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manufactories with the labourer in the country. The countryman
goes to his daily labour unsupported by the use of
stimulants and alcoholic drinks, but the reverse applies to
the labourer at the places of work above alluded to. And
what is the cause of this different mode of sustaining the
powers of life? The countryman breathes a pure atmosphere,
the natural stimulus to the powers of the body, and is
enabled to dispense with the artificial stimulus of drink. The
labourer in these manufactories inhales an atmosphere impregnated
with the noxious gases from their several sources
of manufacture, thereby deteriorating and lowering his vital
powers, and driving him to the use of alcoholic stimulants to
counteract the baneful influence exerted upon a depressed
and weakened frame.
There is another subject connected with manufactories, or
trades' nuisances, that I am desirous of alluding to. Independent
of the unpleasant odours arising from such works,
which sometimes creates nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite,
and other ailments, they exert a powerful influence, in a
sanitary point of view, on the dwelling houses of the immediate
locality. It continually happens that in consequence
of the offensive nature of the smells arising from the works,
the inhabitants are compelled to close their doors and windows,
thus rendering the already too confined and ill-ventilated
rooms of the poor still more vitiated and impure by the
exclusion of pure air so necessary to their health and strength :
and it also frequently happens that the smells arising from the
works are much stronger during a period of the year when
the admission of fresh air is most necessary. This latter part
of the subject equally demands your attention, and should
be considered alone a sufficient cause for the interference of
the Board to prevent or remove such continued sources of
mischief as are continually arising from many of the manufactories
in the District.
I remain,
Your obedient Servant,
HENRY N. HNK.
Crooms Hill, May 29, 1861.