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October % 1852.] THE LEADER. 941
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THE FLOODS IN CHAMOUNIX. A COKBESFONDENT...
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THE OR0ANOIMIONI0 BAND. A RATHER singula...
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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K K W Ail K Man 1/ K H. At A, Meeting Of...
j . ir Rlitnrmatter , emitting a moat offensive smell , although , aark sltmynm c 0 ndftiOn waa less disagreeable than " ^ £ i ? ff tothe quantity of rain that had fallen in the U 8 U rniDTafd on the prec / ding day . The following ex-10 wrTfti were performed , in the presence of the comrmsperB ^ upon sewage water taken from the ditch , holding ? ° BUflpension a large proportion of dark coloured matter , state of decomposition , and smelling offensively : — 111 Thirty-five grains of a powder prepared by Mr . Qfnth ' ert were added to a pint' of sewage water , and the h \ e stirred up with a stick . The water instantaneously it its disagr eeable odour , and in the course of four or five inutes the solid matter was precipitated to the bottom , Savinff the water above it perfectly clear . " 2 A like experiment was tried , and with the like enect , upon a pint of water of the same quality with thirty grains tne '
ot pu „ ,. ^ _ . . » i Tf .-i ij : ~* : i . * . i . * j " In each of these cases the solid matter precipitated stood about one-fifth the way up in the cylindrical glass essel used on the occasion , the other four-fifths being clear ater . A portion of the solid matter , having been taken out of the vessel , was found to be free from odour . « 3 . A portion of the water cleared by the above process , being mixed with about an equal quantity of foul sewage water immediately deodorized the latter , but without precipitating the solid matter contained in it . " The commissioners expressed to Mr . Stothert their satisfaction with the result of the experiments , and signified their intention to report to the committee in favour of his app lication . "E . Jebb , Chairman . " " Greek-street , Soho , Sept . 24 , 1852 . "
Mr . Woolrych also read a letter from the Messrs . Vallance , submitting , on behalf of Mr . Stothert , the following proposal for a licence to use the sewage of Richmond : — " 25 th Sept ., 1852 . " Messrs . Vallance and Vallance of 20 , Essex-street , Strand , beg to submit the following as the terms on which the Commissioners of Sewers should grant to Mr . Henry Stothert , or his nominees , or a company to be formed for the purpose of carrying out the same , a licence to use and dispose of certain sewage matter as hereinafter more particularly mentioned : —
" 1 . That the said commissioners shall grant to the said company full , free , and uninterrupted use and enjoyment of all the sewage matter of the town and parish of Bichmond , in the county of Surrey , now draining , or which may hereafter drain , into the sewer which passes from New Eichmond by the gas works towards Mortlake , with liberty for the said company to treat , use , employ , sell and dispose of the same absolutely as they may think right , subject to the following conditions : — " 2 . That the term of this licence and grant shall be for twenty years , determinable , nevertheless , as hereinafter mentioned .
" 3 . That the commissioners are to be at liberty to determine the licence and grant hereby given , provided tho oporatiouo upon tho sewage matter " by the said company become , in the opinion of the commissioners , a nuisance , or in anywise injurious to public health , or render the water of any river or stream into which the sewerage or water operated upon by the said company shall be suffered to flow detrimental to health , and in that case the Baid company , upon notice in writing from the said commissioners , are to discontinue from all further operations , and the grant and licence . hereby given shall thereupon cease and determine .
" 4 . That tho said compauy are to erect works at their own expense , but the said commissioners are to cause the sowa go to be convoyed to the outlet of the said sewer : provided , nevertheless , that the commissioners are to be at liberty to alter the lino of sewers from timo to time in any manner they may think proper ; but it is understood they will have regard to the works of tho company , and facilitate their operations so far aa they can , consistent with tho interests of tho Metropolitan Commission of Sewers . " 5 . That for the first ton years of tho said term a rental of Us . per annum shall be payable by the company to tho said commissioners , and that for the remainder of tho said term of twenty years the said company shall pay to the Haid commissioners such a fixed annual rent aa shall bo
« ' <{ uivalont to ono-tenth of the average ) net annual profit mado in tho eighth , ninth , and tenth yours of tho second term , propor accounts to bo furnished for tho purpose , with power for tho commissioner !! to inspect tho books of < ho company . " G . That at tho expiration of tho flaid term of twenty yearn , tho said conuniHuloncra shall bo at liberty to take ' ¦ lie worka and machinery of tho said company at a valua-° " jr , bo 1 Tm < 1 ° tli () U 8 U ( i 1 wft y' Tho company to accept such title an tho present j'oininiaBionorH can mvo thorn undor tho statutes oata-J » M » iirig and regulating tho Metropolitan Commission of
Hie Secretary then roiid tho resolution nnd recommenda tion of tho general committee ) of tho commission " » tho subject of the above proposal , viz .: —Resolved , _» 'it in tho opinion of thin committee tho process of ' Stothort is doHorving of encouragement , and that , » i "rdor to afford a . fuir opportunity of testing its appli-« 'i > ility to u luoro oxtotKltuI area of dminngo , it would " proper at present , to grant to tho purlieu on wIiomo » e ialt application is now mado , a Hcoiiho to take , use , '" ' J ° y tho sewage of Richmond as hereinafter nion" ° « . ° >» the terniH proposed , in tho hope that they ™ y succeed in OHtabuMhing the complete efficiency of " nys Uun , and Uio commissioners become justified in the r K - th 0 U - th ° ftowuKe ol * an extended portion of Vino riofc " < ler tho jurisdiction of tho commission-ore , V n « ttou t « rm » tut shall unpottr fuir * nd reuKonuble to
both parties . Recommended , accordingly , that license to take , use , and enjoy the sewage of Richmond , now draining , or which may hereafter drain into the sewer ( as in proposal ) , be granted to Mr . Stothert , or his nominees , upon the terms proposed . The Court then adopted the recommendation of the general committee . The Chairman said , that in agreeing to Mr . Stothert's application the commissioners had not granted to that gentleman any indulgence which they were not equally prepared to extend to any other party who brought forward any similar scheme which appeared to them to be likely to succeed .
October % 1852.] The Leader. 941
October % 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 941
The Floods In Chamounix. A Cokbesfondent...
THE FLOODS IN CHAMOUNIX . A COKBESFONDENT of the Times has furnished that journal with a capital account of the late floods at Chamounix . The date of his letter is September the 18 th . " The greatest inundation which has occurred this century has just carried misery and desolation through this secluded valley . On Thursday last the rain commenced falling in torrents , and when morning broke the Arve had risen considerably , but there seemed no reason to apprehend any danger , as the river has carved for itself a channel deep and wide enough , one would have thought , to drain all the Alps between Chamounix and Geneva . It was observed , however , with some uneasiness , that the stream which precipitates itself from the Glaciers des Bois into the river Arveiron had swollen into a cataract . Towards night the river had risen five or six feet above its ordinary level , and the mountain sides were marked in every direction with the white seams of new water-courses . On Friday morning the aspect of the Arve , as it tore through the village , hurrying forest trees , planks , and fragments of wooden bridges on its turbid waters , and momentarily rushing higher and higher up against its banks , was enough to excite the gravest apprehensions . All the people in the village turned out by beat of drum to
help each other in the approaching calamity .. It was not long coming . Ere nine o ' clock a . m . the river had burst its banks , and flooded the whole of the lower part of the valley , sweeping away the flax crops of the poor cottagers left out to dry , and covering their scanty supplies of food and corn with thick layers of white mud , composed of the debris of granite and shale rocks , which will take years to remove . The increasing force and power of tho torrent waa marked everj r minute by the greater size of the trees and timber it bore along , and , by-and-bye , the most painful feelings were excited by the appearance of the planks and roofs of chalets
whirling down in its waves , which boiled and chafed in huge masses of water resembling liquid mortar . All the Grangers at the hotels turned out , in spite of the incessant rain , to watch a sight so novel and so terrible . Above their heads hung a dark canopy of clouds , which settled down to the very base of the Alps , or drifted now and then up along the mountain sides , only to show the glaciers pouring down their furious cascades through the pine-trees , and to reveal the ampler currents of the water-courses . Around on every side was a dense vapour , concealing every object at tho distance of 100 yards , but still leaving tho angry rush of the roaring Arve . and its
chaotic burdens but too plainly visible as it seethed through its widely-spreading banks , which grew moredistant from each other with every minute . Tho sound of the huge boulders which it forced along , as they struck the rocky bottom , literally shook the ground and filled the air like growling thunder , and the long reverberations of tho avalanches mingling with this horrid tumult , the crash of trees and timber , and tho hissing of tho toppling waters of river and cataract , formed an awful chorus . The anxious faces of the villagers but too well revealed tho amount of the destruction that was taking place , n » , surrounding their priest , who stood with uncovered head beneath the teeming clouds , they gazed from the bridges in hopeless despair at the torrent below . By tho fragments , which panned in quick
suncession , it was known that all the bridges along tho road to Martigny hud been destroyed , and , from experience , they hud reason to believe greater mischief would bo done lower down tho valley . At tho Hotel do Lomlros strenuous eflbrts were ; made ; to preserve tho bridge which led from the garden aerosss tho river to tho road ascending towards the Ciiseudo des PeleriiiM , and largo beams of wood , trees stripped of their brunches , wero conveyed with groat labour , and placed ho that oho end was fixed under the bridge , and tho other , weighed down by large stones ami balks of timber , mstod on tho ground ; but , in spite of this eccentric engineering , it was plain to those who watched tho progress of tho flood , that tho erection could not long withstand the furious tide Mint bent against its ImttreHHOH . Before eleven o'clock the witters hud rushed into tho hotel garden , and in « few moments niter tho stone buttruHHOtt and foundations wore uappod und over ''
thrown , and with a tremendous crash down came the bridge into the Arve , which , whirling it round and round like a straw , speedily hurried it out of sight . Only one bridge was now left in the village , and it was crowded during the day with people , and , though several false alarms caused them to run off " , it was fortunately so high above the Arve , and its foundations were so strong , that it escaped all injury . All the walls by the side , and part of the roadway , however , were washed away . On walking by the mountain side , above the valley , the appearance of the torrent was frightful . Enormous pine-trees , ash , and beeches of great bulk , were to be seen struggling to rise out of the race , and lifting their dark roots and branches for an instant , but to be whelmed again by the stream , the course of which was marked everywhere by ruined
mills and half-drowned chalets . Women , gathered on the hill-side , stood wringing their hands and weeping as they looked on their submerged homes , their friendly roofs just peeping above the water , or , with their husbands , fathers , and sons , bore their humble household goods to some securer elevation . All the population agreed in saying they had never heard of or seen such . a deluge before , and I certainly was inclined to believe it , from witnessing the inefficient and unskilful attempts they made to check the destruction caused by the river For the most part , indeed , they submitted in silence to a calamity which they seemed to consider inevitable and irremediable . The small millers whose houses
stood by the roadside , were , of course , the great sufferers . In every case their dwellings were destroyed , and their property carried away : and it was melancholy to see some of those great stout fellows crying like children , as they beheld the fruits of years of industry and toil swallowed up in an instant for ever . A more touching subject fora painter than one of these sad groups perched on a rock over their home , and lamenting over its loss , as they watched the Arve scaling its walls , till it gurgled through the windows , and the whole building sank with a crash , could not be imagined . It is to be hoped that M . Hugard , a Savoyard landscape painter , who is here by order of the French Government to finish some large pieces of
Alpine scenery for the Ecole des Mines , may render the world familiar with the details of this flood , ot which the pen can never convey a description . In one night the river rose , in some places , twenty-five and thirty feet . All communication has been cut off between us and Geneva , and up and down the valley , for some days ; but there are many reports respecting the loss of life and property down towards Sallenches . It is said that fifty persons have been drowned at Bonneville , and that those who escaped were taken out of the windows in boats . Persons belonging to other hamlets down the valley are missing . Mules , cows , sheep , and goats , have perished in numbers ; and , if one were to
credit the stories told by the peasantry , they must have been the richest set of fellows in the world before the flood burst on them . The lowest estimate any ot them fixes on his personal disaster is about 2000 f . ; and it is astonishing to see how quietly they endure the annihilation of such comparatively colossal possessions ; there being only one instance , to my knowledge , of one of these rural Crojsi getting drunk , that being the case of a man who avowed that , not being able to bear hia misfortune en philosophy , he had had recourse to tho bottle on purpo . se . As some slight token of their sympathy , the visitors at the various hotels subscribed 500 f . for the sulTerers . "
At the end of his letter ho notices the great number of travellers who have swarmed into tho Alpine regions this . summer ; and the many unsuccessful attempts which have ' been made to ascend Moht Diane . Ho also appends the following posteript : — " 1 am enabled to confirm from personal observation the truth of tho reports which have reached us of tho damage done by the floods . The villagers are literally deprived of all food . They must buy corn for bread , nnd there is not u mill loll , within twenty miles . Considering the awful winter before them their ease well merits consideration and sympathy , and M . Michon , tho physician at Chamounix , will bo happy to give tho fullest information to those who ( col inclined to aid the sufferers . Tho road between this and Martigny is de-Ntroyod . "
The Or0anoimioni0 Band. A Rather Singula...
THE OR 0 ANOIMIONI 0 BAND . A RATHER singular and novel entertiiinmenl is being given at tho St . . lames ' s Theatre , under thin title , by a company of twelve Germans , characteristically dressed , who , without any mechanical aid , perform , by tho voice only , a varied selection of music , consisting of polkas , marches , songs , accompaniment ** , Ac . Tho " orchestra" of voices comprises the horn , tho trumpet , tho violin , and other wind and stringed inatruments , down to the military ( hums and cymbals , nnd the fuuttil bagnincH . A nautical b ( 4 * i » also rwprownted ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 2, 1852, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02101852/page/9/
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