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extra 10 or 15 grains which the Company asked to be allowed as
the standard of purity would be injurious to the health and
property of the consumers. The Bill was thrown out, and the
Company has been left to contend with the difficulty since then,
and to bring such means to their assistance as they could devise.
I have visited the Works, and find that the improved means,
though perhaps all that the Company are able to adopt, are very
slight. They consist in a more efficient ventilation of the lime
before removal, the prevention of the fumes passing into the air
during the process by tarpauling covers, &c., and by doing the
work early in the morning. I have no doubt that these measures
have been to an extent effectual; but it does seem, upon undisputed
evidence, that occasionally and possibly under particular
atmospheric conditions, the stench is very great and unbearable,
and that sometimes it is felt most near to the Works, and at other
times passes over the immediate vicinity and makes itself felt at a
greater distance.
I may observe that the manufacture of gas is very much
reduced at these Works, and that it is not necessary to open a
purifier more than about once in three weeks or a month; but this
small scale can only exist during the summer months, unless the
Beckton and other factories, as well as the mains which supply
the Metropolis from these Works are enlarged at a large expense.
How far that can be done I cannot presume to say. If gas
is made to any large extent in the Metropolis without risk of
occasionally creating this nuisance, the use of lime must be almost,
if not entirely, discontinued, and more sulphur, perhaps equal to
50 per cent. of the present quantity, sent out with the gas and
distributed in sulphurous vapours from the burners. But probably
(although there are many eminent men who declare this to be a
theoretical and inappreciable evil) the authorities would not permit
it. The only other remedy is to drive the manufacture out of
London altogether.
I consulted an eminent equity barrister some time ago upon
the legal means at the Vestry's command to protect the
inhabitants, and he was of opinion that if the nuisance could be
proved to the satisfaction of the Court, the Company might be
restrained. A Bill would have to be filed against the Company,
at the instance of the Parish, in the name of the Attorney General,
and propablyan Order might be obtained restraining the Company,
not from making gas, which they have statutory powers to do, but
from causing a nuisance by using lime. The probable consequence