The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-16 00:00:00

Metropolitan and Suburban Railways.

We recently directed attention to the ravages the
Railway Companies proposed to make in London,
and pointed out how the majority of the Extensions 1
and Junctions owed their origin, not to benevolent
plans for the convenience of the public, but either
to the mischievous rivalries of the companies them-
selves or to the reckless energy of contractors, en-
gineers, or Parliamentary solicitors, the most lucra-
tive portion of whose business often consists in
getting up these schemes. Since then the House of
Commons has, on its second reading, thrown out a
bill for bringing a railway from the Great Northern
in a cutting to the top of Regent-street, and it ap-
pears more than probable that the Great Eastern
Station will either remain where it is, or when it
does spring into the metropolis, must select some
other spot than Finsbury-square in which to alight.
So far, therefore, so good. But in the meantime we I
would invite attention to the fact that it is by no
means the Metroplitan Extensions only which re-
quire looking after, and that some bills which bear
the most harmless of suburban titles are likely, if
passed, to do a lasting injury to the metropolis
itself. Such are the bills promoted by the London
and Brighton Company, and the London, Chatham,
and Dover Company, both of whom actually pro-
pose to take their lines through Greenwich Park,
the most ancient, and by far the most beautiful, of
all the parks round London. The promoters of
these schemes say that they "intend to studiously
avoid injuring the Park," and only mean to " take
the line through the Park by a tunnel about half a
mile long." This tunnel, however, must be con-
structed, we believe, on what engineers call the
" cut and cover" system ; that is to say, a broad and
deep cutting is first made, the tunnel then built,
and the earth then filled in again. A disfigurement
of this kind for some twelve months or so while the
works are progressing ought itself to be a sufficient
reason for the rejection of the bill, but this will not
be the least of the evil, for the formation of any
tunnel through the Park will drain the moisture
from the trees and kill all the noble elms and ches-
nuts in its neighbourhood. In the matter of rail-
way extension the Legislature has taken special
care of the north side of the metropolis, while the
south side has been left to the mercy of every angry
company or hungry projector. It is most earnestly
to be hoped that they will not permit this last yet
of desecration, and that this old, historic playground
of the south of London will be left in its natural
beauty. It required a great effort, some years ago,
to prevent the present Woolwich line from doing
what two now wish to do, and the public will, in-
deed, have passed from King Log to King Stork if
all their exertions to keep one railway from touch-
ing the Park end in two rivals and antagonists
passing through its centre. Members of both
Houses have struggled to prevent the violation of
the St. Pancras-road and to preserve the dtist
rurality of Finsbury-square—is there none who
say a word for Greenwich Park, and the thousands
who daily derive pleasure in the contemplation of
its quiet beauties P—Times.

THE FORTIFICATIONS.—A return printed on Sa-
turday states that the total amount raised under
the Fortifications Loan Act is 12,070,000, for which ter-
minable annuities amounting to £133,827 have been created.
The sum raised in 1861 was £950,000 ; in 1162, £970,000 ;
and the remainder, £150,000, was raised on the 9th January
last, The rate of interest at which the annuities were cal-
culated is 31 per cent.

Shoeburyness for the purpose of witnessing some
experiments with heavy artillery.
VALETTA, March 10.—Her Majesty's screw line-
of-battle ship Queen, 74, Capt. C. F. Hillyar, ar-
rived from Corfu on the 4th inst., which ;sland she
left on the 28th ult. She was inspected by Rear-
Admiral Dacres, C. 8., on the 25th ult., and has
come here to be caulked. She has brought the fol-
lowing supernumeraries :—Lieut. Royd, of her Ma-
jesty's ship Marlborough ; 3 seamen for Malta hos-
pital; 8 seamen and 1 marine, invalided; 9 seamen
en route to Eugland, and 1 marine ditto. The Aus-
trian frigate Frederick, 22, arrived at Corfu on the
23d ult. from Calamata, and left on the 26th for
Patras and Missolonghi. The Turkish screw tran-
sport Funa touched at Corfu on the 23d, and left on
the following day for Antivari, having on board
Gen. Abdi Kerim Pasha and suite, to assume the
command of the Turkish troops in that district.
Her Majesty's paddlewheel frigate Magicienne, 16,
Lieut. E. White, returned from Corfu on the 9th
inst., whither she had conveyed supernumeraries
for the ships at that station. She left Corfu on the
7th inst., leaving at anchor there her Majesty's
screw line-of-battle ship Edgar, 89, Capt. the Hon.
F. A. Foley (bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral S. C.
Dacres, C. 8.), and the screw line-of-battle ship Tra-
falgar, '7O, Capt. the Hon. T. Bailie. The Magici-
enne brought down Commander R. Reid, of the
Trafalgar, sick, for Naval Hospital, and Lieut.
Brady, 6th Regiment. The Magicienne is to be held
in readiness to convey Prince Alfred to Marseilles,
as soon as the deputy-inspector considers his Royal
Highness is well enough to leave the hospital. Dr.
Armstrong will accompany the Prince to Eng-
land. Her Serene Highness the Princess of
Leiningen visited his Royal Highness yesterday.
We learn from Corfu that the screw frigate Shan-
non, 35, Capt. 0. J.Jones, left that island on the 3d
inst. for Patras, to relieve the screw sloop Chanti-
cleer, Commander C. Stirling. Her Majesty's pad-
dlewheel frigate Firebrand, 6, Commander S. B.
Piers, left Malta on the 6th inst. for England, to be
paid off. She has on board as passengers Captain
Richardson, Lieut. Steworth, Major Saul, Mr. R.
Matthew, Mr. A. Arthur, and 29 non-commissioned
officers and men of the Royal Artillery, and re-
turned stores. The screw sloop Icarus, 11, Com-
mander N. Salmon, V.C., left on the following day
for Naples with supernumeraries for the screw line-
of-battle ship Meeanee, 60, Capt. G. Wodehouse.
The St. George, 84, screw line-of-battle ship, Capt.
the Hon, F. Egerton, now in Malta harbour, will
return to Naples shortly, when the Meeanee will re-
turn to Malta. The screw frigate Liffey, 39, Capt.
G. Parker, left Malta harbour on the morning of
the 9th inst. for the Piraeus. She conveys orders
for the screw frigate Phoebe, 35, Capt. T. D. A.
Fortescuo, to leave the Pirseas for Corfu. The
Trident, 6, iron paddlewheel sloop, Commander C.
J. Balfour, is to proceed to Gibraltar, to remain for
the present on that station in place of the Firebrand,
gone on. The Supply, 2, iron screw storeship,
Master-Commander W. H. Balliston, will leave this
week for Corfu, and on return proceed to England.
The Marlborough, 131, screw line-of-battle ship,
Capt. W. A. Stewart, C.B. (bearing the flag of the
Vice-Admiral Commander in Chief), is to sail in a
few days for a cruise, and will visit some of the
lonian Islands. In her absence Vice-Admiral Sir
W. F. Martin's flag will probably be transferred to
the Queen, which on her return will be sent back to
the Piraeus. The remainder of the Mediterranean
fleet are distributed as follows ;—Malacca, 17, screw
sloop, Cap•. G. N. Napier; Alacrity, 4, screw gun-
boat, Commander J. Baird ; and the Wanderer, 4,
screw gunboat, Commander M. C. Seymour, coast
of Syria. The last mentioned vessel has been
ordered to Malta. The Weser, 6, iron
paddle vessel, Commander A. H. Johnstone,
and the Cockatrice, 2, screw gunboat, Lieut..
Commander R. M. Wilson, at the mouth of
the Danube. The Psyche, 2, paddlewheel despatch
vessel,Lieut.-Commander Sterne, at Constantinople
the Caradoc, 2, despatch vessel, on her way to the
Mediterranean from England ; the Pelican, 17,
screw sloop, Commander P. Brock, and the Fox-
hound, 4, screw gunboat, Commander the Hon. A.
Hobart, to the Levant. The Hibernia, receiving

ship Commander R. B. Harvey (bearing the flag of
Rear-Admiral 11. J. Codrington, C. 8.), with her
tenders, Boxer and Growler; the Medina, 4, sur-
veying vessel,Capt. T. A. B. Spratt, C.B. ; the Fire-
fly, 5, surveying vessel, Commander A. Mansell;
and the Surprise, 4, screw gunboat, Commander
W. H. White, at Malta. Brigadier-Gen. Bates,
who commands the 2d Brigade at Malta, has pro-
ceeded home, to take the command, it is understood,
of the 2d Brigade of Infantry at Aldershott. Col.
Atherly, of the 92d Highlanders, will,it is reported,
succeed Gen. Bates in the command of the 2d
Brigade in this garrison.
The screw steamship Warrior, 40, Capt. the Hon.
Arthur A. Cochrane, and the Defence, 18, Capt. A.
Cowell, C. 8., both from the eastward, arrived in
Plymouth Sound on Saturday morning.
The War Department steam transport Lord
Panmure, H. T. Moore commanding, has left the
arsenal at Woolwich, and has been docked in Messrs
Simpson's yard at Millwall. Her engines and
boilers have been removed, and a complete survey
has been made of every compartment with a view to
a thorough renovation. The woodwork was found
to be decayed and the boilers corroded by bilge
water. After being repaired the boilers will be re-
placed in a thick coating of Day's impermeable
cement, now used in all iron ships of the service
with good effect, and from the bilge upwards she
will receive a double coating of Peacock's composi-

tion. The repairs are expected to be completed
about the end of April.
Her Majesty's sloop Spiteful, Commander Wil-
son, was on Saturday put out of commission and
paid off at Woolwich for repairs.
The steam storeship Industry, Master Comman-
der Youel, sailed yesterday from Greenhithe, after
the adjustment of compasses, laden with a cargo of
victualling and dockyard stores from Deptford and
Woolwich, for Ascension, calling at Madeira and
St. Vincent.

The whole of the Finch plates received at Wool-
wich dockyard, and intended for casing the inner
face of the 4-gun sloop Enterprise, building at
Deptford, have been returned to the contractors,
having been found unfit for use. The defects con-
sisted of blisters, puffed patches, and imperfect
manufacture, detected in numerous spots on each
plate. The interior fittings of the Enterprise are
now nearly complete. The iron upper works are
progressing rapidly and well under the united
efforts of the shipwrights and smiths, who vie with
each other in the efficiency of their labour. The
moulds for the armour-plates were last week
despatched to the Atlas works, Sheffield. The
Favourite, 8-gun iron-cased corvette, building on
the adjoining slip at Deptford, has had her frame
completed, and is nearly ready to receive the
planking.
A 9-incti muzzle-loading gun, on Mr. Lynal
Thomas's system, and of the largest dithensions yet
manufactured in Woolwich Arsenal, will be proved
at Shoeburyness to-morrow. The weight of the
gun is 16 tons. It is built up on the coil principle,
solid-sided—namely, having a solid piece of metal
at each end of the chase.
The Hector, 32, iron frigate, of 4,063 tons and 800
horse power, arrived et Spithead yesterday morning
from the Clyde, where she has been built for the
Admiralty by Messrs. Napier and Sons, Glasgow.
She is an iron built ship of intermediate size, be-
tween the Warrior and Resistance class, and is the
first ship afloat carrying armour round her bows

The following is a copy of the Bill to Regulate
the Removal in hired or public Corricges of Persons
labouring under Infectious Diseases in the Metro-
polis, brought into the House of Commons by Dr.
Brady and Sir Fitzroy Kelly :
Whereas an act was passed in the 24th year of the reign
of her most gracious Majesty, chapter 77, intituled "Act to
amend Acts for the Removal of Nuisances and the Preven-
tion of Diseases," whereby it was, among other things, en-
acted, that it should be lawful for the local authority for the
executing the Diseases Prevention Act to procure and main-
tain a carriage or carriages suitable for the conveyance of
persons suffering from any infectious or contagious disease
as in the said recited act more particularly mentioned ; and
the provisions of the said act have been found insufficient
within the metropolis to prevent the conveyance of persons
so suffering in public vehicles plying for hire, and such per-
sons are conveyed in the said vehicles, to the great danger
and peril of her Majesty's subjects thereafter using such
vehicles ; and it is expedient to make other and better pro-
vision for preventing such practices : be it therefore enacted
by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with the ad-
vice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and
Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the
authority of the same, as follows :

1. Every local authority executing the Diseases Preven-
tion Act within any part of the city of London or the me-
tropolitan police district shall, within one month after the
passing of this act, provide and for ever thereafter maintain
such and so many carriages suitable in all respects for the
purpose of being used for the conveyance of persons suffer-
ing under infectious or contagious diseases, so that the same
shall be ready and available at all reasonable times for the
use of those who may require the same, and shall at all
times hereafter provide suitable and necessary appliances to
enable such conveyances to be used; and such carriages
shall be kept in such convenient place or places as the said
local authorities may appoint, so as to be conveniently ac -
cessible to all the inhabitants of the district for which such
authority acts.

2. It shall be lawful for such local authority, if they shall
so think fit, to fix for the conveyance of any person in one of
such carriages such charges as they may deem right, not
exceeding the amount now allowed by law to be charged by
the owner of a vehicle licensed to ply for hire within the
said districts.

3. From and after the passing of this act if any person
shall hire, use, or employ, or cause to be hired, used, or em-
ployed, any hackney carriage plying within the metropoli-
tan district for the removal of any person whom he shall
know or have reasonable cause to believe to be suffering
from any infectious or contagious disease whatsoever, or
shall personally aid, assist, or abet any other person in
hiring, using, or employing any such hackney carriage.
every such person, on summary conviction thtreof, shall
forfeit and pay a penalty not exceeding £lO.
4. It shall not be necessary upon the hearing of any
chargdef such offence having been committed, in any such
conviction or record of such conviction, to state or prove the
disease under which such person was suffering, but it shall
be sufficient to allege and show that such person was suf-
fering from disease, and the person using or employing the
hackney carriage knew or had reason to behave that such
disease was infectious or contagious.

5. The half of the penalty imposed upon conviction of
any offence against this act shall be paid to the person giv-
ing information of the same.

6. All proceedings against any person for an offence un-
der this act shall be taken in accordance with the provi-
sions of an act passed in the 10th year of the reign of his late
Majesty King George IV., intitled " An Act for improving
the Police in and near the Metropolis," and the several acts
amending the same; and all the provisions of the said acts
relating to summary convictions shall be applicable to con-
victions under this act, so far as the same may be reason-
ably capable of being applied thereto.
7. In this act, and in any conviction or proceeding under
it, the word " infectious" shall include "contagious," and,
every contagious disease shall be deemed to be infectious for
the purpose of this act.
8. This act may be intituled "The Diseases Prevention
Act, 1863."

9. This act and the said recited act of the 24th year of
her Majesty's reign, chap. 77, shall be read together as one
act.

Such a measure is most urgently needed, and tho
metropolitan public are deeply indebted to Dr.
Brady, the member for Leitrim, for having thus
brought the subject to which it relates before tho
Legislature

MANUFACTORIES OF THE WARD EPARTMENT.—
In the financial year 1861.62 there Were employed
in these manufactories 12,118 officers, foremen, artificers,
and labourers; and in 1862.63, 11,146. It is proposed to
employ only 7,929 in the year 1863-64. The 3,627 persons
employed in the gun factories in the currant year 1862-63
are to be reduced to 1,688,