The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-04 00:00:00

HALESWORTE, BECCLES, AND HADDISCOE RAILWAY.

The standing orders were complied with for making
railway between these points in connexion with the
Lowestoft Railway; proposed capital, 150,0001 ; power
to borrow, 50
.0001.

STOCKTON AND DARLINGTON, WEAR VALLEY, AND MM.

DLESBOROUQH RAILWAYS.
The standing orders were declared to be complied
with in respect of the Bill for amalgamating these three
railways.

ULVERSTONE AND LANCASTER RAILWAY.
The standing orders were declared not complied with
in the case of this Bill.
SHEFFIELD, ROTHERHAM, AND GOOLE RAILWAY.

:FOR DEVIATION BETWEEN SHEFFIELD AND BARNSLEY).
The standing orders were complied with.

PRESERVATION OF LIFE PROM SHIPWRECK AND
OTHER DISASTERS AT SEA.—On Monday afternoon a new
and cleverhapparatue, invented by Mr. John Keyse, of New-
ington, for the purpose of more effectually saving the lives of
mariners and others at sea and on rivers, was exhibited to
several scientific gentlemen connected with the shipping in-
terest, end highly approved of. The apparatus, which is
affixed to the body, consist of two pieces of wood of great
buoyancy, of a globular shape, concave, and of a convex ob-
long, which is easily attached to the waist. There are also
a shield and guard-cap, also a sail and hand paddle, with
concave clogs, providing considerable power of propulsion to
enable persons to reach the shore. Attached to the appa-
ratus are ropes of great durability and extraordinary con-
struction, to which fifty or sixty persons can adhere with
safety in the most violent storms. This invention, if in ge-
neral use, will no doubt be the means of saving the lives of
thousands, and prove its utility when disasters occur in sight
of land, as it will save the crews the necessity of relying on
the assistance of life-boats from the shore, which are so fre-
quently upset and shattered to pieces before they can reach
the ill-fated vessel. It is rather curious that at a recent
shipwreck off Land's End a mulatto saved his life by acci-
dentally adopting the principle or Mr. Keyse's invention.
and bad he been in possession of the rope he might have
toir than two hundred
Th
il
saved nearly the whole of the crew. e. apparatus is very
simple in construction, and can be put on in an instant either
on deck or in the sea, and takes up very
little room. Suffi..
t he
cient of them to save mlivoesre rootomm nan ordinary boat..
persons would not take u
The inventor intimat
est his intention t
. o forward gratuitously
a set to each nation having naval
and
mercantile
marines.
• a was registerd unde
The inventio r the Patent Desi
short
band 7 Vic., on the 28th of December last d• Ps
6an ,an in a short
time will be publicly tested before the Lords of the Admiralty
and gentlemen connected with the shipping interest.
LITERARY GEMS Elgin.—The
following expletives from aneditorial
COUr a I t—ln one short half article in the EV*
brother applies the followingcolumn, our " meek and mild"
Courier, and the articles chaste epithets to the Elgin
work"—" falsehood" --"
which appear in its columns—" Dirty
" false in every respect"—" false to the very core"—
ery utterly unfounded"—" falsity"—
" dun and dusty countenance"—" mean, grovelling, slimy"—
" pandering to the lowest and basest feelings"—" insulting"
—" disgust"—" scurrilous"—" false." And ourselves he de-
signates " fellow"—with " nothing of the true man about
him"—" a slanderer" "a liar"—" believes a lie"—with "no
self-respect"--" low-lifted"--" dolt ;" and this catalogue is
significantly and appropriatey wound up with the elegant
word—" DIRT !"—Aberdeen Banner.
FIRE AT BATH.—Shortly after ten o'clock yester•
day morning a fire was discovered to have originated in
•
portion of the premises formerly connected with Williams's
brewery, in Little Corn-street, but now the property of Mr.
\V. Titley, cheesemonger, &c., of Stall-street. The building
in question is situated opposite the Ja.e countinghouse; at
g
is of considerable extent. The damage thus sustained wid
amount to about 3001.; but we are happy to be able to state
that Mr. Bennett is fully insured in the Phcenix-office. Mr.
Stothert's loss is trifling. The total damage to building and
stock amounts, therefore, it is supposed, to between 8001.
and 900/. The value of the city hose and the fire plugs
Treat advantage on this occasion n,a d we never
appeared to gr
recollect to have seen a firebetter managed.—Bath Journal
of Saturday.
We have reason to believe that it has been decided
that the duties of the Quarter-Master-General's department
at the Horse Guards, shall be carried on under the Superin-
tendence of Colonel Freeth, an officer of great experience,
who has served as Ass,stant Quarter-Master-General for
several years, and is in every way calculated for the ser-
vice. It was at one time supposed that a general officer
would have been appointed to this situation, but we under-
stand that economical principles have had their weight, and
that her Majesty's Government have been influenced by
them upon the occasion.—Chronicle.

METROPOLITAN SEWERS.
DRAINAGE OF THE NORTH SIDE OF LONDON.
A meeting of the Commissioners connected with
the Metropolitan Sewers was held on Friday, at 1,
Greek-street, Soho. The justices were specially con-
vened, the following being a copy of the summons
sent to each member :
NORTHERN DRAINAGE.
" Frineipal (H&c*, 1, Greek-street, Soho-square,
January 28th, 1851.
" ka purs‘aance of the following requisition, a Special
Dort of Se+tera will ba held at this office, on Friday
neit, the 31st instant, at a quarter before 12 o'clock,
A.. H. precisely.
(Signed) " E. H. WOOLRYCH, Secretary.
" We hereby require you to
_summon a Special Court
of Sewers, pursuant to the provisions of the Metropolitan
Sewers Act, 1848, in this behalf, to be holden on Friday
neat, the 31st day of January, 1851, at the Principal
Offiste, 1, Gi•eek-street, Soho, at a quarter before 12
e'sleek in the forenoon, for the purpose and object of
receiving and adopting the report of the engineer upon
the drainage of the metropolis north of the Thames, in-
eluding the city of London.
" Dated this 24th day of January, 1851.
(Signed) " H. T. DE LA BECHE.
" ROBERT K. DAwsoN.
" PHILIP HARDWICK.
" S. MORTON PETO.

" T. HAWES.
" EDWARD HARRISON.
To the Secretary of the
Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers."
There were present Sir Henry de la Beche (chair-
man), Viscount Ebrington, M.P.; S. M. Peto, M.P.;
T. Hawes, Esq., P. Hardwick, Esq.; R. K. Dawson,
P. Lawes, Esq. ; Sir John Burgoyne, Alderman Law-
rence, Deputy Harrison, and H. L. Taylor, Esq.
In opening the business,
The CHLIRMAS said that they had met that day
upon a subject of
greatimportance to the inhabitants
of the metropolis. The business before them was the
reception of a plan from their chief engineer with re-
spect to the drainage of the north side of the Thames.
When the members of that court received their ap-
pointments, sixteen months ago, it was understood
that the main feature of their mission was to carry
out a complete system of drainage on both sides of the
Thames. Before they could satisfactorily do this, they
found that many investigations had to be made, and
the result was that they found themselves without
sufficient data to enter upon their work. It was found
by them to be essential that they should have a tho-
rough knowledge of the condition of all the drains in
the extensive district confided to their care, and also
that they should possess an accurate knowledge of
the sewage works then lying beneath the surface of
that large area. In consequence application was
made to the Ordnance Board, and a survey was com-
menced and completed by the officers of that esta-
blishment, the whole of which works had bean con-
ducte4 with great diligence and care. Subsequently
the whole of the sewers were examined, and no less
than seven hundred miles of sewers had undergone
inspection ; so that at the present moment the Corn-
mision had in their office an amount of information
upon the subject superior to that of the authorities
connected with any metropolis in Europe.—(Hear.)
He (Sir H. de la Beche) wished, in connexion with
that matter, to point especial attention to the excel-
eat conduct of non-commissioned officer Joseph
Smith, of the Royal Sappers and Miners, whose
zeal and ability, and inchfatigable performance of
his duty, had materially contributed to the production
of the materials of which he (Sir Henry) had spoken.
With regard to the southern drainage, that, as they
knew, had been decided upon, and the works were
now, he was glad to say, in progress. Their business
that day was to consider the best plan for the drain-
age of the northern side of the Thames, and he thought
the Commissioners would be well satisfied with the
proposal made by their engineer, Mr. Frank Forster.
Should they decide upon the adoption of the plan, the
work for which they, as Commissioners, had been ap-
pointed, would be in a great measure accomplished,
awl he hoped that the public would remember that
they had been only sixteen months in office, and that
despite many obstructions and interruptions they had
so far surmounted the major part of them. He was
glad to say that both he and his colleagues were satis-
fied that the whole of the proposed works were prac-
ticable, and that they would prove in many respects
highly economical and advantageous to the public.
There was no doubt but that works of such magnitude
could not be carried out without some temporary in-
convenience, but this, he felt convinced, would be
counterbalanced by the good which would follow, and
he hoped that the public would good-humouredly
submit to the trifling interruption which might be
caused by the prosecution of them. He (Sir Henry
de la Beche) was glad to say that, although the Noble
Lord (Liverpool) had stated that he had felt, in some
degree, annoyed by the extensive works which had
being going on near Fyfe-house, Whitehall, that his
Lordship had, the other day, assured him (Sir Henry)
that nothing could be more satisfactory than the re-
sult of the alterations which had been made in the
drainage.—(Cheers.) He trusted the same feeling of
forbearance would be generally manifested during
the progress of the great work proposed. In conclu-
sion, he would call for the report of the engineer, and
ask the Court to agree to receive the same.
Mr. LOVES then read the report, which ran as
follows: