The Sun. — London, England, 1846-08-03 00:00:00

TERRIFIC THUNDER-STORM. On Saturday afternoon, at about a quarter before four o'clock, a tremendous thunder-storm passed over the metropolis. Several vivid flashes of light ning, followed by loud peals of thunder, were the preludes to a perfect hurricane of wind, rain and hail The storm burst at owe, as though a /rate spout had burst—t h e wind raged with terrific fury, and the hailstones, which fell with the rain, were some of them of the diameter of at least half an inch. In several instances windows were broken by the hailstones. At half-past four the storm returned with increased violence the hailstones were some of them at least an inch and a half in dia meter. Our readers may judge of the force of the storm aad the size of the hailstones, from the fact that in our establishment alone upwards of thirty panes of glass have been broken. The above appeared in the third edition of The Sun, of Saturday evening. The storm lasted until half half-past t ast six o'clock, and was at its greatest height at four. There is scarcely a building within the metro politan district which has not been damaged, and even at the present moment the extent of the mischief done cannot even be guessed at. Amongst the public buildings in the metropolis which have suffered most severely by the fracture of skylights a rid domes, from the hailstones, are Buckingham Palace, Somerset House, Burlington Arcade, the Bazaar (Baker- street), and the Paddington terminus of the Great Wes tern Railway. The Horticultural Gardens, Chiswick, t h e Botanic Gardens , Kew, and those in the Regent's park have also suffered severely. In the neighbourhood of Brompton, Kensington, and Hammersmith, the storm was particularly severe. About four o'clock the electric fluid struck a stack of chimneys at the house, No. 21, Lower Phillimore-place, at the cor ner of the road leading to Notting-hill, by which the stack has been much shattered. In the Victoria-road a skylight was carried by the force of the wind into the middle of the road. In the lower parts of Kensington and Brompton, the basement stories of several of the houses were inundated by the great body of water which descended like a torrent upon Notting-hill and the higher parts of the locality, and which carried everything before it. The nursery grounds westward of town have suffered severely, as have also the market g ardeners, thcir lights being all more or less damaged. In the metropolis c onsiderable damage has been done, all buildings having skylights being more or less injured. The houses on the western side of Farriegdon-street have sustained considerable injury by the overflowing of the Fleet-ditch, which filled the various cellars and underground apartments. One house, occupied by a linendraper, had five feet of water in the lower rooms, and it required several men to be engaged nearly two hours to empty the place. The lower stores of the Angel Inn were completely flooded. A number of sheep were saved just in time. Battle-bridge was a scene of great excitement and contusion, in consequence of the waters overflowing the land from near King's-cross to Acton-place, Bagnigge Wells-road, which was so inundated that the thorough fare had the appearance of a river or canal, and was not only rendered impassable, but the inhabitants could not obtain egress or ingress to ,their premises without the assistance of some conveyance. The kitchens, parlours, and back yards of many of the dwellings were so over flowed that parties could not enter them. The houses nearly opposite the police station in the Bagnigge Wells-road were completely filled with water, arising from the elevations of the surrounding neigh bourhood. Mr. Kerr, a baker, in Hereford-row, Bag nigge Wells-road, on the day before had in 36 sacks of flour, which were entirely spoiled. The lower part of the house of Mr. Greenwood, of the Northumberland Arms, was quite inundated. The lower part of Mr. Silcock's, the Carpenters' Arms, Bagnigge Wells-road, was also filled with water, as well as other public-houses is the neighbourhood. At the police station-house, Bagnigge Wells-road, and also at the police-court, nume rous windows were broken. The skylights at the Euston-square railway station have suffered so much that the whole of them must be replaced. At the lower end of Mutton-hill the rush of the flood was so powerful, that it burst through the gratings, and before the inhabitants were aware of their danger, the water, which was mixed with the most nauseous soil rose three or four feet above the surface. The utmost alarm necessarily prevailed, but in a few minutes the cellars were filled, when those who occupied them were obliged promptly to take their flight, leaving their furni ture to the mercy of the flood. At the bottom of Mutton hill, it was at a depth of four of five feet, Adjoining Mutton-hill, to the north, is Wignall's-place, in which are eleven houses; here the water had risen about seven feet. The utmost consternation prevailed among the _inmates who were at the first floor windows, imploring assistance, many of the suppliants holding children in their arms. Assistance was promptly afforded by the neighbours. Among the first was Mr. Hunter, landlord .of the Two Brewers, who swam to the aid of many, and rescued several children. A man named Smith, a French polisher, followed his example, and also saved many. Ladders were also brought to the spot by means of which the women and men were extricated. The consequences of the flood are such that some of the houses are undermined, and cannot now be occu pied. Tho back of the Coach and Horses, near Wig H all's-place, is swept away. In Round-court, to the south of Mutton-hill, two houses, the property of Mr. Langdon, were forced down, and but for the activity of the inhabitants, who hastened to the assistance of the in mates, many lives would have been lost. A Mr. Clarke isaved three children. The premises of Godson, carcase Amtcher, were nearly swept away. Among the property ;oat was a cart, which was swept into the sewer that is h er e open. In Thavies - inn the kitchens were filled with orates". A vast quantity of. timber and other materials have floated down the Fleet-ditch. Two houses above Mutton• hill are also down. The rush of water was tre mendous, and carried away the whole of the back part of three houses in Round-court, occupied by poor fami lies, who with the greatest difficulty succeeded in making their escape, A large warehouse in the same court, belonging to Mr. Fox, drysalter, bad the back front also carried away. Mr. Nichols, a broker, of No. 1, Vine-street, has sustained considerable loss, by a large quantity of furniture being carried away down the ditch into the Thames. Mr. Knight, a publican, had his cellars so flooded, that the barrels of beer were forced upwards, and knocked in the bar and parlour flooring. lie also is a, great loser. At eleven o'clock at night the poor people iu the courts and alleys in the neighbourhood were busily employed in removing their furniture, as many of the houses, in consequence of the water sapping the foundations, which are very old, have sunk several feet, and are rendered extremely dangerous. A strong body of police afforded most efficient assistance in this distressing affair. The autho rities at Clerkenwell workhouse gave a general order for the immediate admission of the poor people and their families, who have been rendered homeless. During the time that the storm was at its height, the rain, which was falling in such immense bo dies, ran down the various couduits into the Fleet ditch, which very speedily became filled. The Outlet at Blackfriars-bridge, not being sufficiently large to al low the water to rush out as fast as it entered the sewer, ,the extraordinary pressure of the water blew the iron Crt:Wn off the covering of the ditch with such violence, that it made a noise like the explosion of a piece of ar tillery. At the same moment the water flew out with such impetuosity, that No. 3 Waterman steamer, which was going down the river, was driven against one of the piers of Blackfriars-bridge, and so disabled that she was forced to put back and land her passengers by means of one of the Citizen steamers. Soon after it took place, portions of bedsteads, chests of drawers, cheffoniers, tec., were seen emerging from the mouth of the great sewer. Intimation of the circumstance was very quickly communicated to the officers of the Thames lice w ho soon took up their p osition in boats po , in front of the sewers,,and this efficient body of men were occupied until a late hour in conveying from the sewer portions of articles such as those that we just mentioned. The articles in question were all conveyed to the other side of the bridge, contiguous to the steam-boat pier, where they were placed under the care of an officer of the Thames Police. The several articles were supposed to he the property of the furniture brokers and others whose houses were destroyed or injured in the neigh bourhood of Saffron-hill; these persons will, of course, be on the look out to ascertain how far this assumption is a correct one. In the Strand, also, considerable injury was done to the windows of many houses owing to the hMrsWestorm. Several squares of glass in the workshop of . t, the optician, were broken to pieces. The glass domes which light the Lowther Arcade were all of them more or less injured, and the shopkeepers in the Arcade were obliged to give up business altogether. Buckingham Palace has suffered severely. It appears that the Royal Picture Gallery is lighted by a skylight, consisting of a centre piece and sides. There is an im mense dome over the grand staircase, composed ent irel y of glass. A glass dome over the Ministry staircase, and a variety of others. All these have been utterly de stroyed ; the ralli es: torrents of hail and rain poured in with the force of a wate Mirs ~ sr.king the various stair cases so many palace were completely stZaeltba basement floors of the in which are some of the mo s t sp la . e a ßicture Gallery, ;:;:' i t% productions of a rt danger, the old masters, was at one time for when the large hailstones had removed to the ingress of the rain, the gallery was ticZattitz depth of many inches, and the water assumed all the appearance of a natural current. No time w a s l ost in res all those pictures that were liable to be injured, re movi and we believe th ou in no single instance has damage been clone to any one. The more valuable pictures were ranged under the engraved plate gla ss of the sides, which s uccess fully withstood the violence of the storm. As soon as the rain had in some degree abated, active measures were taken to clear the various rooms and lobbies of the palace from t h e water that had accumulated, and to object speedily t he s e rvices of the police ac hi eve that stationed at the palace were called into requisition, and a company of the Foot Guards were sent f rom the Wellington barracks to a ss i st ; their services were put to a severe test for more than an ala hour. Mcesr. Co visihbettted the , the painter and glazier to t he royal p, palace, and having ascertained the extent for of the da ing ge,n .he at once gave the necessary directions cover Ole picture gaiter,/ and the various rooms with tarpauling, and a great number of men were instantly set upon that work. Many thousand squares of glass" are demolished, and at a rough calculation the loss in that article alone will be little short of 1,8001. or 2,000/. It is satisfactOry to state that the Queen's decorators have closely in spected the various royal apartments, into which the water obtained access, and have not discovered that any material damage has been sustained by any of the costly embellishments. The parade in front of the palace, ex tending from the foot of Constisheet of tution-hill water, and so to James street, Buckingham-gate, was one deep as to reader it impassable 0 pedestrians. The deep deep barrel drain in the Green Park burst from the immense accumulation of water, and formed a com plete river to the ornamental water in the enclosure of St. James's Park. Here the violence of the storm dis mantled the flower beds, tore up the paths, and so flooded the p a stures, that became neces s the a rshy for men to wade up t o the middl it eto reseue eep that would otherwise have been drowned. The water accumulated to that depth in Bird-cage-walk that it was rendered impassable to pedestrians, and almost so to vehicles. At the metropolitan police office, Scotland-yard, 300 squares of glass were broken. The Admiralty stables sustained great damage, and not a house in Whitehall place-gardens escaped. Lord Liverpool's and Sir W. James's windows suffered most. We were also informed, from a creditable source, that the Houses of Lords and Commons were so inundated, from the destruction of the fan lights, that it may be questionable whether they will be in a condition to re ceive the members this evening. Carlton-terrace has suffered very much, the vestibules of those houses which are glazed being considerably shattered. Every square of glass over the Regent Quadrant was demolished, and the pathway strewed with broken frag ments. Several of the large houses have their stock in trade greatly injured. A considerable number of windows have been broken in the Government Gazette-office, and the building saturated with water. Scarcely a house in Cannon-row has escaped injury by the storm. In the well-known range of premises belonging to Messrs. Harvey, termed Lambeth House, in the West minster-road, the floors of the shops were covered with water. The stock in trade is most severely injured, The skylights were demolished by the hail falling upon them The Baptist chapel in the Waterloo-road had upwards of three feet of water in it. The Hero of Waterloo Inn, in the same road, had between 40 and 60 tons of water in the cellar and about 60 squares of glass demolished. Messrs. Jones's oil factory in Robert-street had 90 squares of glass broken. The Pear Tree Tavern, in the New-cut, had the water in the cellar almost up to a man's arm-pits. The West of England engine was engaged nearly two hours pumping the water out. Mr. Knight, an oilman in the same thoroughfare, had a most valuable stock in the cellars spoiled by the water. The Surrey Theatre had the skylights demolished and the windows broken. The rain poured in such a manner that the place was flooded. A notice was put up last night that, in consequence of the damage dour, no performance could take place that night. The sur gery belonging to Mr. Brookes, in the Waterloo-road, had five feet of water in the kitchens. The Nine Elms terminus of the Southampton Railway was extensively injured. Astley's Theatre was injured almost as bad as the Surrey. Messrs. Fell's brandy distillery, in the Waterloo-road, had eighty panes of glass broken. In Bishop's-walk, Lambeth, it is stated that the lightn in g struck the wall of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Palace, and tore up a tree in the garden. Mr. Bacon's printing premises, in Robert-street, had a number of squares of glass broken, and the business was in conse quence suspended. Mr. James's grocery premises, in the New-cut, was injured to such an extent that] the place was forced to be closed last night. The Victoria Theatre,and Lawrence's miscellaneous,stores at the corner of Webber-street, had several feet of water in the cellars. The neighbourhoods of Fore-street and Princes-street have suffered by the water. Scarcely a house in Belgrave-square or its vicinity has escaped receiving some injury. One mansion alone has 70L worth of glass demolished, and many of the rooms saturated with water. At the Surrey Zoological Gardens, the conservatory, in which the carnivorous animals are kept, has sustained such injury that to repair the glass will cost 2001. This building is 100 feet in diameter, and its domed roof, which is 300 feet in circumference, is covered with glass and its sides are secured with the same material, leaving a space of about eight feet between the latter and the dens of the animals. This space, when the storm had subsided, was found covered with broken glass to the depth of two or three inches, and scarcely a whole pane was discernible in the roof. When the storm was at its very highest a singular in cident occurred in this building. A noble lioness, which had been noticed for some time to be in young, became most uneasy, and roared terrifically ; but it was at first considered that this was produced by fear, as the other animals were more or less acted on by the appearance of the vivid flashes of lightening . ; but it was soon dis covered that the poor beast was in great pain, and in a short time she gave birth to a cub lion. The keeper at tended to her as well as they could ; and the youthful addition to Mr. Tyler's stock of animals was taken care of. It is much feared, however, that it will not live, as there can he very little doubt that its birth was pro moted and hastened by the fears of its mother. The monkey-house, which was also seriously damaged, presented an extraordinary scene during the storm ; its inmates were so dr eadfull y alarmed by the lightning, that many of them covered their eyes, to prevent them seeing the flashes of lightning. The splendid foliage of the gardens suffered severely by the hurricane, and one tree was blown right dow n . Three parts of the garden were covered with water. The injury done to Vauxhall Gardens was compara tily trifling, and will be repaired by an outlay of, per haps, 301. The lightning struck the Chinese Temple, and dashed a large portion of the panelling, which was an inch and a half in thickness, to pieces. By the violence of the storm a large beech tree at the bottom of the Italian walk, was snapped off at about four feet from the ground, and fell on the roof of the stabling, but did not do it any mischief. This, with the exception of the breakage of some of the lamp glasses, and the glasses of the private rooms, was all the damage done to these gardens. Mr. Alford, the coach-maker, in the Walworth-road, will be a severe sufferer, a large sky light on the part of his premises, where a number of harness-makers were at work, was nearly wholly de molished. The Catholic chapel, in the London-road, had a great number of squares of glass destroyed, as had also New ington Church. The damages sustained by the publicans in the vicinity of the Kennington and Walworth-roads has been very considerable. The cellar at the Elephant and Castle was inundated to a depth of several feet, and the loss will be considerable. Mr. Hewitt, of the Lamb and Hare, in Kennington-lane, had his cellar filled to a depth of five feet. The owners of green-houses in the neighbourhood of Kennington and Lambeth, must be severe sufferers. The damage done to the banks of the Thames by the rush of water, especially about Chelsea and Milbank, • very extensive. Boats were forced from their moorings, and it required the greatest exertion to keep them from being washed away. At the Botanic Gardens, Chelsea, some thousands of squares of glass were broken. The houses in the Clapham, Vauxhall, and Wandsworth-roads have scarcely a square of glass left whole in those fronts which were exposed to the fury of the storm. The windows of the houses in Larkhall-lane were literally shattered, Mr. Kennedy, flymaster, having only six panes left whole, and the fruit, young tendons, and whole limbs of his celebrated vine being scattered in all directions ; and the well-known Larkhall Tavern has one front a complete wreck. At Mr. Chapman's, florist to the Queen, in the Wandsworth-road, the storm has been most destructive. The glass roofs of all his hot-houses and green-houses are completely de molished; the fronts and sides being very little better. Mr. Chapman estimates his loss at 1,000/. ; and the rare plants and flowers are greatly damaged, and some totally destroyed. In fact, the ravages of the storm in this locality are beyond all conception, the hail stones which fell being generally the size of common marbles, and some were picked up as large as walnuts. Such a scene of destruction was never before exhibited over so extensive a district; whole streets for miles— indeed, the whole district from Battersea-fields to Clap. ham-common, including Brixton, Stock well, Kennington, and Newington-butts, has suffered most severely : It was, literally, a West Indian tornado, with the addition of a hailstorm. Several of the lower floors in the Penitentiary, Mil bank, were several feet deep in water. In open ground, facing the Quadrangle, the water rose so high that the officials and other parties were forced to climb over the iron railings to effect a retreat. The Citizen steamer D was struck by lightning off Battersea, and her paddle-box was carried away ; for tunately no lives were lost. WINDSOR, SUNDAY EVENING.—The storm of yesterday, which appears to have been general throughout the country, commenced about half-past two o'clock, and continued lap to past five. The hailstones had done consider able damage in the neighbourhood, especially in the vicinity of Datchet and Horton. At Litton-park, the residence of the Duke of Buccleuch, upwards of 2,000 panes have been broken ; nearly the whole of the extensive hot and green houses having been totally demolished. At Slough also, and the neighbourhood of Burnham, the hail which accompanied the thunder and lightning has done very considerable damage. A great portion of the standing corn has been beaten down, and much injury has been sustained by the market-gardeners in every direction. At one o'clock yester day, shortly before the storm commenced, the thermometer, in the shade, in the royal gardens, at Frogmore, stood at 85 degrees. CAMDEN TOWN. —During the violenee of the storm the electric fluid struck the house of Mr. Corvan, No. 17, Mornington-road, Camden-town. This took place about four o'clock, the shock causing the utmost alarm to the neigh bourhood. The fluid entered the chimney, which it shat tered to pieces, and then passed down the chimney flue into the kitchen, in which was the female servant, who was at the, time occupied in cleaning some plate. She became sense less. and was immediately attended to by Mrs. Corvan, who Irher removed, as it was srot possible, in consequence of ,Zillmait smell of sulphur, to remain there. In the mean °numbers. of the inhabitants hastened to the house, as It was the roof, the timber burning. Upon an examination of strong ame n t hat it had caught fire, and there was a but as it the slating was found exten ishelLaideA sively charred; the progress of the, fire Wwastroaini" in torrents at the time, w ise zoologi weeuraenaltitio of lead was also melted. Thetrr Ktinan slightly damaged. In the Regenta_p g rk, e t cal Gardens, a portion of the bank of the w as washed away , so me trees bein g forced dot en n. Cs in can h al New-road, between Kinga=cross and Judd-street, in com e_ quence of the sewer being overflooded, it gave way, causing a considerable extent of damage. The thoroughfare was, of course, instantly stopped. In BROMLEY and the immediate neighbourhood very much damage has been done to the several nurseries by the hail, several thousands of panes of glass being demolished. One of the hailstones, or rather pieces of ice, which fell at the latter place, when measured, was found to be of an angular shape, and upwards of three inches in circumference, the greatest width at the top being one inch and a half. So far as can be ascertained, no lives have been lost in the range of locality previously described. GREENwmfr, DEPTFOED, LEWISHAM, &c.—The coming storm was indicated by very heavy and dark cloids from the south-west, about three o'clock, followed in a few minutes by vivid lightning and claps of thunder, resembling a park of artillery in the distance. Then came torrents of rain. succeeded by a fall of hailstones, which continued with a few intervals of short duration until six o'clock. As the sterns fe leanced over these places, the lightning increased to Aii awful cAeuti MAI bOtyrceil the iktille* Oa 49%44 wo n §9 heavily charged that there was the appearance of approach ing night. About an hour after the storm commenced, the lower parts of Greenwich and Deptford were inundated. The flood which poured from Shooter's-hill and Blackheath, down Croom's-hill and Royal-hill, completely choked up the drainage, and caused London and Church-streets to be com pletely under water. The kitchens and cellars in this line down to the Royal Hospital, and alongshore to the creek which divides Greenwich from Deptford, were in a most de plorable state from the same cause. The lower part of Black heath-road, Deptford-bridge, and Broadway,were impassable for foot-passengers during two hours. The vicinity of the dock and victualling-yards, the General Steam Navigation yards, Penn's boiler manufactory, and other extensive works, were surrounded by water at least a foot deep. The devastation caused by the extensive and heavy fall of hail is very great. Numerous skylights and windows were 4einolished in the dock and victualling-yards. At the Greenwich Police-court, the police-station, and premises attached, much glass was broken, and damage done by the water getting into the apartments. The skylights and windowa in the factory of Messrs. Penn and Son, engineers, Blackheathsroad, suffered severely, upwards of 200 squares being smashed in, together with portions of the framework. More than 100 squares of glass were destroyed at Messrs, Weelhouse's distiller fram y, es an Dept d - ford-bridge ; and nearly the whole of the glass greenhouses in the market garden and nareery of Mr. Loft, near the Kent Waterworks. Much damage was done also to the glass work and choice productions of Mr. Cormack's nurs sery, at New Cross,. At the police-station, Rushey-green, Lewisham, much glass was broken, oge together with the framewo rk thereof ; and the lo wer p a r of effectually ge be e tween Lewisham - bridg e and Lea-bridge was so under water that it was with some diicislty horses could ford it, particularly if attached to carriages. The market gardens at Lewisham, Lee, Deptford, and Woolwich road, have sufs fered immensely, not only from but b which at Lewisham fell in flakes an in ch log, but from the flooding of Black the growing crops. Throughout tile whole district heath the hailstones fully a veraged the site of large hazel nuts. The gardeners who have suffered most are Air. Tyler, near the Greenwich Union; Mr. Shepherd, Lewisham; Mr, Palmer, Lewisham ; and Mr. Loft, Greenwich. The vans titles of sand and gravel which have been washed from the rubbish-hills into Greenwich and vicinity is astonishing, leaving the high roads bare, and presenting nothing but a surface of bright and broken granite. On the Fltham road, a man with a scythe in his hand was struck by the electric fluid, and fell insensibly to the ground. The poor fellow however, luckily recovered so as to be able to proceed home, P LU3 ISTEAD.—In the midst of the stor thesecric fluid struck one of the chimneys m belonging to hin the oc cupation of Mr. George Kimber, stone-masoa and marble cutter, next door to the Plume of Feathers, opposite to the church, at the village of Plumstead. From a conversation held yesterday with Mr. Kiiuber's son, by the reporter, it a ppears that at the moment he, with his father, a was enthat,- gaged in preparing tor polishing a marine tauter, an whilst thus engaged, a stream of fire passed through the shop, which is in the first floor on the back of the house, en tering at the ceiling, which it tore down with great violence, as it also did the plaster of the side walls. Thence it passed through the floor to the cupboards below, the woodwork of which was demolished, and the crockery and miscellaneous contents therein destroyed. It then appeared to pass through a chink in the wall to a butt in the yard, which was broken up, and after playing in sportive fury for some time in the roadway i t appeared to pass into the ground, rising out again at a distance from the house. Full half the chimney was torn down, and the bricks fell into the yard among several gravestones, in a course of prepara tion. Two large holes were made in the tiles, which pene trated the roof, from the rafters through the ceiling. Mr. Bingham, the landlord of the Plume of Feathers, states that he was standing in front of his bar, serving customers, at the time when the flash of lightning—or, rather, the stream of fire—appeared. So fierce was the flame, and so appalling the report arising from it, that he was for a few minutes uncon scious where he was, or what he did. The next moment he heard the crash of the falling brickwork, and, upon looking out of the window, after his stupor was in some measuresub sided, be saw a volume of dust proceeding from the roof of the premises in Mr. Kirnber's occupation. At Erith, Crayford, and Dartford, the storm was very severe, and at Chatham it is said to have been excessively violent. In the midst of this visitation and loss of pro perty, it is gratifying to state that the hop bine has much improved since the storm, one of the largest growers in the west of the country having discovered, upon an exami nation of his crops that, although on Friday last they were covered with fly and lice, the thunder and lightning had cleared the majority of the arms from these destructive vermin. SOUTHEND.—The damage that has been sustained by the hail-storm which fell on Saturday is tremendous. The direc tion the storm took being from south to north, the hot-houses and green-houses presented a fair mark for its fury, and the destruction that followed it is most extensive. Mr. Samuel Forster, of Southend, has his beautiful hot-houses com pletely riddled, there not having been left more than one tenth of the panes whole. The number of broken squares amounts, in this place, it is said, to over 4,000. Mr. Ilill, of the same place, has had the front of his house completely disfigured, nearly all the beautiful plate-glass windows having been broken. The violence of the storm extended itself to the neigh bouring counties :—ln the neighbourhood of Reading, Ox ford, Newbury, Farringdon, Cirencester, Wantage, &c., the storm was of a most awful description, and the damage sustained to vegetation generally is incalculable. At Ciren cester two sheep and an ox were killed by the electric fluid ; and at Wantage two sheep and a valuable horse were struck dead by the same powerful agency. At Oxford the electric fluid did great damage to building property, hot houses, and gardens. The roof of the house of Mr. Dudley, situate near the river, was struck by the lightning. At Letcomb, near Wantage, the lightning entered the roof of a cottage, shattered a bedstead, and threw a child that the mother had just laid in bed on the floor, but unhurt. At Highworth, the servant of a Mr. Boyne got under a tree, with his horse, for shelter; the horse was killed, but the man miraculously escaped with a slight scorching of the forehead. At Henley on-Thames the flashes were awfully vivid and forked. The house of Mr. Musgrove was struck by lightning. Mr. Mus grove and a portion of his family were at the moment stand ing in a passage, through which the bell-wires passed, and were all struck to the ground, but happily without serious injury; the damage to his outhouses, plants, &c., contigu ous to the dwelling-house, is very considerable. Some parts of Hampshire, &c., were also visited by the above storm, and serious damage was sustained by the e!ectric fluid. At the Swan Inn, Inkpen, a small village about three miles from Hungerferd, the paper on the walls was in many places com pletely stripped off. The lightning then followed the bell wire to the kitchen, where the maid-servant was at work ; her clothes caught fire, but her screams speedily brought as sistance, and the flames were happily extinguished without her receiving much injury; and a boy, who was standing in a barn near the house, was knocked down by the light ning, but escaped with a few slight scars on the cheek; a great portion of the barn, however, was destroyed by the electric fluid. THE STORM IN BIRMINGIIAM.—BIRMINGHAM, SATURDAY. —This afternoon Birmingham and its neighbourhood were visited by a dreadful thunder-storm which lasted upwards of two hours. The wind blew gently from the south-west, from which direction the tempest came. The rain descended in torrents, and in some parts of the neighbourhood the flood rendered the roads impassable. Fortunately, although at one period the storm was of the most fearful description, no I ser i o us damage was done in the neighbourhood. al THE LATE STORM. TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES. Sir,—As many of your readers may feel an interest in cir cumstances connected with the hailstorm on Saturday, I beg a corner of the Times for a few observations that may amuse them. The small garden of the house in Camberwell New-road, in which I was when the storm commenced, has an easterly aspect. There was no wind at the moment, and there was no perceptible drift in the shower; the hail seemed to fall in a direction nearly vertical ; and, from the nature of the sur face of the garden, it rested where it fell. From a spot measuring three superficial feet, and which was selected as a fair average of the general surface of the garden, I gathered 947 hailstones, the smallest of which weighed 9 2-10ths grains, and the largest 84 grains. I was anxious to ascertain the number of the different sized hailstones which fell on a given space, as I observed they varied greatly in their dimensions; more so on this occasion than in any other hailstorm that I ever witnessed. They were five sizes; there were GI of the largest size. Five of them hastily selected, as far as the eye could judge, nearly of the same size, weighed 405 grains, which gives 81 grains as the average weight of each. Five others, ap parently the smallest of the number, weighed 394 grains which averages 78 grains each. One of the first five mea sured 9-10ths of an inch in length, 6-10ths of an inch in breadth, and was about 5-lOths of an inch in thickness. It had, like most of the others, the shape of a flattened pigeoa's egg. A dozen had a shape approaching a flattened sphere. In general, it may be observed, that no two hailstones, al though nearly of the same size, had nearly the same form, or seemed to have been produced under the same circumstances. 417 hailstones were of the second size. 10 of these weighed 519 grains, which gives 51 9-10ths grains for a single one. The 10 smallest that could be selected from the whole num ber had an average weight of 50 2-10ths grains each. The uniformity of size and shape throughout this large number was very remarkable; they were mostly like flattened spheres, with a thickness of half their diameter. They could hardly be distinguished from small white turnip radishes trimmed of their root fibres and leaves. 285 hailstones were of a much less size than the preceding. 17 of them weighed 651 grains, which gives 38 2-10ths grains to each. The smallest that could be selected from the whole number, by the eye, weighed 31 grains. Their forms were all imperfect; some were roundish lumps, others like short contorted cylinders, others had an almond form. Of the fourth size there were 159 hailstones; 36 of these weighed 828 grains, or 23 grains a-piece. The smallest of the whole number weighed 18 grains. The largest of the 16 hailstones of the fifth size weighed 13 grains, and the smallest 9 2-10ths grains. The shapes were most irregular ; they had much the appearance of being chipped from larger pieees, with their sharp edges rounded by the warm rain in which they descended. 9 hailstones of the largest size had a squarish form. One of them was nearly an inch long, 7-10ths of an inch broad, and was fully 5-10ths of an inch thick. Two of its edges were ragged, and looked as if it had been part of an irregular cake corn posed of several thin plates of soft ice pressed toge ther, and then broken off; the other two edges had a similar appearance, but their arrises were somewhat rounded. It weighed 87 grains. Of a similar shape and appearance were four others, the average weight of each of which was 76 grains. Of the remaining four hailstones it is difficult to give an idea. They had the appearance of a portion of snow that hid been firmly pressed and flattened in the hand, and then dipped in water, but the y nevertheless seemed as dense as the hailstones of a mo re re g ular shape. Many of the largest sized hailstones had a portion, as much as a third or a fourth, broken off. This, in some in stances, might have been produced after they had fallen, by the impact of those falling, but not in other instances. I ob served the same thing in some large hailstones which fell into a tub of Water, and where an impact with others could not have taken place. The disruption of these must there fore have been produced in their descent through the at mosphere. of the fifth size were spongy, like pressed s e e f d In general the largest hailstones seemed to have the h of av t e he oc h e a 7 l i w on a e s d fel m t u to ch be d s a o m s a greatest density, several of those which I have described as but I scarcely remember a hail-sho w e r su ch snow. large hail will gardens and windows, I have no doubt but that ' the tall 7 e w ri l i iere the momentum small. tor rents of rain may have, in many ca ses , dimi nished . the falling ases, diminished the im petus, by deflecting the hail, and by occasioning a n u pward cu rrent of wind from the ground, like that prodUcedbythe fall of Nutter in the chamber of a wind furnace, - and which neutralized, in some degree, the effect of the de scending hailstones. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, August 2. M. THE APPROACHING PARTRIDGE SEASON.—The ac counts in Surrey and Sussex are very favourable to the ap proaching partridge season. The broods are very strong in the wing, and the coveys are large, and the prospect of an early harvest will enable the sportsman to enter the field on the Ist of September without the usual restrictious vritli re spect to stautliAg crop, TitE SUN, LONDON,_ MONDAY tVENING,_ AUGUST 3, 1846. AN- CORNWALL .., DEVON CEN TRAL RAILWAY. A meeting of the shareholders in this Company waspheld, at twelve o'clock on Saturday, at the London Tavern, for the purpose of taking into considerttion the propriety or other wise of proceeding with this scheme (which our readers may be aware was thrown out before the Committee on Standing Orders on a slight technical error) during the next session of Parliament. The meeting, which was most numerously attended, was called for 11, but the chair was not taken till 12. We can not forbear calling the attention of railway companies to the great inconvenience and loss of time which this reprehensible practice occasions both to the public and our selves. if the parties had stated in their advertisement that the meeting was called at 11 for 12 o'clock, the shareholders and file representatives of the press would then have known how to act. Mr. H. WILLIAMS having been voted into the chair, Mr. CROMBIE, the secretary, having etated that the meeting was properly constituted, and read the advertise_ relent bv which the meeting bad been convened, after which Messrs :W. Lowe, 11. Beaumont , and John Clapperton were appointed scrutineers, The CHAIEMAN said he reed only state to them very shortly that they had met there that day for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety or otherwise of tt is solving the Company. The report of the directors would be laid before them, and they - could then take their own course. They were all, as a matter of course, sufficiently aware of the Act of Parliament, which stated most distinctly that they were to limit their discussion to one object only. The last time he had the honour of presiding over a meeting of the shareholders they were stated to have been very desultory in their proceedings. Indeed, on some of the points ha believed they were repre sented as paving been rather uproarious. That, no doubt, was somewhat of an exaggeration ; but there were reasons why they were desultory, They had no main point under consideration at present however, that was not the ease, and he sincerly . hoped that they would limit themselves to one point, being the question of disso lution, Whether they w ere uproarious de p ended en tirely upon themselves. He believed and ho p ed most sincerely that no ono had come there for the p ur p ose of creating an uproar. He b el i eved that their reel intention was to give the subject a cal m and cool consideration, With that view he placed himsel f entirel y in the hands of the begged dt t h o u ca ic li b upon eer, Crombie, the these- Conamittee e begged to present to the meeting , c sh re a t r a e 4 o , l t d o ers r , read , eg th b er g epor Air, CROMBIE then read the report, which strongly recom mended the shareholders to prosecute the scheme during the next session. The report was received with loud applause. lii 1:41P.F5. trs , 77114 Owr.eLEE, the Dircotors and Secretary stated that the report had betu seg,ularly drawn up by the managing coneroittee. The CHAIRMAN having stated that he was quite prepared to take any motion that might be made on the report, Mr. OSBORNE rose and said that, in the remarks which he should take the liberty of making, he should strictly eon fine himself to one subject, in pursuance of the Act by which the meeting had been convened. He could not help remarking that the conduct of the managing and provisional committees was intimately mixed up with the proceedings of that day. Ile confessed that he felt much astonished at the report which had just been read by Mr. Crombie—(Hear, hear)—because he had always understood that the managing committee of this un dertaking was, par excellence, composed of highly honourable and respectable men, whose words were always to be depended upon, and whose actions had always met with the approval of those of their fellow-men who were able to distinguish between right and wrong.—(Hear, hear.) But he did nbt mean to say that they were deserving of the highest enco miums that could be passed upon them in reference to the manner in which they had conducted the interests of this Company. Indeed, that conduct was suprising to him, be cause not many months ago in that very room they gave expression to opinions the very reverse of those which they had now expressed in their report. In three months those gentlemen could blow both hot and cold. On the 30th of April last they met in that room, and said they should feel most happy it it was in their power to wind up the affairs of this Company; and now that Parliament bad given them the power, they stated that they should be m ost happy to proceed with the scheme in the next session of Parliament.—(Hear, hear.) But they had not furnished to the shareholders any reasons for this extraordinary change in their opinions. Looking at the circumstanceslthat had recently taken place, and looking also at the fact that many parishes were deeply interested in retaining so large a sum of money as that now in the hands of the Committee, the shareholders might, however, take for granted what were the reasons which prompted the directors to recommend the continuance of the scheme. And that notion the sharehol ders might form without being deemed very uncharitable to wards the gentlemen on the board of management. It might be said, why did he notanimadvert on the report of the3oth of April at the time it was laid before the shareholders? but, in reply to that, he had to state that he had not then time to peruse it. In that report the Committee stated that, after con sulting the highest legal authorities cn the subject, they had unanimously come to the resolution of recommending the dissolution of the Company. The Chairman, at the last meeting, said (and he would wish the shareholders to understand that he sat opposite to the chairman, and took down his words), that it would be a desirable thing if the Company had the power of dis solving.—(Hear, hear.) Now he (Mr. Osborne) put it to the meeting whether, if that really were the serious opinion of the chairman and directors in April last, they could honestly and consistently come forward now and ask the Company for their sanction to the continuance of the scheme? What sight had they, after the opinions which they had expressed at the last meeting, now to come before the Company and ask for that sanction?— (Hear, hear.) They then stated that they regretted they had not the power to wind up the affairs of the Company ; but now, when that power was granted to them—when an express Act of Parliament was passed investing them with that power, the Chair man and the committee came forward, and, without as signing any reason, stated. that it would be best not to dis solve, but to continue the scheme. Under these circum stances he (Mr. Osborne) would ask the meeting whether he had not a right to say that the gentlemen of the committee, whoever they might be, had not kept good faith with, had not, in fact, dealt honestly towards a large body of the shareholders?—(Cheers.) Why should the share holders now put confidence in the recommendations of those gentlemen—why should they take it for granted that they had been actuated by honest Inotlves, when they drew up this their last report?—(Cheers.) Why should they assume that the affairs of the company had been managed so honestly that no one could "pick a hole" in their doings? They were told by the printed statement before them, that the amount of deposits issued - was, in the gross, 296,708/. lls. 9d., but from that sum there were several large deductions. There was the large sum of 33,556/. to defray the expenses of solicitors, engineers, &c., up to the present time. And first, there was the large sum of 13,8231. for doing what? For absolutely doing nothing— (Hear, hear) —for absolutely doing mischief. He alluded to what had been done in the way of surveying. —(Hear, hear.) Indeed, the line was so badly surveyed, and so great were the deficiencies in the plans, &c., that to have brought them before the House of Commons, they "could not hold water" for one hour, and yet they were called upon to pay 13,8231. for surveying the line, and also to express their most sincere thanks to the directors for the excellent manner in which they had conducted the concerns of the Company. —(Her, hear.) The next charge was 2,0001. for the London solicitor's expenses. Now he did not exactly understand what was the proper remuneration to a London solicitor for the amount of work done for this Company during the last six or nine months; but, for his own part, he should most certainly not object to receive such a sum for the same business. He should consider the solicitor fortunate. —(Hear, hear.) He was not disposed to split hairs in these matters, but he must say that his opinion that 2,0001. to one individual was a larger sum than the shareholders of this Company ought to be charged with. But it was not the London solicitor alone that had a share in the funds of this Company.—(Hear, hear.) There was no less a sum than 4,000/. charged for country solicitors and agents, for doing what he should wish to be informed. Why, it was no wonder that these gentlemen were so anxious to carry on the scheme, when there was the probability of such a rich harvest as this before them. He was not at all surprised when he heard of their purchasing scrip , for the purpose of enabling them to vote for the continuance of the scheme.—(Hear, hear.) For the Parliamentary agents there was a charge of 4,809/. What had been done for that sum he was not pre pared to say, but he thought it was a vast deal of money to pay for getting the scheme of the Company thrown out on the standing orders. He thought he had a right to appeal to the shareholders and ask them 'whether it was reasonable to call upon them to pay such a large amount of money for getting their project thrown out of Parlirment. Besides, there was no chance of this Bill ever being carried. —(Cries of " Yes, yes," and " No, no.") Did the share holders anticipate that thirty shillings would be returned to them on each share ? But the directors had their money in their hands, and they could do as they pleased; they could say "We have a sufficient number of votes here to-day on our side, and you may, therefore, grumble as you please," The shareholders would get no satisfaction.—(Hear, hear.) There was yet remaining in the pockets of the directors the sum of 78,111/. 7s. 10d. belonging to this Company. He would now approach a subject which he must say had created in his mind a great deal of uneasiness. He did not wish to express himself hi harsh language, but he felt so strongly upon the topic that he was about to allude to, that he was afraid he should in advertently make use of very strong language; if he should, he hoped the meeting would forgive him A large number of shares bad been purchased lately, to the amount of many thousands, at a given marketable price, by p ar ties who appeared to be the agents of some company or some individuals who had a large interest in the success of this undertaking. This took place at Exeter. Thou sands of shares had been purchased by thqse individuals at 30s. a piece. A man called upon him to purchase some at the same rate, but when asked who were the parties that had employed him, he said, "I must not tell." A DIRECTOR—No broker does that; it's quite absurd. Mr. OSBORNE—Now, if those shares had been purchased by the committee of management — The SECRETARY—They have not. Mr. OSBORNE—Or by agents for them, or by the South- Western Company, or the Amalgamation Companies, he would then ask the shareholders to look at the position in which they were placed. He would suppose that -those gen tlemen had employed their agents to purchase those shares at 30s. each, whilst those very gentlemen had received 2/. 12s. 6d. for every share. What then must they think of their conduct? Mr. MASTERMAI (a director)—The managing committee I have purchased no shares whatever. The SECRETARY—They have not purchased a single share. Mr. OSBORNE did not say they had, but he believed that he should not subject himself to the charge of uncharitableness if he said that he believed that those shares had been purchased with the knowledge, consent, and approval of those gentlemen, and also of the South-Western Company ; for he believed the South-Western Company to be at the bottom of this matter. (llear, hear.) But the fact was too strong to be disputed that those 'shares had been purchased at thirty shillings a piece. He would venture to say that by far a greater part of those gentlem en then in the room, and al so of those who authorised the directors to vote werell whoname in favour of the continuance of the scheme,_very tose shares had purchased their shares at 30s. a piyce. Th_ • editable manner to other he had been purchased in the discr inst the other ue had alluded would. be turned that day so! shareholders,6d a piece for their „who had given 2/. 12s. • • was shares.-- Loud cheers.) The directors, inconsistent a their conduct with regard to the project, cared not for that, because they knew that they could carry what motions they pleased. But was it right that these things should be done? Was it possible to reconciled for one moment such conduct with plain, straightforward, own right English conduct? (Loud cheers.) Must there not be some interested motive that had induced them so rapidly to c h ang e their opinions?—( • • ns?—(Hear, hear.io) Were there not some strong reason s that had tempted them to recommend the continuance of the scheme? His honest adTico tho Lod ALS S hareiladell Tao, t4at they A told not vote at all on this occasion, for it was high time for them to see if they could not adopt some other steps by which the whole of the directors proceedings might be fairly and openly exposed, with the view of obtaining redress in another tribunal.—(Cheers.) Had the whole of the deposits been paid up there should now have been in the hands of the directors a clear balance of 247,2631, and, in accordance with the undertaking of the directors, they should now have come forward and stated that they recommended the instant dissolution of the Company and the divison of the balance in hand amongt the shareholders. They might then, with some reason, have called upon the shareholders to express their thanks to them for the manner in which they had conducted their business, n o twithstanding the many peccadilloes of which they had been guilty. But would not the bond fide shareholders then present leave that room with the firm conviction that the directors had not managed the affairs of the Company in a manner becoming honourable men ? ( Hear, hear.) Upon their own showing, they should now be prepared, and in pursuance of that engagement they should have come before the directors that day prepared to return 21. on each share. He knew that the shareholders who had yoted at the last meeting in favour of the winding-up of the undertatsipg still be l al tha same view.—(Hear, hear.) He .. himself was the representative of between 1 !.1.;,',',/ and - 9,000 sharer, belonging to narties riving at Exeter, who wore against - ifie continuance of the scheme. For each of those shares 21. 12s. 6d. had been paid. But there were thousands and thousands of the shares held by the directors, and those who would vote with them, on which only 30s. a piece had been paid.—(Hear, hear.) Be himself held twenty shares in this Company, and he thought he had a right to ask the shareholders then in the room, the greater part of whom he felt confident were bond fide share holders—(Cheers)—whether the promises which the directors had made to them had been fulfilled, or their pledges redeemed ?—(Cheers.) If they felt with him that they had not been, let them abstain from voting at all on this occasion. —(Cheers.) In conclusion, he begged to propose—" That this Company do immediately dissolve." A SHAREHOLDER—How many advertisements have you put in the Times convening this meeting ? I see hut one. The CHAIRMAN—That is the number required by the Act of Parliament, The SHAREHOLDER—SO you confined yourselves strictly to the number ordered by the Act of Parliament. The CHAlRMAN—Certainly. The SHAREHOLDER then complained that the share holders had been unfairly dealt with. It was evident, he said, that the directors did not wish the advertisement to be seen, lest there should be a large attendance of the shareholders opposed to the continuance of the scheme. The last meeting, at which the directors requested a large attendance, was ad vertised over and over again in the newspapers.—(Hear.) Mr. THOMAS HARVEY then proceeded at great length to condemn the directors' conduct, and support the views taken by Mr. Osborne. The Company had made a most shameful arrangement with reference to the purchase or the SY ace bridge Railway. He also thought that the committee of management had acted very improperly in going to Parlia ment with such execrable plans as they did, and to which lie had called the attention of the compittee previous to their doing so. Mr. MASTERMAN said that he would only make one remark upon the observations made by the Honourable Gentleman who last spoke, and that was, when he acted in the capacity of secretary to this very Company, and the statement with respect to engineer ing faults was laid before the committee, they did not think it was of sufficient authority to induce them to stop proceeding with the undertaking, As to the Honourable Gentleman who moved the first proposition, he must say that he thought the Hon. Gentleman must have read the report backwards; what that report stated was, that the Committee regretted that they had not the power to give to every gentleman an opportunity of withdrawing from the Company if they desired it, As to the complaint which had been made about the South- Western Company holding shares, or buying shares, he thought that was a proof of their sincerity in the matter. The shares were not bought by them for the purpose of dissolving the Company, but for the purpose of keeping it on. It could not be, therefore, that they were prompted by any any desire to make money by their trans action. He assured them that there was but one feeling on the part of the directors, which was, to do the best they could to promote the interests of the shareholders. In answer to a question put by Mr. COHEN, Mr. FAKQUAHAR, the solicitor to the company, stated that the argreement entered into between the company and the South-Western would be no bar to the dissolution of the Company. In answer to a question put by Mr. COVEN, Mr. CROMBIE, the secretary to the Company, said the company were in no way cognizant, or in any way connected with the purchase of shares. Mr. FARQUANAR also reiterated the fact, and said that he had no communication whatever with any person in the pure chase of shares. Mr. D. W. HARVEY said that he would be perfectly ready to hand over his shares if the Company wished to become possessed of them. He was at a loss to know for what rea sons the Company would wish to buy shares, except for two reasons, one of which was a laudable desire to prosecute the line, or the other an endeavour to shield from inquiry any of their actions. He thought he could discern a motive why some parties should be anxious to screen themselves from inquiry in the transaction relating to the purchase of the Wadebridge and Bodmin Railway, by which the holders of shares, worth only eleven shillings, had received from this purchase the sum of fifty-six pounds. The CHAIRMAN said that the Hon. Gentleman was led into a most gross error respecting the purchase of the Wadebridge Railway. In the first place, the railway was desired by the Great Western Company, and they wished the Committee of the House of Lords to insert a clause in the Bill, making it compulsory upon us to sell that line to them, which had been refused, and that the line at present yielded a return of 700/. a year. Mr. D. W. HARVEY thanked the chairman for his inter ruption, in order to set him right upon this subject. The real question was whether this company was, or was not, to be 'dissolved ; and he would say, upon that sub ject, that whatever might be the value of this line, there were a number of persons present who had not perhaps the possession of that far-seeing capa city which should always distinguish the directors of a company, and who wished to hand over this valuable line to those who were willing to carry it on. He thought the meeting should know something of the situation of the Company, and what would be the actual position of the par ties should the company now be called upon to dissolve. The SECRETARY said he would give the Hon. Member the information he required. He then gave the different items of expenditure of the Company between the 29th April last, and the 31st of July. Mr. D. W. HARVEY then went on at considerable length to call upon the directors to deal fairly and honourably with the shareholders. If any member of the direction would say that he would give him 21. 2s. for his shares, he should have them, but if they did not do so within a week, he would not consent to any such arrangement, and would be prepared to lay down five shillings upon each of his shares, to make a common fund for the purpose of taking proceedings by which they would be enabled to recover the whole amount of the deposits back again from the Company. He conluded by moving that a committee ;of the shareholders should be appointed for the purpose of in quiring into the accounts of the Company. Mr. CHAPMAN, one of the directors, vindicated himself and his brother directors from any charges which might be brought against them, either with reference to jobbing in shares, or in the purchase of the Wadebridge Railway. He pro posed that a committee should be appointed, who would con fer with the directors upon this subject, but he thought that it was not quite regular or legal to propose the resolution. The CHAIRMAN said that he did not think the question should be put, the Act was very explicit on the subject, and enacted that no business should be carried on at such meet ings except as far as regarded the question of dissolution or non-dissolution. Mr. D. W. ILtuvEir said that his opinion was that the meeting could be adjourned, and that the shareholders could call another meeting and appoint a chairman, and then pro pose any resolution they pleased. He hoped, therefore, that the shareholders would not leave the room until a committee had been appointed in accordance with his resolution. Mr. Sergeant GAZELEE considered that the construction of the clause was such as to admit of the resolution of Mr. D. W. llarvey being put to the meeting. Mr. D. W. HARVEY said that if his amendment was car ried it would be accomplishing both purposes—the dissolution would not be carried, and that the meeting would be ad journed for six months, and in the mean time the com mittee would be performing their duties. The CHAIRMAN then proceeded to put the resolution, hav ing declined to put the amendment. !sir. Sergeant GAZELEE then claimed to be heard upon the original resolution. He said that he had assisted in the formation of the line, under the impression that the scheme was supported to a considerable extent ; but he found that the case was not so, and he wished to withdraw his name at once from the list of the provisional committee, and to re move from all responsibility which might attach to him. in consequence of his connexion with the Company. He contended that the company had no right whatever either to go to Parliament and oppose the Cornwall lines as they had done, or to pay a single sixpence for their engineering sur veys. He thought that actions should almost have been brought against the surveyors for their gross neglect in pre paring the plans of the Company for deposit. He should make his bow to the Company, and protect himself from all responsibility upon the subject; he had never before signed his name as a provisional committeeman, and he would never do so again. In answer to a question put by a shareholder, Mr. MASTERMAN said, that a considerable bulk of the money released from the hands of the Accountant- General was lent out to the South-Western Company at an interest of 3i per cent., the remainder was out upon personal se curity, and he did not feel at liberty to give up the names of the parties, but the Committee were responsible for the whole of that amount. Mr. BIGG spoke in favour of the amendment of Mr. D. W. Harvey, and thought that the directors should not shelter themselves behind the triple breastwork of an Act of Parliament, Ha would, fur himself, refuse to vote at all on the original motion. After a few words from Mr. OSBORNE, he agreed to with draw the motion he had put. Mr. MASTERMAN, one of the directors, said that he made a proposition to his brother directors, which had been unanimously agreed to by them, the result of which was that the directors declined to vote upon the present question. By that proceeding, therefore, he thought the directors would give an assurance to the shareholders of their disinterested ness, and their desire to do everything to satisfy the body of shareholders. Mr. D. W. HARVEY thought the shareholders should not allow themselves to be carried away by the announcement of the directors, that they could not.vote upon the present oc casion, because the directors had power to call another meet ing if there were but a dozen votes recorded to-day. In the midst of the most tremendous conf the usques ts ion, . 0o of dia.. The CHAIR:UAW was proceeding to p solution, when Mr. Sergeant GAZELEE said there was no question of that nature eforee meetin g. After b a scene o f the mos t indescribable confusion, Mr. Mr.T. shareholders. Harvey, D. W. Harvey left the room followed Mr. Sere-eant tiazelee, and . a great numberby of the The Cesainstsisr then said that the absence of certain par ties would not interfere with the business of the meeting. Mr. HonNE then moved, and Mr. 'farm - Guam seconded, a motion that this Company be dissolved. The CHAIRMAN then put the resolution. The scrutineers were then appointed. During the time that the scrutiny was being gone into, the more refractory gentlemen in their rival meeting had selected Mr. D. W. Harvey to the chair, and had carried a resolution similar in character to that proposed by the Hon. Gentleman in the first instance, to the effect that a committee consisting of seven of the shareholders should be formed, and that the should be authorised to confer with the board of directos within a fortnight from this date, and report to a general meeting of the shareholders upon the subject. The scrutineers having given in their report, it appeared that there were— For the dissolution Against Majority in favour of going on . ........ 51,069 The total number of hares rqre§e4ted in the room; at the commencement of the meeting, was 62,132, of which we give the following summary No. of shares originally represented Shares held by the directors who declined to vote Votes for dissolution Votes against dissolution Shares held by parties who left during the meeting without voting 5,407 62,132 62,132 62,132 It appears, therefore, that if the shareh o ld ers w h o l e f t t h e meeting without voting had voted for the dissolution, the ma jority against it would have been reduced to 45,662. But if, on the other hand, the directors had voted against the mo tion, there would then have been a majority of 50,303 for going on with the company. It was then moved and seconded that the best thanks a this meeting are due, and are hereby given to, Hoj.j., - ,parey Williams, Esq., for his able and impartial c , ..louct in the chair. The vote was agreed to nem, cola ; The meeting then 1 31%,k 1 4c c,tler having lasted upwards of nine howl, ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE. NORTHERN ClRCUlT—Newcastle, Aug. 1, PRIZE-FIG HT AND MANSLAUGHTER.--William Gleghorn, a placid-looking young man, a blacksmith by trade, and aged twenty years, and James Renwick, aged thi_n s ,, one ,„h o acted as bottle-holder in a prize-fight bet7-en Gleghorn i and Michael Riley, were charged with liaving committed man slaughter upon Michael Riley, on the 10th of March last. The following witnses were called : _ _ _ John Bahnlia, publican, and an apparently respectable man, said he had been present at a prize-tight on the 10th of March, at Blythe Links, between the prisoner Gleghorn and Michael Riley, who is since dead. He never heard why these men were to fight. A ring was made. The men stripped Kid struck violently at each other, and they fought for about two hours and a half. The deceased appeared the fresher man of the combatants till near the close. Both men were distressed. Gleghorn was declared victor, and Riley then appeared greatly punished and distressed ; at last per fectly insensible. He was still put to fight till unable to stand. Renwick was there as bottle-holder inside the ring. Cross-examined—Gleghorn was the taller and apparently stronger man. The fight was fair, and the men shook hands at setting to. The deceased appeared to have the best of the light till at, the close, when he received very heavy blows, The combatants were cheered on by friends and the crowd, which consisted of from three to four hundred perens. At tempts were made to induce the deceased to stop fighting, and he would not desist. Ile said he was dble to fight three hours longer. They attempted to 11 - lake the deceased shake hands with the victor, but 11'4 was unable. The witness took notes of the fight I'4 the Bell's Life npv,,paner. C 05.1.1 hove wx . lit e ; rnumita. wc.o rOUg rite Witness is a publican, After ecsne corroboratory evidence, R. Smith, surgeon at Blythe, said he saw the deceased at the Ridley Arms, who was labouring under severe contusions about the head, and very extensive injuries about the neck. He shortly after wards died; no doubt from the effects of the blows. Saw some blows given at the close of the fight, which appeared to have great effect. Verdict of Guilty against both prisoners. Gleghorn to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for six calendar months, and Tenwicic, who had already been in confinement since March, to be imprisoned with hard labour for two months. HEARTLESS FORGERY. John Thompson, aged 32 years Alexander Henderson, aged 51, and John Smith, aged 33 were charged with feloniously uttering two forged orders for payment of money, with intent to defraud Elizabeth Gran dum of 8/. sterling, on the 16th of March, 1846, at the parish of Tynemouth. Mrs. Elizabeth Grandum, a sailor's wife, about thirty-five years old, keeping a lodging-house at South Shields, said she had for some time known Smith, the prisoner, who came to her and introduced the other prisoners (Alexander Hender son and John Thompson) to her as sailors engaged to go out in a vessel from Newcastle to America, who were in want of some 6/. to outfit them for the voyage. They said they had advance notes from their owners for 3/. each, which they asked her to cash ; and she gave the two prisoners each 21. 155., reserving ss. on each note for the advance and the accommodation. Subsequently she ascertained that the notes were forgeries. The prisoners were then apprehended. Verdict, Guilty.—Sentence, twelve months' imprisonment with hard labour. OXFORD CIRCUIT.— Shrewsbury, July 31. COLLINS AND OTHERS V. GILES. The verdict in this case passed for the plaintiffs—Damages 4,5001. ROME ClRCUlT.—Guildford, Aug. 1. CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Justice COLTMAN.) ALLEGED CIIILD-MURDER.—Mary North, 19, was indicted for the wilful murder of a child four months old, named Mary Anne Barker, by administering to it a large quantity of oil of vitriol. The whole of the facts connected with this charge have been given within the last few days. It will be recollected that the prisoner was in the service of an om nibus proprietor at Wandsworth, and had the charge of the infant in question, and being desired to give it some aniseed, it appeared that she had given the child some oil of vitriol, from the effects of which it died. It appeared in the course of the case that the two liquids were in bottles very much resembling each other, and there was considerable ground for supposing that the prisoner had administered the poisonous liquid to the child by mistake. Verdict, Not Guilty. MIDLAND CIR C U IT.—Leicester, July 31. CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Justice PATTEsox.) MA NSLAUGHTER.— Thomas Pallet, aged 42, was charged with manslaughter, in killing his wife, Maria Pallet. The facts were shortly these :—The prisoner and his wife and their family lived at Loughborough, but the man and his wife were upon very indifferent terms. On the evening of the third•of june.last they were heard to be quarrelling by a neighbour who had a right of road through their garden. He heard a female scream, and the sound of blows. Some short time after, on going through the garden, he saw the prisoner's wife, and observed one of her eyes to be very much discoloured. Later in the evening of the same day heard more quarrelling, and the son say, " Oh, father, don t. There was a blow and a fall. The prisoner then said to some one, "Go to bed with yeu." All was still for about twenty minutes, when the son came in and said his mother was dead. The prisoner stated to one of the witnesses his wife had fallen out of her chair and never spoke since. It was ' proved, however, that she was not a person subject to fits. The evidence of the medical men went to show she had re- I ceived blows upon her head which might have caused a con cussion of the brain, of which she died. The prisoner ad • mitted he had struck his wife. The jury returned a verdict of Guilty.—Sentence deferred. August 1. Porsorrma.—Elizabeth Clarke, a respectable-looking woman, aged 48, was charged with having, on the 14th of September last, caused to be taken by one Ann Richmond, her husband and child, a quantity of arsenic, with intent to kill and murder. It appeared from the evidence that pri soner and her husband lived in a lodge belonging to a Mr. Holmes ; that the prosecutrix, her husband and child, lived under the same roof, but in different apartments; both men were in the service of Mr. Holmes, as farm labourers. On the Easter eve but one, Mrs. Richmond borrowed some oat meal "of Mrs. Clarke to make gruel, her husband and herself were sick and ill after taking it ; that in August last the prisoner borrowed of the prosecutrix three quarters of a basin of flour, and returned the ✓same quantity with her own hand on the 11th of September, and it was put in a jar where flour was kept, there being a small portion therein at the time. Mrs. Richmond noticed its dark colour, but took no further notice, and, on the 14th, it was made into a pud ding, of which the three partook, and all were taken seriously ill, exhibiting symptoms common to those who have taken arsenic. The remains of the pudding was analysed, and arsenic found therein. No ascribable motive could be urged for the commission of the deed, save that Mrs. Clarke had expressed herself dissatisfied with the Richmonds coming to live there, as she had to give up an apartment. On the other hand, it was shown the two families lived very neighbourly together, that the prisoner was very fond of Mrs. Richmond's child, and was proud of showing it to strangers. Several witnesses of great respectability spoke of her in high terms as being a most humane person. The jury returned a ver dict of Not Guilty. HOLYHEAD HARBOUR OF REFUGE. Reports have just been laid before Parliament rela tive to the Holyhead Harbour of Refuge. The follow:- ing is an extract from a copy of Major-General Sir Love Parry's letter, with copy of the plan annexed thereto : " I have, &c., " L. P. J. PARRY. pp nded of a rep dal ,g T o the Commissionera oforHtomlyandeeadbyH;irrboußre.'n' s r ioie r rs in of her Majesty's Treasury. md e it e :r m e h i a s. ex b tract . s relative to the design for a py is the West Bay refuge t T o n A ,, Aec following Land ords g n n a a C gc mountain of Holyhead is only about one m frome the site of the proposed harbour and abou n d s in stone suitable for building the ordinary kind of sloping sided breakwaters, and as such breakwaters may be economically and rapidly formed by means of railways laid from quarries to be opened in the side of the mountain, so that the stone may be brought in waggons to the work, I propose in this manner to carry out both breakwaters 'at the same time, as rough stone embank ments, raised 10 to 15 feet above high water mark, 3G to 40 feet at top, and with slopes such as the materials would rest at, or the breaking of the sea upon them would occasion. On drawings Nos. 3 and 4, the sections of these rude breakwaters are shown by red dotted lines. They could be formed in four summers, so as to enclose the harbour and make it available for refuge ; and though the gales of each winter would doubtless occasion considerable derangement in the work, espe cially between high and low water, such disturbance would not materially diminish the shelter the break waters would afford, whilst it would effect the impor tant object of consolidating the whole mass of stone, and prepare it as a compact nucleus for the permanent structure. " The mode I ha v e t o propose for finishing the 4 break waters waters is also shown on drawings Nos. 3 exposure, after the rough suffi estonent subsidence,breakw at r ahavehn the top to the should d u nde r commence g, a by the shore end of each to throw d on Vs level of low water, using the removed t o h w e stone dra w i t n o g s fo , r a m n dt o the slopes to the angles marked build, in its place, inside and 911 ide,ashlox stone walls , 1 " Madryer Park, Pwllheli, Sept. 23, 1844. "My Lord and Gentlemen—Understanding that the Government have referred to Mr. Rendel the several plans for the construction of a harbour at Holy head, with a view of his making a new design and estimate for a packet station there, I deem it right, as chairman of a public meeting, recently held in Caernarvonshire on the subject, to ap prise you of the fact that Mr. Rendel is the engineer of the Birkenhead Dock Company, which consists of the same promoters, and has the same solicitor and Par liamentary agent, as the Chester and Holyhead Railway and the Chester and Birkenhead Railway Companies ; indeed, so dependent upon the Holyhead Rail way did the Dock Company consider their project (as the terminus for the Dublin and Liverpool steam-vessels), that they subscribed for shares in the Holyhead Railway to the amount of 70,0001. each, as appears by the printed Parliamentary con tract of the latter Company. It is also deserving of re mark, that the same parties are the principal share holders of the Birkenhead Railway, which has been conditionally disposed of to the C hester and Holyhead Railway Company. Under these circumstances arefe rence tobv os observe, be n aturally e question considered M Mr : Rendelby h would,te public p u permitheend mthee parties Hslooclaylhlyeaidntnerseilswteay.das a reference to the engineer, of the of the strongest description; these walls to be built from the level of low water only for the North Breakwater, but in the East Breakwater, to be brought up on the harbour side from the bottom, with diving bells, so as to make the whole length of this breakwater a convenient wharf, which I consider necessary, from its being in immediate connexion with the dockyards on Salt Island, and calculated to become an important part of that; branch of the establishment. The head of each break water will also be formed of ashlar stone wall ; that of the Eastern B rea k water w i ll be built up from te Plat ters (rocks), and that of the Northern will have its walls founded thirty feet below low water, Its shown on the. draw ings, "All these walls below low water will be built of large squared blocks of sand-stone, and above low water with limestone ashlar facing, and sandstone ashlar backing, or with the stone of the locality set in suitable cement. "The top of the great or North Breakwater would be 40 feet wide, and raised 18 feet above ordinary spring tides, with Et parapet 8 feet 6 inches high, " Tke East Breakwater would be formed-ts a wharf, fro feet wide, and raised eight feet above spring tides, with a parapet eight feet high, All ether dimensions and details are so plainly shown on the drawings as to make further description unnecessary.p RAILWAY SHARE SARKETS. MANCHESTER ; Aucuo 1. STOCK EXCIIANGE.—The sales kre—Ambergate, Nottingham, &C., 114 dis.—Blackburn and Pre!,ion, 9 p. —Clitheroe Junction,,;l3s. dis.—Direct Northern, 9-1 0 , dis.—Eastern Counties, York Extension, 1% p. —East Lancashi re, 8 a p—East Lincolnshire, % dis.—Edin burgh and Glaspri, Halves, 8% p.—Exeter and Exmouth, 14 die. —Great Grimy and Dock Extension, 11,4 dis.—Huddersfield, Hali fax, and Bradford, 2 9-16 p.—Ditto, Extension, 9-16 p.—Lancashire and North Yorkshire, 18s. 6d. dis.—Liverpool and Bury, New, 216 p.—Liverpool, Ormskirk, and Preston, 2% p.—London mid MaR.- cheater (Rein.), 2% dis.—Manchester, Buxton, and Midland, 1 P. -- Manchester and Birmingham, Quarters (C), 1014 p.—Manchester and Leeds Extension, 3 1-16 P.—North Staffordshire, 4—North Union (11), 15 t—Oldham, Birkenhead, &c., 1-16 dis. —Preston and Wyre, Halves (B), % p.—Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction, % P. -- Sheffield and Manchester, Quarters, No. 3, 14 p.—Shrewsbury and Birmingham, 9-16 p.—South-Eastern and Dover, Halves, No. 4, 1 P. 1 —South Midland, % p.—South Staffordshire Junction, % 411,1. West Riding Union, Zap. LEEDS, AUGUST 1. STOCK EXCLIANGE.—On reference to the Share List sent here with it will be observed that the most material advances have taken place in the value of shares, with an exceedingly increased extent of business. The cause of this improvement is to be traced in some measure to a renewal of that spirit of speculation which proved se disastrous last year, although no doubt the plenitude of money, the favourable appearances of all foreign relations, the settlement of strong party political questions, and the prospect of an abunditiA harvest and a good trade., exercise most material influences on the teefings of capitalists, Lead render railway investments more earnest l y sought after. Th e advances at an early period of the account strengthen the opinion that further imorovernett will take place. North British, East Lancashires, Dewsburys, and Huddersfield and Sheffields, Continue favourite stocks in Leeds. The character and tone of the London market yesterday is reported as continuing very good. Direct Portsmouths, Manchester and Leeds of all kinds. London and Yorks, Birmingham and Oxfords, and Caledonians being perhaps most earnestly sought after. Foreign Shares are steady and firmer than of late. The sales are—Eastern Counties, York Extensions, 3Gs. p.—East Lancashire, 9 p.—Huddersfield and Manchester, 2% p.—Ditto, Extensions,' 75.:6d. p.—Huddersfield and Sheffield, 9 p.—Leeds and Bradford, 46% c. p.—Leeds and Dews' bury, 7% p.—Ditto, Branches, 2% p.—Ditto, Extensions, 4s. Gd. P. - Leeds and Thirsk, 114 dis.—Ditto, INew, 13 dis.—Manchester and Leeds, 35 p.—Ditto, Fifths, 9% p.—Ditto, Extensions, 2% p.—Ma_ ll- chester and Birmingham, Quarter Shares (C), 10% p.—Newcasue and Berwick, 14% p.—Ditto, Newcastle and Darlington Junction Extensions, 10% p.—North British, Carlisle Branch, 2% p.—Amber gate, Nottingham, and Boston, 235. 6d. dis.—Buckinghamshire, 100. dig.—Clitheroe Junction, 17s. dis.—East and West Yorkshire, 240. dis.—Glasgow and Dumfries, 13s. Gd. dis.—Lancashire and North Yorkshire, 21s. dis.—Lancashire, Yorkshire, and North Eastern , 335. 6d. dis.—Leicester and Bedford, 135. dis.—Liverpool, Manches ter, and Newcastle Junction, 1 dis.—Liverpool, Ormskirk, and FreS ton, 2%, p.—London and York, % dis.—Manchester, Buxton, Mat lock, and Midland, 21s. p.—North Staffordshire, 41. Is. Gd. Western, % p.—South Midland, 13s. Gd. p.—West Riding Union, 5. HULL, AuGusi 1. STOCK EXCIIANGE.—The sales are —North British, 38 1 ,x Carlisle Branch, 4—York and North Midland, East and West Riding' 13%—Blackburn, Darwen, and Bolton, 7 —Huddersfield and Maw' chester Railway and Canal, 131. Is.—Leeds and Dewsbury, 24}4 - "" Ambergate, Nottingham, and Boston, 255. 9d.—Buckinghamshire. Bs. dis.—Dewsbury Extensions, 3s. Gd. p.—L e i ces t er an d Bedford. Ss. 3d.—Leicester and Tamworth, 27s.—London an d Y or k, 429: Manchester, Buxton, Matlock, and Midland, 31. E—North Western. 7s. p.—North Staffordshire, Si. 48.—South Midland, 16s. Gd. P' Shrewsbury and Birmingham, 31. Gs.—West Riding U n ion, 4%. SHEFFIELD, AUGUST 1. STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—Grimsby and Sheffield, 2% dis.—Ditto, Extension, 21s. dis.—Ditto, Railway and Dock, 14 di'' —Huddersfield and Manchester, 11. 19s. 6d. p.—East Lincolnshire. 168. 6d. dis.—Grand Union (Nottingham and Lynn), 14s. 6d. dia. -- North Western, 2s. 6d. p.—Sheffield and Lincolnshire, ss, dis. NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, AUGUST 1. STOCK EXCIIANGE.—The sales are—Caledonian Extension, I 9 S; 6d. dis.—Lancashire and North Yorkshire, 1 IA dis.—Manchester and Leeds Extension, 2y p.—Manchester, Buxton, and Matlock, % North British, Halves, Hawick, p. —Newcastle and Berwi North Shields, 12% p.—South Midland, p.—York and Glaagnw Union, 1% dis. YORK, AUGUST 1. STOCK ETCAANGE.—The sales are —Eastern Counties, York Extea.' sion, 21. 2s.—Grand Union (Nottingham and Lynn), % —Leiceste r and Bedford, Bs.—London and York, 2/. 4s.—Malton and Dritteld Junction, 2/. Bs.-111anchester, Buxton, Matlock, and Midland, 3 —Newcastle and Berwick, 29%—Newcastle and Darlington, Ne vi ' 11 —North British, Half Shares, 15—Ditto, Carlisle Extension' 31. 18s. Ed.—No/11' Staffordshire, 6%—North Western, 1/. 78• — W es t Riding Union, s—York and North Midland, East and West Biding Extension, 13%. EDINBURGH, JULY 31. STOCK Excnswar.-The sales arc-Aberdeen, 81.155.-Aberd een? Banff, and Elgin, I/. 3s. 6d.-Airdrie and Bathgate, 31.,105.-Arbroath and Forfar, 281.-Ditto, Half Shares, 151. 10s.-Armagh and Port rush, 145.-Ayr and Galloway, 11. N.-Banffshire, 165.-Belf lst and County Down, 12s. 6d.-British and Irish Union, 21. Is. 6d.- - • Caledonian, 141. 55.-Ditto, New, 16s. 6d.-Caledonian Extension, 11. 135.-Caledonian and Dumbarton, 11.25.-Caledonian and Northern Direct, 1/.-Clydesdale Junction, 221. 10s.- Cornwall and Devon Central, 11. 125.-Deeside Railway, 21. 55.-Direct Northern, H. 148. -Dublin and Enniskillen, 21. 10s.-Dundee and Arbroath, Halfoir Preference, e S erw h e Shares, e e 8 1:821.01 18 . 1 1 . 5o; -Ditto, New, 211. 55.-Dundee and Perth, 22/. 10s.-East Indian Railway, 10s.-East of Fife, 16s. 6d.--Edinburgh and Bathgate, Edinburgh, u rr Leith, and Quarters, earisi a Gl Gl a Br s I g a. o n w tioo , t td o tiot d i t g t Edinburgh and Northern, 9/. 95.-Ditto. Newport, 12s. 6d.- No.e` , burgh and Perth, 3'.-Forth and Clyde Junction, It. 18s.-Glas . gow and Ayrshire, 751.-Ditto, New Stock, 321. 10x.-Ditto? Quarter Shares, 181. 10s.-Glasgow and Belfast Union, 21. 3s. Glasgow, Dumfries, and Carlisle, 11. 195.-Glasgow and Dundee Junction, 1/. 135.-Glasgew and Garnkirk, 401. IN. -Glasgow Gene ral Terminus, 7/. 10x.-Glasgow and Greenock, 161. 10s.-Ditto, Nevi Stock, Si. 155.-Ditto, Preference, 1/. 15s. -Glasgow Harbour Grand 65.-Gla.s. Junction, 11.-Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ardrossan, nton Junction. gow, Strathaven, and Lesmahagow, 21. 175.-Grantor 10s.-Great County Down, 11. 155.-Great North of Scotland, 68-- Inverness and Elgin, 1/. Is. 9d.-Lanark and Lothians, 21. 4s. Larne, Belfast, and Ballymena, 10S. 6d.-London, Bristol, and South Wales, it. 35.-London and York, 1/. IN. 6d.-Ditto, Half Shares , 12s. 6d.-Midland and Eastern Counties, 155.-Newcastle and Ber N wick, 271.-North British, 36/. 10s.-Ditto, Halves, 131 • SS-DIO„, Extension to Carlisle, W. 12s. 6d.-Ditto, Extension to Dalkeith, 3s.- North Staffordshire, 51. 65.-North Wales Mineral, 151. 175.1 -Ditto, New, 9/. Bs. 9d.-Perth and Inverness, U. 1 ls. 6d.-Scottyr, Central, 81.-Ditto, New, 81 . - Scottish Central an d Caledo M 7,, Junction, 1/. 10s.-Scottish Grand Junction, 12 s. - Scot tish land, GI : IN.-Scottish Southern, 11. 175.-Shrewsbury and ford, 2s. 6d. -Shrewsbury, Oswestry, and Chester, 51.-South t land, 21. 12s. 6d.-Stirling and Dunfermline, 11. 95.-stir: llll M. Midland, 31.-Strathern Junction, 11. 128. 6d.-WlshaW and C ness, 471. 10s. DOGGETT'S COAT AND BADGE. "jotsP On*Saturday the six young watermen who obtained out of about a score who had sent in their "lima as being qualified to row, contended for the "livery and badge, g ja by Mr. Thomas Doggett, deceased, a famous comedilbis commemoration of the happy accession of the family ° d for present Majesty to the throne of Great Britain,'' William Jolliffe, as per his will, arising from 7/.1 bein_gfroo prizes of 4/. 7s. 6d. and 2/. 12s. 6d., " the gifts of the allalegire interest on 2001. South Sea Stock." The distance Sselseev the Old Swan, London-bridge, to the Old Swan, at s . re the against tide, and the race fort u nat e ly terminated before did terrific storm, which nearly d e l uge d th e me tropolis W e t ba considerable damage, c ommence d. Th e following vi competitors, and they came in thus : 1 John Francis Wing, Westminster ............... John Prince, Chelsea... ................................. 3 William Edward Johnson, Westminster .-• ...... 4 Matthew Thorp Dewing, Christchurch, Surrey . ' 5 William Nugent, Somers Quay ..................... 6 James Abraham Smith.... .......... ............... . 74 wing , The start took place shortly after two o'clock lu took th 3 whose station was on the Surrey side, immediatelyhe water lead, and maintained it throughout, " shooting a dval at Westminster-bridge, and reaching Chelsea make much about a dozen lengths. Prince did not appear t„ d at Wt i e e i t way at the start, but ho soon got to his work , i '" l a ce, W' vas 100-bridge succeeded in going into the second 1 1 3 ,, we ver, had been previously retained by Johnson, who, ` .. /_, te rtaani ie a pretty good third ; and these " jolly young "' prizes. who are only just out of their apprenticeship, receive d t o f Alae r purpose of receiving ~ men was held on Saturday thelap pointed relative to the deputation from the committee COURT OF ALDERMEN.—A special aol in the room of the prese o ; building of a new criminal Court a Ctt the th to e p c u ein rc m ha i s t that finding that it would to th e tat an enormous rate, they had come _ , 0 ' that the proposed gaol ought to be built out ot s r o f resolution the be chairman impossible o f city, and that Holloway would be the best site. The c . o .. b o i c i city, Wire,. e e mc g Pi r tt ound for the intended building, on the site of tll fd be Fleet Prison, would be 132,0001., while the building NvnT., ec i; 78,0001., and then only three acres would be obtalove whereas the spot fixed on at Holloway, consisted Of eteeia,nsdal; taro 400 persons. Several of the aldermen spoke agar acres, and could be purchased for 17,000/.—the prison t o this proposition as being directly at variance with the w,' - ilie prison should be built in the city. After some dis co t b!! resolution of the Court of Aldermen, which was . t s b _., s :sio s . upon the subject, Mr. Alderman 11 Iusgrove suggesl to be submitted to the Court. The deputation then 1 Y,!,, c lo" the deputation should write down their propositioFtooTA and the remainder of the business was conducted with doors. SO , ..„ 0 0 .40 NOVEL ENTERTAINMEN T ON THE THAMES %-; il' ill turday night the directors of the City Stearn-boat Comp" - f• ll at the whole of the persons in their employment, upward - 144 , 14 1 2; number, to an entertainment on board the dumby, or fh-erePopurr- Battersea-bridge, to celebrate the first anniversary o ; th e e°_,," en' ment of the company. The barge was illuminated o'-- ulloas lamps, and an awning composed of the flags of all n . ll , vr . Of,: trance of the pier was lighted up with illumination laWe ro - velbeitt: devices, and among others were -the Cit arms, 0 1, o c f eft rth. &c. The whole df the masters, mates, y and crew:. 10.,, b'y - - t 6 steamers, with the money-takers and call-boys, vie,n-nell-o, acted Cadwell, the master of Citizen A, the first boat t7 tv erk ;eat. company, presided, and Mr. Stratford, master of 1',. 1 t OM - __.....-- the part of vice-chairman. The company separated ' __„----- --...-,... Saturday,On 7 August 1, 13 18 717 . George Andrew-1: :fLml-I:l3gef'i d y O i li n n n b ' u t the f g e .h a l o o t f t ult. a u , g A h l t r e s r .. Se h • wife of 1) r• of Do O u n gl t a h s e n 2 i s ek th ins u o l n t : , E a s t q G o l f a a nh m so o i n n tz d ' du Brecon, the 18" uS L le% ' On the 27th ult., at " Leacroft . Lodge, Mrs. Albert T. Creasy, of a son. ark, 1111.°. On the 29th ult., at Chester-terrace, Reg ent'e-P Harrison Watson, of a son. bter• filler, On the 29th ult., Mrs. P. S. Ormiston o f a daug m. On the 30th ult., at Clapham-rise,' Mrs. M r • of a son. On the 30th ult., Mrs. J. B. Tomalin, of a _ _ _ _ _ MARRIED. On the 30th ult., at the parish church of St. London, William James Lusden, Esq., of Balmedie c't bter in Aberdeenshire, to Mary Elizabeth, e ldest dat r kehire; Matthew Thompson , Esq. , of Manningbarn Lodge, colon e " W. H. Wylde, Esq. , eldest son of Lieutenttut- Wylde, R.H.A., Woolwich, to Miss Macey, wife of DIED. On the 21st ult., at Box, Swit zer land, Louisa, the Robert Winter, Esq. On the 31st ult., at Thornloe, Worcester , Mall " the wife of Captain Hastings, R.N. th, t he On the 31st ult., at Caversham Parsonage, Elizabe if wife of the Rev. Joshua Bennett. f g ear/ On the 31st ult at Clifton Catherine, the w e o B. Savile, Lieutenant Royal Artillery. , aged 53' On the 31st ult.,Mr.C.Stewart, of Stepne 11, London: Printed and Published by ATIITEDO YOUNG, of .I,l ec iact Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, N 0.112, Strand. th a 'Austifit a the Sayoy, I A th e (m al ty Wadleseis 74194 P"'" 15461