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Libels on Brighton

At a Public Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Borough of Brighton, held at the Townhall, on Thursday, June 29th, 1882, William Henry Hallett, Esq., Mayor, in the Chair:—
Resolved—That a Guarantee Fund be provided by Voluntary Subscriptions and placed at the disposal of a Committee, to be applied by the Committee for such Purposes as may be deemed best calculated to vindicate the Sanitary Condition of the Town. The Subscriptions to July 10 amount to £6500.

EXTRACT from REPORT of
Sir JOSEPH BAZALGETTE, C.B., C.E., June 27, 1882

"The branch sewers generally are too small to have enabled me to enter and inspect them, but having regard to their superior inclinations and the condition of the larger sewers which I examined, and which had not such rapid falls, and from the observations and inquiries I have made, extending over several days, I am of opinion that, with some minor exceptions, to which I have already referred, and for which I have suggested various remedies, the general condition of the sewers of Brighton is satisfactory, and there are no just grounds for assuming it to be an unhealthy place: on the contrary, I believe it still deserves the high reputation it has always maintained as a desirable place of resort for those who seek the enjoyment of pure and invigorating air."

By Resolution of Town Council, July 5, the Surveyor is directed to carry out the suggestions forthwith to the full extent of the Council's jurisdiction.

Out of the Twenty large Towns grouped together by the Registrar-General, the death-rate in Brighton was the lowest in 1876, 1880, and 1881, and near the lowest in the intervening years.

Source: The Illustrated London News, No.2254—Vol. LXXXI, Saturday, July 15, 1882, p.66