The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-16 00:00:00

BRIGHTON RAILWAY.

It must indeed be gratifying to the Directors
to find that after all the slanderous and unmeaning
accusations which have been brought against this line,
that at length the sober truth is made manifest, and the
malicious attempts of a body of coach proprietors to
injure the interests of the public and of the Directors,
is now so generally seen through, and so strongly re-
probated. The following is from a Contemporary :--
" The late accident on the Brighton Railway has
drawn forth so many letters of censure on the manage-
ment of that concern, that it is to be hoped the old
maxim of " hearing both sides" will be kept in view.
Tile principal charges are three ; first, that the road
was not in proper order ; secondly, the use of four-
wheel «I engines ; thirdly, using two engines to one
train. The answer to the first is, that Sir F. Smith
(appointe.l by Government for that service) minutely
inspected the whole line before the opening, and reported
not simply its fitness, but actually extolled its ex-
traordinary goodness. To the second question the re-
ply is, that the engines with four wheels are in constant
use on several other railways, the London and Bir-
migham amongst them; and that these engines of the
Brighton .Company were from Mr. Bury, who makes
for the London and Birmingham Company, and is the
superint,ndent of locomotive rower on that line. To
the third charge a matter-of-fact reply is also ready—
namely, that two engines are regularly applied to
one train on the Great Western, the Liverpool and
Manchester, and other lines. It ought likewise to
be recollected that on the Brighton the engines
were both in front, whereas on the other lines one
is put behind the train occasionally. Notwithstand-
ing the sanction of the old railways as above stated,
the Brighton Directors, instantly bowed to the re-
commendation of the Coroner's Jury in both cases,
thereby sustaining a loss of some thousand pounds, by
having six ef these four-wheeled engines thrown up
useless. They have also adopted the suggestion of an
anonymous writer, to place a luggage-car next to the
engine, and, no doubt, will gladly try any other device
likely to promote the safety of the public. The report
spread so industriously that the Patcham-tunnel had
fallen in was malicious, because, being so near Brighton,
the truth might have been ascertained and stated at
first. The stage-coach people, perhaps, could account
for this and other false_ rumours. In conclusion, let
me soy that the best guarantee the public have for all
rail way improvements is the certain loss sustained by
those Companies whenever any disaster occurs. In
the recent case of the Brighton, 2,000/. a-week, at
least, have been lost to its exchequer, besides that of
the six engines and the heavy expenses caused by the
accidents.

GREAT IMPROVEMENT OF THE RIVER.
TrumEs.—The accustomed survey of the River Thames
from Staines to Yantlet Creek, 'which was undertaken
some time ago, under the authority of the Corporation
of London, has just been completed. The following
official men were engaged in the survey :—Mr. James
Walker, the engineer ; Captain Bullock, R.N. ; Mr.
Charles Pearson, the City Solicitor ; Captain Fisher,
• principal Harbour-master of the Port of London;
Mr. Melhurst Swindon, the Water-bailiff; Mr. llcpter
Leach, the Clerk of the Works to the Thames Naviga-
tion Committee ; and the Harbour-masters of the Port
of London, in their several stations. It is believed
that the Report which will shortly be made upon the
important subject of the improvement of the Thames, by
Mr, Walker and Captain Bullock, will lead to the adop-
tion of a plan of improvement of immense magnitude,
and calculated to render service in a great variety
of ways.

The ancient river Ivel, so well known for a
number of year to contain a quantity of fine fish of every
description, affording great amusement to sportsmen
fond of angling, is now so infested in the neighbourhood
of Yeovil, by that obnoxious animal the Otter, that
scarcely any fish aro now to be found ; and if these de-
predators be not soon annihilated, not only this river,
but all the fish-ponds in the neighbourhood, will be
cleared of fish. Two of these animals were killed at
one shut, during the snow last winter, in a willow bed
near Yeovil Bridge; and there have been three seen near
the same spot, within the last few days. It is well
known that two litters have been bred there this sum-
'ifier. A report was current last year that some otter-
'hounds were about to pay the neighbourhood of Yeovil
a visit. The sportsmen here would be happy to hear.thia'
report .authenticated. Several days of good sport might
idoubtless be calculated upon, and a large geld of sports-
men would be sure to join the hunt.