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English appliances), flushing tanks, waste-preventing cisterns, &c., are clearly described. The other systems

are necessarily disposed of at more moderate length, and the work concludes with a useful chapter upon the best means for disposing of the sewage of an isolated country house.

The addition at the In the centre is

stove for warming the apartment.
other end is similarly divided into three.

a passage for exit, with on one side a room containing two water-closets and a urinal, and on the other side a similar room with two lavatory basins and a sink.

It would seem to be very undesirable to have a separate This work contains a great deal of information on sani- exit passage; we fancy that this door would practically be tary subjects, and in parts is singularly complete. The always locked, and so we think the space might have plates at the end of the volume that have been specially been better utilised. We would point out that the closets drawn are all that could be desired, but the illustrations in are not at all well placed, and should have been detached the text are simply trade catalogue engravings, some of them from the ward by cross ventilated lobbies; that the of a rather coarse description. The English blocks, with 'tisanerie' is not a proper place for the bath (for filling their lettering and dimensions, in some cases, must have and emptying which no provision appears to have been a strange appearance to foreign eyes. If MM. Putzeys in made); that a doctor's room would be more approanother edition would not only describe the various systems priately placed (in our view) in the general administrative of warming, lighting, drainage, &c., but would attempt a buildings; and that the tisanerie,' which practically judicial comparison of their merits, we think that they represents the nurse's room, is not provided with a window would add considerably to the value of a very useful overlooking the ward. :

volume.

Description d'un Nouveau Système de Pavillons Permanents pour le Traitement des Maladies Epidémiques et Contagieuses. Par le Dr. Félix Putzeys et E. Putzeys. Librairie Polytechnique, Liège.

THIS description of Dr. Putzeys' pavilions for contagious diseases is interesting, and may with advantage be compared with similar work that has been lately carried out in this country.

The subject of Dr. Putzeys' essay covers simply the construction, heating, and ventilation of a detached onestoried pavilion, the unit as it were of a large hospital, and he does not enter into such subjects as the choice of site, the aspect and prospect of the building, the necessary space that should intervene between the blocks, or their relative disposition and grouping.

The importance of these points is fully admitted, but the author considers them to be outside the scope of his present work.

The drawing accompanying the essay shows a ward for twenty beds, the dimensions of which are as follows: 31.20 mètres in length, 7 mètres in width, and 5.35 mètres in height, to the centre of the curved ceiling. At a height of 4 mètres cambered wrought iron trusses are placed, and the lower curved members of the trusses are connected together with slightly arched fillings-in of tiles or thin Dutch bricks.

Dr. Putzeys claims two advantages for his cambered ceilings. Firstly, he obtains larger cubical contents with the same height of ridge and walls; and secondly, that he rounds off the angles of the ceiling which is admittedly desirable as diminishing the corners that retain dust and germs.

Now for our part we cannot see that the second advantage is obtained; and though the first advantage is gained, it is only obtained at considerable additional expense. We would suggest that the arrangement which is being advocated in England, namely, that of flat ceilings with well-rounded junction between the latter and the walls is at once a better and cheaper disposition. The vertical angles of the walls should also be rounded off, although they are not so shown in the work before us. The section of the pavilion represents a surface of 32 square mètres, giving a cube of 50 mètres per bed. If we refer to similar work in England, we shall find that 6 feet 6 inches lineal of wall space, 85 feet superficial of floor space, and 1,000 feet cube of air space per bed is generally considered sufficient, so that Dr. Putzeys' provision may be accepted as being liberal in the extreme.

The pavilion is extended at each end beyond the limits of the ward. In the extension at one end we find a central passage, which forms the entrance lobby of the building, with, on one hand, the tisanerie,' having a closed kitchener used in preparation of food and medicines, &c., and in this room the bath is kept. On the other hand the doctor's room is shown, with a closed

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To continue the doctor's description of his pavilion, we find that he requires that the walls and ceiling shall be rendered in Keen's cement or with stucco trowelled to a polished surface, so that it can be frequently washed with disinfectants.

The walls, he considers, should have a thickness of 33 mètres, which is practically 1 brick. In very exposed positions he recommends hollow walls, though their use in England is not so limited, and is greatly to be recommended for hospital buildings under all circumstances.

Dr. Putzeys advises the execution of careful subsoil drainage, and the installation of an impermeable platform of concrete covered with asphalte under the building. The floor is shown to be of hard wood parquet bedded in bitumen upon the concrete.

The water-closets are fitted up in the ordinary English

manner.

The ventilation is ingeniously arranged. Between the ceiling and the ridge a continuous foul air duct is formed, delivering into a foul air chamber over the tisanerie' and doctor's room, which is obtained by placing flat ceilings over these rooms at the level of the springing of the trusses. From this foul air chamber eight flues in an internal wall descend and enter a duct under the floors of the rooms, and this duct in turn is connected with air spaces in rear of the stoves already mentioned.

When the stoves are in use the air chambers become heated, and a powerful extraction current is established. In the ceiling of the ward are numerous openings into the foul air duct, fitted with movable metal louvres. Dr. Putzeys states that the fire in the 'tisanerie' is always in use, so that the system of extraction is constantly in action, but in order to provide for an emergency, when the stove might be out of use, he has provided three extraction cowls in direct communication with the foul air duct, but closed when the ordinary system of extraction is in use by a Boyle's ventilator arranged in form of a valve.

For the proper ventilation of an infectious ward our author considers that each patient should be provided with 150 mètres of fresh air per hour, which means the complete changing of the atmosphere of the room three times in each hour. The principal inlets of fresh air that can be used in warm weather being the windows, we notice that he has advisedly discarded the Continental casements and employs double hung sashes with fan sashes on centres. Air is also admitted at the skirting level, and in winter is warmed by passing over hot water pipes.

At each window a coil of hot water pipes is placed to assist in the general warming of the ward. Where the proper attendance cannot be obtained to look after a hot water circulation, Dr. Putzeys admits the use of stoves, but not otherwise.

This system has been adopted in a pavilion recently erected at Verviers, and has, we are told, given great satisfaction.

In conclusion, we think that the design before us is a great improvement upon anything of the sort that we have seen abroad, especially in the careful treatment of the

subject of ventilation, though we venture to think its author might probably improve it by reference to work of the kind recently carried out here.

NOTES ON BOOKS.

1. Gas Works Statistics, 1885. Seventh Issue, pp. 110. Price 35. 6d.

2. Water Works Statistics, 1885. Fifth Issue, pp. 40. Price 2s. 6d.

3. The Gas and Water Companies' Directory, 1885. Ninth Issue, pp. 258. Price 4s. Edited by CHARLES W. HASTINGS. Scientific Publishing Company, Limited, 22 Buckingham Street, W.C. THESE three useful publications are correlated the one with the other. No. I gives particulars as to gas companies and gas departments of corporations in as many as 1,049 towns at home and abroad, stating in the great majority of cases the number of tons carbonised, the annual make and sale of gas and its illuminating power, the price per 1,000 cubic feet, the number of consumers, and the dividend paid. If particulars are desired as to the capital expenditure of each company, its address or officers, Book No. 3 must be referred to. This gives the date of formation of the undertaking, its share and loan capital issued, its dividends, the name of the chairman, engineer or manager, secretary, address, distance from London and by what lines of railway, population, and the like. Similar particulars as to water companies are also given in No. 3; and in No. 2, which is a much thinner book than the others, are contained particulars as to the source of water supply and whether by gravitation or pumping, the quantity raised per annum, the water rate or other charge, if constant service is given, &c., in 286 English and foreign towns. No doubt Mr. Hastings is aware of the Parliamentary Return as to Urban Water Supply in 1879, which contains particulars as to 944 districts. Might he not extend his list considerably from this source? All these books are carefully, and, so far as we have been able to check them, accurately compiled, and they ought to be very useful to those connected with the important enterprises of gas and

water.

2.

The Science of Sanitation in Plain Language. THIS is a sensible little pamphlet by Sharp & Co.. of 11 Holborn Circus. After describing the ordinary defects of sanitary work, Messrs. Sharp describe and illustrate three systems. 1. The old pan-closet and closed soil-pipe. A system of house-drain ventilation of 1875 date,' that bears some resemblance to the arrangement authorised by the Model By-laws. 3. Their continuous' system of house-drain ventilation, in which the soil-pipe is used as an inlet for fresh air, and an extraction-pipe is attached to the house side of the disconnecting-trap placed in front of the premises. A few general hints on sanitary subjects conclude this pamphlet, which Messrs. Sharp have allowed to tell its own tale without the interposition of any of the usual testimonials.

Perfect Ventilation. By the Eolus Waterspray Ventilating Company, 235 High Holborn, W.C. THIS work treats in an exhaustive manner of the Eolus Waterspray system of ventilation, and calls attention to the many notable buildings, both at home and abroad, that have been successfully ventilated by its aid. It is unnecessary to enter into details of the Eolus system, which is widely known, and to the value of which our own columns have borne testimony. This little work under review, profusely illustrated, shows the application of the Æolus to all kinds of buildings, and in connection with heating apparatus also. Examples of the cost of working,

as compared with other systems of heating, are given, showing an advantage in favour of the Eolus. Illustrations of the heating apparatus used by the company are shown, and ventilation generally is exhaustively discussed, including a very cheap mode adapted for workmen's houses, industrial dwellings, &c. A chapter is devoted to the Eolus automatic system of ship ventilation, and prominence is given to several ventilators, cowls, &c., the interest in which the company have acquired, and special features of other makers that they use in connection with their own. A portion of the work is devoted to electromotors and other electrical apparatus connected with bells, The work is concluded with burglar and fire alarms, &c. a number of well-executed diagrams of some of the principal buildings ventilated by the company, including the offices of the Daily Telegraph. It has, we believe, been compiled by Mr. R. Oakley, the engineer to the company.

Tenth Report of the State Board of Health for Minnesota. 1884.

If we

WE are much indebted to the Boards of Health of the American States for the very valuable and voluminous reports of their doings, with which they favour us. cannot review them at length, it is from no lack of appreciation of their interest, but because (sanitary matters in America being a good deal behind our own experiences) the lessons which the reports teach are of no special significance to us in England. The Minnesota Board of Health is evidently extremely anxious to do its duty, and to get the laws of public hygiene understood and acted upon by the people entrusted to its care. The record of its efforts to stamp out small-pox, for example, may be commended to the attention of our English Local Government Board. Americans seem to have an unconquerable hankering after statistics, but to be incapable of summarising events or epidemics. If we may venture upon a friendly criticism of this report (it would equally serve for the report of any other State Board of Health), we would say that its effect is almost wholly lost by diffusiveness. A closely reasoned epigrammatic account of the Board's doings and aspirations might command general attention. It is hopeless to expect people to wade through 400 pages of diurnal detail.

LAW REPORTS.

UNWHOLESOME MEAT AT FRODSHAM.

AT the Eddisbury Petty Sessions, Cheshire, on Wednesday, the 27th ult., Rupert J. Saunders, of Main Street, Frodsham, butcher and sausage-maker, was summoned by the Runcorn Union Rural Sanitary Authority for having in his possession a quantity of meat for the purpose of preparation for sale, the same being unwholesome and unfit for food of man. Mr. W. H. Linaker, of the firm of Messrs. Linaker and Linaker, appeared to prosecute on behalf of the sanitary authority, and Mr. Dreaper, of Chester, defended. Mr. James Farrington, inspector, proved the seizure of the meat, and Dr. J. Adams, medical officer of health, gave evidence as to the state and condition of the same. The defendant was fined 10/. and costs.

Mr.

THE FOOD AND DRUGS ACT.-A HEAVY FINE. At the Birmingham Police-court, before Messrs. Ellis and Marris, Adam Simpson, farmer, of Haunton Manor Farm, near Tamworth, was summoned, at the instance of Mr. John Parker, chief inspector of nuisances, for selling milk adulterated with 24 per cent. of added water. Mr. C. A. Carter, assistant town clerk, prosecuted. Parker, inspector under the Food and Drugs Acts, visited New Street Station on April 28 last, and took a sample of the milk consigned by the defendant to James Holt, of Cowper Street, Birmingham, and submitted the same to the public analyst, which, upon analysis, was found to contain 24 per cent. of added water. The churn which

contained the milk was labelled 'Contents warranted new and pure milk,' and signed A. Simpson-[an ominous name-ED.] The guard of the train that conveyed the milk deposed that the churn was placed in his van at Elford Station, and had not been disturbed until taken out at Birmingham, when Mr. Parker took charge of it. Defendant stated that he was totally unaware of the adulteration. Some time ago he complained to his cowman that there was not a sufficient quantity of milk, and he supposed his man had put water in to make up the quantity; he was very sorry that such a thing had occurred. Defendant was fined 10/. and costs.

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An epidemic of measles has raged in Dublin since the beginning of the year. It has not, however, assumed to anything like the same proportions as in former years. In the month of April 71 deaths from this disease occurred. This rate of mortality, though high, was, however, 3.3 per 1,000 persons less than in the previous month.

In consequence of an outbreak of small-pox at Brottonin-Cleveland, the schools have been closed by order of the School Board.

There were ninety-two applications for the surveyorship of Wednesbury, at 200l. per annum, the majority of whom were very experienced men.

A meeting representing the East Kent Combination of Sanitary Authorities has decided to forward a memorial to the Local Government Board, urging upon them the desirability of a legislative enactment for the compulsory notification of infectious diseases. Instances were pointed out where the concealment of these diseases by medical men and others, until they broke out in a district, had been attended by disastrous results.

SEWERAGE.

opened on April 29. The Board was formed in 1881, as the result of a joint application by the Improvement Commissioners and the Rural Sanitary Authority to the Local Government Board for a provisional order. The district covered includes Stourbridge, Upper Swinford, Amblecote, and Wollaston, with a total population amounting to nearly 20,000. The system of treatment eventually carried out was broad irrigation, the sewage being collected at the pumping station, whence it is conveyed to about 130 acres of land near Whittington. The estimated dry weather flow of sewage is between 500,000 and 600,000 gallons per day. Duplicate pumping-engines have been supplied by Messrs. Hathorn, Davey, & Co., and have a total lifting capacity of 2,000,000 gallons per day. The rising main is 24 miles in length, composed of 14-inch iron pipes, and by causing the main at its highest point between the pumping station and the farm to act as a syphon, by an arrangement which is under the control of the engineer, it is calculated that one-fifth of the pumping power will be saved. The carriers on the sewage farm consist of about six miles' length of earthenware pipes. The original estimate for the works was 18,1167.; the actual cost is not expected to exceed 17,600/., or, including cost of land, about 25,000l. There is a great deal yet to be done in the matter of drainage of the district before the Stour will be entirely cleansed from the pollution which has hitherto flowed into it.

WATER SUPPLY.

Messrs. Le Grand & Sutcliff, Artesian Well Engineers and Contractors, Bunhill Row, London, have recently succeeded in tapping a fine spring of water at Alnwick by means of an Abyssinian tube-well bored to a depth of 72 feet. The same firm have also settled a most important water question' at Southampton, where, as a result of their operations, there is now a daily supply of four million gallons of excellent water.

CORRESPONDENCE.

Audi alteram partem.

[All communications must bear the signature of the writer, not necessarily for publication.]

SOIL-PIPES.

Mr. Laws, City Engineer of Newcastle, has prepared a plan for the efficient sewerage of the Ouseburn district of that city. Some years ago the Ouseburn was a nearly pellucid rivulet, and a walk along its picturesque banks was most enjoyable; now this small stream receives the THE VENTILATION OF HOUSE-DRAINS AND sewage of the suburban district of Gosforth, comprising about 6,000 inhabitants, which, it is almost needless to state, has materially diminished its attractiveness, as well as proved a nuisance in the locality through which it passes. Mr. Laws' scheme embraces a main sewer and two branches to serve other districts, the cost of which to the city he estimates at 12,664%. He also urges the desirability of the co-operation of the Gosforth Local Board in the scheme to render it efficient, which they have agreed to give.

The annual report of Mr. W. S. Till, borough surveyor of Birmingham, shows that during 1884 2 miles 7 furlongs 97 yards of public sewers were constructed, making the total length of sewers under the charge of the Town Council 186 miles, 7 furlongs, 30 yards; 372 private drains were laid into sewers, and 6 miles 6 furlongs 194 yards of streets and roads were declared highways, linging the total highways in the borough to 192 miles 3 furlongs, 129 yards. There were also constructed 4 miles 1 furlong 33 yards of undeclared highways, and 2 miles, 3 furlongs and 2 yards of private road and passages. Plans were approved for 1,285 new buildings, an increase of 50 compared with the previous year, and there were 947 notices concerning dangerous structures forwarded to owners, an increase of 180 on those of 1883, the result probably of the recent inquiry into the general condition of the dwellings of the poor.

The pumping station and sewerage works in connection with the Stourbridge Main Drainage Board were formally

As three letters have now appeared in the SANITARY RECORD, in reference to our 'Continuous Current' system of house-drain and soil-pipe ventilation, which you kindly noticed in your March number, we beg leave to reply to them.

Referring to H. C. B.'s objections-p. 486-to the arrangement of what he terms our anti-vacuum pipes (which arrangement, by the way, we doubt if he has rightly understood), we can only say that, even granting that the angle of reflection' from the periphery of a soilpipe may be equal to the angle of incidence' thereon, we entirely fail to see how the passage of soil from an upper closet could choke up the pipes in question.

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Referring to his views on traps, we cannot do better than quote Mr. Baldwin Latham, who says (Sanitary Engineering, p. 425): 'It cannot be too fully impressed upon all persons using traps that no trap can be relied upon unless protected by a ventilator to relieve it from pressure.'

In reply to Mr. Masters (p. 486), we can only suggest that the difference, which he seems unable to perceive, between his system and our own, may be that, whereas his is (as he says) intermittent, ours has been shown to be continuous in action

The aim which we had in view when we illustrated our system was not to claim any great discovery, but to call forth opinions as to which is really the best, simplest, and least expensive method of dealing with the important question of drain v ntilation.

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DRAIN TESTING WITH 'SANITAS' OR 'TEREBENE' OIL.

The communication from Mr. MacMahon, on page 502, is interesting; but, so far as my experience goes, testing by smell alone is not nearly so satisfactory as by both sight and smell combined. With the smoke test you can convince people of leaking drains, &c., where any amount of smell would hardly do so. And the smoke also indicates more clearly where the defect is.

I know a case of a gentleman who had his drainage all sorted; then two years after it was professionally tested by the oil test, when all was found correct except a slight smell somewhere near an upper flat w.c. The gentleman requested to have the exact spot where the defect was pointed out, but this could not be done. He demurred to disturbing his fittings, and sent for another party to apply the smoke test, when the defect-a small leak at a joint in the soil-pipe-was soon discovered and put right in a few minutes.

The oil test, as Mr. MacMahon points out, has one advantage-viz., in not requiring particular apparatus, and it is serviceable in many cases.

21 Renfrew Street, Glasgow. May 18.

W. P. BUCHAN.

SPINDLE-VALVE STENCH-TRAPS.

In regard to the spindle-valve stench-trap shown on page 531, as patented by Mr. T. S. Truss, Chiswick, Middlesex, in 1884, I would like to ask him wherein consists its difference between, or improvement' upon, the spindle-valve trap illustrated by figure 70 in my patent of July 9, 1878 ?

I would also ask Mr. Francis William Kelly, Minneapolis, Minn., wherein does his 'anti-syphoning Ball Trap,' dated Sept. 9, 1884, differ from the siphon balltrap of mine illustrated at Fig 278 of the fourth edition of my book on 'Plumbing,' published in January 1883? 21 Renfrew Street, Glasgow. W. P. BUCHAN. May 18.

DAMAGES FOR DEFECTIVE DRAINS.

I venture to think that the paragraph which appears under the above heading in the current number of the SANITARY RECORD (page 500), is somewhat misleading, as it might be supposed from this that the landlord of a house, and not the tenant, is the party liable for maintaining the drains in an efficient sanitary condition. In an ordinary lease, as drawn at the present time, I believe that there is, almost without exception, a covenant which provides that the tenant shall keep the drains, amongst other things, in good repair, and, this being so, there can hardly be a doubt as to the tenant's liability. I have been unable to obtain a full report of the case in question (Chichester v. Lance), but it seems to me that it is exceptional, and it is stated in a paragraph relating thereto which appeared in the Globe of April 15, that the 'house had been taken for three years, under an agreement which made no special mention of the drains.'

It is to be hoped that when it becomes law that landlords are to be held responsible for the sanitary state of their houses, it will, at the same time, be made illegal for tenants to, in any way, interfere with the drains, for so much ignorance exists, in respect of the most simple sanitary matters, that it is quite possible for a house to be

delivered up to a lessee in a perfect sanitary state, and before long to become quite the reverse. In a case which came under my own observation, a short time since, the tenant of a house had closed the end of a bath waste, which was properly disconnected from the drain, as he objected to pipes being left open at the end, feeling quit sure that it was not correct. A SANITARY ENGINEER.

PREVENTION OF FIRES IN THEATRES.

Our attention has lately been drawn to an article on the above subject appearing in your issue of May 15, p. 509. Will you allow us to point out the objection to tungstate of soda, recommended by Captain A. W. Shean, which is this-viz., that it scales off, and has to be applied every two or three weeks to be effective. Our cyanite, on the contrary, is permanent in effect when once applied, and we may add, while on the subject, that it is the only means of fire prevention which has been certified and approved by Sir William Harcourt, Bart., Captain Shaw, C.B., C. J. Phipps, Esq., F.S. A. (architect of over forty theatres), Thomas Verity, Esq., Surveyor to the Lord Chamberlain, and other distinguished authorities. You further mention that wood may be made incombustible by soaking over four or five days in certain chemicals. Now, with our cyanite, soaking is perfectly unnecessary; one liberal coat with a brush, or at most two coats, rendering the wood perfectly fireproof-i.e. proof against flame.

Amongst the large number of buildings which we have cyanited (including the Home Secretary's private house) we may mention that cyanite has been used in nearly all the theatres in London of recent construction, including the Prince's, Empire, Novelty, re-constructed Criterion, &c. E. E. MARRIOTT.

ERRATA.

In the SANITARY RECORD for May 15, page 540, in the last paragraph of Mr. Fredk. H. Smith's letter, commencing If after eight hours,' &c., read after' instead of if.' After the words 'Mr. W. H. Drake' in next line, read 'has' for 'had.'

In Mr. Barnes Austin's letter, page 540, after the word 'judgment,' six lines from the bottom, there should have been a full stop. Also for the word 'when,' substitute 'However.'

THE HOUSING OF THE WORKING CLASSES.

How best to help the slender store,

How mend the dwellings of the poor?

THE HOUSING OF COLLIERS.-Although much has been done during recent years by the owners of collieries and others to improve the homes of our mining population, much more requires to be done before that large section of the industrial community are afforded full opportunities of obeying the canons of health or morality. Thousands of pitmen in the counties of Durham and Northumberland now live in old cottages provided by their employers, which have been built upwards of forty years ago, and are a reproach to our boasted civilisation. Many of these wretched hovels are situated within a circuit of twenty miles round Newcastle; they consist of one room from which a ladder reaches up through a trap-door to an unceiled and miserable loft or garret, which is only separated from the sky by a layer of tiles, which rarely suffices to keep out the rain, rendering this upper storey useless for habitation. The family, therefore, whatever their number may be, necessarily crowd into their one only habitable apartment, often with the most pernicious results. As an illustration of the evil effects of these un

sanitary dwellings, we quote from a report presented to the Hexham Rural Sanitary Authority at their last monthly meeting, by Dr. Maclagan, medical officer of health, who stated that on May 27 a case of scarlatina was reported from Water Row, Wylam. On visiting this case he found that this very small one-roomed cottage and loft held nine persons. The father, a miner, was at work, and the mother also was at work in some gardens near; the seven children of the family being under the care of the eldest, who could not be more than ten years of age. The child affected was in bed, having the baby beside her, the latter's arms being round her neck. While in the cottage, a troop of children came in, whom he found to be the children of the neighbours. Under such circumstances it was almost a hopeless task to attempt to stay the progress of an outbreak of infectious disease. On the same day a case of scarlatina was reported from Wylam, where it was said to be well known that children went to the school this child attended from infected houses. Dr. Maclagan further stated that the condition of many of the cottages in which several of these cases of infectious disease had appeared was deplorably inadequate either for purposes of health or decency, and probably if the members of the Royal Commission directed their attention to the housing of miners in many of the rural villages of England, they might find quite as much to warrant their interference in such homes as in the worst parts of many large towns. The Chairman remarked that all they could do would be to summon this unfortunate miner for overcrowding. They could not close the houses; they were built before the Act became law, otherwise he would close the whole of Wylam; it was the plague-spot in the district. They were damp, miserable houses, and it was heart-breaking to go and see them. It will be remembered that George Stephenson, the eminent engineer, was born in one of these colliery cottages at Wylam, and it is unfortunate, after the lustre he shed on his native place, that it should now be in such evil repute. Wylam, however, is by no means singular amongst colliery villages in the north for its sanitary deficiencies; its counterpart may be seen at Seghill, Westmoor, and other pit-villages near to Newcastle. If inquiries were instituted, revelations could be made as to the condition of these places which would startle even the Royal Commissioners.

The Duke of Northumberland proposed to build some new workmen's dwellings at Alnwick, but, as the Local Board did not approve of the plans submitted to them, the project has been abandoned for the present.

CREMATION NOTES.

A CREMATION society has been formed at Worcester, Massachusets.

Two crematories' are about to be erected in the Communal cemeteries of Ravenna and Luga.

A deputation from the Urne Society has waited on the President of the Austrian Cabinet to ask that cremation should be authorised. This society comprises 800 members, amongst whom every class is represented; they have collected sufficient funds for the construction of a crematory apparatus.

PARKS AND OPEN SPACES.

God Almighty first planted a garden, and indeed it is the purest of all pleasures.'

ON May 29 the ground attached to Christ Church, Battersea, which has been laid out and provided with seats by the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, was formally opened to the public by the Countess of

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The Committee appointed by the Council of the Society of Arts to consider the Essays sent in for the above prizes, have reported to the effect that in their opinion none of the Essays realise the requirements of the offer in such a manner as to justify them in recommending that the full amount of the prizes offered by Mr. Westgarth should be awarded. They recommended, however, that prizes amounting in all to £600 should be awarded as under :Three prizes of £100 each, to H. H. Bridgman, 42 Poultry, E.C.: J. Corbett, 24 Barton Arcade, Manchester; W. Woodward, 7 Duke Street, Adelphi, W.C.

:

Three prizes of £50 each, to A. Wynter Blyth, Court House, St. Marylebone, W., and R. Greene, Berry Wood. Northampton: Clement Dunscombe, City Engineer, Liverpool; C. Scott, Town Hall, Belfast, and J. W. E. Tilley, Royal Avenue, Belfast.

Six prizes of £25 each, to A. H. De Wind, Comber, co. Down: J. S. Fairfax, 3 St. Paul's Road, Camden Square, N.W.; Victor Jetley, 8 North Audley Street, W.; T. E. Julian, 22 Palace Road, Roupell Park. S.W.; W. H. Newell, M.D., 201 Palisade Avenue, Jersey City, N.J.. United States of America; G. W. Usill, Haldon Lodge, Southfields, Wandsworth, S.W.

The Council, after consultation with Mr. Westgarth, have accepted the report of the Committee, and awarded the prizes as recommended. It has been determined that the three Essays to which prizes of £100 were awarded shall be published on behalf of the Society.

SANITARY DWELLINGS.

The Sassoon Institute of Bombay has offered its gold medal, supplemented by a money prize of 300 rupees from the Municipal Commissioners, for the best design for sanitary dwellings for the labouring classes.

THE PRIZE OF THE COMMISSION DE L'HYGIENE DE L'ENFANCE.

The Commission de l'Hygiène de l'Enfance offer a prize of the value of 1,600 francs (£64) for the best essay on the following subject: -Rechercher quels peuvent être les rapports de la syphilis et du rachitisme dans la première enfance' (To discover the relation existing between rickets and syphilis in infants).

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