The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-04 00:00:00

THE SUN; LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 4,185 k

A report was brought up from the Finance Com-
mittee, stating the proceeding of the committee,
pursuant to the reference of the Board of the 24th
Sept. last, instructing the committee to prepare a
statement of the expenses of the Board for the cur-
rent year ; and recommending that precepts be
issued forthwith, and.made returnable on the 25th
March next. The report also recommended, among
other things, that inasmuch as a special fund is
created by the act of the last session for Main
Drainage Works, the sums in the hands of the
Beard, or which may hereafter be received by them,
in respect of the £1,10,000 borrowed from the Clergy.
Mutual Society be appropriated to general par-
poses, and that credit be given to vestries and dis-
trict boards under the ordinary precepts for 1858,
so far as concerns the charges included therein ap-
plicable to entire parishes ; that the Board in the
ensuing session seek statutory powers to re-appor-
tion among the several parishes concerned the debt
in respect of the £200,000 borrowed by the Metro-
politan Commissioners of Sewers from the Rock Life
Office and expended on sewerage works, according
to the actual benefit derived by each parish from
that expenditure ; that the Board apply in the ensu-
ing session for statutory powers to re-distribute the
debt of 43,7211. 155., expended in the construction
of the Counters Creek Diversion Works, and to
make such a debt charge on the metropolis at large.
GENERAL RATE ON THE METROPOLiS.

The report was accompaniedl3Tan. estimate of
the sums requiredto be raised by the board towards
its expenses for the current year, ending 31st De-
cember inst., from the different metropolitan
parishes and districts. The whole sum required'
is 107,087/.' odd, and the amount to be contributed
by the city of London is 4,412/., by a rate of ld. in
the pound on the rental ; by Marylebone, 8,356/.,
by a rate 21d. : St. Pancras, 4,269/, rate 2111. ;
Lambeth, 7,367/., rate 3id. ; St. George, Hanover-
square, 9,099/4 rate 21d. ; Islington,cl St. Mary,
3,8461., rate lid. ; Shoreditch, St. Leonard, 1.869/.
rate lid. ; Paddington, 3,6371., rate lid. ;. St.
Matthew, Bethnal-green, 983/., rate 2d. ; St.
Mary, Newington; Surrey, 2,959/., rate, 3-id. ;
Camberwell„ 3,297/., rate 4d.; St. James. West-
minster, 3, 126/„rate lid. ; St. James, and St. John,
Clerkenwell, 1,557/., rate lid.; Chelsea, 2,432/.,
rate 21d.; Kensington, St. Mary Abbots, 3,803/.,
rate 3d.; St. Luke, Middlesex, 1,206/. rate ld. ; St.
George the Martyr, Southwark,el,942/., rate 31-. d. ;
Bermondsey, 2,015/., rate 3id. ; St. George-in the-
Fast, 1,402/., rate 2d.; St. Martin-in-the-Fields,
1,481/., rate lid. ; Mile-end Old Town, 1,271/.,
rate 2d.; Woolwich, 279/., rate ld. ; Rotherhithe,
997/., rate 3id. ; St. John, Hampstead, 609/., rate
Whitechapel district, 1,862/., rate 2d. ; West-
minster, 2,5421., rate 21d. ; Greenwich, 3,361/.,
rate 30. ; Wandsworth, 3,738/., rate 31d. ; Hack-
ney, 2,741/, rate 21d.; St. Giles, 1,488/. ; rate
lid.; Holborn, 992/., rate 12d.; Strand, 1,930/.,
rate lid. ; Fulham, 3,2171., rate 6d. ; Limehouse,
1,5594, rate 21d.; Poplar, 1,306/., rate lid. ; St.
Saviour, 2,508/., rate 3id. ; Plumstead, 1,302/.,
rate 3d.; Lewisham, 3,227/., rate 54d.; and St.
Olave, 1,507/., rate 31d. Various parishes and
parts of parishes without the limits of the metro-
polis, as defined by the act, are also called on to
contribute various sums, from 500/. downwards.
The total current ordinary expenses of the board
for the present year are estimated at 67,983/. ; the
compensation allowances at 2,591/. ; and the repay-
ment of htians andinterest at 42,686/.

The report of the committee was received, and
the consideration of the subjects embraced in it was
adjourned for a fortnight.

THE MAIN DRAINAGE.

Mr. WOOLRYCH, the clerk, read a report of the
Main Drainage Committee, which stated that, pur-
suant to a recent instruction from the board, they
had considered the subject of the materials to be
employed in the construction of the main inter-
cepting sewers ; that Dr. Richardson, an eminent
chemist at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, had attended be-
fore them, with whom they had a lengthened con-
versation on the matter in question; and that they
might hereafter have further occasion to consult
him.

A short discussion, originating with Mr. Wright,
ensued as to the best materials to 'be used in the
construction of the sewers, in which Mr. Tite, M.P.,
Mr. Doulton, Mr. Legg, Mr. Bristow, Mr. Eckett,
Mr. Bennett, and Mr. D'lffanger took part. The
opinion, as expressed by Mr. Tite and Mr. Bristow,
that it was more a question of everyday prac-
tical experience among practical men than one of
chemical science, appeared to prevail with the
Board ; and eventually the report was formally
received.

ORDNANCE SURVEY OF LONDON.
A letter dated the 26th ult. was read by Mr.
Woolrych, clerk to the Board, addressed to him by
the solicitor to the War Department by the direc-
tion of Major-General Peel, Secretary of State for
War, requesting that he would lay before the
Metropolitan Board of Works the claim which still

remains unliquidated on the balance due to the
War Department (as repre:3enting the late Board
of Ordnance), amounting to 24,2171. 17s. for the
survey of London, made upon the request of the
Commissioners of Sewers prior to 1852 ; and further
that he would represent to the Board that the
matter had been permitted to remain in abeyance
since his (Mr. Woolrych's) letter of the 17th of
September, 1852, addressed to Mr. Wood, Secretary
to the late Board of Ordnance, and that the same
was still unpaid. The
,solicitor added that he was
further desired to express General Peel's hope that
the Board should make arrangements to enable
them to discharge this sum at an early period in the

ensuing spring.
NEW OFFICES OF THE BOARD.
The Works and General Purposes Committee re-
ported that the superintending architect had pre-
pared the preliminary plans and elevations for the
new office of the Board in Spring-gardens, in ac-
cordance with the terms of the agreement entered
into between the Commissioners of Woods and the
Board.

The consideration of the subject was adjourned
for a fortnight.
Some business of a routine kind was then trans-

acted, and the Board adjourned.

THE PENINSULAR AND ORIENTAL COMPANY'S
FLEET.—Four screw steamships, of about 1,600 tons bur-
den each, have just been purchased by the directors from a
French company, for whom they were built for Transat-
lantic Service. Three of the vessels are now lying at Havre
and one at Brest. Their present names are the Alma, the
Comptoise, the Barcelona, and the Cadiz. They will all be
overhauled and fitted for sea at Southampton, and for this
purpose the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamship
Ripon will be despatched to Havre on Monday Morning,
takino. over Captains Joy, Christian, and Bradshaw. with a
staff a officers and 150 men, to navigate the three steamers
from Havre to Southampton.

--TIEMROWNED PACHA'S DIAMONDS.—A reward
of 200,000 piastres (narrates the Lloyd of Pesth) was pro-
mised to the finder of the body of Ali-Ghalib Paella. A_poor
fisherman found it in a state of semi-putrefaction. Riza
Pacha gave him 2,000 piastres out of the reward promised,
and put down the remainder to thv finder's account,
to be paid hereafter. He afterwards demanded the
diamonds that Ali Ghalib had worn, which the man declared
he had not seen, and alleged that others might have taken
them before he found the body. That explanation, how-
ever, did not satisfy Riza Pacha, and the fisherman has
been placed in confinement.
NARROW ESCAPE OF A CREW FROM STARVA-
TION.—The ship John Bright, Captain Cuttin which
arrived at this port yesterday, after a fearful' pass eof 40
days from New York, fell in with the barque lma, of
Havre, during the voyage, and supplied her with provisions.
The following is the letter of the captain of the Alma to the
commander of the John Bright, asking for supplies
" Captain ---_,---_, For 60 days I have been at sea f :
rom Trindad, and I am beginning to want a little of everything
of provisions, not having above eight or ten days' supply,
morn or less, and having ken on half rations for eight days;
therefore, if you can give me little coal and wood, of which
I am without entirely, half a hogshead of biscuit, a quarter
of beef, some potatoes, for I am without any, or some rice
if you have any; in short, captain, do what you can to
succour me. My second mate, whom I send to you, will
explain and I throw myself on your humanity as a sailor.
Wine Iwill not ask you for, as I think you do not use that
in your ship. . .My position to-day is 19 S. lat.,
observed 48.7 N., long. 29, meridian of Paris ; I also beg
of you, captain, if your destination is, as I suppose, for one
of the ports of La Manche, to report me on your arrival.
Should I arrive first, I will do the same, as I am bound to
Havre. My owners are Masurier and Son, of that port
Adieu, captain. I await your favourable answer as well as r
your assistance, for which I thank you in anticipation, and
feel persuaded you will relieve us much.—Your colleague
mud debtor, rzwir,"•—hicrimi Paily dress, A

METROPOLIT AN R. 4.218 D OE WORKS.
Yesterday, at 12 o'clock, the lloEird to rr chits held
a meeting in the Council-chamber, Guildhall, for
the transaction of business, Mr. Thwaites, the chair-
man, presiding, The cash statement of the Finance
Committee showed that the balance in the hands of
the Treasurer on the 27th November, on the gene-
ral current account of the Iloard, was £18,663,
and that the general deposit account amounted to
£25,000. On the recommendation of the committee
cheques were signed for, among other accounts, in-
stalments and advances in respect of contract works,
amounting in the aggregate to £4,714 odd.
CAMBERWELL-GREEN. ,

_ .
Mr. PEW presented a memorial from the vestry
of St. Giles, Camberwell, which stated in substance
that negotiations had been entered into with Sir
W. Bowyer Smith and Sir T. Dyer, the lords of the
manor, for the grant or assignment of a lease of
Camberwell-green to the memorialists, with a view
to its preservation as an inclosed space for the use
and recreation of the public ; that the lease was
granted in consideration of a sum of money raised
by voluntary subscriptions ; that a considerable
amount had been expended in adapting it for the
intended purpose, but that they found that the cost
of enclosing, levelling, and planting the green
would exceed £1,700. They therefore prayed that
the Board would grant them some pecuniary assist-
ance to enable them to carry out the proposed plan.
The memorial, after some discussion, was referred
to the Works Committee.
FINANCE.