The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-22 00:00:00

GROUP XIV.

The Select Committee appointed to consider the merits of the Bills
cimprised in this group re•asserabled at the usual hour this morning,
Mr. Protheroe in the chair.

_ SOUTII-EASTMMT (MID IZMNT).
The first business gone into this morning was the engineering evi-
dence in favour of the South-Eastern (Mid Kent) schemes.
Mr. Robert Stephenson, the chief engineer of the South Eastern
scheme was the first witness called. The Mid Kent line commenced
at a point en the existing Greenwich line. passed through
Lewisham, along by Bromley, through the Ravensford Valley,
and the Valley of the ➢iawlirgs on to Maidstone, and from
thence to Chart, near Ashford. There was a branch to
Riverhead. and anther from Hytham to Tunbridge
where it joined the existing Tunbridge Wells branch and the Tun-
bridge and Hastings lines, which received the sanction of the Legis-
lature in the course of the present session. The length of rail to be
made would be about sixty miles in length. The scheme
would shorten the distance from London to Dover by thirteen
miles, from Lonon ,to Tunbridge by nine miles, and from Lon-
don to Maidstone (the county town of Kent) by twenty miles.
The proposed line would avoid the exi Hug New Cross station, which
was found at present to be very inconveniently situated. The steepest
gradient on the line was 1 in 125 ; the others ranged from 300 to 268 ;
the first was about a mile and a half in length. There was a short
gradient at Lewisham of lin 146. The severest gradient on the at-
mospheric line for the same division of the country was 1 in 100 for
several miles. There was a tunnel between Bromley and
Farnborough, but it was not of an extensive character.
The works on his own line were decidedly superior
to the works on the atmospheric line. The atmospheric line ap-
proached nearer to leeveneaks than his own, but it did so in a tunnel
of 2,717 yards in length, which was preceded by another tunnel of
300 yards long. There was perhaps a quarter of a mile between the
two. There was a gradient of lin 80 for three miles and a half on
this part of the atmospheric line, and a descent of the
same character going towards Tunbridge. The distance of
the branch from Hytham to Tunbridge was eight miles and one-
eighth. It passed through the Barket valley. a thickly populated
district, fruitful in agriculture, hops, and fruit, and thickly studded
with paper and flour mills. The atmospheric line avoided this
valley and of course its advantages. The engineering features of
the line from Maidstone to Chart were exceedingly good,
and he had no doubt the- line generally would be of
peat advantage to the public and continental travellers. In.
deed ho might say it was precisely the route which
the South-Eastern line ought originally to have run. He believed
-tt.^ -eason it did not do so was the opposition the landholders of the
dist. ict originally evinced to a railway invading their property. In
the present session a line had been passed running from Reading to
Reigate, forming ajunction between the South-Eastern and the South-
Western lines, and he had no doubt all the continental travellers
coming from the west of England would pass over the Reigate line
on to the South-Eastern and so on to the continent. In fact this
line formed the key to all the western traffic, directly connecting
Southampton, Oxford, Worcester, Wolverhampton, the North, and
Bath, Bristol, and Exeter, with Dover and the continent. His esti-
mate for the line was 1,000,500/.

On cress-examination by Mr. Sergeant TALFOVILD, on behalf of the
atmospheric line, the witness stated that the South-Eastern Com-
pany were about widening the existing Greenwich line for the Croydon
Atmospheric and proposed to lay down additional lines for the North
Kent line. For the increased traffic of the Croydon Atmospheric,
the North Kent and the Mid Kent lines, there would be three addt-
ticwal lines laid down at the Loudon-bridge station and then there
would be seven lines of rails. There would be a saving on the at-
mospheric line over the South-Eastern of four miles between London
and Tunbridge.
On re-examination, Mr. Stephenson stated that the Croydon Com-
pany would have to contribute towards widening the Greenwich line
approaching to London-bridge. The saving of time by the at-
mospheric line between London ant Tunbridge would not be more
than seven or eight minutes.
Mr. Bidder corroborated the testimony of Mr. Stephenson. lie
agreed with him in all the evidence he had given with reference to
the general features of the line.
Mr. J. Clutton, a land agent and surveyor, estimated the cost of
the land for the main line and branches at 236,5701.

This closed the case for the promoters.
Mr. 31. Dewsom then addressed the committee on behalf of a land.
holder at Deptford, who complained that the line unnecessarily in
vaded his property, inasmuch as the company might avoid the pro
perty by availing themselves of the existing Croydon line.
The Committee then adjourned.

GROUP XVIII.
EXETER, YEOVIL, AND DORCHZSTMII4.,
I.OIXTDOVI, SALISDUSLY, AND YEOV:f.L.

The Committee met as usual ; Mr. B. Denison, chairman.
Mr. HILDTAED statedl that in consequence of the intimation which
the Committee had given, he would endeavour to call as few wit-
nesses as were really necessary for the protection of his clients'
interests.

The Cnantmate stated that he hoped any intimation which the
Committee had made would not lead the Counsel astray. He should
be sorry to the latest day of his life if any intimation he had made
would prevent the Counsel calling any witness which they thought
material to the interests of their case. lie was sent there by the
House of Commons to Judge of the merits of the line, and he was de-
termined to do his duty.

Mr. Morrison, M.P., was then called, who stated that on public as
well as local grounds he thought it necessary that there should be
another line affording direct communication between Exeter and
London.

Mr. Head, residing at Seyton, was proceeding to give evidence of a
similar nature, when the Committee interfered, and ordered the room
to be cleared.

The parties having been called on,
The Cnatamsx announced that it was the opinion of the Cemmittee
that they had heard sufficient evidence as to the traffic of the line, and
desired the promoters to proceed at once with their engineering evi-
dence.

Mr. Locke. the engineer, being under examination in another Com•
mittee, and there being no probability of his examination being con•
eluded to-day, the Committee adjourned till twelve o'clock to-norrow.

GROUP XX.

This Committee met to-day at twelve o'clock ; Mr. Sotheron in the
chair.

LONDON, BOUZitSZOV7 AND WESTERN.

The case on behalf of this Bill was resumed.
11r. T.% son, of Staines, gave general evidence as to the advantages
the proposed line would confer on that town and neighbourhood, in
which a great depreciation of property had taken place from the want
of railway accommodation.
George Beesley, landlord of the Windsor Castle, Hammersmith,
deposed as to the benefit the line would confer in that locality.
Mr. Charles Brown, bulkier, of Hammersmith, gave evidence to
the same effect.
Evidence of the same character was given by Mr. Beck and Mr.
Brown, of Staines.
After the hearing of some further traffic evidence,
The Committee adjourned at an early hour till to-morrow.

GROUP XXII.
WAVENSY VALLEY.
The Committee met at the usual hour. Sir G. Grey, chairman.
The witnesses examined to-day gave evidence of the advantages
which the line would confer upon the districts through which the
proposed railway would pass.
The witnesses were Me,ssrs.Willshire, Thomas Hammond, W. Tees-
dell, H. Walwood, and T. B. Palmer.
Captain 3lorsom, R.N., engineer t o the Company, gave evidence
of the favourable nature of the line; the gradients were
not severe, and he considered the line would prove remunerative to
the company. The line was on the narrow gauge, and there was no
engineering difficulties. The river Waveney would be crossed by
means of a swing bridge, which would not all interrupt the naviga-
tion of the river, which was a tidal one.
At the conclusion of the engineering evidence the Committee rose
and adjourned till twelve to-morrow.

GROUP XXVI.
LONDON AND SOUTH ESSEX.

This Committee resumed its sittings at twelve, Mr. Maurice O'Con.
nell in the chair.

Mr. COCKBURN, Q.C., addressed the Committee on the ground of
being opposed by the North Gravesend slily!), because they wanted
a larger span of archway across their line than was absolutely neces-
sary.

Mr. RODWELL, in reply, stated that they wanted a span of 100 feet
over the river Lea, which Mr. Brunel deemed necessary, whereas
the London and South Essex offered them only 60 feet.

Mr. Locke, civil engineer, was cross-examined by Mr. ROBERTS on
this subject. He was of opinion that the force of the current would
not be increased by his bridge of two arches, as the river would be
widened in proportion for a sufficient space to counterbalance any In-
creased impetus that might be given to the stream by the erection of
his buttresses, and, moreover, that a bridge of fifty feet span would
be quite ample for all the purposes of navigation.
Mr. JAMES followed up the cross-examination of this
witness, who stated that there was a very ex-
cellent natural dock in the river Crouch, near Burnham, and he
did not hesitate to say that that place must rival Harwich, though
Mr. James was of opinion that the sight of an Ostend steamer
would very much astonish the worthy oyster drudgers of Burnhafn.
Mr. Locke was further of opinion, that there would he no danger in
transferring the traffic on to the Blackwell Railway, as he bad an
idea of altering one line, and substituting either the locomotive or
atmospheric principle. The curves also on his proposed line were very
favourable at this junction with the Blackwell Railway ; there was a
curve of 42 Chains ; with that exception there were none under three-
quarters of a mile. The steepest gradient was 1 in 150 from Lon-
don, and 1 in 251 towards London ; there was no tunnel. The
gradients on the two branches were also good, but better on the
Tilbury than on the Southend Branch.
The Committee were then engeged for some time examinirg the
plans and sections, after which Mr. Locke stated the working expenses
to be 64,1971., which subtracted from 124,3241., gross amount of
capital, would leave a net revenue of 60,1271. for the branches, &c.
Mr. Tite, the architect of the Royal Exchange, said the esti-
mate for land was 108,940/ which he considered a very fair esti-
mate,
Doinganaverage of y" 2001. per acre ; but he believed
the land would be bought.f nentari
wolruhldisbve
nexoupeemrlaenn,cselrfo.ros.me,Komrdialret,es.s, and also that no opposition

articlec.tten wind-bound
Fisher, harbour-master
rpaoiiilzasys.s been postponed
opinion that a station for colliers onoltut:eity of Loudon '
osnoduotnk,..wweosutl dg
gales
oefo
sl veryv he
s greatsel,,l:,,,
race communicating
a S of
wduitrhing
for days when there was a great need of thereto the metro-
polis,
Such a station would also relieve the Pool of that pressure to
London.
odfotwennwas the source of accidents to large steamers Lurie Wlitth
"
the river. Could not say thatvessel ps ng
up
ana
a would, under every
circumstance, be able to beat up the river Crouch with a gale from
S.W. A vessel could not b
Mr. Wightman, of the illeaat-up to London with wind at S.W.
to the proposed line. Ticiall Railway, gave evidence favour-
ablethe Blackwall line after the traffic began steadily to increase on
street. Was of opinion that the openinguh of. the station in Fenchureh-
with the Blackwall Railwayas
it
vas
would effect a junction
that 250,000 tons of coal might well bes consumedat present laid down ; and
brought by the South Essex line. about Stepney If
In answer to the lion. CHAIRMAN witness stated that
traffic on the Blackwall Railway was about two-thirdsthe station
of
He also, in reply to Mr. Maumee O'CONNELL stated the whole.
that
cent. was a good amount of increase on the traffic of thefirs 5O per
considering the great rush of traffic they experience on first Opening,t year,
Mr. Win. Pare stated that the number of passengers carrie iia,
exceeded the estimate by half a million. The rate of traffic of in-
crease between Liverpool and Manchester and between Brighton
and London was less than between Newcastle and Car-
lisle; or, generally, that when the pre-existing traffic
was considerable, the opening of a railway has not caused so great a
ratio of increase as between places where the pre-existing traffic was
comparatively small. The Increase of traffic on t,he Liverpool and
Manchester was only live times, and on the London and Brighton
only three times greater than before the censtruction of the railways,
whereas on the Newcastle and Carlisle it was thirteen times greater
than-before.
Mr. Tite, being recalled, stated, in reply to Mr. Maurice O'Connell,
that estates and occcupancy are regarded, but parochial and other
divisions are not ; that arable land is more liable to consequential
damage than any other description, and that no objection was made
now to level crossing., even in pasture countries.
This virtually closed the case for the South Essex ; and after a
table of assents and dissents had been given in, the Committee decided
upon hearing the, North Gravesend, on the rebutting evidence.
Mr. John Cooper, owner of West Ilam corn-mills, was called, and
stated that from 6d. to Is. per quarter was the charge of freight from
the eastern coast of Essex to the various mills about West Hain,
which he thought was a cheaper mode of conveyance than by any
railway at Id. a mile. The carriage to London from West Ilam cost
him 2s. 6d. per ton, the distance being about three miles. Most of
the large mills in the vicinity of London were near the water.
~It being four o'clock the Committee then adjourned till twelve to-
morrow.

GROUP XXVII.
. IMPORTANT DECISION.
This Committee met this morning at the usual hour; Sir C. Lemon
in the chair.
SOUTH IVIIDLAND, AND LEICESTER. AND

the main line of the London and Croydon Railway crossed the
canal. This was already a great obstruction.
_ _

Mr. Smith, the engineer to the Surrey Canal Company, gave similar
evidence at great length.
The examination, cross-examination, and re-examination of these
witnesses occupied the Committee up to four o'clock, when they ad-
journed till twelve to-morrow.

WISBEACH, ST. IVES, AND CAM-

BRIDGE JUNCTION RAILWAY.

A meeting of the holders of scrip and shares in this scheme
was held on Wednesday, in the Sussex Hotel, Bouverie-street,
Fleet-street, for the purpose, agreeably to the recent reso-
lutions of the House of Commons, of receiving a copy of
the Bill, and to decide as to whether they should approve
of and authorise its further progress through Parliament
or not. The chair was taken shortly before two o'clock by
llr.l. Fryer.
The CHAIRMAN explained the object of the meeting, and
observed that the capital of the Company was 475,3601.,
i.sued in 23,768 shares, a third of which—namely, 7,922,
must be represented at the present meeting, in order to
authorise the further prosecution of the project. He was
happy to state that the number of shares represented on the
present occasion amounted to not only one-third, but to no
less than 17,959 shares in approval cf the Bill
The Solicitor then read the draft of the Bill, and
The SECRETARY announced the present state of the
finances of the Company to be as follows :—The receipts by
deposits on shares, 47,0001., of which there were deposited
with the Accountant-General 30,300/. ; while in the hands of
the Company's bankers there remained, after payment of
expenses, 6,933/.—(Hear, hear.)
A resolution, approving of the Bill, and authorising the
directors to proceed with it through Parliament, was then
put and agreed to.
A vote of thanks was passed to tho Chairman, who ac-
knowledged the compliment, and the meeting separated.

THE SUN, LONDON,__ FRIDAY
,MORNING, MAY 22, 1846.