The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-02 00:00:00

MADRAS IRRIGATION AND CANAL.

The ordinary general meeting of this compa,7 was
held on Saturday at the London Tavern, Mr. J.
Thomson in the chair.
The report was taken as read.

The CHAIRMAN, in moving its adoption, said the
operations of the company had progressed, but not
equal to what they could have wished. During the
past half-year they had been short of labour, but the
progress they had made had been in the right direc-
tion and successful. Below the Hindry aqueduct
sr.e works had been heavy, and had demanded a
supply of labour greater than they could get. They
find received on capital sccorlut 1737,130, and had
expended £493,670, leaving
a balance of £243,453.

Against this they had an estimated outlay, between
May 31, 1864, and July 31, 1865, of £272,000 for
works, and for cost of management £lO,OOO, making
together £282,000, showing a deficiency of 38,000,
It would therefore be necessary to make a call.
The report was adopted, and the proceedings
closed with a vote of thanks to the chairman.

EAST INDIA IRRIGATION AND CANAL.
The ordinary meeting of this company was held
on Monday at the London Tavern, Mr. J. Thomson
in the chair.

The report was taken as read.

The CHAIRMAN, in moving its adoption, said the
operations of the company had been carried on satis-
factorily. The tidal canal, which had been purchased
from the Government, would be completely finished
and reopened for traffic in June. In some of the dis-
tricts they had encountered some delay in the mak-
ing over the land to the company. The engineer had
kept an account of the local traffic, and he antici-
pated that on the canal between Paw nchkorah and
Calcutta the company could not fail to realise a net
profit of 10 per cent. It was expected that various
sections, altogether 100 miles in length, viz., 62
miles of river and 38 canal, would ba opened for
traffic in the course of a month.

Mr. BOUVERIE, M.P., seconded the motion.
The report was adopted, and a vote of thanks to
the chairman concluded the proceedings.

METROPOLITAN RAILWAYS.

Yesterday another small, but important, link in
our metropolitan railway system was completed by
the opening of the rest of the line of the Chatham
and Dover Railway from Victoria Station to Black-
friars-bridge. The actual length of line opened was
scarcely a mile, but in traffio value to the company
this mile into London is of greater importance than
any other ten miles of their way, and is, indeed,
only of less importance than the quarter mile which
will take them across the Thames and place them
in direct communication with the Underground
Railway, and through that with all lines running to
the north of England. But this latter all-important
distance, which spans the river, is not likely to be
completed before August or September next, and it
will probably be near Christmas before a junction is
effected with the subterranean line, and passengers
arriving at Dover can book direct from that port to
almost any town in England, Scotland, or Wales.
The gain which such a facility will afford can only
be fully estimated by those who have to travel fre-
quently, and who know not only what change of
carriages means, but who can tell from actual ex-
perience that the invention of London streets be-
tween the north and south termini of existing rail-
ways means a loss of nearly two hours in catching
trains ; and 2 hours now-a-days is equivalent to 100
miles added to a journey. The short length opened
yesterday, though it does not complete this junc-
tion, is yet of great value as a merely local means
of communication. By it the third-class passengers
can now travel in less than four minutes from Black-
friars-bridge to the Elephant and Castle for 18. The
cheap line of omnibuses for the same distance charge
2d., and take nearly seven times the time to accom-
plish the journey. The line from the Elephant is
carried entirely on arches, to enable it to cross the
level of the Charing-cross Railway at Blackfriars-
road, and also to enable it to cross the Thames at
the level of the intended new Blackfriars-bridge. As
might be expected, the curves on the line are of as
constant occurrence as the bridges that span the
streets, which intervene at every 100 yards or so.
Among the faults of the new lice may be counted
the number of its stations, which, as in the case of
the Elephant and Castle and Borough road, are
often so close together as to appear almost ridiculous.
With regard to the stations themselves, however, we
can say nothing in their dispraise. To every point
affecting the convenience of the public, most careful
attention has been paid, while as regards that also
important detail, the ornamental effect of the exte-
rior of the stations themselves, there is nothing left
to be desired. All these buildings have been designed
by Mr. Taylor, jun., who, bearing in mind, perhaps,
the celebrated saying of Sydney Smith, that the
builder of a red brick house was a public benefactor,
has done his best, without going to great expense,
to relieve the exterior of the stations by the intro-
duction of terracotta, coloured bricks, tiles, 8:3. In
building these very pretty stations Mr. Taylor
makes a very free use of terracotta ware—not, as
is too frequently the case, in imitation of stone where
stone is more applicable, but as a superior brick
construction, the whole being built in and bonded
with the bricks themselves. There are horizontal
moulded drip bands of brown stoneware, a material
hitherto used for drain pipes, on account of its im•
mense durability, but now effecting the "weather-
ing" so much needed for protecting our London
buildings from the discoloration they so soon un-
dergo. The colour of this material is a rich brown,
which contrasts well with the blue Staffordshire
ware and red and white bricks in other parts of the
stations. Apart from the mere question of design,
the interior plan of the stations as regards public
convenience, is all that can be wished, and as we have
before had occasion to remark, they are models of
what metropolitan stations should be. That on the
Surrey side of Blackfriars-bridge is intended as a
great goods depot, and every facility in the way of
hydraulic lifts and turntables is afforded for the
great influx of traffic which is sure to find its centre
here. The great space beneath the station is fire-
proof, and so laid out as to afford immense area for
goods arriving by the river wharves, with which it
is on a level, the goods to be afterwards taken by
the lifts up to the line and sent in all directions.
The new railway bridge, which will place this line
in direct communication with those running north
of the Thame3, is fast approaching completion ; the
last spans are almost half completed, and the arches
across Earl-street into Ludgate hill are ready for
" turning." When this length is finished a station
will be opened in Bridge-street, to and from which
trains will run from 6 a.m. till 12.30 at night, at
rather less than half the fares of the cheapest
omnibuses. The Ludgate-hill viaduct will be in
place in another month. The design for this bridge
has been made by Mr. Cubitt himself, and it will,
we think, be acknowledged to be the handsomest
in London.

Yesterday, also, the temporary wooden bridge
across the Thames, which for the present replaces
the dangerous stone viaduct which has hitherto, at
extreme risk, done duty as a bridge at Blackfriars,
was opened to the public. All the details connected
with the construction of this scaffolding-bridge have
been so fully given in our columns that it is needless
to recapitulate them on this occasion. Yesterday all
the traffic going south from the city was turned
over the temporary bridge, while that entering the
city was continued over the old structure as usual.
Foot passengers were left to take whichever route
they chose, and, as a matter of course, all went over
the new wooden footpaths, which, besides affording
them a clear view of the progress of the railway
works on one side, also on the other shows the very
broken-backed and dangerous state of the arches of
Blackfriars.l a few days the old bridge will be
entirely stopped for traffic of every kind, and the
work of pulling it down, or rather easing it in its
fall, which is close impending, will be at once com-
menced. It has not been closed a day too soon, for
during the last 12 months it has been a constant
source of danger to the public.
While on the subject of metropolitan thorough-
fares, we feel it our duty to direct attention to the
disgraceful condition of Stamford-street, which now
virtually blocks up the new street through South-
wark to London-bridge. We do not exaggerate when
we say there is not a township in England which
tms a road in so disgraceful a state as this main
thoroughfare in the heart of London. It bears a
nearer resemblance to the villainous by-paths
formed across the vineyards at Balaklava than
anything we have ever expected to see in London,
or even in England. For more than six weeks the
road has been in this condition, without any serious
att.9mpt having been made to improve it. Now it
is in such a state, as regards the depth of its mud,
andtbe width and danger of the holes which the
mud screens, that it is in the highest degree unsafe
to drive down it after nightfall. Scarcely an hour
now passes without some vehicle becoming so
deeply imbedded in the mire as to stop all traffic,
and it seems almost a miracle that a serious accident
has not occurred long before this. In case of ouch

an accident it is some comfort to think that those
entrusted with the repair of the road will be liable
in heavy damages.

Health of the Metropolis,

(From the Registrar-General's Report.)

The deaths in London, which had been 1,421 in the pre-
vious week, declined to 1,234 in the week that ended last
Saturday. Ths deaths of persons under 20 years of age de-
creased from 690 to 622 ; those at 60 years of age and up-
wards from 287 to 187 ; those in the intermediate stage of
life from 434 to 415. The mean temperature of the air in
each of the four weeks of May successively was 52.1 deg.,
51.7 deg., 61'8 deg., and 52 deg.
The average number of deaths in the 21st week of ten
years-1854-63—is, with a correction for increase of popula-
tion, 1,233. The mortality was therefore just what might be
expected from former experience in the last week of May.
The deaths from phthisis were 187, of which 33 occurred
under 20 years of age, 89 at 20-40 years, 55 at 40-60, and 10
at 60 years and upwards. The corrected average of phthisis
for the 21st week is 170. Both bronchitis and pneumonia
exhibit a great decrease, the number of deaths referred to in
the former being 82, that to the latter disease 35.
Measles was fatal in 79 cases, scarlatina in 38. Four of
the 79 from measles were returned in the Kensington-town
sub-district, 5 in that of Gray's-inn-lane, 8 in Islingion, 8
in Holborn, 5 in West London, and 4 in the Waterloo-road
sub-district, first part.
At the workhouse, Bethnal-green, on the sth of May, a
woman, a wax doll maker, aged 29 years, died suddenly from
enlargement of the heart, accelerated by privation and ex-
posure. She had no medical treatment.
At St. Martin's workhouse, on the 13th May, a hawker
aged 62 years, died from disease of the lungs ,and want of
proper food
At University College Hospital, on the 21st of May, a
dressmaker from 13, Fitzroy-place, aged 28 years, delirium
tremens, following a cut of the knee from falling on a steel
crinoline.

At 35, Stanhope-street, St. Clement Danes, on the 25th
May, the son of a house painter, aged one month, died of
glass pock.

A girl, aged 13 years, died on the 21st of May, at Brix-
ton, from "coup de soleil ; congestion of the brain."

There were six deaths from horses and carriages.
A widow died at the age of 95 years.
Last week the births of 1,030 boys and 936 girls, in all
1,966 children, were registered in London. In the ten cor-
responding weeks of the years 1854.63 the average number
(corrected) was 1,938.
At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean height
of the barometer in the week was 29.895 in. The reading
rose to 30.12 in. on Tuesday, and fell to 29'77. on Wednes-
day. The mean temperature of the air in the week was 52
deg., which is 2'G deg. below the average of the same week
in 43 years (as determined by Mr. Glaisher). The mean
daily temperature was always below the average after Sun-
day. The highest day temperature was 70.2 deg. on Sun-
day. The lowest night temperature was 351 deg. on Tues-
day. The range in the week was therefore 34.5 deg. The
mean daily range was 21.2 deg. The difference between
the mean dew-point temperature and air temperature was
10'4 deg. The humidity of the air was 38, complete satura-
tion being represented by 100. On Thursday and Friday
the humidity was as low as 62 and 60. The wind blew almost
constantly from the north-east, or ot:►er northerly point•
There was no rain in the week. The mean of the highest
temperatures of the water of the Thames was 63'3 deg, ;
that of the lowest was 61 deg.
The deaths in Vienna, as returned by Dr. Glatter, were
146 in the week ending the 21st of May, when the mean
temperature was 63.1 deg., that at Greenwich having been
61.*8 deg,