Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/660

Rh 6-12 1878 it was 250. The improvement scheme has done good otherwise in directing attention to sanitary questions of all kinds. There is now in Glasgow a public department of health, at the head of which there is a most eﬁicient medical oﬁicer, and provision has been made for the isolation of contagious diseases immediately on their break- ing out. Great attention is paid to cleansing the city, and fever epidemics, which not long ago were seldom absent, are now very rare, and hardly ever assume large propor- tions. Crime has also diminished as one of the results of the city improvements, and its detection is much surer. There can be no doubt that the demolition of so large a number of small dwelling-houses in such a short period was no small grievance to those who inhabited them ; not that there ever was any lack of accommodation, but because families had in many cases to remove to places at incon- venient distances from their work, and into houses which, though much better in a sanitary sense, were somewhat dearer. The distance difficulty, however, was greatly mitigated by the construction of tramways throughout the town, and by the authorities providing for the ruuiiing of morning and evening worknien’s cars at exceedingly low hires; and it is scarcely doubtful that the change from unhealthy and overcrowded houses into others roomier and built with some revard to sanitary principles has been a blessing to the lower class of the population. When the works are completed, Glasgow in its older regions will be a city transformed. Water Suppl;/.—Previous to 1859 Glasgow was supplied by water from the river Clyde and from ponds erected some miles south of the city, to which the water was conveyed by gravitation. The supply was insuﬁicient, and the Clyde water bad. In 1848 the idea of bringing water from Loch Katrine was ﬁrst spoken of. The citizens at that time began to see that something far more extensive than had ever been attempted was required to supply the rapidly growing wants of the city. Between 1848 and 1855 many schemes were proposed by the water companies and by private individuals, none of which came to anything. In 1852 the corporation took the matter up, and, after a long and arduous struggle, the Act for tapping Loch Katrine was carried in 1855. The corporation it is believed would have been defeated again but for the attention which Lord Palmerston paid to a subject in which Glasgow was so deeply interested, and for the inﬂuence which he brought to bear in favour of the works. The engineer selected to bring the water from a distance of 34 miles was Mr J. F. Bateman, and four years after the passing of the Act the waters of the Highland loch, at the touch of Her Majesty the Queen, flowed into the city. The sources of the supply are Loch Katrine with a surface of 3000 acres, Loch Vennacher with an area of 900 acres, Loch Drunkie 150 acres,——altogether about 4000 acres of water surface, and containing within the limits to which they may be raised or lowered about 1,600,000,000 cubic feet of water. The drainage area is 45,800 acres, and the rainfall is froui 80 to 90 inches per annum, The _source is ample for the supply of a population double that which is at present supplied, but the works are not more than_sufficient to provide 50,000,000 of gallons of water per day, and it will be necessary before many years are past to construct other works, probably to double that quantity. Loch Katrine is 360 ieet above the tide at Glasgow, which, allowing for the loss of fall, secures a pressure of '_i0 or 80 feet above the hi liest summit in the city. The _water_ is conveyed by mined tunne s, built tunnels,
 * qu_c(lu'«-ts, and iron pipes. There are altogether 70 tun-nels, one of

which is 2650 yards and another 2325 yards in length, and 8 feet in diameter. One of these works is 600 feet below the surface. The aqueducts ovcr rivers and ravines of an important character '11" 27 in_ number ; some of these are of iron and some of masonry. l‘wr-nty-six miles from Loch Katrine and 7 or 8 from Glasgow a large i_'u-servoir was constructed, 70 acres in extent and capable of holding .;00,_000,000 gallons of water; and from this reservoir the water, _ha rug undergone a ﬁltering process, is conveyed in pipes to Glasgow. l‘h- L-ngin_cring cost of the 'o‘.ks was .-f.‘7C,,(v(o0, 01- t._-n pg-1-ct-nt_ GLASGOIV above the estimate, but as the contract was only for 20,000,000 gallons per day, and the actual product was 30,000,000 gallons, the cost cannot be said to have been excessive. There have been great additions made to the works since they were opened in 1859, the total capital expenditure at the end of 1877 being a little over £2,000,000. The quantity of water brought into the city from Loch Katrine is now 30,000,000 gallons per day, but the area of distribution is much larger than Glasgow. In a very short time the corporation will be able to bring in 50,000,000 gallons a day, which is the limit of the capacity of their present works. The cost of the water to the inhabitants is 8d. per pound on the rental, and 1d. per pound is charged for public purposes. The quality of the water is excellent, and there can be no doubt that it has been an active agent in improving the health of the city. Besides. the Loch Katrine works there is a supply of water from the Gorbals gravi- tation works amounting to rather more than four millions of gallons per day. The consumption of water over the area of distribution is thus 34,000,000 gallons in the 24 hours, or 45 gallons for every man, woman, and child,—a very large supply even when deduction is made for the water used in large public works, and for purposes other than domestic. L2'_r//ctinf/.—In the parliamentary session of 1868-9 the corporation applied for and obtained powers to purchase the works of the two gas-light companies which had until that period supplied Glasgow and its suburbs with gas. The capital of ,these companies consisted of £415,000, on £300,000 of which the shareholders were entitled to proﬁts not exceeding 10 per cent. per annum, the remaining £115,000 paying dividends at the rate of 7 per cent. per annuin. The corporation agreed to give for the works to the shareholders annuities of 9 per cent. on the stock which paid 10 per cent., and of 6-} per cent. on the stock which paid 7 per cent. These annuities were guaranteed by a six- peniiy rate upon the whole rental within the municipality. Besides these rates the corporation took over mortgages amounting to £119,265. It is needless to state that, no rate has ever been levied upon rental for the maintenance of the gas-works, the manufacture having proved remunerative at a moderate charge per thousand cubic feet. The gas-works, as taken over by the corporation, were capable of producing 6,500,000 cubic feet; but since then they have been greatly extended at a cost of half amillion sterling, and are now capable of making 12 million cubic feet of gas. The consumption varies between 2 million cubic feet in twenty- four hours in summer and 11 million cubic feet during the same time in winter. The area of supply includes nearly all the surrounding suburbs, in addition to the city. The cost of gas to the consumer is 4s. per thousand cubic feet, and no rent is charged for the use of ineters. Traimoag/s.——The next project with which the corporation has had to do in recent years has been laying down lines of tramways along the principal throughfares of the city. This work was undertaken for the purpose of preventing the control of the streets and the street traiﬁc from passing out of the hands of the corporation ; the cost was about £200,000 for 13,‘, miles of tramway; but this sum, with interest at 45- per cent. per annum, is to be repaid in the course of twenty-three years by the lessees, who also keep up the roadway between the tramway lines, and pay a rent of £150 per mile per aniiuin. The fares are one penny per mile, and the number of passengers carried is very great. Pecuniarily the tramways have been successful. Income and Expenditure.—The income and expenditure of Glasgow are larger than those of many a ﬂourishing state. The trusts, which till quite recently were semi- independent, but are now simply committees of the town council, are the police board, the water commissioners, the gas commissioners, the city improvement trustees, parks and galleries trust, market trust, &c. The revenues which they collect and distribute amount altogether to close upon one million sterling per annuni. The common good of the city, that is to say, property belonging to the corporation, is estimated,as being worth about £300,000, the interest of which is expended iu maintaining what are called the