The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-31 00:00:00

THE SERPENTINE.

Mr. George Rennie, in :letter to a conteniPnraq;
says Serpentine"
e trth—i
an:3,youro
u Untilr
columnstmheu publication bantl.
fii cetauitlieo
correspondents
efisnpAseltnr. .di
tCoalhptaspdiirco:l;oo:
m
Nlvt
a,
y i tit uti question
ef havet e omittedtry; to give a; age
attention to the interests of one of the most pra7,,-;
mon i't
oyal Humane Society, whose exertions to prev.en
theall
l numerous and lamentable accidents occurring
the year round in that fatal lake almost evr/
person must have noticed and appreciated. I 1111 r
not the means at present of referring to the tabuiti
statementot.
the
n Humane
mwahni wascehsnci e furnished Society
when
Im theta%Zi efcorreot fr.ra
ofthe subject in the House of Commons 17 years sloe ;
the number of deaths by drowning in the
wateof
of St. James's-park and the Serpentine for each _
the 10 years previous to 1842, amounting, I belieff..f
to about 12 to 15 per annum. Any person, brbo
ever, may find it in " Hansard's Debates." re
best of my recollection the expenses incurred
ld W
.la
between £2,000 and £3,000 for the cost of buiinf
the house on the banks of the Serpentine, with af
annual expenditure of £1,500 to £2,000 peranunifi
At the same time I was assured by the society that
they would be most happy to be enabled to tranat
their services to situationswhere noremedial well?"
could be taken to insure safety to life, were o
to
r
simple plan which I proposed carried out—vis.,
deposit at the bottom of the lake a sufficient quini!
extent
tity of gravel, which may be had to any
close to their own receiving-house, so as to redue!
the depth to four or five feet. It is well known
that
a very large portion of the area of the lake is not
deep at
unnecessaryprese removalnt,andlfeeolf
the
esunirendd
athndat,tohme iittitymegr
of concrete, the cost of obtaining. full security get
the
bathers and skaters, with the relief to the Human
Society's funds, could be obtained for a comparatiel"..
fractional part of the sum now held out to terrify rile
liamentary economists from relieving themselhesvi!!
a charge of what can only be looked upon as s
ing a total disregard of human life. My princia
object in now addressing you is in the hope that
this appeal may reach some member of the
Itei.
Humane Society, and that a statement of the
n 0
e 0
her of deaths which have taken place, 8:, 111,,,,
1842 may be laid before the public, as well as,
charges incurred in preventing those losses, hick
may be so readily obviated. Messrs. Easton and
may
have shown how easily the only other
be
quirement—viz., supplying clean water—can, of
secured, and, as far as I have observed, the C05",i..
covering the mud with gravel has not been ets
mated, they, having the sections of the der,,i;
could form an approximate valuation with )It'op
trouble. I trust that the Government will n°t
half-way in carrying out an improvement so lon6,s_
called for, and which in the case of St. Jame
park has been so fully appreciated.

.GLAPH TO THE ISLE OF MAN.—Our
wilrilibE2LaFw;re that a company was some nymths aOref°artilieridgc
in the Isle of Man for the purpose of securing' telegraP, to
communication with England, and the capital need in
.tho enterprise was, we believe, mainly subscribed in is
island. The cable was successfully laid on In
last'
was constructed by Messrs. Glass, Elliott, and C., e ..
ineaFtimd 35 miles in length* but it era; only found neciosg.
wary to pay out 331 miles. The steamer Resolute, h"v ,s
the cable on board, and accompanied by the steamer g0n.:,,,
Queen, which carried a large party of excursionists, 1.
Point of Ayr, at the ext..emenerth of the island, betwe":
11 and 12 o'clock, and reached St. Bees-head, on the T0!5,..,
of Cumberland, at half-past 5 p.m. After being landed it'd':
gooF.
wire was tested, and the insulation found to be very
The paying-out of the cable was superintended by Ali'.
Webb, and the operations at St. Bees were under the dire-
tion of Mr. G. G. Newnign, engineer of the Electric Tele;
graph Company at Manchester. The lines of the Isle_ti.)l
Man Telegraph Comr any are placed in connection Novng:
those of the Electric and International Telegraph C
..
p iny, and consequently are in communication with Els
1 Ind, Scotland, and the Continent. There are two with
on the island—namely, at Ramsey and Douglas.