§ MR. O'SHEAasked the First Commissioner of Works, Whether complaints have reached him of defective ventilation and noxious exhalations in and about the House; and, if so, whether he will have the nuisance abated?
§ MR. SHAW LEFEVREread the following Report from Dr. Percy, who has charge of the ventilation of the House:—
During the 17 years I have had charge of the ventilation of the Houses of Parliament complaint has occasionally been made by Members of the House of Commons of unpleasant smells within the House, and in every case it has been found that they were caused by contamination of the air outside, and sometimes at a considerable distance from the House. As the House is supplied with air from the Common Court, the Star Court, and the River front, it is not possible to prevent such smells when the air is impregnated with odorous matter. A short time ago an unpleasant smell in the House was temporarily caused by an exceptionally high wind blowing down smoke into one of the Courts above mentioned from a smoke shaft. The smell of tarry matter, which has occasionally been perceived in the House, was caused by the wood pavement in the Star Court, which, in order to preserve the wood, has been set with asphalte. No sewer gas can by any possibility escape from the drains connected with the House, as the gas is effectually exhausted from that drain by a furnace at the bottom of the Clock Tower, and ascends to the top of the Tower, where it passes into the atmosphere.The Chairman of Committees (Mr. Lyon Playfair), who had had a long experience of late hours in the House, who was a scientific man, and who said he was peculiarly sensitive to smells, had given it as his opinion that, on the whole, the ventilation of the House during the last few months had been maintained exceptionally well.