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A. I think the house drains should be the first. It is impossible you can have a satisfactory system until they are attended to. I don't know that any minor impro- vements can be made.
799.-But you don't think ventilators in the streets would be good?
A.-I would not like to recommend them with the house drains in thei: present
condition.
800.-Do you think the shafts up the hill would be of in the streets?
any use if
you put ventilators
A.The shafts would be of use, but they would draw on the ventilators nearest to them. You would not get a circulation of air throughout, because the indraught of air would be mainly confined to the surface ventilators near to the shafts.
It was tried some years ago in the House of Commons. A large chimney was put up and it was found to be an utter failure in producing a general circulation of air in the drains.
801. So the shafts up the hill just now have not much to do with the current?
A. They draw in air from the openings in the sewers in the upper part of the
city, and I think that so far they are satisfactory.
By Dr. Young.
802.—What is the distance between the street openings in London?
A. It varies. It is 150 feet in some cases, but London is done very irregularly. Ventilators have been placed at the points considered best and some of the sewers are very old, but generally the distance is from one hundred to two hundred and fifty feet. The general plan is to place a manhole at every bend and if the distance between the bends is more than say two hundred and fifty feet, to place one between them. That is the plan adopted throughout nearly all recent sewerage works in England.
By Dr. Cantlie.
803. Have you been in a Hongkong sewer?
A.-One.
804.-Was the crown of the sewer very foul.
A.-No. The sewer was about 6 feet high.
805.—I mean, was there not filth at the top?
A.-No, it was in very good condition. It was the one in Glenealy.
806. It was very clean?
A. Yes.
807. Because filth does collect you know?
M
A.-Well, I cannot say. Of course in the lower parts of the town it may.
808.-I don't mean here; I mean any where.
A.-Oh, yes. You will find fungus growing in some of them where the ventila- tion is bad.
809.-But here you did not see it?
A.-Here I saw nothing of the kind.
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