The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-18 00:00:00

whom its places of authority are adorned. (Mr.(STEAM TRAIN FOR INDIAN RIVERS.
Gladstone resumed his seat amid loud and prolonged I
applause.)
cl by the li(v,
fold pronouncing the benediction.
The Vice-Chancellor and Rector, with the other
occupants of the platform, then retired in profes-
sional order to the Assembly Room to disrobe, most
of them being loudly cheered by the students as
they descended the steps leading from the platform,
while the three or four representatives of the Town
Council present were greeted with manifestations
of an opposite character.

THE REFORM BILL.-DEPUTATION TO
LORD JOHN RUSSELL.

Yesterday afternoon a deputation from the cor-
poration of Bristol, consisting of the Mayor (J.
Bates, Esq.), Alderman Barrow, and Messrs. Cooke,
Jose, Castle, Bush, Robinson, King, Warren, and
Mr. Burges (town clerk), had an interview with
Lord John Russell, at the Foreign-office, Down-
ing-street, for the purpose of pressing the claims
of Bristol for additional representation.
The deputation was accompanied by the Hon.
F. H. F. Berkeley, M.P.,and W. H. Gore Lang-
ton, M.P. (the member or the city of Bristol) ;
and the former having briefly introduced the depu-
tation,

Last week we mentioned that a tryin of barges,
built iw M,,, • 1,. ,L)11u alid i.ii. a; Poit-Cilaz-
gow, for the Oriental Inland Steam Company of
London, had been tried on the Clyde with the most
satisfactory results • and as this train constitutes a
composite vessel of larger dimensions than any yet
constructed, and as the problems of navigating the
shallow rivers of India is one of great interest and
importance, it will be satisfactory if we here record
some of the main particulars of the dimensions and
performance. The train consists of a steamer and
five barges, of the collective length of 900 feet, being
nearly half as long again as the Great Eastern. The
breadth of the train is 30 feet, and the depth of the
hold about 71 feet. The draught of the barges, when
light, is about 10 inches, and it is reckoned that, on
a draught of 21 feet, the train will carry about 2,000
I tons of cargo. The engines, which are on the high
and low pressure principle, have been constructed
by Messrs. Fawcett, Preston and Co., of Liverpool;
but, as the steam section of the train is not yet
completed, the train was, on this first occasion,
moved by two small tugs. The boilers, which are
on the locomotive principle, supply steam of a pres-
sure of 100 lbs. per square inch, and this steam,
after having first produced power in two high in es-
sure cylinders, passes into two condensing cylinders,
by which expedient the power is nearly doubled.
without any increase in the consumption of fuel.
The engines are furnished with superheaters, ex-
ternal condensers, and all other modern improve-
ments. The different barges of the train are articu-
lated to one another by means of circular joints, se
as virtually to constitute a long flexible vessel pre-
senting only one bow to the water, and by this
arrangement the resistance incident to the ascent of
a rapid river is greatly less than it would be if any
other species of vessel were employed. The train,
though so long and of such large dimensions, was
found to be perfectly manageable ani capable of
being steered with certainty and ease. Other trials
will be made when the steam section of the train is
completed, and the speed realised will then be as-
certained. But, so far as the present trial gees,
it has been successful and satisfactory in every re-
spect.—Greenock, Advertiser.

The Mayor of BRISTOL addressed his lordship.
He said Bristol justly complained that it had been
overlooked in the bill which his lordship had intro-
duced into the House of Commons, and the princi-
pal ground of complaint was that Leeds was to have
an additional member while Bristol was in that re-
spect to remain as it was at present. This was con-
sidered unjust, because of the importance in many
ways of Bristol over Leeds. He had in his hands
a paper in which a comparison was drawn between
the two places. Now it appeared that in 1851, the
population of Bristol was 137,328,and that of Leeds
172,270; and the number of houses inhabited was,
Bristol, 20,873, and Leeds, 36,165; but while in
1857 the property assessed for property and income
tax in Bristol amounted to £118,396, that in Leeds
'only reached £96,936, being about £22,000 in
favour of Bristol. There were other things, how-
ever, which showed Bristol to be in advance of
Leeds. Take, for instance, the number of letters
delivered. At the date of the last return Bristol
showed 8,334,000 as against 5,075,000 in Leeds, or
31 millions in favour of Bristol. For postal ser-
vices, therefore, Bristol paid £31,947, while Leeds
only paid £24,206. The voters at present were
Bristol, 12,929, and Leeds, 5,945 ; and the proposed
addition was Bristol, 4,956, and Leeds, 5,979, so
that the new constituencies would be Bristol, with
17,885 voters, only two members ; Leeds, 11,924,
three members. The deputation considered those
the strong points in their case; but there "ere
others. Bristol paid about a million arl2, a quarter
of the customs revenue, while 'nothing under the
same head was derived from Leeds. Then of the
25 members to be taken from the present constitu-
encies 13 were to be taken from the west of Eng-
land, while only three were to be given to the west
of England. The hon. gentleman also submitted
that Bristol was worthy of consideration, on the
ground that it was the principal port in the west
of England; and as far as education was concerned
it ranked amongst the highest, if indeed not the
highest, in England.
Other members of the deputation having ad-
dressed his lordship,
Lord JOHN RUSSELL could only say that the
different cases that had been represented to him,
to Sir George Lewis, and Sir George Grey should
be carefully considered by the Cabinet. But he
might add this observation, that it was very diffi-
cult to take any test but one, and that the rather
simple one of population, in framing any measure
for the improved representation of the people. He
had received several deputations on similar grounds
as the present from various portions of the country,
all of whom, with a plentiful flow of statistics,
wished to show its right to additional representa-
tion. He could only promise that all the statements
should receive due attention.
The deputation then withdrew,