The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-20 00:00:00

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found in font or rear of !nary' MOVO, 4.,:• . : ,-,
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spring flowers are now making t"'
well trimmed, untrampled borders. _ tit_
leads his harem efield without dange&of irk
served up a la Zouave, and ducks and chiCketis ar
to be seen pecking industriously in every pond an
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lane. These small traits show the character o.
army. Nevertheles the 30,000 or 40,000 men (pt -
bably the latter) now in front of Duppel, and whose

commander's headquarters are at Gravenstein, form
a grievous burden upon the land, the little f.filuence
and modest ease of which seem, so to speak, to
perish under the pressure. The exorbitant amount
of billeting is severely felt now that it has lasted
so long. I know of one house in Gravenstein,
inhabited by a respectable family and containing
eight rooms, one of which is reserved to himself by
the proprietor of the house. Of the remaining
seven, the tenants have not one exclusively for their
own use. Soldiers occupy their bedchamber by
day, and they share with officers the room in which
they sit. The other five rooms are appropriated
in different ways entirely to the use of the army.
I must suppose that there aro not a few othere
equa►ly incommoded, and all but turned out of their-
houses. If this army remains here much longer it
would be better and healthier to put part of it under
canvas than to keep it crowded in close cantonments.
In weather that is neither wet nor severely cold, a
clean well-aired tent is a more salubrious abode
than frowzy, low•roofed, stove-heated roarne.
I lately wrote to you that the Rolf Krake had
been in the direction of the Nobel Noer and had
exchanged a few shots with the Alnoer batteries.
This seems to be an incorrect version of what took
place. At Eckersund ferry (the pontoon bridge is
not yet replaced) I yesterday was told that, the
night being very dark, the men in one of the bat-
teries had fancied that a small craft which lay near
was moving, and their heads being doubtless full of
the Rolfe Krake since her exploit of the 28th of
March, they imagined they had before them that
adventurous cruiser, and accordingly tared upon her.
One shot only was fired, it is said, and some rifles
by the in fantry near at hand, before the error was
discovered. Luckily no damage was done. The
day before yesterday a steam corvette, said to he
the Dannebrog, and to carry 15 guns, anchored ire
the water south of Alsen, between Venning Bur.d
and Horup Haff. It is reported here she is iron-
clad. Ido not know whether the Danes have so,
large a vessel protected is this manner. She left
again 3 esterday.
Since the outposts have been so near together,
up to the 13th inst., there was some fraternisation
between the Danish and German sentries, who met
half way and drunk and talked together. On Wed-
nesday, down near the Vanning Band, to the right
of the third parallel, where the Prussians and
Danes stood but 60 paces apart, in pits and behind
parapets on opposite sides of the same field, I saw
several instances of this. A soldier would step
out of his cover waving a white handherchief, and
would advance to the middle of the field, where
his opponent met him, and they drank out of the
same flask, or, in one or two cases, merely ex-
changed a few words, shook hands, and parted.
The thing was latterly forbidden, but it still con-
tinued more or less. I suppose an end will have been
put to it by the fight of the night before last and
the withdrawal of the lines, at least on a great
part of the line, within their entrenchments. The
Prussian soldiers say that some of the Danes ex-
pressed to them their great weariness of the war,
but said that they expected it to cease on the 12th
inst. Perhaps they had heard that the Conference
was to meet on that day, as reported, and had a
vague notion that it would put a stop to hostilities.
Northwards from West Duppel the Prussians
have now a chain of batteries, consisting of 6, 12,
and 24 pounder rifled guns. The 24 pounders were
yesterday (two batteries of four guns each) firing at
the north end of Sonderborg and at the second pon-
toon bridge, but they are reported to have made poor
practice. The distance is great. Ten 5-pounders, in
the two batteries nearest to Duppel, yesterday fired
at forts 7to 10. Then there are three 12-pounder
batteries which engage the D6nish forts on A.lhen
shore. The furthest of these, close to Sandberg
C..atle, was yesterday liriug from behind a bank,
there beirg no regular breasoacrk as yet made for
it. Further on, near S.theabek, hard by the exit
from the narrow portion of Alben Sund, where it
widens and turns more eastwards, are some more
12-pounders.

Railway and Public Companies in

Parliament.
-4-

Yeah rday, before the committee on the new metropo'lkon
railways, the evidence of Mr. Seymour Clarke on the gene-
ral merits of the Great Northern Railway Company's pro-
posed Barnet branch, and for other purposes, having been
concluded, Mr. Fowler, the engineer, end Mr. Fenton,
traffic manager of the Metropolitan Railway, were examined
in opposition to the proposal of the Great Northern to run
over the Metropolitan Railway between King's-cross and
its Farringdon•street terminus. Mr. Hope Scotc, Q C.,
was hoard in opposition on behalf of the Midland Rail-
way Company, relative to the acquisition of some lands
for station purposes to the westward of the Great
Northern Company's goods station at King's-cross, of
which the Metropolitan possessed the freehold, but of
which the Midland company claimed the leasehold. The
committee will not give theirdeeision on the Great Northern
Company's bill until they have heard the case of the Lon-
don, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company's No. 1 bill,
which involves questions for adjudication common to both
schemes. The case for the Staines, Egham, and Woking
Junction Railway was opened by Mr. Phinn, Q.C., in the
committee of which Mr. Scholefield is' chairman. It is pro-
posed to bo incorporated with a capital of £lB,OOO, and
£16,000 loan, for a five mile line from a junction with the
Staines and Wokingham Railway eastward of its Virginia
Water station to the Woking station of the London and
Soath Western Railway. Mr. Gregory, C.E.,was examined
in favour of the line, and after hearing the general traffic
evidence, the committee threw out the bill, subsequently
passing the proposed extension of the South-Western to
Chertsey, which had been considered at previous sittings.
The further hearing of the North British Company's exten•
sion to Perth is adjourned in Mr. Hassard's committee, who
then considered the proposed Denburn Valley Railway,
which proposes, inter alia, to empower the Scottish North
Eastern to make a short line through Denburn valley to
the Great North of Scotland, with a joint passenger station
and approaches at Aberdeen, the first company to be em •
powered to apply £70,000, and the second £125,000 for the
purpose. After hearing Mr. Sergeant Bellasis against, the
committee passed,the bill. The bill for leasing the Alyth
Railway to the Scottish North Eastern, being unopposed,
was sent down to Mr. Massey's committee. The committee
on the competing schemes proposed by the Sheffield, Ches-
terfield, and Staffordshire Railway, and by the Midland
Railway, from Chesterfield to Sheffield, resumed its inquiry,
taking the case of the latter bill for a new line of 13 miles
between those places, to raise £455,000 by shares and
£151,000 by loan. The traffic case was considered. The
bills passed in Mr. Massey's committee were the Bod-
min and Wadebridge Railway, for a line of three
miles between those points in Cornwall, and to raise
£48,000; the Wallingford and Watlington Railway, of
eight miles, to raise £BO,OOO by shares, and £26,000 loan ;
Bedford and Cambridge Railway, to raise a further sum of
£50,000; Witney Railway, and Ely, Haddenham, and Sut-
ton. The Edinburgh and Leith Sewerage Improvement
Bill was opened by Mr Forsyth, Q.C., in a committee over
which Mr Roebuck is chairman, and the bill for the °stab-.
Raiment of a park,town hall sites, and other improvements,
was passed in the committee of which Mr Evans is chair-
man, Mr Gaskell's committee on Irish improvement pro-
jects was occupied with the consideration of the Belfast
Improvement Bill. In committee of the House of Lords,
the Duke of Devonshire chairman, the other members being
Lord De Roe, Earl Somers, Marquis of Bath, and Lord
Congleton, the Port Glasgow Harbour Bill, South London
Market, and Liverpool Exchange Bills were passed, and the
Herne Bay, Hampton, and Reculver Fishery was opened
by Mr Calvert, Q.C. The West London Docks and Ware-
houses Bill was passed in Earl Cathcart's committee; and
that for the proposed amalgamation into one undertaking
of the London Docks, the St. Katharine Docks, and the
Victoria Docks proceeded with, Mr Chandler, secretary of
the London Docks, being examined by Mr Coleridge and
Mr Round. After several days'
be detrimental to the onus -anon, local opposition. to the prrject, on the ground that it would
inquiry, and considerable
the committee, of which
Lord Wodeltous2 is chairman, threw out the bill f r the
proposed Bate Docks at Cardiff. The bills for the) G.:, at
North of Scotland Railway and Lymington Harbour auct
Docks went through Lord Redesdale'a committee:

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