The Express.
London, England, 1847-09-17 00:00:00

diatinguisheZ, and perhaps the merriest, ofMr. Leigh Hunt's
literary friends.
A NEW STATIO7"IIOthZ is to be established in
Leann-street, oc,,,,dmei,N-fields. It will accommodate 56
men, with a superintendent and four inspectors.
CITY IMPROVEMENTS.—Sir,—Seeing that you are
disposed to advocate sanitary itzuroveumut, null • few
humble tradesmen in Holborn enlist yo;.vr exertions in their
behalf, in connexion with improvements in a:4 locality: the
authorities of the City of London have got the p,'wer of re-
moving Field-lane and the nuisances connected with it ;
while the numberless deaths in the locality prove how inju-
rious it is to health, how pregnant with the seeds of disease.
Parliamentary records show that in all cases fever and small-
pox have there assumed the most virulent character; and the
appearance of its present inhabitants fully proves how un-
dermining it is to the health and conditioner the mostrobust.
Your journal announces the appointment of a commission for
carrying out sanitary measures within the City ; on it are
several members of the Corporation fully acquainted with
the body-destroying atmosphere of the part, but up to the
present moment nothing has been done. Holborn-hill re-
mains with its steep acclivity, rupturing its hundreds an-
nually—the block of houses unremoved, at. r reiterated
petitions to the Court of Common Council, from merchants,
traders, joined with the resident inhabitants in the respective
wards. May we hope that this commission will be more effi-
ciently conducted, and the evils complained against promptly
removed, then, and only then, shall we feel that the Court of
Common Council wanted but the power to remedy the evil
so long and loudly complained against. Your insertion of
this letter will oblige many of the suffering tradesmen of the
locality, and the thousands of pedestrians who daily pass
this increasing thoroughfare.—Satua.
INTERCOURSE WITH THE CONTINENT.—The move-
ment of passengers to and from England in the week end-
ing 12th inst. amounted at Boulogne to 2,765, against 2,861
in the corresponding week of last year, and to 365 at Calais,
against 583. 01 the 2.765 Boulogne passengers, 1,301 were
from England, viz., 739 from Folkestone, 211 from Dover,
344 from London, and 7 from Ramsgate ; and 1,464 to Eng-
land, viz., 767 to Folkestone, 324 to Dover, 367 to London,
and 5 to Ramsgate.
Low TIDE OP THE TuAmEs.—Yesterday morning's
tide was one of the lowest that has happened for many
pars. Even in the centre of the river, c:ose to Waterloo-
bridge, the mud was some feet above the water; and at one
o'clock the river steamers were compelled to discontinue
plying for the first time since their introduction on the river.
At the Adclphi Pier the scene was worthy of the pencil of
Cruikahank. Beyond the usual Hosting pi. r, a narrow
plank about ten feet lone was rigged and secured to reach
the boats, over which ladies were compelled by the presiding
Charon to climb.

THE GREAT BRITAIN.—The following report of a
survey far the purpose of ascertaining the injuries sustained
by the Great Britain has been delivered to Captain Clax-
ton :—" We, the undersigned, certify that we have at your '
request this day bet n on board the steamer, Great Britain,
now lying on the gridiron in the Prince's Dock Basin, and
both inside and out have examined the means adopted by
the foreman boiler-maker, Mr. John Crew, for stopping the
leaks in the bottom of the vessel whilst lying in Dundrum
Bay. We find the principal holm to have been six in
number, varying in dimensions from 2ft. by I2in. to
.sft. gin. by 16in. ; and there are other formidable holes
aad cracks of smaller dimensions. From their size and
position, under the keel of the ship, we are of opinion
that it must have been • work of extreme difibuilty to
make them in any degree water-tirtht. We are informed
that, besides the water in which the ship lay, there was
never less than 2i or 3 feet of water atd sand in her hold
after the damage she sustained from the gales in the early
part of the winter ; and taking this fact into consideration,
with the other difficulties that had to be encountered, we
are of opinion that the greatest ingenuity and perse-
verance must have been exercised to stop the holes in such
a manner as to enable the vessel to float. The method
adopted by 31r. Crew for this purpose was as follows :
A plate of sufficient size was passed edgeways through
each hole from the inside, having a screwed bolt attached
to it as nearly in the centre as possible. This plate was
then adapted to cover the hole on the outside, and was
drawn tight up by a screwed nut and crossbar from the
inside, !icing packed with felt to prevent leakage as much
as possible. On the whole, as boiler-makers' or iron ship-
builders' work, we consider it to be • most extraordinary
performance, which, regarded from before-hand, must have
appeared of gamest hopeless execution, and must have been
one of the greatest amongst the numerous difficulties over
which the energy and determination of the rescuers of this
vessel have ultimately triumphed. We do not conceive that
it would have been possible, under similar circumstances, to
stop holes of the use mentioned in the bottom of a wooden
vessel; and we may further remark, that the iron of which
the frames and plates are made must have been of most ex-
cellent quality.—Fawcett, Preston, and Co.; E. Rosa, en-
gineer; T. Baker, engineer; E. Pargeter, foreman boiler-
maker; N. Furlong, engineer; W. B. APAUister, foreman
boiler-maker.—Liverpool, Sept. 2, 1347."

HISTORY OF SHAKSPEARE'S HOUSE.—The house
in Henley-street, as it at present exists, is but a fragment of
the original building as purchased by John Sliskspeare the
post's father, in 1474, ten years exactly after the birth of his
son Wiliam, the entry of whose baptism is dated in the
parish register April 26, 1564. John Shakapeare had pur-
chased, in 155.5, a copyhold house in Henley-street, but this
was not the house now shown as the poet's birth-place. Ho
bad also another copyhold residence in Greenhill street, and
some property at In on, a mile and a quarter from Strat-
ford, on the road to Warwick. From these circumstances a
modern doubt has been cut on the truthfulness of the tredi-
tion which assigns the house in Henley-street to be the poet's
birth-place. Mr. Knight says—" William Shakespeare, then,
might have been born at either of his father's copyhold
houses in Greenhill-street or in Henley-street; he might have
been born at logos, or his father might have occupied one of
the two freehold houses in Henley-street, at the time of the
birth of his eldest son. Tradition says that William Shals-
.4.=_teas borarlininwilycehoLthweleubtoThum.s ietnciliti.ontdtotiung
the
belief? A wise conclusion! Antiquarian credulity has
given place to an extreme degree of scepticism ; and from
believing too much, we are now too much given to believe
too little; add to this the anxiety which many evince to
write about Shakespeare, although little eke but conjecture
in its vaguest form be the result and the value of the modern
conjecture as opposed to the ancient tradition may very
readily be estimated. Let Stratford ever sacredly preserve
the venerable structure with which she is intrintaid ; pilgrims
from all climes have felt a glow of enthusiasm beneath the
bumble roof in Henley street. Let no rude pen destroy such
heart homage, or :seek to deprive us of the little we possess
connected with our immortal countryman. When John
Shakespeare purchased this house from Edmund Hall, for
401., tt was described in the legal &turnouts as two mes-
images, two gardens, and two orchards, with their appurte-
nances. It passed at his death to his son William, and front
him to his sister Joan Hart, who was residing there in 1639,
and probably until her death in 1646. Throughout the poet's
life the house is thus intimately connected with him. It
was • large building, the timbers of rube-andel oak, the
walls filled in with plaster. The dormer windows and gable,
the deep porch, the projecting parlour, and bay window,
all contribute to render it exceedingly picturesque. In
1792, when Ireland visited the house, the dormer windows
and gable had been removed ; the bay window beneath the
gable had given place to an ordinary flat lattice window of
four lights; the porch in front of that portion of the building
in which Shakespeare was born was removed, and a butcher's
shop-front constructed. At this time there lived here a
descendant of Joan Hart, sister to the poet, who permed
the humble occupation of a butcher. The other half of the
house was at this time converted into an inn, and ulti-
mately sunk into a low public-house. It had been: known
as the Maidenhead Inn, in 1642 ; and when, in 1806, the
house was disposed of to Mr. Thomas Court, who be-
came " mine host thereof, he combined that name with
the one it then held of " The Swan." About 1820, ex-
cited by • desire for " improvement," he destroyed the
original appearance of this portion of the building by con-
structing • new red brick front, exactly of the approved
fashion of which rows of houses are built in small towns,
and which consist generally of an alternate door and
window, repeated at regular intervals, below, while a
monotonous range of windows above effectually repulses
attention. The house is now divided into three tene-
ments ; the central one is the portion set apart for exhi-
bition, in the back room of which live the proprietors;
the shop, the room above, and the kitchen, are sacred to
visitors. When the lower part of the central tenement wa
made to serve for a butcher's shop, its window was removed,
and has not since been replaced; and when the butcher's
trade ceased, a few years since, no attempt at restoration was
made, and the shop still retains the signs of its late occupa-
tion. The old window in the upper story, originally a lattice
of three lights, had been altered into one of four, and mode-
rate squares of glass usurped the place of the old leaded
diamond panes. A board for flower-pots was erected in
front of the window; but more recently a large, obtrusive,
rudely-painted signboard, projects from the front to tell us
the immortal Shakspeare was born in this house." Such
b its present external aspect. "Itis a small, mean-looking
edifice," says Irving. It was not so in Shakspeare's time.—
Aureoles Home of Shakespeare.
INQUESTS, YESTERDAY.—MYSTERTOUS DEATH.—
XL T. Wakley, M.P., resumed, at the Elephant and Castle,
Ling's-read,Camden-town, the inquest concerning the death
of Jane Sarah Usher, aged 28, the female who died in a loft
in Chinese-mews, Tottenham-court-road, as detailed in our
paper of Wednesday loot. The publication of the description
of the deceased's person, and the articles found on her, led to
her identity, and it appears that sbe was the daughter of •
respectable tallow-chandler, named Usher, residing in Fen-
church-street. Mrs. Jane White, of 26, Brunswick-build-
jags, New-road, said she had known deceased several years.
She took in needlework, and also received an allowance
from some place in the City of Ba. or is. per week. She had
never heard deceand speak of either Cannon or Crowley, the
two men who took her to the loft in Chinese mews on 1 rids?
bat. She was a little gay at times. Another witnen proved
that the name " Jane "Sarah Usher," written in the pocket-
book produced, was deceased's writing, and she had always
known her by that name. Mr. H. C. Bobineost, the our-
pon to St. Pancras workhouse, deposed to haying maks •
post mortent examination of the body, and anal Ibi ear
tents of the stomach. There were no symptoms of rim
whatever, or anything deleterious. The cause of dsaft was
effusion of water on the ventricles of the brain, prams& by
natural disease. Verdict, " Natund death." —.MIMI,
ENED COMMITTAL OP A JrAoll.—By Mr. Payne, the City
Coroner, at the Sun and Anchor, St. Dunstan'ebill, Thames-
street, on the body of Morris Sheen, aged 9 years, who was
accidentally drowned. In consequence of the Coroner having'
to despatch a messenger for a witness to give additional eav-
dence, the jury were unavoidably kept waiting for a short
period, when • Mr. Hemmingfield, on the panel, by his in-
solence to the coroner, gave rise to much confusion, and the
following fracas took place :—After several observation'
directed to the coroner expressive of his dissidielketion In
having to wait, the juror said; ithiak thin a meat sumacs-