The Sun.
London, England, 1866-05-03 00:00:00

PRICY 4d.
STAMPED sd.

Railway Benevolent Institution.

The anniversary festival in aid of the fun L of
this institution was celebrated last evening at the
Freemasons"favern, Great Queen-street, Lin-
coln's-inn-fields.children,and Mr. Milner Gibson, M.P., took
the chair, supported by a large number of
gentlemen connected with the railway interest, and
others whose names are known to be associatedwith
objects of benevolence. The institution was esta-
blished to provide for the necessitiies of the members,
orphans,
and o
ce
man, in
rs and servants of the United Kingdom. The
Chaff
Proposing the toast of "The Army,
Navy,
~asiadiodwts o f h
cservices
aiNlv‘evraeymouffich-
e Volunteers," s,
indebted for their efficiency to the railway system
throughout the country. He remembered it having
been stated at a railway• •
inquiry that whereas it
once took nine days and many marches to bring a
regiment from Manchester to London it could now
be accomplished in a few hours. In reference to the
navy railways had proved a most valuable boon, in-
asmuch as through their agency
ships could be much
more quickly served with stores and
ammunition
;
and it might be truly said that the
volunteers were
greatly benefited by the facilities they derived from
the operations of the railway system. The toast
was responded to by Lord Harris. The Chairman,
in proposing the toast of the evening, " Prosperity
to the Railway Benevolent Institution," observed
that Mr. Tidd Pratt in the course of his official
duties told him—amd there could be no higher au-
thority—that this railway institution was one of an
excellent character, and although he had not certi-
fied it, as it did not come under the legal definition
of a friendly society, he was an earnest supporter of
it, and he believed it was calculated to confer great
benefit upon the classes for whom it was estab-
lished. Upwards of 160,000 persons composed the
general body of the working men on the railways
of this country. The public bad a deep interest in
the well-being and contentment of those who bad
the practical management of the railway traffic of
the country, and in their being a faithful,
vigilant, and well-conducted class of men,
because upon them depended not only the safety of
the lives of a great portion of the people of this
country, but also the management and regular car-
rying on of the commercial traffic of the kingdom.
Since the year 1834 the railway companies had been
compelled to pay £135,000 in the shape of compen-
sation for injuries done to travellers, and it was
difficult to say who could have a greater interest in
carrying on the passenger traffic than the directors
and managers themselves. He was, therefore, not
prepared to advocate any measure for transferring
the powers of those directors to any other authority.
It was a fact which testified to the zeal aud vigi-
lance of the railway servants, that out of 220,000,000
of single passengers in the year 1864 there were only
15 deaths of passengers, while there were 103 rail-
way servants killed while in the performance of their
duties and between 70 and 80 injured. It was
therefore most important that such a class should be
provided for, and the railway companies themselves
ought to take a prominent part in supporting the
Railway Benevolent Institution. The secretary an-
nounced that the subscriptions amounted to up-
wards of £B7O.

The International Horticultural Exhibition.

- -

In three weeks' time a pretty and busy scene will
be again enacting on the ground that in 1862 was
teeming with the life and clatter of the second great
exhibition of industrial products ; a small portion of
that soil which has since been so long lying idle and
unfruitful will become, for a little while, green with
verdure and bright with beautiful flowers, brilliant
with a fashionable crowd. In the midst of a barren
desert of building refuse this garden of a few spring
days' duration is now being brought into its ephe-
meral existence, and then, like all the card show-
houses of modern displays, is doomed to vanish like
a vision and leave not a trace behind.
On a strip of that classic ground where the world's
workers four years since brought their wares will
horticulturists on the 22d of this month bring their
flowers and fruits, their rare trees, plants, and shrubs,
and commoner but more useful vegetables. For four
spring days only this oasis in the desert of South
Kensington will last under its huge canvas tent, or
rather booth, of seven long parallel galleries, orbays,
each from 30 to 45 feet wide and 25 to 30 feet in
height, covering a space of 562 feet in length by 393
feet in breadth, or about 163,000 feet superficial—
an area in English land measure of 31 acres, and re-
quiring 38,000 yards of canvas three-quarters of a
yard wide to roof it. Of this space 65,000 ft. super-
ficial will be appropriated for the general arrange-
ment of plants, and 10,000 for orchids and other
tender plants ; this part will be heated with hot
water by Ormson's multitubular boiler, connected
with 1500 ft. of piping. For single specimens and
specialities, such as tree-ferns, palms, &c., 24,000 ft:
will be set apart ; 14,000 ft. will be devoted to the
refreshment-rooms and offices, leaving 50,000 ft. clear
for promenades, a sufficient amount to accommodate
15,000 persons at a time, a numberthat is not likely
to be exceeded, as the Horticultural Society's gar-
dens will be opened to the visitors, and into them
there will be a direct communication from the inter-
national show. As three fine bands are engaged to
play there throughout the afternoons the attraction
of their music will naturally tend to keep up a cir-
culation of the visitors through the exhibition. In
the Western Arcade of the Horticultural Gardens,
a display will be made of implements, fencings, mo-
dels of hot-houses, green-houses, and other appara-
tus connected with the practice of the gardening art,
and this will also tend to relieve the great tent of
anything like a stationary crowd, so that altogether
comfort and convenience seem amply provided for.
The framework is constructed of wood entirely, and
the erection will have no pretensions to architec-
tural display. It consists of mere upright pillars
with struts and ties supporting and bracing to..
gether the rafters of the roofing, and is therefore
of the simplest nature ; but we shall be disap-
pointed if it does not prove very effective for
the protection of the flowers and the convenient
ventilation of the arena. Nor will it be, though
simple, unsightly ; the plan adopted of colouring the
framework of a bluish neutral tint will take away
the rafter-like look of the roof, and as the light
comes subdued through the canvas there will be a
tendency in these long bays to assume a general grey
atmospheric-like background that will permit the
banks and parterres of flowers and trees to show
themselves off to the best advantage. The design
was furnished by Mr. Unite, the contractor, and de-
serves credit for its unostentatiousness. The interior
is being laid out in banks and mounds of grass-
covered earth, variously disposed around a central
amphitheatre, like what we are accustomed to see
at the Botanic Society
an incomparably larger scale. These mounds and
have the banks, and artificial irregularities,
in Regent's-park, only ond
each other, and localising with .
ad-
vantage of shutting off the particouulatrisdoislaptlazgs from
h
fgrreolunpaorfaoiele)jd'ecptlsa,
platform
mile
otfherovekittoorrkonareonutnedrinagwill,
foun-
tain and cascade flowing into a broad pool, be able
to gaze over the whole field of the exhibition, and
obtain a splendid realisation of the tout ensemble of
the display and its accompanying scenes. This plan
for the show emanates from Mr. Gibson, whose
labours at the Battersea and Victoria-Parks are
familiar to all. During the exhibition special trains
will be provided by the committee to take their dis-
tinguished foreign guests to Kew, Cleveden, and
other interesting places. The inaugural banquet is
arranged to trice place at tile Guildhall ; but we
c aha nv ne opt rho
ve lepd t i
mon
rkei n
ego thetnhvaetni.
entgr,
pearotfitetnahtliets, ealfowdoaupld-
propriate. The expenses will be considerable, the
structure will certainly not cost less than £3,000,
and the artificial arrangements within it will pro-
bably take at least half as much more, to which