The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-22 00:00:00

MR. BENJAMIN TV TER.

" The Dead Heart" has given place to one of the
finest dramas which has ever been produced in
Dunlop. street—" Janet Pride "—and Mr. Benjamin
Webster is its great attraction. On the side of
morality it is a lay sermon; in favour of tempe-
rance, one production of it is worth a twelvemonth's
lecturi▪
ng. Bands of Hope should see it, and direc-
tors of local institutions at war with brandy and
crime should en masse witness the able lessee of
the London Adelphi net Richard Pride, the too
faithful likeness of thousands, in this age of mis-
sionari▪
es and civilisation. This great drama—for
it is one—presents to us with terrible vividness the
distorted features of our national self, for it mirrors
that part of modern customs which leads youth to
the grave, manhood to the hulks, and age to the
workhouse. It is. sufficient to state, that all lovers
of the legitimate drama have in it something
thoroughly to please; and that with Benjamin
Webster as the horrid debauchee and reckless cri-
minal, " Janet Pride" goes far, on the stage, to serve
the cause of social reform. Thus much for the ten-
dency and character of the drama, which to read
would be tame, just as lectures and sermons are.
It is an acting drama, and may never be seen in
Glasgow to such advantage again if once Mr.
Webster ues away. His Richard Pride is a study
—a character to admire—a piece of acti▪
ng to ap-
plaud unreservedly—a consummate effort. We en-
dorse every word said of him by Jerrold, quoted in
the play-bill, and cannot presume, when such a
great critic has " pronounced," to say more. It
simply remains for us in this connecti▪
on to add
that every moralist, every inebriate, every tempe-
rance reformer, and every admirer of great acting
should go and crowd the theatre this week.----Glas-
yow Daily Bulletin.


.PARLTAMENTARY COMMITTEES.

THE SERPENTINE.
The committee re-assembled this morning—Mr. Cowper
in the chair.
Mr. Williams, of the Royal Humane Society, was re •
called, and, in answer to questions, said since lime had been
put into the Serpentine the water had been much improved.
He had never seen soft places on the ice to denote warm
springs. The soft places were occasioned by the shelter from
the wind.
By the Chairman—He thought if the water were purer
the number of bathers would be very much increased.
By Mr. Walter—Formerly the higher classes used to
bathe in the Serpentine, but such was not the case now.
Dr. Woolley, formerly chief medical officer of the Hu-
mane Society, said—About seven or eight years ago the
smell from the Serpentione was so bad that he had directed
the men of the society to smoke tobacco while out on duty.
The smell produced violent nausea. The disagreeable state
of the water was partly from stagnation, partly from
mud, and partly from the overflow of sewage.
The whole of the deaths from drowning in the Ser-
pentine came under his notice, the mud entering the
nostrils and air passages, would render the effort
to restore life still more difficult. A drowning person
swallowed a great quantity of water. He had known seve-
ral cases of persons who would have been saved, after they
had been rescued, from death had the bottom of the Serpen-
tine been hard, instead of soft. Persons frequently sunk
several feet in the mud, at the bottom, and there remained
fast. He thought the purification of the water would greatly
increase the number of bathers. He was not competent to give
a suggestion for the best mode of improving the bottom. H e
thought if the sides of the river were made so shallow that

a child could not be drowned it would be a very good ar-
rangement.
Mr. T. Braithwaite, C.E., said he had great experience
in the construction of wells in the metropolis. The gravel
strata under Westminister would give an unlimited supply
of water. He had once sunk a well at Charing-cross, near the
Union Club House, and found the water so plentiful that
an engine of 100-horse power would have been incapable
to cope with the supply. The well in question was only 14
feet deep. Ho had latterly become acquainted with the
well of Duck Island ; he was convinced that there was
plenty of water to meet any supply if the area was increased.
One million of gallons per diem for a month would produce
no sensible diminution. The water was beautiful. It
called spring water ; it was hard but very pure, and me,.
as might be consumed by any person.
By Sir J. Shelley—lf the water from gas companies got
into the wells the companies would be liable to action for
permitting such a circumstance. The water in Duck
Island was not, as has been stated, objectionably impure.
It was possible that at some time it alight have been con-
taminated when the sewers had been improperly made.
Sewers are generally made above gravel strata. If the
foundation of some of the houses in Queen-street had been
injured, in his opinion it was attributable to the
Victoria sewer, and not to the pumping at Duck Island.
He did not agree with Mr. Simpson in his report to the
Commissioners of Sewers, in which he attributed the injury
to the foundation of the houses in Westminster to the
pumping. Supposing the Government were decided to
supply the Serpentine with water from the Duok Island
well, it would be the best that could be got short of Thames
water.

The Chairman—Of course you mean above Teddington
Lock ?
Mr. Braithwaite—Yes.

The Chairman—lf you were asked to get a large supply
of water from Paddington you would be sure of getting it?
Witn,ess—Yes, certainly. I don't think I should prefer
getting the high level for the Serpentine to that of taking
it from Duck Island. The draining of the parks and Ken-
sington Gardens would yield comparatively nothing—not
even sufficient to supply the loss of water to the Serpentine
by evaporation. He thought the best mode of improving
the Serpentine was to get rid of the semi-fluid mud, and then
cover it with gravel, forming a bed with a graduating circle
round the sides from two to five deep. The opposite bank
of the circles from the edge of the water would be about
100 feet or so from the shore. A. bank would here be
formed, beyond which deep water would exist in the centre.
There would be a continuous flow of water round the circle,
but it would not be very great.
The Chairman—How do you propose to get rid of the
semi-fluid mud ?

Witness—By pumping; any common pump would effect
the purpose.
The Chairman—And its ultimate disposal would be—
Witness—lnto the sewers or the Thames. It would
neither stop up the former, nor interfere with the naviga-
tion of the latter.
By Lord Fermoy—The plan he proposed would not con-
tinue the danger to all bathers. Those who swam over the
distance would go into deep water. If a million of gallons
of pure water were put into the Serpentine daily, and that
quantity of foul taken away, it would greatly improve the
water. The water taken away would be from the surface,
which was always the most impure. If this practice was
kept up the Serpentine would become purer and purer
every day.