The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-26 00:00:00

THAMES.

ROBBERY BY A SERVANT.—A young woman, named
Sarah Keys, about 20 years of age, was brought before
Mr. Yardley, charged with stealing a large quantity of
wearing apparel, the property of her master.
The prisoner had been in the ss,rvice of Mr. Simon
Jacobs, an outfitter, No. 73, Ratcliff Highway, for
about three months, and the prosecutor had recently
missed articles from his stock consisting of 12 pair of
trousers, 15 coats, 30 waistcoats, and other articles,
which he valued at 301. and upwards. Suspicion was
directed to the prisoner, and it was ascertained
by the police that she had been in the practice of
pawning her master's property after she had ab-
stracted it from his stock. She pawned a suit of
clothes at one place for 1/. se. 41., waistcoats at
another, and various other things at different. times.
Only one-third of the stolen property was prodeced and
identified. The prisoner generally pawned the goods she
had stolen in the name of Robinson, and she asserted
that one pawnbroker, with whom she had pawned a
waist° nit, had several other articles in his warehouse
which she bad pledged in the name of Robinson,
The pawnbroker, a respeotaile man, who conducts
his business, solemnly denied the truth of the prisoner's
statement.

Mr Yardley—l can't give credit to the assertion of a
person charged with felony, against the oath of a man.
Fray, an intelligent dett:ctive officer, said he had no
doubt the prisoner had been urged to commit the robbery
by an infamous old woman, who was out of the way.
The prisoner pleaded guilty, and Mr. Yardley sen-
tenced her to four months imprisonintnt and hard
labour.

UM LAUNCHING-TVA YS AND CHECK-TACKLE
OF THE LEVIATHAN.

The difference between the manner in which these
ways were constructed and that described is very great,
as the following account of them will show. The first
step in preparing for the launch was to clear away the
mud and dirt to a regular inclination of 1 in 12 from
the ship down to low-water mark ; after which, the
five';' rows of piles forming each way, and varying
from 25 feet long near the ship, to about 6 feet near
low-water mark, were driven ; the two outer rows on
each side of each way were pitched 3 feet apart, and
at a distance of 20 feet inside them another row ;
but these inside rows, three in number, were pitched 6
feet apart, so that the breadth of each way, viz. 80 feet,
was divided into five stripes of 20 feet wide, ex .ending
from the bottom ef the ship down to low-water mark.
To the sides of these piles, just below their tops, balks
of timber, called waling-Pieces, each about 12 inches
square, were bolted,
on the outside of each row only,
11-inch iron bolts, and the surface of the mud over
the area of 80 feet wide, was then covered with a layer
of concrete, barely 1 foot thick, upon which other balks
were laid, about 2 feet apart, and in lines parallel to the
rows of piles ; these balks were also about 1 foot square
and concrete was then put intotbe empty space between
them, and levelled to an even surface with their tops ; so
Oa: instead of the ways being constructed on " 2 feet of
concrete," the whole superstructure is carried upon only
" 1 foot' of this material and the support derived from
the bolts in the waling-pieces against the heads of the
piles. As an instance of the amount of calculation and
foresight exhibited throughout this famous launching
' exploit, it may be mentioned that when the ways were
consequence was,
completed it was "found" that they were not wide
enough ; that is to say, that they were not sufficiently
down them, and the
strong to carry the great weiht about to be "lowered"
that each ay
was iccreased in width by an addition of 40 feet ! which
wad
was
was done by driving a row of piles on each side of each
way, at a distance of 20 feet from each outer one, thus
making the rows of piles in each way seven in number,
and concrete, balk 3, waling-pieces, &a. were added, as
was done is constructing the part already completed.
What addition this made to the first estimate for the
launch would be an interesting item ; but there can be
no doubt that the total coat will form a valuable record
for the archives of the Institution of Civil Eugineere,
where they might be enrolled as a sort of thing to be
avoided, with a salutary effect. As to the " check-
tackle" and machinery, so far from their efficiency hav-
ing been proved, or their having in any way been shown
to be of the slightest utility in checking the ship, the
contrary is satisfactorily proved by the fact, that when
the ship stopped after her first movement, and at the
moment it was reported that she was held by this check-
tackle, there was at least one foot of slack between each
cradle and check.drllDa' Another circumstance has
proved the complete uselessness of these costly appen-
dages, viz.—that at every renewed attempt to launch,
and with everything slack, and nothing to stop her but
"friction," it has been found nearly impossible to start
her, or keep her in motion with the overwhelming power
applied to get her along. Instead of carrying on a set
of vagaries (dignified by the title of experiments) with a
couple of pieces of balk, some rails, and a few tons of
iron, in order to discover (1) the amount of friction of
metal upon metal, which, by-the-by, I remember was
done some thirty years since by Morin and others, it
i
would have been far better to have profited, in this n•
stance at least, by the experience of others. I should
think Mr. Scott Russell must feel happy in having no
shard of the responsibility of Vas disastrous experiment
in launching resting upon his shoulders.—Correspondent
of the Builder.