arch-stones and those of the inverted
arches between the main arches, or the adjustment of them, so that the
whole might be placed in a perfect state of equilibrium, not only as
regards the individual arches, but also with each other; neither was the
width of the foundations of the piers and abutments given, nor the extent
of piling necessary, the cornice and parapets, stairs, pilasters of the
piers and abutments, the construction of the cofferdams and centres; the
specification as to what materials should be used, and how they were to
be put together; the approaches to the bridge on both sides, or how they
were to be designed and put together; all these had to be worked out
and executed by myself. It is true that my brother George gave me his
advice when I required it, but still I was the sole engineer, and the
whole responsibility rested with myself. The execution of these works was
rendered much more difficult than intended by my father, for at his death
the site was that of the old bridge. But the Committee of the Corporation
of London insisted that the new bridge should be built immediately above
the old one, the latter to be left standing during the construction of
the new bridge. I was therefore obliged to build it in the deep hole
above the old bridge, which was from 25 to 30 feet below the level of
low-water mark of spring tides.
II. The completion of the great works of Sheerness Dockyard. These, as
I have said, had been wholly designed by my father upon an entirely
original and novel plan of hollow walls, which he first carried into
effect at Great Grimsby Docks, in the year 1786. These walls, though
composed of a mass of materials of the same weight as ordinary dock
walls, were distributed over a wider area, and pressed less heavily upon
that surface in proportion to their extent, and therefore the soft, sandy
foundation upon which they were built was able to bear them without
yielding; the increased friction also produced by the increased surface
of their base enabled them to withstand with greater effect the lateral
pressure of the earth behind them; thus a double object was gained,
namely, security against both vertical and lateral pressure.
When my father died, on the 4th of October 1821, the northern half of
the new dockyard, including the sea wall, the great basin, the three
large dry docks at the west end, and the mast ponds and locks, had been
nearly completed; so that it only remained to fix iron gates for the
dry docks and those of the mast and boat ponds, which had been already
designed and ordered, and were put into their places under my direction.
This portion of the dockyard, although comprising the most extensive and
costly part, was not the most difficult. The most arduous task still
remained, namely, the construction of the northern portion. Here was
the greatest depth of water, varying from 25 to 30 feet at low water of
spring tides, the worst foundation, and the situation was much exposed
to northerly and easterly winds. These obstacles were felt so strongly
by my father, that he originally contemplated carrying out the works by
means of the diving bell; but as so much experience had already been
obtained by the employment of cofferdams in similar constructions, where
they had been very successful, it became a question for my serious
consideration whether it would not be better to use cofferdams for the
northern portion of the dockyard, instead of employing the diving bell,
which would necessarily require much more time. After consulting with
the enterprising contractors, Messrs. Jolliffe, Banks, and Nicholson,
who had completed the works already made, and Mr. John Thomas, the
experienced resident engineer, we came to the unanimous conclusion that
it was perfectly practicable to construct the remainder of the works by
means of cofferdams; and although it would be rather more expensive,
nevertheless they could be done much better and far more speedily than by
the diving bell; and, indeed, they told me that my father had expressed
the same opinion before he died; and that there was little doubt but
that if he had lived he would have recommended cofferdams instead of
the diving bell. I consulted my brother George upon the subject, and he
was of the same opinion. We resolved to recommend that the remainder of
the works should be completed by cofferdams, and the Admiralty approved
of our recommendation. Messrs. Jolliffe, Banks, and Nicholson therefore
undertook the contract for these works at the sum of 845,000_l._, and
gave ample security; and they were most successfully finished for the
sum of 854,000_l._ in round numbers, or at about 9000_l._ beyond the
contract price, our estimate being nearly 900,000_l._; so that they were
actually completed for about 45,000_l._ below our estimate, and fully
three years sooner than they would have been if the diving bell had been
used. Of course the real merit of these works is due to my father; but
I claim some credit for having successfully carried them into effect,
for if any failure had taken place--and there was very great difficulty
and risk--I should have been blamed for it, and probably been ruined at
the outset of my career, as the whole responsibility rested with me; my
brother never went near them.
III. I finished the Chatham dry docks, commenced by my father, at the
cost of 100,000_l._ In these there was nothing remarkable; after those of
Sheerness they were much less difficult, although of a somewhat similar
kind.
IV. The next great work was the finishing of the great breakwater in
Plymouth Sound. The chief merit I claim for this is in adding the
benching or berm on the outside, at the base of the sea slope, which
breaks the sea before it reaches the slope and prevents it from acting
injuriously upon it. I also claim a certain portion of the credit
for arranging and executing the paving of the upper surface, and the
dovetailed masonry of the two ends of the breakwater.
V. The design and execution of the Royal William Victualling
Establishment, at Stonehouse, near Devonport, I claim entirely as my
own, with the exception of the machinery, for which my brother George is
entitled to an equal share of credit with myself. This establishment,
including the cost of the land, amounted, I believe, to between
600,000_l._ and 700,000_l._
VI. The great basin, two building slips for first-rates, mast slip, and
the river wall in front, at the Royal Dockyard at Woolwich, costing
340,000_l._
VII. In company with Mr. Joseph Whidby, Mr. Walker, and Captain
Fullerton, of the Trinity House, I made a report for removing the bar,
by means of dredging, at the entrance of Portsmouth harbour, upon which
there was only 13 feet at low water of spring tides, which we estimated
at 55,000_l._; and it is singular that this important work was never
carried into effect until many years afterwards, when it proved to be
completely successful as far as it went. The bar was lowered 5 or 6 feet,
and it might be lowered 8 or 10 feet more, so as to enable the largest
class of vessels to enter and depart at low water of spring tides, which
would be of the greatest possible advantage to the public service; and
although the Admiralty have not carried the dredging far enough, still
there is now 18 feet at low water of spring tides, which enables the
largest class of vessels to pass the bar at half tide, instead of only
at high water as before. This fully proves the value and correctness
of our joint report; it only now requires that our recommendation
should be carried further, and there can be little doubt that it will
be successful. This great national harbour will be rendered accessible
at low water, and it ought to be, particularly after the enormous sums
that have been expended upon it, for unless the depth over the bar is
increased all improvements will be comparatively valueless. Mr. Murray
and myself wrote a joint report to the Admiralty, recommending that, in
order to assist the dredging operations over the bar, a sluice should
be erected across the entrance to Langston harbour, with the gates or
doors of the sluice pointing inwards, so that at high water they might be
shut, and all the water, or so much of it as might be required, should be
sent through Portsmouth harbour at ebb tide, to assist in scouring down
the bar. Of course, in order to render these works effective, it would
be necessary to enlarge the connecting channel between Portsmouth and
Langston harbour, so that all the Langston tidal water should flow out
through Portsmouth during the time of ebb.
The Admiralty up to the present time have not adopted this report. They
must, however, in order to preserve the requisite depth over Portsmouth
bar, do either the one or the other, or both; that is to say, they must
increase the dredging operations, or send more tidal water over it, and
the latter can only be obtained from Langston; as this harbour is of
little commercial value, supposing that any partial silting up should
take place, the depth could be restored by dredging; but if both the
dredging of Portsmouth bar and the additional quantity of tidal water
from Langston harbour should be resorted to, the bar might be kept down
to the depth required, and Langston would not be injured. If these two
operations are skilfully conducted, so as mutually to assist each other,
the result will be successful, and this success is the more necessary,
in consequence of the quantity of land which is now being reclaimed from
Portsmouth harbour for the new works.
VIII. The great flour mills and biscuit machinery at the Clarence
Victualling Yard, Portsmouth, were designed and executed by my brother
George and myself. The idea of the bread apparatus was proposed by M.
Grout, and worked out by ourselves. The great flour and biscuit mills at
Deptford were also designed and executed by my brother and myself.
IX. The Thames Tunnel shield; the rolling machinery of the Bombay, the
Calcutta, and the Mexican mints; the machinery at Constantinople for
manufacturing small arms; numerous locomotive engines and tenders for
different railways, amongst them the ‘Satellite,’ for the Brighton
Railway, which was one of the first that travelled at the rate of 60
miles an hour. The engines and machinery for several of Her Majesty’s
vessels of war, amongst which may be mentioned the ‘Bull Dog,’ the yacht
‘Elfin,’ and others; four iron vessels, engines, and machinery for the
Russian Government for the Caspian Sea, the first that were ever placed
there; two yachts for the Emperor Nicholas; the ‘Vladimir’ frigate; two
large screw vessels of war for the Baltic; three also for the Black Sea;
several for the Danube Company; cranes, sugar mills, diving bells, and
machinery; gantry cranes for the mahogany roofs of the West India Docks;
spinning and all kinds of machinery, from the year 1821 until the year
1852.
X. The first sea-going screw vessel that was constructed, namely, the
‘Archimedes;’ and also the ‘Dwarf,’ 1839, the first screw vessel of war
that was introduced into the navy.
XI. I recommended that the use of the Cornish high-pressure condensing
system should be introduced into the steam-vessels of the Royal Navy.
At that time they were entirely upon the system of Boulton and Watt,
when steam was only employed to the extent of 5 lb. pressure upon every
square inch. Now it was well known that the intensity of the power of
steam increased in a much greater ratio than the additional quantity of
fuel required to raise the temperature, so that high-pressure condensed
steam was much more economical than low pressure. There was a good deal
of prejudice against it, in consequence of the decided objections of
Boulton and Watt, and therefore it was not adopted at the time, but by
degrees this prejudice has been overcome, and now steam of 25 to 30 lb.
is employed in the Royal Navy, with great advantage and economy.
XII. I may also say that I was the means of introducing oscillating
engines into the navy. These I believe were invented by a Mr. Witté,
of Hull, but in consequence of the extreme accuracy required in making
them, and some degree of prejudice against the vibratory action of the
cylinder, this very valuable invention was laid aside. The able and
ingenious Mr. Maudslay took it up, but was dissatisfied with it, and
abandoned it. Mr. John Penn, who had a small establishment for making
machinery at Greenwich, then adopted it, and commenced manufacturing
these engines upon a small scale for the steamboats on the Thames. He
improved on the idea, acquiring the greatest experience in constructing
the engines, and he was convinced that they could be made upon any scale
with equally successful results. It happened about this time that the
Admiralty required new engines of greater power for their official yacht,
the ‘Black Eagle,’ whose speed averaged little more than 8 knots an
hour, and they applied to Boulton and Watt, who had made the old engines
for the ‘Black Eagle.’ They said they could easily make more powerful
engines, but that these would necessarily be heavier, and sink the vessel
lower in the water, when the resistance would be so much increased that
very little additional speed would be gained, and therefore it would be
better to have an entirely new vessel. The Admiralty did not wish to
incur the expense, and the matter was likely to fall to the ground. Penn
heard of this, and, quite uninvited, sent in a tender to make new engines
for the ‘Black Eagle,’ double the power of the old ones, of the same
weight, and occupying the same space, for a sum, not, I think, exceeding
the cost of engines of the same power on the old method. He further
offered, if the Admiralty officers were not satisfied, to take them out,
and replace the old engines at his own expense. I happened to be present
upon other business with the Comptroller of the Navy, Sir Thomas Byam
Martin, when Penn’s tender was sent in, and after reading it he threw it
to me, and said, “Rennie, what do you think of that; should I accept it
or not?” I read Penn’s tender carefully, and knowing something about the
oscillating engine, and having a good opinion of it, I said I thought he
should accept it. “Then,” said he, “I will do so, and if it turns out
badly you shall have the blame.” “Very well,” I replied, “if it turns out
badly I will take the blame.” Penn’s offer was accordingly accepted. The
engines were made and fixed on board; all the conditions of the tender
were fully complied with, and the Admiralty were perfectly satisfied
with their bargain. From that time forward Penn became one of the chief
manufacturers of the Admiralty engines, and has continued to be so up to
the present time.
The harbours which I made are described in my work on ‘British and
Foreign Harbours’; they were a portion of Kingstown, in Dublin Bay;
Donaghadee, Port Patrick, Port Rush, Warkworth, Sunderland, East
Hartlepool, Whitehaven; nearly rebuilding Ramsgate harbour; Ponta
Delgada, in the Azores. I designed harbours for Oporto; the Mattozenhas;
Viana, Aveiro, Figuera, and St. Ubes, for the Portuguese Government; also
for Douglas, Castleton, Peel, Ramsey, and Laxey, in the Isle of Man,
for the local authorities; and Redoubt Kalé, in the Black Sea, for the
Russian Government.
XIII. London Bridge; Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, and Staines Bridges,
besides finishing those at Crammond and New Galloway, designed by my
father.
I laid out and carried through Parliament the Brighton Railway and the
Black wall Railway, in 1838; also the Manchester and Liverpool Railway,
in conjunction with my brother George, in 1827. In 1838 I designed the
Central Kent Railway, which, by passing through the centre of the county,
connected all the leading towns on the main line, besides reducing the
distance between the metropolis, Dover, and Folkestone to the minimum.
I also projected a line for the Great Northern in the years 1844-45,
which was admitted to be the best and shortest line; but it unfortunately
failed in consequence of the late Mr. Francis Giles not having completed
the parliamentary surveys. I laid down a railway between Leeds and
Carlisle, that would have materially shortened the distance between the
important manufacturing town of Leeds, Carlisle, Glasgow, and the north
of Scotland; a line between Leeds and Bradford, and another between York
and Scarborough. Another, called the North Wales Railway, between Bangor
and Port Dyllaen, where I designed a capacious harbour and docks, that
would have been of the greatest advantage to Liverpool, avoiding the
dangerous navigation between that place and Port Dyllaen, and affording
an excellent point of departure for Ireland. I also made a design for a
new port for Holyhead, upon the principles laid down by my father, that
would have answered the purpose far better, and have saved in a great
measure the expense that has been incurred by the present ill-contrived
harbour, and which has not answered the object intended.
In company with my friend Mr. George Remington, I designed the direct
London and Manchester Railway in the years 1844-45; this line would have
reduced the distance between London and Manchester to 176 miles, besides
affording railway communication to a number of the intermediate towns,
such as Bradford, Burton, Leicester, Congleton, and other places that
had not hitherto received the benefit of direct railway accommodation.
This line was pronounced by the Board of Trade to be the most important
and best laid down line that had been brought before Parliament, and
was strongly recommended by them; and it would have been carried, but
unfortunately there was another competing line by Mr. Rastrick, that was
ultimately abandoned by its promoters, who, before doing so, united with
us; but in doing this the reference books containing the names of the
owners and occupiers along both lines became mixed, and the result was,
that seven miles of the reference of the competing line was substituted
for seven miles of our line, and _vice versâ_. This was fatal, and the
Bill was consequently lost; and this valuable line, almost the best of
any in England, could never be resuscitated. The North-Western Railway,
thinking that they were safe from all competition, declined taking up
the line, though their interest imperatively called upon them to do so,
and further, would not unite with nor buy up the Midland from Leeds to
Rugby. The Midland Company then determined to make an independent line to
London, and took the identical course laid down by Remington and myself.
They have become a very formidable rival to the North-Western, and this
is precisely a similar case to that between the South-Eastern and the
London, Chatham, and Dover Companies. If the South-Eastern Company had
only adopted my Central Kent line, which was laid down in 1838, before
they had commenced their present line--and they promised to do so--the
London, Chatham, and Dover Railway would never have been made, and the
county of Kent would have been better served, many millions would have
been saved, and many thousand unfortunate shareholders would have avoided
ruin.
I laid down lines for the kingdoms of Sweden and Portugal, which have
been more or less adopted, and projected a line from Odessa to Moscow.
Also the London, Brighton, and South Coast as far as Salisbury, and from
thence to Warminster, which has since been adopted. A line from London
to Birmingham, Leeds, and Carlisle; Leeds and Bradford; Dumfries and
Port Patrick; Newry and Enniskillen, in Ireland; Bangor to Port Dyllaen,
North Wales; Cannock Chase line, in Staffordshire, through an undeveloped
coal district, another of my lines which has since been carried into
effect. The East Lincoln, from Lynn to Great Grimsby; the direct London
and Norwich, from Bishop’s Stortford to Thetford, which would have
shortened the distance between London and Norwich and Yarmouth. All these
lines were laid upon the direct principle, that is, taking the shortest
distance that the nature of the intervening country would permit between
the two termini; this principle is now proved to be the correct one, and
if it had only been acted upon before, we may readily conceive the vast
amount of capital which would have been saved, while the counties through
which railways have been made would have received a much greater benefit;
whereas, by the system which has hitherto been adopted, a great number of
unnecessary lines have been constructed, and a constant competition and
rivalry have taken place between the different companies, and now, with
reduced dividends and increased charges, they find out their error, when
it is too late to be remedied.
Another most important error has been committed by a too narrow gauge
having been adopted. My brother and myself, when we carried the Bill for
the Manchester and Liverpool through Parliament, in the year 1826--and
this may be considered almost the very commencement of the railway
system--after investigating the width between all the various carriage
wheels, whether for goods or passengers, we decided that the width of
gauge from centre to centre of the rails should be 5 feet 6 inches or 6
feet. When Mr. George Stephenson became the engineer for executing the
line, he decided that the gauge should be only 4 feet 8½ inches from
centre to centre of the railway, for no other reason than that the gauge
between the old colliery rails was 4 feet 8½ inches; hence arose all the
subsequent difficulties. It was quite clear that 4 feet 8½ inches was too
narrow. Brunel, seizing on this mistake, proposed at once to make the
gauge 7 feet from centre to centre of the rails for the Great Western
Railway. This was as evidently too much as Stephenson’s was too little.
The power of a locomotive engine is in proportion to its weight, and
the greater the weight the greater the power, acting as it does by its
adhesion to the rails; and to increase the power of an engine upon the
narrow gauge could only be done with safety by increasing its length;
for if it be done by increasing the height, the centre of gravity would
be raised also, and the motion of the engine would be rendered unsteady;
and by increasing the length the engine would be less adapted for going
round sharp curves. Now in the ordinary traffic of goods, such as
coals, &c., extraordinary velocity was not required, and therefore the
width of the gauge was not of so much consequence, but when it came to
carrying passengers the case was wholly altered. Latterly the coaches
and mails had travelled at the rate of 10 and 12 miles an hour, whereas
goods were seldom carried at the rate of more than 3 miles an hour. If
passengers were to travel by railway it would not be less than 12 miles
an hour, and therefore it was at length necessary to provide for this
velocity, and more; otherwise, as there was a certain prejudice on the
outset against railway travelling, the latter could not expect to have
the preference. But when it was ascertained, as it was at the trial of
engines upon the Rainhill plane of the Manchester and Liverpool Railway,
that the imperfect locomotives of that day could go at the rate of 30
miles an hour, the whole case was changed; the carriage of goods, which
at first was most important, gave way to that of carrying passengers,
and it was evident that the whole system of locomotion, whether of
goods or passengers, must be absorbed by railways. It was therefore
more especially necessary that the question of the gauge should be most
carefully considered. I may be answered, certainly, that the improved
locomotive engines upon the narrow gauge realize a speed of 50 to 60
miles an hour, and this is fast enough for anything; but then this cannot
be done without incurring greater risk than upon a broader gauge. The
Great Western realize a speed of 45 miles an hour without the least risk,
i.e. including stoppages, whereas the narrow gauge does not do more than
35 to 37 miles an hour, and that probably with a greater wear and tear of
the rails. A medium therefore between the two gauges, that is 5 feet 6
inches or 6 feet, instead of 4 feet 8½ inches or 7 feet, appeared to my
brother and self the proper gauge; and if such had been adopted we should
never have heard of the 7-feet gauge, and the 5 feet 6 inches or 6-feet
gauge would have been universally adopted, to the great advantage of all.
Before leaving railways, it may be proper to say something about the
atmospheric system. When an experiment was made on a large scale and
succeeded very well, it was subsequently reduced to practice upon the
Dublin and Bray Railway, between Kingstown and Dalkey, a length of
about 3 miles. Here it succeeded perfectly; the steepest incline was
completely mastered, and the smoothness and luxury of travelling were
unequalled. Brunel afterwards took it up, and employed it upon the South
Devon Railway. There it succeeded also perfectly as far as speed and
luxury of travelling were concerned. The difficulty however of making
the valve in the exhausting tube was so great that it was ultimately
abandoned, after having incurred great expense, and the locomotive system
was again resorted to. The Croydon Railway also adopted it, but gave it
up for the same reason as the South Devon. My brother and myself were
much taken with this system, and made several of the steam engines for
it, that answered their purpose perfectly, and we thought that by a
little more perseverance in it, the difficulties complained of might have
been overcome, but the proprietors would not listen either to Brunel
or ourselves. The Stephensons made a dead set against it, and, taking
the facts at the time, perhaps they were right; but it is very rarely
that a new invention succeeds at the first or second trial: it requires
time to ascertain the defects, and to study more minutely the remedy,
and, after a little while, the cure for the evil is found out. I should
not be surprised if ultimately the atmospheric system comes to life
again: indeed, the very strongest opponents of it have already adopted
it in London, with certain modifications, for conveying the mail bags
in London from the General Post Office to some of the railway stations,
with considerable success, and Mr. Rammell made an experimental line of
this kind at the Crystal Palace. The defects in the original lines were
principally those of workmanship, and can be remedied by degrees, as
is always the case whenever a principle is sound, for it only requires
perseverance to achieve ultimate success.
XIV. Drainage of lowlands upon a large scale I have carried into effect
in several instances already described. The completion of the Eau Brink
Cut, the designing and making the Norfolk Estuary Cut below Lynn, and the
Marshland works, by means of which from 350,000 to 400,000 acres of land
are drained; the Nene Estuary Cut, by which about 150,000 acres of land
are drained; the improvement of the Witham between Boston and the sea, by
which the drainage of about 250,000 acres has been materially improved;
the Ancholme drainage, by which 50,000 acres of lowlands have been well
drained; altogether amounting to between 800,000 and 900,000 acres.
XV. I may also say that I have embanked from the estuaries of the
Ouse, the Nene, and the Witham, about 6000 acres of fen land, which is
now more or less under cultivation. I have also laid down a plan, at
present being carried into effect, by which 32,000 additional acres
will be embanked from the estuaries of the Ouse and Nene; and another
plan for embanking 45,000 acres from the estuaries of the Welland and
Witham; indeed, my original plan of 1837 was for embanking from 150,000
to 200,000 acres of land from the estuaries of the Ouse, Nene, Welland,
and Witham, and the Great Wash; and I have no doubt that in time this
will be effected, and another large and most valuable county--all rich
agricultural land--will be added to the kingdom. I also obtained an Act
for embanking 32,000 acres from the north side of the estuary of the
Thames, near Shoeburyness. I believe that, in addition to this, three
times the amount may be taken from this and other parts of the Thames
estuary. Let to these be added the lands which may be saved from the
estuaries of the Humber, the Forth, the Tay, the Clyde, the Solway,
Morecambe Bay, and the Mersey, altogether from 500,000 to 600,000 acres
of land may be reclaimed, or three large new counties may be added to the
kingdom, capable of producing annually an additional supply of 3,500,000
quarters of corn, which, at 3_l._ per quarter, would, after deducting
20_s._ per quarter for the cost of production, add a revenue of about
6,000,000_l._ a year to the country. A great deal may be done in this
way also in Ireland. We should, however, deduct a million a year for the
first fifteen years to cover the cost of embankment. The clear annual
gain would be 5,000,000_l._ a year to the country; or, putting it in
another light, the land so acquired would maintain an additional number
of inhabitants. Besides this, large tracts of lowlands adjacent to these
estuaries might be greatly improved in their drainage, in connection with
the reclamation works, which would add considerably to their produce.
The execution of all these works, besides draining the quantity of land
I have stated, and more than doubling its value, has also very greatly
improved the navigation.
I also extended the Newry Ship Canal nearly two miles, which has a depth
of 16 to 18 feet, and is 130 feet wide, with an entrance lock 50 feet
wide. I deepened the old canal to Newry, so that large vessels, drawing
nearly 16 to 17 feet, can come up to the town.
XVI. Soon after my father’s death, in 1821, when I may be said to have
entered my professional career upon my own account, I began to consider
the water question; that is to say, the best mode of economizing water,
so that those districts where it might be most required could be
supplied, as far as the physical geography of those places would render
it practicable. Generally speaking, there falls a certain quantity of
rain in every district during the year, and this, with more or less
regularity, at particular seasons and times. In some places the rain is
periodical, and falls in the course of three or four consecutive months;
in other countries it falls at different times, principally, however,
in the winter and autumn months. Now after the periodical rain is over,
the whole country is deprived of water throughout the remainder, or
about three-fourths, of the year. The remedy for this is to construct
reservoirs in the most convenient places, upon such a scale as the wants
of the country may require; in these reservoirs the surplus waters
should be stored during the periodical rains, to serve as a supply in
the dry season, not only for domestic purposes, but for irrigation,
navigation, &c.; the reservoirs should, in some cases, be covered, and in
others open, even to the extent of making them large lakes. They should
be provided with proper sluices and culverts, open or covered, as may
be required, and best adapted for distributing the water in the most
beneficial manner.
Having obtained a sufficient supply, the next point to be attended
to is, to take care that the water shall not be polluted: in order to
effect this, in all thickly-peopled districts the sewage should not be
discharged into the river or watercourses, but into separate, isolated,
and well-ventilated tanks, and then be deodorized by mixing it with
earth, or subjecting it to any well-known process for this purpose, and
the refuse should be distributed for manure; thus the sewage, instead of
being a nuisance, will become valuable for agricultural purposes.
By these means, regulated according to the particular circumstances
of each case, the whole question, viz. economy of water, which is so
very important in every respect, is solved. I have long endeavoured to
make it clearly understood, but in England we are slow to move in a
new direction. The enemy must be at our doors before we are prepared
to meet him, and then we begin in earnest. Such has been the case with
the water question: we carried drainage almost to the utmost extent, so
that the rainwater was discharged into the adjacent watercourses and
rivers with the greatest rapidity and was carried off to sea, and we
thought not a moment that the day would come when we should want it.
The universal cry was, “Only get rid of the water, and all will go on
well.” At the same time all the sewage matter was discharged into the
watercourses, the cry being, “Only get rid of the sewage, and our cities
and towns will be healthy, and we shall hear no more of it;” little
thinking that the streams would be polluted, and that water when most
wanted would not be forthcoming, and that even the moderate quantity
that could be obtained would be unfit for domestic purposes. The Thames
and all the great rivers and streams were converted into common sewers,
threatening to spread pestilence around them. The water that was to be
obtained for domestic purposes was polluted to such an extent, that
the malaria caused by the foul state of the watercourses was increased
by drinking the contaminated water that we fondly expected we had
got rid of. At last the public opened their eyes, and asked how all
this had arisen; then commissioners of all kinds were appointed by the
Government to investigate these important questions; and what is the
result? Precisely that which I mentioned years ago, namely, 1. That means
must be established for economizing water and for affording an ample
supply at all times. 2. That all sewage matter must be diverted or be
prevented from being discharged into the watercourses. 3. That as far as
practicable the sewage matter must be utilized for manuring the land.
All these three propositions, which constitute the whole elements of
these important questions, are now being carried into effect by Acts of
Parliament; better late than never, for if these terrible evils had been
allowed to exist much longer the consequences would have been most fatal.
About four years ago I wrote two letters to ‘The Times,’ which were
printed in that journal, embodying my views upon this subject in a
detailed manner, according to the principles above described. I am
extremely glad that at the eleventh hour the subject is beginning to
be thoroughly understood, and it is to be hoped that now the proper
remedy will be employed; it is contained in the principles that I have
recommended for the last forty years. I may not perhaps claim the merit
of the whole; but this I must say in justice to myself, that I have
contributed in some degree to direct attention to the subject, and I most
sincerely trust that, having been made conscious of its importance, the
public will not be content until the question has been thoroughly sifted,
and the evils complained of successfully remedied. Up to the present
time neither compensating reservoirs for the due supply of water during
the dry seasons have been made, nor, with a few solitary exceptions, has
the sewage been excluded from the rivers, nor have the watercourses been
properly improved so as to prevent inundations of the adjacent lowlands.
In fact, the authorities have only just begun to get an idea of what
is required to obtain an ample supply of good water; but the more they
investigate the subject, the more they will find that only upon a right
understanding of the principles above recommended can this supply be
procured. Sewage matter has now been recognized as a fertilizing agent,
and the only points undecided with regard to it are the best modes of
deodorization, so as not to injure its manuring value, and the most
suitable method of applying it to the land, whether in a liquid or in a
solid state.
With regard to water for domestic use, considerable progress has been
made: the water is conducted into covered reservoirs, where it is
excluded from the action of the atmosphere; it is also filtered, so that
all the alluvial and tangible vegetable matters are excluded; and the
best method of separating from it those injurious ingredients with which
it is chemically combined has made great progress. These, no doubt,
are considerable advantages gained, but unless the means of obtaining
an ample supply be used, the other advantages will be comparatively of
little service. It is true they will be valuable as far as they go, but
if there be a deficient supply of water, there will remain a great deal
to be remedied, therefore it will be necessary to secure an ample supply
by means of open reservoirs.