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14
I am happy to be able to state, generally, that
nothing has occurred, during the twelve months in
question, in the shape of accident; I do not merely
mean to life and limb, but no unforeseen circumstances
have involved the Vestry in litigation or
dispute, or have caused their conduct or acts to be
in any way unkindly criticised or blamed; but, on
the whole, it appears to me that the Vestry have
cause for congratulation, that the patient attention
given by them and the various committees has been
rewarded by the Parish, (both as to Drainage and
Paving) being, if not exactly a model, certainly
second to none in the Metropolis, and I most unhesitatingly
assert, that this is in the face of great
difficulties, as the street traffic is about the worst
to contend against, and to maintain the roads for, in
London, or, I believe, the world, and the local
sewerage is likewise both incessant and abundant.
Small as the Parish is, there are, at, least, fourteen
miles of roads and sewers to be seen to. The
quantity of gully-drains I have never calculated
(there are about 330 gullies), but from the extremely
complicated nature of everything underground in
the Parish, there would be very nearly, if not quite,
as much more, to say nothing of the apparently
meaningless way in which numbers of them are constructed,
apparently with no other view than to be as
inefficient as possible, at present, and to baffle future
generations. But the actual outlay that would be
required to rectify the present defects, following