The Sun.
London, England, 1849-06-15 00:00:00

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL EN-
GINEERS.
TUESDAY, JUNE 12, ]849.

(JOSHUA. FIELD, Esq , President, in the Chair.)
The first paper read was " A Description of the Con-
struction of a Collar Roof, with arched trusses of bent
timber, at East Horseley Park," by the Right Hon. the
Earl of Lovelace, ASSOC. Inst. C. E.
The roof, which covered a hall of fifty-six feet long
by twenty four feet wide, was described as being sus-
tained by four arched trusses, springing from stone cor-
bels. The ribs of these were each composed of four
layers of deals, three inches thick, bent to the required
form by steam heat. All the mouldings surrounding the
tracery were also bent to the required forms in the same
manner, thus giving great strength and lightness, as
well as performing the work with greater economy of
labour. The tracery was cut out from two thicknesses,
half an inch each, of tub stave oak, glued together,
with the fibres at right angles to each other, which
facilitated the carving, and gave greater strength to the
minute tracery.
The ceiling was formed of half-inch diagonal board-
ing, and as the slate battens crossed it in a horizontal
direction, the roof was strongly braced against the action
of wind, and the staining of the alternate boards gave a
pleasinc, variety of effect.
This kind of construction was first suggested by Col.
Emy, in his work on Carpentry, but he applied it to
much flatter roofs of large span, whereas Lord Love-
lace's intention was to demonstrate its applicability to
roofs for edifices in the pointed and Tudor styles, and to
show that great advantage would result from bending
timbers rather than cutting them to the requisite forms;
tiat the thru,t of the roof might be entirely taken from
the upper part of the wall., and carried far down them,
and that such a construction might be adopted as would
satisfy every condition of solidity, and, at the same time,
admit of considerable decoration. _ _ _ _

In the discussion which ensued, the ingenuity of the
design and of the mode of execution of the roof, were
equally approved, and tho Noble Earl was deservedly
complimented for the motives which induced him to
bring to the institution the account of one of his works.
The second paper was a " Statement of Observations
made on the Initial and Terminal Velocities of Trains in
descending Inclined Planes," by Captain W. Moorsom,
M. Inst. C. E.

The observations were 82 in number, and were made
during the ordinary passing of trains on the Waterford
and Kilkenny Railway, the gauge of which is 5 feet 3
inches, over two adjoining inclines, each falling at the
rate of 1 in 100 for upwards of a mile and a halt; with a
short intermediate level between them.

The speed at which the descent was begun varied
from 20 to nearly 44 miles per hour, and the loads varied
from 32 to 94 tons.

One of the plains presented for the greater part of its
leeght two curves of a, radius of l 4 and 11-6 miles re-
spectively, and the other plane was straight for part of
its length, but contained a curve of 21 miles radius.
The general results in the more curved plane were,
that initial velocities of 20 to 30 miles per hour, at the
top of the place, became terminable at velocities of 24
to 28 miles per hour; and on the straighter plane the
same initial velocities became terminable between 29
and 31 miles per hour.
Again, on the more curved plane, initial velocities be-
tween 30 and 40 miles per hour, became terminal at ve-
locities between 294 and 311 miles per hour; and on the
straighter plane the same initial velocities became ter-
minal at 304 to 331 miles per hour.
Initial velocities above 40 miles per hour were noted
only upon the more curved plane, and became terminal
at 30 to 31 miles per hour. There did not appear to be
any constant proportion between the load in motion and
the terminal velocity; but the latter appeared to he de-
pendant more upon initial velocity than upon the weight
or character of frontage of the trains.
The general practical conclusion was deduced, that the
question of gauge had little or nothing to do with ter-
minal velocity derived from gravity, and that the views
generally entertained by engineers, during past years,
of the great resistances experienced by trains at high
velocities were borne out by the observations recorded in
the paper.
The proceedings of the evening concluded with a paper
by Lieut.-Col. Hary D. Jones, R. E., M. Inst. C. E.,
descriptive of the bridge at Athlone, erected under the
authority of the Shannon Commissioners, from the de-
signs of Mr. Rhodes, M. Inst. C. E.
The paper described the great difficulties experienced
from the rush of water into the coffer-dams, through the
porous gravel stratum in which they were placed, and
the ingenious modes of overcoming these impediments.
The bridge, of three :arches of stone, and one of iron,
the latter having: the means of opening for the naviga-
tion, was fully:described, and was admitted to be not only
a beautiful structure, but to have been built for a small
sum (about 24,0001.) considering its extent. A beautiful
set of drawings, and the printed specifications for the
work, illustrated the paper.
The paper announced to be read at the meeting of
Tuesday, June 19, was " On the employment of High-
pressure Steam for Marine Engines," by Mr. John Sea-
ward, M. Inst. C. E.

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON,
LORD WINCHILSEA, LORD CARDIGAN,
CAPTAIN DOUGLAS AND THE BULL.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—On considering the case of Captain Douglas I
cannot avoid coming to the conclusion that great injus-
tice has been done to that gentleman. Amusing himself
with others by pistol practice on the ramparts of one of
the Channel islands, a bull happened to be shot, and an
investigation was instituted by the civil and military
authorities to ascertain who shot the animal. Captain
Douglas avoided criminating himself; he availed himself
of a privilege possessed by every British subject, and for
so doing he was arraigned before a general court-martial
and pronounced guilty of "conduct unbecoming the cha-
racter of an officer and a gentleman." Had the penalty
for shooting the bull been merely to remunerate the
owner for the damage done to his property, I have no
doubt Captain Douglas would willingly have done so at
once, but there exists (I know, and my pocket can testify
to the fact) a most severe law in the Channel islands
respecting the destruction of property. For instance, if
a man breaks a lamp in the stret, he is not only obliged
to pay for that lamp, but for every one which has been
destroyed since the last lampbreaker was convicted; and
the same with bulls, and I presume with cows also. Had
Captain Douglas been convicted by the civil power of
the offence of shooting the bull in question, he would
doubtless have had to pay for every one of that genus of
animals which had come to an untimely end since the
last unauthorised destroyer was convicted. There there-
fore existed a much more cogent reason for Captain
Douglas to have made the most of the position in which
his thoughtle,sness had placed him than persons un-
acquainted with the customs of the Channel islands
would suppose. Let me be fully understood. If it ap-
peared to me that he was actuated by a desire to avoid
remunerating the owner of the bull, I would be the last
person to advocate his cause. Even then the moral tur-
pitude would not be in the instances upon which the
charges against him were framed. Had the Duke of
Wellington succeeded in shooting Lord Winchilsea,
would not his Grace have considered it a cruel hardship,
had he been tried by a general court-martial for " con-
duct unbecoming the character of an officer and a gen-
tleman" without he did not confess that he had done so?
And who supposes that his Grace would have made the-
admission?

Lord Cardigan, Lieutenant. Colonel of Prince Albert's
Hussars, was tried by the House of Lords for wounding
Mr. Harvey Tuckett by shooting him, and pleaded "Not
guilty." By a parity of the reasoning that obtained in
Captain Douglas's case should not his Lordship have
been tried by a general court-martial for "conduct un-
becoming the character of an officer and a gentleman" in
having falsely stated in the House of Lords that he did
not wound the said Mr. Harvey Tuckett?
But, to conclude my observations and questions.
Should her Britannic Majesty be disposed to imitate the
Roman Justinian, and appoint commissioners to pre-
pare a military code from collections previously made,
as well as from intermediate decisions, it would not, in
my opinion, fail to strike a modern Tribonian that the
addition of an article of war similar to the following is
essentially requisite to preserve officers who may here-
after chance to shoot bulls from the dilemma of being
convicted of conduct unbecoming the characters of
officers and gentlemen by courts-martial:—

"PROPOSED ADDITIONAL ♦RTIALE OF WAR.

"Any officer who shall shoot or wound a man shall
be permitted to avail himself of his privilege as a British
subject in not being required to criminate himself; but if
any officer shall shoot or wound a bull, and if he shall
avoid or evade being led into an admission of having
shot or wounded the bull, or, if he shall not at once dis-
close and discover to the authorities, civil and military,
the whole and every part of his participation in shooting
or wounding the bull, he shall be accused of falsehood,
arraigned before a general court.martial, and upon
conviction of all or either of the aforesaid offences she
be cashiered."
June a.