The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-05 00:00:00

THE NEW WESTMINSTER BRIDGE.

It has been at last decided that the building of this
bridge is to commence in the ensuing month of May.
It is intended, by the plan, to consist of three arches,
the chief arch rising 18 feet from the springing. Sir C.
Barry is the designer, and we doubt not that this bridge,
when completed, will bring out in bold relief the New
Palace at Westminster, and prove to the eyes of the
world that the architect of that palace has been able at
last to master a great difficulty, namely, that of showing
to advantage one of the finest edifices in the world
erected on a disadvantageous site. In designing this
bridge the architect has followed the rule which we are
surprised has not, even in later times, been more rigidly
adhered to than it has been, which is, that in the con-
struction of a bridge the aim of the architect ought to
be to have as few arches as possible, in order that
the middle of the stream, or chief current of the
river, may flow freely without the interruption which
is caused by an unnecessary number of piers, large
arches being at all times desirable, and by which,
too, the expense of construction is considerably les-
sened, as is shown from the simple fact that the pre-
sent Westminster-bridge cost double the amount in its
erection as compared with Blackfriars-bridge, on ac-
count of the number of arches. The present bridge is
1,220 feet long, and 44 feet wide. The new bridge is
intended to be wider, but the inconvenience and danger
of the rise and fall will be entirely obviated in its con-
struction. The present bridge consists of fifteen arches,
and was finished in the year 1750, at a cost of 389,5001.
The expense of the new bridge will, of course, be con-
siderably less ; but we do hope that the approaches to
the new bridge will not be dealt with in a niggardly
manner by the proper authorities. The houses, in order
to give effect to the structure, both on the Surrey and
Middlesex side of the river, ought to come down with
" one fell swoop." The piers of the bridge are to be of
stone, and the abutments er caps of iron. During the
erection of the new bridge, the present bridge is in-
tended to be used for ordinary purposes. Banquets, or
raised footways, will be erected in the first instance, and
these will eventually be amalgamated with the proposed
roadway of the new bridge, thereby avoiding the neces-
' city for the erection of a temporary wooden bridge,
while. at the same time, it will save an immense waste
of public money, the lavish expenditure of which has
unhappily been the bane of most of our modern struc-
tures.

THE MAIM—SOUTHAMPTON, April 4.—The General
Screw Steam Shipping Company's steam-ship Queen of
the South, Capt. W. H. Norman, sailed this afternoon

with contract mails for Adelaide, Port Philip, and
Sydney. The mails taken out by this vessel are con-
tained in upwards of 300 bags, and measure 32 tons.
The Queen of the South takes out nearly 90 passengers,
among whom is Sir Chas. Hotham, the newly appointed
Governor of Victoria, with his suite, and also a very
full cargo of manufactured goods of a valuable character,
for the Australian markets. Mrs. Chisholm having
visited the port to-day, on the occasion of the departure
of the Queen of the South, the Southampton Emigra-
tion Committee availed themselves of the opportunity to
present this excellent lady with an address ; and she
subsequently inspected the site of the proposed emigra-
tion depot about to be erected, and gave her approbation
to the details of the establishment, which is intended to
accommodate both Government and private emigrants.
A plan of the building has also been presented to Sir
Charles Hotham. The Peninsular and Oriental Com-
pany's steamship Colombo, Capt. T. S. Russell, took her
departure at 2.30 p.m. to-day, for Gibraltar, Malta, and
Alexandria, with the outward East India, China, and
Mediterranean mails. The Colombo has 72 passengers,
a very large cargo, and specie valued at 124,873/. 3s. 2d.
for India and China, and 11,2031. 10s. for Malta and
Alexandria. The Colombo also takes out several beauti-
ful English horses and ponies for the Pasha of Egypt,
and some first-class carriages fitted up complete for the
Egyptian railway from Alexandria to Suez.
ARRIVAL OF THE MARCO POLO IN AUSTRALIA.—By
the overland mail we have received accounts of the arri-
val of the celebrated ship Marco Polo, of the Black
Ball line, after another unparalleled passage of
seventy-four days twelve hours, from port to port, the
fastest ever made by a sailing ship ; and the third
passage she has made from Liverpool to Melbourne, and
beaten all competitors. But we are sorry to say that,
after she was inside the Head of Port-Philip, she was
got ashore through the inefficiency and mismanagement
of the pilot who was on board. The following is an ex-
tract from a letter, dated Melbourne, January 30, re-
ceived by Messrs. James Baines and Co., from their
agents at Melbourne, respecting the unfortunate occur-
rence ;—" It is our painful duty to inform you that the
Marco Polo, after passing through the Heads, and while
in charge of a pilot, was run ashore on a sandbank,
about two miles inside Shot Heads Bluff, near Light-
house Point. This occurred on Wednesday, the 25th
inst. Captain M'Donnell immediately proceeded to
town, and the writer having procured the assistance of
two steam-tugs, proceeded to the ship, in company with
Captain M'Donnell and the harbour-master, to see what
steps could be taken. Up to this time, we regret to
say that the efforts used have been unavailing ; but suc-
cess is still hoped for, and every available means shall
be used to accomplish it. She is lying on a soft sandy
bank, with 15 feet of water round her at low tide, and
for the present has not suffered any damage. The at-
tempts to tow her off at high water were unsuccessful,
and lighters have been sent to take out luggage, &c.
All the passengers have landed, and to-day h©r Majesty's
sloop Electra went to her assisrance. Captain M'Don-
nell is almost distracted with this sad termination to so
successful a voyage. At lastaccounts she bad not made
any water. The blame is altogether attributable to the
inefficiency of the pilot, and an official investigation is
to be held."
ABDUCTION.—James Waterhouse, 22 years of age,
a married man, with one child, has been committed for
trial, at Huddersfield, for the abduction of a girl under
the age of 16. The person whom the prisoner had
made his victim is a young girl, rather stout, of ruddy
and somewhat childish appearance, named Ruth Bar-
row, daughter of Mr. Dan. Barrow, clerk and sexton
at Cumberworth church. The prisoner was employed
as a Blubber at Bird's-edge Mill, situate about two or
three miles from Newmill, and about one from
Cumberworth ; and the girl worked for him as a
piecer at the same mill. The prisoner's wife, a
young and beautiful-looking woman, about the same age
was in court during the hearing of the case before the
magistrates, and watched with intense interest the pro-
ceedings. Ruth Barrow, in her evidence, said—About
two or three months previous to the 20th February, the
prisoner began to talk to me about going away with
him, and I agreed that I would. On Thursday, the 23d
Feb., he said he was going to his father's in Scotland,
and if I would go with him he would make me as good
a home as I had. The same night I met him about a
quarter of a mile from our house, and he gave me half a
sovereign to go with. He said he was going on Friday
morning, and that I was to follow him on the Sunday
morning, and he would be waiting for me at the Hud-
dersfield station. I set off on the Sunday morning, and
took the train at Denby Dale. When I got to Hudders-
field the prisoner was waiting for me at the station. We
then walked to Littleborough, about 16 or 18 miles from
Huddersfield. We went to a public-house and stayed
all night there. The prisoner did not sleep with me.
He had criminal connection with me at the mill several
times. On Monday morning, the 27th of Feb., we took
the train to Manchester, and from thence to Liverpool,
where we stayed all night. He told them I was his wife,
and we slept together. On the Tuesday morning he bought
a ring, which he put on my finger, and said I was to
wear it. We took ship from Liverpool to Glasgow on
Tuesday, and arrived at Greenock on Wednesday morn-
ing. We then walked to Harot station and took the
train to Hawick, where we arrived at half-past eight
in the evening. We went to his father's lodgings. His
father did not know him, it was so long since he had
seen him. He told his father that I was his wife. We
slept together every night. I remained at Hawick 12
or 13 days. My father then came and fetched me away.
I knew he was a married man. The prisoner was com-
mitted for trial.—Liverpool liferCUry.
LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST RAILWAY.—
Traffic return for the week ending April 1,
18.4 £10,521 3 7
Corresponding week last year 10,382 7 1
Total of the half-year to this date, 1854 127,015 1 5
Total of the half-year to this date, UN 110,884 3 4