The Express.
London, England, 1851-07-26 00:00:00

[PRICE (DOUBLE SHEET) FOURPENCE

There are other interesting models of bridges in the nave.
There is a bridge from America of sufficient size to be of
practical utility, constructed on the principle of the trellis,
the design of which seems to combine strength and light-
ness of weight.

In the gallery we find a model otonc arch of the high level
bridge at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, it is exhibited by Hawks,
Crawshaw, and Co., of Gateshead, who were contractors for
the iron work. This bri Ige was designed by It. Stephenson,
and is certainly a masterpiece in engineering. The banks
of the Tyne, both at Newcastle and Gateshead, are exceed-
ingly steep, and are connected by • viaduct 1,375 feet in
length, running at a height of 112 feet above high-water
mark. There are six principal openings, each of 126 feet
span, the principle on which this bridge is constructed is the
bow and string ; the arches, which form the bow are of east
iron, and the rods, which form the strings are of wrought
iron, to resist tension; there are four arches to each span,
two on each side, which bear properly on the piers through
the medium of bed plates on which the arches rest; the
strings of each arch consist of two wrought iron rods, keyed
to the arches at the abutments. Cast iron columns con•
nected to the arches support a platform above, on
which three sets of rails are laid, and they also
support another platform below foe a carriage-road, the
hotpathe Tanning between the two arches on each side ;
this road, in fact, runs along the strings, but has no con-
nexion with them ; the arches take the whole weight of
both platforms above and below, leaving the strings inde-
pendent, to resist only the tension. One cannot examine
this bridge with'ut having the mind strongly impressed
with the rapid progress made in the mechanical art, a struc-
ture of this kind, particularly the iron work, requires the
adjustment of an immense number of parts, and yet no
joints, and hardly any fastenings, are to be seen ; in fact, it
is difficult to make out how it has been put together. The
piers may look light to the eye for the superincumbent
mass, but actually it is another striking feature in the struc-
ture, and speaks in favour of the progress in another branch
of engineering, known as civil.

Amongst other objects of interest exhibited by B.
Green, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, is a model of the central
arch of the Ousc Burn viaduct on the Newcastle and North
Shields railway ; the arches arc of timber built up of layers,
or planks sufficiently thin to allow being bent to the re-
quired sweep. The arch having thus been built up to the
required size is bound together by iron straps, bolts, &c.
It is then scientifically strutted to resist and distribute the
thrust properly. A structure like this is no doubt light and
economical, but English engineers generally like a more
substantial material than timber for works of such mag-
nitude.

MANUFACTURES IN LEATHER.-BOOTS

the magic boot continually in motion at the top,
or the heroic little boy who patiently submits to
incarceration in a sort of watch pocket underneath
for nine mortal bows every day, for the purpose of
expounding the principle of the patentee. The novelty in
this invention consists in what is technically called the
waist of the boot or shoe being made elastic with the aid
of India rubber, be as to make it give with the motion of
the foot, and insure ea easy and natural action in walling.
The invention seems to be admirably calculated for the
purpose intended. There are various other exhibitors in
this section, who display articles of a high order of work-
manship, but, we believe, that we have indicated every-
thing that might lay claim to a distinctive character.

THE SPANISH COURT.
The intelligent visitor to the Spanish court in the
Crystal Palace can hardly glance over its scant collec-
tion without some regretful reflections on the mutability of
human greatness, and tho liability to decadence in all great
and powerful states. When he thinks that the compara-
tively unimportant objects there arranged, " few and far be-
tween " and which only serve to reveal the nakedness of
the land, are all that can now be sent forth by the people
who overthrew the great sad patent Moors, who colonised
America, who received into their laps all the
gold of Mexico, aml all the silver of Peru, who
equipped the world-famed armada, happily without suc-
ceo, to "fright this isle from its propriety;" the country
of Ferdinand and Isabella, the kingdom of Charles V., the
birthplace of the Cid and of Gonsalvo de Cordora, and the
foster land of Columbus, how cheap must he not hold the
results of mere military glory, and the gains of conquest
and rapine, as compared with the honest profits of legiti-
mate commerce, and the development of the industrial
energies, as exemplified in the career of our
own happy land. Yet there is hope for Spain.
Nature, always young, is as bountiful to that
country as when she fed the legions of imperial Rome, or
tempted the invasion of the Saracens, or, when at a later
period, the invader himself hanging up his sword and buck-
ler, and betaking himself to the arts of peace, converted the
whole surface of the country into one vast garden, glowing
with the orange and the grape, and decorated its cities with
those light and graceful arabesques which have made the
Alhambra one of the architectural wonders of the world. 'I he
wheat of Spain is as fine, her olives are as abundant and
well flavoured, her timber is as abundant and valuable, as
when she victualled vast fleets fur discovery or for con-
quest, or built those leviathans of the deep which gave
Ferrol the foremost place among the nasal arsenals of Europe.
What is better still her men have not, in the main, deteriorated,
Protracted political convulsions, always demoralising, may
have lowered the standard of patriotic fueling and of manly
energy in her large cities, where also the strong infusion of
Jewish bland has, no doubt, lend its eM•ct in making ava-
rice take the place of nationality ; but her rural peasantry,
her mountaineers, and her muleteer. arc the same brown
manly fellows as ever, living frugally, walking proudly,
and ready at any moment to play over agaiu the gue-
rilla game of the Peninsular war, and to teach the in-
vaders that the spirit of old Gothic Sp an is " not dead
but sleep eth," and as dangerous when aroused as at any
former period of her history.

Foremost in the Spanish Court stands the silver gilt
tabernacle from Madrid, a gorgeous specimen of ecclesias-
tical plate, showing the direction in which Peninsular art
has received its greatest stimulus. The world-Mmotia
blades of Toledo also hold a conspicuous place, but they
have already received full justice is the columns of the
hipress. There are several specimens of the black lace
of the country in robes and veils with which Byron wiz*
so enchanted, when worn " by an Andalusian girl going to
niasii,"and some gold and silver stuffs used in the sacerdotal
costumes of her innumerable priests. In the more substan-
tial manufactures there are specimens of coarse woollen
cloth, but not so many nor so good as one might expect in a
country where the most voluminous of cloaks is an almost
universal article of costume. But we believe the fact to be
that the best Spanish cloaks are made of Flinch or English
cloths, indeed we know that in our own woollen districts
there are particular descriptions made expressly for the
Spanish and Italian markets. The priests of both countries
affect a certain tinge of " blue black" in their ordinary
costume, and our English manufacturers, with an expansive
liberality that does them infinite credit, contrive to hit
their reverences' taste to a shade. The only specimens
of metal work in addition to the arms which come from
Spain are a few ornamental iron bedsteads, which are cer-
tainly very creditable specimens of Spanish workmanship,
and might take their place beside some of the best articles
of the kind made in this country. Another class of Spanish
artificial productions that remains to be noticed is the
inlaid cabinet work, of which the piece de resistance is the
octagonal table sent by Perez of Barcelona. As a monu.
meut of patient industry it is certainly wonderful, containing,
as we are told, three millions of pieces, worked up into
a design of which the most prominent feature is the
shield with the arms of England in the centre. The general
effect hardly justifies the labour bestowed in the construc-
tion, the decoration being so minute as to require a power-
ful magnifying glass to show oil its heauties. There are
some other specimens of furniture, but they do not require
any special notice. The centre of the court is devoted to a
large case containing specimens of the minerals and cereals
of Spain, in both of which that country is superlatively
rich, and in describing whicltwe can hardly do better than
quote M. ltamon de la Sagra, whose " Notes our les
l'roduits Espagnols " enter very fully into the subject.
The writer commences by complaining that " Lea
C:chantillons envoyes par les differentes contries do
l'Espagne et an, colonies l'exposition de Londres,
Inc peuvent donner qu'une fail& ides de sex richesses
naturelles," and affirms that, with the exception of some
choice mineral specimens, the articles exhibited arc insigni-
ficant and ill chosen. Re instances the wonderful quick-
silver mines of Almaden, of which the specimens sent over
" semble plated faite pour la boite d'un ideve, que pour
dormer une ides approximative de see merveilleuses
galcrics." The writer also complains that the exhibitors
want variety in their specimens, and have given mom
importance to metallic minerals than to combustibles, in
which the mineral wealth of Spain ix most prominently
developed. M. Ramon, in his classification, first calls
attention to the vast beds of coal, which ho states
are to be found in the Asturias and various other parts of
the kingdom, and gives tables of the expense at which the
article can be delivered at Santander and other places on
the coast. But it is to be regretted that his calculations
are made in Spanish weights and Spanish money, and
would, therefore, hardly be capable of comparison by the
general English reader. Ile hopes for a glorious future for
this trade when the railroads of Alar and Santander and of
Madrid and Valladolid shall be opened to public traffic.
Sulphur, he states, abounds in Murcia and in Salamanca,
and that recently introduced article of commerce, asphalte,
has been discovered in large quantities in the province of
Lona, and is now worked by a company. Of the salts to be
found in Spain M. Ramon gives a long catalogue, and pro-
ceeds to the metals, iu which ho very properly gives the
first place to iron, the most useful. L 606, he says, abounds
with this metal of first necessity, where also is to be found
kaolin, that indispensable ingredient in ceramic manufac-
tures. Abundant mines exist also in .lava and Guipuscoa,
and specimens of their produce may be seen in the gallery
of the Crystal Palace, in the shape of two pieces of cannon
manufactured by the Cialists, in the village of Onate, in the
year 1837. The riches of Spain in lead are, according to our
author, really surprising, there being hardly a proviaco
in which it may not bo found in abundance. Several
pages of the pamphlet are devoted to the various lead mines
of Spain, but the limits of a newspaper article will not per-
mit of more extended quotation. Copper, zinc, and tin,
antimony, nickel, and cobalt, are also among the mineral
treasures of Spain; and, lastly, gold, which is beginning
to be sought for in the beds of various rivers. The writer
with this enumeration concludes the first section of his
pamphlet, the second being devoted to the cereals, which
are sufficiently numerous and important to demand a sepa-
rate article.

----
Ever since the opening of the Exhibition tho
number of foreigners who have arrived in this country at
the variolit outports has been daily transmitted to the
riletroPoVaan police department.
A petition to both houses of parliament in favour
of the retention of the Crystal Palace as a winter garden
lemanated last week from the Horticultural Society at Lin-
coln, and has since been numerously signed by the inhabt-
tads of the city.