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tried. One or two of them "seemed very promising" when demonstrated by
the various inventors and patentees in three-pint glasses of fresh sewage
under the noses of the members in the Board room: but when applied in
full scale trials at the works they all failed. For a short time bargeing
the sewage down river was practised: until the Lea Trustees objected
owing to complaints received from other users of the river. Removal of
the sewage to dumps on neighbouring farms had also been abandoned after
a very short trial, for the surveyor reported "that the inhabitants obstruct
the passage of the carts through their streets, even at night".
Of known methods of treatment only the sewage farm system of irrigation
had not so far been attempted. For although the Board had considered
the possibility of resorting to irrigation the idea had been abandoned
on the grounds that there was no land in the parish suitable for the purpose.
Early in 1870, when the Board was quite desperate, Mr. Clarke, who
in connection with his own building and contracting business was an intrepid
adventurer and more accustomed to handling large schemes than any
of the other members, volunteered to work out a plan for a sewage farm
which would overcome all the objections previously raised to irrigation.
With considerable unwillingness the Board accepted the idea in principle
and set up a Sewage Committee of three members - with Mr. Clarke as its
chairman and Dr. Hall, serving his fifth term as chairman of the Board,
as an ex-officio member- "to carry out a proposed scheme for dealing with
the sewage by irrigation." The terms of reference turned out to be unfortunately
phrased for they gave Mr. Clarke a loophole for later claiming
that the Committee was vested with full powers to put his scheme into
effect. Some months later the Board and the parish learnt for the first
time the details of Mr. Clarke's scheme, which, with Dr. Hall dissenting
strongly, the Sewage Committee had approved. It was certainly a large
and bold plan. Two hundred acres of "the Lammas lands over the river in
the parish of Walthamstow" were to be bought and turned into a sewage
farm: the sewage was to be pumped across the Lea in pipes: the land was
to cost about £200 an acre and the total cost of the scheme would be between
£50,000 and £80,000: Mr. Rawlinson, an inspector on the Home Office
staff, had been consulted on the technical details and had approved them:
since land outside the parish was being purchased the scheme could not be
carried through without a Local Act being passed to give requisite powers:
application to Parliament for the special Act would have to be made immediately
if the business was to be completed before the recess; otherwise
a whole year might be lost. In presenting his statement Mr. Clarke
made no attempt to conceal that he regarded the Sewage Committee as having
full authority to handle the whole affair and time being such an important
factor a parliamentary agent would be engaged right away to prepare
a bill rather than risk delays which would be occasioned if the scheme
was subjected to lengthy discussions before the whole Board.
A more sensational announcement had never been made in the parish.
The Board and the ratepayers were clearly being swept off their feet by