The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-24 00:00:00

FOREIGN:

Dutch Rhenish •• •• •• •• •••• ••
Lyons and Mediterranean
Montereau and Troyes •...
'Namur and Liege •• •• ad. ••••••• •• •4
Northern of France •• •• •• •• ,• •• •• ••
Orleans and Central .•
Paris and Lyons
Paris and Rouen... Q• • • • • • • • • •• • • ••
Paris and Strasburgh ••
Rouen and Havre.. .• ••
W est raid North-West of France .•

4,222

41,270

40,232 !
36,09.3 1

3,882

• __
37,635

36,302

34,774

SERIOUS ACCIDENT IN THE SOUTH-AMY-
TON DOCKS.

Great interest was excited in Southampton yes-
terday by the occurrence of an accident which will
have the effect of retarding for some considerable
period the progress of the works for enlarging and
walling in on 811 t-ides the inner dock. This dock
was built in 1851, at a cost of 18,0001., being
walled in on two sides only ; but recently it was
determined to complete it by building a wall on
the two remaining sides,
at the same time enlirg-
ing its area and deepening it. Its area originally
was 10 acres, depth of water 25 feet, and the length
of the walls was 1,800 feet. The work of enlarge-
ment has been in operation during the last three or
four montbs, and progressed very rapidly. The
dock has 'been pumped dry abDut a couple of
months, and the existing walls have hitherto ap-
peared quite capable of resisting the unusual strain
to which they were necessarily subjected, and which
all dock waltd have to encounter when the water is
drawn out.

Yesterday morning, however, it' was observed
that the ground behind the north wall began to
sink, and the floor of the dock to rise, carrying the
wall forward for a length of 200 and 300 feet, the
extreme point being 4ft. 6m. beyond the straight
line. The wall has sunk with the movement 2fr.
6in., but the ground behind the wall has sunk 10
feet, the fisor of the dock being raised from four to
five feet. The appearance presented somewhat
resembles that produced by an earthqu Ike' the
-surface of the ground being cracked and broken in
all directions, and the quay-paving and tramway
having changed their position from a level to a
series of inclined planes. Under ordinary circum-
stances any dock well would have been completely
upset, but the great width of the base of this wall
(24 feet) has as yet saved it from such a catastrophe.
As soon as the subsidence was discovered a tele-
graphic message was forwarded to Mr. A. Giles
the engineer, who immediately left London, and
on his arrival ordered the floor of the dock to be
weighted by soil removed from behind the wall, so
as to prevent further movement, tie til lie has had
time to ascertain tl.e cause of the accident. A large
number of men were also immediately set to work
to relieve the pressure behind as much as possible by
removing the stone-Work, tramways, crane, &c.,
and every means has been adopted to check any
further progress of the work of destruction, and
also to prevent personal accident to those engaged. •
Some fears were entertained during the day for
pthaeraslalefeltwth the portion safety
of
a finewarehouse
wall and ground
which has subsided, and known as the '" D Store."
rtionof o
then the quay, running
Happily, however, those fears wore relieved as the
day advanced by the settlement having apparently
stopped, and at the time of writing the warehouse
was considered safe. Underneath it is a large vault,
containing a valuable quantity of wine in bottle,
amounting to over 100 pipes.
As usual on these occasions, the most fabulous
reports gained circulation as to the extent of the
accident, the amount of damage, &c. Of course,
in the present state of affairs, any estimate of the
movement,quioksa but
the
teal it is
sort must be purely conjectural, and with this pro-
viso in view we may state that it is feared by the
officials that the cost of replacing the work will be
from 2,000/. to 3,000!., supposing that no further
' injury occurs while others name larger sums as the
extent of the damage. All must equally be con-
jgeecnt ue
rraalli
yatshtoongt the t
tcause
donfeo t the a
withdrawal of the water causing the soil to sink,
and hence the forcing out of the wall. -Future
examination, however, must decide this question.
Up' to the moment of the last train leaving
Southampton (7.10 p.m.) nothing fresh had -oc-
curred to awaken apprehension 44 tO the safety of
the warehouse above referred to,