The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-20 00:00:00

NOR= BRITISH (citaxaszE EXTENSION)

(Continued fr•m our Afternoon Edition.)

Mr. Sergeant BELLasts here objected to the cross-examination
on the ground that the only part of the scheme, the
Caledonian could object to, was the position from Langholm to Car-
lisle, which would compete with their Langholm branch. Beyond
this they had no locus stand', as not a single petition had been pre
sented against the portion of their (the North British) line from
llawick to Langholm. Had the Caledonia* intended to appear
against it, they should have presented a petition.
Mr. RICKARDS said it was too late to make the objection, as both
the Duke of Miceknelt and Mr. Wilson had been asked similar
questions yesterday. The Caledonian opposed the whole scheme,
and from the position of this, as a competing project to the Cale-
donian, he submitted the latter had a good locus search.
The Committee overruled the objection as untenable.
Mr. Lang's cross-examination continued—He had been informed that
the Messrs. Pickford brought goods from lA'ewcastle to London for 31.
per ton. Newcastle was 60 miles distance from Ilawick. The
whole distance from Hawick to London was 350 miles. At present
the sailing vessels from Leith to London took five or six days to go,
but the steamers went, twice a-week, in about forty-
eight hours. He could not say the exact quantity of
foreign wool brought into Ha wick, nor the amount of
timber or other building ma' erials brought from Annan.
He could not say the exact amount of coal consumed at llawiek.
He got the whole that he consumed from Canobie, because it was of
better quality than the coals down the Tweed. At one time consi-
derable supplies were got from the latter quarter. He did not know
much of the examination of last year, but he believed that some
expectation of a supply was held out from the Lothians by the Edits-
burgh line.
Re-examined---He believed that Carlisle was about the same dis-
tance from London as Newcastle.

The Earl of Minto, examined by Sergeant BELLASIS, gave general
evidence that he thought the railway in question of the utmost im-
portance to the district in giving an outlet to the southward. It was
a prosperous and important district, and ought to have a communi-
cation to the south by railway. Ills estates did not lie on the pre-
sent line, hut on the northern part, sanctioned to Edinburgh.
Cross-examined. —He had not o nsidered whether these schemes of
railway through the south of Scotland were compatible. He had not
gone into the question. Ile knew, however, of no consideration that
should operate to deprive the district in question of tile natural
outlet to its traffic.

Mr. William Nixon, wool spinner, of Ilawick, gave similar evidence
as Mr. Lang regarding the trade of the town and district. The ton-
nage of the slates derived from Annan last year was about 600 tons.
The general merchandise to an from Hawick, in 1845, was 7,000
tons. Ile was glad last year at the railway to Edinburgh being
granted, in order to get coals from the Lothians, but he considered
they would be better supplied from Canobie.
Cross-examined—He thought a line to the south was highly desir-
able. He had no hesitation, however, in saying that in comparing
two lines, one to the north and another to the south, he should de-
cidedly prefer the one to the north. He said so last year, and he said
so now. He sent about the one-half of what he spun southward,
but he did not think the others in the trade sent so much. He could
not exactly state the tonnage of what he sent. There was no doubt
that the greater proportion of the goods went northwards. Edin-
burgh and Glasgow were the principal destinations. He thought
goods going southwards would go by railway in preference to steam-
boats, as the risk was not so great.
Mr. James Syme, a mauulacturer of Galashiels, examined by
Mr. TALBOT—In witness's recollection the town of Galashiels
increased from 700 inhabitants to about 5,000. The goods manu-
factured in that town was beyond a quarter of a million. It was also
the centre of an important agricultural district. A great deal of the
goods went south ; nearly all his went to London, but Leith was not
the most desireable route. The Edinburgh line did not, in his opi-
nion, supersede the necessity for one to the south. He thought the
best route to the south should be through Carlisle. The goods made
at Galashiels were of a high priced character. At present the coals
used were entirely from Mid Lothian, but he thought it desirable for
the sake of competition to open up the Canobei-field to them.
Cross-examined—Glasgow was the great market for the goods
manufactured at Galashiels. A greater proportion of goods went to
Glasgow than to the south. He had not calculated the difference,
either in time or distance, between Galashiels and London, by way of
Berwick or Leith, and the route through Carlisle. There would he
communication by railway with Edinburgh and Berwick, but, when
that was completed, he could not say what the expense would be in
those directions, and thence by steam to London, compared with the
railway to the south. He could not speak as to the quantity of goods
consumed annually in Galashiels. He could not say what the con-
sumption of coals was at Galashiels.
Mr. Locke, of Regent-street, London, deposed that he carried on a
large trade in Scotch goods, a great portion of which came frona Ga-
lashiels and Hawick. He considered it of the greatest importance to
get the fancy goods as soon as possible into the market. He thought
this would be facilitated in a great degree by a continuous line of
railway.
Cross-examined.—There was no other one in London so extensive
in this Scotch line as himself. He dealt principally in fancy goods.
Supposing the railway completed from Galashiels and Hawick to
Leith, the present delays would be much reduced. The delay even
then would be injurious to the trade, on account of the
time taken by the steamers. The fancy trade was greater at
Galashiels, and Selkirk, than at Hawick. If the railway communi-
cation to Berwick, and from thence to London, was completed, the
delay in point of time would in a great measure he put an end to.
Mr. Turnbull, miller of Melrose, examined—He carried on an ex-
tensive trade in grain and flour, a great portion of which went into
Dumfriesshire and Cumberland. A good deal of barley went for
the purposes of distilling at Longholm and other parts in that
direction. His annual export business in tons was in 1841,
1,181 tons; and in 1844, 1,080 tons. Ho believed the amount
of grain and meal that went past Moss Paul, a point between
Hawick and Langholm, was 3,325. A good deal of grain
likewise went by Liddesdale to the south. The present expense of
grain from Hawick to Langholm was about Bs. a ton.
Cross-examined—About one-third of the grain of Roxburghshire
went westward, one-third to Dalkeith, and the remainder eastward.
He knew nothing about the Dalkeith market. Kelso was the great
market for the county. As the greater portion of his own trade
went to Dumfriesshire—he was strongly interested in the present
railway. He could not say what proportion of grain the other millers
in the district sent towards Dumfriesshire.

The Committee then adjourned till to-morrow at twelve o'clock.

GROUP Lt,

LONDON, HOUNSLOW, AND WESTERN.
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition.)
Mr. Chapman market-gardener of Isleworth, gave evidence to
the large traffic in vegetables between that locality and the London
markets. _ _ _

Mr. Hammond, also of Isleworth, deposed as to the large amount
of traffic.

The other witnesses examined were Mr. Grainger, of Brentford,
and Mr. H. Stanbury, whose evidence was generally as to the large
traffic in goods and passengers, and the necessity there existed for the
present line of railway. . _

The Committee adjourned at four o'clock till to-morrow at twelve.

GROUP XXII.
WAVENEY VALLEY.

_ .
The Committee met this morning. Sir G. Grey, chairman.
Mr. Sergeant Muarwr opened the ease for the promoters of this
railway.

The Committee intimated their opinion, that they would hear the
evidence of this line previous to giving their decision on the case of
Ipswich, Norwich, and Yarmouth Railway. The present line pro-
posed to commence at Yarmouth, and proceed on to Diss.
Mr. Rumbold, M.P. for Yarmouth, was the first witness called,
who stated that there was a general feeling in Yarmouth in favour of
the line.

Mr. Tilenherrish, chairman of the Beecles sessions, also gave simi-
lar evidence.

Mr. Dare and Lieut..COlonel Smith also gave evidence favourable
to the Waveney Valley Railway.
Mr. J. Davy, accountant, Yarmouth, gave evidence of the large
amount of goods landed at Yarmouth. A greater proportion of
Passengers now went to London by sea. He believed that this cir-
cumstance was owing to the great number of accidents which had
become so peculiarly the property of the existing Eastern Counties
line between Norwich and London.
Mr. Lincoln, a fish merchant of Yarmouth, stated that by the pre-
sent mode of conveyance on the Norwich and Eastern Counties Rail-
way, it took longer to get his fish up to London than it formerly did
by his own vans. It took very nearly the whole of the day to get
his fish delivered by the railway.
The Committee then adjourned till twelve to-morrow.

GROUP XXVI.
SOUTH ESS MX.

This Committee resumed this morning; Mr. O'Connell in the chair.
They were occupied during the whole of the early part of the day in
hearing evidence given by residents between the Eastern Counties
line and the river Thames, who testified to the number of cattle sent
to London from that quarter, as also to the quantity of chalk con-
veyed by water to Battersea. The farmers complained chiefly of
the want of accommodation at the Shoreditch station, and the pro-
prietors of the chalk showed that their article is sent from the pits to
Battersea for Is. 9d. a ton, while by the railway it cost 55., exclusive
of cartage to the line.

Mr. Locke, the engineer, was then called by Mr. CocKßuitN, Q.C.,
to show the course and qualities of the line. According to his evi-
dence, the line is to run a distance of 43 miles, from its
junction with the Blackwell extension line, to Wallasey
Island, and to be connected with a pier and harbour on the
coast, where it wends from the mouth of the Thames,
to the north, having branches to Tilbury, opposite Gravesend and
to moutnend. The country is a rich agricultural district, and offers
not the slightest engineering difficulty. The proposed line would bring
Tilbury a mile and a half nearer to Fenchurch-street than the North
Gravesend line. The proposition of the company for the latter line
for a junction with the Blackwell terminus was impracticable, as it
could only be carried out through the West India Docks, which of
course was absurd. The distance to Southend by the South Essex
line would be 381 A miles. In his opinion the North Gravesend Rail-
way was an unwise proposition, as the line would Lave to contend with
the cheap passenger traffic on the river, and with the North Kent
line, which had just been sanctioned by Parliament, and was to run
from Greenwich to Gravesend. Part of the line to Wallasey Island
would be under high water mark • but;that was no objection, for such
Was the case with the whole of Holland, and there are already good
sea embankments.
After the conclusion of Mr. Loeke's evidence, the Committee ad-
journed till to-morrow. .

GROUP XXXII.
The Committee met this morning at 12 o'clock ; Mr. J. E. De-
nison in tho chair.

CRELTENHAws AND OXFORD RAILWAY.
Mr. Thomas Sheldon gave evidence pf the advantage which would
accrue to Cheltenham by the projected line, and went at length into
details
of some opposition meetings held by a party of the townspeople
of ,ftelteham, and read some proposals tendered by the company
to secure the people against any injury,which property or wells might
sustain. He stated that the most of the property passed through by
the line in the town of Cheltenham was very inferior.
He was confirmed by Messrs. Bubb and Peekwood,
Dr. Gibney, a physician in Cheltenham, who had been connected
with the town hospital for twenty years, said ho himself had
proposed by letter in the newspapers, in 1837, a line
to London very similar to that now before the Committee.
The proposed line passed the hospital, but at the very end of the
garden, so that it would be about forty yards further from it than
was the high street.
Col. Watson, who has property in ornamental parts of the town,
thought that these parts would sustain no injury from the railway,
as it passes by a deep cutting covered over. lie had been among
the first to suggest the objection to the line from the damage it was
like to cause by the drainage of the wells, but he was now satisfied,
alter much inquiry, that the objection was unfounded.
Mr. Gardiner, lord of the manor of Cheltenham, and possessed of
very much valuable property in High-street and Pittville, a com-
missioner also on the various public works of Cheltenham, gave
evidence in favour of the line.
Mr. Thomas Wright, one of the surgeons of the town hospital,
and who had given much attention to the geology of Chel-
tenham, said the town was supplied with waterr,:which
flows from the Cobeswood hills on the north side of the
town down into the sand on which the town is built, and that the
sand, reposing in a basin of lias, acts as a sponge, and retains
the water. Ile did not believe that the cutting of the line would
affect this water, since, if the sides of the cuttings were built up, the
water retarded thereby would rise to an adequate level to supply the
town. -

The Committee adjourned tin twelve o'clock to-morrow.

GROUP LIV.
(Continued from our Afternoon Xdition.)
MIDLAND (11317ETON-0152"-TRENT TO NUN-

EATON AND ISRANCHES).

Mr. Hildyard
appeared in support of the ?Sill, and Mr. Sergeant
Allen on the part of the Coventry Canal Company, petitioners against
the:Bill.

HILDTARD Bald that he would endeavour to be as brief
0.1 pCligble. 'Da prolont ragyfay might be conaidtr9d as a

'ENING, MAY 20, 1816.

line to bo constructed from the Moira Collieries to Nun-
eaton. They proposed by this railway to afford the same
communication to the south that had already been afforded
to the cast and west in the locale of the line by the preceding Bill.
It would join the London and Birmingham Railway, and open a
communication thence to the mineral wealth of the district
through which • they would pass. The present mode of
transit by canal was thirty-nine miles, but by their railway
it would be only 28 miles. The distance in this case was not c, r-
thinly diminished to the extent that it was in other instances ; but a
saving of 11 miles in the communication with a mineral district
was still a matter of no insignificant character. By the present mode
of communication by canal, Leamington was 80 miles from the
Moira Collieries ; but the proposed railway would diminish the
distance to 32 miles, thereby effecting a saving of no less than 48
miles. Ile would take :mother town, namely, Banbury, which was
the centre of a most important rand district, and required a much
more bountiful supply of coals, and at a cheaper rate than it at present
possessed. A saving of 55 miles from the Moira Collieries to this
town would be effected by the proposed line. The distance to
Aylesbury from the same point would he reduced to 42 miles. To
Leighton Buzzard there would be a saving from these collieries of
40 miles, the distance by canal being 113 miles, while by railway it
would be only 73 miles. There were a great many other
places which would receive similar advantages from this
railway, but he would not occupy the time of the Com-
mittee by even enumerating them—such being the benefits
that would result from the construction of this railway and the pro-
, posed amalgamation with the Ashby-de-la-Zouch canal, as far as the
• mineral wealth contained in that district was concerned. There
were certainly objections offered to this scheme. In the first place,
it was alleged that the proposed amalgamation of the Ashby-de-la-
Zcatch canal would operate injuriously on certain interests.
But as he had already shown th:,t, the direction of that
canal was through a highly important district, he trusted that the
principle laid down as related to those amalgamations would in-
fluence the Committee, and that they would consider the objections
urged upon this ground valneless. There wore also objections on
the part of the landowners, and certainly Lord Howe had a perfect
right to petition against this line, but the Committee would
perceive that the advantages which this line held forth were such as
to overpower objections purely private. In conclusion, he had to state
that he would not trouble-the Committee with any detailed evidence
as to the mineral traffic on this line.

Mr. J. Manors, agent to the Marquis of Hastings, was examined by
Mr. MAcetiLEY, to show that the distance at present from several
places on the line, owing to the mode of transit by canal from the
Moria Collieries, diminished the demand for coals from that district.
The Committee adjourned at four o'clock till to•morrow, when the
hearing of the evidence on the part of the Bill will be resumed.

GROUP LV.

MANCHESTER., sizErriELD, AND min-

LAND JUNCTION.

The Committee. (Mr. Shaw in the chair) resumed thls morning at
twelve o'clock, when
Mr. Fowler, engineer of the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction
line, was called by Mr. WHATELEY, Q.C.—Me stated that, according
to his estimate, the line proposed by Mr. Vignoles was exceedingly
bad, the gradients severe, and the cost of it would be 113,0001., and a
great difficulty would be experienced in the accumulation of water at
Dronfleld during wet weather. This difficulty could only be obviated
by a sort of zigzag line over the brook there."
To the cross-examination of Mr. ADAMS, the witness stated that
he bad been in practice eight years, and had constructed the Stockton
and Darlington Railway and the Clarence Railway. Ills opinion was
that the earthworks on the line of the present promoters would be
immense, and the gradients worse than on any other line with which
he was acquainted. He had taken the average of eight of the prin-
cipal lines in the kingdom, and found that the average of their returns
gave 62/. per mile per week. The Great Western, which showed the
highest rate, returned 811. per mile.; and the Newcastle end Shields
line, which showed the lowest, made 281. per mile; the Midland
Counties line returned 62/. per mile—just the average—while it
would require 1251. per mile on the proposed Sheffield and Chester-
field line to obtain the seven per cent. dividend which the promoters
anticipated. The line would pass through or over no less than 39
streets in the town of Sheffield, and the station in the town itself
would be 18 feet above the level of the street. The ground to be oc-
cupied is all building ground. The Sheffield and Ilakewell line had
also bad tunnels and very severe gradients, gradients much more se-
vere than those of the East Lincolnshire line.
Mr. Locke, the engineer, was called to show that the means of
communication between the Sheffield and Manchester line and this
line would be highly inconvenient.
Mr. Harrison, for thirty years a valuer at Sheffield, stated that he
had valued the property in the town of Sheffield, and estimated it at
more than 850,000/. Ile further said that it would destroy more
them -170 houses, including public-houses and taverns, 77 wordshops,
and 27 manufactories. The line, however, passed through the worst
part of the town.:
Mr. Fowler, sen., had valued all the rest of the line, and estimated
to the junction beyond Cheeterdeld at something more than 59,000/.,
and on to Bakewell at a total of 85,000/.
Mr. WIIATELEY then addressed the Committee on the general
merits of the case referring to the defeat of the Bill last year, and
deprecating the supposition that the Duke of Norfolk's opposition was
induced by any merely personal motives.
On the conclusion of Mr. WHATELEY'S address, the Committee
took the next opposing line.

The Cruirotart explained that the statements had not been given
in, as they ought to have been, two days before the Committee sat.
NICANCIIBSTER AND NYDE.
Mr. WORDSWOIIIII opened the case of the promoters by stating that
this was a line between the two places of six miles in length. In
1821 the population through which the line passed was: 13,000, in
1841 it was over 27,000, comprising largo manufacturers of cotton
and hats. The contemplated expense was 150,0001. one half of which
was provided by the residents locally interested in the line, and the
other half by the Manchester and Birmingham Company, confessedly
the persons who were the best judges of the necessities for the lin9.
The opposition offered this line was but small, and chiefly offered
by the proprietor of Bellevue Gardens, a place of resort for pleasure
by the inhabitants of Manchester. Some, however, of the residents
in that neighbourhood were anxious for the destruction of these
gardens, though that was not the oject of the promoters, who were
quite desirous of giving every recompense to the present holder.
'the whole of this district was occupied by extensive manufacturers of
cotton and hats. There is still further a large coal field at Denton,
the proprietor of which, the Earl of Wilton, was a petitioner in
favour of the Bill. This coal would be exceedingly useful, and was
indeed now much used in the factories in Manchester. The
Learned Counsel then stated the opposition of the several newly pro-
posed lines.
Mr. Id empson, land-steward to the Earl of Wilton, was called to
show the existence of coal, and the inclination which his Lordship
felt for this line. The manufacture of hats at Denton had much
declined of late, from the great substitution of silk hats, but the
people are anxious to enter upon the manufacture of cotton, for
which the place was well adapted, and which was likely to succeed
if the facilities of railway communication were obtained.
The Committee then adjourned till to-morrow.