The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-12 00:00:00

'EVENING, JULY 12, 1860.

light—it raises a substantial vision of courts of law
which are not ",insufficient, inconvenient, and un-
wholesome." We will brave the shades of the
suitors of 1760, and we have no need to force a title
upon those of 1860.

lIE ILTH OF LONDON DURING TILE
WEEK.

(From the Registrar-General's Report.)
The present returns show a very satisfactory de-
crease in the deaths for the week that ended last

Saturday. The total ntimber was 919 ; that of the
previous week 1,001. For the corresponding weeks
in the 10 years 1850 59 the average number, after
correction for increase of vopulation, is 1,115. The
deaths in last week were tnerefore less by 196 than
they would have been according to the average
rate of mortality in the first week of July. Sum-
mer weather has not been without good effect in
the improvement of the public health.
There were 17 deaths from smallpox in the
week. The number is not great, and it is not drawn

specially from any quarter of the metropolis. There
were 46 from measles, which at present prevails
more than any other zymotic disease. Of 33 from
scarlatina, 4 occurred in St. Clement Danes, and 3
in Plumstead. Twelve deaths were caused by
diarrhoea, and one by cholera, which occurred to
a gentleman in Albert-street, Clapham-road,.after
six days' illness. A case of manslaughter was re-
turned, and four of infanticide ; also 12 of suicide.
A lunatic was accidently choked by food. Two
children were fatally scalded : three deaths occurred
from burns, one of which was that of a child whose
clothes caught fire,
Last week the births of 879 boys and 788 girls,
in all 1,667 children, were registered in London.
In the 10 corresponding weeks of the years 1850-59
the average number was 1,467.
At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
height of the barometer in the week was 30126 in.
For eight days the mean daily reading had been
above 30 in. In the week the lowest barometrical

reading was 30 in. ; the highest, 30.25 in. The
mean temperature of the air in the week was 58.5
deg., which is 3 deg. below the average of the same
week in 43 years (as determined by Mr. Glaisher).
The difference between the mean dew-point tempe-
rature and air temperature was 5.7 deg. The de-
gree of humidity was 82. The thermometer in the
shade rose to 73.3 deg. on Thursday, it fell to 41.6
deg. on the same day ; the extreme range of that
day, and also of the week, was therefore 31.7 deg.
The thermometer in the sun rose to 123 deg. on the
same day. There was no rain in the week. The
wind was generally in the north-west.
In the thirteen weeks ending Saturday, June 30,
the total number of 14,894 deaths was registered in
in London. The mortality was high, for in the
corresponding quarters of the four years 1856-9 the
numbers ranged from 13,252 to 14,541. That this re-
sult was due to unseasonable cold will become ap-
parent when it is stated that, whereas the mean
temperature of the air in any of those four quarters
was not lower than 52'3 deg., and in those of 1858-9
exceeded 54 deg., the mean temperature of the
quarter now ended was only 50.5 deg. As a conse-
quence of the cold the deaths from pulmonary dis-
eases, exclusive of phthisis and whooping-cough,
rose from 1,974 in the June quarter of 1859 to 2,610
in the last quarter. Phthisis was also fatal; it in-
creased from 1,993 deaths to 2,133. Whooping-
cough was rather more fatal than it had been in the
same quarter of 1859, but in a much less degree than
in those of 1857-8, when the mean temperature was
much higher. As might be expected under atmos-
pheric influence to which all persons are exposed,
and of which all more or less are susceptible, the
mortality from diseases generally was increased.
But there was a perceptible decrease in the aggre-
gate of zymotic complaints, which in two previous
spring quarters caused 3,604 and 3,135 deaths, and
last quarter 2,917. Though fatal cases of small-pox
(240) were numerous, yet they scarcely exceeded
those of the same period in 1859. Of the 240 exactly
a fourth part occurred at 20 years of age and up-
wards. Measles, from which 568 young persons
and three adults (at 20 years and upwards) died, was
more fatal than any other zymotic disease. Scarla-
tina carried off 356 persons, and diphtheria 107 ;
they were both considerably less fatal than in the
same quarter of last year. Diarrhea also exhibited
a marked decrease on that of previous springs, and
no death from cholera was returned. Five persons
died from privation, 89 infants from want of breast
milk, 15 persons (chiefly young) from purpura and
scurvy, 32 from delirium tremens, 24 from intempe-
rance. Deaths from heart disease rose to 685 ; those
from bronchitis to the unusual number of 1,456.
There were 80 suicides in the quarter ; and 41
deaths, in a great proportion those of children,
were from murder and manslaughter.

RAILWAY TRANSPORT OF TROOPS.

The conveyance of a military force by railway is
not a novel operation, but it is generally confined
to infantry, and the number of rank and file con-

veyed at Once rarely equals that of the passengers
by many an excursion train, while the troops have
the advantage of being under perfect discipline at
the beginning and end of the journey. The con-
veyance of infantry is comparatively an easy task,
and the time required may be 6oen calculated ; but
artillery, which includes so much besides men,
heavy guns, ammunition waggons, and horses, that
must all he kept together, separation from either
making the rest useless, is more difficult to deal
with. If the movement is complicated by a force
of cavalry the difficulty is increased still further by
the large number of horses, without which the men
are hort th combat; the original dragoon who
served both on horse and foot, being extinct. He
has not been able to hold his own, and the military
working of the "theory of selection" has extin-
guished him. In a campaign, supposing the
existence of good roads and abundant forage,
artillery and cavalry are not the most difficult parts
of an army to move, But if they can be carried to
the actual field by railroad, the saving in time--
the most important item —is immense. This
is evident enough—a mere truism. But the prac-
tical mode of doing it, the amount of railway plant
required, and the efficiency of the railway staff for
the operation, have by no means been fully tested.
An experiment, however, was made yesterday on
rather a large scale, the results of which gave sonic
idea of the time required to convey a combined
force of artillery and cavalry from point to point by
railroad. The London and North-Western Railway
Company having received 20 hours' notice to pre-
pare a point on one of their branch lines for " de-
barking," to use a foreign term, a certain number of
troops, a piece of waste ground on the Willesden
Junction was selected for the purpose. A by-way,
leading from the great Harrow-road, crosses the
rails, or rather the rails cross it on the level. On
each side of this roadway a temporary platform had
been raised, exactly resembling those of cattle sta-
tions. One ran for some distance parallel with the
rails, with a sloping descent from it. The other was
narrow, and at right angles to the railway. Thb
difference of size was made purposely, and horses
and guns were debarked at both to test the relative
merits of this broad and narrow gauge. The smaller
was merely a strong wooden framework, resting on
sleepers, planked, and covered with ballast. The
point from which the combined force departed was
the Caledonian-road station ; it consisted of the Grey
battery of the Royal Artillery, which had arrived
from Woolwich on the previous night, and between
400 and 500 cavalry, composed of the 2d Life Guards
ane the 10th Hussars. This is not a large force, the
number of a full regiment of cavalry and one com-
plete battery of field guns do not reckon for much
in a great war; but it required six immense trains,
each of more than 30 carriages, to bring them down
from the Islington station. The last train started
thence at a quarter past 11, and had not disposed of
its martial freight till nearly 4 o'clock. The first
train down arrived within sight of the platform at
10 o'clock, but for some reason not at once percep-
tible was halted there, and the men kept locked up
in the carriages till one o'clock. It was a very
close day ; the Artillery uniform is not the coolest
summer wear, and most people knew how stifling a
closely-packed carriage is when motionless.
When released the men rushed and leaped out,
half stewed and exceedingly fagged, much more
so than they would have be en by any
march of the same distance. But, as this detention
may have been part of the test, we will not say it
was unnecessary for the main object ; only it seemed
so. The horses being in open carriages did not suffer
so much ; but appeared very glad to feel the earth
under their feat, and the guns behind them again.
They stood, seven in each carriage, ready harnessed.
The guns and ammunition carts were on railway
trucks. The nicest part of the operation was ad-
justing the train to the platforms, so that each car-
riage should have its roadway exactly leading from
it. That arranged, the rest was easy. The men
rushed out, the horses pranced down the platform,
and the guns and carts descended the slope by their
own weight. Nevertheless, each train occupied from
30 to 40 minutes before it was clear. As soon as
as the cavalry mounted it left the ground, and pro-
ceeded by the by-road to London ; the artillery
drew up in the lane leading to the Harrow-road,
the first guns halting till all had been got out. The
whole battery then returned by the high read to
Islington. The Earl of Cardigan was on the ground
watching the proceedings.