The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-29 00:00:00

GROUP XXVIII

*!lect Committee on this group met this morning in Rooni Sa ;
Lord DatraL47 in the chair.

LOZDON AND TOM (ST. ALBANS. DUN-
Err2,.'9l4Z, AND LIIWON BRANCH).

Wet.t.s. on the tint of the promoters, proce.Aeci with the exa-
mination or witnesses.
Mr. Deetwtsost, on the pert of the London and Birmingham (St.
Alban's and Luton), honors woes-examining the first witness (a
farmer at Harpenden), wtsPect tp
soiseest to the Committee that, in
truth, these were not Competing tines.
#t w a great point raised
oa the part of tha London and York, that
as
thin hue did not give
any accommodation to MI northern part or I,Httwit
gr to
Harpenden. Now he, Mr I I ore, did not pretend that this Mite WAi};d
accommodate either of these places ; and, indeed, be did not toewi
to cross-examine any of the Luton witnesses in future. He sub.
mitteti that these two Might to proceed Independently of each
other. . _

Mr.W zu.s having replied, and Mfr., MIA 4/Pln rejoined,
The Committee
ordered the room to be cleared.
St.
Aiumesmmittee are of opinion that . he I.,qiidnit
Do our return,
and Birmingham, Luton, and the London and York;
S't.7AhliaCan's, Luton and Dunstable, are competing lines; and have
O 11/IRMAN said the CO .
resolved that they be trevartheQdeetltead
with
the cross-examination of Mr.
othero
Mr. DENNISON- then n•
la--faytheour of the
Sibley.
Ilarpenden ; Mr.
Mr. Ilowse, of Wheathamstead I Mr. L
Rogers, of Dunstable ; and air. sue of
Wingrove, of Luton, the two first being farmers,3lv* ItV, an 4 Alr,
straw-plat manufacturers, gave general evidenee
' London and York Luton Branch.
On Mr. Dviit;f2o. rising to cross-examine Mr. Lewin,
Mr. WALLS requested tx) Wallowed to ask a question of his L
Friend. Ile wished to know area it wgs that his Learned Learned
'Soon had forgotten the good lution lie kid awle in the -:.: so
part of the morning, not to cross-examine any of the 1,41.0,,f,??'
nesse' ? It was hardly fair for his Idend to take this couri.47la;
did implied promise contained in his assertion that lie did not lee.,
to cross-ex4inine any Luton witnesses.
Mr. De:cm:tort wirbed to !mow whether much time would be saved
by his friend being allowed L; loss-examine him 1 Ile proceeded
with the cross-examination of the witiizsCer,
ivisral other witness from St. Alban's and ',taw. eige then called,
#l'd V.1.-ye genera, evidence as to the straw-plat, coal, and &ilex tia4.::;
of those plec.,es.
This class of evlateriee pecitpied the whole of the remag part of
the day, and at about twenty minutes past four o'clock the Com
mittee.adjourned till Thursday, the tith of Jr,ne, when they will meet
et twelVe o'clock. The engineeriug evidence enti 84149 AT.
4141 blisl-
- will then be proceeded with.

GROUP XXIX.
ELY LLND BURT.
(Crigtkined from our Afternoon Edition.)
Mr. H. C. T.acey, Chairman Lf the Ely and Bury Company, and
chat' man of the Huntingdon Company; as 3vpll as a director of the
South Western Company, stated that the project Was 'hit CA):1,K1,04
in 1544, and would have been brought sooner before Parliament, but
for ALP illness of Mr. Buck, the engineer. The object of his evidence
was to show that this being a branch line, the establishment of a
staff fur iiiiinagemenit, would answer for other lines as well as this,
and the eipeiise' therefore, be economised. The Learned Counsel
tAi,eu went through a detail of the Piipttlation o- the line, the villages
SloNving 414 aggregate bf upwards Of 1 i,d6o, • ekclusive or thy
country be.Avee S9wbanr and Ely. The differenee•hetWeen this
Wagth e( the two lines J 8 t;Vo miles on one line thig-:--the•rulirrg
"•ot tir 44, but on the other kineit Is '1 hi 132. Ships of'4oo 'tons
•••• Lvtui, LA, ai,e *At** so not a slilpowner, but he
•

¢ram...

can come up t..
belivvedthat such 18 tug,.....

On cross-examination, it appeared that the objects of the line is to
place Ipswich in cumpetith it with Lynn.
with.ss replied, that there is a lline,ba.pr
je:tor connecting uni
and Ely.
It'o if h e
the(
t
Mr. Ellington• ' , s tat •d in reply to Mr. DANIELL, that about C,OOO
Countiese
quarters
are malted in Dory, for which there is at pees! iit not styli-
cient carriage.
This line would afford accommodation air which
there is no present faedity, especially as regards Mildenhall, con-
nexluit with London is now so precluded that the Inhabitants of that
district crnnot enter into time bargains.
To Mr. 13011.THWieg—The witness replied that the line now pro-
jected would require no extra expense to get to London.
Mr. S. Webb, of Mildenhall, a limeburner and brickmaiker
for thirty years there, stated that the Hine they made was obtained
from the limestone in the neighbourhood. The railway would
make a difference of ss. 6d. a ton at Bury, and of Os. 6d. at Stow-
market. There would be no accommodation by the other line, and the
saving would be only 104. at Tilford. The difference would be only
Id. or 24. a bushel between the two lines.
Mr. Kerling, the steward of Sir H. Bunbury, who has more than
8,000 acres at Mildenhall, where the sessions are held. In the neigh-
bourhood there are extensive gravel pits, the extracts of which are
largely used in the repair of the few roads, and if this line were es-
tablished, the cost of carriage would be reduced Bs. a ton.
Mr. Gwilt, an extensive landowner on the line, testified to the
quantity of gravel which is obtained for the improvement of the
roads of the neighbourhood.
Mr. Robinson, vestry clerk of Mlldenhall, gave evidence to the
same effect.

Mr. B. Jennings, of Bury St. Edmund's (which is one of the
largest seed markets In England, and the largest corn market in
Suffolk), stated that from the 9th April, 1145, to Ist Apt il, 1846, there
were 162,000 quarters of corn sold ; and of seeds there are between
3,000 and 4,0410 tons sold every year. The line Is of vital import-
ance, for should this railway not be made, the inhabitants of fury
would become the servants of the merchants at Lynn and Ipswich.
Mr. O'MALLLY appeared for the Corporation of Bury, and put In
an interlocutory as the line aft cted Bury.
Mr. Croft, an auctioneer and surveyor, stated that the line would
intersect the town, and that the distance to the Marsh Gate was 567
yards, and generally testified as to the difference of the advantages
of the two lines with respect to Bury, especially with respect to the
cattle market and Brook-street.

A conversation ensued with respect to the communication with
Newmarket, but it led to nothing, and the Committee adjourned till
Monday week at one o'clock.

GitOUP XXXII.

The Committee met this day at two o'clock, Mr. J. E. Dennison
in the chair.

OXFORD, WORCESTER, AND NVOLVER-
NAIVIPTON BRANCHES).

Mr. SELF, for the ironmasters of the district near Dudley, stated
that what they principally objected to in the matters of tolls was the
six miles clause, which gave the company power to charge for one
mile as for six miles, and the per centage clause, which allowed the
Company to charge 2F per cent. more when the carriage
was under 23 miles. They wist, ed in the one case a two mile clause.
Witnesses were called to give evidence on the subject of tolls.
After considerable discussion,
Mr. COCKBURN offered for the Company a 4 mile clause, but this
was rejected.
The room was then cleared.

On re-admission parties were told that the determination of the
Committee on the 6 mile clause was that that clause should be left
undisturbed on the main line, but in reference to the side line the
Committee were prepared to recommend, alter what had passed, that
not a four mile but a three mile clause should be adopted.
Some debate afterwards arose concerning saving clauses, as to the
interests of the Warwick and Birmingham Canal.
But the Committee seeing they could not go through all the clauses
to night, adjourned at half-past five o'clock to eleven o'clock to-
morrow.