The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-11 00:00:00

NORTHERN OUTFALL SEWER.-THE CHIEF ENGINEER AND

MR. FURNESS,

Mr. BAZALGETTE read a report to the Board to the fol-

lowing purport :
" Mr. Furness has this day sent in his bill for work done
under the contract up to the present time, upon which he
claims a large balance as due to him, and requests an early
payment on account.
" After the remarks which have been made out of doors
respecting this and the Northern Outfall Reservoir Con-
tracts, it would be more satisfactory to me, and I hope to
_ _ _ _

the Board, that these accounts should be investigated and
certified by some independent engineer of high reputation,
to be nominated by the Board. Ido not know what the
fee of such an engineer would be, but I would suppose
about 100 guineas ; and so anxious am I that the Board
should adopt the course I now suggest, that I am willing
that that sum should be deducted from my salary for the
payment of his fee.

" I presume the nomination of an engineer by the Board
would constitute him the engineer of the Board' for this
purpose, under the terms of the specification, but, if not, it
would probably be necessary that Mr. Furness should
asssent to the substitution of the name of the engineer so
appointed for mine in this matter, and to agree to abide by
his decision. "J. W. BAZALGETTE, Engineer."
Mr. LE BRETON moved the adoption of the report.
Mr. PHILLres seconded the motion.
A discussion ensued, in which several members of the
Board took part, and the conduct of the chief engineer in
this matter was highly eulogised; but many of the mem_
bers, if not all, repudiated the idea that the cost of reference
should fall upon their engineer.

Mr. WESTERTON said that having brought these charges in
the belief that they were true, he subsequently thought it
a duty to examine the matter for himself. Ho suggested
his views to his colleague (Major Lyon), and also invited Mr.
Beale and a friend of that gentleman to join in the inspec-
tion of the works. The first charge was that the contractor
had not put down puddling clay over the crown of the sewer
in the terms of the contract. The explanation was, that a
road was likely to be made over the crown of the sewer, and
that as that was a bad foundation for such a purpose concrete
had been substituted. The next inquiry made was as to the
reason why only four roads had been constructed by the
contractor, whereas by his contract 30 roads were contem-
plated. The answer was plain enough, viz., that at present
four roads answered all the purposes of the traffic, but that
the contractor was prepared to carry out his contract to its
full extent if required. The next charge was, that the foun-
dations of the sewers were badly made and not bedded in
gravel, whereas it turned out that they rested upon piers
carried through the grass and peat—the best foundation they
could have. It was also stated that the bricks, according to
the contract, ought to have been protected by a quickset
hedge. The explanation was, that there had not been time
enough allowed to do it, considering all the surrounding cir-
cumstances, weather, &c.; which he (Mr, Westerton) con-
sidered as satisfactory. There were other charges, but we
did not think it necessary to follow out the explanations
beyond saying that they were deemed perfectly satisfactory
by the parties making the investigation.
Mr. FREEMAN, on the part of the Main Drainage Com-
mittee, thanked Mr. Westerton for his manly and straight--
forward statement.

The subject was referred to the Main Drainage Commit-
tee for consideration.

The Board then adjourned.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The Field-Marshal Commander-in-Chief will hold
a levee at 1 o'clock on Wednesday, the 15th iltst.
On account of the crowded state of the garrison
at Woolwich Lieut. Parker and a detachment of 50
non-commissioned officers and men of the local
division of Royal Marine Light Infantry yesterday
left head-quarters for Deptford, and orders were
received from the Horse Guards, to hold in readi-
ness the Ist battalion sth Fusiliers, in command of
Col. W. C. Master, C. 8., to proceed to Dublin at
au early date. The battaliOn was yesterday mus-
tered in full strength on the Royal Artillery parade,
in command of Major Bigge, to the number of 750
of all ranks. The departure of the regiment from
Woolwich will be generally- regretted, on account of
its temperate and well-behaved conduct during its
stay in the garrison.
Two experimental trips have been made this week
at Plymouth by the ironcased screw steamship Zea-
lous, 20, 3,716 tons, and engines of 800-horse power.
She was tested on both occasions under the superin-
tendence of Capt. W. Edmonstone, C. 8., of the
guardship of the steamship Indus, and the Govern-
ment engineers from Keyham steamy-aid, on the
part of the Lords of the Admiralty, and of Mr.
Warrener on the part of the manufacturers of the
engines, Messrs. Maudslay, Sons, and Field. At
the measured mile on Wednesday two runs only
were made, as the weather subsequently became too
thick to distinguish the marks with accuracy. Each
run occupied the same time-4 min. 50 sec., equal
to 12.416 knots. The wind was from the north-
west, with a force of from two to three, and the
sea was smooth. On Thursday the weather was
perfectly clear, the wind from the north-west, with
a force of from four to five, and the sea was smooth.
Under full power she made six runs, which pro-
, duced a mean rate of 12.596kn0ts ; under half -boiler
power four runs gave a mean of 10.193 knots.
These results were considered very satisfactory.
The Zealous is rigged, but her armament is not on
board. She had only 40 tons of coal ; her draught
is 21ft. Bin. forward, and 22ft. aft. The load on the
safety valve was 201 b., and on the boilers 201 b. ;
vacuum in condensers fore and aft, 24in. ; half-
power, 25 ; revolutions of engines ; maximum, 58
mean, 56 ; half power, 48 and 47f ; weather baro-
meter, 30.40. From the time of moving the tele-
graph the engines were stopped in 13 seconds ; she
started ahead in seven, and stopped in 20 seconds.
The temperatures were taken at noon—at 2 p.m.,
and at 4 p.m. ; on each occasion they were—on
deck 42 deg., and in the engine room 56 deg., in
the fore stoke-hole 96 deg. The engines are consi-
dered to have worked very satisfactorily ; there were
no hot bearings, and the boilers did not prime, and
gave an abundance of steam. The screw of the
Zealous is four bladed, in diameter 19ft., and pitch
24ft. It was constructed by Messrs. Maudslay and
Co., according to their mode. The engines are
similar to those on board the Gibraltar and De-
fiance. She was placed on Friday in the steamyard
at Key-ham, to be fitted for the first division of the
steam reserve in Hamoaze.

The paddlewheel steam vessel Medusa, Master
Commanding John H. Allard, left Plymouth on
Thursday evening, having in tow the hull of the
old sailing frigate Indefatigable, 50, for Liverpool,
where she is to be converted into a reformatory ship
for boys.

The screw steam gunboat Landrail left Plymouth
on Friday for the West Coast of Africa.
The name of Gen. Sir J. W. Sleigh, who is just
dead, is associated with many of the leading mili-
tary engagements of the country. The deceased
general was born at Hanworth, Middlesex, in 1780,
and, having received his education at Winchester
School, entered the army in 1795, and was constantly
employed regimentally for a period of 47 years. In
1839 he became colonel of the 9th Lancers, and in
1854 attained the rank of general. In 195 he served
in Flanders, and in 1799 in the campaign in North
Holland and the Helder, being present in the actions
of the 10th and 19th of September, and the 2d and
6th of October. He served in the Peninsular War,
1811-12, at the siege of Badajos, the battle of
Salamanca, at Elbodon, and the cavalry affair at
Tormes. At Waterloo he commanded the 11th
Dragoons, and succeeded to the command of the
4th Brigade of Cavalry, which he held on the ad-
vance to and the taking of Paris. In Paris 1819 he
accompanied his regiment to India, and commanded
the cavalry at the siege of Bhurtpore, 1825-6. After-
wards he received the thanks of Parliament for his
gallant and meritorious conduct. His next appoint-
ment was that of Inspector of the Indian Cavalry,
after which he became Military Secretary to the
Governor-General (Lord William Bentinck). This
led to his being placed as Major-General of Divi-
sion on the Staff at Bombay, and he remained there
for three years. On returning to England in
1839
he was made Inspector-General of Cavalry. The
deceased was a K.C.8., a Knight of the Bavarian
Order of Maximil'An Joseph, and had medals for
Waterloo, Bhurtpore, Salamanca, and other places.