The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-18 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlB,—Allow me to forward for the benefit of your
readers, the probable cause of the accidents which have
taken place lately on two of the principal railway lines in
this country. I enclose the mathematical calculation ;
and for the benefit of your non-algebraic readers the fol-
lowing explanation :—lf the velocity of any body be infi-
nite, it will describe a circle moving horizontally on an
even plane, but as the speed is decreased the body gradu-
ally recovers its perpendicular ; it is therefore impossible
for a goods train to go round a curve with the same in-
clination as an Express. The permanent way being
necessarily the same for all trains, an express train will
very possibly go over the upper rail, and thereby cause
the accidents which the railway officials and the public
in general are unable to account for.
Let AB be parallel to the axles through the centre of
gravity, and the inclination of the vertical to AB.
CD a section of the rails by a vertical plane through
AB, CB, DA = to the flat surface of the rails. Sup-
posing no tendency to upset endwise, the reactions of
the rail on the two wheels on one side perpendicular to
the flat surface will be equivalent to single force RI, in
CB, and the similar reactions on the other two wheels to
a single force Rin DA. There will also be a pressure
2
of the flange of the wheels against the inner side of the
outer rail, and consequently a reaction on the wheels
parallel to the plane of the rails. By these forces the
carriage is constantly turned in the plane parallel to the
rails, so as to make it follow the curve of the rails. The
single force, therefore, which is equivalent to these
would act parallel to these would act parallel to,DC, at
some point a little in advance of D, but as far as the
effect of upsetting the carriage sideways is concerned, it
may be supposed to act at D : let it be Q.

T—The velocity.
r—The radius of curvature.
v 2
The centrifugal force— acts at G in GA.

(A= a, AD= b.
Resolving forces parallel and perpendicular to AB, we
have—
MV2
W Cos a -1- Q ---= 0.
r
4.'n —IV sin
-1 2 _ _

M being the mass of carriage.
Taking moments about Gin the plane BAD.
Qb —(R = 0 (3)
2 1 •
.*. from (1) and (3) we obtain
(I-Et —w cos a) b=(R —R) a.
2
When the carriage is on the point of upsetting R= o.
R=W sin a. 1

MV2
---=NV COS a + -22 W sin a.
r b

b r W
a sin a + b cos a)

'a sin a + b cos a

• • /V= g the force of gravity.
• M

g(a sin a b cos a)
Which gives the limiting value of v, and if v be greater
the carriage will upset.
CANTAB.

TFIE Wen WITH Ave..—The House of Lords has just
ordered a document from tho East India House to be
printed respecting the war with Ava. A. return was
called for of the expense of the war. It appears that no
account of the expense already incurred has yet been
received. In the Bengal regular estimate for 1851-52
the war-charges on account of the expedition to Burmah
are assumed to amount that year to 10,00,000 rupees,
and in the Bengal sketch estimate for next year 1852-63,
the amount assumed is 50,00,000 rupees.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS-(YESTERDAY.)
THE MAILS TO AUSTRALIA.

Lord WHARNCLIFFE rose to ask the noble lord
he Postmaster-General whether the Government pro-

posed to make any arrangements for the more certain
transmission of the mails to Australia ; and whether

they intended to take any steps for more effectually en-
forcing or for terminating the contract for that object
with the Royal Australian Mail-packet Company. The
noble lord (who was extremely indistinctly heard) was
understood to say that he thought no one could be sur-

prised that great anxiety was felt by every person in the
remotest degree interested in our colonies situated in the
southern hemisphere, to have some explanation from the
Government as to the position in which the contract for
the transmission of the mails between this country and
those colonies now stood, and as to the course which the
Government intended to pursue in order to render that
most important service more efficient. To enable their
lordships thoroughly to appreciate the force of the case
which he wished to place before them, he trusted that he
would be allowed to recite a few facts. In the year 1851
a committee of the other house sat, and inquired into
what was the best course for establishing steam com-
munication between this country and Australia. The
committee presented their report, and upon that report
the Government subsequently acted. He believed the
contract with the Royal Australian Mail-packet Com-
pany had never yet been laid before Parliament, and,
with the concurrence of the noble lord, he would move
for a production of a copy of it. He had no intention
of casting any imputation upon any member of the com-
pany, some of whom he knew, and he believed they were
men of the highest character ; but this was a question of
public importance, and must be treated as one, the
merits of which did not turn upon individual compe-
tency. In the spring of 1852 the contract was entered
into, and by the terms of the tenders which were ac-
cepted by the company, the contractors were required to
convey the mails by screw steam-ships 6 times a year
each way, and to deliver and receive the mails at King
George's Sound, Adelaide, Port Philip, Sydney, and
other places which the Admiralty might appoint. The
course that was, however, determined upon was, that
they were to proceed by the Cape to Adelaide, Mel-
bourne, sad Sydney; and, in point of fact, the Govern-
ment,never insisted upon their going to King George's
Sound—a place where there were nu settlers—and by
this alteration the vessels were saved 1,000 miles of their
journey. They were required to make an average speed
of 8i knots an hour; the dates and hours of departure were
fixed by the Government; a penalty of 1001. (as we un-
derstood) was imposed in the event of a steamer not
being ready, with a further penalty of 501. a day for
detention beyond the appointed time of starting. Then
there was a penalty of 1001. if she lingered on the voyage,
put back, &c. The contract was given for 4 years, and
there was a provision for payment being made to the
company beforehand. Now the company which obtained
the contract, at the time they so obtained it, were not in
possession of a single vessel. The amount of their tender
was 26,000/. ; while that of another established com-
pany, which was bond fide in possession of vessels,
offered to take the service for 56,0001. It appeared that
the Royal Australian Mail packet Company had now
four vessels— the Australian, the Sydney, the Mel-
bourne, and the Adelaide. How had they performed the
mail service ? The Australian, the first vessel, was ap-
pointed to sail on the 4th of April, 1852. It turned out
afterwards that she could not leave then, and her depar-
ture was postponed till the 4th of June. She arrived at
Sydney on the Bth of September, taking 99 days to ac-
complish the distance, calculating it at 14,000 miles, the
highest amount, This was only a speed at the rate of
148 miles a day ; although she was required by her con-
tract to perform at the rate of 8i knots an hour, 204
miles. On her return she left Sydney on the 24th of
September, and was driven, from want of coals, or some

other defect, into the Mauritius. She arrived at Ply-
mouth on the 11th of January, 1853, occupying 112 days
on the passage, and steaming at the rate of 124 miles a
day. The next vessel was the Sydney, which sailed from
England on the 4th of August last, and arrived at Syd-
ney in the middle of November, making the passage in
about 100 days, at an average speed of 140 miles per
day She left Sydney on the 4th of December, and
and arrived on the 16th of March, making the passage
in 107 days, or at a speed of 130 miles a day. The Mel-
bourne was the next ♦essel that started. She was
originally in her Majesty's navy, and known by the
name of the Greenock. She sailed on the 15th of Octo-
ber, eleven days after the time appointed, and when she
got to the Bay of Biscay she broke down. She put in-
to the Tagus for repairs, and again put to sea from
Lisbon on the 21st of November, and the last that was
heard of her was that she had arrived at the Cape of
Good Hope on the 27th of December, and left it to con-
tinue on her voyage on the Ist of January. He under-
stood the General Screw Steam Company's vessels made
the passage to the Cape in 35 days. The Melbourne
took 77 days, accomplishing not more than 100 miles per
day. The next vessel was the Australian, which ought
to have sailed on the 3d of February, but did not leave
till the 24th. She was forced to put back. When pro-
ceeding on her second voyage she was again delayed, and
was again obliged to put back. She afterwards sailed
again on the 10th of March, and once more had to put
back to Plymouth, after having been in danger in the
Bay of Biscay, and was now he believed, on her way to
London. From what he had stated to their lordships,
it appeared that there had been a delay in the case of
the Melbourne of eleven days, in the case of the Adelaide
a delay, first of fourteen days, then of one day in putting
back, and afterwards of sixteen days, making a total of
thirty-one days ; and, lastly, that the Australian had at
first been delayed twenty days, and eighteen days after
that, making in all thirty-eight days. And the speed
per hour which those vessels had reached during their
voyages had been much below that which was stipulated
for in the contract. He thought that he was now en-
titled to ask their lordships whether it was not mon-
strous that the mail service should be allowed to be
executed in this very imperfect and defective manner—
(hear, hear)—and he should like to be informed whether
there were no means of withdrawing it from the hands
in which it was at present placed, and of entrusting it to
others. There was no question but that the service, if
properly arranged, might be performed in two months,
instead of, as at present 100 or 120 days ; indeed, he un-
derstood that letters had been received by the overland
mail which had left Australia in the middle of Novem-
ber, and had arrived here in the middle of January ; and
that others, which had been dispatched from Australia
on the 16th of January, had arrived here on.the 16th of
March-- _ _ _

A NOBLE PEER : From Sydney ?
Lord WHARNCLIFFE—No, from South Australia.
It appeared to him that the passengers had just ground
of complaint, not only on the source of delay, but also
on account of the insulting manner in which they had
been treated. Tile company had filled the Australian
so fully with freight that it had been necessary to de-
spatch the passengers' luggage by another vessel, and
the consequence was that the passengers were parted
from their effects. It was not for him (Lord Wharn-
cliffe) to say what ought to be done under these circum-
stances. He must say that he could not entirely exempt
the Government from some share of the blame, because
great powers had been given to them of interfering, by
means of surveyors, in order to satisfy themselves that
the vessels were really fit for service, and yet in spite of
those powers the vessels had been allowed to leave port
evidently in a totally unseaworthy state. He found that
it was provided that in case Of any wilful breach of agree-
ment on the part of the company, the Government
should have the power of dissolving the contract without
giving any compensation to the company. The Govern-
ment might, perhaps, avail themselves of this provision.
He trusted that the case which he had stated
cwoiniiscihdelrie:l
wsuiffishceidentto.t.opu jtusttoifyi;isthne 0 fbollelofts ci
forMtht moresty's
1 master-General, namelyWhetheArurheleir
Government proposedtfhteothteeaoknmetraaaniclyst measures
to Australia,
that purpose oasnedwfitohr
cefferetactiunaturyanesnmfoirsseiz o
the Australian Royal Mail Steam Navigation Com-
pany
CANNINGe a r , hear.)
afurieonedeurkorernbeen.
said that no apology was needed
paVnyislc"oun(
fromthei r hislordships
under the notice of
whichngilig under
had caused so much
public inconvenience, and had led to so much disappoint-
ment and • anxiety on the part of private
individuals.
Before proceeding to answer the questions • which his
noble friend had put to him, he thought it was necessary
that he should refer to one or two points with regard to
the contract between the Government and the Australian
Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, and the mode in
which it was performed by the latter. He (Viscount
Canning) had no wish to be considered as the champion

of the company, and if he had such a wish his task would
certainly be a difficult one, but he thought it right that
there should be no appearance of overcharge in what
was stated against the company ; and, in the first place,
he might remind their lordships of the exact nature of
the communication which existed at the present moment

between this country and Australia. The Australian
Royal Mail Company did not provide the only means of
postal communication between England and the Aus-

tralian colonies. There was, or there ought to be, a

regular monthly mail, starting alternately from Ply-
mouth and Southampton, proceeding on each alternate
Month by the Cape of Good Hope to Australia, and the
other months by the Mediterranean and Singapore. On
every alternate month of the year the service was per-
formed by the Australian Mail Steam Navigation Com-
pany, their vessels sailing by way of St. Vincent and
the Cape of Good Hope ; but however imperfectly the
service might be performed by them, there was not the
absence of all sure communication which his noble friend
had seemed to suppose. He (Viscount Canning) had no
wish to extenuate the conduct of the company in failing
to perform their contract, but he simply desired to assure
their lordships and the public as to the fact of there being
a safe and reliable means of communication between this
country and Australia. His noble friend had also found
fault with the low rate of speed- at which the vessels of
the company had performed their voyages ; but he (Vis-
count Canning) could not help thinking that his notie
friend had left out of his calculations the stoppages which
the vessels were obliged to make, being compelled to
stop at St. Vincent's, and at the Cape, besides further
stoppages in Australia, before they arrived at Sydney.
These stoppages ought to be taken into consideration.
He was not praising the company for their punctuality
or rapidity ; far from it ; but he wished their lordships
to be informed of the whole of the facts of the case. The
Australian, on her first voyage, had occupied 95 days in
reaching Sydney ; according to the time tables attached
to the contract 79 days was the time allowed to her for
completing the voyage.- Upon her return she had oc-
_cupied 113 days in going over the same space. That
therefore gave, in the one instance, a delay of 16, and in
the other a delay of 34 days over and above the right
time. With respect to touching at King George's
Sound, he was not prepared to defend the arrangement
under which that provision made a part of the contract.
The contract had been signed in June last, and he was
ignorant of the motive which had induced the Govern-
ment of the day to put this and some other provisions
into the contract, though he was sure that they had not
been inserted without due consideration. However, he
was inclined to think that the stoppage at King Georges
Sound was on the whole objectionable. His noble friend.
had stated correctly all that had happened in reference
to this unfortunate vessel the Australian. She ought to
have left Plymouth on her last voyage on the 3d of Feb.,
but the company had made application that she should
not sail until the 23d, as she was not likely to be ready
for sea before that day. The Lords of the Admiralty
had given their sanction to the delay, and the mails had
been sent down to Plymouth on the 23d, but the vessel
was not then ready, and did not sail until the 24th. This
last delay had been without the sanction of the Lords of
the Admiralty, and a fine had been inflicted on the occa-
casion, which would be enforced against the company.
On the 24th, the Australian put to sea, but on the 25th
she was obliged to put back to Plymouth, herself disabled
and her mails very seriously damaged. So far as re-
garded the performance of the public service, her Ma-
jesty's Government felt it to be their duty to provide for
the immediate dispatch of the letter part of the mails, and
it had so happened that when the accident occurred to
the Australian, it was within seven days of the dispatch
of the next monthly steamer. Accordingly, the letter
portion of the mail had been immediately sent to South-
ampton, and was now on its way, by the Mediterranean
and Singapore, to Australia. He did not apprehend
that much inconvenience would be suffered by parties
from this brief delay of seven days, because the means of
communication by which the letters had been dispatched
was so much shorter than the other that the letters would
reach their destination nearly as soon as if the Australian
had proceeded on her voyage. After sundry repairs, it
had been announced to Government that the Australian
would be ready to start again from Plymouth on the 10th
of this month. She did start; with a new mail, and,
as their lordships were aware, was obliged to put back
into Plymouth, more than ever disabled ; the mails, how-
ever, had suffered no injury, and the vessel was now on
her way up the Channel to the port of London. That
portion of the last mail which was addressed to the Cape
of Good Hope had been immediately transhipped to a
vessel belonging to the Screw Steam Company, which
sailed the following day ; and, in fact, the only portion
of the mail which would be at all delayed, and by which
any inconvenience would be caused, was the newspapers.
That, no doubt, would occasion serious inconvenience to
parties in Australia, but it
.had been quite ont of the
power of the Post-office to make arrangements for the
transmission of the newspapers, inasmuch as it would
have been utterly hopeless to attempt to convey the 150
large boxes which would be required for the purpose
across the Isthmus of Suez, unless due notice were given
beforehand. Those newspapers would in all pro-
bability be conveyed in a day or two by some fast-
sailing passenger vessel, and in the ordinary course
of things they would be delivered in the Australian
colonies within ninety-five days. He believed that he
had now replied to the inquiry of his noble friend so far
as it related to the transport of the present mails. As
regarded the question whether the Government would
take any steps for enforcing the contract with the Aus-
tralian Royal Mail Steam-packet Company, it was neces-
sary that he should state that, during the delay which
had occurred in consequence of the mishaps of the Aus-
tralian, the Lords of the Admiralty had received a letter
from the chairman of the company, setting forth the dif-
iiculties under which the company conceived that they
had been called upon to perform the service, and pray-
ing for a favourable consideration, and requesting that,
as it would be impossible for them to provide a vessel
for the conveyance of the mail which ought to leave
England in due course on the 3d of April, their lord-
ships would consent to forego that service, and would be
sati,fied if the vessel were ready by the 3d of June. That
letter had been referred to a committee which was now
sitting for the purpose of investigating the state of the
Post-office packet service. The committee having bad
the letter before them, had yesterday reported their
opinion to the Lords of the Admiralty ; but as he (Vis-
count Canning) was not then in a position to state that
any action had been taken on that opinion, he hoped
that his noble friend would not press him to give any
distinct explanation of the terms in which it had been
conveyed. It would be perhaps sufficient to state that
the spirit in which the committee had approached the
subject had been, that while, on the one hand, it was
most desirable that the Government should not justly
undergo the charge of straining their legal rights or of
pressing hard upon the company, yet, on the other
hand, it was their firm conviction that the system of con-
tracts for the packet service of this country was to be
carried on, and if the public was to be called upon to pay
large subsidies for such service, it was the duty of the
Government to insure to the public the enjoyment of all
contracts of a reasonable amount of punctuality, cer-
tainty, and dispatch. (Hear, hear.) He had only to
add that, if the contract between the company and the
Government were not already on the table of both houses
of Parliament, it should be placed on their lordships'
table forthwith.

. .
Lord COLCHESTER was understood to observe that
it was for the convenience of Western Australia that it
had been provided b,y the contract that vessels should
call at King Georges Sound. In reply to a further re-
mark by the noble lord, which did not reach the gallery,
Viscount CANNING said he believee that the por-
tion of the Australian's mail which had suffered most
were the bags for Melbourne. Those bags had been
opened and the letters dried, which was an operation
that had occupied a considerable time. The letters
which had their directions still legible had then been
packed in boxes, and had been sent off by the Peninsular
and Oriental Steam Packet Company's vessel along the
overland route. There were, however, about 60 or 70
letters, the addresses of which had been so entirely obli-
terated that it was quite impossible to forward them to
their destination, and under these circumstances they
bad been dealt with in the usual way, and sent to the
Dead Letter-office. About half of them had been claimed,
and about 30 still remained, which could hardly be
called letters, and could not be distinguished from mere
scraps of paper.
In reply to a question by Lord WH.A.RNCLIFFE,
which did not reach us,

Viscount CANNING said he feared he could not give
a very satisfactory
answer to the question of his noble
friend, because it related so entirely to Admiralty busi-
ness that he was not fully informed on the subject. Ile
had seen a report from Captain Lowe, the Admiralty
surveyor at Plymouth, to the effect that, on examina-
tion, it appeared that the Australian had started on her
second voyage with something like 400 tons weight, in
the shape of coals, stores, and hargo, beyond that which
she had had on a former voyage, which, although not
performed at the stipulated rate of speed, had been
safe and prosperous. It was conjectured that this
cause, together with severe weather, had led to the
opening of her seams, through which the water had got
in, and the safety of the vessel had been risked. This
supposition appeared to be borne out by the fact that
she had been carefully examined by the
surveyor, and
A been h„so long as she was in smooth water she
--
ap-
parently perfectly watertight.
The conversation then dropped.

motionßßlßEßYth that an the
The thAe ELECTIONS.house do now adjourn
adjourned Earlof DERBY said he wished, before the house
, —riled to ask a question of the noble duke the Secre-
uary of State for the Colonies, or of the noble and
,
learned lord on the woolsack. Their lordships had re-
ceived in the course of that day a communication on a
very
it was due, in point of courtesy and respect, that em
should pay the earliest attention, more especially On a
important subject from the other house, to whom
matter of such deep interest. The communication re-
ferred to the proceedings which had been taken by the
other house under the act which bad bean brought into
which several other messages of the same kind might yet
operation in the course of last year, and with regard to
be received by their lordships. This was the first in-
stance in which they had been called upon under the
t uh n
ievt i
ioshtu i Governmentorgneefreference
eontuhcleed
provisions of the act of last year to concur with the
House of Conimons for the purpose of effectually pre-
venting acts of bribery, and he thought it was impor-
tanttteh t nha d: e
o
wand‘ ahsa what
now
othathwa
d coursett shouldhhdhuetyexpectedy oi
nf
ci; Governmentascertaincimtefpursuecmocommunication
with reference to the message. He conceived that it
course which they would advise their lordships to pursue,
have been made by some member of the Government
before the motion for the adjournment of
probably it had been the house, but
from inadvertence that no such
communication had been made.
li
what course her Majesty's Go e now wished to ask
Government were prepared