The Sun.
London, England, 1851-08-05 00:00:00

THE WATER COMMITTEE.

Yesterday this Committee re-assembled for the last
time—present, Sir James Graham in the chair, Mr.
Becket, Sir J. Hanmer, Mr. Ellis, and Mr. Sanders.
The room was cleared, and the Committee deliberated
for about half an hour, and on re-admission of the public,
The Right Hon. Chairman said the Committee have
come to the following resolution:—That the preamble of
the Metropolis Water Bill was read, and the Committee
came to the unanimous decision that the preamble of the
Bill was not proved. With regard to the other Bills
before us, the Committee has not had time to hear any
evidence with respect to them, and consequently they
have come to no decision with respect to their preambles.
You know very well that at the present period of the
session they must die a natural death, but the House
has come to a decision, by which the parties may, should
they think fit, come to Parliament next session, and
revive their Bills by renewing their notices in the usual
way. The Committee have come to the further resolu-
tion that the Chairman bo directed to report the minutes
of evidence to the House.
The Committee then broke up shortly after one
o'clock. The proceedings were marked by the total
absence of the twenty learced counsel, who throughout
the one and thirty days' sitting of the Committee, in the
examination of about fifty witnesses, were regularly in
attendance. This was understood to be accounted for
by the previous intimation from the Committee that
counsel would not be required. A general feeling of
satisfaction appeared to prevail amongst the parties in-
terested, at the extreme attention the members of the
Committee generally, throughout the protracted in-
quiry, had paid to its progress, and more particularly
with the masterly way in which the Honourable Chair-
man had discharged the duties of that office. It is cal-
culated that the inquiry cannot have cost the Water
Companies less than 30,0001., and the Government about
half that amount.

COMMENCEMENT OF THE OYSTER SEASON.....-The
regular oyster season commenced at Hungerford and Bil-
lingsgate-markets at six o'clock yesterday morning. The
recent discovery of an apparently inexhaustible oyster-bed
between Shoreham and Havre, and the facility with which
they can be forwarded by railway to London, has caused a
supply throughout the year; and in the course of the case
heard at the Mansion House on Saturday, in which Mr.
Goldhatn, the clerk of Billingsgate-market, attended as a
witness, Sir Peter Laurie took occasion to ask him what
effect the extra supply had upon the trade, and whether they
were good and wholesome fish. Mr. Goldham said, the sup-
ply was so great, that if they were sold at little more than
the cost of the freight, the fishermen were satisfied, as it WAS
all profit. The oysters themselves open well and in good
condition, and were much sought after by the poorer classes.
He did not think they were very wholesome taken in a raw
state, but they were very good cooked, stewed, or in sauce.
The boats from Whitstable, Queenborough, Colchester, and
the various oyster stations on the Kent and Essex coasts, ar-
rived with the tide last night, and were moored off Billings-
gate, but were not allowed to break bulk until the hour
fixed by the regulations of the market.
THE CONDEMNED CRIMINAL AT NORWICH.......The
unhappy man, Henry Groom, now in the Castle under sen-
tence of death for the murder near Holkham, has acknow-
ledged his guilt and the justice of his sentence. He appears
desirous in every way to avail himself of the assistance of the
reverend chaplain, who is daily with bins fOr the purpose of
PrOPUiDg fqrhis awful ate: