The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-11 00:00:00

STAMPED ....sd.

THE MAIN DRAINAGE TVORKS

On Saturday an inspection of the gigantic works
constructed for the main drainage of the metropolis
was made by J. Thwaites, Esq., chairman, several
members, J. W. Bazalgette, Esq., chief engineer,
and the entire staff of officers of the 'Metropolitan
Board of Works; M. Meunier, prefect of the Seine,
and a large body of visitors.
The party started by steamboat from Hangerford
Market betwen eleven and twelve o'clock for Green-
wich, and upon landing at the pier they at once
proceeded to the immense sewer constructed by Mr.
Webster, extending from Deptford Creek toCross-
ness Point, Plumstead Marshes. This sewer is com-
pletely circular, 11 feet 6 inches in diameter, 18
inches thick, except that part of it which passes
under Woolwich, where it is 2 feet thick, and 71
miles in length. The sewer was lighted by hun-
dreds of candles, placed at regular distances from
each other, and the effect, when viewed as far as
the eye could reach, was really marvellous. The
pumping station at Deptford was next examined,
by means of which the sewage will be pumped from'
the low level to the high level sewer, and the mag-
nitude of the works excited the greatest surprise.
The whole of the company were then escorted to
the river side, where a steamboat was in waiting,
and they crossed over to the Bow and Stratford
branch of the Eastern Counties Railway, and on
it were conveyed to Old Ford. Here the completed
northern high level from Hampstead, a length of 91
miles, and the work of Mr. Moxon, was examined,
together with the penstock chamber and overflow
channels. Here is a junction of the Middle-level
Sewer, 12 feet in diameter, and by the aid of the
penstock and overflow channels the sewage can
either be continued on its course to the outlet, or
passed into the River Lea, which at present re-
ceives the sewage of the district. From this point
the Northern Outfall Sewer is now in the course
of construction by Mr. Furness, and will
terminate at Barking Creek. This work will be
51 miles in length, consisting of double and treble
lines of sewers, each 9 feet in diameter, and for a
considerable distance they will be from 15 feet to
17 feet above the level of the surrounding land, the
sewers themselves either resting on an embankment
or brick arches. In its line there will be seven
aqueducts over rivers, two aqueducts over railways,
and the materials employed in the construction of
the sewers, concrete embankment and substructure
of arches through the marshes, will consist of
20,000 rods of brickwork, 500,000 yards of concrete,
and 100,000,000 bricks. The contract price is
£625,000. These sewers at Barking will discharge
into a reservoir, which will cover an area of 12 acres,
and from this reservoir it will be discharged into
the River during the ebb of the tide. All these
works were minutely examined, the party proceed-
ing to Barking in the contractors' trucks on a rail-
way laid down to facilitate the carriage of materials
from the River to different parts of the works.

Having arrived at the extreme point of the works
he party partook of luncheon in a pavilion.

CURIOUS DISCOVERY OF A MISER.

A most remarkable case has within the last day
or so come under the notice of the authorities of the
Bank of England. A few nights ago a policeman.
named Donovan, in the H division, had his atten-
tion drawn to a wretched-looking old man who was
walking along a street in the neighbourhood of
\%Thitechapel. His appearance bespoke the most ex-
treme destitution, he was dirty and literally clothed
in rags, and he was apparently borne down by some
heavy weight which he had about him. The officer,
thinking that the poor creature had some lead or
stolen property in his possession, asked him what he
had got round his body. The old fellow wished to
know what business that was of the officer. The
constable replied that he must know, and that if he
did not satisfy him, he must take him to the station.
The old man still declined to enlighten the police-
man, and he was accordingly walked off to the Leman-
street police station on suspicion of having some-
thing not his own concealed about his body. At
first the inspector was almost induced to remons-
trate with the officer for bringing such a dirty,
wretched outcast to the station, for his filthy rags
gave off such an offensive stench as to render his
presence quite unbearable. However, the officer
had a duty to discharge, and the inspector told the
old man, who had a considerable stoop and totter,
that he had better let them know what it was. The
old fellow at length muttered out "money." The
officers if anything were more perplexed, and the
very unpleasant task was then gone through of un-
burthening him of his precious load. From round
his body were taken several bundles of dirty rags,
which were found to contain gold and silver and
five Bank of England notes to the amount of nearly
£2OO. There was about £lOO in silver. The old
man was asked to account for the possession of the
money. He replied that it was his own, that he had
been saving it for upwards of 20 years, that as he
accumulated the gold and silver he secured it in the
bags which he placed round his budy for safe keep-
ing, and never took them off. The officers were still
dubious about his story, and they asked him how
he had earned such a lot of money. He answered
that he had been a hard-working man, that for
many years he carried clothes for the Jews in Petti-
coat-lane, doing odd jobs and running errands in
the streets. He was asked whether he could name
any person who had so employed him, and he men-
tioned several persons, some Jews. They, on being
applied to, confirmed his statement; they had oc-
casionally employed him for years, and he was
always of dirty and penurious habits, and they
expressed their astonishment that he should have
had so much money about him. As there wa.s now
no doubt as to the treasure really belonging to
the old man, the police thought of the belt way of
protecting him, as some of his o.eldrye yers in
Petticoat-lane suddenly became N
.mmpuch. inter-
ested in his behalf, and proffered their assistance
in taking care both of him and his money. The 1
officers suggested that it would be very imprudent
for him to continue to carry so large a sum of
money about with him, and proposed that at
least he should get rid of the silver, and deposit
it at the Bank. The poor
.old creature thought
take care of it as thgeoßtaontkh.e How_
he could as well
ever, he was at last persuaded to
of England, but his wretched and offensive ap-
pearance, and the process of turning the large
amount of silver out of the dirty rags, had such an
effect upon the cashiers that they declined have any-
thing to do with the old man or his cash, probably
fearing that that there was something infectious
about him. The city detectives, who were in at-
tandance, tried their good offices, and the cashiers
were at length induced to receive the silver (there
being only one bad half-crown amongst the mass),
and to give the old man notes for the amount.
After some further persuasion he was induced to in-
vest the whole of his long earned savings. He was
taken to the office of Robert Carden,and the worthy
alderman kindly undertook to do the best he could
for him, and received about £192 from the old man,
for whirl he had a receipt. The police then further
advised him to have a good wash, and he returned
to his abode, but evidently not so well at ease as to
the security of his money as when he carried it about
with him.

GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY OF r
CANADA.—The
official declaration of the results of the voting on the reso-
lution approving of " The Grand Trunk Arrangements Act,
1862," which bad been proposed on Friday by Mr. Craw-
ford, M.P., at the meeting of shareholders, was made on
Saturday afternoon, at the London Tavern. Mr. Thomas
Baring, M.P., presided, The following is a copy
of the
document which was handed to the representatives of the
press, it being accompanied by an intimation that there
would be no speech-making on the occasion:—" Persons,
1,311 for the motion • 9 against; shares and bonds,
3,788,601 for the motion'• 48,485 against." From this it
will be seen that the majority for the resolution is 1,302 on
personsand 3,710,116 on shares and bonds,