The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-04 00:00:00

",11, Baker-street, Portman-square, Sept. 30, 1858.
" Worshipful Sir,—By direction of the Mayor of Mel-
bourne, I this morning called at the Thames Police-court,
and finding that you had left town, I have the honour to
enclose a Communication in reference to Mrs. Hall. I will
again call at the Thames Police-court on your return to
London.--I am; worshipful sir, your obedient servant,
" H. Selfe, Esq." " JAMES Ilona, Sec.
The enclosure was as follows
" John Thomas Smith, Mayor of Melbourne, and Mem-
ber of the Legislative` Assembly of Victoria, hereby most
solemnly and sincerely declares that he was born in Sydney,
New South Wales, in the year 1816; that his mother,
Mrs. Elizabeth Smith, was alsoiborn in the same colony;
that his father, John Smith, is now a resident living in the
said colony, and that he, the said John Thomas Smith,
arrived in England, for the first time, on the Bth day of
September last, and, therefore, that he is not, nor did he
ever say that he was, the brother of a Mrs. Hall. I make
this solemn declaration, knowing the same to be true, and
by virtue of an act of the Governor and Council of 'New
South Wales, substituting declarations for oaths, this 29th
day of September, 1858.—J. I'. Smrrn, Mayor of Mel-
bourne, J. P., and M. L. A."

ECONOMY IN 711 E WORKING OF
RAILWAYS.

Some very interesting experiments have been
made on the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolver-
hampton Railway, in order to testify the efficacy
of Mr. Edward Wilson's smoke-consuming appa-
ratus. Mr. Wilson, it may be well to state, is engi-
neer of the above company, and has devoted much
of his time to the perfection of an invention which,
from ocular demonstration, we feel no hesitation in
affirming is most successful, and by railway com-
panies must be received as a boon of no ordinary
magnitude.
By virtue of an. Act of Parliament smoke is
strictly prohibited on all our railways, and, conse-
quently, railway companies generally are compelled
to use coke instead of coal. The former, as is well
known, costs considerably more than the latter,
while in SQMC districts, especially that through
which the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton
Railway runs, coal can even be obtained at one-
fifth the cost of coke. It is needless to point out
the formidable items;under the head of fuel, that
appear in the various balance-sheets of the different
railway companies; and the great saving that
would be effected if coal could be generally used in
lieu of coke is apparent. Scientific men have di-
rected their attention to this fact ; and from tin•
to time various inventions for consuming smoke have
been brought before the public; but either on the
ground of expense or the rapidity with which the
apparatus has fallen out of repair, none previous to
this now introduced by Mr. Wilson has met with
any general approbation and coke has continued to
he used.
Tai test by experiments the advantages of the
iliveirtion, we started from Worcester on an engine
to which it had been applied about twelve months
ago, at the small cost of £4 17s. ; and since that
time the locomotive has travelled upwards of 25,000
miles without any repairs to the apparatus being
rendered necessary. To the engine-were attached
13 waggons heavily laden with coal, one first-class
carriage, and a heavy goods break van. The'distance
ran was 58 miles, being from Worcester to More-
ton and back, and the coal used was what in the
neighbourhood is known WS South Staffordshire
common black coal, and is obtained at the small
cost of 6s. Bd. per ton ; while the price of coke at
the present time is 245. per ton. Besides the dif-
ference in price, it is worthy of remark-, that until
used in engines with the sniole-eon,uming appara-
tus attached, this description of coal was considered
useless, and was thrown aside at the pit's mouth.
The quantity used iu the experiment was 15ewt.
2qrs., being at the rate of 301 b. per mile; and
during the whole journey there was a total ab-
sence of that unpleasant smell of sulphur. (emitted
from coke) with which all railway travellers are
familiar. In the distance passed over there are
several sharp curves and heavy gradients, one of
which is lin 100 for 6 miles. The steam was blow-
ing off at the safety valves at 1201 b. pressure the
whole way, and the speed averaged 251 miles per
hour ; at no time; even on the heavy banks, was it
less than about 20 miles per hour. With respect to
the effect of the smoke-burner, we have no hesita-
tion in saying it was as perfect as it is possible to
conceive any Inunan appliance to be. There hardly
ever appeared the smallest trace of smoke with the
'Cam issuing froth the chimney, and the combustion
in the fire-box was the most perfect we ever saw,
the front portion of the fire-box above the fuel being
filled with one mass of intense white flame. That
we might have the opportunity of judging of what
was due to the smoke-burner, Mr. Wilson had
it put out of action, when we were immediately
enveloped in such a volume of smoke that all with
one accord gasped forth entreaties that the
kindly offices of the apparatus should be again
enlisted to deliver us from our misery, and when
our supplications were heard the effect was almost
magical. -M once the hideous cloud passed away,
and the snowy wreaths of steam again floated
through the pure air. This experiment was re-
peated several times with the same result, tending
much more to our conviction than to our comfort.
Having found at length the desideratum of a real
smoke-burner, we cannot refrain offering a few re-
marks upon its importance ; for, putting out of
sight the question of comfort and cleanliness, we
do not think we are over-estimating its valne when
we say that it must be a great national benefit, as
well as affording an immense pecuniary advantage
to those who employ the giant power—steam.
It takes, we believe, about two tons of coal to
produce one ton of coke, which is the fuel used for

locomotive engines, when the smoke of coal cannot
be consumed ; and it takes about the :aim weight

toll; eproekf oe to
itvheai•tk a
by the use ns; ;f coal.
saved. Now, we may assume that' there are in the
consumed for locomotive engines
United Kingdom about 5,000 engines working, say
300 days in the year, and that each would consume
about 21 tons of coal a day, which will give an aggre-
gate for a year of 3,700,000 tons consumed, which
would at 10s. a ton, equal £1,875,000,and of course the
same quantity or amount saved. This would afford
about 3- per cent. on the capital of the railways of
the kingdom—no despicable profit as dividends go
—and at the same time it would leave 3,750,000
tons of ," black diamonds" unconsumed of that di-
minishing but valuable commodity of the nation's
wealth. Viewing the subject in so broad a light,
we thing that it is but public justice to Mr. 'Wil-
son to show that he is justly entitled to, at least,
the merit of being the first to introduce a cheap
and efficient means for consuming smoke in loco-
motive engines.

HORRID DEATH.—On Friday morning Mr. F. S.
Langham, the deputy coroner for Westminster, received
information of the dent! Gof Charles rinham, aged 23 years,
who resided in Arundel-court, Haymarket. It appears tho
deceased was cleaning windows, when he slipped and fell ou
the spikes below which entered his body. Ho was extri-
cated from his frightful position and conveyed in most ex-
cruciating pain to. Charing-cross Hospital, where Mr. S.
Keggs, house surgeon, rendered every assistance till death
terminated his sufferings.

MURDEROUS AFFRAY ON-BOARD SHIP.—CALT,AO,
August 25.—The ship Oceanica, Captain Robertson,.on the
13th inst., in getting under weigh, the vessel' being in
charge of Captain Todd, the pilot, the second officer, Mr.
Crisp, refused duty, at the same time using abusive and in-
sulting language. VUpon this thepilot immediately informel
Mr. Crisp he would not take such language from any one
with impunity, and enforced his statement with a blow,
which Mr. Crisp got across the face. " This appeared to be
a signal to the whole of the crew, who came aft and com-
menced an indiscriminate fight,finail ywhscurceckeendhe-desinancidulla:i:
pins were pretty freely used, which lasted a considerable
time, until Captain Robertson, Mr. Campbell, chief officer,
and several other captains,
Upon quiet being restored it was found that, quite a number
had broken heads and faces ; also nr. Campbell, the mate,
had his throat cut with a sheath knife. Medical__ assistance'
was promptly obtained from H.B.M.'s ship Ganges ; the
doctor reports the wound a very bad one, but not dangerous.
Tho whole affair has since been investigated by H.B
consul and Admiral Baines. Mr. Crisp has been discharged,
and the ship finally sailed on the evening of the 16th
hist; for-Q4etaktown, being detained three days. •

porter's attention. The letter from Mr. Smith NV,IS as
follows:

" " Morley's Hotel, Oct. 2, 18,58.
Sir,—As my secretary, Mr. Horn, was with me on the
occasion of my visit to Mrs. Hall, I have' requested him to
communicate with you on the subject of your note of
this day's date, to remove the impression you ap-
pear to entertain that there may be some foundation for the
statement of Mrs. Hall, that lam her brother. I called on
Mrs. Hall, in consequence of her letter forwarded )to sue in
Melbourne, in order to remove the impression she appeared
to have entertained, and. I most distinctly informed her that
I was not her brother, and upon a second occasion when
she:called upon me with her mother, I also assured both
of their mistake. I stated then, as I do . now, that I was
born in Sydney, New South Wales, and that my mother
(who died some three years since) was alio a native of that
colony, and that this is my first visit to This part of the
world. I was born on the 27th of April, 1810; in Phillips-
street, Sydney, New South Wales, and have been for the
last 20 years a resident in "Victoria. I distinctly informed
Mrs. Hall of the object of my visit to her; .which was to
assist her in'every way possible, on my rOttrrn in November
next tOMelbourne, to find her brother, Ad I informed her
of my knowing a person in that colony of the same name.
gave her my card, so that she might find my address
in London, and give me all the information in her
power with regard to her brother, in order to aid me in the
search, and bnt a few days since Mrs. Hall's mother wrote
to me again on the subject if I was her son, when I in-
structed my secretary to write her back that, I was not,
that I had assured her before I was not, and that she must
not write to me again. I can only account for this annoy-
ance from the fact of my having given the old lady's son a
sovereign on the day he called with his mother, to buy him
books, and giving the mother £2 towards the Sailors'
Orphan's Home, to which she begged a donation. Mrs.
Hall's claim t...) relationship is but one of four that has
reached me since my arrival, and, singular, all
the claimants are in needy circumstances. Mr. H.
will furnish you with any other information you may
desire.—Yours obediently,
" J. 'l'. SMITH, Mayor of Melbourne.
" To 11. S. Selfe, Esq., Thames Police-court."
With the letter of the Mayor the following document
with its enclosure came to hand