The Express.
London, England, 1853-08-11 00:00:00

WHAT IS A MILE.

(From Punch.)
We think that the question of " What is a mile ?"
—a question which premises to swallow up in interest
the eastern question, and all other questions which as yet
remain unanswered—should be settled as soon as possible,
for until it is settled we shall
proper settlement of the cab fares. This settlement fa due
not only to the persons who ride in cabs—but to those who
drive them, for there are so many varieties of a mile, and
so many different ways of =wolfing it, that it is impossible
to say which the right one. Fur instance—
If a young lady walks round the corner of the street in
which she lives, she comes home quite fatiguee, and " is
sure she has walked more than a mile."
Ifa husband is dragged—a little against his will—to a
certain street where there happens to be a bonnet shop,
though it is not more than twenty yards, he is morally cer-
tain "he has been taken a mile out of his way, if he has
been taken an inch."
It is curious the number of miles a mother-in-law has
walked when she feels desirous, poor creature, of having a
cab.
Besides, miles vary so much. A mistress's mile is gene-
rally very different to a servant's—a master's to a clerk's.
Auctioneer's miles are proverbially very short ones when
they are describing a property as being not more than
"an omnibus distance from town," or when they are
enlarging upon the merits of a villa that is "only
an easy drive from a railway station." Traveller's miles.
on the contrary, are generally very long ones. You will
hear a delicate young man, who hoe just returned from a
pedestrian tour, boast of having walked his " two thousand
" just as if he had trail. d a pedometer behind him,
and had measured every inch of the road. Mammas also
have a very elastic method of stretching out a mile, which
cabdrivers would doubtlessly not object to adopt as their
own particular standard of mason meet. They talk very
glibly of being " three miles long," whereas, if the dis-
tance came to be measured, it would probably turn out to
he—like cabmen's distances generally—not more than half.
There is another deficiency, toe, that frequently occurs with
the mileage question. We have known a distance that,
when a party first went over it we. only fuur or five miles,
become suddenly increased to eight or ten at least when
the same party—tem:6.oly if a dinner party—had to go
over it again on their way back. This difficulty has been
felt sa strongly at times that every one of the party has pre-
ferred—at that late hour—stopping where be was instead
of walking home all that distance. These unnecessary dif-
ficulties imperatively call for a eeeedy answer to the puz-
zling question, " What is a Mile ?" for nithrrto the irie-tion
has been passed over by our police magistrates, from one
parish to another, like a pauper, for the want of a settle-
ment.

BATTERSEA PARK.-A short act which lately re-
ceived the royal assent, has been weed to provide for the I
purchase and estinguichmcnt of all rights of common and
lemmas and other commonable rights °Ter the rite of
Bath racy park, in the county of Surrey. It is enacted that
the Bittersea.park C,immilvioners are to pay 1.5001. t.l the
churchwardens of St. Mary, Battersea, to be appl,cd to such
purposes al a vestry, to be convened for that purpse, shall
direct, and thereupon all rights of common are to male and
determine.