The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-01-10 00:00:00

BREAKING ICE WITH DYNAMITE.

Some experiments of this order were recently, made
on the Seir e, near the Pont des Invalider, pre-
sence of a limos crowd massed on the quays. Two
civil engineors, MM. Bernard and Lay, directed
operatioes, and they were aided by MM, Flegy and
Streits, of the Nobel Dynamite Company, The ex-
periments were six in number.
In the first, a cartridge of SO
grammes, on a float
placed in a hole of 20 centimetres' diameter, was ex-
ploded with a Bickford fuse ; it enlarged the hole 75
centimetres, and cracked the ice to a length of six
metres,
The second cartridge, of 250 grarnmew, placed
similarly under the ice with a Bickford fuse, pro-
jected vertically to a great height a rn as of water
and cUbris, and dislodged nearly 100 cubic metres of
ice.

The third experiment, which was the most Impor-
tant, was made with three cartridges of 4C6 grammes,
each connected by conducting wires with an electric
machine on the bank. The portion of ice shattered
was about 80 mbtres long by five to six mbtres broad,
This experiment seems to have indicated the right
way to follow, for not only was a large quantity of ice
separated from the mass, but it was in very small
pieces; this would obviate agglomeration against the
arches of bridges.
The three remaining experiments were made with
cartridges of 400 grammes, exploded with the Bick-
ford fuse. The dislocations were about 15 to 20
mbtres in extent, which can be doubled by in-
troducing levers into the fissures produced by the ex-
plosion.

The Qaeen has honoured Mr. F, J. Williamson, of
Eaher, with a commission to execute a but in marble
of the late Prince Alamayon from a oast taken after death.

THE AFGHAN WAR.

The following has been sent to the papers from the
India Office for publication :
(From Viceroy, January 4, 11801

General Roberts reports :—Cabul Ist. Several leading
men from Hamra come in. Baker returned from Kohlstan
without a shot tlrect. Results of expedition very good.
Wounded generally doing well. Colonel Cleland and all
officers out of danger. 12th and 14th Bengal Cavalry going
back to Jelialabad and Gundamuk.

(From Viceroy, January 6, 1880.)
Bright reports, five men, Carabineers, returning from
reconnoissance, Lugbman Valley, drowned yesterday cross.
big Cabot river at usual ford near Derchuta Gorge.
News from Roberts to 4th. Charles Gough's Brigade has
reoccupied Bala Risser, where troops will soon be provided
with quarters. _ _ .

_
Hugh Gough hu left to arrarge communications to
Gandamuk.

Macgregor goes to Jellalabad to consult:with Bright about
disposition on Khyber line. Regular postal cc mmunication
re-established, and telegraph repairs being pushed on.
12th Bengal Cavalry has left Cabal for Jellalabad, 14th for
Bootkak and Gundamtik ; convoy of sick and wounded leav-
ing on sth for India.
Cabul quiet and refilled; supplies more plentiful than
before rising.

The papers received by the Bombay mail of December 15
show that the rising of the tribes in Mghanistan had caused
considerable anxiety in India. The Bombay Gazette of
December 15 says
"The serious check given to General Macpherson's brigade
in the action of Thursday last near Cabul will, we fear, be
attended with very grave consequences beyond the imme-
diate loss of military strength, although that alone is heavy
and thplorable."
The Times of India of the same date says :—"The news
of the fighting near Cabul has served to revive the interest,
which had very nearly dwindled away, in the Afghan,
war. The first intelligence reported our loss as
much more serious than it turns out to be. The Lancers
were said to have lost a whole troop, and doubts we're
raised as to the fate of the Horse Artillerymen. It now
appears that, excepting one officer, Lieutenant Hardy,
the battery suffered no losses in killed, one man only being
wounded. The moollahs are zealously preaching a jehad
against the feringhee conquerors, and Mushir-Alam, who is
ninety years old, and has to be carried about in a charpoy,
accompanies Mahomed Jan. Some anxiety is felt with re-
spect to what is transpiring on the Candahar side."

At a State banquet given onNew Year's Day to commemo-
rate the proclamation of the Imperial title, the Viceroy
made a long speech, in which he reviewed last year's events.
The Times correspondent telegraphs the following summary
of the speech:—

The year, the Viceroy said, had given to India, on
her most exposed frontier, an established military
line of defence which he trusted she would never sur-
render; for its value bad been severely tested and
clearly recognized. After alluding to the irreparable
national loss sustained by the death of Sir Louis
Cavagnari, he went on to speak of the recent crisis at
Cabal. The anxiety felt here and at home was, he
admitted, natural, but was not altogether reasonable.
The Indian Government had been charged with
want of foresight in not doubling the strength
of Sir F. Roberts's force, but they would have wanted
even eight had they done anything so unwise. Such
an error would have quadrupled all the diffi:ulties and
delays in reaching Cebu!, and would have left the
troops there exposed to infinitely greater perils. He
had been favoured by the Duke of Wellington with a
memorandum written by the late Duke on the condi-
tions of Afghan warfare. What had impressed him
most in that paper was the supreme importance
attached by its experienced and illustrious writer to
the fact that the numbers of a force operating in
Afghanistan must always be strictly limited in
exact relation to the carefully ascertained means
and conditions of supply. Sir F. Roberta had suc-
ceeded in collecting supplies sufficient to place his entire
force beyond the risk of danger—an achievement
which marked his military capacity even more un-
mistakably than did his victories in the field. That
skilful general well knew wherein his real strength
lay, and neither he nor his garrison ever felt the
slightest anxiety. Every telegram and every letter
received from its officers breathed the same proud, but
not irrational confidence, which finally justified the
dauntless action of its commander when, disdaining
to remain any longer on the defensive, he issued forth
without awaiting reinforcements, and completely
defeated and dispersed an enormous forea by
which he was surrounded. The new year, his
Excellency went on to ray, opene under
happier auspices and with more hopeful auguries than
the old; but our soldiers' work in Afghanistan is not
yet over, nor could it be relinquished or relaxed till its
object was completely attained. That object was not
the acquisition of territory, but the firm establishment
of durable foundations for the future peace of
India, and solid, self-acting guarantees for the
future good behaviour of Indian's Afghan neigh-
bowl!, The power of this Empire must be sensibly
felt and adequately recognised by those on whoie lasting
appreciation of its peaceful maintenance depended.
Not till then could we sheath the sword or bang up the
shield. But it would not be sufficient for the Afghans
to resognize the power of the Empire; it would be a
longer, more difficult, and more trying, but not, he
hoped, an impossible undertaking to insure their
eventual recognition also of its justice and generosity.
The old year's task of retribution was over, and in
Afghanistan our new year's task would, he trusted, be
mainly one of reassurance and reconciliation.