The Express.
London, England, 1852-03-22 00:00:00

7ARY COMMITTEES.

The Select Committee on Standing Orders report
that the standing orders may be disppnvt d with in the fol.
lowing eases : North Staffordshire Railway (S.tndhach to
near Warrington), Wycombe Railway, Southampton Cor-
roration Bill (in reference to a petition of the London and
South-Western Railway), Tees Conservancy (in reference
to petition of merchants of Stockton). and in the saes of the
Wedmore-road petition. The committee also report that in
the case of the Nuneaton and Leice.tts Railway the stand-
in orders ought not to be dispensed with.
INCOME AND nit/YEMEN TAX COMMITTEE.—The com-
mittee on this measure re-assembles to-day.
COMMON ROAD Biu.s.—The committee to whom the
consideration of the six and twenty turnpike-road bills ore
referred to meet on the loth. and consists of Mr.Wrigktson,
chairman • Mr. B. Carter Mr.Stanstield, lion. C. Howard,
and Hon. GI. Cavendish.

htirritupoLlTAN WATER BILLS —The members of the
committee appointed to inquire into this question are Mr.
Beckett, chairman ; Mr. Barrow, Mr. Ellis, Sir J.llnamer,
and Mr. J. Sanders. The committee is, in fact, the same
as that which sat last section, with the exception of the sub-
stitution of Mr. Barrow for Sir James Gratam, who, it will
be recollected, was originally chairman of the committee.

COMBINATION OF MECHANICS' INSTITUTIONS.—
The council of the Society of Art. lately received a letter
from Mr. Harry Chester, of the Education department of
the Privy Council, stating the views entertained by that
gentleman of the benefit which would accrue to provincial,
literary, and mechanics institutions, if they were combined
to a greater extent than is at pr, sent the ease, as well as
cooaccted with • central or metropo:itan society, like the
Society of Arts. Several of the advantages likely to arise
from such a combination, will at once euggest themselves;
among the more obvious are the obtaining better lecturers,
and on more reasonable term., by the adoption of judici-
ous geographical arrangements than are possible L.. isolated
institutions, greater facility in assembling exhibitions of
an instructive practical character, mid in circulating them
among the institutions in combination, &c. With the
view of testing the state of feeling at the provincial socie-
ties with regard to this measure, the council have ad-
dressed a letter and series of qucsticns, to the secretaries
throughout the country.
ROYAL ARSENAL.—The long-expected reduction of
men on the Ist April is abandoned, as it is found impossible
to complete the orders required for foreign and home ser-
vice. We may add that only those who, from old age or
long service may wish to retire, will Is:allowed to do so.
The classing of money to be eilopted here next week will
cause great dissatisfaction. There is no foundation for the
rumour of reducing the labourers' wages, which is now only
14s. per week.—AeriftrA Mercury.
INFLUENCE OF GUTTA PERCHA ON THE ELECTRIC
SPAILL—On Friday a curious experiment demonstrating
the protective quality of gutta percha against tho
escape of the electric fluid, wee tried on the premises of
the Gutta Percha Company. A series of copper wires,
coated with gutta percha, each wire LOW feet long, and
in the aggregate amounting to 274 miles—was immersed in
the water of the Regent's Canal—all, except the parts
where each wire joined its fellow. The juncture was af-
fected by mere twisted contact, a condition very unfavonr-
able to the ready transmission of the fluid—and the vol-
taic battery employed in passing the discharge was on the
old construction of Dr. Wollaaton, c misting of 384
pairs of 4 inch square plates of copper and zinc—put in
action by dilute sulphuric acid. Ou completing the voltaic
circuit, the explosion was instantaneous,—notwithstanding
the wires had been immersed in water ever since the 18th
of January. By employing • stronger battery, it is Jai-
cult to say what would be the limit of the electrical
ignition. The usual plan of inflaming gunpowder, by
Means of voltaic electricity, consists in making the flutd
traverse a slender platinum wire, which thereby is rendered
incorrodeeccnt—a plan which certainly would nut have been
effective at so long a distance as 275 miles with the batter
employed. Probably it would have been impossible with
any battery. The plan actually followed was discovered
by Mr. Statham, the chemist, at the gutta perch, works,
and consists in passing the voltaic discharge through a
small layer of the salt (probably eulphuret of copper),
which forms when copper is brought into contact with aid-
phurised gutta percha.
MR. KAYE AND THE WESLEYAN CONFERENCE.—
On Thursday evening a public seine was' held is the large
hall of the Freemasons' Tavern, to welcome Mr. John Kaye,
the proprietor of the Wet/eyes 2times, on his release from
the Queen's Bench prison, whore he has been confined for
the hut four months fore libel published in his paper upon
a Mr. Clarkson. Mr. Kaye, upon mitering the hall with
his wife and family, was saluted with loud cheering. Mr.
Kaye and several other gentlemen addressed the meeting
in support of the cause of Wesleyan reform, and the fol-
lowing resolution was unanimously adopted : " That this
meeting regards the existence of a liberal and independent
newspaper as meential to the extension and purity of me-
thodism, and hereby record, its sense of the deep obliga-
tion under which the Wesleyan people are laid to Mr.
Kaye for originating and maintaining the Wesleyan Times.
This meeting also desires to soknowlialge the providence of
God in preserving him in health during his recent separa-
tion from his family."
RESULTS OF k BEE-TRADE.—A lazy mill is now
incourse of erection en the Green Ban Estate' and •
weaving shed (nearly completed) on the Peel Hall Estate,
Preston. Several of the old established firms have greatly
extended their establishments and others are about to
billow their example.
RIO DE JANEIRO WILL SHORTLY BE LIGHTED
terra GAS by an English company. The gas pipes for the
purpose will lie shipped from Liverpool in a few dam and
a gentleman proceeds to Rio by the next Brazilian mail
packet from Southampton to superintend the arrangements.
DESTRUCTION OF RHEIN ARDSBRUNN.—The palace
of ltheinardshrnon, the favourite residence of the Duke of
Saxe Coburg Gotha, brother of his royal highness Prince
Albert, was burned to the ground on the night of the 14th.
The edifice was situated iu one of the most, charming spots
of the Thuringian Forest, end occupied the site of an an-
cient monastery. It was not long since built at great coat
in the old Oerman style, and contained treasures of anent,
antiquity of untold value. The disaster was purely arir.i•
dental.
FRAUD ON THE REVENUE. —On Saturday the
officers of inland revenue discovered at • house in Princes.
square, St. George's in the El" • considerable quantity of
snuff of foreign manufacture upon which no duty had, been
paid. The importers had been in the habit of leechingfrom the continent what seemed to be mince of Se.ieer water,
the
t entitle, aaa
it en
dew wt . possiblepart
:Ulnthe
examination,bobt lt bottle
binwhich,
placed V the top to pro-
hhowe'rer, contained
EXPORT OF SPEClE.—Antongst tho cargo of the
Bentinek, which lilt Seuthemptou on Saturday with the
Indian mail, was specie 10 the value of 182,0001., viz.,
80,0001. for Egypt, and 1(52,0001. fur the India and China
ports.