The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-01 00:00:00

BAGENALSTOWN AND WEXFORD.

The ceremony of cutting the first sod on this line took
place on Thursday at the village of Borris, on the estate
of Mr. A. Kavanagh. Lady IL Kavanagh performed
the ceremony of cutting the first sod amid considerable
applause. The directors and a large number of persons
distance
of 14
els t4e were p.
hp rr
oe suegnht . h
eT
ph
reoline
tywoi lfl
Artii
rn. f ra!
aliy
o i n te
vanagh, who has placed the requisite land at the disposal
of the company, on most favourable terms to the latter.
dltucise,exapnecdteadt thtahtethsaemlienetiwmiell cboenrfeermaugnereraattivbeenteotit thone
the district, which it appears is rich in agricultural pro-
shareholders.

NORTH-EASTERN.
The Bratnhope Tunnel on the Leeds northern portion
of the above company's undertaking is to be re-opened
for traffic to-day. The tunnel is 21 miles in length, and
owing to the falling in of a portion of the roof on a pas-
senger train in September last, it has been undergoing
careful repairs for nearly three months. It is now be-
lieved to be perfectly safe, having been carefully ex-
amined and repaired.

PHOTOGRAPHY AN AID TO ADMIN-
ISTATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE.

Mr. J. A. Gardiner, the Governor of the Bristol
Gaol, has just addressed a circular letter to the Gover-
nors of others of her Majesty's gaols in the United
Kingdom, in which he states :
_....

"The advantages which I have myself seen derived
from the use of photography as an aid to the adminis-
tration of criminal justice are such that I am induced to
make an effort to procure its general adoption through-
out the kingdom.
" The importance of being enabled in the cases of
all hardened criminal to prove previous convictions
must bo too self-evident to dwell upon ; neither does it
require argument to show that the difficulties hitherto
in the way of such proofs have been always numerous
and often insurmountable.
" When the convict has been sent back for a second
time to the same gaol the required evidence has been
easily procurable, but it is well known to all who have
been concerned in criminal administration that the most
cunninareg,
intliigeramtoosryt skiiie
illt,ili,eiarmilithhe most
its;t daring
hat offend-
ers
they
do
onotopbeunt
locate ttlhi eetiurs themselves
ein s
tao particularwherever
tthoewr
ne
isorthdeismtroisett,
field for crime, or where the chances of plunder most
present themselves ; that this is the case will be attested
by the police of almost every large city, whose experi-
ence will have failed to connect the most extensive and
best - planned robberies with- their resident known
thieves.

" A knowledge of the foregoing truths induced me a
few years ago to desiderata some mode by which de-
scriptions of committed prisoners suspected of previous
convictions might be circulated among the governors of
leading gaols, but numerous difficulties at first presented
themselves ; periodical visits of inspection might be
useful, but they would have two great disadvantages—
first, they would withdraw the governor or confidential
officer too frequently from his gaol duties ; and, secondly,
they would entail expenses which the counties could not
bear. Written descriptions, in very marked cases, might
be effectiye ;, but, as in the great majority of instances it
would be found impossible to make them sufficiently pre.
cise, they would only tend, where persong were gent to

identify, to frequent disappointments and useless ex-
pense.

" Photography then suggested itself to nay mind, and
it became at once apparent that if I could devise some
means of making the operation sufficiently sudden, I
might, in scores of cases, even without the knowledge of
the prisoner, procure his likeness, a very icon of himself,
of which, being capable of multiplication to any extent,
I might transmit a copy to wherever it might promise to
lead to useful results.

"Twelve months continuous study of the system has
enabled me to perfect it. I have now an apparatus in my
gaol which I use daily. I have rendered it most sub-
servient to the object for which it was designed, and
through its use have brought to justice several hardened
offenders who, being unknown in my neighbourbood,
would otherwise have escaped with inadequate punish-
ment.

"J. IL came into the Bristol gaol upon commitment
fur trial a perfect stranger to me and my officers ; he
was well attired, but very illiterate ; the state of his
hands convinced me that he had not done any liar
work, while the superiority of his apparel over his at-
tainments led me to su=p,!ct that he was a practif.ed
thief. I forwarded his likeness to several places, and
soon received information that he had been convicted
in London and Dublin. The London officer who recog-
nised him by his portrait was subpoenaed as a v4tness,
picked him out from 30 or 40 other prisoners, and gave
evidence on his trial in October last which led the Re-
coMer to sentence him to six years' penal sers it ude.
" J. D. came to the gaol wholly unknown ; h:s per-
son and manners induced me to suspect that it was not
his first appearance in a place of confinement ; and,
having made several copies of his portriat, I sent them
round to the governors of different prisons. lie was
recognised as having been convicted at Wells ; the neces-
sary witness was subpoenaed, his former conviction
proved, and he was sentenced to four years' penal
servitude,

"I could mention several instances in which some
most notorious thieves, strangers to this part, have been
brought to proper punishment.
" Such having been my own experience, I now appeal
to the governors of other gaols to aid me in carrying out
the system upon a broad and a national scale. The cost
of an apparatus complete will not exceed 101., and it may
be worked at an expense of about 51. per annum.
"I have only to add my wish that you should bring
this communication under the notice of your visiting
justices, and to say, should the authorities of any dis-
trict consider that I can help them, by instructing their
officers in the exercise of this most useful art, I shall be
happy to do so."

TIM NEW MiTROPOLITANCATTLE
MARKET.

Yesterday Mr. IL L. Taylor, the chairman of the
Markets Improvement Committee of the Corporation,
in company with Deputies Holt and Obbard, and Messrs.
De Jersey, Symonds, Grimwarde, Pead, Rowley, and
SymondQ, members of the committee, visited the new
Metropolitau Cattle Market, at Copenhagen-fields, for
the purpose of examining the progress of the works.
This visit was understood to be the last which will be
made by the committee for this purpose, prior to the
final opining of the market, which, if nothing super
venes, it is intended to open on Thursday, the 25th of
January, 1855. Daily, since our last notice, the hun-
dreds of men engaged have been actively employed.
The lieensed houses are nearly ready for fitting up, and
will shortly be occupied ; but the two taverns, the City
Arms and the Queen's Arms, which are very extensive
structures, are approaching completion, though, as yet,
a long way from being fit for habitation. The major
part of the pens and rails are finished, and the banking-
houses are ready for the garniture of such establish
mints. The slaughter-houses, public awl private, are
ready for letting, and the small experimental but ex-
ceedingly neat •' dead-meat market" only awaits the
fitting up of the iro❑ rods and hooks upon which the
carcasses will be hung. The major part of the paving
is completed, and the market now appears, as a whole,
really worthy of the great corporation under the aus-
pices of which it has been erected, and sufficiently capa-
cious for the wants of .upwards of two millions of the
meat-consuming population of this vast metropolis,
space being on all sides preserved for a ♦ery consider-
able extension, if required at any future period.