The Sun.
London, England, 1848-02-28 00:00:00

MONDAY EVENING, F'EB'RUARY 28, 1848.

Mr. WOOD, a Common Councilman of the ward,
moved the following resolution:—'That Parliament
should not anticipate, by a lavish expenditure, a re-
venue raised by additional burdens ; and that the
meeting regard with the most serious apprehensions
the annually increasing expenditure for the public
service, and submit to the Honourable the House of
Commons the necessity of a strict economy of the
whole system of taxation." He remarked that the
whole country was opposed to the tax, and he thought
that if the people had manifested an opinion similar
to that now exhibited when Sir R. Peel proposed a
renewal of the impost, it would not then have been
continued.

Mr. NORRIS, a common councilman of the ward,
seconded the resolution.

Other resolutions in accordance with the objects of
the meeting were unanimously agreed to.
Thanks were then voted to Sir P. Laurie, who, in
reply, observed that a ward meeting ought to have
been held when Sir R. Peel proposed the renewal of
the income- tax.

dorsement. There was a special endorsement to
" Lorenz Weeber," and the next endorsement was
" Lorenz Weeber."

The solicitor for the prisoner said that his client
had been authorised by Lorenz Weeber to receive the
payment of the bill, and to receipt it in the name of
that person; that the prisoner did not know of the
death of Lorenz Weeber, and that no evidence had
been produced in proof of the death of that person.
He represented that it was usual with foreigners to
sanction the use of their names for pecuniary pur-
poses, and he wished the prisoner to be remanded for
three weeks to make preparations for his trial.
Mr. Mullens objected to the application, and stated
that the prisoner having been in confinement nearly
a month, had had full time to prepare for his trial.—
Committed for trial.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGI-
NEERS, FEB. 22.
(Joshua Field, Esq., President, in the Chair.)
The paper read was by Mr. A. Mitchell (of Bel-
fast), Assoc. Inst. C.E., "On Submarine Founda
tions ; particularly the Screw-Pile and Moorings."
Considering that the entire subject of the various
sorts of piling, of solid stone foundations, of coffer-
dams, of masses of concrete, and the numerous modes
adopted by ingenious men for overcoming local diffi-
culties, would occupy too much time and scarcely
possess novelty, the author restricied himself almost
entirely to the description of the works executed by .
him with the screw-pile, as that had been chiefly em-
ployed for supporting structures on loose sand, or
mud-banks wholly or partially covered by the sea,
where it had been previously considered very hazard-
ous, if not impracticable, to erect any permanent edi-
fice; and in his narrative he scrupulously avoided
all comparison with other modes of proceeding, even
when they had the same object.
The origin of the screw-pile was the screw-moor-
ing, which was designed for the purpose of obtaining
for an especial purpose a greater holding power than
was possessed by either the ordinary pile or any of
the usual mooring anchors or blocks, of however
large dimensions. It was proved by experiment that
if a screw with a broad spiral flange were fixed
upon a spindle, and forcibly propelled by rotary
motion to a certain depth into the ground, an enor-
mous force would be required to extract it by direct
tension, and that the power employed must be suffi-
cient to drag up a mass of earth of the form of the
frustrum of a cone traversed, the base being at the
surface of the ground, and the section of the apex
being equal to the diameter of the screw. The ex •
tent of the resisting mass must of course depend
upon the natural tenacity of the soil; even in this
reasoning it must be evident that a vertical force was
calculated upon ; but as, practically, that seldom, if
ever, occurred, the angle or tension and the curve of
the buoy-cable again gave the moorings greater
power. This was found to be correct in practice,
and the application of the moorings became very ex-
tensive. An arrangement was made with the port of
Newcastle-on-Tyne, by which, for the sum of
2,500/. the right of fixing these moorings in the
Tyne was given, and Mr. Brookes, the engineer,
showed that last year, whilst in the neighbouring
port damage was done to the shipping to the extent of
nearly 30,0001., no injury was sustained in the Tyne,
entirely owing to sound holdings of Mitchell's screw-
pile moorings.
It naturally occurred to Mr. Mitchell that the same
moans of resistance to downward pressure might be
used, and he proposed to apply it for the foundation
of lighthouses, beacons, and other structures, which
for maritime purposes it might be desirable to place
upon sand and mud banks, where hitherto it had
been considered impracticable to place any permanent
edifices. In the year 1838, a plan for a structure of
this nature for a lighthouse on the Maplin Sand, at
the mouth of the Thames, was laid before the corpo-
ration of the Trinity House, supported by the
opinion of James Walker, Esq., their engineer. The
nine iron piles, 5 inches diameter, with screws 4 feet
diameter, were accordingly driven 22 feet deep into the
mud, and, with proper precaution, they were allowed
to stand for two years before any edifice was placed
upon them. The lighthouse was subsequently con-
structed, and, as was testified by Mr. Walker, had
stood perfectly until the present time. Pendingthispro-
bation it was determined to erect a lighthouse to point
out the entrance to the harbour of Fleetwood-on-
Wyre, and under the advice of Capt.Donham,R.N., the
screw piles were adopted. The spot fixed on was the
point of a bank of loose sand, about two miles from
the shore. Seven iron piles, with screws of three
feet diameter, were forced about sixteen feet into the
batik, and upon them timber supports, forty-eight feet
in vertical height, were fixed to carry the house and
lanthorn. This structure was completed in six
months, and was perfectly successful, never having
required any repairs to the present time. A similar
lighthouse was ereete I near Belfast, and since then
several others, with a great number of beacons, have
been fixed in situations heretofore deemed imprac-
ticable.

A project was started by the Earl of Courtoun, in
the year 1847, for adding to the length of the pier
at the Harbour of Courtown, on the coast of Wex-
ford, which had been proved an entire failure, from
the channel between the solid pier being continually
choked up with sand.
Iron piles, with screws of 2 feet in diameter, to be
driven from 11 feet to 15 feet into the sand and blue
clay, were decided to be used in order to form an open
jetty through which the sand would be washed by the
current, and the platform could be used for loading
and discharging the shipping. The surf was so
heavy on the coast that the usual barges of floating
rafts could not be used for putting the piles down;
so an ingenious plan was designed by Messrs. Mitchell,
for projecting a stage forward from the solid part,
rigging a large grooved wheel upon the top of the pile,
passing an endless rope-band around it and around a
pulley fixed 150 feet hack, and then, by a number of
men hauling upon the band, a rotary motion was com-
municated to the pile, which screwed it down very fast.
By these means one bay of the pier, 17 feet long, was
finished daily, even in very rough weather. The
entire length of the jetty was 260 feet, its breadth 18
feet, with a cross head 54 feet long, with landing
stages attached and two lines of railway throughout.
The entire cost of this extension was 4,1501., or about
471. 10s. per current lineal yard. An extremely small
sum compared to the cost of stone piers ; but even
that was more than the expense would be now, as
the system of work is better understood, and mate-
rials are now cheaper. The account of the difficul-
ties incurred in the execution of these works was
most interesting; and, in the commencement of the
discussion, which was arrested by the hour for
breaking up the meeting, ample testimony was borne,
by engineers of eminence, and men whose maritime
experience gave weight to their opinion, of the su-
periority of Mitchell's screw-piles and moorings over
every other system for holding buoys or for support.
ing beacons and lighthouses ; and their use was sug-
gested for the foundation of bridges, viaducts, and
numerous railway and other works, as well as a
multiplicity of applications which had not hitherto
been thought of.
It was announced that the discussion would be
renewed at the next meeting, Tuesday, February
29, when a paper would be read " On the Forms and
Positions of Dock Entrances, particularly those in
the River Thames," by J. B. Redman, M. lust , C.E.

FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE
OF FRIDAY.
DIVIDENDS.
At the Court, Basinghall•street.

J. E. Pople, Union. row, Ne-wington-butts, licensed
victualler, March 17, at one—J. Morris, Crown-street,
Finsbury, leather seller, March 17, at half-past twelve—
D. A. Morell, Langham-place, Marylebone, dentist,
March 17, at twelve—,T. Knights, Great Mahon, Nor-
folk, cattle dealer and chapman, March 17, at half-past
eleven—F. K. Fowill. Piccadilly, wine merchant, March
17, at eleven—A. Fletcher, Shaftesbury-terrace,
Pim-
lico, bookseller and stationer, March 20, at eleven
R. M. Herbert, Reading, tea dealer and grocer, March
20, at half-past eleven—J. Jones and A. Brown,
Shoreditch, licensed victuallers, March 17, at eleven—
J, Clarke, Conduit-mews, Spring-street, Sussex-gar-
dens, Paddington, job master, March 17, at eleven—H.
Turnip], Totten, Hants, coal merchant, March 17, at
eleven—G. Harrison, Ebury-street, Pimlico, builder,
March 17, at twelve—l. Boyd and R. Harmer, Spital.
square, silk manufacturers, March 17, at two—W.
Butcher, Belle Sauvage-yard, Ludgate-hill, cap manu-
facturer, March 17, at two.
In the Country.
J. H. Denner, Nottingham, pawnbroker, March 24,
at eleven, at the Court, Nottingham—B. Walton, Wol-
verhampton, japanner and tin plate worker, March 28,
at eleven, at the Court, Birmingham—J. Hartord,
Bristol, iron master, March 30, at eleven, at the Court,
Bristol--A. Tunstall and J. W. Cash, Bristol, oil
merchants, March 17, at eleven, at the Court, Bristol—
G. Cappur, Nantwieh, Cheshire, cheese factor, March
211, at twelve, at the Court, Liverpool—S. Virtue,
Liverpool, merchant, March 20, at eleven, at the Court,
Liverpool—S. Langdale, sen., and S. Langdale, jun.,
Stockton-upon-fees, corn dealers and flour merchants,
March 17, at half-past ten, at the Court, Newcastle-
upon-Tyne J. Hansor, Hanley, Staffordshire, hop
merchant and druggist, March 22, at twelve, at the
Court, Birmingham—G. Holford, Wolverhampton, jew-
eller and silversmith, March 18, at eleven, at the Court,
Birmingham —T. Bishton, Kinsale, 4'hropshire, iron
master, March 28, at twelve, at the Court, Birmingham.