The London water supply / by Arthur Shadwell.

  • Arthur Shadwell
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The London water supply / by Arthur Shadwell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/324 page 3
    citizens and professional men, entitled to the con- sideration accorded not merely to every gentleman, but to every member of the community. And yet, just because they happen to be connected with these companies, any one with a mind to considers him- self free to load them with personal insults. It is hardly necessary to quote examples. Last autumn the newspapers—chiefly, but not wholly, of a certain political complexion—teemed with insults, spiteful innuendoes, and silly sarcasms against the officials of the East London Company, as if they were per- sonally responsible for the existence of the concern, which was established by Parliament before they were born, or for its conduct, which is controlled by a board of directors and strictly conditioned by the law. In a printed broad-sheet, drawn up and dis- tributed by a ‘ League,’ one of them was accused of unscrupulous mendacity,’ and a newspaper corre- spondent, calling one day at the works, shouted at a subordinate official, who had treated him with perfect courtesy, ‘ You are a disgrace to civilization,’ and that upon his own premises. These and other gentlemen connected with water companies have been repeatedly charged with bad faith, professional incapacity, the most sordid motives, and the deliberate infliction of suffering and death. Even the eminent men of science who analyse the com- panies’ water are constantly subjected to the in- sinuation that they falsify their analyses.
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3