The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-29 00:00:00

SPECIAL MEETIISrG-(THIS DAY.)

A special general meeting a the proprietors in this com-
pany was held this day at the Waterloo Station, for the
purpose cf approving of the Metropolitan and Thames
Valley Railway.
Captain MANGLES, the chairman, said the bill, as it
stood, was to empower the construction of a line of railway
from Twickenham to Shepperton, which was only about
eight miles in length.
The SOLICITOR explained the nature of the bill as it
affected the South-Western Railway.
The CHAIRMAN moved the following resolution :—" That
this meeting having considered the bill now pending in
Parliament, entituled an Act for making*railways from the
London and South-Western Railway to Hampton and
Shepperton, in the county of Middlesex, approves of the
clause and provisions therein, by which powers are pro-
posed to be conferred on the London and South-Western
Railway, with such modification as Parliament may require
or permit, and as the directors shall approve."
The resolution was carried unanimously.
The proceedings then terminated.

THE GREAT FEN DELUGE.

LYNN, WEDNESDAY EVENING,

The actual works in progress for stopping the,
flow of water are as follows :—First in importance
is the coffer-dam. A number of piles about 68 feet
in length are being driven about seven feet apart,
the piles being driven doubly, and a space left
between them. When the whole of this kind of
framework is complete, and the neap tide comes, it
is proposed to drop perpendicularly sheets of wood
encased in iron ; the iron plates are about an inch
in thickness, and the wooden sheets about five or
six inches, so that it is hoped they will be able to
repel the force of the current. It is hoped to be
able to raise this obstruction about three feet at each
tide, that is, after they get the framework com-
plete, which will not be for at least another week.
There are ten engines, but at no time are more than
four of them at once ; and there being but one gang
of men, who of course have to take their rest and
meals, little more than 12 hours a day is made. The
abandonment of Mr. Muller's dam, by orders of Mr.
Hawkshaw, has led to a slip of a great portion of
the bank 20 or 30 yards in length, and about 12 or
14 yards in width, and about 50 men are employed
in filling up this hole with clunel, which has been
obtained from the Humber, and brought here in
small vessels of a light draft, which can get under
the bridge, and come up to the north of the cut,
where we saw several lying this afternoon. We
understand that about 20 of these vessels, of 100
tons burden, are chartered with Yorkshire stone for
these works. Respecting the whole which was se-
cured in the east banks there is much diversity of
opinion amongst the engineers. Local engineers
have taken soundings, and state that there is no
improvement, whilst the engineer in charge of the
works, Mr. Smith, announced in the morning that
he had every reason to believe that it was being
filled up as quickly as possible. Meantime the
wide waters swell and surge by the motion of the
tide and the wind, and all is desolation over the
vast extent of the deluge.

ALLEGED DEATH FROM THE ADMINISTRA-
TION OF CHLOROFORM.

Yesterday morning much excitement prevailed at
the east end of the metropolis, in consequence of
the exhumation of the body of a Frenchman, named
Pierre Peicher, aged 35 years, from the burial
ground of the Tower Hamlets Cemetery, Bow-road,
by the warrant of Mr. John Humphreys, the
eoroner.
It appears that the deceased, about a fortnight
since, had been in the service of Sir Anthony
Rothschild, the proprietor cf the extensive refinery,
situated in Royal Mint-street, Tower-hill, where he
had been engaged in the manufacture of new coin
for the Government. He was afflicted with a
painful disease, although ho followed his daily
avocation. On Monday weer, the 19th instant,
he wished to have an operation performed on
him, and he was persuaded to have the assist-
ance of two French physicians, who were
sent for, in conjunction with Dr. Marshall,
of Great Titchbou rn -st reet, Leicester - square.
The three gentlemen arrived at the residence of
the deceased in Royal Mint-street, where measures
were adopted to perform the operation. They
then proceeded to administer chloroform in the
usual way, when one of the attendants discovered
that pulsation had suddenly ceased, and the patient
was dead before the operation could to performed.
The gentlemen became alarmed, and the friends of
the deceased sent for Dr. Cook of the Minories, and
his assistant promptly attended, and found life to
be extinct. He endeavoured to restore animation,
but his efforts were in vain.
The deceased expired on the Monday morning,
and was buried two days afterwards at the cemetery
above-named, and it seems that the registrar of the
death received a certificate from a medical gentle-
men to the effect that tle deceased had died a na-
tural death. These facts came under the notice of
Mr. Humphreys, who at once issued an order to
have the body exhumed, and it was removed in a
hearse yesterday to the parish dead-house to await
an inquest. The coroner has issued an order for a
peat-mortem examination, and Dr. Letheby, of the
London Hospital, has been directed to make an
analysis of the contents of the stomach.