The continuing series of upheavals and leakages from gas and
water mains in London has naturally caused some anxious questioning. The accidents are commonly attributed to the vibration caused by heavy traffic. An article in the Morning Post of Wednesday pointed out that the danger is by no means confined to London. Many country houses with weak, old-fashioned foundations, particularly in the Home Counties, have been injured. The cathedrals of Lincoln and Wells are also said to be affected. It has been suggested that the use of pneumatic tyres should be made obligatory. That might be a great help. But what about the trams ? They cannot be rubber-shod, and their seismic effects and their shattering noise are evils for which one sees no cure but abolition. In Gray's Inn Road, for instance, parti- cularly at the crossings where the trams take the points, the houses quiver all day.
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