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my office with enquiries from other municipal autherities all over the world, and has
led to visits to the works by deputations from nearly every town of importance in
the country, a result which, I am confident, has never been before attained by any
metropolitan Vestry. A verbatim report of the proceedings of the opening of the
combined undertakings by Lord Kelvin will be found in the appendix to this report,
and fuller details are provided in the report of the Chief Electrical Engineer,
included in this volume.
The Vestry have also during the past year completed the acquisition and
demolition of the whole of the property on the Moira Place and Plumbers Place
area, at a cost of £52,724 2s. 3d., and plans have been prepared and a contract
accepted for the erection of model artisan dwellings, the cost of which will be defrayed
by a loan of £19,400, and according to the estimate of the Vestry's Architect, these
buildings will let at rents which will pay all expenses of maintenance, repayment of
interest and capital, and even then provide a slight margin of profit. The surplus
land is letting at such a satisfactory figure that after taking credit for the contribution
of the London County Council of £27,50) towards the expanse of this scheme
the net cost to this Vestry should be nothing even if they do not make some profit by
the transaction as shewn in my fuller report set out hereafter.
An important scheme for the utilization of the heat from the exhaust steam of
the engines in the Electricity Station in heating the baths and washhouses adjoining
has been worked out, and a contract for the necessary condensers, steam pipes and
plant has been entered into for its execution at a cost of £4,695. This outlay, which
will complete the economy of the Electricity and Dust Destructor undertaking, will
save the Baths Committee a capital expenditure of £4,500 for boilers, which they
would otherwise require, and an annual maintenance charge of £1,575 for fuel and
up-keep of boilers, whilst the condensation of the steam of the electricity engines will
be an advantage to their working and the scheme adopted will cost nothing beyond
the provision and up-keep of the condensers and plant.
The Vestry have also provided the Parish with two more handsome underground
conveniences at a cost of £4,100; considerable improvements in the sewerage works
have been executed at a cost of £3,041 10s. 4d., whilst new paving works costing
£12,843 17s. 9d. have been completed. Two more open spaces have
been acquired by the Parish, one in Ivy Street, Hoxton, which
has been acquired and will be laid out by the Council and maintained
for ever by the Vestry, and another known as Charles Square, the
cost of purchasing and the laying out of which was borne equally by the Vestry and
Council. The Vestry's Housing Committee have also overhauled the present open
spaces in the Parish with much energy, and have greatly improved and beautified
them. The Vestry's Technical School has continued to make very satisfactory
progress, its students having earned scholarships to the total amount of £275
during the year, bringing their total earnings during the four years of the Schools'
career to £925. It is expected that the Schools will be transferred to their
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