The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-30 00:00:00

TAE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 30, 1858.

sides of the river are complete, and four of the
six piers in the bed of the river are also in readi-
ness to receive their iron superstructure. Un-
like M. Labeylle, Messrs. Page and Harris have
prepared sure and solid foundations. Immense
piles, shod with iron, have been driven down deep
into the London clay, which forms the lower bed of
the river ; these again have been cased in solid iron,
and the inclosed space and interstices have been
filled with concrete, on which rest the immense
solid granite blocks which form the stone founda-
tions of the piers. The masonry is carried to a foot
and a half above the Trinity high-water mark, and
from thence will spring the graceful iron ellipses
which are to form the arches of the bridge. In
obedience to the condition of construction, which
requiredthat the old bridge should not be disturbed
until the new one was ready for traffic, a longitu-
dinal section, with a breadth of exactly one-half the
final literal dimensions of the bridge, is now com-
plete, both in piers and abutments. The iron arches
arc in course of construction up at Battersea, and it
is expected that in March next cabs, " busses,"
waggons, and bipeds, will be rolling and running
over the finished half of new Westminster-bridge.
To much credit cannot be given to the engineers
for this bold and original mode of construction, which
reduces to solid reality Swift's caricature of begin-
ning to build houses at the chimney-tops, while it
realises an immense saving in avoiding the expense
of a new site, and allows the enormous traffic of the
river to go on without the interruption of a single
day.

The near approach of the time when the bridge
will be partially thrown open to traffic will of course
heighten the curiosity of the public respecting its
details and the accommodation they may expect
from the completed structure. .We shall inform
them, then, that the new bridge, of a graceful Gothic
design, with seven elliptical arches, each flattened
at the crown so as to allow a clear view of Sir
Charles Barry's masterpiece, will start on the Surrey
side from Stangate, sweeping away in its course the
block of houses that stands on the western side of
Westminster-road between Stangate and the river.
Ascending by a gentle gradient of 1 in. 54 to the
centre, where its extreme altitude will be nearly
ten feet less than that of the old bridge, it will
cross the river with an extreme length of 1,206 feet
being just 108 feet less than the length of Waterloo-
bridge. On the Middlesex side it will sweep the
western side of Bridge-street, leaving Palace-yard
entirely open, and thus an urban picture will
be obtained of striking effect and palatial magni-
ficence. It will have a breadth of 84 feet 3 inches,
being as nearly as possible double that of the old
bridge, with a flagway of 10 feet on each side ; and
it is needless to point out what advantage this in-
creased space, combined with the comparatively low
elevation of the roadway, will confer on the western
traffic of the metropolis. Sightseekers may then
stand on the bride, and,-leaning over the tasteful
balustrade with its trefoil decorations, decide for
themselves whether Sir Charles Barry's work is
a failure, or the great architectural triumph of
the country. One thing they will be sure of,
and that is that that architect has taken good care
of the Speaker and the great officers of the
honourable house ; and they will probably be
surprised to find that for the former space has
been found for a garden of about a quarter of an
acre in a part of London where ground is worth at
least a thousand pounds a foot. But we shall have
to wait about two- years for the completed structure,
and in the meantime must avail ourselves with
thankfulness of the facilities for riverine transit
which the ingenuity of Mr. Page and the skill and
energy of Mr. Harris and his subordinates in the
work will have provided for us.
There is one more fact respecting this great
metropolitan structure which must not remain un-
recorded. The original estimate was £240,000,
and it is now confidently expected that that sum
will amply cover all expenses. 0, si sic omnia
News.

ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE ARMY

CLOTHING SYSTEM.

WEEBON, WEDNESDAY EVENING.

The Commissioners appointed to inquire into the
management of the three great military depots at
Weedon, Woolwich, and the Tower, assembled here
to-day again in the building known by the name
of the Pavilion, in close contiguity to the clothing
store, and resumed the investigation. Mr. Selfe
presiding as chairman. They devoted nearly three
hours in the early part of the morning in completing
the inspection of the internal economy of the depot
which they began on the preceding day, and in
which they were again accompanied by Captain
Gordon, the chief superintendent, and Mr. Drew,
their chief secretary. This occupied them until
about half-past 2 o'clock, and then they
.proceeded
to the examination of witnesses. The inspection
to-day was more especially directed to the state of
the boot and saddlery departments and to the mode
of inspection adopted there. The result was to
some extent brought out in the evidence taken at
a subsequent part of the day. There were a few of
the emploges of the establishment present at the
inquiry during the afternoon, and the rustic popu-
lation of the town of Weedon was adequately
represented.
Commissary-General Adams was called at the
request of the Ch AIRMAN, and stated that he and a
staff of eight assistants were and had been for some
time engaged in making up the arrears in the
ledger of Mr. Elliott from the Ist of April, 1857, to
the 14th of May, 1858, at the instance of the War-
office, a work of infinite labour as shown by the
following report which he read to the Commis-
sioners :

" On the 9th of June last eight commissariat officers who
were residing on half-pay in different parts of England,
Scotland,- Ireland, and the Channel Islands, were ordered
to repair to Weedon to assist in completing certain accounts.
" On the 10th of June I was informed that, it being con-
sidered of much public inportance that these accounts
should be completed as soon as possible, it was deemed de-
sirable that the labours of these officers should be superin-
tended by a superior officer of their- own department, and I
was directed by the Secretary of State for War to proceed
to Weedon for that purpose. On the 13th of June, having
visited Weedon, I suggested that the examination of the
accounts which had ben recently rendered to the War-
office up to the 31st of March, 1857, should be completed at
the earliest possible period, in order that the' state' or remains
in store on that date might be checked and verified. I also
submitted that regiments and corps should be applied to for
returns of all clothing, and other stores received from or
returned to the depot ; that I should be furnished with
statements to be prepared from, or that I might have refer-
ence to the cash accounts, to ascertain that all purchases
and sales had been duly acoounted for; and that it, might
be necessay to call for returns of all transactions with other
depots. I stated that the number of vouchers to be posted
was supposed to exceed 20,000. On the 2d of July, I was
requested to prepare draughts of a circular and of the re-
turns to be required from regiments or corps, which I sub-
mitted for approval on the fallowing day. This circular
was issued on the 10th of August, and many of the regi-
ments at home have, I understand, furnished the returns.
" The postings in the ledgers have been much interrupted
and retarded by vouchers having been delivered in and
withdrawn in great numbers almost daily for the settlement
of large arrears due to contractors and for other purposes,
and that regularity in their order has been disturbed which
it would have been very desirable to observe, with the view
of more readily checking or accounting for the large issues
of clothing to contractors for alteration • of cloth and mate-
rials delivered to contractors to be made into clothing ; of
consignments to the army packers, Messrs. Hayter and
Howell, at Mark-lane, to be repacked and forwarded to re-
giments ; of issues to and receipts from other depots ; and
of issues to the Admiralty, the East India Company, or
other services the value of which would be recoverable.

Notea have been kept in .posting the vouchers of such as
appear to be incomplete or objectionable—such as bear the
signatures of the viewers only, or are otherwise defective,
according to the-regulations of usual practice of the service.
"A check has also been kept of the registry numbers in
the contract account ledger, in order that when all the re-
ceipt vouchers have been handed over any that have not
been marked off and appear to be missing may, if possible,
be traced and brought to account. -

" There are seven ledgers in course of preparation for the
period from the Ist of April, 1857, to the 14th of May, 1858,
viz. :—Cloth and warm clothing for the army generally;
chacos, cloaks, coats, jackets, overalls, and clothing,
various ; boots and shoes, brushes, and forage caps ; buttons.
badges, and garniture ; necessaries, accoutrements, and
packages ; saddlery ; tunics and trousers, made up and in
material, 8,416 vouchers of receipts and 10,361 of issues
have been in some, or are in course of being posted in other
of these ledgers ; and there are 429 vouchers of receipts and
27 of issues, which have been from time to time delivered
over, but could not be entered in their proper order, and
will, with about 1,500 more, whichare retained by the mili-
tary store department for the purpose of settlement of large
arrears due to contractors, remain to be arranged and added
hereafter to the present or some supplementary ledger.
" It is proposed to send to the . War-office the several
ledgers, as far as they can be completed, with the postings
of the vouchers already in course of entry, in order that
their examination may be proceeded with, and that the
vouchers which could not be entered in their proper place
or order, with those retained for settlement with contractors,
should, when these are all handed over, be made additional
entries at the end of the present ledger, or be completed in
supplementary ledgers.
" When all the postings have been completed, and the
' state' or remains in stores on the 31st March, 1857, certi-
fied by the examiner, of the accounts already rendered, has
been furnished, an account can be prepared showing the
remains of the stores which should have been transferred
by Mr. Elliott, and a comparison can then be made with
the remains ascertained and brought to account by Captain
Gordon on or about the 14th of May, 1588.
" It must, however, be observed that even the account
thus prepared cannot be deemed a satisfactory public
account until it has been thoroughly ascertained, in the
course of its examination at the War-office, that all purchases,
sales, and all transactions with contractors, the army
packers at Mark-lane, and with other depots have been
duly and properly accounted for. It should also be borne
in mind that the present ledgers have been compiled from
a mass of documonts handed over, a large number of which
are defective and objectionable as vouchers, from time to
time, without any arrangement whatever, and there is no
guarantee that they represent all the transactions of the
depot.—Weedon, Sept. 29, 1858."
He added that he was conducting the work of ex-
' amination with as much expedition as possible.
There were at present 10;000 pairs of boots un-
accounted for in the ledger.
By Mr. Turner.—He could not 'sec that there'

had been any accounts kept at all at Weedon in
Mr. Elliott's :time (a laugh) ;, and any private
business conducted on such a system must certainly
result in bankruptcy.
The witness underwent some further examina-

tion at the hands of the Commissioners as to the
mode in which he was conducting the examination,
which gave rise to a remark by the Chairmain,
made incidentally, that the Commissioners would
not be be satisfied with the dictum of the War-
office as to the sufficiency or validity of Mr.
Elliott's vouchers.
Mr. Turner also remarked that he could have no
confidence whatever in the system of accounts kept
by Mr. Elliott until they were properly verified.
He added, playfully, that the witness seemed to be
engaged in a laborious task, and he wished him a
safe deliverance from it.

The Chairmain said it looked something like a
life appointment. (A laugh.)
Henry Crutchley, a viewer in the saddlery de-
partment, said, he remembered some skins coming
from Gibsons, contractors for saddlery, which were
rejecter for being defective in the dye. Sergeant
Brodie did not on that occasion show him where he
had put a private mark on those skins to indicate
bad places, as stated by Brodie before the Commis-
sioners. He did not remember any such circum-
stance. It was all an invention. None of Gibson's
skins had been rejected for any other reason than
defects in the dye. He recollected 94 of his skins
being condemned on one occasion on that ground.
By Mr. Turner—He had only seen Mr. Gibson
twice at Weedon during the two years he had been
in the saddlery department. Mr. Gibson had a
saddlery department at Weedon, but it had no con-
nection with the depot.
Captain Smith, the inspector of saddlery, said,
that Sergeant Brodie, whom he described as a dis-
contented man, served under him for some time as
foreman of saddlery at Weedon. He remembered
having a conversation with Brodie on one occasion,
when some lassos from Mr. Palliser, a contractor in
Pall-mall, came to the depot ; but that conversation
had been much misrepresented by Brodie ; and
What witness said on that occasion was provoked
by an observation of Brodie himself, enjoining him
to observe caution in any dealings he had with Mr.
Palliser. Witness said, when the lassos arrived they
had the incurable fault of being deficient in weight,
and, making that discovery, ha said to Brodie that
" they would never do, and that he (witness) must
see the man about thor:a.." 1,986 lassos which

Mr. Palliser had sent in, 995 were rejected by wit-
ness for a deficiency in weight, and for not being
conformable in that respect to the sealed pattern.
It was not a matter in which he (witness)
had any option. He could only go in his inspec-
tions by the sealed pattern furnished to him by the
War-office. He remembered that on one occasion
when 1,000 aped sheep skins came into the depot
from Mr. Gibson, the army saddler, Coventry-street,
he felt himself called on to reject 130 of them for
defects in the dye in certain places. The defects
were remedied by Mr. Gibson, and then the
rejected skins were passed by witness on a second
inspection. He denied the truth of the statement
of Sergeant Brodie that the rejectedskins came back
from Gibson's in the same condition as when they
were condemned, and that he (witness) passed them
in that condition. He remembered rejecting. 200
skins sent in by Messrs. Bevington and Morris for
defects in the d.ye. He admitted, as stated by Ser-
geant Brodie, that he had, at his request, counter-
manded an order he had previously given, for the
sale of certain saddlery. It was damaged saddlery
that had come from the Crimea, and as well on that
account as from a change in the pattern it could mt
have been made available for the service. But he
was induced, at the suggestion of Sergeant Brodie,
and, after consulting Mr. Elliott, to forego the
order for sending it for sale. It was, therefore,
allowed to remain in store and had never since been
issued, and he was still of the opinion that it could
not be made available for use in the army, and that
it would have been better to sell it at that time. He
denied in general terms, as stated by Brodie, that
any of the saddlery in store at Weedon had suffered
injury. from mismanagement, though he experienced
some inconvenience at one time for want of dubbing.
The number of saddles which he had condemned as
unserviceable and sent to be sold was 76; and he
also sent to be sold 72 other saddles which had be-
longed to the 4th Light' Dragoons, and had been
condemned by the authorities of that regiment and
sent to Weedon as unserviceable.
By Mr. Turner—He was at one time inspector,
storekeeper, and issuer all at once, in the saddlery
department.
'The Chairman—" Three single gentlemen rolled
into one." (A laugh.)
Witness said, in reply to the Chairman, that
Gibson's men on one occasion received some
old saddle-cloths out of the store at Weedon, bnt
that was to work up in repairing some articles
belonging to the Government.
By the Chairman—lie once dined with Mr. Gib-
son, or rather had something to eat with him—(a
laugh)—for it was after dinner—when witness was
at his house on the occasion of an illumination. lie
never received any campliment, or bribe, or dou-
ceur, or anything.- of that sort from Mr. Gibson, or
any of his people. He did not receive a present
from Mr. Cuffe, the saddler in Cockspur-street, a
contractor, and he would explain the circumstances.
He had known Mr. Coffee for 25 years, and had
been, until witness went to Weedon, in the habit
of both making presents to and receiving presents
from him. On Aug. 27, 1857, he received a hamper
containing three dozen of wine, which he knew had
come from Mr. Cuffe, though there was nothing in
the. shape of a note accompanying it to show that it
had.. That wine he (witness) felt it his duty to
pay for to Mr. Cuffe, considering their relative posi-
tions after witness had gone to Weedon had been
altered. But for that he might have felt himself
at liberty to accept Mr. Cuffc's kindness.
In reply to a question from the Chairman, Mr.
Dew, the Secretary to the Commission, said the
official letter discharging Seigeant Brodie from
Weedon was dated the 19th of September, 1857.
The Chairman said, there was a suspicious cir-
cumstance that just at the time there was a differ-
ence between the witness and Sergeant Brodie,
which resulted in Brodie's discharge, he (Brodie)
was suggesting to Mr. Cuffethe propriety of making
witness a present of wine.
At this stage of the inquiry (half-past five o'clock)
the Commissioners adjourned until this day
(Thursday) at half-past H.

RE-OPEXING OF ST. JAMES'S CHURCH,

CURTAIN-ROAD.

This church, which was much injured in June
last by the large fire which originated next door to
the edifice, was re-opened on Sunday last. Two
very large congregations assembled on the occasion.
The church looked really beautiful ; the walls and
roof have been restored and coloured in a chaste,
light, and becoming manner ; the pews and wood-
work of the church have been painted over three
times, and finally grained and varnished in resem-
blance of oak wood. The pulpit and reading-desk
are furnished with velvet drapery all round, large,
deep; and of the most handsome and ample material,
and present a grand and imposing appearance. The
communion table, of carved oak, remarkable for its
value and beauty, which was presented by the
younger members of the church ten years ago, has
been restored, and over the commandments an ele-
gant emblazonment of the words "God forbid that
I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ," has been effected at the expense-of Mr. J.
Alabaster, a 'former member of the church. The
organ, built by Eagles, of the Hackney-road, a large
and powerfulinstrument, has been completely re-
stored.

For some time past the parishioners have been
subscribing iliberally to a fund raised for the pur-
pose of presenting a testimonial to the respected
minister of 'the parist, tire -Rev:- James W. Mark-
well, M.A. Mr. Markwell received a splendid
silver tea and coffee service, and a purse, and other.
testimonials when he left the euracies of St.
Cletheift-Danes and Marylebone; and .he therefore
generously insisted that this Mark of the esteem in
which he is held by his present parishioners should
not be given to him, but to the church ; accord-
ingly, a stained glass window for the altar window
is in course of preparation by that eminent artist,
Mr. N. W. Lavers, of Southampton-street, Strand ;
it will be very beautiful ' and rich, wilt cost 50
guineas, and Mr. Laiers, with was a member of Mr.
Markwell's congregation at the West-end, out of
respect for that worthy clergyman, will give a
figure of the Apostle St. James for the centre,value
10 guineas. The window will be erected in a few
weeks.

The preachers on this interesting occasion were,
the Rev. I'. Jackson, M.A., rector of Stoke Newing-
ton, and prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral, and
the Rev. H. Stenbirig, D.D., F.R.S., rector of St.
Mary Somerset, in the city. The able, eloquent,
searching, plain, and simple appeals of these emi-
nent preachers were rewarded by the deepest atten-
tion, and followed by a practical result unexampled
in the history of collections in this locality. When
the collectors reckoned up the contents of the plates,
the amount was £B4 14s.

Several large suns were given, but it reflects the
highest credit on the friends of humbler means
when it can be stated that the plates contained
more than £5O in small moneys. The greatest
to the active churchwardens, Mr.
praise
Aisrchiesr, dueof Worship-street, and Dr. Hancorn,
M.D., of High-street, Shoreditch, surgeon to the
Eastern Counties Railway Company. A debt of
£240 now remains. It is to be hoped that the
parishioners (many of whom have not yet given),
will come forward and help this worthy cause, so

that we may soon have to announce the pleasing
and creditable fact that the debt is cleared off.

The church, with its many services, its large
schools, in which 11,000 poor children have been
educated since they were erected in 1851, has the
strongest possible claims on the parishioners.
The Rev. J. W. Markwell is a most zealous and
active clergyman, a faithful and tahnted Gospel
preacher, and has done so much good in the parish
during the eight years of his ministry there in
erecting schools, repairing and improving the
church, promoting Bible classes, and numerous in-
stitutions for the benefit of the parishioners, and is
so liberal, amiable, and self-denying, that he well
deserves the love and high estimation in which he
is held by all his parishioners.
We may observe that the restoration of the
church, which has given universal satisfaction,was
effected by Mr. J. M. Brown, of Paul-street.
It is expected that the Bishop of London, and
other bishops and dignitaries of the church, will
preach at St. James s on the occasions of future
ol lections for the liquidation of the debt.