The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-16 00:00:00

The Observatory in Danger.

Astronomers and lovers of nature will alike be
dismayed to hear of the last innovation of those
terrible iconoclasts—the railway companies.
It is proposed to invade Greenwich Park, and a line
is to pass right through it, to the great
vexation of holiday-goers and the infinite annoy-
ance of the inmates of the Observatory. It is satis-
factory to find the Admiralty roused to unwonted
action, preparing to resist the bill. The Astronomer
Royal, in a memorandum addressed to the
Admiralty, states that every foreign geographical
determination of distant points has for many years
depended upon Greenwich. H a railway passed
through the park, the accuracy of the observations
might be called in question, and the consequences would
be disastrous. This is something more than a scien-
tific quibble; it is a reasonable objection to a
totally unreasonable proposal. The experi-
ments made by the Admiralty Hydrog,rapher
shew that in some instances the tremor
caused by a passing train has been felt at
a distance of 3,000 feet. It is not surprising that
these men of science, conscious of the value and im-
portance of work which is, as they maintain, not merely
national, but universal, should manifest a little irri-
tation at finding a question of pounds, shillings, and
peace, and the local convenience of a small suburban
district, put in competition with the accuracy of ob-
servations whose influence extends throughout the
habitable globe,

The British public has lately been shocked by
a statement that Mr. Johnson, a master builder of
Manchester, lives in constant danger of his life
from the antagonism of trade unions, and
scarcely less shocked by another statement
that Mr. Johnson cannot have proper police
protection without paying eightpence an hour
for each man so employed. The Manchester town
clerk has "explained' this last astonishing rumour.
Mr. Johnson can, he kindly announces, have any
protection he needs for his person "without
charge ;" but if he requires men to guard his works
he must pay the eightpence. This " explana-
tion " will leave most people in as much
perplexity as ever. Mr, Johnson pays his
rates like most other citizens, but he is told
that in case of special danger all the security
he can have is the superintendence of the solemn
personage who, in his regular " beat" passes
a given point perhaps once in an hour—
that is, no security whatever. The general
public impression of police duties has been
that where there is clearly special danger there
should be special precautionS. But the town clerk
of Manchester is the man to set us all right on that
point. If Mr. Johnson's works were in jeopardy
from Fenians, it would, we suppose, be
equally a case of eightpence an hour.
Magisterial Justice.

Two decisions, illustrating the discrimination which
culpable parties may occasionally hope for in this
country at the hands of justice, were made a day or
two since at the Saffron petty sessions.
A man named Stubbings was found guilty of steal-
ing seven pheasants' eggs, the property of Lord
Braybrooke, and was ordered to pay a fine
of 275. At a later hour of the day
two labourers were accused of having in a
drunken brawl nearly killed a fellow creature
who had been a fortnight in hospital atter the attack
made upon him, and who appeared in court in a weak
state. In this instance the Bench considered that the
offence was only a common assault on the part of
the defendants.' There was no evidence to prove
malice aforethought, and the prisoners would there-
fore be discharged, upon each paying 7s. Gd. fine and
325. Gd. costs. The inequality of the two sentences
called forth some strong expressions of disapproba-
tion from a crowd of listeners at the trial.