The Sun.
London, England, 1812-03-28 00:00:00

TirE REGENT'S CANAL.

:The further proceedings of the Committee of the
House of Commons on this useful undertaking,
have been to hear evidence oa the case of Mr.
Portman, through a small corner of the extremity
of_ whose large estate the tine of the Canal passes.
To this point, Mr. Morgan, the Engineer, and
Messrs. Samuel Baxter, C arles Mayor, and Thos.
Penthim, all of them builders of great respeelabi-
lity. and practice, stated to the following effect :
That the. portion of Mr. Port ‘,an's estate, severed
by, the in.tersealion of the Canal, is • about two
acres, which •the Company will either purchase,
take on a building lease, intersed by tunnel, or
open cutting, or,, in fine, conform themselves,
with resped to its treatment, as shall best meet
the wishes of the proprietor.; that, if the plan
of tunnelling is adopted, there will, through the
whole line of Mr. P.'s property, be a soil above the
crown of the arch, varying from 12 to 16 leer,.
:which is amply sufficient 'to sustain houses of even
the first class, with the most perfed security, and
without the danger of risk, or inconvenience from
damps or vapours ascending through the brick-
Work, if properly construded ; that, to build on
an arch is preferable to building on swampy
grounds ; and that it is safe. and eligible to erect
large houses, with their foundations on the crown
'of such arch, without the -intervention of soil ;
that houses, of what is called 3d and 4th rates,
have been already bigun to be ,erected between
the line of the Canal, and the better part of Mr.
P.'s estate, Portman-square, &c. ; and that the
extremity, touched by the Canal, is unfit for build-
ings- of the first chts, whether the Canal is or is
not made, on account of its remoteness from town,
the badness of. the streets and avenues leading to it,
and its being already surrounded by houses of an in-
ferior description ; that the proposed Canal will im-'
prove Mr. P.'s estate, as to rental, (if open) and at
any rate, by superseding the necessity of the im-
mense traffic through its most genteel and fashion-
able parts, by carts and heavy waggons pas Sing to
and from. Paddingtou Wharfs and the City, which
destroy the pavement, and may justly be consider-
ed as a nuisance. _ _

Mr. F. Pollock, Counsel for the Company, stated,
-that he had a host of witnesses to corroborate the
testimony of the foregoing, but the Committee ex-
pressed themselves perteCtly satisfied with the proofs-
already given.
o.* Erratum in the last article on this subject, for "fit;re•
tenlol," read " tive-eights" of an inch.

" There is a tradition in Herefordshire, which, as
it probably relates to ;ri ancestor of the theatrical
family who have raised themselves into such merited
celebrity" and who came from that country, may
be acceptable to our Readers, It is said, that in that
country, to signify the last or concluding pipe that
eray one means to smoke at a sitting, they use the
term, a Kerizkie Pipe ; alluding to- a person of the
name of Kemble, who in the cruel persecution
under that merciless bigot, clne,en Mary, being
condemned for heresy, in his walk some nyles from
the prison to the stake, amidst a crowd of weeping
friends, wish the tranquility and fortitude of a pri-
mitive Martyr, smoked a pipe of tobacco. -
Thusrday a pugili)tic contest took place, at Har-
ford, near Hounslow, for 20 guineas a side, between
William Swallow, a youth of promise, aged 19, and
a farmer of the name of Coulthard. The comba-
tants fought fifty-seven bard rounds in one hour
and torty -eight minutes, when Coulthard was de-
clared the victor. It was what is termed a good
stand np fight.
On Tuesday last the bellman went about Yarm,
in Northumberland, giving the-following notice :
" We tie,ar as the -house pf Davison was, late
la4t night, or early this morning, broken into, and
his wife stolen thereout ; this is to give notice, that
any person or persons who will give information
where she may be found, shall receive a reward of
five guineas ! I"