The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-04 00:00:00

SOUTHERN EMBANKMENT.

The works of the Southern Thames Embankment,
which is now open for foot passengers between
Westminster and Lambeth Bridges, were com-
menced in July, 1866, at which time the first stone
was laid, so that in less than two years a large and
important section of this great work has been suc-
cessfully completed.
The entire length would in all probability have
been completed bad it not been for the difficulty of
obtaining possession of the several properties which
it was necessary to acquire. It will no doubt be a
matter of remark how much more rapid has been
the progress of this than that of the twin work on
the Middlesex side of the river, which was com-
menced at a much earlier date ; but it must not be
lost sight of that the starting of a large
work of this kind is beset with many difficulties
and saddled with many tentative experiments of
which later works obtain the benefit. Besi:les which
the Middlesex Embankment is in many respects a
more difficult and complicated work, owing partly
to the greater depth of water in which it has had
to be constructed ; partly to its comlination with
the low level intercepting sewer and subway above ;
partly to the many special works connected there-
with, such as the several steamboat and other land..
ing places and sewer outlets, and not less to the
co-temporary or intended execution of railway worlis
upon its site.
The works upon the south side, with which we
' are now more especially concerned, comprise a
length of 2,200 feet of river wall between West-
minster and Lambeth Bridges, and a further length
of 2,100 feet from Lambeth-bridge to the site of
the London Gas Works, with very few exceptions
the wall is of uniform character throughout its
length, and is similar in elevation to that on the
Middlesex side, having a highly-dressed granite
facing with plain curved battered surface up to high
water mark, and above that a moulded parapet and
plinth, the mouldings being stopped at frequent
intervals against plain pedestals of granite, which
will be furnished with ornamental bronze mooring
attitoiantdoufn:teliiide
rings, similar to,those already fixed on the
for Middl-
esex
irii
cdkgdawl
es:elrixkg hsftais(ci.
side
biistebian,
gagl
rl
fadouri
sex Embankment, and- surmounted with standards
d
iffttneee:sd
aof
variation
concreteirni
with granite, that on the Middlesex side being of
some measure to the circumstance of
the subway
and low level sewer being constructed in the latter
case, so as to form a portion of the structure of the
wall.

There arc no recesses for steamboat landing places
constructed in connection with the southern em-
bankment, a circumstance due to the shallow fore-
shore on that side, but the approach to the Lambeth
steamboat pier will be improved and rendered some-
what more ornamental than at present.
The only variation of importance in this long
length of embankment wall is at Westminster-bridge,
where a lauding-place for smaller boats has been
constructed. At this point there is also a descent
by a wide flight of steps from Westminster-bridge
to the promenade footway formed alongside the
embankment wall, and now opened to the public.
This approach from the bridge is made to correspond
generally in character with that on the Middlesex
side.

The only other variations in the elevation of the
wall will occur above Lambeth-bridge, at the pot-
tery works of Messrs. Doulton and of Mr. Stiff,
where entrances are to be formed to docks situate,
or to be constructed on the land side of the intended
embankment road. These entrances will pass under
the roadway without interfering with its 'level, and
will be made in as sightly a manner as such struc-
tures permit. Similar openings will be formed fur-
ther up the river to give access to the river for carts
and waggons to accommodate the traffic now using
the White Hart Draw Dock.

The foundations of the wall are carried down to
a level of 30 feet below Trinity High Water, and it
is intended to excavate the foreshore to the extent
of 18 feet below the same datum. The entire
length of work between Westminster and Lambeth-
bridges, and for a considerable length beyond, has
been executed by means of a double whole tide
timber coffer dam of the ordinary type, but at
about 800 feet above Lambeth-bridge the wall is
being constructed in a trench excavated out of the
solid ground, for at this part the walls run inland,
and the ground on the river side thereof will, after
the completion of the wall, be excavated and re-
moved, the space being thrown into the river so as
to increase the stream, which is here very narrow,
to a more uniform width to the upper part of the
Thames, and admit the tidal water to flow more
freely. The area of land thus to be converted into
water is about two acres, and the area of land re-
claimed from the river below this spot about six
acres. When the embankment is completed, the
width of the river will vary from 800 feet at West-
minster-bridge to 700 at the Penitentiary.
The promenade now open for foot passengers,
and which is 20 feet wide, will eventually be con-
tinued of a somewhat variable width along the en-
tire length of the embankment, and, indeed, be-
yond it as far as High-street, for, to make
the improvement as complete as possible,
the roadway of Vauxhall-row will be widened
up to its junction with the new Thames
Embankment Roadway. This road will ex-
tend from Gun-house Alley to Westmins-
ter-bridge, and will, in connection with the exten-
sion referred to, form an approach GO feet in width
between Westminster and Vauxhall-bridges, in con-
tinuation of Stamford-street at the East and of the
several roads meeting at Vauxhall-bridge at the
Western extremity.

The roadway will be formed along the river side
for a length of about GOO yards, but will diverge
from it to connect at the one end with Vauxhall-
row and at the oiler with Palace New-road. The
footway promenade will, however, be continued
along the river side for nearly the entire length of
the embankment. Upon the reclaimed land situate
between Westminster and. Lambeth-bridges,
bounded on the river side by the promenade foot-
way, and on the land side by the intended new
road, are being erected the new buildings for St.
Thomas's Hospital, which will add materially to the
architectural embellishment of the embankment.
A similar back ground is much needed to give full
effect to that embankment on the Middlesex shore.

....... 4d.
STAMP) D 5l.

EXTRAORDINARY A TTEM P 7 70 MURDER
IN THE CITY.

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On Friday evening an atrocious attempt was
made by two boys to murder a woman named Mrs.
Nuun, the housekeeper at No. 2, Catherine-court,
Tower-hill, City. It appears that the house is let
out as offices, the basement being occupied by
Messrs. Sweet and Co., wine and spirit merchants ;
the ground floor by Messrs. Gregory and Co., corn
factors ; the first floor by Mr. Beerbohm, corn
merchant ; the second floor by Messrs. Bicharach
Brothers and Co., wine merchants; and three
rooms on the top by the unfortunate woman,
gr.. Nunn, and her daughter and Eon-in-
law, named Ellis. On Friday the daughter was
out all day, and at six o'clock in the
evening the son-in-law went to Clapham on a visit,
leaving Mrs. Nunn, who is 65 years of age, in the
house alone. Returning at about a quarter to nine
he rung the bell, but receiving no answer he walked
about the neighbourhood for nearly three-quartets
of an hour. lle then went back to the house and
found his mother-in-law sitting on the doorstep
covered with blood, and in an unconscious state.
The unfortunate woman was promptly removed to
Guy's hospital, and was found to have been dread-
fully injured, her head and face having been beaten
in with a blunt instrument. One of her arms was
also swelled to an enormous extent, and there were
bruises all over her body.
An examination of the premises by the police
showed the attack on the old woman to have been
of a very violent character, there being a pool of
blood on the landing of the first-floor, and appear-
ances indicated that the struggle had continued for
some time. The police also discovered lying about
a wooden mallet, with which the wounds had been
inflicted, a pistol, a boy's cap, and a pocket-knife.
A sum of £2 Os. 6d. was missing from a small bag
which was lying on a box in the housekeeper's room ;
and the box, which contained some silver plate, had
been forced open, but nothing was taken from it.
As the traces of blood were simply from the first.
landing down to the front door, the supposition is
that the money had been stolen while Mrs. Nunn
was engaged in cleaning some of the offices, and
that the attack was made while the boys were com-
ing down stairs. They must also have concealed
themselves in the cellar before the premises were
shut up, as it was there that the mallet was usually
kept, besides other indicAtions of their presence.

Suspicion was at first directed to ayoung man
who had been in the employ of Mr. Beerbohm us
clerk, and who was supposed to have been gUilty of
committing a robbery of about £5O in bank notes
from a desk in his employer's office. Inquiries were
accordingly made on Friday night, but the replies
received from the young man were so satisfactory
that there could be no doubt of his innocence of the
crime which had been committed. In the course of
the night Mrs. Nunn partly recovered conscious-
ness, and she was able to say something to the
effect that two boys bad done it, and this statement
was partly borne out by the fact that two boys,
distant relatives of Mrs. Nunn, were seen in the
court by a little boy, the son of a Mr. Hammond,
who resides in a house opposite to No. 2. These
boys, whose names are Arthur Forrester Smith,
fifteen years old, and Hector Augustus Smith,
thirteen years old, absconded from their parents'
home on the evening of Good Friday, taking
with them £4 belonging to their father, and
on the evening of Friday last the boy Hammond
saw them go down the basement stairs of No. 2,
Catherine-court. The cap found on the premises
was afterwards identified as one which had been
bought on the 21st of April from Mr. Davis, hatter,
King's-ma:l, Chelsea, who states that on that day
three boys drove to his shop in a cab ; that one of
them purchased the zap for 2:;. 6-1., ati.l that they
afterwards told th, elbluan to drive to llampstea,d-
-heath.

On Saturday forenoon Mr. Gore, the assistant
clerk to the Lord Mayor, went to U iy's Hospital
to take the depositions of the dying woman, but he
could not get any satisfactory st tterneut, as she
was scarcely able to articulate. In the meantime
Superintendent Poster, Inspector Bailey, of the
detective department, Inspector Tilleock, and De-
tective Sergeant Moss were actively engaged in
endeavouring to capture the boys, and bills
were sent to all the police-stations and to the
seaport towns, containing their description, and
offering a reward of £2O for their apprehension.
Negatives of a carte de visite of the elder boy,
taken about a year ago, were also distributed, and
officers belonging to the City police were yesterday
sent all over London to places where there was any
probability of their being seen or heard of, includ-
ing the parks and places of recreation. These exer-
tions were not fruitless, as the boys were appre-
hended about one o'clock yesterday by detective
sergents Moss and Ilaydon in a coffeehouse in the
Strand. In reply to the officers, the boys said their
name was Smith. They were then charged with
having committed the murderous assault on Mrs.
Nunn, and they acknowledged that they did it, and
said they were tempted, but did not know what
tempted them. They also stated that they were in
her bedroom, and that she found them there and
began to scream. Had she not done that, they said,
they would not have thought of striking her. They
likewise admitted that they had been there bef ore,
and taken the bank notes of which Mr. Beerbohm
had been robbed. They had evidently washed the
blood off their clothes, although some stains still
remained, and they told the officers that no one was
with them when they committed the assault. They
had in their possession a pistol, a quantity of per-
cussion caps, two powder flasks, two pairs of box-
ing gloves, some foils, and a small amount of
money. It appears that they have been staying in
the coffeehouse since they absconded from home,
and that it was a son of the coffeehouse keeper who
accompanied them when they purchased the cap at
Mr. Davis's.

At half-past two o'clock yesterday, Mrs. Nunn
having recovered consciousness, the Lord Mayor
and Mr. Oke, the chief clerk at the Mansion-house,
attended at the hospital to take her deposition.
Shortly after their arrival the Lord Mayor was in-
formed that the boys had been arrested, and in ac-
cordance with his directions they were taken to the
bedside of the dying woman by Superintendent
Foster and identified by her as her assailants.
Ic may be mentioned that on the 13th of July
last year the prisoners were found concealed
in the same cellar from which the mallet had
been taken on the present occasion. They were then
taken to the police station, and their parents
having been communicated with :they were given
up. Their father is a Custom-house officer, resid-
ing in Albion-place, Old Ford-street, Old Ford,
and it appears that he is a brother to a son-in-law
of Mrs. Nunn, living in Castle-street, Holborn.
The boys were yesterday in the first instance
taken to Seething-lane police-station, and after-
wards to the lock-up at Bishopsgate, and they will
be brought up to-day at the justice-room of the
Mansion-house for examination before the Lord
Mayor.

THE STEAM BERD.—Under this title Mr. J. K.
Smythies, of Paddington, barrister-at-law, proposes to in-
troduce a " flying steam engine," fitted with wings, flap-
ped by the action of steam. lie reduc::•s the ratio of the
weight of the engine to its power by using a tubular
boiler, with very small thin tubes. lle will use liquid fuel
and carry very little water, condensing the steam by a
very light condenser, made U.) the tail of a bird, to sus-
tain the bird and steady its flight. The arms of the wings
are connected with the p:stun rod of the engine, so that
the apparatus is raised by the strokes of the wings alone,
without light gas, heated air, or other contrivance to give
it buoyancy. To this engine he attaches seats for one or
more passengers.—Mining Journal.
llurni:nau's Pure Teas are Bd. per pound cheaper. Their
2,500 agents—confectioners in London, and chemists in
the country—are constantly receiving fresh supplies of
those long-approved teas. Sold only in Packets.

~'`~~`

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2'HE OAKS COLLIERY.

A correspondent of the Northern Daily Express, writing
from Barnsley, on Saturday evening, says " To-day the
above colliery, which has during the 'past sixteen months
been the scene of so much excitement, was visited by a
large number of the widows and relatives of those en•
tombed, in consequence of the explorers having recovered
four bodies. The explorers have been at work near to Jones
Jenny, and on Saturday morning some of them went up a
`board' ' which goes into a road which leads under the
engine place. Here they found four bodies laid altogether.
From the boots which they wore it is thought they are four
of the noble band of volunteers who went down the pit on
the 13th of December to recover the dead. They seemed
to have all fallen together, and were laid on their backs
and sides. One of them had his arm across his forehead,
as if to protect himself from the fearful explosion of which
they, like those who escaped, had been warned by what
is termed a suck.' It would appear that they were
amongst those who were racing for dear life' to
the bottom during the time the dead were being
removed. The gates at the steps,' which are
usually closed, were thrown open to enable the
men to reach the bottom by a shorter route. Many
of those who were acquainted with the workings passed
up the steps. The four men, it seems, went up the 'board,'
with the intention of going on the usual travelling road,
when they fell victims to the deadly blast. The place
where these were found was only from 200 to 300 yards
from the pit bottom. The bodies were got to the pit bottom,
and reached the bank at half-past three o'clock in the
afternoon. They were taken to the dead-house and placed
in coffins. Two of them when alive seemed to have been
possessed of great muscular power., One of them had on
his neck a black handkerchief with red spots, and wore
strong watertight boots. Two of the others wore slender
boots, such as miners wear after work is done, whilst
the fourth appeared to have no boots on. The boots were
cut off, and will be preserved for the purposes of identi-
fication. One boot is mended at the side, the other
light ones are double soled. The appearance of the
bodies told the terrible story of the ordeal through which
they had passed. One man's head was nearly cloven in
twc, and part of it lay on his shoulder. Another had his
back broken, whilst a third had his legs fractured. So far
as the features go it is impossible to identify them, but it
is thought that two out of the four will be identified. It
may be stated that the area for exploration has been greatly
limited, possibly to one-half the pit, by the water which
has accumulated in the dip workings, where a large num-
ber of the bodies are known to be. When they will be
got out no one seems to hazard an opinion, seeing that the
pumping appliances do not reach that part of the workings.

THE FAILURE OF OVEREND, GURNEY,

AND CO.

In Vice-Chancellor Sir Robert Malins's Court, judge
meat has been given in the case of Coles v. Bristowe. The
bill was filed by the plaintiff for the specific performance
by the defendants of a contract to purchase 200 shares in
the company of 0 verend, Gurney, and Co. (Limited), on the
9th May, 1860, the day before the company stopped pay-
ment. The shareS were purchssed for the settling day, viz.,
the 15th May. On the 14th the names of seventeen persons
were given to the vendor, who executed the transfers, and
the defendants, who are jobbers, paid the purchase-money,
£2,475, to Messrs. Sutton and Co., the plaintiff's brokers,
who had sold the shares on his behalf. The transfers
executed by the plaintiff were not registered, but the
certificates were handed to the defendants. In the
meanwhile an order was made to wind up the com-
pany. and the plaintiff's name was placed on the list
of contributories, and a call was made. It so happened
that the plaintiff was a creditor of a company in the
sum of £7,000, and in order to prove for his debt he
was compelled to pay the call. The object of this bill
was to ccmpel the defendant to complete the pur.
chase, so as to relieve the plaintiff from the responsibility
occasioned by the shares remaining on the register in
his name ; and the question was whether, according to the
practice and rules of the Stock Exchange, the defendants,
Messrs. Bristowe, the jobbers, were themselves liable on
the contract, or only the clients for whom they acted. It
was said that the distinction between the case opfkijobber
and a broker was, that a broker was always considered as
acting for come unknown principal, and not on his
own account, but that a jobber was considered as
acting for himself. The plaintiff relied on the decision
in the case of Grissell v. Bristowe. The plaintiff
also relied on the rules and custom of the Stock Exchange.
The defendants contended that there was always a prin.
cipal behind the jobber as behind a broker—in fact, that
there was no distinction between the cases. A jobber like
a broker was bound only personally to pay for and corn.
plete a contract to purchase where he was the real pur,
chaser and gave no name, but that a different rule pre.
valleti 1. hero lie acted for-principala whnsc, names he gave
on the settling clay. The defendants distinguished this
case from that of C rissell v. Bristowe.

The Vice-Chancellor delivered a long and elaborate
judgment. He said in his ()pillion the plaintiff was entitled
to the performance of the agreement, and for the repay-
ment of the sum of £4,000, which he had paid for a call,
and an indemnity against future calls, which, however;
would be inoperative, inasmuch as no more calls would lg.
necessary in re Overend and Gurney. It was satisfactory
to him, the Vice-Chancellor, that the defendants would
have their remedy against the sub-purchasers. The defen-
dants to pay the costs and interest on the £l,OOO at £4 pei
cent.

D

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