The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-08 00:00:00

THE RAILWAY PIONEER.

The claims of Thomas Gray, the far-seeing projector
of that magnificent system which is now bringing into
close communication the most remote parts of the king,
dom, are daily gaining on public attention.
In the Railway Record of last Saturday appears the
first of a series of articles entitled "memorial of Thomas
Gray, the pioneer of the railway system," and intended
to set forth the special and peculiar claims which Mr.
Gray has on the railway world. We give the following
extract :—" In the short space of nineteen years—dating
from the first-fruits of the new system in the incorpora-
tion of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company
—we have upwards of eighty railways either completed
or in progress in this country, involving a capital exceed-
ing eighty millions sterling. We have seen, in the Par-
liamentary session of 1845, an array of schemes with a
capital amounting to ninety-six millions. We have had
in the session which has just closed-a capital involved in
the railway department of legislation at present beyond
the reach of accurate estimate—vast manifestations of
the enterprise of the age. Grand though the result—
eqnalling the wealth-creating powers of the genii and
enchanters of Eastern romance—not less strange and
true is the fact that the name of him who designed it is
unknown to the world, That man was Thomas Gray,
who:e claims as the great Pioneer of the Railway
System it is the aim of these memorials to set forth, as a
humble call on the gratitude of his fellow-countrymen."
The remainder of the paper is occupied with a brief
sketch of the rude state of the rail or tram-way at the
time Mr. Gray directed his enlightened and ingenious
mind to the subject. In their next number they propose
to narrate the first labours of Mr. Gray.
From the same paper we also extract the following
very gratifying paragraph:—" We are glad- to learn
that the gentleman whose letters strongly advocating the
claims of Thomas Gras, recently appeared in our
columns, has after much labour, established the nucleus
of a plan having for its object to secure some testimony
of public gratitude to cheer the declining days of that
ill-requited individual. The plan will, in a few cliys, be
submitted to the various Railway Boards in the king-
dom; and we hope, and confidently believe, that it will
not be so submitted in vain."

DEER STALKING AND GROUSE

SHOUTING.

The gay and festive scene of the Northern Meeting
last week brought together a greater number of sports•
men than was ever seen at once in Inverness. Although
for a time the moors gave place to the brill-room, still
tie deeds on the mountains were not forgotten. The
subjoined notes of sports have been received since our
last notice :—On the Eskadale moors, Mr. Hutton shot
on the 24 h, 30 brace of grouse, on the 25th, 37i brace,
and on the 26th, 22-1, brace. At Invercassley, Ross-
shire, Mr. Robertson and the Messrs. Christie have
bagged 700 head. During a few days tour in the island
of Lews, Major Houston and Mr. Denys bagged 210
brace of grouse. In the Corries of I)undreggan, Sir H.
Meux, 13art., stalked and shot 2 stags. At Lochlaggan,
the Marquis of Abercorn captured 3 stags. From the
forest of Fasnakyle, Lord Bateman took 2 deer, killing
them right and left, at once. In the forest of Glen-
Strathfurar, Lord Lovat, the Master of Lovat, the Hon.
A. Fraser, and Captain Mostyn, have had excellent sport
among the red deer-12 large stages, one of them with
14 antlers, were stalked ; and on the moor, in one day,
Captain Mostyn bagged 54 brace of grouse ; the fol-
lowing day, 43 brace and 2 hares. The sport at Invere-
shie has been first-rate. W. Evans, Esq., M.P., and
friends, have bagged nearly 800 brace of grouse, and
have stalked 13 stags on their deer ground. On the
Diebdale moors, Mr. Forde shot on the 12th, 42 brace
of grouse, 3 plovers, 1 hare ; on the 17th, 37 brace, and
on the 19,h 35 brace of grouse. At Strathvaich, Sir St.
George Gore, Bart., continues to get excellent shooting.
On the 22d, he shot 64 brace of grouse and 13 hares ;
on the 24th, 90i brace, a snipe, and 6 hares ; on the
25th, a double shat of stags—killing both ; and on the
27th, 81i brace of grouse and 6 hares. t Belleville,
Mr. Mackildowny and friend, on August the 12th,
bagged 6.5 i brace of groutie and 2 hares ; Mr. M'G.
Casement and friend, 52i brace ; 13th,- Mr. Macgil-
downy and friend, 341 brace and a hare—Mr. M'G.
Casement and friend, 41 brace ; 17th, Mr. M'G. and
friend, 73 brace and 2 hares—Mr. M'G. Casement and
friend, 51 brace and a hare ; 19th, Mr. Macgildowny,
34- brace and 2 hares—Mr. M'G. Casement and friend,
43 brace and a hare ; 26th, Mr. M.G. and friend, 19
brace and a hare—Mr. M'G. Casement and friend, 11
brace and a hare ; 22d, Mr. M'G. and friend, 36 brace—
Mr. M'G. Casement and friend, 34i brace • 24th, Mac-
gildowny, 31 brace—Casement and friend, 37 .brace ;
23th, Mackildowny and friend, 16 brace.—lnverness
Courier.

LORD ROSSE'S MONSTER TELESCOPE. —ln the
course of the lecture on Lord posse's Monster Teles-
cope, delivered a few days ago at Whitby by the Rev.
Dr. Scoresby, of Bradford, the reverend gentleman
described the appearance of the heavens. He remarked
that the nebulae already observed were between one and
two hundred, which was a great deal, considering how
often observations were prevented by cloudy nights ;
and that the telescope, although erected about eighteen
months, had not yet been in complete operation more
than three or four months, already several of the nebulae
hitherto not fully examined were discovered to be a col-
lection of suns ; and with regard to the moon, the
Doctor stated its appearance to be magnificent. It
appeared like a globe of molten silver, and every object
of the extent of 100 yards was quite visible. Edifices,
therefore, of the size of York Minster, or even of the
ruins of Whitby Abbey, might be easily perceived if
they had existed. But there was no appearance of any
thing of that nature, neither was there any indication of
the existence of water nor of an atmosphere. There
was a vast number of extinct volcanoes, several miles
in breadth; through one of them there was a line in
continuance of one, about 150 miles in length, which
ran in a straight direction like a railway. The general
appearance, however, was like one vast ruin of nature ;
and many of the pieces of rock, driven out of the
volcanoes, appeared to be laid at various distances. The
Doctor said he expected it would soon be competent to
Daguerrotype the image of the moon upon the speculum,
which could not be done at present, as the moon was not
stationary, but the Earl contemplated a piece of media-
nism to move the telescope to a certain distance, with a
motion corresponding to the movement of the moon. The
Doctor enlivened the lecture with many interesting
anecdotes of the Earl, all of which were calculated to
raise him in the estimation of his countrymen, and con-
cluded with an exhortation to the upper classes to sup-
port institutions like the present, as calculated to promote
good feeling and to benefit society.
EXTRAORDINARY INTREPIDITY.—A correspondent
in Swansea gives us the particulars of a remarkably cou-
rageous action performed by a Mr. Thomas Shepherd,
lately a chemist, in that town, who, returning to his
lodgings, on last Tuesday evening, was surprised to find
his family, and that of Mr. Rowe, in whose house he
lodged, shut up in different rooms, from which they were
afraid to emerge, in consequence of a dog belonging to
Mr. Rowe having suddenly become rabid. Mr. Shep-
herd instantly determined to attempt the destruction of
the furious animal, and having provided himself with a
heavy hammer, and guarded his hands, he scaled the
garden wall, and, watching his opportunity, threw some
bed furniture over the dog, and while entangled in it,
grasped him by the throat with his left band, andin-
flicting several heavy blows on his head with the ham-
mer in his right, speedily dispatched the ferocious
animal. to the great delight of the household and his
neighbours.—Sunday Paper.
The overland (closed) mail, vi& Marseilles, for
India, Hong-Kong, China, Aden, Egypt, Alexandria,
Corfu, Zante, and the Mediterranean, will be dispatched
from the General Post-office, St. Martin's-le-Grand, this
evening, the 7th inst.
General Baron Munchausen returned to Mivart's
Ilotel on Saturday, from a tour in the manufactiging
districts.