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who had "been reeling out of the line by sixties a day , compelled him to halt , to ^ send back his invalids and heavy guns , and , it is said , to retire himself . On the 4 th of August , however , he resumed hia progress—a fact irreconcilable , "we think , with the pret&nded private information , which states that , on the 3 rd , he made a second retrograde movement , and abandoned Lucknow to the rebel army of" Dude . Lucknow could hold out to the end of August , unless its garrison were reduced to despair by false accounts of their own hopeless position .
There is much confusion in . the news from Agra . It is probable that the- " besiegers have fired the town , but it would seem that they have sustained some severe reverses . . t The garrison and European residents were within the fort , which was considered safe , and which , it would seem , had not been cut off from its communication with the camp at Delhi . At Delhi itself the British merely held a position outside the walls , harassed the insurgents ^ vith" by a continual fire , repelled the rebel sorties with great loss on both sides , and waited anxious ! y for reinforcements . It was not
believed that any difficulty would be experienced in storming- the place , the walls of which on one side have been dilapidated by our batteries ; but the danger was in rushing in and fighting through miles of streets with a desperate enemy of vastly superior numbers . Meanwhile , the mutinous Sepoys must have teen suffering from dissension , from the- shot
and shell playing from the British lines , and from their utter deficiency in medicine and surgery . If the Europeans could maintain their ground until Nicholson ' s arrival , with Yak Cojiteandt , and perhaps a portion of the Peshawur Brigade , the scale might be turned against the garrison . Otherwise , it would not startle us to hear of a retirement
upon Agra : Allyglvar , the natural point at which a retiring army would pause , "being rendered unhealthy by its neighbourhood of
morasses . " No official intelligence arrived by the last mail from Bareilly , Ferozepore , Gwalior , BTausi , Hissar , Jhanai , Meerut , Neemuch , or ! N ~ usseeral > ad , places which may have been isolated by the insurrection , or restored to tranquillity . The despatches tell us nothing certain . All was reported well , however , from Dacca , Ghazccpore , Mhow , Indore , Midnapore , Mirzaporc , Nagode , Nagpore ., and R . e \ vah . Prom Azimghur , "JBhauguIpore , Hazareehnugh , and Saugor , avg shall not
be surprised to liear had news . At the first , an incipient agitation was going on . among , the troops ; at the second , the Europeans dared not attempt to d iaarm the Sepoys who had hitherto been quiet ; at the third , there was still a regiment of Native Otvalry trusted with its anna ; this was also the case at Saugor . With respect to these and other parts of India , however , the turn ot events would depend on the movements in Chide and at Delhi , and the temper of the Bombay ami Madras armies .
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LONDON Allt AND "WATER . "We resume our analysis' of the recent Reports of the Metropolitan Officers of Health , -tae gentlemen , it should be stated , have fcwmecl themselves into an association for rautnal assistance- and the promotion of samtary science . Such an interchange of e xperiences and comparison of data eiumofc out bo highly beneficial to the public at ^ rge it only tho powers with whicli Hie law Jftvestathe officers bo rigidly enforced , and ™ Q nuisances against which they set their j wu'ic bo peremptorily removed . To show *< aw neccaaary it- is to have these sci « utilic ; detectives to ferret out where lurk tho secret
seeds of disease , the unconscious poison 1 which consumes our bloom and strength , ' take that clear , sparkling , limpid beverage , so cool and refreshing to the taste on a hot summer ' s day . It is none of your company ' s water , driven through miles of piping and left to heat and putrify in the cistern . It is just drawn from the pump in the square , and stands in the glass with a brightness and transparency that would win a poet's praise . Alas ! what says the report ? The sources
whence the -water comes are simply surface wells . These are , "without exception , excessively polluted ; nor is this to be wondered at , if we consider the conditions affecting these falsely named , spring-waters . The great majority of London wells are simp 3 y holes in the ground made for intercepting the surface water in its passage through the soil towards its complete filtratioa at a raucii lower level .. If 310 other circumstances were in operation , such , water would be simply imperfectly filtered surface water ; but when we reflect that tlie soil through which it percolates is of a
loose gravelly nature , riddled oyer with , cesspools , and liable to ev-ery impregnation which can affect its surface , and that the nature of water is to absorb any soluble substance with which it comes in contact , we can realize some of the enormities of the pollution to which sucli water is subject . In Hanover-square one sucli well ha , s been closed by the inspector ; but what of the others , and how are we to remedy the evil ? ' Hie only means of securing pure and undefiled water is by digging deep Artesian wells . The stream would then be obtained from a basin which it could not
reach without having passed through a complete process of natural filtration . The principal improvements which have been effected towards the health of Xiondon , and ameliorating the condition of the ' lower classes ,- ' consist of tlie construction of private drains , the removal of refuse matter , laying on au increased supply of wholesome water , the cleansing and ventilation of houses , and ~ various other arrangements of this kind . The amount of sanitary
improvements accomplished during the year must be regarded with satisfaction ; though , until a general system of drainage on a large scale has been carried out , and the Thames exr empted from being the receptacle of every kind of filth , no partial efforts can properly hc deemed satisfactory . Two plans seem to have been in operation . —the one to prevent the propagation of disease ; the other , tlie moral as well as the physical elevation of the poor . It would be impossible to detail the
particulars for the different districts of the metropolis . " We take , however , as a sample , what has been done in . one or two parishes . According to tho Report we find that in St . Olave's , Southwark , there have been , during the past year , 1 G 9 drains trapped ; 58 houses cither supplied with water or an improved supply given ; 154 yards paved ; M < tJ dust-bins provided ; dj open courts
flagged ; besides 90 cesspools emptied and filled up , and other arrangements made for effectuall y repressing the rise of all noxious vapours . In addition to ventilatiug , cleansing , and 1 iinewashing houses , many that had long been in a filthy state , totally unfit for human habitation , have been made decent dwellings , and appliances for cleanliness and comfort given which they never possessed before . . In Westminster and Whitechapol the alterations that have boon made arc
still moro numerous ; whilst there- is not a ^ parish in which some improvements of this kind have not Ibeeii ellbctcd , and further improvements in course ol being adopted , while in Newington tho advantages of trees and shrubs , as an element in maintaining tho purity of tho atmosphere
have not been passed over . "We alluded to the attempt made to raise the moral condition of the lower classes . This has been partially effected , of course ,, by taking them out of the filth and wretchedness in which they lived . But a higher step has been taken . In St . Pancras parish , the association for improving the dwellings of the industrious classes has erected one large building , called Pancrassquare , consisting of one hundred and ten sets of rooms ; each set of rooms has a separate
kitchen-range , boiler , and oven ; a scullery with a supply of water ; a place for dust ; and a separate water-closet . The rents of the sets of two rooms vary from 4 s . to 5 s . 6 d . ; for three rooms , from 5 s . to 7 s . a week . There are also some model buildings near the Bagnigge-wells-road , constructed by the Society for Improving the Condition of the labouring- Classes . These are small houses with two floors , adapted for twenty-three families and thirty aged women . The same society has , during the last year , been engaged
on the experiment of determining how far existing courts , lanes , and alleys can be cleansed , improved 3 and made fit for human dwellings at such a cost as to be remunerative . The experiment has been made in three places of the most unpromising character—Wild-court , Drury-lane ; Clark's-buildings , St . Giles ' s ; and Tyndall ' s-buildings , Grray ' sinn . The two first speculations have answered exceedingly well , in a pecuniary point of view , and there is every probability of the last paying also .
Much , then , as we have shown , has been done towards improving the health and aspect of X / ondon ; but a gross inconsistency , as we will prove , is sometimes allowed to niar the good work . IMuch has been effected to remove many of the preventible causes of disease , and to this we shall again return ; but a gross
inconsistency is allowed sometimes to mar the good work . We are anxious that our narrow streets and alleys shall be widened ; our close and crowded rooms ventilated and thinned ; a good system of drainage constructed , and model homes erected for the labouring classes . Yet we pull down blocks of houses and streets—always those of the poorwithout a , moment ' s consideration as to >
where the unfortunate o \ itcasts shall find shelter . What is the consequence ? Take the parish of St . Olave ' s , Southwark . Within the last few years a considerable number of dwellings have been destroyed without any provision being made for the tenants , who distribute themselves by degrees over the untouched localities . These become densely inhabited , and houses that formerly contained one , or not more than two families , have now a family in each room . In the Whitcchapel district , the " building of St . Katharine ' s T > ocks occasioned the
demolition of 1033 houses ; the Eastern Counties and Blackwall Il-ailway about 150 ; and the new street from the London Docks to Shoreditch about 560 more , —1743 in all ; whilst probably during the same period not more than 360 new houses were erected . To mako the evil bear its duo proportion , it must be
remembered that tho population of theso districts has been steadily increasing for several years past . This reckless razing of houses should , undoubtedly , bo restrained . It is mot only seriously detrimental to the health of thoso who Jire obliged to live in crowded rooms ; it tends to demoralize thoso olirivnbt'P-tenants and increase
pauperism . Paiuilies that used to occupy houses in some open , any thoroughfare , aro now forced into out-of-the-way places , whore few besides tho police and tho parish officers penetrate ; they are , therefore , as the report very justly observes , deprived of tho advan-
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i . ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ No . 392 , September 26 , 1857 , ] ' TE E LEADER . 927
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 26, 1857, page 927, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2211/page/15/
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