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This arrangement being unsatisfactory, as it would have been most
undesirable to have a drain running through premises where meat is stored
and where it would be affected by the low temperature of the place, an
arrangement was made by which the owners were enabled to divert the
whole of the drainage into the public sewer in Angel Passage on the East
side of the Wharf.
DRAINAGE, ROYAL EXCHANGE.
Considerable progress has been made during the year in the reconstruction
of the drainage and sanitary arrangements at this building, and almost twothirds
of the work has been completed and tested with satisfactory results.
Owing to the construction of the buildings considerable difficulties have
presented themselves in the course of the alterations. As an instance, in some
places the workmen have had to cut through no less than nine feet of solid
brickwork, the building being of massive construction. Piercing the stone
mouldings, for the admission of ventilation shafts, so as not to spoil the
architectural features of the building, was also a difficult and laborious
operation. Iron pipes for soil drainage have been adopted throughout the
Exchange, and the provision of sanitary accommodation for women employed
in the building, referred to in my last Annual Report, has been arranged for.
DRAINAGE, Nos. 1 to 14, BARBICAN.
Complaints having been made of leakage through the railway tunnel over
the Metropolitan Railway line running under these premises, it was found in
the course of investigation that the main combined drain taking the drainage
of these buildings was very defective and the cause of the evil.
The several owners were therefore called upon to abate the nuisance, but
some question having arisen as to their legal liability in the matter, it was
considered advisable in the interests of all parties concerned to settle the
matter amicably if possible. It was finally suggested that the Corporation
should relay the drain and bear some portion of the charges incurred, the
owners of the premises each bearing a proportionate share of the cost. This
was agreed to, and the drain relaid, iron pipes being used as less liable to
damage from vibration caused by railway traffic.
RAILWAY STATIONS.
Periodical inspections were made of the sanitary accommodation provided
at the twenty-five Railway Stations in the City.
In nineteen of them, the Companies they belong to have been called upon to
effect sanitary improvements thereat. The defects, for the most part, have
been due to lack of proper cleaning and to defective drains and sanitary
fittings. In each case the necessary works have been satisfactorily
carried out.