The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-20 00:00:00

After hearing some flirther evidence, the Committee adjourned,

Room D

sheep, to Liverpool principally. The imports were timber, guano;

dour, 31 CE" and coals.
Mr. Nicholson, merchant, of Annan, deposed as to the trade and
district of that town. Annan was the beet port on the upper part of

the Solway, and was highly eligible for the construction of docks.
The line, he was persuaded, would be of great benefit to the town and
harbour. The trade of Annan, both with Glasgow and Liverpool,
was greatly on the increase. With such a line he considered a con-
siderable portion of the trade of Port Carlisle would be diverted to
Annan. The Inhabitants generally were in Its favour.
imept=amined—lie had lived a long time In Annan, but no great
Improvements had been made. There were two jetties put up in
1835, by the steam-boat companies, and nothing had been done.
Since then he didnot think the Solway a dangerous navigition,
SS but little loss had taken place the last twenty years. A line
north of Annan to the Caledonian would no doubt be great con-
venience, but he would not prefer it to the Canotdebranch.
Mr. Laurie, farmer, near Dumfries, examined, said he farmed
9110 acres there, and paid 1,300/. rent annually. tie had walked over
the whole route of the line. The country it intersected was mach in
want of draining, and there was a great deficiency of clay for tiles.
There were It6,ooocultivated acres; of this 50,000 acreswanted drain-

tag. It would require 2,075 acres to drain an acre, and the same quantity
Is what wer called " soles." 103,750,000 tiles, and as mazy soles

. .
would thus be repaired. Supposing tlfteen years were allowed to
drain these 50,000 acres, 20,680 tons of tiles would be annually re-
quired. Tiles at present cost 30s. a thousand, and they were cf an
inferior kind —they could be had at Cumnock of a sOperior character
at 20s. a thousand. The whole cost of draining an imperial acre
with Cumnock tiles, including carriage, would be 61. 13s. Id. He
thought at least 11,000 ton of tiles would he brought from Cumnock.
He thought 6,000 or 7,000 tons of tiles would be brought on the line
South of Dumfries.
Cross•examined—They could also drain with stones, but they were
not plentiful. Ile thought Cumnock tiles would come to all the in-
termediate points between that place and Dumfries. He was not
aware of any clay along that route. Re never said lately, that now
the Ditinfriei line had passed the Commons the Caledonian might
stop their works, and they could make a good bargain for the
materials.

The Committee then adjourned till to-morrow at eleven o'clock.

Room 3.

SHEFFIELD, ROTHERAM, BARNSLEY,
WAKEFIELD, NUDDEREIFIED, AND
41001. E,
This Committee met to-day for the first time In No. 5, Abingdon-
street . the Earl of [tailor in the chair.
After the usual preliminary proceedings,
Mr. TALBOT opened the case at great length on behalf of the pro-
moters and pointed out the great advantages which the proposed
line would confer.
Mr. Ante appeared on behalf of the Duke of Norfolk and other
opposing petitioners.
The remainelet of the day was eccnpled in hearing evidence of a
general nature on the merits of the line, the particulars of which
were of the usual character, and possessed no feature of the slightest
public Interest.
The Committee adjourned till to-morrow.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.
GROUP LXVII.
METROPOLITAN RAILWAY TERMINII.
The Select Committee ,to whom these 131115 were referred met this
Morning in room 22, In the new houses.
The members of the Committee were, the Earl of Lincoln, chair-
man, Admiral Bowles, Mr. Cripps. Mr. F;stcourt, and Lord Jocelyn,
The following are the Rills referred to this Committee :
London and South-Western (London-bridge Extension).
Eastern Counties (Tottenham to Farringdon-street).
North Kent (City Extension).
South-Eastern (from the Waterloo-read, near Hungerford-bridge, to
the Greenwich Railway).
re solve d
The prtoeliminary
proceed with he's having been arranged, the Committee

NORTH RENT EXTENSION.
Mr. Sergeant Wa.txoflAM declined, however, to offer any evidence,
in conaeiuence of the main line having been thrown out before tile
Committee of the House of Commons.
The BUJ Yrit4 accordingly negatived,

Room B.
LEICESTER AND BEDFORD.
(Continued ftom our Afternoon Edition.)
Mr. Gulston's case having been concluded,
Mr. lIILDYARD then proceeded to lay evidence before the Com-
mittee on behalf of the South Midlands Railway.
Mr. Langlands and Mr. Watkins in their examination gave evidence
of the great want of a line of railway to Northampton, a desideratum
supplied by the South Midlands line.
Mr. name' said he was Mayor of Northampton when the South
Midlands line was thrown out, and had every opportunity to ascertain
the feeling of the inhabitants of the town, who were unanimous in favour
01 that line. He said there were three iron foundries there, requiring
=bout 5,000 tons a year. The Derby iron was very preferable to the
Staffordshire, and would no doubt be used if access to it were made
easy. From 5,000 to 6,000 hands were employed in boot and shoe
making. One house, which employed iOO hatuls, made 20,000 boots
and. 60,000 shoes annually, which, he calculated, would give about
150 tons weight.
Some other witnesses were called, who spoke to traffic on the
South Midlands branch, and the desirableness of having it.
The Committee adjourned till eleven to-morrow.

tiLS.SI3OI7I, DUMFRIES, AND CARLISLE.
The examination of Mr. Kennedy (continued from our Afternoon
Edition)—He did not think the Crawick branch would injure the
property of Mr. Thomas Colebroke, but rather improve It.
Cross-examined—The principal portion of the fattening district of
the south of Scotland was between Castle Douglas and
Dumfries, and the most of the sheep and cattle raised
event south from Dumfries. The English markets were the
beet for them. He did not think a great deal of the traffic he had
Broken of would find its way on to the Caledonian if it was formed.
:though the Caledonian line would not get 10 per cent. as stated in
their prospectus, with this line in existence, it might still pay. He
Was not aware that only Sj per cent. was proved for the Caledonian
line last year. If so, he could not say that it would pay along with
the Nithsdale line. He had not considered the question.
The Duke of Buceleuch examined—He said he was well acquainted
with the route of the present line. It ran for 22 miles through his
property. lie had also property on the Crawick branch.
When the Nithsdale line was first proposed he was against it,
as it came very near his residence at Drumlanrig. That
had been altered; and now, from his knowledge of the
wants of the district, he supported it. It would confer great benefit
on the valley of the Nith; and open the Cumnock and Sanquhar
coal-fields. The line would offer greater facilities for draining than
now, and increase the value of property. He did not think the
valley could be well served by lateral branches, as there were
high lands right and left, and therefore there ought to be
a line running through the valley. The line would be
of great use in conveying stock to the Glasgow and Liverpool
Market,. The Crawick branch would be the means of connecting
Dumfries and the valley of the Nith with Edinburgh, by means of
the Caledonlau line. All the coal for the Wanlock lead mines,
which were very extensive, had to be carted from Sanquhar. There
would be more traffic on the part of the line south of Dumfries than that
from Curanock to Dumfries, and therefore he thought the whole
should be placed in the hands of the company, that the better part
Might make up for the working of the inferior portion. The
Canobie branch could be easily connected with the pits at Canobie ;
and he had uo doubt great benefit would be conferred on Annan
and Dumfries by that means. With respect to draining, a
great want of tiles was experienced, on account of the
deficiency of clay. The tiles now used were brought from Cumnock.
Were facilities for obtaining them at a reasonable price given, they
would be largely used, as the soil was favourable for draining. The
farmers and inhabitants were strongly in favour of the line. Ire did
not think the blithsdale line would compete with the Caledonian
line for the through traffic, though lie thought it would take the
Ayrshire traffic.
Cross-examined—Last year he believed the Glasgow and Dumfries
line on the one side, and the Hawick and Carlisle line on the other
side, were brought forward as competing lines with the Caledonian.
They were brought forward again this year. Ha supported the
Hawick line as well as the present line ; he did not know whether
the llawick line would again be brought forward, but
he hoped it would. Even though the Caledonian line
through traffic might be affected by this line, he thought the interest
of the public should be considered before that of a company. He did
not think any of the Glasgow through traffic would be taken from j
the Caledonian line.
Mr. John Hunter, farmer, of Tyndrum, in the county of Dumfries,
examined. Ills brother and himself also rented farms in Reis and
Invernessehlre. Witness's evidence was generally in corroboration of
the evidence previously given by Mr. Kennedy.
Mr. hairs, dealer In fat stock, who had assisted Mr. Kennedy and
Mr. Hunter in making up the table, was examined shortly is support
of the items therein contained.
Mr. Lennie, of Dalewinton, convener of the county of Dumfries,
examined—The district round Dumfries was a very rich one. There
was a great deficiency of lime in the district, on account of the
expense of carriage from the Closebnm lime-works. The
want of coals was also severely felt. He had taken up forty shares
to promote the railway. The line, he was persuaded, would be of im-
mense benefit to the whole district. A toll-bar on the road towards
his estate let last year for 4801., exclusive of coach charges. The
traffic was regularly increasing. He knew of no clay in the district
for making tiles. The traffic at present by the Edinburgh coaches
would be conveniently accommodated by the Crawick branch.
Cross-examined—He thought if the line was formed he could
get supplied with lime at half the present price. It was now
10s. a load laid down on his farm. He could then get It for 55., he
thought, if the line was formed, and that supplies were had front
Cumnock. He could not give the populations for five miles on each
aide of the line, but he could give the population of all the parishes
that would be intersected.
Mr. Mackee, land proprietor and convener of the county of Kirk-
cudbright, generally deposed that in his opinion the line would be of
great advantage to that county. All the proprietors and inhabitants
on the eastern part were in its favour.
Mr. Marmaduke C. Maxwell, landed proprietor, of Terregles, in
the county of Dumfries, gave evidence to a similar effect. He
thought the line would be of the greatest advantage to the whole
district. If it were formed, he believed that both lime and tiles
would be supplied by it at Dumfries.
Cross-examined —lf a line were formed from Dumfries to Killhcad,
near Annan, there could be an abundant supply got from there. It
would yield a larger supply than Ciosebum.
Mr. Gordon, solicitor, of Dumfries, examined—Dumfries was the
principal town in the south of Scotland, and contained upwards of
13,000 Inhabitants. He had prepared a total of the traffic and trade
of Dumfries and neighbourhood, which he would hand in.
The witness was here examined fin support of the various details
supplied in the table, regarding the carriage of goods by land, and the
steam and sailing vessels connected with the porta of Dumfries, An-
nan, and Kirkcudbright. There was a large trade between these
ports and Liverpool, but the regularity of the steamers
was very uncertain. He believed if the line was formed,
the most of the cabin passengers and the valuable
merchandise and fat stock would go by it. Dumfries was a large
cattle and pork market, and the trade was on the increase. There
was also a large trade in hosiery in Dumfries, and ho believed it was
increased. The feeling of the town of Dam fries was all but universal
in its favour. He believed there was but one person against it.
Cross-examined—There are four manufacturers iu the hosiery
line in Dumfries. The principal exports of Dumfries were cattle and