Old Leaves Author:William Henry Wills Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: III. THE TROUBLED WATER QUESTION. April 13, 1850. Mt excellent and eloquent friend, Lyttleton, of Pump-court, Temple, barrister-at-law, disturbed me on a ... more »damp morning at the end of last month, to bespeak my company to a meeting at which he intended to hold forth. " It is," he said, " the Great Water Supply Congress, which assembles to-morrow." " Do you know anything of the subject ?" " A yast deal both practically and theoretically. Practically, I pay for my little box in the Eegent's Park, twice the price for water our friend Fielding is charged; and both supplies are derived from the same Company. Yet his is a mansion, mine is a cottage ; his rent more than doubles mine in amount, and his family trebles mine in number. So much for the consistency and exactions of an irresponsible monopoly. Practically, again, there are occasions when my cisterns are without water. So much for deficient supply." " Is your water bad ?" " Not absolutely unwholesome; but I have drunk better." " Now then, Theoretically." " Theoretically, I learn from piles of Eeports—a blue mountain of Parliamentary inquiry instituted in the years 1810, 1821, 1827, 1828, 1834, 1840, and 1845—from a cloud of prospectuses issued by embryo Water Companies; from a host of pamphlets pro and con., and from the reports of the Board of Health, that the great element of suction and cleanliness is supplied by nine water companies all linked together to form a giant monopoly ; and that, in consequence, the charge for water is in some instances excessive; that six of these companies draw their water from the filthy Thames; and the same number, including those which use the Lea and New Biver water, haveno system of filtration — hence it is unwholesome: that in short, the public of the metropolis are the v...« less