The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-03 00:00:00

THE SUN. LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 3, 1863.

dead level at which it is carried, the supplementary
_ . .

footpaths at the side, the fan-shaped end, and brick
piers all tend to destroy anything like uniformity or
regularity, and in the absence of such all-important
requisites architectural beauty is out of the ques-
tion. There is, however, a certain harmony and
appropriateness in its simplicity and massive
strength which will redeem the work from absolute
ugliness.

It is rather difficult in these descriptions to give
the general reader a clear account of such important
works without using technical expressions, but in
this case a mere outline of the work itself and the

ature of the duties it has to perform will be suffi-
cient. The total length of the bridge from end to
end is 1,300 ft., its width between the main girders
is 50ft., and outside this there are two 7ft. footways

or passengers, making the total width 64ft., with a

clear headway above high water mark of 25ft.
Between the brick piers of the old structure the
bridge is carried on cast-iron columns, with a

span" of 154 feet between each opening.

These

columns have a diameter of 14 feet at the base,

which is forced down more than 30 feet below the

bed of the river, and many feet into the London

clay. As these rise to near the surface of the bed
of the river they diminish in diameter to ten feet,
a size at which they are continued to the summit.
All these are filled in with masonry up to the 14 feet
width, and thence with solid brickwork. One of
them was steadily loaded with railway iron to a

weight of 750 tons, under which enormous pressure

on so small a surface the masonry was pressed
together nearly 2in., but beyond this no yield of

any kind took place. Two such columns fastened
together at the top with a powerful wrought-iron
close girder carry the roadway in spans of 154 ft.
The main girders which bear all the strain of the
roadway in the long interval between each pair of
columns are the powerful lattices of wrought iron
which may be seen now on each side of the bridge.
The visitor who inspects these wonderful specimens

of wrought iron work will find that they consist, at
top and bottom, of two trough-shaped girders, 14ft.
apart, the top one 4ft. broad and the bottom 3ft., the
uppermost one being stronger, as it has to resist the

compressive strain, which is always more trying to
wrought iron than tension, which is met by the bot-
tom girder of 3ft. broad. Though we have spoken
of these as two, and 14ft. apart, they are joined to-
gether and made in reality one immense girder of
that depth by a latticework consisting of a series of
struts and ties to resist tension—in plain terms, to
meet thrust or pull in all parts of the structure.

The struts vary from 12in. wide and 3in. thick to
6in. wide and 24in. thick. They are all placed in
pairs, and may be known at once by their being
joined ;at the back with a powerful wrought iron
bracing, to prevent their buckling out under great
pressure. The ties vary from 12in. broad by 21in.
thick to 6in. broad by 2in. thick, the greatest
strength being given at the ends, where the
strain of the leverage comes. Each of these pales
of girders which carry the roadway between the
columns is, as we have said, 154 ft. long, and
the two ace capable of bearing a load strain of
1,500 tons, the greatest weight that could by any
possibility be put upon them if the four lines of
rails between them were loaded with tank engines
and the footways outside thronged with peop'e.
Even with such a load the strain would only be at
the rate of 4 tons per sectional inch at the top of
the girder, and 5 tons at the bottom—a slight weight
when we remember that the Britannia Bridge has a
permanent strain of 6 tons to the inch, and many
wrought-iron bridges both in France and America
have to do duty with nearly twice that load. The
floor of the roadway between these main girders is
formed of a series of cross girders placed as close as
llft. apart. Each of these weighs 9 tons, is 4ft. deep,
and equal to a load of 110 tons, though 77 tons is the
greatest weight that could be placed upon them.
The foot passenger traffic is provided for by car-
rying out two 7ft. paths on each side supported on
cantiiever or iron brackets, which carry also a hand-
some wrought-iron railing. It is from the old
Nliddlesex pier, however, that the great difficulties
of the design commence, and a more awkward and
unpromising corner to turn into a commodious rail-
way station was never given to an engineer. It was,
of course, impossible to take the station into the
Strand, and equally impossible to m anage without
a space equivalent to carrying the line as far; so no
other alternative was left but to commence at once
at the north pier, and instead of continuing the
bridge at a uniform width, to spread it out like a
fan from that spot, widening as the work advanced,
so as to attain its maximum dimensions long before I
this curious river terminus enters up )n the
ground
of old Hungerford-market. To effect this difficult
object a total change of plan takes place. The
span is diminished from 154 ft. to 100 ft., but what
is reduced in the length of the span is
gained in the width, which is increased to such
an extent that cross girders for the floor can
no longer be used, and these supports in this por-
tion of the structure are replaced by longitudinal
girders running in the direction of the bridge.
These girders are most massive ; they are 100 ft
long, and sft deep ; each weighs 25 tons, and they
are so closely placed that there is only sft interval
between them. So rapidly does the fanlike spread
of this end of the bridge develope itself, that though
10 of these girders suffice to carry the roadway from
the brick pier over the first 100 ft of the span, no
less than 17 are required for the increasing breadth of
the second span, and 24 for the third, which lands
this end of the bridge, nearly 200 ft wide, upon the
permanent brickwork of the great station at Hun-
ford. As a matter of course, the pairs of massive
columns which carry the greater portion of the work
across the river have to be largely increased in
number under thie wider end. To support the first
spread of the fan there are seven, and for the second
stage nine. The outermost of each of these groups
of columns is Bft. in diameter; the inner ones are
6ft. On the space thus gained there are two ar-
rival and two departure platforms, and the inte-
rior of the station here is no less than 450 ft. long,
by 100 ft. high, and 170 ft. wide, as we have already
said, the largest and loftiest station yet built. That
in Cannon-street is to be no less than 30ft. higher,
40ft. wider, and 100 ft. longer. Two sides of the
Charing-cross Station are formed by the magnificent
hotel in connexion with the railway, which is being
built by Messrs. Lucas. There are distinct en-
trances provided at this station for the southern and
Continental traffic, and that to Cannon-street. A
very large open space is preserved in front of the
station, which is to be for carriage-ways, and in the
centre of this a perfect facsimile in stone of the old
cross at Charing will be erec,ed by the company.
Such are the chief features of the first metropo-
litan extension, which was yesterday visited and
inspected by the Hon. Mr. Byng, the chairman of
the North Eastern ; Mr. Eborall, the general mana-
ger; Mr. Smiles, the secretary, and a large party of
gentlemen connected with the undertaking. Only a
slight halt was made at the two stations on the
line from London-bridge—viz., that in the Black-
friars-road and that where the rails effect a junction
with the South Western. Though the train was a
very long and a very heavy one, yet the bridge at
Hungerford was, as far as could be observed, as rigid
as a rock under its passage. A very long examination
was made of the Charing-cross station, though it was
soon evident that some time must elapse before it is
perfectly finished, and it will be at least a month
before the line can be opened to public traffic, even
with its temporary offices. It is a somewhat
curious fact that the line, though taken through
one of the most densely-populated districts of
London, has only from first to last removed 250
houses—a fact which says a good deal for the care
with which its route has been marked out.
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This account of the Charing-cross Extension would
and
raalilisidwlaitnhd the North-Western, orrtiho-rWtoensatteerluy,, Gtbreea
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vNorthern,eiCnftehwmla Charing-cross
nd
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station
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o southernut
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is station with regard to those termini
such that an underground line in an open cutting,
underak. all the streets and under the
Strand,
e its. junction at level into the
Hungerford-bridge.
onneDs over, or Brighton to
ttlh. such an important link
passengers
ntgheer
sg reeaaot
bsoyosk-
tems north of the
connectingth r o u
g h from the
eS
any part of England or Scotland without changing
carriages. The importance of stteh a saving of inclgonn-

venience and time will be understood by all travellers
who know that to traverse London from the north
to catch a southern train is, in point of loss of time,
equal to 100 miles of rail added to their journey.
In point of trouble and annoyance it is infinitely
worse than 200. With the completion of such a
link, also, the public are promised the utter banish-
ment of railway waggons from the streets. Per-
haps with those overladen, lumbering obstacles
eliminated from our roads, and with the comple-
tion of the straight, broad avenue which the Thames
embankment will offer, our city traffic may become
manageable after all, and our streets be, in fact as
well as name, practicable thoroughfares. Without
some such means of relief all the police regulations
which were ever devised can do nothing more to
mitigate their present congestion during the very
hours when their freedom from obstruction is ne-
cessary to business.

The Charge against a Surgeon.

Yesterday evening the inquiry respecting the deaths of
the two children which were found on the late Mr. Charles
Law, as he was about to dispose of them surreptitiously in
the Kingsland-road, on Saturday week, was resumed by
Mr. Humphreys, Middlesex coroner, at the Black Horse
tavern,•Kingsland-road. Mr. R. Dawson, solicitor to the
National Societyfor the Prevention of Child Murder, attended
to watch the case. Inspector Wiseman said the police had no
further evidence to produce. Dr. J.C.Griffi ths, police surgeon,
said that he was called to see the two children. The first and
stronger was a female child. The post mortem examination
showed that the lungs were not inflated, therefore the child
could not have breathed There were no marks indicative
of instruments having been used. It was a six or seven
months' child. It might have been born alive, but have
been purposely destroyed. There was no reason why it
should not have been born alive. Abortion skilfully pro-
duced would not have left any marks on the child. The
other child was the one found in Mr. Law's pocket. Wit-
ness could not say whether it had been born naturally or
otherwise. It was a six or seven months child, and the
lungs were not inflated. There was no reason why the child
should not have lived. It had been born about a day.
There were no marks of violence. The coroner then
summed up, and remarked that since the arrest of Mr. Law
no dead bodies of children had been found in Shoreditch.
If the deceased children had been the victims of abortion,
the crime was as bad as if they had been murdered. But
under the circumstances it was impossible to arrive at any
definite conclusion with regard to them. The statement of
Mr. Law was that he had not delivered the children, but
had merely undertaken to dispose of the bodies to save the
burial fees. The jury returned a verdict " That in the first
case the said female child was found dead in an unfinished
building, where it had been placed by one Charles Law,
and the jurors say that whether the said child was born
alive, and, if so, how it came by its death, the evidence
does not fully prove ; and that in the second class the
female child was found dead in the pooket of the said
Charles Law, but whether the said child was born alive,
and, if so, the manner of its death, the evidence is not
sufficient to show." In the evening Mr. Humphreys re-
sumed, at the Panther tavern, Hope-town, Bethnal-green,
the inquiry relative to the death of Mr, Law. Mrs. Eliza
Law, the widow of the deceased, said that her late husband
was in the station-house a fortnight ago. He was liberated
on the Monday afternoon, and came home at 6 o'clock. His
intellect was quite gone. He did not know witness or any
of his family. He was irrational. He spoke of birds
and fishes. Subsequently fi,s came en, He had before
suffered in the saute way from delirium tremens, and Dr.
Walsh said that a relapse would cause either his death or
his detention in a madhouse. He uied on the Wednesday
morning. The witness was sure he did not take anything
noxious. He was a registered medical practitioner. Mrs.
Fimes, 1, Featherstone-buildings, City-road, confirmed the
evidence of the last witness. IL Williams, 102 N, said that
he apprehended Mr. Law for disposing of the dead body of
a child. Sergeant Smith said that he booked the charge
against the deceased, and put him in the sell. 'Witness left
him at 9 o'clock on Sunday morning. He was perfectly
sound in mind then. Witness next saw him on Mon-
day morning at Worship street police-court. He called
witness over to him in the dock and said, " I was taken
from 'Worship-street in a cab and they will take me there in
a van. Will you come with me ?" He then spoke to his
attorney. Witness thought that Mr. Law made a mistake,
or that his mind wandered. That was about midday. Dr.
Wm. Wallace said he was called in to see the deceased at
his house in Virginia-row, Bethnal-green, early on Tues-
day morning. He was suffering from Oelirium tremens.
Witness ordered him rest, nourishment, ar.d stimulants.
Deceased died next day. Death arose from delirium tremens.
A man given to drink and locked up for two days, and ex-
hibiting aberrations of intellect on the Monday morning,
ought to have been seen by a medical man while in cus-
tody. Witness would have then given stimulants and
nourishment. Delirium tremens generally yields quickly to
treatment, and it was quite possible that if deceased had
been medically attended while in custody his life would have
been saved. The Coroner said that if the information he
had received was correct, the deceased while in custody was
either out of his mind or was shamming insanity. It would
be very necessary to ascertain whether proper steps had
been taken to discover whether he was really in a state of
dana-erous disease, or whether the symptoms observed were
reigned. Police 'constable Williams said that deceased ap-
peared rational when taken to the police court. He had
received colide and bread and butter for breakfast on the
Sunday. When witness arrested him in the Kingsland-
road he called out for a person named Wyman, who was his
assistant. The proceedings were adjourned to investigate
he treatment of the deceased while in custody.

the Marquis of Anglesey and the Earl of Uxbridge resided
in London, but he believed what the prisoner had said about
the bills, and he did not think it worth his while to go to
them. He occasionally gave the prisoner a shilling and
half-a-crown while the transaction was pending. The pri-
soner did not appear to be rich, and notwithstanding that
witness did not think it extraordinary that such a man
should have in his possession two bills for £l,OOO and £5OO,
purporting to be drawn and accepted by the Marquis of
Anglesey and the Earl of Uxbridge.
By Mr. Lewis —The prisoner had told him that he was on
most intimate terms with the marquis and the earl, and that
he had actually seen them siga the bills in question.
Sergeant Huggert, in cross-examination, said the prisoner
was in a deplorably destitute condition when he took him
into custody.
The Marquis of Anglesey was called. He said—l reside
at 48, Albermarle-street. The acceptances to the four bills
produced are certainly not in my handwriting, either one or
other of them, nor were they written by my authority. I
do not know the prisoner. lam not a member of the
Junior United Service Club. Messrs. Hoare are not my
bankers.
By Mr. Champ—The acceptances are not in the least like
my -'

signature.
Mr. Mark William Lyndon, clerk in the Guards' depart-
ment of Messrs Cox, the army agent in Craig's-court, said
the Earl of Uxbridge kept an account with them. He was
well acquainted with the handwriting of the earl, and the
signatures to the endorsement of the bills produced did not
in the least resemble it.

By Mr. Champ—lf anybody had come to him with those
bills he should at once havo pronounced them to be for-
geries.
Mr. Charles Amow, clerk to Messrs. Clack, army agents

in Leicester-square, deposed that Major Massey, known as
" Redan" Massey is now attached to the sth Lancers. The
regiment left Plymouth in July last for Calcutta in the ship
Newcastle, and Major Massey went with it. He was not
in England in October last.
Mr. Champ addressed the Court for the prisoner. He
submitted that the mere writing the name of a person to a
document did not constitute a forgery, unless it could be
shown there was an intention to defraud. Was it at all

likely that he could have expected, in his then destitute con-
dition, to palm off on a man with the experience of Mr.
Peters two bills for £l,OOO and £5OO, purporting to be signed
by two noblemen within easy reach ? It was as little likely
that Mr. Peters, meeting the prisoner for the that time in
an obscure public house in Bush-lane, could ttave believed
the bills were genuine, or that he could have got them dis-
counted, the prisoner being then without shoes, and desti-
tute to all appearance. The prisoner was a man with re-
spectable family connexions, but unfortunately he had b -
come addicted to the vice of drunkenness, and to that his
present position was attributable. He did not believe that
any jury would convict the prisoner; considering that there
could have been no intent en his part to defraud Mr. Peters
—and no other person had complained of having been de-
frauded—intent being the very essence of all crime.
Mr. Lewis said that when a man attempted, as the pri-
soner had done, to put into circulation bills to the amount of
£9,000, and asked another to discount them, he must have
intended to defraud somebody.
Mr. Goodman said in the case of " the Queen v. Beaed,"

S, C. and P. 143, Mr. Justice Coleridge said, " As to the
intent, I must tell you that every man is taken to intend
the natural consequences of his own act, If I present to
you a bill with the name of my friend upon it, knowing it
to be forged, it would be idle to say that I had no intent to
injure him."'
Mr. Champ said that was a very old case, and that there
had been a different decision since.
Mr. Goodman—lt is standard law in the city of London
at all events.
Mr. Lewis explained that the Marquis of Anglesey and
the Earl of Uxbridge had only been actuated in coming for •
ward in this matter by the desire to prevent a man of whom
they knew nothing going about London to defraud people,
though they could not but regret his destitute condition.
The prisoner, on being cautioned from the bench as to
anything he might say, reserved his defence.
The Lord Mayor committed him to Newgate for trial,
and declined, as not being within his power, to entertain an
application by his solicitor to admit him to bail in the
meantime.