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

ROYAL G.EOG.RAPLIICAL SOCIETY.

The first meeting of this Society for the season
of 1862.63, which took place last night in Bur-
lington House, Piccadilly, was a proof of the in-
creasing popularity of the body, and of the degree
to which it influences all classes of the community.
The large hall was crowded long before the hour
announced for the commencement of business by a
brilliant and distinguished assemblage of ladies and
gentlemen, many of the latter bearing names of
world-wide reputation in various fields of discovery
and science. We noticed among those near the
platform the Marquis of Winchester, Admirals Sir
G. Back and Sir Edward Belcher, Comte de Paris,
Earl of Sheffield, SirD. Brewster, Sir T. Fremantle,
Sir H. Parkes, Chevalier de Schwartz, Captains
CoHinson, Hall, Osborn, Pim, R.N., Col. Gawler,
Sir C. Bright, Drs. Rae and Bright, Messrs. C.
White, C. M. Grant, Brooking, Osborne, Smith, &c.
Sir RODERICK MURCHISON, the president of the
society, having taken the chair, and the minutes of
the last meeting having been read, the list of con-
tributions to the library announced, and the names
of new candidates read, the Chairman, pointing to
a very large map of Australia, said that the papers
which would be read had reference to the recent
explorations in Australia. At the close of the pre-
vious session it had been stated that an endeavour
would be made to provide a map on such a scale
that it should show at a considerable distance the
course of the explorers and adventurers in Austra-
lia, and not only their track, but the course of the
rivers, and the character of the country which they
had brought to light. He congratulated them on
the possession of a map of a magnitude which ef-
fected this object. He had always admired the
Australian colonists—their zeal, their vigour, their
loyalty and attachinent to the mother country—and
he had the greater pleasure in saying so, because
among them there were to be found no advocates of
of their secession or severance, which had unfortu-
nately found some advocates at home. So far as
our fellow-countrymen in these far-of colonies were
concerned, the day was far distant when they would
dream of severing the tie that bound them to the
old country. (Cheers.) The papers that would be
read to the meeting were merely abstracts or offi-
cial reports from the governors of the different co-
lonies as to recent explorations and discoveries over
that vast continent, and included those of Lands-
borough, Walker, Howitt, M'Kinlay, Capt. Nor-
man, G. E. Dalrymrle, &c.
The papers read by the secretaries were full of in-
teresting details, and proved, as was said by subse-
quent speakers, that the old notion of an in.and sea
and an inland desert must be relegated to the land
of dreams or theories. The explorations traced upon
the maps had resulted in showing almost every-
where rich pastoral and agricultural districts—in
many places districts which gave indications of
mineral wealth. New rivers—some of them navi-
gable—bad been discovered, and where not so far
from the mouth they were available during a great
part of the year for navigation and practical pur-
poses. The climate in most cases was described as
healthy, and the valleys of the Victoria River, the
country in the neighbourhood of the Burdekin
River, and other districts, were shown to possess all
the material and essential elements for the suste-
nance of a vast population.
Sir R. M'DONALD, Governor of South Australia,
on being called upon by the chairman, briefly but
forcibly addressed the meeting, and added his per-
sonal testimony, as a " bushman," to the statements
of the explorers in the colony of which he was the
ruler, as to its immense undeveloped capabilities of
supplying a happy home to English emigrants.
With respect to the three explorations which had
taken place under his Government, he explained
that his ide i and that of the responsible Minister
with whom he was associated was, not to cross the
continent by way of the eastern and northern por-
tion to the Gulf of Carpentaria, but to find, in the
direct line taken by Mr. Stuart to Victoria River, a
shorter route, which would put Australia in direct
communication with India and this country. Mr.
Stuart, in one of his explorations, had reached a
point not far from the settled portions of the Vic-
toria River Valley. He was now absent, but it was
to be hoped that upon his return the communica-
tion would be found to be complete. There would
then, he hoped, be in the first instance a direct tele-
graphic communication, and in the next a direct and
short transit for the horses, cattle, and so forth
which Australia could supply to India.
Sir C. NICHOLSON, late Speaker of the House of
Assembly, while concurring with Sir R. M`Donald
as to the agricultural, pastoral, and mineral capa-
bilities of the continent, contended that the best
mode of communication with India and this country
was by way of Queensland and the Gulf of Carpen-
taria to the east and north.

Governor KENNEDY, of Western Australia, in a
very racy and telling address, explained what had
been done in his small part of the map (about one-
third of the whole) in the way of exploration by
the brothers Frank and Augustus Gregory. These
explorations had taken place under his government,
and all bad ended in adding largely to the cattle
runs and the agricultural capabilities of the colony.
They had done some strange things in the colony—
they had turned a great many thieves into honest
men—(hear)—by a very simple process, because
there was nobody to rob, and nothing to steal.
(Laughter.) Between 6,000 and 7,000 of that class
had been sent out to the colony; and, strange as it
might appea“, the proportion of crime to the popu-
lation was less than in any other part of her Ma-
jesty's dominions ; for the simple reason that the
men were compelled to work to earn their bread,
and there was plenty of room for them to do so;
and he believed that if they had had the dame ad-
vantage at home the majority of them would never
have been criminals at all. (Cheers.) Instead of
going home as they all might that night in dread of
being garotted, he would advise that this class
should be sent out to his colony_ It would be far
cheaper to catch and export them than first to
watch and catch them here, next to try and impri-
son them and keep them there, and then, after a
short confinement, turn them loose in order to re-
peat the same expensive process over and over
again. (Cheers.) As to what the colony could
ipr,,
pro-
duce, he bad received from Mr. Gregory a eoi
e of
oyster shells to hand to the President as a
gentleman here
specimen
of what it could produce. The hon. ge: ti
showed, amidst laughter and cheers,
two
galled mother
huge shells,
presenting a large quantity of what
of pearl, and said that he understood the mercantile
value of these shells in this country was £l4O pei
tonot fact which would 024140 Wotan Austr4ll4

even more valuable than the gold fields in other por -
tions of the continent.

Sir R. M4l)onald, Sir C. Nicholson, and Governor
Kennedy warmly and eloquently expressed the
!ceiling of deep loyalty and affection which prevails
in all the Australian colonies to the mother country,
its institutions, and its monarch, and the pain which
they felt at finding the severance of the colonies
treated lightly or approvingly by men high in office
in this country.

After some further discussion, the meeting ter.
minuted with the usual vote of thanks.

OPENING OF THE NE TV LAMBE7II SUS•

PENSION BRIDGE.

Yesterday at three o'clock this bridge was, for
the first time, thrown open to the public. There
was no ceremony beyond the withdrawing of the
barriers in the presence of the directors and the
secretary. This being done, Mr. Hodges, the dis-
tiller,drove the fire-engine,fullymanned,and drawn
by four splendid chesnuts, from the Lambeth to
the Westminster side, and the vibration it occusioned
was very trifling. The Lord Mayor having started
on his way back to the City at about half-past two,
left plenty of time for a large portion of those who
had seen the show to get to Millbank, and it is not,
therefore, surprising that the bridge was thronged,
both in the road and on the footways. We regret
to say that some persons were entrusted with the
parish engine, a small but weighty machine, which
they drew across the bridge—apparently without
any proper superintendence—at a great speed, the
result was a respectable-looking lad about 10 years
old, named Langridge, of New-street, Prince's-
road, was knocked down and run over. He was at
once carried to the surgery of Messrs. Jeffree and
Sankey, Paradise-street, Lambeth, where it was
found that his arm was broken and his head consi-
derably bruised and cut; he was therefore placed
in a cab and taken to St. Thomas's Hospital. This
was the only "feature"—an unfortunate one, truly
--in the day's proceedings.
This is a wire rope and girder bridge, and is re-
markable rather for the cheapness and the rapidity
with which it has been constructed than its light-
ness or beauty; its actual cost having been £30,000,
exclusive of land taken, which cost another £lO,OOO,
and its erection having occupied one day short of a
year. It has three spans of 280 ft. each, and is over
all nearly 900 ft. from end to end : the uprights are
supported on cylinders similar to those now being
fixed for the bridge at Hunger ford. The wire ropes
to which the girders are suspended are of great
thickness, and of the very best iron, and the whole
is painted a dark green, and lighted by globe-
shaped lamps. The roadway is of wood, the piles
used to construct Westminster-bridge having been
made available. The footway is paved with thin
flags cut from some of the etone of the old West-
minster-bridge. It is intended to charge no toll
till the 16th instant, from which time foot passen-
gers will have to pay a halfpenny, and one penny
per horse will be the rate for vehicles. These
rates are as low as possible; and having re-
gard to the denseness of the population at Lam-
beth and Westminster, it is believed that this will
be one of the exceptions to the general rule, which
appears to be that tolled bridges over the Thames
are not remunerative to the proprietors.

MYSTERIOUS CASE OF POISONING IN

WILTSHIRE.

The secluded hamlet of Ludwell, in Wiltshire,
has been thrown into a state of great excitement
by the discovery of what. is feared to be a very foul
and mysterious murder by poisoning. In Ludwell
lives Mr. John Riddle, a wheelwright, who was
held in very high estimation by his neighbours.
His wife, Ann Riddle, died on the 22d of October,
after an illness of some time, and the investigation
into the cause of her death is likely to have a very
serious aspect. At the first inquiry, held before
Mr. Nelson, one of the coroners for Wilts, Dr.
Shettle, of Shaftsbury, was the principal witness
examined. He said he had attended Mrs. Riddle
professionally since the 26th of August last. When
he first attended her she appeared to be suffering
from irritation of the stomach, and Dr. Shettle pre-
scribed remedies for that complaint. These, how-
ever, produced no effect, and the patient's sufferings
continued, sickness and retching following after she
eat or drunk anything. The doctor on finding
this suspected that some irritant had been admis-
tered to the deceased, and expressed that opinion to
the husband, who stated that that was impossible,
since almost everything given to his wife was pre-
pared at the house of a friend and neighbour named
Mrs. Towbridge, a schoolmistress in the village,
who was in constant attendance on Mrs. Riddle.
After some opposition on the part of her husband
Dr. Shettle called in Dr. Roberts, of Salisbury,
who saw the patient on the 14th. To him Dr.
Shettle communicated his suspicions, but that
gentleman did not entirely concur in the
opinion, and thought the case one of malignant
disorder of the stomach. The case was looked
upon by both as a hopeless one, and no medicine
was administered after the Bth. Mrs. Riddle died
on the 22d. On the 24th Dr. Shettle made, on
his own responsibilit3, a post-mortem examina-
tion of the deceased, which was at first objected
to by Mrs. Trowbridge. The intestines and omen-
tum were much inflamed, but the lungs, heart, and
pericardum were particularly healthy. The oeso-
phagus, stomach, bowels, and liver were placed in a
jar, whieh was sealed and forwarded to Dr. Hera-
path, of Bristol, Dr. Shettle doing this without
communicating with the family of the deceased wo-
man. He strongly suspected that Mrs. Riddle had
died from poison. The body was subsequently dis-
interred, and examined by Mr. Cardell, surgeon, of
Salisbury. He found a remarkable absence of de-
composition, and no trace whatever of any organic
disease. He also was of opinion that a virulent
poison had been administered. As Dr. Hemp ath
could not conclude his analysis for some time, the
inquiry was adjourned till the 21st inst. Mrs.
Trowbridge is meanwhile in custody, and stands re-
manded till Wednesdaj next. The other portion of
the body has, by direction of the coroner, been sent
to another analytical chemist.— TVestern Daily Press.