The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-05 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 5, 1854.

LAW INTEL.T;I4.gisTcf.E.--Dec. 4.

COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH.
JUDKIN (CLERK) V. FIELD.-A96117LT.
Sir F. Thesiger, Mr. Serjeant Atkinson, and Mr.
. .

Hance appeared for the plaintiff.
The Attorney-General and Mr. Borill represented the
defendant.

Mr. Hance said that the plaintiff was the Rev. Tho-
ntas James Judkin, and the defendant was Alfred
George Field. The declaration was for an assault,
and the defendant pleaded that he did not assault the
plaintiff.
The Rev. Thomas James Judkin examined—l am the
plaintiff. lam the minister of Somers Chapel, St. Pan-
cras, and reside in Euston-square. I married the wi-
dow of Alderman Lainson. She had five daughters by
her former husband, the eldest of whom is married to

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.

The sittings of the Court for the November adjourned
session were resumed yesterday morning at the Guild-
hall, Westminster, before Mr. Serjeant Adams, Assist-
ant-Judge, and a bench of magistrates, by adjournment
from Clerkenwell.
The Assistant-Judge briefly charged the grand jury.
John Winter, 29, clerk and collector, was indicted for
having embezzled three sums of money which he had
received in his capacity of servant to Richard Staines.
Ile pleaded guilty.
The Assistant-Judge sentenced him to hard labour for

15 months.
John Adams, 50, dealer, was indicted for having stolen
a picture frame and other articles, the property
Samuel Archbutt and others. He was further charged
with having feloniously received the same, well knowing
them to be stolen.
The jury, after some deliberation, found the prisoner
guilty of receiving the frame, knowing it to be stolen.
Mr. Metcalfe asked for a postponement of the sen-
tence. The value of the property taken was something
close upon 2,0001., and the prisoner, no doubt, could
give some information respecting it. He might be dis•
posed to do so before the Court passed its sentence upon
him, if a suggestion were made to him.
The Assistant Judge said he could do no more than
simply say the prisoner stood remanded.
The prisoner was then removed.
William Henley, 35, omnibus conductor, was indicted
for stealing a passport case, containing 601. in notes,
the property of William. Dunn.
The prosecutor was a gentleman residing at No. 2,
Berkeley-place, Connaught•square, and it appeared that
on the afternoon of the 13th ult. he rode from the Bank
to Paddington-grove in an omnibus, of which it was
said the prisoner was the conductor. While in the
vehicle he lost his pocket-book, containing 60/. in notes,
a bill drawn on an Indian merchant, &c., and on seeing
the prisoner subsequently, the latter denied all knowledge
of it or the prosecutor, although he were on the occasion
a large blue cloak. The principal witness was one of the
passengers, a Mrs. Missen, who said she picked the case
up, and asked. the passengers whose it was, when the
prisoner said it was his and she handed it to him. He
opened it, and she saw it contained a small roll of paper.
A reward was offered, and she went next day to the
prosecutor and told hint this, and they kept a look
out, and the prisoner was pointed out by her as the
man. Afterwards she greatly equivocated as to his
identity.
Mr. Ballantine urged upon the jury that even ad-
mitting the case to be one of suspicion, the evidence
was such that no jury would be safe in acting upon
it, and he appealed to them not to consign a man
of honest, honourable, and good character as the
prisoner was, to utter ruin and destruction upon such
vague and flimsy evidence as had been adduced against
him.
The jury, after a short consultation, acquitted the
prisoner.

INSTITUTION OF CITIL ENGINEERS.

The paper read was " A Description of the Coffer-
dams used in laying the lines of water-pipes from Twick-
enham to Richmond, crossing the River Thames," by
Mr. George James Munday, Assoc. Inst., C.E.
The Parliamentary inquiry of 1852 induced great im-
provements, not only in the machinery and works of the
Water Companies, but in some cases the transfer, as for
the Lambeth Waterworks, of the whole establishment,
to higher point up the river Thames, out of the in-
fluence of the tidal water, whilst in other instances
the supply pipes were extended for great dis-
tanee, to points whence a purer source could
be relied upon. Such was the course adopted by
the Southwark and -Vauxhall, and the West
Middlesex Water Companies, who united for the purpose
of laying two parallel lines of pipes of 3t3 inches diame-
ter from Hampton-wick, 191 miles by the river, above
London-bridge, to the existing pumping engines, and
filtering beds, &c., at Battersea and at Hammersmith.
In the course of this work, designed jointly by Mr.
Quick (M. Inst. C. E.), and Mr. Hack, the engineers of
the respective companies, it was necessary to lay the
pipes (to which two lines of 21 inches diame-
ter were added at this portion) across the river
Thames between the Twickenham and the Richmond
shores, at a short distance below Richmond Bridge.
Tho span of the river in the diagonal direction, neces-
sary for the pipes, was about 463 feet, and the pipes
being required by the Navigation Committee to be laid
at a depth, in the centre, of 16 feet below Trinity
datum, or about 9 feet below the ordinary level of the
bottom of the river, and to provide at the same time for
the navigation being unimpeded, it was necessary to em-
ploy coffer dams. This part of the work was entrusted by
Mr. Aird, the contractor, to Mr. Munday, who was re-
quired to submit his plans for the approval of the engineers.
Immediately below the spot for crossing was an island,
dividing the river into two arms of unequal width,
the smaller on the Twickenham shore not being navi-
gable. The ordinary difference of level between Trinity
datum and low water was about 6} feet ; but great
♦ariation arose from floods, &c , and the utmost depth
observed during the course of the work was about 12
feet. With the consent of Mr. Leach (Assoc. Inst.
C.E.), the engineer of the Navigation Committee, it was
decided to lay the pipes in 3 lengths, commencing from the
Twickenham shore. The space in plan for an oval-shaped
coffer-dam was first dredged over ; for the first dam 185
feet, the second 136 feet, and the third 175 feet in length,
all being of the same width of 40 feet at the centre, with
the sides so curved that all the timber and iron work
could be made to serve for the construction of the three
dams successively. After driving whole timber main
piles 6 feet apart, and bolting on two half timber waling
pieces (in height), half timber guide sheeting piles were
driven, to correspond with the main piles, and two tiers
of outside walings were fixed, and the spaces filled in
with half timber sheeting piles. The bed of the
river, which consisted of a bed of shingly gravel and
sand from 4 feet to 6 feet thick, overlying a tenacious
clay, was then dredged down to the clay outside the
piling ; puddle was filled in against the piles up to ono
foot above low water ; the gravel excavated from the
second length being piled upon the puddle of the first
length seriatim, in order to form. a backing. The
joints of the piles were then caulked with oakum
from without. Braces and chain-ties were applied
inside, fender piles were driven to protect the
dam, and the trench for receiving the pipes was
excavated ; the dam being drained by one of Gwynne's
centrifugal pumps, worked by engine power. When the
three lines of pipes had been laid nearly along the first
dam the curved end of the second dam was commenced
within it, making secure the timbers above and
upon the pipes ; the construction of the second dam
then proceeded like that of the first, from which the
piles were drawn to be used over again. The same pro-
cess was followed with the third dam ; and the whole was
successfully accomplished, without any serious casualty,
between the 20th of April, 1853, and the 20th of June,
1854.