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56
Parish of St. George the Martyr, Southwark.
resident, fetch or " steal" the water. An argument of the very strongest kind for that
complete supply for every body which will effectually prevent begging, borrowing or
"stealing." It must not be forgotten that the words " constant supply," as connected with
water waste prevention, can only mean a partial supply, outside the house, which has to
be fetched chiefly of course for drinking purposes; and which must be supplemented by
some other supply for all other purposes. It has therefore no meaning at all, as standing
in the way of the constant and only effectual kind of supply for every house—such as that
here described of New Court, Whitechapel, and York Place, St. George's, Southwark.
Except in the case of water closets, and at first perhaps not even in these, no butts
or cisterns would be required, and as here shown, little or no waste of water would in any
way occur ; so Mr. Quick's statement of works and expenses (Report of Bermondsey Yestry,
p.p. 5, 6), can have no meaning in opposition to a really constant supply. As to his
alarming exposition of the great expense of alterations; it is in evidence from competent
judges that the pipes would require but little alteration; that the expense of adapting
them to houses would be trifling, and that when new pipes should come to be required,
much smaller ones would generally be found sufficient; and that, furthermore, wear and
tear would be greatly decreased in substituting a moderate continued pressure for the sudden
and frequently repeated great strain of an intermittent rush of water into the pipes.