The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-26 00:00:00

IMPORTANT CIiANGES IN THE POST- ALLEGED ILL-TRRATMENT OF THE
OFFICE DEPARTMENT. PuO.R IN LAMBETH WORKHOUSE.

For the future the Post cffice department will be pre-
sided over by a Po-tmaster-General, with a salary of
2,5001. a year. One secretary, with a salary rising from
1,5001. to 2.0001. a year. There will further he two
assistant secretaries, with salaries rising from 7001. to
1,000/. a year. One chief clerk to secretary, with 6501.
a year. Three head clerks in secretary's office at from
5001. to 600/, a year. Four classes of secretary's clerks,
at from 4001. to 5001. ; and from 801. to 1501. a year.
An arbitrator on railway charges, with a salary rising
from 7001. to 1,000/. a year. An inspector-general of
mails, at a salary rising from 6001. to 800/. a year ; and
four mail inspectors at from 3001. to 5001. a year.
There are also to be a comptroller of the Inland-office,
at a salary rising from 6001. to 8001. a year, and a vice-
comptroller with a salary rising from 5001. to 6001. a
year. One receiver and accountant-general, with a
,glary rising from 6001. to 8001. a year. A cashier, a
chief examiner, and a principal book-keeper, at salaries
rising from 4001. to 5501. a year each. A comptroller of
the Money Order-office, at a salary rising from 5001. to
7001. a year, and a chief clerk to that comptroller, at
from 3501. to 450/. a year. There are to be surveyors
to the General Post-office, with salaries from 5001. to
700. a year, and their clerks are to receive salaries
rising from 1001. to 1501. a year. There is to be a soli-
citor to the General Post-office, whose salary is to be
2,5001. a year, and his clerks are to receive salaries
rising from 4001. to 5001., from 2601. to 3801., and from
2201. to 240/. a year. There are to be secretaries to the
General Post-offices of Edinburgh and Dublin, at sala-
ries rising from 7001. to 1,0001. a year.
The clerks in the mail, inland, arid London district,
account, and money order .offices, will be divided into
three classes, with salaries rising from 801. to 1501., from
180/. to 2401., and from 2601. to 3501. a year. The
letter sorters, letter carriers, stampers, porters, and mes
sengers, are to be divided into four classes, with wages
rising from 193. to 235., from 255. to 303.. from 325. to
385., and from 403. to 503. a week. The inspectors of
letter carriers in the London Post-office are to be divided
into two cla.ses, with salaries rising from 1101. to 2001.,
and from 2101. to 3001. a year. The mail guards are to
be divided into two classes, with salares rising from 70/.
to 901., and from 1001. to 1201. a year. The offices of
secretary to the post-master general, inspector-general
of the missing letter department, superintendent of mail
coaches, inspector of dead letters, receiver-general, and
inspector of ship letters, are to be abolished. Country
postmasters are in future to appoint their own clerks.
Provincial postmasters, whose salaries are not above
1751. a year, are to be appointed by the Treasury, at the
recommendation of members of parliament, and those
whose salaries are above that sum are to be appointed
by the Postmaster-General. The clerks in the London
Post-office are to have a month's holiday every year, and
the sorters, letter carriers, and other inferior officers, a
fortnight's holiday, without any deduction from their
pay. Letter carriers, guards, and other inferior officers,
are to be entitled to sups: annustion without subscribing
to the superannuation fund. Security bonds are to be
no longer required from the officers of the London Post-
office. Persons appointed as letter carriers and letter
sorters in the General Post-office must be between the
ages of 17 and 27, and mail guards must be between the
ages of 20 and 25. The private secretary to the Post-
master-General is to have 300/. a year for the services
he performs as such. The and London district
offices are to be consolidated. Promotion is to de-
pend entirely on merit, and in every department
the lowest officerowill be eligible to the highest office
in it.

THE LICENSED VICTUALLERS AND THE
IVEW BEEN ACT.

Last night a meeting of licensed victuallers residing
in the nei4labourhood of Greenwich, Lewisham, and the
other surrounding villages, was held at the Royal
Standard Tavern, Blackheath, for the purpose of con-
demning the act for the closing of public-houses for the
greater part of Sunday, and of taking measures for its
early repeal.
The chin- was taken by Mr. Clarke, who strongly re-
probated the measure, as interfering not only with the
interests of the trade, but also with the convenience of
the public. They were still, notwithstanding the en-
lightened and liberal view which Mr. Long, the police
magistrate of the Marylebone district, took with respect
to the question of what constituted a bona fide traveller,
at the mercy of the petty tribunals, and would not be
safe until the Court of Queen's bench decided on the
point. The case of Mr. Ware, the landlord of Jack
Straw's Castle, Hampstead, which drew forth the de-
cision to which he had alluded, had been defended by '
the Metropolitan and Suburban Licensed Victuallers'
Protection Society ; and he thought it advisable that the
members of the trade residing in the district of Green.
wich should afford their utmost assistance to that society,
a deputation from which, he was happy to hear, was
about to wait on Lord Palmerston to try and induce him
to suspend the operation of the act until an opportunity
should be given to the Legislature of fully reconsider.
ing a measure which it had enacted in haste and under
the erroneous impression that it was approved of by the
trade.

The meeting was addressed by Messrs. Day, Poole,
Bennett, Moore, and Wilittle, who severally complained
of the manner in which the act was hurried through
Parliament.

Resolutions were agreed to by the meeting, and a
memorial prepared in the same spirit for presentation to
the Home Secretary.

A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the
proceedings.

IMPROVEMENTS IN PRACTICAL

MINING.

Some of the greatest improvements in science very fre-
quently work their way in a silent and unobtrusive
wanner, and people are sometimes hardly aware even
of their existence; until some fine morning they brush
the dust from their eylids, and find themselves. just a
quarter of a century behind the age. Such is prejudice,
or rather that spirit of inaction which lies like an in-
cubus upon the bulk of mankind, and induces them
rather to follow blindly in the footsteps of othera
than to be at the trouble to exercise their own
judgment. We were forcibly reminded of this fact the
other day, on witnessing one of Med win and Hall's
portable steam-engines at work at a mine in the west
(if England. "Here ! " said the captain, " I have as-
certained more, by this little engine, of the value of
my mine in three weeks, than under the old system
I could have done in six months. Suppose, for
instance, I had gone to one of our first engi-
neers (you know' what engineers are), why, they'd
have kept me waiting a month of Sundays for
it ; and then, when I got it, I should have haJ
to build, and erect, and go to no end of ex-
pense, before I could get to .work, as, I dare
say, they have found out before this at the Exmouth
and Adams United Mines, and a few other places. In-
stew] of this, however, I thought I would look in at the
Blackfriars-road ; and upon my word," said he, "it
was, in point of ready accommodation, like going to a
chandler's shop for a ha'porth of soap, or a penny
candle. What power do you want ?' they said.
Twenty-horse,' said I. ' Here you are, then. Are
you sure it will be enough for you ?—you can have a
forty if you like.' Quite enough," Very well ;it
shall be at the station to-night.' And so it was, and at
work here the day after its arrival ; for it wants no fixing,
as you see." " I'll tell you what it is," continued the
captain : " half the mines that are opened now, are
opened in the dark. The directors keep on holding
meetings, and receiving reports ; and, among others,
they get one every now and then from the engineer. just
to say how be is getting on, and when you are likely to
have your engine, which is generally about six months
before you really get it ; whereas, if they'd take the
tools as they are—all ready made to their hands —they'd
settle the business in no time. It is only right to speak
well of the bridge that carries you safe over."—Mining
Journal.

THE FIRE AT TRAMES.BANK.—\Ve are glad to find
that the stateme.its which have been made as to the pro-
bable amount of loss to Mr. Cubbitt, caused by the late
disastrous fire, are much exaggerated. Still, it will be
heavy. Having confidence in his arrangements, only a
small sum was insured upon the buildings, something
under 7,0001. on the parts actually damaged ; and there
was a larger quantity of prepared woe k on the premises
than usual, including a number of sashes glazed with
plate glass. The buildings destroyed, or nearly so,
occupy the areas, 220 feet by 60 ; 48 feet by 120 feet ;
and 50 feet by 120 ; partly three storeys in height, partly
the machine room. The parts de-
sibtruory'e,ainifr n
orinicluding perhaps one-fifth of the whole buildings on
the ground. The men's cooking place and the dining-
room, which latter is used as the school-roam in the even-
ing for the boys, escaped ; so too did the foundry, the
drying-rooms, engines, &c. No time was lost in useless
lamentation ; the whole of the men engaged at the time
of the fire, 609, were set to work on the rebuilding, and
in such shops as remained, and now there are even more
employed. The girders and joists for the one-pair floor
of the joiners' shop are on, and, in a very short time,
the whole will be restored. So much for the owner's
cßonadwitliinson,
well-known energy.—The
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was very handsomely offered
the
the office of inspector by the president, Sir Benjamin
Hall, at the salary of 8001. per annum. With the
offer however, was coupled a stipulation, which in the
case
of a gentleman of the high professional status and larg
emoluments of Mr. Rawlinson rendered acceptance
e out
of the question, viz., that he should devote
his entire
time to his official duties ; and, accordingly, he declined
the post. For similar reasons, we believe, Mr. T. W.
Rammell, C E., declined a like appointment. Mr. W.
Ranger, C.E., has beeh named superintending inspector
at 8001. a year—the same salary as that of the secre-
tary, Mr. Tom Taylor, the assistant-secretary, Mr. J.
F. Campbell, a barrister, and formerly a private secre-
tary to the Duke of Argyll, having 6001. Mr. F.
Mauls, a son of the solicitor to the Treasury, has been
appointed junior clerk.—Civil Service Gazette.
FamgßEs.—Occasional failures continue to be re
ported. The bills of Mr. R. C. Sercombe, a respectable
The sus-
pension
menu.
merchant in the corn trade, have been returned, but t e
mount of his liabilities has not been stated
pension of Messrs. Thomas Freen and Co.,large
to be
tioned. The liabilities in this case . are said not
facturers of Roman cement, has likewise been men-
verY heavy,' atidsthere appeara to be a hopo of a resume-
_

A public meeting of the ratepayers and inhabitants of
the parish of Lambeth was held yesterday evening at
Kennington-hall, adjoining the Licensed Victuallers'
School, for the purpose of taking into consideration
certain disclosures which had been made relative .to the
treatment of the paupers in Lambeth Workhouse. The
proceedings seemed to excite a very deep interest
among those present ; Mr. Offord took the chair.
The CEIAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings, observed
that the meeting was no doubt aware of the object for
which they were assembled. The committee who had
j been instrumental in calling them together had for some
time past heard various statements made by the paupers
relative to their treatment in the workhouse. They
were of course unable to act on such ex parte statements,
and this matter would never have been agitated had it
not been for the disclosures made by Mr. Hyde, late
assistant surgeon in the workhouse.
Mr. Hyde then read from a written list a number of
cases of cruelty, of which the following are the chief :-
1 A man named Ayres, who was suffering from bronchitis,
was called a "scheming humbug" for going into the in-
firmary, and when he was convalescent, he was set to
pick oakum, although he could hardly breathe. Ray-
ner used very foul language with respect to this unfortu-
nate creature, and when he heard of the man's death,
he said, " A -- good job too, and if 100 more of the
wretches would go the same way." (Sensation.) John
Goldsmith, an old man, suffering from pthisis, was set
to work at painting, and his death, as he himself de-
clared, was thus hastened. Ayres, too, complained bit-
terly of Rayner's cruelty. The Sunday liberty of the
poor had been unnecessarily stopped, and a very consi-
de,al,le expense thus entailed upon the parish, The
death of an old man named Edney was directly caused
by it ; but no inquest was held on him, although the
death was very sudden. (Oh.) The liberty of a man
named John Henry Miller was stopped for being found
wit* crust of bread in hie pocket. (Expressions of in-
dignation.) This man became ill in consequence of his
e(wseahsea
ldmdeepii.
rveande
apoyofneheeri s libe r t y
being deprived of his liberty, and died. Another old man
heeeehreadher
hdieml:imeesdelfel hhies
had "a
for having his spectacles and
cartload of things in his
pocket !" An old teapot, which
was very much prized by an old woman,
was
destroyed before her face. The poor
were turned needlesslydown
to breakfast at six o'clock, and were not allowed to have
any if they were a minute late. (Shame). Between 80 and
90 of the aged paupers were unnecessarily confined in an
ill-ventilated ward from nine to twelve and from two to
five in the day, and the nurse was reprimanded by the
matron for allowing two of them to stand outside on
the steps to get a little fresh air. An imbecile girl
named Mary Males was confined all night in a cell
for running about the yard, and the next morning
confined in the dead-house with four or five dead bodies
close to her. The girl became frantic with terror
at night, and in endeavouring to get through the
window broke several panes. She was taken before
a magistrate for it, Rayner saying, "I would hang her
if I could." She was confined for 24 hours, on bread
and water, and without a bed for tying her apron-
strings behind her instead of before her. (Hear,) The
master bad compelled her to sign a written paper, deny-
in.- that she had been subjected to such treatment.. The
girl said that she had no alternative but to do so, and
this she would publicly state. (Shame.) There were
10 suits of clothes, which were worn indiscriminately by
Lithe paupers who went out, and they were often damp
and filthy ; but an old man's liberty was stopped because
he refused to wear one of these suits. An old man,
named Edward Palmer, had been specially persecuted
for a simiLr refusal, but he would best tell his own tale.
Edward Palmer, the man alluded to, here came for-
ward. He said that he had been a ratepayer in the
parish for 30 years, and had served the office of surveyor
of the highways. Circumstances had compelled him to
go into the workhouse, and there he had been a
marked man for the last five months. He was em-
ployed in the workhouse as a schoolmaster, and be-
sides this function he was set to scour bed-ticks, and
carry seals, paint, &c. He could confirm all that
Mr. Hyde had stated. It was no exaggeration at
ad. This unfortunate person detailed a series of
petty persecutions to which he had been subjected by
Rayner. His statement was made in terse and well-
' chosen language, and with the manner and bearing of
one who had moved in a superior condition of life. It
was received by the crowded hail in perfect silence,
which was only occasionally broken by an expression of
indignation ; and the admission that Rayner's conduct
had on one occasion caused him to speak warmly in re-
monstrance was bailed with loud cheers, as was also the
remark that the 7 days' imprisonment to which he had
been subjected for it were far better for him than work-
house fare.

Mr. BEARD, a ratepayer, who had gone over the
workhouse, detailed the results of his ♦issits. He
found the dormitories very clean and neat ; but he
found that, contrary to the poor law, all the aged
couples were separated. Mr. Hyde was invariably
mentioned by the paupers in high terms of praise, but
they complained bitterly of the treatment they received
in the workhouse. He found a whole wax(' full of
old men, who Lad had no dinner at half-past two in the
day. The soup had been served, but they could not
use it, as it was filled with oil, and produced diarrhoea.
They complained that the poor-law allowance was not
fairly dealt out, but was greatly deficient in quantity.
(Shave.) Some complained of the removal of little arti-
cles of property which they brought in—such as combs,
pairs of drawers, &c. In the insane ward he found that
there too the soup was found uneatable, and had not
been touched. (Cries of " shame.") It appeared to
him that the women in the ward were in bodily fear of
the supervisor (a female); and he had occasion to repri-
mand the woman for her conduct to one of the pau-
pers while he was there. In the lying-in ward he
found complaints of insufficient and iunutritious diet.
No beer was allowed to them except during the
month of their confiueinebt. Here, too, the
soup had been refused. He inquired of the cook
why the soup was not eaten, and he replied that he was
not aware of the fact. He further stated that the soup
never came back to him, but went to the master.
("Oh, oh," and laughter.) The man said he had no
fault to find with the meat, but he could not make good
soup without vegetables. (Hear, hear.) The bakehouse
was in good order, and the bread good.
This statement was confirmed by other ratepayers
amidst the loud expressions of indignation of the meeting.
Two resolutions were then adopted, pledging the meet-
ing to prosecute the inquiry to the utmost, and further
to call a general parish meeting on the subject.
The assembly then dispersed.