Nor is the labour of the flushermen at all times so easy or of such circumscribed hours as I have stated it to be in the regular way of flushing. When small branch-sewers have to be flushed, the deposit must first be loosened, or the water, instead of sweeping it away, would flow over it, and in many of these sewers (most frequent in the Tower Hamlets) the height is not more than 3 feet. Some of the flushermen are tall, bulky, strong fellows, and cannot stand upright in less than from 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet, and in loosening the deposit in low narrow sewers, “we go to work,” said one of them, “on our bellies, like frogs, with a rake between our legs. I’ve been blinded by steam in such sewers near Whitechapel Church from the brewhouses; I couldn’t see for steam; it was a regular London fog. You must get out again into a main sewer on your belly; that’s what makes it harder about the togs, they get worn so.”
The division of labour among the flushermen appears to be as follows:—
The Inspector, whose duty it is to go round the several sewers and see which require to be flushed.
The Ganger, or head of the working gang, who receives his orders from the inspector, and directs the men accordingly.
The Lock-keeper, or man who goes round to the sewers which are about to be flushed, and fixes the “penstocks” for retaining the water.
The Gang, which consists of from three to four men, who loosen the deposit from the bottom of the sewer. Among these there is generally a “for’ard man,” whose duty it is to remove the penstocks.
The ganger gets 1s. a week over and above the wages of the men.
TABLE SHOWING THE DISTRICTS UNDER THE MANAGEMENT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF SEWERS; ALSO THE NUMBER AND SALARIES OF THE CLERKS OF THE WORKS, ASSISTANT CLERKS OF THE WORKS, AND INSPECTORS OF FLUSHING, PAID BY THE COMMISSIONERS, AND THE NUMBER AND WAGES PAID TO THE FLUSHERMEN BY THE GENERAL CONTRACTORS.
| Districts. | Paid by the Commissioners of Sewers. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clerks of Works. | Assist. Clerks of Works[71]. | Inspectors of Flushings. | Flap & Sluice Keepers. | Aggregate Total. | |||||
| No. | Annual Salary of the whole. | No. | Rate of Annual Salary. | No. | Annual Salary of the whole. | No. | Yearly Wages of the whole. | ||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |||||
| Fulham and Hammersmith.—Counter’s Creek and Ranelagh Districts | 3 | 450 | 4 | 400 | 1 | 120 | .. | .. | 970 |
| Westminster Sewers.—Western Division, Eastern Division, Regent-street District, Holborn Division | 4 | 600 | 3 | 300 | 1 | 80 | 6 | 390 | 1370 |
| Finsbury Division.—Tower Hamlets Levels, and Poplar and Blackwall Districts | 3 | 450 | 2 | 200 | 3 | 280 | 1 | 70 | 1000 |
| Districts south of the Thames | 3 | 450 | 6 | 600 | 4 | 320 | 12 | 374 | 1744 |
| Total | 13 | 1950 | 15 | 1500 | 9 | 800 | 19 | 834 | 5084 |
| City | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | 80 | 3 | 148 | 228 |
| Districts. | Paid by Contractors. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gangers. | Flushers. | Aggregate Total. | ||||
| No. | Weekly Wage of each. | No. | Weekly Wage of each. | |||
| s. | £ | s. | ||||
| Fulham and Hammersmith.—Counter’s Creek and Ranelagh Districts | 2 | 22 | 13 | 21 | 824 | 4 |
| Westminster Sewers.—Western Division, Eastern Division, Regent-street District, Holborn Division | 3 | 22 | 30 | 21 | 1809 | 12 |
| Finsbury Division.—Tower Hamlets Levels, and Poplar and Blackwall Districts | 3 | 22 | 27 | 21 | 1645 | 16 |
| Districts south of the Thames | 2 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 1315 | 12 |
| Total | 10 | .. | 92 | .. | 5595 | 4 |
| City | 1 | 22 | 9 | 21 | 548 | 12 |