§ VISCOUNT NEWPORTasked the Chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works, If it is not the fact that since the recent extension of wood pavement in the Metropolis serious affections of the eyes and of the lungs have been largely on the increase; and, whether it would not be possible to mitigate in some degree this growing evil by a more careful and thorough system of cleaning and washing the streets?
§ SIR JAMES M'GAREL-HOGGI beg to inform my noble Friend that the 1698 streets of the Metropolis are not under the control of the Board over which I have the honour to preside, and I have no information of the evils he refers to. I cannot speak with any weight with regard to remedial measures, or their necessity; but perhaps mynoble Friend's Question will be the means of directing the attention of the local authorities to the subject. I may add that cleansing and sweeping by boys employed for the purpose appear to be efficient in the City of London and in some districts, and the same means are adopted by the Metropolitan Board of Works with regard to the Thames Embankment, although it is not paved with wood.