The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-29 00:00:00

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W. Tait, Edinburgh; Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., London.

THE LANCET, of SATURDAY next, July 4,
being No. I. of a new Volume, will contain, amongst many other
interesting articles—The first of a series of Lectures by the distin-
guished Dr. CONOLLY, on the construction and management of
Lunatic Asylums, and on the moral and mental government of the
Insane—Reports (from St. Bartholomew's, University College, and
Westminster Hospitals) of cases of Cholera, Diseases of Bones, and Sy -
philis, and illustrations of the use of opium in operations,'the ligature of
veins, fatal bleeding from lancing the gums, the use of electro-mag.
netism in nervous diseases, &c.—Final report of the Committee of
the House of Commons on the Naval Supplemental Fund—Disgrace-
ful payments of Union Medical Officers—Official Correspondence with
Commissioners and Guardians—With all the current medical news.

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RAILWAY COMMITTEE S.
(SATURDAY.)

HOUSE'OF LORDS.
Room A.
CAMBRIDGE AND OXFORD.
IMPORTANT DECISION.

Their Lordships met, pursuant to adjournment, at half-
past eleven ; o'clock this morning, Lord Mornington in the
chair.
They immediately gave their decision that the preamble
of the Bill was not proved.. •
••-1171-4, 21c.ink, on the part of the prot.notbrlN Ituggested that
the line from Hitchin to Cambridge might be passed.
The Committee cleared the room, in order to consider this
suggestion, and on our re-admission,
The CHAIRMAN announced that the Committee had de-
termined to pass the 13 miles of the line from Hitchin to
Royston, which they thought would give accommodation to
a populous manufacturing and agricultural district, and
would be something to start from in making a more complete
communication through the country accommodated.
Their Lordships then rose finally, it being half-past twelve
o'clock.

This was the only Committee sitting in the Lords to-day.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.
GROUP 11.

The Select Committee appointed to consider the merits of
the Bills comprised in this group re-assembled at the usual
hour this morning; Lord Morpeth iu the chair.

TAW VALE EXTENSION.

Mr. TALBOT commenced the business of the day by ad-
dressing the Committee on behalf of the opponents of the
Bill. The tenor of his speech may be stated in two or three
words. If the Committee, he said, threw out the pre-
sent scheme, it would give time to the Great
Western Company to mature a large and more
comprehensive scheme, and one which would afford
double the amount of accommodation to this district to
that of the Taw Vale line. The " larger and more compre-
hensive scheme," it would appear, will be equal in extent
to the existing Great Western line, and will consist of the
revival of an extended North Devon Railway. The
" larger and more comprehensive scheme " is proposed
to be commenced at Taunton, on the Bristol and Exeter
line, to proceed thence to Barnstaple, and to run from Barn-
staple by a circuitous route to Crediton. Half way between
Barnstaple and Creditors an extension will strike off, and
proceed direct through Oakhampton, Dartmoor, and Tavistock
to Plymouth, there joining the lines running through Corn-
wall. This scheme is supported by the principal landowners and
traders of the district, including Earl Fortescue, and the
Learned Counsel contended that, as the proposed Taw Vale
line, as compared with " the larger and more comprehensive
North Devon scheme," would only save a distance of
eight miles between Crediton and Barnstaple, it would
neither be prudent nor conducive to the public interest
to annihilate the Great North Devon by prematurely sanction-
ing the trifling Taw Vale line—the one the substance, the
other only the shadow of a railway.
Mr. COCKBURN was about to address the Committee in
reply, but he was interrupted by
The CHAIRMAN, who said he believed there would
be no necessity for putting Mr. Cockburn to the
trouble of making a long address, the Committee being
unanimously of opinion that the preamble to the Bill for
making the Taw Vale line had been proved. He accom•
panied that announcement with the remark that the Com-
mittee had arrived at that conclusion upon the merits of
the scheme as a local and independent line, and without
meaning to express any opinion adverse to the North Devon

project.
Mr. TALBOT said, of course the line would be upon the
broad gauge.
The CHAIRMAN replied, that he understood it was to be so.

Mr. COCKBURN said it would depend upon circumstances
whether the line would be upon the broad or narrow gauge.
If the traffic continued hereafter to go by the Bristol and
Exeter, it would be made upon the narrow, but if the narrow
gauge line by-way of •-reovil were sanctioned by the Lords,
and the traffic took that direction, then the line would be
upon the narrow gauge.
It was ultimately arranged to leave the matter to be settled
by the Board of Trade.

The clauses were then agreed to, and the labours of the
Committee closed.

GROUP XVII.

MANCHESTER AND SOUTHAMPTON.

The Committee met to-day at eleven o'clock.
Mr. Brunel, the engineer to the Great Western, was then
called and examined by Mr. AVSTIN—He concurred in the
evidence given by Mr. Locke, and considered that the line
now constructing from Reading by Basingstoke, by the
Great Western Railway, would afford much better communi-
cation with Southampton than the Manchester and South-
ampton. He was of opinion that there was not sufficient
traffic to jtstify the construction of the proposed line. No
doubt, if absolutely necessary, the narrow gauge would also
be laid down from Oxford to Basingstoke, as well as on the
Oxford and Rugby, thus completing narrow gauge accom-
modation from north to south. He agreed with Mr. Stephen-
son, that if a railwry communication was required between
the north and Southampton, that it should be made at the
least possible expense.
By the CHAIRMAN—There was not sufficient traffic between
Cheltenham and Southampton to pay a line of any length
between these points. From Cheltenham to Swindon, from
Swindon to Marlborough, and from Andover to Southamp-
ton, was not an available route for a railway. lie could not
see why another line should be made between Swindon and
Cheltenham. It was possible, in the increased demand for
railway communication, that a line from Swindon, by
Marlborough to Salisbury, might be constructed with ad.
vantage.
By Mr. Ausznir—Had heard that the Manchester and
Southampton proposed the removal of the station at Swin-
don. The cost of this would be about 30,0001., but if they
removed the engine louses also the cost would be 100,0001.
Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant WRANGHAM—The dis-
tance from Southampton to Manchester by the Manchester
and Southampton was 112 miles and a quarter, and by the
Rugby route 131 and a half, but he considered that the
gradients by way of Rugby would compensate for this dif-
ference of 17 or 18 miles. Knew Mr. Locke surveyed a line
from Basingstoke to Didcot, and that the country was rough
in that quarter. The object of the Cheltenham and Oxford

line was to shorten the distance between that line and
London, but it had gradients of 1 in 63, 1 in 75, 1 in 80, and
l in 100, and so on, which were worst than that in one part
of the Manchester and Southampton, between Cheltenham
and Swindon. If the line from Cheltenham to Swindon
was a continuous one there would be some advantage in
favour of it over the Cheltenham and Oxford, as it was 14
miles less, so that a person going from Cheltenham to
Swindon would no doubt use that line. There would be
delay in getting the carriages on the Great Western line
at Swindon. hvery train stopped ten minutes at Swindon,
in order to enable the passengers to obtain refreshments.
All the trains were compelled to stop there in
accordance with an agreement enforced by law. Was engi-
neer to the Cornish line rejected last year, which had
gradients of lin 40. This year they were lin 60; but they
were not more severe than a portion of the route which the
Manchester and Southampton followed, the Licky incline,
for instance, on the Bristol and Birmingham. There would
be no change of management at Rugby.
The CHAIRMAN—Then it comes to this, that if the public
require railway accommodation, gradients are not of much
consequenc%
Mr. Brunel was then asked by the CHAIRMAN if he con-
sidered, that the line being shorter, would divert the traffic
from the Great Western ?—He said he did not think it
would, because the traffic from CheltenhaM to London would
take the route of the Worcester and Oxford.
The CumumArr—Then, will you tell me, if it will not
divert the traffic of the Great Western, and will be of ad-
vantage to the public, why they oppose it ?
Mr. Brunel gave no direct reply.
The CHAIRMAN—DO they oppose it to save the share-
holders of this line ?
Mr Brunel—No.
Mr. KEATING said that was a question for the board of
management/to reply to, and did not come within the pro-
vince of the engineer.
The witness was cross•examined by Mr. KEATING at
some length, without eliciting any point of importance.
Lieutenant Haswell, examined by Sir T. PHILLIPS—Had
been acquainted with the Southern Channel for twenty
years. Preferred Plymouth to any of the southern ports,
both for passengers and exports, and for those from the
southern counties, because it was the western depot for
troops, and possessed an excellent breakwater and harbour,
which protected the ships from danger during the prevalence
of heavy gales. It was superior to the port of Southampton,
the approach of which from the Needles was a source of
great anxiety and danger.
Cross-examined by Mr. GURNEY—Had heard that the
Oriental and Peninsular Steam-packet Company intended, no
matter from what point the mails left, to keep their station
at Southampton. Convoys, during the time of the war,
started from Southampton and Portsmouth, and put into
Plymouth on their route. The Channel packets for the last
twenty years had left Southampton, and generally at night.
Could not say he ever heard of any accident to those boats.
Capt. Robert White corroborated the evidence of the last
witness.
The Committee adjourned at three o'clock.

GROUP 'will.
The Committee met this morning at eleven o'clock, in
Room No. 24 (Grand Corridor). Present, Sir Robert Fer-
guson (chairman), the Marquis of Worcester, Viscount
Newry, Mr. Srnollet, and Mr. Feßowe&
They resumed the consideration of the competing lines, the
I.VARUTICHSHXRE AND LONDON (THREE
LINES), AND THE BIRMINGHAM AND
OXFORD' UNCTION..
The CriArtorAN informed the parties that the Committee
had come to the determination to hear the evidence yester-
day tendered against the accuracy of the levels in the plans
deposited for the Worcester and Weedon line.
Mr. Hughes, the engineer, was then called, and being ex-
amined by Mr. Sergeant KINGLAKE, gave evidence to the
effect that the levels, in the plus deposited were Bo inae-