The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-29 00:00:00

Goodbody repeated the statement he had made to the
officer, that Smith had induced him to change two out
of eight bad half-crowns he had in his possession; which
statement the latter did nut attempt to deny, and de
dined offering any defence.
Both prisoners were then ordered to be remanded until
Tuesday next, for the attendance of the Mint Solicitor
to carry out the prosecution.
LAMBETH.

Police-constable William James Terry, 214 P, was
charged before Mr. Elliott, by order of the Police Com-
missioners, with having been found in the kitchen of the
house of Mr. John Willis, 2, Chatham-place, Walworth-
road, partaking of refreshments while on duty, contrary
to the regulation of the force.
Mr. Wills, who is one of the churchwardens of the
parish of Newington, stated, that on the night of Thurs-
day last, between the hours o' eleven and twelve o'clock,
he found the constable in his kitchen, and his house hav-
ing been broken into by thieves within the last twelve
months, his first impression was, that the constable had
something to do with it. Witness was also angry at
finding a policeman in his house at such an hour of the
night, and had written to the Commissioners of Police
on the subject. From inquiries he had since made, wit-
ness had ascertained that the constable had not belonged
to the force more than two months, and, therefore, could
have had nothing to do with the parties who had at-
tempted to rob his house. He had also learned that
the man had up to the present time borne a good cha-
racter, and under all the circumstances, and believing
the story to be true, he did not wish to press the charge
further.

The constable admitted that the statement of Mr.
Wills was true, but said, in extenuation of his miscon-
duct, that he had a key which unlocked a door leading
to some premises close to those of Mr. Wills, and on the
night in question he was returning from vie sing those
premises, when the cook in the service of Mr. Wills
opened the kitchen door, and said she had not seen a
policeman before. He told her he was somewhat sur-
prised at this, as the premises were regularly looked after,
and he himself had often been there. The cook then
asked him to have some bread and cold meat, and he

took some, and was eating it when Mr. Wills came down
stairs. He made no attempt to conceal himself, and the
moment Mr. Wills asked " Who's there?" he replied,
" A policeman."
Mr. ELLIOTT observed that there could be no doubt

the constable was acting contrary to the regulations of
the force, and he was under the impression that the Com•
missioners of Police had themselves the power of punish-
ing their officers for such offences.
Mr. Robinson, the superintendent of the P division,
who was in attendance to watch the case, remarked that
the Commissioners had the power to inflict fines; but, as
Mr. Wills had made other accusations against the con•
duct of the police generally, the Commissioners felt
anxious that the case should be heard at this court.

Mr. Wills repeated that his first impression was that
Terry had been concerned with the party who had
broken into his house, but ho was now perfectly satisfied
he was not, and he therefore did not wish to press the
case further.

Mr. Robinson here remarked, that the offence of which
the constable had been guilty was one highly calculated
to create a strong prejudice against the police force
generally. The defendant was, however, a young and
inexperienced officer, having been in the force only since
September last, and up to the present occurrence had
conducted himself in an unexceptionable manna r.
Mr. ELLIOTT repeated that he considered the conduct
of the constable improper, but as Mr. Wills did not
wish to have him punished to the extent of dismissal,
and knowing very well that this must be the result pro-
vided he imposed a fine, he (Mr. Elliott) thought the
justice of the case would be met by the Commissioners
imposing some pecuniary fine.
Mr. Wills said, that as fa: as he was personally con-
cerned he wished to withdraw from the charge altogether.
The complaint was discharged on the understand-
ing that it should be taken before the Commissioners of
Police, to be dealt with as they might think proper.

RAIL WAY INTELLIGENCE.
SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors has recently
published an address to the shareholders of this com-
pany respecting the late abandonment of the atmos-
pheric mode of traction adopted on that line. In his
preface he alludes to the close-borough system which
is observed by all board's of directors in Great Britain
in the re-election of those of their body whose turn it
is to vacate office, and says that no circumstance
would tend so largely to inspire confidence
amongst the proprietary in the management of their
affairs as the occasional infusion of new blood into the
directing body to the extent annually of one•fifth or
one-sixth of the whole number of the board, and that
many and great advantages would result from such a
course. He states that he has addressed the share-
holders in consequence of their adoption of the last half-
yearly report, by which it was decided to abandon the
atmospheric system oa the South Devon line; that the
responsibility which devolved upon him as chairman of
the board of directors rendered it incumbent upon him
to lay before the shareholders the facts which compelled
him to draw conclusions so greatly at variance with
eleven of his colleagues; that the directors had ap-
pointed a committee to investigate the whole subject of
the atmospheric system, consisting of the chairman of
the South Devon, the chairman of the Great Western,
the chairman of the Bristol and Exeter, and a director
of the South Devon; and the result of their investiga-
tion having been laid before the board of directors, the
latter, after carefully balancing the various circum-
stances and considerations contained in the report of the
committee, came to the conclusion, with the entire con-
currence and on the recommendation of Mr. Brunel,
their engineer. that it was expedient for them to suspend
the use of the atmospheric system, until the same shall
be made efficient at the expense of the patentees and
Mr. Samuda. In opposition to this opinion, the chair-
man of the South Devon states, as the result of his long
and laborious :investigation of the various documents
prepared for the committee, that the following proposi-
tions were firmly established in his mind :—firstly, that
owing to the sharp curves throughout the line, and steep
gradients on that part of it between Newton and
Plymouth, the atmospheric system of traction is pecu-
liarly applicable to the line ; secondly, that the working
cost of the two systems is decidedly in favour of the
atmospheric ; thirdly, that the abandonment of the
atmospheric system would necessarily involve a loss of
nearly 300,0001., and thereby entail a perpetual unpro-
ductive charge for interest of about 15,000/. per annum ;
fourthly, that as all the engines for working the line to
Plymouth, as well as those for the Torquay branch,
were on the eve of completion, it was essentially im-
portant that a trial should be given to the system over the
steep gradients ; fifthly, that the offer of Mr. Samuda, to
effect the repairs and improvements in the longitudinal
valve, and to keep the same in good working condition
at a moderate and fixed charge tor a period of twelve
months, would make it highly desirable to continue the
system at least for that period; sixthly, that if the loco-
motive power be substituted, a double line of rails should
be laid throughout; seventhly, that unless the company
are willing to pay the Great Western Company a charge
equal to Is. fid. per mile per train between Exeter and
Newton, and about Is. 9d. per mile per train between
Newton and Plymouth, for the use of their engines, a
further sum will be rt quired to provide locomotive power
with its necessary buildings; and lastly, that the finances
of the company, after the completion of the line into
Plymouth and the Torquay branch, will not admit of
any additional expenditure. From the foregoing propo-
sitions it appeared to him that it would be most judi-
cious to make arrangements with Mr. Samuda for work-
ing the line between Exeter and Newton, and also to
work the inclined planes between Newton and Tomes,
for a limited period, to afford an opportunity of judging
whether such a deduction in the working cost could
be realised as to make it exp. dit nt to continue
the system. At a meeting of the committee at
Teignmouth he was greatly surprised to hear from
the engineer, who was present, that he had no
confidence in Mr. Samuda's longitudinal valve or in any
alteration of it, and therefore he could not recom-
mend the continuance of the atmospheric system upon
the South Devon line. These statements being so de-
cidedly adverse to those contained in the engineer's
written reports, he could not refrain from noticing to
him this discrepancy in his opinions. His reply was,
that a wrong construction had been put upon his reports.
The resolution for. the discontinuance of the atmos-

pheric system was carried at the board by eleven direc-
tors out of eighteeen. On reference to the last report
of the directors the cost of the* locomotive system was
stated to be 2s. 4F. per mile per train, and that of the
atmospheric 3s. lid. per mile per train. He then en-
deavours to show the manner in which the latter system
had so fax exceeded Is. per train per mile (the original
estimate of the engineer), stating that soon after the at-
mosphericappaalrlattuhse wasengipauett inwteoroepefrraamtiotnh,
eiirt
mwaais-edeins:
co ver e d that
struction more or less inadequate to the duty required
of them; they were originally designed to work at a
speed of from 18 to 20 strokes per minute, but it was
found necessary to work them from 25 to 30, and even
more. These " imperfections" in the engines and other
parts of the apparatus required extensive altera-
tion and repairs, the additional expense of which, he con-
tends, could form no part of the ordinary working cost
of the system. From the 2d of August (when the tele-
graphic apparatus was completed in each enginehouse)
to the 9th of September (when the system was disconti-
nued) a steady reduction occurred in the consumption of
fuel from thirty tons to twenty-eight tons per day;
whilst the quantity used from the 2d of March (the time
when the atmospheric system began to work alone) to
the 2d of August, was equivalent to forty tons per day.
He complains that the board should have discarded the
system after an.imperfect trial of six mouths, under great
disadvantages. He appeals to the shareholders whether
it would not be the wiser course to hazard a further ex-
penditure of about 6,0001 rather than incur the certainty
of a positive loss of 300,0001, added to the necessity of a
further expenditure of from 300,0001. to 400,0001. A.
part of the atmospheric property bas already been ad-
vertised for sale, and it is intended to dispose of the re-
minder as soon as the requisite arrangements can be
completed. He states that he feels firmly persuaded
that the atmospheric system of traction will yet triumph
over all opposition, and it is this persuasion that has
given him so much anxiety lest it should here.
after he said that, having first concurred in its adoption,
he had, without sufficient consideration, als6 concurred
in its rejection, and consequently been instrumental in
inflicting upon the shareholders a ruinous and irretriev-
able loss. A sum equal to 6s. per share, if 6,000/. be
required, would be the total amount to be hazarded by a
further experiment for twelve months of the atmospheric
system, which he believes will prevent the loss of
300,0001. (equal to 151. per share), and place the under-
taking in a favourable position.
It appears that the expenditure upon the atmospheric
portion of the railway, 20 miles in length (the whole
length of the South Devon being 50 mild), to the ht
instant, amounted to 432.91£1., and.the—estiraated Talue
of the materials, if sold, to 74,2221.