The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-02 00:00:00

CANADA.

QUEBEC, Aug. 22.
The surveys and estimates of the Intercolonia
Railroad have been submitted to the Colonial Par.

liament. The route recommended is via River du
Loup, Bay of Chaleur, Fredericktown, and Fictou,
to Halifax, and will cost 25 millions, or $440,000
per mile.

Great Western Railway Carriage Works,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,--As the following letter from the eminent
geologist, the Rev. J. C. Clutterbuck, may contain
valuable information for those who are interested
in the above question, I shall feel obliged by your
giving it a place in your impression of the 2d inst
—I am faithfully yours,
Caldicott, Lodge, Bushey, Sept. 1.

C. H. LINDSAY

Long Wittenham, Abingdon, August 30.
Dear Sir,—ln answer to your letter of yesterday, I can
have no objection to give you my opinion as to the pro-
posed removal of the Great Western Railway works to
Cripley-meadow, near Oxford.
lam well acquainted with the locality. I have seen the
holes lately made to test the quality and condition of the
soil. The water stands so near the surface that I could
only judge from the soil thrown out. The section through-
out the depth could not be seen. Not long since, however,
I made a very close examination of the soil within 100
yards of the spot, and am convinced that it is essentially
the same as the soil of Cripley-meadow. By specimens I
have by me, and of which I send you samples, I find that
the surface soil—say four feet deep, above the gravel,
evidently the deposit of floods, consists of layers of sandy
and argillaceous silt, that immediately above the gravel
being generally (and as shown in the specimen sent) of a
peaty character. The depth of the drift gravel is uncer-
tain from the undulating nature of the surface of the
underlying Oxford clay. The depth of the surface warp, as
it may be called, varies also, but at Cripley may be put at
four feet. I believe it would be necessary to remove the
whole of this before a solid foundation could be secured,
and this at a vast expense of pumping on the water level,
which lies in and rises through the gravel, and which could
not be permanently reduced even in dry seasons, more than
18 inches or two feet by drains cut to a lower outfall in
this part of the Thames Valley.

In direct answer to your question, and according to the
rules of common sense, I do not think it a site on which an
establishment such as the Great Western Railway works
ought to be placed.

As to the sanitary question, I would rather refer you to
Dr. Acland's elaborate and valuable memoir on the cholera
at Oxford (J. 11. Parker, 377, Strand, and at Oxford), in
the year 1854, but having reference also to 1832 and 1849,
a book all should study who value the health of towns. In
the beautifully executed and elaborate map of Oxford, by
which it is illustrated, it is shown that the disease was
nearly confined to the lowest localities, as indicated by
contour lines drawn at a rise of every five feet, none, how-
ever, being so low as Cripley-meadow, which is below the
flood line given in the map, and, consequently, below any
inhabited part of Oxford.

As to the offer of a site by Sir G. Bowyer, I know that
there are many spots on his extensive estates near the
railway which are healthy and well fitted for building
purposes, such as are required by the Great Western Rail-
way, and far above the flood line. It is a remarkable fact
that there was not, I believe, a single case of cholera in
Abingdon in 1832. I think I have now answered all your
questions, and am, dear sir, yours faithfully,

JAMES C. CLUTTER/11.TM.
The Hon. Colonel C. 11. Lindsay, M.P.

The Baby Actress.

_

The entertainment now being given at the Westbourne
Hall, Bayswater, is of a very peculiar character, from the
fact that the principal performer, Miss Howard, is but
two years and a few days old. She is called the Baby
Actress, and certainly we have never heard the lines of
Shakspere declaimed before by a child of such tender
years. The principal part of the entertainment consists
of the performance of one of the scenes from "King
John"—that with Hubert and Prince Arthur in the
Tower. The retentive memory of the Baby Actress
is most astonishing ; but this is not all : the words
are not only correctly spoken, but they are delivered with
a force and emphasis that would do no discredit to many
actors of more mature age. Mr. Howard, the father of the
little child who sustains the part of Hubert, states most
positively that no forcing or unkind treatment has been
used to bring about such a peculiarity in his daughter,
but that, on the contrary, the natural gifts of the
child have only been fostered, and, to a degree,
developed. If such be the case then the performance is
truly wonderful. Judging from appearances the little lady
appears as happy as a princess, there is no trace of " hot-
house process;" and such being the case the entertainment
an be witnessed with the greatest pleasure. Some of our
contemporaries, however, have been doubtful in the matter,
and, as honest journalists, they have not scrupled at
giving their doubts publicity, but Mr. Glenie, to whom
Mr. Howard and his infant daughter are under certain
engagements, has addressed to us the following letter,
which it appears to us to be but fair to make public :--

" TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

" Sir,—A few days since I had the honour to send you,
among others of the press, a ticket of admission to witness
the performance of the "Baby Actress."
" The Telegraph, without seeing the child, was pleased in
its impression of Wednesday, the 22d, to devote a leader'
in condemnation of the performance. The writer assumed
the hypothesis that this was a child who, showing au early
intelligence, was tutored," crammed,' and forced ' into a
prodigy by those to whom it belonged, then drew a picture of
the heartlessness of the parents with the sufferings of the
child, and designated the performance as having something
not only distressing,' but horrible,' about it.
" It has occurred to me that other members of the press
may have somewhat the same impression of the character
of the performance; hence I hasten to assure you that the
"Baby Actress" has net been crammed or 'forced' in
any sense of those words. Her powers of mimicry and
memory are so wonderful that her performance of recit
ing, &c., is but a natural result of those gifts.—l have the
honour to remain, yours very respectfully,

-4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park, Aug. R. GLENIE.
81, 1865."

A LARGE STURGEON.—On Thursday afternoon,
about two miles south of Rame-head, the Plymouth fishing
sloop Red Rover, belonging to Mr. Samuel Browne, caught
in her trawl-net a sturgeon 9ft. Bin. long, from nose to tail,
4ft. girth, and weighing 3icwt. It was alive when landed
the same evening at the Barbican, and having been wrapped
in canvas, 'was sent, via south Devon Railway, to Billings-
gate-market.