The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-24 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Slll,—Perceiving that a meeting of omnibus proprie-
tors has been convened to appeal against Sir Richard
Mayne's laudible proposal for an improvement in the
present inadequate accommodation for outside pas-
sengers in omnibuses, I am induced to beg the favour
of you inserting the following suggestion in your widely-
circulated paper:—Much caution is required
on entering
an omnibus, particularly if the vehicle moves on at the
moment. Sometimes persons are precipitated forward,
at other times backwards. This, in many instances, is
owing to the two passengers on each side of the door
obstructing the entrance. An improvement in this
respect might be made at a trifling expense—viz., by
removing the. two seats back about six inches, that
allowing sufficient space for passing. It would also be
advisable to add a small brass rod for resting the arm
upon, with round knobs attached. The latter would be
of great assistance in facilitating the ingress and egress
of passing. R. GUINNESS.
August 21, 1854.

OUR AMMUNITION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

The Sun of the sth instant I raad, under the
heading of "The New Long-gun Range," that practice
was made at Shoeburyness with a two-groove 68-pounder
rifle-cannon on Mr. Lancaster's principle. This two-
groove rifle-cannon has been called at one time "an
elliptic-bore," at another time a cannon of "a particular
bore," and again at the third time " the oval gun." This,
I suppose was done to make it intelligible to the public.
In page 6, figure 12, of my pamphlet on projectiles, the
transverse base of the figure will truly and clearly ex-
plain the mystery of the elliptic, particular bore, oval
cannon. It is now about sixteen years ago when I, by
the request of Sir William Bowyers Smijth, Bart., M.P.,
gave Mr. Lancaster, gun-maker, Bond-street, one of my
elongated rifle percussion-shells ; and it was about the
same period that I successfully tested my four-groove
one-pounder rifle brass cannon at Woolwich, in presence
of Lord Hardinge, the present Commander-in-Chief, the
late Admirals, the Earl of Camperdown, Sir Thomas
Hardy, and several other officers of high rank of both
the naval and military services. Lord Hardinge was
pleased to write to me afterwards, saying that he was
convinced that my principle of rifle-cannon and its pro-
jectiles would lead to the most important results.—Your
obedient servant,

' J. NORTON.
Victoria Hotel, Cork, I9th August, 1854.

MR. TV. S. WOODIN'S ENTERTAINMENT
-" THE CARPET BAG AND SKETCH
BOOK."

The gifted and accomplished polyloguist, Mr. Woodin
commenced, on Monday evening, the 14th inst. His
metropolitan fame preceded him ; and the number and
quality of the assembly which greeted him upon his first
appearance in Brighton, and the continually-augmenting
receipts, from night to night throughout the week, at
the doors of the Banqueting-room in the Pavilion, give
promise that he will be induced to extend his projected
series to a season,

Mathews was a great artist, strictly sui generis.
Such also is Woodin. They may stand at the same
elevation in art. But each stands upon a different
platform, and must occupy a distinct , niche in the
temple of fame. Comparison is out of the question.
Mr. Woodin's sketches of character are all ably
delineated : several of them are pictures of ex-
quisite delicacy and masterly force. They are
all amusing—nay, mirth moving. They draw forth, at
the first, a gush of laughter from his visitors, which
rushes on in a continuous stream of cachinnation to the
end. We must, however, caution our readers not to be
taken in by our able actor, as to one leading feature of
his performance. They may be assured that the maniere
Legere which he assumes in his interlocutory addresses as
the entertainer, cannot be a characteristic of the man.
It must be regarded as a studied piece of acting as elabo-
rate and finished as the full-length portrait of Sir Benja-
min Bungle—(and what an excellent work that is !) But
Mr. Woodin himself—the natural Woodin--is, undoubtedly,
a grave, deep-thinking man, who lays aside, for the oc-
casion, that impressiveness which a profound and power-
ful intelligence must stamp upon the natural manners
and deportment. The disguise of polished lightness
Which is worn in his well-acted part of the evening's
host, is seen through, in many passages. This is pro-
minently obvious in the half-length of the man of the
Last Century. There the force, depth, and power of
the artist is manifest—the gravity, the severiey of his
natural mood is marked in the surpassing vigour of the
work, as—if we may compare such things—the mental
power of Titian is stamped upon his portrait of Ignatius.
It is seldom worth while to make mention of the pro-
gramme in noticing an entertainment, but Woodin's
programme stands alone in the world of programmatic
literature. It is unique. It is witty, and of rich
humour. We recommend every visitor to be provided
with a copy. Nay, more, we recommend invalids, who
cannot partake of the entertainment itself, to procure a
programme. They have a crown's worth of healthy
laughter, and of somewhat classical merriment, for six-
pence. The book will ever be worth keeping, when the
entertainment itself will be remembered but little, ex-
cept when revived in the recollection of the rising genera-
tion by some respective reference of a posthumous critic.
—Brighton Examiner.

MAIL BAGS AND RAILWAYS.--.Th• Lords of the Trea-
sury, upon the recommendation of the Right Hon. Vis-
count Canning, her Majesty's Postmaster-General, have
awarded Mr. John Dicker, inspector of mails, the sum
of 5001., as a compensation for his invention of an appa-
ratus for transferring mail bags to and from railway car-
riages at full speed without stopping, a working model
of which, in the Exhibition of 1851 (class 5), was greatly
admired, and for his personal exertions in the successful
application of his improvements ou various lines of rail-
way.

FIRE IN LAMBETH.—Yesterday afternoon a fire broke
out in the premises belonging to Mr. Millsom, timber
yard and saw mill proprietor, carrying on business at
No. 143, Regent-street, Lambeth-walk.
th-alk. The workmen
were employed in the building' at the time of the out-
break, so that immediate assistance was forthcoming,
but in spite of every exertion, and the early attendance
of the firemen with a strong force, the flames spread with
great rapidity, igniting successively the saw mills, the
boiler house, and three workshops, covering a apace of
ground nearly 100 feet square. Tho whole of thesepre-
mises, with the stock-in-trade, and the costly macr. hinery,
were totally destroyed. Unfortunately, AI
was only insured to the amount of 5001.,. which it is un-
-1 derstood will not more than half corer his loss.