The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-19 00:00:00

Ebitton

SUN OFFICE, Seven o' Clock.

RAILWAY COMMITTEES
(THIS DAY.)

After some more general information as to the engineering merits
of the line, the, Committee adjourned to eleven o'clock to-morrow-
.

HOUSE ( IF COMMONS.
0 ROI7P X.

ZNSDIELTIAGOW, DALSETLF, AND COAT.

BEIDGE XVITCTION.

(Centinucd from our Afternoon Edition.)
Mr. rIORDON addressed the Committee at length in support of the
' petitions against the Bill. He applied himself with great force and
ability to the proposed changes in the Bill, showing that there was a
danger of exorbitant charges and diminished accommodation from the
extension of the influeine of established main lines and new branch
lines. such as the Lesmahagow, &c., Junction Railway. He referred
to the reports of the Amalgamation Committee, to prove that this
was no ideal danger. He called witnesses to show that the proposed
charges were too high, as compared with those on other lines of the
same character—that is, lines for the carriage of minerals. The evi-
•
dence was further to the effect that the lines with the lower rates of
charge were paying well, and their shares were at a good premium.
The CHAIRMAN observed that the rate of charges upon the lines
referred to were no guide to the Committee as to the equity of the
charges proposed upon the line before the Committee. They could
not estimate the comparative outlay in the construction, or the com-
parative cost of working.
Mr. M'NEIL (for the Bill) observed that some of the lines which
had lower charges than the proposed railway could be worked for
were nearly level lines.
Mr. Goanox submitted that the evidence which he had offered
respected this line in a fair comparison with the others, taking into
account the distance, the difficulty of the gradients, and the conse-
quent expense of working.
Mr. 11.'Nnir. elicited from Mr. Baird (a witness for the opponents)
that there was really no comparison between the cheap traffic lines
and the present in point of working. [The details of evidence were
too minute for a report.]
Mr. M'NEIL having replied,
. . . _

'the Committee decided that the preamble was proved.
The clauses were then gone through and agreed to, and the Bill
passed. _ .

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

GROUP XIII.

NORTH BRITISH (CARLISLE AND GRETNA
BRANCHES).
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition.)

The Duke of Buccleuch was the :first witness called, who stated
that the proposed line went, for a great extent, through his property.
'The line would be of great benefit to the manufacturing towns of
Galashiels and Hawick, besides accommodating the important agri-
cultural comity of Roxburgh. He had thought this would be a good
line since the autumn of 1844. Hawick was at present supplied with
coals from the east, and frcm the neighbourhood of Berwick, also
from his collieries at Berwick.
• To Mr. CURTELS—He could not say whether all the three through
lines would pay, as he had not paid attention to the question. lie
thought, however, the Hawick traffic would not much interfere with
that of the Caledonian.
Examination continued—He thought the North British, from
_

Langholm to Cannobie, preferable to the branch of the Caledonian
proposed between these two points. He had himself suggested the
former as not co likely to interfere with the scenery as the latter.
Cross-examined—lie could not say there was much traffic from
Longtown to Carlisle. The country between Crowick and Lang-
holm was in a great measure pastoral, and but thinly populated.
The principal advantage he looked to was taking coals by this branch
ftem Cannobie to Crowick. He believed one great reason of passing
the Edinburgh and Crowick line last year was to accommodate coals
.

---
coming from Dalkeith toCrowick. He could not speak of the through
traffic, of that the course of it was not to the north—to Edinburgh and
Glasgow. He thought the Edinburgh, through traffic, would not be
taken from the Caledonian, that was, as far as he had received infor-
ination. He had from the first, doubted the policy of passing the
Caledonian line. If the difference between the two through schemes
was but two miles, then tbere would be a probability of the Caledo-
nian being injured. He admitted that the extension agreed to, to
Berwick and the south-east, would give a great outlet to the traffic of
Roxburgh. A great deal of produce went that way, and also to the
north.

Mr. Wilson, a manufacturer of Hawick, examined—The popula-
tion of the town and the suburbs was 8,000, engaged in manufactur-
ing tweeds, shawls, and blankets. They were principally supplied
with wool from England, a great quantity of which would come by
this railway. The same, he believed, applied to Galashiels. At
present the foreign and English wool came mainly from London to
Berwick, from whence it was carted to Hawick. Oils and scouring and
dxp.stuffs principally came the same way. He thought the proposed
extension to Carlisle would be of great advantage to the traffic of the
district. The sale of goods manufactured at Hawick he set down at
270,0001., and with the railway he thought it would very much increase.
Cross-examined by Mr. Cocxsuatf—The population of 8,000 in-
habitants included a portion of an adjoining parish. At present the
principal portion of their goods went to Edinburgh and the north.
Ho was examined last year, and then stated that the bulk of the
trade went to Edinburgh. He also stated that they consumed at
Hawick upwards of 700 tons of wool, both home and foreign ; but
the proportions of the foreign to the home wool had altered last year
on account of the growth of the fancy trade. The wool consumed
last year was about 850 tons. The increase was mainly
in foreign wool. He had derived his information respecting
the wool from the manufacturers of the town, who had stated,
to the best of their belief, what the amount was, but they
did not give the real figures of the quantity received.
The wool came from London, Liverpool, and Yorkshire. The timber
used at Hawick came principally from Leith though he believed
some came front either Carlisle or Annan, but he could not say how
much. He was not aware that no American timber was imported at
Annan.

Further evidence on behalf of this Bill was adjourned till to-
morrow.

GLASGOW. DUMFRIES, AND CalaMlSTai.
The clauses of this Bill were proceeded with a little after three
o'clock.

On the application of Mr. COCKBURN, the clauses in this Bill that
related to the portions of the extension and branches which the
Caledonian proposed, and on which the argument took place this
morning, were postponed till the case on behalf of the extension and
branches was gone into, and the decision of the Committee known.
Several of the unopposed clauses of the J ill were read and
agreed to.
The further consideration of the clauses was put off till to-morrow
at twelTo o'clock, when, as there Is a proviso in the Bill for an amal-
gamation with the Glasgow and Ayr Railway, evidence on the toll
clauses, according to an instruction of the House of Commons, will
be taken.—The Committee then adjourned.

GROUP XIV.
The Select Committee appointed to consider the merits of the Bills
comprised in this group re-assembled this moron;, and proceeded
with their labours ; Mr. Protheroe in the chair.

;TERN (MID KENT).

The next line taken by the Committee was the South-Eastern (Mid
rent) scheme, which was represented by Mr. Alexander. The line
Was opposed by. Mr. Sergeant Talfourd, on behalf of the Kent Atmos-
pheric, and by the Croydon Railway Company, and several land-
holders. but bsiore going into the case the Committee decided that
the latter could net be heard.
A witness having beene:Uptipiedtotrt his line, had been complied with,ove that the resolutions of Mr.
Duncombe, so fax as they
Mr. Coexist:mg opened the case for the promoters. The object of
the line was M afford railway accommodation to the midland dis-
tricts of Kent, to shorten the route between the metropolis avd
Dover, and to shorten the distance between
London and
and London.
The lines would shorten the distance between
and Dover by thirteen miles, and fifteen between c.ionFLink:ed war:yde
I •
Hastings, while the distance to Maidstone would be shortened
twenty miles, and Tunbridge by eighteen miles. The line
commenced at a point on the Greenwich line, passed through
Bromley by 3faiditcine and on to Chard, where it joined the exiating.
line. Another line branched off at Riverhead,. crossed the existing
main lice st.Ttinbridge, *where it joined a line running through Tun.
bridge Welke, and so on to Reigate and Hastings, which had alrealy
received the, sanction of the Legislature. The competing scheme was
the Kent Atmospheric; but the gradients and engineering features of
the South-Eastern were so very much favourable to its rival,
that he was sure the Committee would have no difficulty in seeing
that the South-eastern lines were the best. Besides, the
atmospheric system, as applied to long lines, was still
a matter of speculation ; and ho hoped the knowledge
of this fact, added to the severe gradients and bad
engineering features of the atmospheric lines, it would be quite suffi-
cient to justify the Committee in throwing out the latter scheme.
The total distance of the main line to Chard was forty-nine miles and
three-quarters, and of the Riverhead branch ten miles and three-
quarters. The total estimate was 1,500,000/.
Colonel Middleton was the first witness called, commandant of the
military depot at Maidstone. Be said Maidstone was the cavalry
depOt for all the regiments serving In the East, and he considered
the proposed line would be of considerable advantage to the public
and to the service. He calculated that about 3,000 individuals, con-
nected with the establishment at Maidstone, would take advantage
of the existing railway communication, and he had no doubt the
number would be considerably increased if this line were made.
Sir Edmund Filrner, M.P. for West Kent, Lord Camden, Mr. W.
Stone, M.P. for Rochester, Mr. Turner Baldwin, Mr. Wilds, soli-
'nor, of 3faidstone, Mr. W. Hone, the Rev. Mr. Cobb, rector of
Bythan ; Mr. John Carter, of Botha m; and Mr. Charles Ellis, of
Maidstone, gave evidence in favour of the South-Eastern scheme.
The Committee adjourned at four o'clock.

GROUP XVIII.
MUTER, YEOI7IZ, AND DORCHESTER,
LONDON, SALIS3D'EY, AND YEOVIL.
(Continu timberm our Afternoon Edition.)
Mr. Wilson, a large grower, residing in the neighbourhood
of Exeter, considered the proposed line would be of great advantage
to him in the conveyance of his timber. At present he bad to send
it to Southampton and Portsmouth, at an expense of Is. per foot. It
was also very inconvenient for him to get to London by the present
mode of communication—he had either to go to Southampton, and
thence by the South-Western Railway to London, or to proceed to
Bath, a distance of seventeen miles, and then proceed to London by
the Great Western Railway.
The examination of this witness completed the Proceedings to day,
and the Committee than adjourned till twelve o'clock to-morrow.

HOUSE 01? LORDS.
GROrP I.
THE LONDON AND TORN.
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition.)
Mr. Badley was re-examined by Mr. Sergeant KixoLAKIS —The
London and York Railway was the nearest line to the cattle dealers
of Lincolnshire, St. Ives, and other large grazing districts and market
towns. It was of the greatest consequence to the condition
of the cattle to have a day's rest before coming into the market.
When they arrived at Smithfield on the Sunday, they could then rest
till the Monday. By the London and York Railway they would
arrive in such time in the morning as to have all Sunday to rest, in-
stead of, as at present, coming In on the evening.
Charles Chaplin, Esq., examined by Mr. DENISON—Was one of the
Commissioners for the drainage of the Witham. Was also proprietor
of about 20,000 acres of land. The London and York line would not
interfere with the drainage, the loop line would interfere with the
small landowners, such as tho'se who held about ten acres ; it would
Interfere with the drainage of their land to some extent.
The witness was not crass-examined.
Pltal4ll, traffic-taker, was examined as to the correctness of
the tsbleS shewing the amount of traffic.
The witness was briefly cross.examitei by Mr. TALBOT, and this
Concluded the traffic evidence.
31r. Cubitt, civil engineer, was then called and examined a by
TTe.
w
I)Exisosr—ls engineer for the London and York Ra y.
length of the lino from London t 3 York, without branches, is 185 miles
78 chains. The loop line goes from the main
its line 2 miles beyond Pe-
terborough round by Byston and Lincoln ;length is 86 miles 10
chains. From Bedrord it Is 7 miles 72 chains. There was a branch
intended to be made, called the Stamford branch, but it is not
sow deemed expedient to construct it, in consequence of
the difficulty of crossing other proposed lines. That branch
tr as to have been the length of 4 miles 75 chains.
There was also to have been a branch from Doncaster to Leeds, but
it is not now in the Bill, that having been abandoned. The branches
or spurs are as follow :—there is for Doncaster, 64 chains, for Hull
and Selby, 51 chains; and the whole length of the line, including
the spurs, is to be 283 miles 47 challis. That is the length of
the line now before the Committee. The table of distances now
handed in were prepared by him. There is nothing at all uncommon
In the construction of this line; it is as easy as any ordinary line of
railway. The gradients are as lin 200 ; there is a small portion of
the line as 1 in 108, and that is close to the London station, but it did
affect the ruling gradients. The Birmingham station at Euston-
square had a gradient considerably under 1 in 100,
The gradients, with this exception are as 1 In 200. He had taken.
great care to have the gradients thus favourable. It would cost
more to construct it in this way, but then it will be saved other.
wise. Where the engines should be required to go at its greatest
stied, tee gradients will not eff4,:t them. The Bedford branch is a
dead level. The most difficult- part of the line is for about
Sweaty Mika" going oat .. of • London, the remainder is
all very favourable, with a . slight exceplort coming
up to Grantham. There are tunnels along the main line to the num-
ber of fourteen, and the longest is 1,352 yards ; there is another OX
.1,312, and another near Grrinthani of 1,047. At Islington there IS
nue of 632 yards, and at Tottenham one of 737, and
farther on one of 580. The other tunnels are one of
378 at Enfield, close to whieh is another of 220, and
at St. Math's one of 112, at Digswell one of 1047, Sandy one of 187,
tittle Sands one of 198 ; at Great Ponton, one of 352 ; Little Ponton,
one of 205 ; and at Guyd, one ef96B, making a total of 8,266 yards of
tunnelling, at a coat of 603,365/. This is less than five miles in length.
Ori the Loop line there 1i ro tunnelling. The total estimate of the main
line is 4,149,9011. The estimate of the Loop is 149,4081. The cost of the
Bedford Branch is estimated at 86,90 1., making a total of 5.236,4441.
The banks of the Witham are well adapted fur a railway, and are just
such as would be required. The soil is generally sandy, but some of
it is peat. It is, however, admirably adapted to the purposes of a
railway.