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6
The Canal Basin.
The condition of the Canal Basin has engaged much of the
attention of the Sanitary and Public Health Committee.
The following are extracts from my fortnightly reports:—
"4th November, 1880.—I beg to report that the Canal Basin was
"emptied on the 31st ult., before 8 a.m. The shoals of mud then
"presented to view bore out the representations made by me in former
"reports as to the varying depths and the quantity of the deposit. Judg"ing
from the preparations made by the engineer of the Company for its
"removal, it must greatly have exceeded his expectations. On Monday
"I visited every wharf on the north side of the Basin between Howley
"Place Bridge and Praed Street, and was surprised to see so few men at
"work. In reply to my inquiries I was told that in several instances
'c the Company had undertaken to remove at the cost of the tenants the
" mud in front of their wharves, thus explaining the inaction on the part
11 of the tenants themselves. On Tuesday I again visited most of the
" wharves, and several of them yesterday. Some of the wharfingers
" have removed the mud and reached the bottom of the Basin. Others
" have done nothing, notably that of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's
" Works, G, Irongate Wharf. The mode adopted by the Company for
" removing the mud is certainly not the speediest, nor, in my opinion,
" the most effectual they could have employed. The Basin must be
" again flooded to allow of the removal of the barges, beneath which
" there is a deposit varying in depth from eighteen inches to two feet.
" The work is being done in a half-hearted manner—not sufficient
" strength being employed. When I visited the Basin yesterday after.
" noon, it appeared to me that not one-sixth of the deposit had been
" removed. I am told that the water was let into the Basin between
" .10.30 last night and 8.30 this morning."
" 6th January, 1881.—I have to report that the Canal Basin
" was again emptied on the 25th and refilled on the 30th December,
" 1880. I visited it on the 28th, 29th, 30th, and 31st. The
" deposit immediately in front of the Parish Stone Wharf was re"
moved, also a portion of that immediately in front of No. 25 Wharf,
" Bridge Terrace, Harrow Road. The shoals of mud elsewhere
" exposed to view in that part of the Basin between Bishop's Road
" Bridge and the bridge opposite Howley Place were not disturbed.