The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-27 00:00:00

TILE STATE OF THE SERPENTINE.

A deputation, consisting of the following gentle-
men, viz., Sir John Shelley, Bart., M.P., Sir W.
M. T. Farquhar, Bart., 111. P., Dr. Laniester, Dr.
Woolley, Mr. A. Hayman (firm of Hayman and
Burnett, Sloane-street), Mr. J. Rennie, and Mr.
John Lilwall, had an interview on Saturcay with
the Right Hon. W. F. Cowper, M.P., Chid' Com-
missioner of her Majesty's Woods and Forests, at
the office, Whitehall-place, in reference to the con-
tinued bad state of the Serpentine.
Sir J. SHELLEY briefly introduced the deluta-
tion, and called upon Mr. Lilwall (who had tcted
since 1848 in the capacity of hon. secretary to the
Serpentine improvement committee) to explainthe
objects of the deputation.
Mr. LiLwALL then entered at some length into
the various steps which have been taken during the
last ten or twelve years on the subject of the state
of the Serpentine. The object of the present depu-
tation was twofold; Ist, respectfully to protest
against the expenditure of £17,000 of pnblic money
upon the formation of a filtering bed and other
works in Kensignton gardens, which were useless
as respected the purpose in view, and would be
found an intolerable nuisance for all time, and one
of the greatest eyesores in a park renowned for its
beauty. The second object was to draw the Chief
Commissioner's attention to the urgent necessity
there was to fill up the deep holes in the Ser-
pentine—now so dangerous—and to reduce the
bed of the river to a graduated depth of
from three feet at the edge to about five or six feet
in ltie etitre. At present the bed of the lake was so
irregular that persons often got precipitated into holes
over their heads by a single step forwards, when
their other leg was standing in water little more.
than knee-deep.
The Chief Commissioner said he was very glad
to have seen the deputation. The question had
been under discussion for upwards of ten years,
and it was quite true nothing had yet been
done. No doubt the plan now being carried out
in Kensington-gardens had many disadvantages,
and would at the best but partially remedy the
evil. The Metropolitan Board of Works had,
however, undertaken to commence the sewer, which
would carry off much of the impurity which
now found its way into the Serpentine ; but until
that was completedthere was no means of diverging
the sewage matter. There were undoubtedly many
evils to be remedied. His predecessor had called
in the highest authority—(murmurs of dissent)—
at least he was one of the highest authorities, and
backed by the opinion of the late Mr. R. Stephen-
son ; therefore the Government did not act preci-
pitately. Mr. Hawksley's plan did but meet one
of the difficulty. At best it was but an in-
sufficient scheme. It was quite the duty of the
House of Commons to see into the matter, espeoi.
ally when dealing with a park which is ore of the
greatest ornaments of the metropolis. As to himself,
he had no responsibility for that which had been
done; yet still he did not think it a good plan, nor
should he ever have thought of adopting such plan.
His hands, however, were tied.

MESSRS. WOOD AND ROGERS' BOAT-
LOWERING APPARATUS.

Messrs. Wood and Rogers—the latter gentleman
being connected with the extensive ship-building
establishment of Messrs. Green at Blackwall—

have recently registered a simple and apparently
♦ery efficient apparatus for the instantaneous lower-
ing of ships' boats in case of sudden emergency at
sea. The invention consists of a series of four iron

rods or bolts running along the inside of the boat
on both sides under the "thwarts," and communi-
cating with a central shaft and lever, by means of
which they can be shot backwards and forwards at
pleasure. The extreme ends of these bolts run
through " slot" holes at stem and stern, each catch-
ing an end ring of the double sling by which the
boat is suspended from the davits. Supposing an
occasion, such as a man overboard, or any sudden
marine casualty, to arise, the men would jump in,
and the boat would be lowered in the ordinary man-
ner to within nine inches or a foot. of the water,
when one of the men acting on the central lever
would suddenly withdraw the bolts, fore and aft,
and the boat would drop full keel into the Name..
A collateral advantage of this arrangement is that
the slings being double, and catching the boat at
both sides, there would be no danger of its
in, acingtu
over through the men jumping hurriedly is
too often the me with boats slung in the ordinary
manner. Experiments were
and made
unon
der Sat
th urday
last by order of the Admiralty, e in-
spection of Admiral Bullock and Commander
Polley of the Black Eagle, and there were also pre-
sent Captains Guthrie and Stead of the P. and 0.
Steam Packet Company, and Mr. Marshall of the
R. M. Steam Packet Company, with about half a
board,
other gentlemen who take an interest in ma-
rine inventions. The party proceeded down
u Messrs. Wood aa down stream these l.
boats
eg
the
river in a steam tug, to both quarters of
which
boats
v frta
were
eerteh ochda had
dobiitterng several
slungetrhael times rb y n
with men on il
'bmah'
m s
remarkable facility and expedition.
nau-
tical authorities present were All the
the simplicity and utility of quite satisfied with
Ad-
miral Bullock especially the invention,
strong terms of commendation. expressing, himself in
For ourselves it
seemed to answer the purpose intended perfectly i
we would merelyl,e suggest that as the invention, to
be useful, must, available et a moment's notice,
and as iron rods will
rust from exposure to the wea-
ther, the bolts should
run in a sheath, so as to be
and
always clean to run freely backward and for-
ward when required. We mentioned this • tto
the inventor, who replied that the iro wouldpo ble
galvanised, and consequently not liable to rust.
Still it is better to make sure ; and when we re-
collect that the late Captain Harrison lost; his lifts
through the " broils" of his boat's sail not working
freely, it cannot be deemed superfluous to, provide
against the slightest possibility of a hitch in, opera-
tions where the saving of a man's life might de-
pend on the instantaneous lowering of a bo at into
the water. With this little addition we are of opi-
nion that Messrs. Wood and Rogers' ink ntltion
would completely answer its purpose,