The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-24 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAY).
The house met to forward some private bills a stage.
Lord REDESDALE, in the absence of the Lord Chancellor,
took his seat upon the woolsack at half-past 4 o'clock.
The following bills were read a second time:—Great
North of Scotland Railway, Great. Western Railway,
Kingston-upon-Thames Gas, South Wales, Pembroke,
and Tenby Junction Railway, Tweed Fisheries, Lucette's
Estate, and Earl of Kintore's Estate.
The house adjourned shortly after 5 o'clock till half-past
4 o'clock to-morrow (this day).

LONDON AND SOUTII-TVESTE.RN

RAIL W A Y.

A special general adjourned meeting of the proprietors of
the London and South-Western Railway was held yester-
day at the Waterloo station, Ross Mangles,
.Esq., M.P., in
the chair.
The SECRETARY having read the advertisement conven-
ing the meeting,
The CHAIRMAN said the political struggle that had
been going on in Parliament had been unfavourable
to many interests, among them railways, and they had at
present three bills waiting to be proceeded with. The
business, therefore, of the day would be' to con-
sider the Portsmouth Amalgamation Railway Bill. The
reply that had been circulated amongst the share-
holders, bearing his (Mr. Mangles') name relative to the
subject would render it unnecessary for him to enter into
the subject at any great length; but this he would say that
the board counsel the proprietors most strongly to vote in
approval of the bill. (Hear.) The chairman then alluded
to the position of affairs between the South-Western and
Brighton Railway Companies, and called upon the secretary
to read the correspondence that had taken place between
the boards.
The SECRETARY then read a long letter from the South-
Western directors to the Brighton, offering to refer the dif-
ferences between the two companies to arbitration, or to
enter into an arrangement to charge equal rates where the
two lines competed. (Hear, hear.)
The CHAIRMAN said the answer to that was a refusal,
and so the matter remained. The shareholders would no
doubt expect to hear a few words from him with respect to
the decision of the Lord Chancellor given a short time ago.
The decision had taken the beard of the South Western
by surprise, as well as the Brighton. We expected a deci-
sion in our favour, and the Brighton expected a decision in
their favour, or entirely against them. The legal advisers
of the South Western were of opinion that the decision was
bad in law--(laughter)—and the company had entered
an appeal against it. -(Hear, hear.) As the decision "tit
present stood, it did not entirely exclude them from the
station, but only until the directors got the bill he was
that day urging them to approve of and push forward. It
would be satisfactory for the shareholders to know that the
quarrel had not inflicted that mischief that had been anti-
cipated. The board of the South-Western had always been
for peace and harmony, and to obtain that they had made
many concessions. They had given up much, bit by bit,
but now the directors were determined to make a stand.
The hon. gentleman resumed his seat by advising the share-
holders to approve of the bill.
The bill for the amalgamation of the Portsmouth Rail
way with the South-Western having been read,
Mr. TITE said he understood that the present was
called a " Wharncliffe " meeting, to see whether the com-
pany would proceed further with this bill. (Hear,
hear.) With respect to what had been said about arbitra-
tion, the only arbitration he was favourable to was one to
see how best the two companies, the South-Western and
Brighton, could be made one. With respect to the Ports-
mouth line, he thought it was a bad one, and ought never
to have been made, but in the event of the Chairman!s, pro-
position being agreed to he thought the shareholders ought
to have some guarantee that the bargain with the 'Ports-
mouth line should be carried out at the price it at)pre-
sent stood, in order that tiresome discussions- should effec-
tually be put an end to. (Hear.)
A SHAREHOLDER was of opinion" that the directors had
not acted in a fair and open manner to the shareholders,
and said he should move a vote of censure on them.
(Laughter, and cries of "no, no.")
The CHAIRMAN said the hon. shareholder was out of
order, but he could hand in his resolution, and give notice
that he would move it at the next general meeting.
[The shareholder then handed in his resolution.] He
begged now to move that the meeting approve of the bill
now before Parliament for the amalgamation of the Ports-
mouth Railway with the South-Western Railway.
Count EYRE seconded the proposition.
After a few observations from Mr. HERAPATH,
Mr. PUNCHER objected strongly to the proposed leasing
of the Portsmouth Railway, and said he should vote against
it if he stood alone.
After a discussion in which Mr. Herapath, Sergeant
Gazelee, and several gentlefnen took part.
The CHAIRMAN said he hoped Mr. Tito would leave the
subject ho mooted, with respect to the agreement with the
Portsmouth line, to the directors.
Mr. TITE said if the board only intended to give £lB,OOO
a year to the Portsmouth Railway, and they stood firm,
£lB,OOO would be all they would have to give.
The CHAIRMAN put the resolution for amalgamation to
the meeting, and declared it carried.
The meeting was then adjourned until the 14th of July,
for the purpose of considering the other bills at present be-
fore Parliament

A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated tha pro.
ceedings.

SCREW PROPELLERS.

In his recent work on " Naval Warfare with
Steam," Sir Howard Douglas, in the clearest and
most forcible manner, urged the adoption of
what he conceived would be a great improvement
in the form of the screw propeller. This improve-
ment consisted in removing the leading corners of
the blades, and breaking the leading edge of each
blade into its circumference by an easy curve. The
first object sought by Sir Howard in making this
change was that of reducing the " shake" or vibra-
tion of the screw, and the consequent injury to the
stern of the ship. These are produced, he argued,
by the sudden and violent reactions of the dis-
turbed water against the blades as they enter and
emerge from the space between the two sternposts,
the rectilinear edges of the ordinary screws being
in this respect highly disadvantageous, since
the whole of an edge enters and leaves at
once the water on each side of the aperture. " But
if the leading edges of a screw-blade were curved
they would slide obliquely and continuously
through the water, like a screw formed with an en-
tire feather, so that at no moment would there be
any shock or discontinuity of action." Further ad-
vantages which Sir Howard considered the carved
edges would possess were, that they would readily
throw off any floating materials that might come
in contact with them—that they would not be so
liable to be broken by their oblique collision with
large spars as straight edges are by their direct
blow--that their rounded extremities: would be less
liable to be hitched by ropes than the angular ex-
tremities of the common screw—and, finally, that
if the curved parts could be furnished with incor-
rodible sharp knife-edges they would divide and
disentangle the screw from any rope, spar, or other
floating matter with which it might become
fouled. " The author would not," said Sir
Howard, "at the sacrifice of speed revert to a
continuous feather-screw, but the form here
recommended to a considerable extent gains
the proposed ends." Now, in justice to an able
and veteran officer—an officer who by his incom-
parable writings on naval and military science has
commanded the profound admiration and respect of
both services—we revive these passages of his latest
work, and couple with them a reference to those re-
markable experiments the results of which were
recorded in our last week's impression. These ex-
periments show—if the report which is before us
may be trusted—that the improvement recom-
mended by Sir Howard does actually accomplish
his first and principal object by reducing the vibra-
tion or shake of the screw, as he predicted. They
also show that it has the further important effect
of improving both the speed and the steerage of the
ship. The reporter tells us that " the first trial
with the Admiralty screw was with a diameter of
18 feet, her speed being 11.823 knots. On the se-
cond trial, with the ,diameter increased to 20 feet,
the speed realized was 11.826 knot, with a great
increase of vibration- On the third trial the lead-
ing corner of each blade was cut off, and in this
form the common screw attained its greatest
speed, giving a result of 12.032 knots. On the fourth
trial both the,corners of each blade were cut off,
when, with a greater number of revolutions, less
speed was made, being 12.012 knots. Its last trial,
with the following' corner of each blade cut off, but
the screw restored to its perfect form in every other
respect, gave a result of 11.815 knots." The re-
porter also says, " The leading edge of the screw is
the part that mostly affects the steerage of the ship,
We andv dailrseoctcoauttseensttion t
the
othese facts
greater part of the vibration."
solely
desire to aid in reflecting upon the g
" Naval Warfare with Steam" the credit that is justly
all gallant a fromauthor
ofe
his due, This may seem to some a romantic thing
to give ourselves any trouble about; but, romantic
or not, it affords us much pleasure, for we confess to
feeling a peculiar interest in the reputation of a man
like Sir H. Douglas. Those of us who have to wade
through the many volumes which mere pirates and
charlatans compile and publish acquire a reverence,
ay an affection, faornwotrhk:4 ofke "Naval
NiaHwvaolard,sn
Gunnery," ‘‘
which
Mi-
litary Bridges,"d o
care, patience, industry,intelligence, masterly skill,
and many other virtues and endowments are
stamped upon every page. There is something al-
most sacred to us in these fruits of human power
and excellence, and still more so in the men by whom
such fruits are produced.—Mechanics' Magazine.

THE FRASER RIVER.—The annexed note (says
the Times) relates to the statement by the jest AmeriCan
mail that the accounts from the Fraser River gold mines
were discouraging. Looking at the ample adviees received
not long previously, which clearly established the general
and superior character of the deposits, it is wholly Impro-
bable that any unsatisfactory turn can havp occurred in the
lapse of a week or two :—"3, Raymond's-huiklings, June 22.
—Sir,—With reference to a paragraph on British Columbia
in the Times of this morning, copied from the Californian
papers, I would observe that all information derived *Gm
those journals should be read with the utmost caution, as
the Californians have proverbially displayed a feeling an-
tagonistic to the new colony. To dispel this misconception
on the part of your readers I need but refer them to the
letters of the Times' correspondent written on the spot, and
which altogether confirm the advices I continue to receive
of the "encouraging prospects of ,the gold. mining generally,
establishing beyond a doubt the future greatness of this
iroko_rtant colony..—l am, Sir, your obedient servant.—
E, BLEXDZESON,"