The Sun. — London, England, 1863-01-28 00:00:00

The Great 71.stilway Bridge at Hungerford. App ;rently in a few years more London will show as many railways on its surf ;ce as it now has lines of main sewers. They have long surrounded it, they are now penetrating it, undermining it, or stalking with iron strides across its crowded streets; so that in the lapse of another ten years or so it will come to pass that omnibuses and cabs will be superseded like the post-chaise and stage-coach of old, and in London at least only used as feeders to the small but important lines of railway which will reduce the limits of this overgrown province of houses to as manage able dimensions in point of time as those of a country town. Our distances are now too great, cur time too precious, for mere horse power to be of much avail. Straight short lines of rails, and a pace of 25 miles an hour, are actual ne cesFaries in the transaction of London's daily busi ns, and as only railways can supply these wants, reiiways are springing up to mat them on every Two new railway bridges are already b-ing Thames—one lofT the Char- v bu il)g-crosl Extension into Hungerford, one ;or the Ch.tham and Dover in Farringdon-street ; arid a third is about to be commenced by Mr. llawkshaw between Southwark and London-bridges, to take a line into Cannon-street near the Mansion-house, be tween which place and Charing-cross the train will run backwards and forwards, like shuttles in a loom, all day long. These bridges are more or less remarkable for the skill shown in their construction in designing them to be at once the lightest, cheapest, and strongest struc tures of their kind, and in none are these import ant qualities more prominent than in Mr. Hawkshaw's bridge at Hungerford. Most of our London readers have noticed the curious way in which the massive iron work of this great erec tion has gradually enclosed the light and beautiful proportions of Mr. Brunel's suspension bridge, and, while enclosing it, seems also to have eaten its way, plank by plank and iron by iron, till only the brickwork towers and idle chains now remain to show where the best proportioned bridge of this kind in England once stood. In a month or so more the chains themselves will be removed, and the towers shorn down to mere stumps, when the huge strength and massiveness of the new bridge will be fully seen. Little more than this remains to be done to complete this greatest of our railway viaducts over the river Thames. This bridge has so many purposes to answer, has so many diffi culties to overcome, and has so many contrivances to eke out and opposite objects to fulfil, that it is probably the most difficult work of the kind that ever has been or will again be attempted across the Thames. It is a railway bridge double the size in width of any in the kingdom, a foot bridge twice as large as old Hungerford; nearly one-third of the bridge is a main station ; and, to crown all, though the structure is of iron, the brick piers of the old bridge had to be utilized in order to save cost. It is, in short, a bridge of compromises and contriv ances, all met and all arranged with so much skill that it discharges each duty as if built for that alone, is very cheap, enormously strong, and withal not nearly so ugly as railway bridges over rivers generally are. It is rather difficult in these engineering descrip tions to give the general reader a clear account of such important works without using technical ex pressions, but in this case a mere outline of the work itself and the nature of the duties it has to perform will speak sufficiently for themselves. The total length of the bridge from end to end is 1,360 ft. its width between the main girders is 50ft., and outside this there are two 7ft. footways for passen gers, making the total width 64ft. with a clear headway above high water-mark of 25ft. From the Surrey side to the brick pier of the old structure on the Middlesex shore the bridge is carried on a series of hollow east-iron cylinders or columns, with a span of 154 ft. between each opening. But from the Middlesex abutment, in order to make room at once for a station with many sidings and starting platforms, it widens out rapidly in a fan or trumpet shape, and here the columns and general method of construction have, as we shall see, to be entirely changed. To begin, however, at the beginning, the columns on which the bridge rests on its passage across the river to the Middlesex abutment have a diameter, at the base, of 14ft., while below the bed of the river beneath which they go at depths varying from no less than 30ft. to 38ft., and in all cases till they have been sunk some feet into the London clay. As these columns rise to near the surface of the bed of the river they are diminished in thickness by a sloping cast-iron joint, like a truncated cone, which at its termination reduces the diameter of the column to 10ft.—a size which it continues from low water mark to the summit. These columns were erected in the usual modern, simple way—that is, placed on end at the precise spots they were in tended to occupy, and weighted till they were forced beneath the bed of the river, when the water was pumped out, and the mud and gravel removed down to the level of the clay. Here they were again still further forced down, the clay in turn removed, and its place supplied with courses of solid masonry up to the top of the 14ft. width. From this point they were filled in with solid brickwork of the hardest bricks that could be manufactured. Some of the columns thus built have been steadily loaded with railway iron to a weight of 750 tons, under which enormous pressure, en so small a surface, the masonry has been pressed together nearly two inches, but beyond this no yield of any kind has taken place, and each main pillar is now, as far as experience and calculation can ascertain it, as firm as if it was founded on a rock. Two such columns fastened together at the top with a powerful wrought iron close girder carry the road way in spans of 154 ft. The main girders which bear all the strain of the roadway in the long interval between each pair of columns are the powerful lattices of wrought iron which may now be seen on each side of the remains of the old bridge. Tile visitor who inspects these wonderful specimens of wrought iron work will find that they consist, at top and bottom, of two trough-shaped girders, 14ft. apart, the top one 4ft. broad and the bottom 3ft., the uppermost one being stronger as it has to resist the compressCy: strain, which is always snore trying to wrought iron than tension, which is met by the bottom girder of 3ft. broad. Though we have spoken of these as two, and 14ft. apart, they are joined together and made in reality one immense girder of that depth by a latticework consisting of a series of struts and ties, the struts to uphold against compression, the ties to resist tension—in plain terms, to meet thrust or pull in all parts of the structure. The struts 'vary from 12in. wide and 3in. thick to 6in. wide and nin. thick. They are all placed in pairs, and may be known at once by their beliig joined at the back with a r'erlal wrought iron brApin e , prevent their buckling out under great pressure. The ties vary from 12in. broad by 21-in. thick to 6in, broad by 2in. thick, the greatest strength being given at the ends, where the st ra i n o f the leverage comes. Each of these pair of girders which carry the roadway be tween the columns is, as we have said, 154 ft long, and the two are capable of bearing a lead strain of 1,500 tons, the greatest weight that could by any possibility be put upon them if the four lines of rails between them were loaded, with tank engines and the footways outside thronged with people. Even with such a load the strain wo u ld onlybe at the rate of 4 tons per sectional inch at the top of the girder, and 5 ton s a t the bottom— a slight weight when we remember that the Britannia Bridge has a permanent strain of 7 tons to the inch, and many wrought iron bridges both in France and America have to do duty w i t h nearly twice that load. The floor of the road way between these main girders is foi med of a series of cross girders placed as close as lift apart. Each of these weighs nine tons, is 4f: t. deep , and equal to a load of 110 tons, though 77 tons is the greatest weight that could be placed upon them. The two brick piers of the old bridge are made to do duty in place of a pair of the circular iron columns we have described, at some saving as regards cost, but with a great loss as far as the uni formity of the structure is concerned. These brick piers are to be cut down to the level of the old road way which so recenti.y hung to the chains, a hand some parapet and stone balustrade are to be erected on each, and, as both are now of unnecessary thick ness and solidity, a stairway will be cut in their in terior so as to give access from the foot bridge to the steamboat wharves to be formed at the piers as at present. The foot passenger traffic is provided for by carry ing out a 7ft, path on cantilevers or iron brackets fixed to the main great girders on each side. The sides of this footway will be protected by a hand some railing about 4ft. high. No device, however, will entirely redeem the incongruity and ugliness of this necessary portion of the structure. Where the main girders join on the heads of the columns the junction will be concealed behind ornamental panels of cast iron bronzed. Contraction and ex pansion in every part of the longitudinal main gir ders are met by fastening only one end and leav in g the other:free and able to move on rollers. A change of 100 degrees of temperature woula not affect its whole length more than two inches either way ; but, slight as the difference is, it has to be provided for. From the Middlesex pier the great difficulties and contrivances of the design culminate. It was, of course, iranossible to take the station into the Strand, and equally impossible to manage without a space E quivalent to carrying the line as far, so no other alternative was left but to commence at once at the north pier, and instead of continuing the bridge at a uniform width, to spread out like a fan from that spot, widening as the work advanced, so as to attain its maximum dimensions long before this curious river terminus enters over the ground of old Hungerford-market. To effect this difficult object a total change of plan takes place. The span is diminished from 154 to 100 feet, but what is re duced in the length of the span is gained in the width, which is increased to such an extent that cross girders for the floor can be no longer used, and these supports in this portion of the structure are replaced by longitudinal girders running in the direction of the bridge. These girders are most massive; they are 100 ft. long, sft. deep, each weigh ing 25 tons, and they are so closely placed that there is only sft. interval between them. So rapidly does the fanlike spread of this end of the bridge develope itself that, though 10 of these girders suf fice to carry the roadway from the brick pier over the first 100 ft. of the span, 17 are required for the increasing breadth of the second, and 24 for the third, which lands this end of the bridge, nearly 200 feet wide, upon the permanent brickwork of the rest of the great station to be erected at Hungerford. As a matter of course the pairs of massive columns which carry the greater portion of the work across the river have to be largely increased in number under this wider end. To support the first spread of the fan there are seven, and for the second stage nine. The outermost of each of these groups of columns I are each eight feet in diameter, the inner ones six 1 feet. All these were erected with the same care as the cylinders in the river, forced down deep into the London clay, dredged out in toe interior, and filled with solid brickwork. They certainly form the most massive series of iron supports to be seen anywhere iu this metropolis, if not in this kingdom, and in their ponderous solidity more remind one of the great rock-hewn columns of an Egyptian temple, built only to excite surprise and awe, than the work of a modern engineer for purposes of approved utility. These groups of pillars are united at the top by a massive piece of cast iron work, on which the longitudinal girders rest. On the space thus gained the starting and arriving platforms—two of each— will be distributed, the great bulk of the station offices being erected further back, on the ground site of the old market. This station has, of course, to be raised to the level of the bridge way, and will therefore be built on a series of wide and massive arches, for the use of which as a sort of bonded warehouse for storing wine the railway company have, it is said, received an offer to rent them at an annual rent which will yield more than 5 per cent. upon the sum expended in the purchase of the mar- ket itself,—namely, £lBO,OOO. In this as in other matters the company appear to have made some judicious bargains. The actual structure of the old bridge was purchased by them for £40,000, and the tolls for £120,000. The tolls and steamboat dues of course remain a permanent and increasing source of revenue, while the chains of the old bridge have been sold to the Clifton-bridge for £5,000, and nearly £B,OOO expenditure in the atinstruction of the railway bridge has been saved by utilising the brick piers of the old structure. By these savings and the sale of old materials the company are likely toreimburse themselves in £20,000 out of the £40,000 they originally paid, to say nothing of the rental they will derive from the arches under the station. The cost of Mr. Hawkshaw's new bridge is only £160,000, —an unprecedentedly small sum for a work of such strength and magnitude. It can never be a very handsome bridge ; the dead level at which it is car ried, the supplementary footpaths at the side, the fan -shaped end, and brick piers all tend utterly to destroy anything like uniformity or regularity, and in the absence of such all-important requisites true architectural beauty is out of the question. There is, however, a certain harmony and appropriateness in its simplicity and massive strength which will redeem the work from absolute ugliness, which is more than can be said of any other railway bridge, in London at least. From the termination of the bridge on the north side to the frontage of the station, a length of 450 ft by 170 ft wide, nearly all will be covered in by an arched glass and iron roof, as bold in its dimensions as the Agricultural Hall at Islington. At this sta tion, which is to be erected by 'Messrs. Lucas Brothers, there will be distinct entrances for the chief main Southern Continental line, to which the Charing-cross Extension is to give immediate access from the west,—an accommodation which will re lieve the city streets of at least some 8,000,000 out of the 13,000,01)0 who annually pass through the nest of stations at London-bridge. There is also to be a distinct entrance for the Cannon-street traffic. 'We have already mentioned this line as that on which the trains would run backwards and forwards be tween the Mansion-house and Charing-cross, like shuttles in a loom all day long. This small but most important line will be a branch from the Charing-cross extension, crossing the river near South wark-btid Southwark-bride, and having its station in Cannon street, almost in a direct line behind the Mansion house. This will be a single line of rails, with a fork at the terminus at each end. Thus, the train will leave Charing-cross and pass without stop ping, at full speed, in about five minutes to the Mansion-house terminus at Cannon-street, where on the instant of its arrival on the right fork of the line the train in waiting at the city, on the left fork, will start back, and in this manner, at five minute intervals, there will be incessant communi tion between the city and the west all day and almost all night long. This and the subterranean line to Moorgate-street, and the promised line from King's-cross, in a shallow open cutting to the top of the Haymarket, will do more t owar d s relieving the over-crowded city streets than railway s have yet done. With such important land as that at Charing-cross to dispose of it is needless to say that the compa n y had many offers for purchase and rental. One of these, which has been taken, is for the erection of an hotel on the style with which Messrs. Kelk and Lucas have made us familiar in the Grosvenor, the London-bridge, Palace, &c. This hotel, which is also to be built by Messrs. Lucas, is from designs by Mr. Barry. It is to have at least 200 rooms with a frontage of 240 ft. looking on to the Strand, and a side frontage of nearly 200 ft. in Villiers street. The style of the building is to be Italian, and every convenience and improvement which the modern science of hotel building can suggest will be adopted, On Sunday morning, two young womenn found dead in bed t oge th er at Musselbur gh. T hey oe were had been suffocated durin g th e n i g h t by an escape o f gas. [ ADVE RTISEMENT. — HoIIoway's Oi n t ment and Pills. Rheumatic and Nervou s P a i ns .—Th e stilly mornings and evenings will provoke these tortures in constitutions sus ceptible of such maladies. Nothing affords so much re lief as Holloway's Ointment, well rubbed upon the skin, after repeated warm fomentations. Thousands of testi monials bear witness to the wonderful comfort obtained from this safe and simple treatment, which all can adopt Holloway's Ointment, assisted by a judicious use of his Pills, are especially serviceable in assuaging the sufferings from cramps and other muscular pains, whether they be acute, external or internal. It i s earnes tl y recom rri en ded that every sufferer from such pains should give to i it, Ho 's remedies a few days' trial, which will fully convince e: Holloway's chronic, the invalid that a cure will be the reward of con tinued perseverance. Charge of Obtaining Money by Threatening to Publish Letters. A respectable looking man, named James Dale, aged 46, described as a carpenter and joiner, residing at 28, Edward street,iebone o a l m i c t e o a u d r - t r y o e a s d t , e w r d a a s y p , l b a e c f e o d r e at iu t r h , e y b a a r r d o l f e y the c h ll , a l r a g t eyd with obtaining the sum of £3O by threatening to publish certain matters or things concerning Jane Katherine Grace Dickinson, and by proposing to abstain from publishing the said matters or things on the further sum of £2O being paid to him at the Circus-road. Mr. Bury Hutchinson appeared to prosecute, and Mr. Lewis, jun., defended the prisoner. The first witness called was a pretty-looking and interest ing young lady, aged 18, who said her name was Miss Katherine Grace Dickinson, daughter of the Rev. Mr. Dickinson, residing at 15, Circus-road, St. John's-wood. She said—My father is at Brighton for the benefit of his health. I have seen the prisoner several times. He came to our house last night and was shown into the drawing-room. My mother and sister were there, and Birch, the officer, was behind the folding door. Prisoner had made an ap pointment to come last Friday and bring down the letters to my mother, and £5O would be paid him. He had asked for more at first, but afterwards reduced his claim to £5O for the whole of the letters to be given up. Ho said these letters would injure myself if they were made known and pub lished. I agreed to give him the money for the letters. I got the money.—(Five £5 notes and five sovereigns were here handed to the young lady.) The notes are mine and the sovereigns also. I marked the notes and gold. I got the money to give to him for these letters. I should not have gut the money for any other purpose. I gave him the money because he should not expose me. When he came last night he asked for money. I received him in the front drawing room. Sergeant Birch was in the back drawing room when prisoner was introduced. He said he had come for the money, and mother asked him if he had brought all the letters, and he said "Yes," and he wanted the £5O. My mother asked him if it would injure her daughters or daughter if they were published, and he said, " Yes, if I was to publish them or expose her," at the same time pointing to me. At this time my sister had left the room. Mother said, "I cannot give you £5O to-night." We both said so, and that we could but give him £3O. Mother said if she did not give him the other £2O would he still publish the letters, and he said most certainly he would. The notes and sovereigns now produced were given to him. They had been on the table and the letters were in nrisoner's hand. I took possession of the papers, and he took the money and put it into his pocket. He said if I gave him the money he would not publish the papers, but if I did not he would. He asked mother when he should call again, whether casu ally or at any fixed time for the remainder. He said he should call in a fortnight, as it would be better to call in at a fixed time. Sergeant William Birch corroborated this witness. Mr. Hutchinson—That is my case. Mr. Lewis—Are you not going to call Mrs. Dickinson ? Mr. Hutchinson—Not at present, at all events. Mr. Lewis—lt that is so, I must ask that the case be adjourned, Mr. Yardley—You can if you like, Mr. Lewis. Mr. Lewis—l must say that I cannot help feeling sur prised that Mrs. Dickinson has not been called; it is not fair to my client. During the inquiry Mr. Tye's name has been mentioned. Mr. Tye had been lodging in Dale's house, and had borrowed a good deal of money—in fact, to between £7O and £BO. Dale had been since unable to obtain a return of that amount, and knowing that Mrs. Dickinson,who was in good circumstances, and visited Tye whilst he was stay ing with him, he appliel to her for the money, at the same time informing her that he bad a bill of ex change of her son's for £7O. After this she called on the defendant, and something was said about some letters which he (defendant) had in his possession, and which Mrs. Dickinson said contained matters very painful to the family. During their conversation, she dwelt very much upon the ingratitude of Tye. Some little while after this, Tye became a bankrupt, and it was for compensation that Dale should not oppose him that the £5O was given, and in so doing the mother makes it conditional that the letten, which she herself stated were painful to the family, should be given up. After making this arrangement, she goes to her solicitor; then the police are called in; but previous to this an appointment is made for my unsuspecting elicit to go to the house. Dale goes there, and the first question he is asked on getting inside is, "Have you brought the letters ?" to which he truthfully answered in the affirmative. After this the matter goes on, Mrs. Dickinson being well tutored what questions to put and not to put, and everything is done to bring Dale within the clutches of the criminal law. Here is the son of this lady, who is well off, a bankrupt, and she goes and arranges about payment of a debt of his and gets Dale to go to the house where there is a policeman behind the door. The money is placed on the table for him to take up, and the daughter interposes, and says he had better give a receipt. This he does willingly. It is a mockery to say it is the daughter's money. Then he is taken into custody, and nothing, it is said, was mentioned about the bill of exchange or Mr. Tye. The daughter now tells you that so far as she has seen, the letters are in the handwriting of Tye. Now I shall call Mrs. Dickinson. Mr. Allen, surgeon, of 15, Wellington-terrace, St. John's wood, said—Mrs. Dickinson is in a very nervous irritable state. When I was called in this morning she was perfectly cold, and in a state of collapse. The action of the heart is very much increased indeed. I think it would be dangerous to her health if she were examined in court. Mr. Yardley—Not to life ? Mr. Allen—That is too much for a medical man to say. Mr. Lewis—When did you attend the lady before ? Mr. Allen—About three or four years ago. That was for a nervous complaint. bhe could be examined in private. Mr. Yardley—That is a thing I have not done for 16 years, and I should never do it only in cases of extreme emergency. This is a case for further inquiry. Prisoner was then remanded for a week, but was liberated on bail, himself in £lOO, and two sureties in £5O each. Murder of a Wife by her Husband in Lambeth Yesterday James Hogan, described as a labourer, was placed at the bar of the Lambeth Police-court, before Mr. Henry, on the serious charge of murder, in causing the death of his wife by strangulation. The first witness called was Ellen Wallis, who, upon being sworn, said—l am a widow. I live at 1, St. Alban's-buildings, China-walk, Lambeth. I have lived with the prisoner and his wife for the last 9 months, and slept in the same room with them and their five children. Yesterday afternoon his wife and I and Mrs. Boniface went to the " Mother's Tea Meeting," at Lambeth Chapel, and reached there at ten minutes past six, and returned home at half-past eight. At eleven o'clock the prisoner had not come home, and his wife and I went to look after him. We went to the house of a friend where he said he had been on Sunday, but we did not find him there, but we did find him in a public-house in Lambeth-walk. I waited outside, and his wife went in, and what she said I did not hear, but she came out first, and he followed her, apparently in a great passion. He was the worse for drink, but not very much, and called her a foul name. She went in doors, shut the door after her, and told her husband she should not let him in all night, for she did not know where he had been. She said so to me, and her husband could not hear it, because he was too far off at the time. I told her he was drunk, and advised her not to talk to him that night, but to do so the next morning. In about ten minutes after the prisoner came down the court, singing like a drunken man, and I ran and opened the door and let him in. On my doing so Mrs. Hogan jumped up from her seat and said to the prisoner, " Where have you been all night ?" and he replied, " With a strong girl." She called him a blackguard, and said it was not the first time he had acted like one. He then struck her on the side of the head, and then she struck him. She punched at him and pushed him, and his head went through a pane (,f glass, and then they got entangled one with the other, and both fell. He fell on the fender, which was very sharp, and cut his knee and arm. She (Mrs. Hogan) then stood off, and they got fighting again. I went between them and parted them, when she took a chair and threw it at him, and they got fighting again, when Mrs. Hogan fell on her back, and went somehow under the bed. It appeared to me as though her head came between her knees, as she fell doubled up. On getting up she stood in the middle of the room, and said, "Oh I Ellen, I am killed. Oh I my back ;" when I said to her, "Be quiet, and have no more of it now, and lie on the bed," and at that time she could hardly speak. She flew at him again, when he threw her on the bed and fell on top of her. He then grasped her by the throat with his right hand, and said, "You —, I'll choke you." I suppose he was on her half a minute, lying flat on her and holding her throat. Mr. Henry—And what were you doing all this time ? Witness—l got behind him, and endeavoured to got him off, and ulti ma t e l y succeeded in do i ng so. I l oo k e d at h er. Her eyes see me d fi xe d on me, and I at first thought she was in a fit, but then said to the prisoner " Oh, Jean, she is dying," and he said " Let her die and be —." I then sent a child for a basin of water, which I put to her lips, when a small drop of blood fell in the basin, but she did not drink the water. She was dead. Mr. John Caffry Constable, surgeon, and assistant to Mr. Wakem, of West-square, said that, on being called in on the night before, he examined the body of the deceased, and found her quite dead. He also found sever a l a b ras i ons on the left side of the neck, and was told by the witness Wallis that the prisoner, who was present, had grasped her by the throat with his right hand and pressed it, and the bruises he found might have been produced by the nails of a man's hand. There were no abrasions on the right side of the throat, where the soft part of the thumb would come in pressing the throat. All the marks were on the left side. He examined the head and body generally, and could not find any cause for death. Mr. Henry—Then at present you are not prepared to say what the real cause of death was ? Witness—l am not, Sir, without a post mortem exami nation, particularly as I was told she had a severe fall. Mr. Henry here, addressing the prisoner, told him the charge against him was one of a sec ions character, and one upon which he should feel it to be his duty to commit him for trial. It was also his duty to tell him that anything he should say would bo tak en d own, and m i ght b e use d in evi dence against him elsewhere; but if, after this caution, it THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 28, 1863. was his wish to say anything in reply to the charge, it was his (Mr. Henry's) duty to hear him. The prisoner, in a low voice, replied that he had nothing to say. " ' ' • Mr. Henry remanded the prisoner to a future day to give time for the post mortem examination ; and the prisoner, who during the examination hung over the felons' dock in a stooping position, and whose appearance was wild and restless, was then taken out of court. Royal Geographical Society. JAPAN, &c, A crowded meeting of the Royal Geographical Society was held on Monday evening—Sir Roderick I. Murchison, President, in the chair. Among those present were Admirals Sir George Beck and R. Collinson ; Generals Sir Justin Sheil, Sir Geo. Pollock, and Sir Andrew S. Waugh; Lady Franklin and Miss Cra croft, Lady Oliphant; Cols. Dickson, Walker, Hawkins, and Shaffner; Captains Bedford, Glyn, Hope, Percher, Liudesay Brine, Dyke, and Stirling, R.N. ; Major Cooke, M. Du Chaillu, the Hon. H. S. Law ; Captains Baker, Harris, Murchison, Pounden, and Pook ; Sir Stuart Donald son, Mr. and Mrs. Hoggins, Mr. Gregson, M.P. ; Drs. Rae, Day Goss, Gallagher, M'Loughlin, Cawps, Shorrin, Shea, Ogle, Seemann, Hamilton, and Webster; Messrs. Osborne Smith, C. White, Biddulph, Pennycook, Brown, Rolston, Cocks, Arrowamith, Findlay, Galton, &c. Lieut. F. Duncan, R.N., Major F. J. Goldsmid, Capt. E. Menzant, the Rev. F. Trestrail, Major Q. Vivian, and Messrs. J. G. Austin, A. Barry, T. irl. Crowder, J. Emslie, W.Gillett, C. Harvey, M. J oshua, F. J. Jourdain, G. Mac farlane, J. A. Olding, F. J. Walker, G. C. Wallich, M.D., F. G. A.Williams, and John Wright were elected Fellows. The minutes of the former meeting having been read by Dr. Shaw, Mr. SPOTTISWOODE read the first paper, " On a Proposed Route to Siam, China, &c., across the Isthmus of Kraw, by Capts. Fraser and Forlong," commun'cated by Dr. Duncan Macpherson, M.D., F.R.G. The paper endeavoured to show the advantages to be derived by the construction of a railway across the narrow neck of laud in the Malay Penin sula known as the Isthmus of Kraw. The paper stated that the saving in time between Calcutta and Hongkong by this route would be 93 hours, and 56 hours would be saved from Ceylcn to Hongkong. From Ceylon to Kraw, and thence direct to Calcutta, two extra English mails might be carried in nine and a half days to the mouth of the Hooghly, necessitating only one extra steamer between Cey lon and Aden to meet the Bombay mail. The cost of con structiGn would not exceed £760,000. Mr. JOHN CRAWFORD, F.R.G.S., considered this route to be impracticable, and even if practicable he did not think the small saving of time would justify the great outlay that must be incurred. As to the alleged dangers of the Straits of Malacca, during 18 years the Peninsular and Oriental Company had lost only two ships in the Straits, and out of 300 voyages made by steamers from Calcutta and Bombay not a single vessel had been lost. Capt. HENDERSON said he had navigated the Straits 37 times,and had never met with an accident. He, too, thought the route undesirable in a national point of view, and une • qual to other projected routes. Mr. LAURENCE OLIPHANT, F.R.G.S., then read his paper " On a Visit to the Island of Tsusima, Japan." After alluding to the inland sea of Japan, Mr. Oliphant gave an account of his visit to Tsusima, an island midway in the Straits of Corea. Fatchin,the capital,containing the Prince's palace and a population of 10,000 inhabitants, is situated on the east coast. The Prince is absolute proprietor of the island, and has a monopoly of the transit trade between the Corea and Japan, which consists chiefly of tiger skins, hides, rice, silver, and gold. The island is about 40 miles long, and eight to ten miles broad, and contains 30,000 in habitants. It is hilly, heavily timbered, the highest peaks being upwards of 2,000 feet. The island is almost bisected by a deep sound. from which numerous fiords diverge. 'I he fleets of the world might be concealed in this labyrinth of inland waters. Its position between Corea and Japan ren ders it important. The PRESIDENT complimented Mr. Oliphant on his zeal in making this exploration while still suffering from the wound he had received in Japan. Sir R. ALcocii., F.R.G.S., said it was known that the Russians had for some time made Tsusima a sort of naval port for repairing their ships, and it was, therefore, desir able to ascertain whether these advantages might be fairly shared by other nations. He was convinced that there is no part of the Chinese Seas which could be chosen with so much advantage as a place of resort for fleets in distress. He then drew attention to several native Japanese maps on the table, including a topographical plan of Jeddo, brought from that city by Lady Franklin. The accuracy of these charts and maps was a great evidence of the ingenuity and untiring perseverance of the Japanese. Capt. BULLOCK, R.N., said it was not too much to say that with such fidelity were the charts obtained by Captain Ward executed, that they had been the means of enabling 20 years. The means by which these su r v e y s w ere effected as to anticipate the survey of the Jap anese coast b y at least was extremely doubtful. Capt. MALCOLM, F.R.G.S., said when he was in Japan Col. Siebold, of the Dutch engineers, showed him some original Japanese surveys of very old date, and told him that a Russian officer years gone by had surveyed the coast and had instructed the natives in the art. Before adjourning the meeting, The PRESIDENT called attention to the reported death of Mr. Consul Petberick and his wife on the White Nile, and after expressing deep regret for their loss, stated that the Council had determined to place the remainder of the money raised by the Fellows of the Society for the purpose of sending assistance to Captains Speke and Grant in the hands of Mr. Baker, who, according to the last accounts, was about to proceed into the interior from Khartum, and to request him to pursue the expedition which had been in trusted to Mr. Petherick. He also informed the society that the three ladies of whom he had spoken on a former occasion had passed beyond Gondokoro, and he hoped that at a future time their exploration would be laid before the society. The meeting then adjourned to Monday, February 9. CITY COURT OF SEWERS. Yesterday, at a meeting of the Commissioners of Sewers, held at Guildhall, Deputy De Jersey in the chair, a letter was read from the directors of the Great Central Gas Com pany relative to the publi c li ghting. Their attention, they said, had been called to the report of experiments mad e by the engineer of the Commissioners in December last for the purpose of ascertaining the quantity of gas supplied to the public lights—an d, being surprised at the apparent results, the directors in structed their engineers and chief inspector to make e xperiments upon the particular in lamps specified in that report, with the view of testing its accu racy, such lamps remaining precisely the same condi tion as when experimented upon by the officers samv • oenr a . g 0 T h c e e n r s e u s ul u results 0 n o f o t f h o s t h e e e x w p e h r o i I m o e n t t o s per hour. Classifi e d i n t o s t ree t s , showed o t w he ed Com th m e i Farringdon-street was 3.08 average an gas t b hh o oeu 3 r . c 6 o; 6 n Fsuleme cubic pt.t, sitorne feetei t n ,3.14 ; Skinner-street, 3.6 ; Snow-hill, of 3'6 ; Well-court, 5 . 4 ; Upper Thames-street, 3 . 90 ; and Bucklersbury, 3.90. The pressures at which those burners were tried were taken from 9 p.m. to 11 p. m ., an d th e pres sure on the mains at that time was one-tenth of an inch less than the average pressure during the hours of lighting. From those results the directors believed that, instead of the public lamps in the sou thern si de of the city being sup gas than the quantity co n t rac t e d f or , th e t less than from 20 to 25 p er cen t . more th an s p u li p e p d ly wi w th as l n e o ss such contract quantity. On the motion of Deputy Elliott, the letter was referred to the General Purposes Committee for consideration and report, as was also an application from the City Gas Company to lay down a 24-inch gas main from their works near Blackfriars bridge to the Minories by way of Ludgate-hill, St. Paul's - churchyard -Cannon-street, and Eastcheap, in order that the committee might prescribe the hours of the day at which the work ought to be done, with the least inconvenience to the public and interruption of the traffic. A novel application was made by Deputy Bower with respect to a public lamp in a part of Billingsgate, where upwards of 200 years ago a citizen fell at night and broke his leg, and afterwards bequeathed a sum of £4 a year for the maintenance there of a public light at night for all time The money had been regularly paid for two centuries, and, since the introduction of gas, to a gas company charged with lighting the district, and who had kept up the light. The application now was for a new lamp in place of one which had become ruinous from ago. It was granted. A report was brought up from the General Purposes Commit tee, and agreed to, recommending the payment by the Chamberlain, on the 24th of June next, of L 10,136 odd, the estimated contribution due from the city to the expenses of the Metropolitan Board of Works for the current year. On the recommendation of the same committee, the Commis sioners ordered a consolidated rate of Bd. in the pound for the half-year ending July 1, and a sewer rate for the whole current year at the rate of 3d. in the pound. A letter ad dressed to the Court by the Secretary to the Commission ersbbye the of Customs was rea d . D r. L e th e b y, h e sa i d, h av i ng stated in a report t o th e Comm i ss i oners of Sewers that diseased cattle which h ad b een landed from a foreign ship in October last, and con d emned by the veterinary surgeon employed ite D ad epa L tna h e a n v t in h g a b d e b en een de t s e t k ro e y n e t d e , and that the unwh o l esome meat had probably gone into consumption, the Co mm i ssioners of Customs had made par market to denial. inquiries into the matter. From the evidence they had obtained it appeared that ten carcases of diseased Bre men beasts, imported in the vessels Schwalbe and Schwan on 21st October last, were condemned by the veterinary surgeon, and delivered into the charge of E. Snell, an officer of revenue, for conveyance to the premises of W. T. Favey, at 2, James-street, Bethnal-green, in order to their being effectually destroyed. It also appeared that the carcases of three foreign beasts, in a very bad condition, were taken to the slaughter-house of Mr. C. H. Packman, in Islington market, on the ev en i ng of the same day, by one Mark h am , a carrier, for the purpose of being dressed for market, and that the meat, when dressed, was delivered to Markham. The mark on one of the condemned beasts corresponded with the mark upon one of the beasts taken to Packman's, and, inasmuch as three of the beasts were conveyed from the importing vessel in a cart driven by Markham, the Board were of opinion that the three beasts taken by Mark ham to Packman's formed part of those entrusted to Snell for conveyance to Favey's yard for the purpose of being de stroyed. Under those circumstances the Board bad punished Snell for his neglect of duty in having allowed the beasts to be withdrawn from his charge before they had been cut up and rendered unfit for food. The Court then adjourned. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. DAILY NEWS.—A man need neither be a red de mocrat nor a socialist, nor have any political opi nions at all, to do what thousands of unhappy Poles are doing now in the frenzy of despair. Anybody can work out the computation whether it is better to die at once, in youth, among compatriots, on the soil of the mother country, than submit to be seized, deprived of liberty, and forced into a service in volving separation from all that is prized in life, and banishment to some strange land. In free countries it is not difficult to find men i❑ abund ance ready to undertake services full of privations and trials. Freedom developes the love of ad venture and the pride and self confidence which will carry men through any hardships and perils. The seamen who have so often volunteered for our arctic voyages have cheerfully braved dangers and sufferings such as no Government would think of sentencing its convicts to. But it is only free blood that is equal to these trials. Conscription is the moat hateful form of recruiting; but it exists in other countries besides Poland without causing in surrection. The Russian military service is in itself severe ; but for the Pole it is terrible, because it does not supply him with a single motive to willing obedience. We found the press-gang in tolerable; but every Englishman impressed for the Royal Navy had the satisfaction of knowing that he was serving his country and contributing to heighten a lustre which would be reflected on him. The French conscript, as he turns with a sigh from his native cottage, may remember that hundreds of youths no better than he have found the military service of France a road to distinction. Even the Russian serf, whose condition comes nearest to that of the Polish peasant, is conscious of a glow of nationality when he puts on the military uniform, and is proud to think that he is the soldier of a country with a destiny, and a defender of the ortho dox faith. To sustaining and invigorating senti ments of this order the Polish conscript is a stranger. In serving Russia he does not serve his country or his religion, but instead contributes to increase the force of a Government which history and experience compel him to regard as the enemy of both. Every Polish regiment sent to the Cau casus, or to Orenburg releases a Russian regiment, and makes it available for duty at Warsaw. The Polish conscript, forced by violence into a system with which he has nothing in common, is neither more nor less than a slave. The Russian Govern ment seems to accept this view of his case by the means it takes to get possession of him. The Russian army is recruited in Poland by a series of razzias. A. military cordon is drawn around a place, or, if it be a walled city, the gates are closed, and the persons wham it has been resolved to take are seized in the night, and carried off to the citadel, town-hall, or other place of enrolment. The process does not differ in its essential features from that by which the King of Dahomey obtains slaves for his royal pur poses. Ic is hard to believe that the Emperor Alex ander, who has done so much to place the Russian serf in a state of liberty, does not feel the shame of proceedings like these, taken under his authority and covered with his name. Reason and experience suggest, what charity also bids us hope, that his Imperial Majesty is grieved by such scenes, and only reluctantly acquiesces in their repetition be caase they are a part of a system which he has in herited, and from which he has hitherto not seen a way of escape. It is, however, we should think becoming plain even to the Emperor that the pre- sent practice is involving him deeper and deeper in responsibilities fatal to his good name. This is not the time for recommending the question of Polish nationality to the consideration of the Russian Go vernment, but surely it will profit by the instruc tion of facts. Has the Emperor Alexander no one to tell him that men who have had experience in raising troops for the service of an alien Govern ment regard these razzias as a disgraceful piece of military bungling, a conspicuous proof of the want of that superior governing faculty which under some circumstances may excuse the temporary go vernment of one people by another ? If he finds it difficult to enlarge his views so as to take in the advantages of political arrangements, which, by tranquillizing Poland, would increase the strength of his Empire and remove a danger menacing to Europe ; at least he might emancipate himself from the trammels of the red-tapists of his War-office, and take counsel of those who could show him the art of raising a volunteer army from a nation divided by language, religion, and blood from the Government which maintains it. Unless the Emperor is pre pared to bear a load of obloquy constantly increas ing, he will soon be driven to abandon the gross practice of kidnapping hitherto pursued. Russia is too great a country to remain indifferent to the opinion of the civilized world. If we rightly in terpret the indications of the last few days, this feeling is spreading on the sacred soil itself, and is not unknown to the Emperor. The anonymous letter from certain officers of the Russian army to the Grand Duke Constantine, published in the journals a few weeks ago, entreating him to save them and their comrades the infamy of being the executioners of the Polish people, was read immediately afterwards to the the officers of the Russian regiments serving in Poland, by order of the Grand Duke, and a hope was expressed that none of the auditors had signed the document. The Grand Duke himself also convoked the officers of the garrison of Warsaw and harangued them on their duty. The Emperor probably referred to the same sentiment last Sunday, when addressing the officers of the garrison of St. Petersburg, he spoke of the insurgents as building hopes on " trai tors" in the ranks of the Imperial army, and under the form of a profession of confidence appealed to the faith and devotedness of the officers who sur rounded him. We cannot profess to see in what manner the kind and right feeling of Russian offi cers for the unhappy Poles can be turned to account just now, but the existence of the feeling is a sen tence passed on the " atrocities"—to borrow a word from the Emperor—which have provoked pity even in the conquerors. Whatever else the Emperor does, or leaves undone, he must for his credit's sake reform this barbarous mode of enforcing the con scription. TIMES.—When a disease assumes a chronic form, less fortitude may be required, but prudence and discretion are even more necessary than before. Now, the Executive Committee at Manchester, and Mr. Farnall himself, do not conceal their opinion that two more years must elapse before the cotton manufacture can recover from its present depression. They reckon the probable loss of wages for 1863 at £6,000,000 at least, for they warn us that a reduced rate of wages, as well as short time, will probably follow upon an enforced resort to Surat cotton. They do not speak hopefully as to the general adap tation of machinery to the new material, and they suggest no other method by which Lancashire can hope to emancipate herself from her present state of dependence. Meanwhile they report one or two facts which are a little disheartening, though they ought not to take us by surprise. One of these is the apparent increase of imposition. We say apparent, because it seems that the growing vigilance of the Guardians and Relief Committees has lately detected many such cases which had long escaped notice. So far there is a clear gain in economy—but we also hear of a " new-born spirit of pauperism," of parish relief becoming more popular, and of sewing schools and adult classes weakening the desire for employment. Moreover, the class immediately above the opera tives is far from sharing the benefits of the present revival, such as it is, and for some time to come we shall hear of ruin spreading among small trades. men and cottage owners, among those who have been working on borrowed capital, and among the poorer members of joint stock companies and co operative societies. There is another evil arising from the prolonged suspension of employment, re specting which the Executive Committee are silent, and to which we allude with some reluctance, SO little credit does it reflect on some firms of high standing in Lancashire. It appears that a habit has for some time be en s p r i ng ing up of counting the allowances granted by Guardians and Relief Corn mittees as - so much to be deducted from wages actually earned. The plan is simple enough. A certain number of women and children have been draughted back into the mills which have resumed work. Formerly their weekly wages would have been Bs. or 95., and even now their labour must be well worth the bare cost of their subsistence. In stead, however, of paying them 4s. or 35., or even 2s. the minimum . rate of charity fixed by the Cen tral Committee—some employers are not ashamed to give as little as 2d. or 3d. for a woman's daily work, and to send her to the Board or the Commit tee for the residue of the pittance necessary to keep body and soul together. We have before us vouchers granted by foreman to female factory hands, show ing that these bodies 2re called upon to supplement such miserable doles as ls. 50, in one case, and 91d. in another, for five days' work in the week, so that the ss. 4d. for three weeks mentioned by our Manchester correspondent seems generous by comparison. This is a great scandal, and we have reason to fear that the practice is becoming the rule in certain districts. It is idle to argue that the poor creatures who are induced to accept these terms could not be employed at all on any others. It would be better that they should not be employed at all, till the mills can be opened at a fair profit, rather than their masters should appear to have helped themselves to the protection which was de manded for them by managing to get their hands paid in part out of the pocket of the nation. Had the landed interest been parties to such an abuse, the country would have rung with invectives from Manchester, and we cannot but regard the appear ance of it in its present form as a very bad conse quence of the relief system. Let us now delibe rately contemplate the prospect before us, and ask ourselves whether we are prepared to meet it. We will assume that we shall have to provide for an other winter, and that the Boards of Guardians will be again empowered to enlarge the area of rating and borrow money on the security of future rates. Suppose that by these means, notwitestanding the gradual impoverishment of the smaller ratepayers, Lancashire can continue to bear a burden which, after all, is less than the average of many c rantry parishes ; will the rest of England and the colonies respond to a second appeal as they have responded to the first ? It is painful to raise this question when we have so much reason to admire the atti tude of all classes during this trying period, but it must be put, and answered too before long, unless the American war comes to a sudden end. We are plainly told that all the cotton that can possibly come from other sources would only keep the mills working half time; that the loss on working half time is such that manufacturers will compete for the raw material, and raise its price by competition till demand is checked again, or wages have to be lowered; and that, in short, there is no reasonable chance of the manufacture being self-supporting, unless greatly reduced in extent. Our neighbours in France are in the same strait, but they can have recourse to a palliative which is not within our reach. Government being there the great employer of labour can always find work for a large number of extra hands, without much disturbing the labour market, or permanently withdrawing from the manufacturing districts the population which mill owners would rather keep together in a state of temporary pauperism than see dispersed abroad. The _Revue des Deux Mondes boldly calls upon the Executive to adopt this system, and our contempo rary La Pairie advocates it in preference to a grant, on the farther ground that it would serve as the best of labour tests. It is in vain, however, to dwell on such schemes, not only because the means of ap plying them on an adequate scale do not exist in Lancashire, but because the nature of the emergency is not such, in our judgment, as to justify a resort to them. It is not right to retain for an indefinite time in any district, by artificial expedients, a greater number of inhabitants than can find em ployment there ; and if the stagnation of the cotton trade be likely to last so long as Messrs. Bright and Cobden believe, it is time to consider whether the great seats of it be not overpeopled. HERALD.—The British exhibitors were at home, and had not to put themselves very much out of the way. But for the French it was an enterprise carrying with it the uncertainty and excitement that must attend on such a journey to a foreign clime with the laudable purpose of winning laurels from its natives. The French were very successful. Their pictures took us by siorm ; their porcelain, their bronzes, their tapestry, their silk, are as ad mirable as ever, and in their own way unrivaled. It the English excel in the more solid essentials of life, the French cultivate as their own those arts that delight the eye and are grateful to the educated taste. Medals and certificates of approbation were showered upon them ; nearly everything they brought was purchased, and they returned to Paris with 'heir pockets full of orders for more. They returned to France, but the rewards which they hod so honourably earned had not yet been distributed to them. The distribution was made the occasion of a fete at the Louvre on the 25th instant. The Emperor presided, amid all the pomp and circum stance of a Court ceremonial, at the ovation which was given to the men who had so worthily main tained the credit of their country abroad. The Exhibition in London, foreign as it was in its de sign, would have seemed incomplete to Frenchmen without a national celebration of the part which they had borne in it. Their labours have new been iecognised by the highest authority in the empire and stamped with the approval of their country. The speech made by the Emperor on this occasion is very characteristic of the man, who knows how to seize upon every opportunity and to turn it to the best account. He could h rdly have expressed him self in words more likely to prove gratifying to his immediate hearers, and to those friends across the water among whom they resided for so many months, of an evergrowing mutual regard which their absence from us does not quench. " I thank you," he said, " for your energy and for your per severance in rivalling a country which had taken the lead of us in certain branches of labour." This is the invasion of England that the Emperor finds most to his taste :—" You have crossed the Chan nel ; you have boldly established yourselves in the capital of England ; you have courageously wrestled with the veterans of industry. This campaign has not been without its glory, and to-day 1 come to award recompense te the brave." In this field of warfare we are anxious at all times to tncounter our neighbours. As for the other invasion, so often alluded to by foolish persons on both sides of the water, we are under no apprehension whatever on the matter, as we believe it as little to their taste as ours. The laurels are not planted that would bind the brows of the victors in such a struggle. The Emperor is himself well acquainted with Eng land, and aware of the beneficent working of our moderate constitutional system. Some may think that this would be a subject which he would wish to avoid. In a country where an inordinate degree of power is still arrogated by the Executive Government ; where the people is informed by its rulers that it is not yet ripe for liberty suet. as others enjoy, it were wiser, they would say, to abstain from all open commendation of a system under which that full measure of freedom is granted to a neighbour-people without danger to its Sove reign. The Emperor is not so foolish as to shrink from this dilemma. These Frenchmen have wit nessed for themselves the working of our laws, and he tells them plainly what he thinks of them. His commentary is flattering to us. To the people of France it is at once an augury of good omen and a warning against that licence and want of self-con trol which stand between that people and the achievement of its full liberties. His are memora ble words. They have the appearance of having been well pondered and deliberately. We believe them to have been sincere ; if it be not so, the Em peror has made a mistake in giving utterance to sentiments which will certainly be remembered and quoted against him if he should prove forgetful of his promise. Let us hope, then, that on the next occasion when we meet together under the same roof, inthes E am n e gl f i r s i h e m nd a l n y m co a m y petition, the French mao, and the French man have what ever the one to envy the other, but no me c e a t us o e nequai terms, each a free and responsible agent, each claim ing the same interest and the sane share in the orderly governm en t o f his country and the main tenance of its laws. BOAT-BUILDING BY STEAM. Mr. Nathan Thompson, the American gentleman whose ingenious set of automatic machines for build ing boats by steam attracted such attention a short time since, has succeeded in grafting his valuable invention upon this country in the f .rm of a limited liability company, which has undertaken to work his patents. The capital of the company Is £200,000, only £70,000 of which has been called up to esta blish the works at East Greenwich, where they oc • cupy a space of 31 acres of ground with a splendid river frontage, and with room to extend the whole establishment hereafter over 9 acres if required. Here some most spacious sheds and boiler houses have been erected with 23 machines for making boats, more of which are to be set up, so as to enable the company when in full operation to turn out work at the rate of 25 complete boats per day. Yesterday these works were formally opened, and a large party of naval and scientific gentlemen, in cluding visitors from the Admiralty, were present, and were shown over the establishment by Mr. For restt, the manager, a member of the late firm which for so many years enjoyed at Limehouse an almost complete monopoly of the business of boat building for the London shipping. On this occasion all the machines were set in motion, and the process of building boats by steam labour shown throughout from first to last. A long and detailed description of these machines has already been given in our co lumns, so that it is unnecessary to refer to them here, excepc to state that their practical working now proves them to realise an the enormous saving as to time and money which Mr. Thompson first claimed for them when he came to this country. Thus, by the present hand labour method, to make a line-of-battle ship's launch requires at least from 8 to 10 days, and cost for labour alone, exclusive of material, from £l2 to £l6. Mr. Thompson has proved that by his machinery the same boat can be completed from the rough timber in five hours and a half, and at a cost for labour and machinery of from £1 15s. to £2. The combinations of mechanism by which this wonderful saving of time and money is effected, are, in some details, merely a novel application of old principles, though, as a rule, all the chief implements are perfectly new. Even, however, when old principles are used they are made almost new by the wonderful manner in which their sphere of operations is extended, and thus the same steam cutter which levels a lath for the side of a Thames outrigger is capable, by the most trifling alteration of the angle of inclination at which the knives work, to fashion a 50ft. oak plank for the side of a Margate fishing-smack or a 100-ton yacht. Every process of the manufacture was carefully examined and explained yesterday, and several boats were ordered to be made for the Admiralty and sent in at once for examination and trial. Already the company have orders in hand to the amount of £22,000, with a certainty of a large increase as the value of the new method of manu facture becomes more generally known. Whether the increased facilities in the way of cheapness and quick manufacture will stimulate the boat consumers to a larger consumption remains to be seen ; but, at any rate, the shipping interest generally must be immense gainers by getting very much stronger boats at very much less than half the present prices. COUNTRY MARKETS. --10- LEEDS-TUESDAY. To-day at our market the demand for wheat was so ex tremely languid that it is difficult to give quotations ; but, as holders did not press sales, prices may be considered nominally the same as on Friday. Oats, barley, and other articles unaltered. MARKET HARBOROUGH-TUESDAY. White wheat, 52s to 575; red, 47s to 51s per 36 stone. Barley at 38s to 40s per qr., grinding 29s to 32s per 30 st. Oats, 27s to 325; new, 22s to 26s per 24 st. ; beans, 36s to 45s per qr. SHEFFIELD-TUESDAY. The supply of wheat very good by sample. The condi tion varied considerably, but was on the whole rather better than for some weeks. The best qualities of both old and new wheat were in brisk sale at the prices of last week. Good malting barley realised the extreme rates of Tuesday last. Other articles unchanged. Red wheat, per load of 3 imperial bushels 20s Od to 21s Od / White 7/ 22s Od to 24s 6d New red , , l6s Od to 18s Od New white „ II 2os Od to 21s 6d II Beans )9 lss 6d to 19s 64 Peas, per qr. Grinding barley, per qr 2Bs Od to 32s OA Malting ditto, ~ 34s Od to 40s Od Oats 71 22s Od to 30s Od Flour, is 9d to 28 2d per stone. LIVERPOOL-TUESDAY. At our market to-day there was a go, d attendance of the town and country trade. Wheat met a rather extensive consumptive demand, and some large purchases were also made for holding over, at fully late rates. Flour difficult to move, but not easier. Oats and oatmeal rather dearer, but little business was done. Barley and peas at former rates, but beans were 6d per qr dearer on the week. In dian corn was in limited demand, and sold at 30s in retail and 29s 9d per 9801 b in quantity for prime mixed. MELTON MOWBRAY-TUESDAY. The following were the currencies :—New white wheat, 52s Od to 57s Od ; new red, 47s Od to 51s per 36 stone ; beans, 45s for old ; new sorts, 36s to 40s per 38 st. ; barley, 38s to 40s for malting, and 20s to 32s per qr, for grinding; oats, 22s to 32s Od per 24 stone. Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. AuKralia and Mauritius, via Southampton ..Feb. 18. via Marseilles Feb. 12. Brazil and Cape Verde, by British packet. Feb. 3. Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena._ Feb. 1. China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southanipton.Feb. 1. via Marseilles Feb. 12. Falkland Islands .. Gibraltar, via Southampton India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton „Feb. 1. via Marseilles Feb. 12. India (Bombay), via Southampton Feb. 10. via Marseilles Feb. 5. Portugal.... Feb. 3. Ntalta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Feb. 1. via Marseilles Feb. 5. Newfoundland Oporto and Vigo U. S. and British N. Amorica, ty Brit. packet.... Jan. 29. by U.S. packet.... by Canadian packet. Jan. 30. W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffo Feb. 10. Bahamas, via New York Mexico ....Jan. 28. All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, 1 Jan. 28. California, and British Columbia.. MURDER IN IRELAND.--A murder has been com mitted within a short distance of Castlepollard, on the estate of the Right Hon. the Earl of Longford. At an advanced hour on Friday night a man named M'Cord, gamekeeper to his lordship, went to the police barrack, and gave information that his wife had been murdered. The police immediately went to his dwelling house, and found the body of the unfortunate woman lying en the bed in a bedroom on the second floor, bathed in her own blood, and quite dead, one of her breasts having been literally shot off, On searching the house a double-barrelled gun belonging to M'Cord was found below stairs, bearing evi dence of having been recently discharged. M'Cord denies all knowledge of the deed, but states that, while absent from the house, he heard the report of firearms.—Galway Births. BOND—On the 26th inst., at Richmond, Surrey, Mrs. Ed ward A. Bond, of a daughter. HART.—On the 26th inst., atWanstead, Mrs. Lemon Hart, of a son. WALLIS.—On the 27th inst., at 5, Westbourne-park-cres cent, the wife of 'Wm. Wallis, Esq., of a daughter. WEALE,—On the 26th inst., at Strawberry-vale, Tedding ton, the wife of George Weale, Esq., of a daughter. Marriages. LEAK—BiRTLEY,—On the 27th inst. at St. George's, Hanover-square, Abraham Le,k, Esq., of 132, Piccadilly, to Sarah Emma, second daughter of C. P. Bartley, Esq., of Bayswater. ROYSE—BOARDNIAN.—On the 24th inst., at Stonehouse, Devon, Thomas it H . a N rv ., e o y Royce, flvai Le t . rn er,ien. toN. d 0 , eldest son ofanna Bo C ar a d P ro t. a lt° n, 3' ;h s e e' eldest daughter of the late Captain R. E. Boardman, H.E.I.C.S. Deaths. BECKETT.—On the 2Gth inst., at Brighton, Wm. Beckett, Esq., of Kirkstall Grage, near Leeds, formerly M.P. for Leeds and Ripon, aged 79. DACE.—On the 24th inst., at Stratford-green, Francis Dacre, Esq., aged 73. FOSTER.—On the 26th inst., at Cambridge, Mary Ann, the wife of Charles Finch Foster. JONES.—On the 26th inst., at his residence, 10, Lower Seymour-street, Portman-square, Dr. William Jones, aged 52. _ TI s.—On the 26th inst., at Watton, Herts, John Tiros, Esq., aged 99. 'EuitlinuLL.—On the 26th inst., at 43, Upper• Albany street, Katharine, wiJow of John Turnbull, Esq., late Consul at Granville, aged 67. London : Printed and Published by WILLIAM ANDREWS, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN o&ce, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the County of Middlesex.—Wednesday, January 28, 1563. : y=-=--