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47
and the bed properly cleansed whilst the weather
was cold.
To this the Company, in their letter of the 14th
January, 1879, replied that it would be useless to
run off the water at that season of the year, and
that a hand dredger had been for some time past
employed in cleansing the Basin. Thus the efforts of
the Committee to have the Basin properly cleansed
at that time were unsuccessful.
In 1879 the Canal Basin was emptied three
times. None of the deposit was removed. In
November, 1879, the Sanitary Committee, at my
suggestion, instructed the Vestry Clerk to write
to the Company impressing upon them the desirableness
of their employing additional dredging
machines in the Canal Basin, and suggesting that
the same should be kept constantly in action during
the winter months. To this the Company replied
that they had one dredger at work in the Paddington
Basin and had arranged to put on another. The
Company also expressed the hope that instructions
would be given to the parties in charge of the parish
wharves to see that the boats were properly loaded.
I regret to add that during the past winter I have
seldom seen or heard of more than one dredger at
work; that so far from giving effect to the wishes of
the Vestry to cleanse the Basin by getting rid of the