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Rotherhithe. The boundary line of the two parishes passing right
through the middle of the arch. Under it there is a heap of scutch
or stinking offal from the glue makers. These arches will be
attended to.
On the premises of Messrs. Miller and Johnson, in Rotherhithestreet,
north side near the Noah’s Ark, patent manure is manufactured,
considerable expense has been incurred at this place to
prevent any nuisance from arising; but owing to defects in the
apparatus for consuming the exhaled gases, stenches are often given
off which are smelt along Rotherhithe-street, when the wind blows
from any northern point. The defects are the following. The
gases which tend naturally to rise from the mixer, have with the
present construction of the apparatus, to descend before they reach
the fire. The fire itself is not strong enough, and is often put out
by the large quantity of gases generated, which therefore escapes
unburnt into the shaft and causes a nuisance. The remedy would be
to elevate the fire, and increase its power, and above all, to raise the
shaft twenty or thirty feet, so that the vapours exhaled may be carried
above the roofs of the neighbouring houses. Messrs. Miller and
Johnson have promised that ere long they will effect these changes.
At No. 6, 7, and 8, Neptune-street, the drainage is imperfect.
Thirty-seven deaths were registered last month, among them were
two from typhoid fever, one from hooping-cough, and one from
diphtheria. This last complaint has hitherto been of comparatively
rare occurrence in Rotherhithe. The Parish is at this moment
healthier than it generally is at this time of the year.
Yours respectfully,
May, 1859. W. MURDOCH.
FORTY-FIRST REPORT.
Gentlemen,
During the last two months a constant and active surveillance has
been exercised over the various businesses carried on under the
Railway Arches in Rotherhithe. As fast as one nuisance is suppressed,
another springs up, and unless your officers have the
cordial co-operation of the Railway Companies it will be exceedingly
difficult to eradicate these nuisances. The occupier of nine arches of
the Brighton Railway, a manure manufacturer, was summoned to
the Greenwich Police Court, and after two adjournments, fined five
pounds. Hes ha since lime-washed the inside of the arches, got rid
of the stinking pig's hair, and erected a close apparatus for making
the manure, causing the refuse gases to pass through a solution of