The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-03 00:00:00

Town Plate.

Pastoral, Meropo, Candidate, and Eclogue.
Sweepstakes of 5 sm. each, winner to be sold for 70Z

The' Great Mogul, 3 yrs, Caractacus, 2 yrs, and
Alexandrina, 2 yrs.
Handicap of 15 sous. each, for 2 yrs old.
Laird o'Cockpen, Bst 71b ; Seakale filly, ist 111 b ; and
Petrowna, 7st 21b.
UPTON-UPON-SEVERN RACES—MONDAY.
The Upton Handicap of 10 sovs. each, h ft, &c., with 30
added ; the second saves his stake. Heats, inile•and-
a-half.

Mr. Parr's Europe, 4 yrs (owner) 2 1 1
Sir C. Cocker(Ws Aurunzebe, 4 yrs
The Severn Hurdle Stakes of 3 sot's. each, and 15
added, winner to be sold for 801., one mile and a half,
were won in two heats by Mr. Williams' Lucy Hampton,
5 yrs, beating Mr. J. Browne's Bayard, 6 yrs.
The Selling Stakes of 5 sous. each, and 20 added, once
round and a distance, were won in three heats, by Mr.
Dixon's Glendower, 4 yrs, beating Mr. Hewitt's Maid,
4 yrs.
The Hack Stakes of 2 goys. each, and 10 added, win-
ner to be sold for 251., second to save his stake, once round
and a distance, were won in two heats, by Mr. Hewitt's
Maid,. 4 yrs, beating Mr. Cowley's Adrian, aged.

Att INGENIOUS DEVICH.—Many inconveniences at
times attend sending a prepaid letter, especially in the
country, where the postmaster or mistress is not always
so accessible as at a London receiving house. With a
view (:f obviating inconveniences and expediting business,
as far as the Waltham Cross post-office is concerned, an
ingenious device is in practice there for receiving pre-
paid letters, as noticed by a correspondent. In the win-
dow of the office in the place of a square of glass, a sheet
of zinc is inserted, in which two longitudinal holes are
cut--one for the receipt of letters and the other for
pence. In the centre of the plate is a revolving handle,
which acts upon some simple machinery within-side.
Above the handles are these words—" Put your letter
in and turn the handle up ; put your penny in, then turn
the handle over." Hero, then, is a simple means for
posting and pre-paying a letter—there is no waiting till
the postmaster is " rung" from any part of the premises
he may happen to be in, to his own and the letter-
sender's inconvenience—here is, in fact, a plan that is
worth consideration by postmasters, and all those whom
it mayfoncern.

GLOUCESTER AND FOREST OF DEAN RAILWAY.--.
We are happy to state that the projected Gloucester and
Forest of can Railway continues to make satisfactory
progress, and is taken up with much spirit by the in-
habitants, who justly regard it as a most important
object. More than 500 shares, we understand, have
been taken of Gloucester. The Gloucester and Hereford
Railway is also in high popularity, particularly in Here-
fordshire, where the shares meet with a very ready
market.—Cheltenham Examiner.

SOUTHEND NEW PIER.—The progress of this con-
struction is not very rapid, but it bids fair to be com-
pleted in the course of the ensuing spring, or early in the
summer. Its extraordinary length, stretching out as it
does over the shallow bay a distance of a mile and a
quarter, renders it an undertaking of much interest.
The pier is chiefly supported on cast-iron piles, which
are so placed as to lean considerably towards each other,
so that when united by the cross-beams and planking,
they have most of the properties of an arch, and present
thereby the strongest resistance to the pressure of the
sea, which in stormy weather runs very high there. At
first an attempt was made to drive these iron piles in the
usual manner, by the machine which is commonly called
" a monkey," though its play is anything but gentle.
This process was abandoned in consequence of the metal
splitting by the concussion. The piles are now fixed by
" wriggling," their weight under an oscillatory motion
serving to insinuate them into the soil so effectually, that
it is found impossible to move them when fixed, and
some difficulty has arisen in consequence of one or two
not having been sloped inwards as originally intended.
The necessity for the erection of this pier must be appa-
rent to all who have landed at this little watering-place
at any other time than the period of high water, for an
awkward transit in clumsy flat-bottomed boats does not
always serve to secure a landing, passengers being some-
times coolly requested to step out and wade through the
mud and water, at a depth of four or five inches. With
better luck, you are landed on a " hard," where you
have to balance yourself on a narrow ledge of slippery
stones—a sort of causeway, not like the Mussulman s
road to Paradise, as narrow as a hair and as sharp as a
needle, but in reality as slippery as soaped stairs, and
not so good as a good-sized plank.
HoNG-KoNG POLICR.—Mr. Charles May, the
newly-appointed superintendent of police at Fong-Kong,
and Smith,,rs and Macgregor, the inspectors, will take
their departure from England on Tuesday next, for the
scone of their official duties. The Oriental, which left
the river yesterday, and will call at Southampton, will
convey them to their destination.