The Express.
London, England, 1868-09-11 00:00:00

THE INTERNATIONAL WORKING MEN S

CONGRESS.

BRUSSELS, SISPT. 9.
If one may judge by the attendance in the
Theitre du Cirque this evening the deliberations
of the Congrons of workmen have at last engagel,
or at all events are engaging, the attention of the
people of Brussels. The portion of the house
allotted to the actxnumodation of the public was
this evening much better filled than it has been
since the opening of the sittings on Sunday last.
I em afraid that I can hardly say that the pro-
mot:lingo are growing in interest. On the con-
trary, to say nothing of the circumstance that
they are conducted almost entirely iu French, which
leaves the German and Flemish delegates in com-
plete ignorance of what is going on—the debates
have fallen so entirely into the hands, or rather the
mouths, of some half dozen speakers, that the
character of a congress or conference is almost
entirely lost. I wish to say nothing against tho
intelligence or ability of those who take part in
the discussions. lam willing to give them every
credit for honesty of intention and earnestness of
purpose; but I cannot fail to remark that their
discussions are often characterised by a want of
practical suggestions ; and that the meetings of the
congress, as at present conducted, afford
no encouragement to a genera/ interchange
of ideas among the delegates. The same men
speak upon every question ; their views generally
differ in only immaterial particulars, and the
whole affair has more the appearance of a public
endorsement of foregone conclusions than of a
really earnest, attempt to remedy the evils under
which admittedly the working-classes in all coun-
tries are labouring, and to elevate and improve
their condition both morally and materially.
The question of strikes, which was left open at
the close of the meeting last night, was resumed—
I cannot say that it was settled—at the sitting
this morning. In the result, the delegates who
were anxious to commit the association to the en-
couragt merit of strikes triumphed, and the third
paragraph was affirmed by a very large majority.
Only four delegates voted against it.

The first question which was discussed at the
evening meeting was, " The effect of machinery
upon the wages and position of workmen." Re-
ports upon this subject from several sections were
read. Hume of them were rather lengthy, but I
believe they may all be summarised in a single
sentence :—The introduction and improvement of
machinery has hitherto tended more to the advan-
tage of the employer, the capitalist, than to that
of the workman ; and it is desirable that means
should be devised by which the latter may obtain
a larger share of the benefits which result
from the employment of machines. This, as far
as I could gather, was the sum and substance
of the reports; and the debate which followed did
not carry the matter much further.

We learn by telegraph from Cork that Philip
Dwyer, the last person who was incarcerated for the
Itallyeohey affair, warn discharged yesterday for want of
evidence. Mr. McCarthy Downing has been adopted by
the three catholic bishops and a conference of clergy as
the candidate for the county agninst Mr. Insider.

It has been artangtsl that the froodom of tho
city of Edinburgh shall be pos.entod to Lord Napier of
hi /mania on Wednowlay next at 12 o'clock noon. Hie lord•
'lop is now paying a visit to Mr. nuncios of Dundas
t'u•tle. Ho urncod in Edinburgh by the Cidadcrnitn Med-
way on Wodneslay ovenin7. A detachment of police,
louder inspector unp, foruowl o guard to receive him
at the station. His lordship wsa met by the Lord Provost
and Mr. Marwick, town .dark ; end the arranmenent as
to the lima of cimterring tho froodoni of No city upon Lim
ICU, WWII' AP MO! ho ~

IItEAKFABT. &TB'S COCOA. —Orating,
ioutfurting. Priiparid by Jana! Bm hod
or'sJ=is eiwitsitts, InwAta. Made Amity with balling whim:
Shiii oak( to low.* Phlitht—tAaVortitmel4l

The serial experiments advertised under the
above tide commenced in earnest yesterday, when
a ttial trip was made in • new balloon from
Aslburnham Grounds. For months peat .way-
fame on the high read through Chelsea and
Parsonis-igreon have naked • circular stra-
tus like a Novas gesnmetcm, whisk has risen
in vast . bulk some undyed• yards be the east
Sof the inland entwines to Crimean* Gardens.
Mobster than Monday lest travellers by railway
semis any ..of the bridges east of Vauxhall were
astonished by what seemed to be a new temple
with • low brows dome, which was to be seen
over the trees on the northern Aide of the river.
But the gasometer or temple developed its real
meaning yesterday. A circular structure of can-
vas and beams 74 feet high and 270 feet in dia-
meter, it forms a shed for the greatest balloon
ever constructed. Mr. Glaisher, who ascended
with the private party yesterday, informed us
that the balloon in which the majority of
hie valuable experiments were tried was
about ono-fourth the site of that which has
just commenced its aerial life. The former
held 93,000 cubic feet of gets, while the Ashburn-
ham ono contains 340,000 cubic feet, is nairly
spherical in shape, and can lift eleven tons. The
statistics and arrangements of this monster balloon
may be touched upon briefly, as it is destined to
cater for public patronage, and as no less than
28,0001. is said to have been d:sbursel upon
bringing it to its; present complete state. It is filled
with pure hydrogen, and is worked by e.steamengine
of 200-horse power. The gas is made in the pri-
vate grounds of the balloon, and on a scale which
has, perhaps, never been attempted before in the
history of chemistry. Some 200,0001b5. of sul-
phuric acid and 160,0001ba. of iron filings have
teen consumed. A disorderly stack of the fat
tattles containing the former, and a considerable
litter of the latter, are to be seen in the yard,
and two double rows of mighty barrels and a vast
gasometer—all built up and provided specially
show the care taken to make the supply perma-
nent and trustworthy. These things are to be
seen in the enclosed space behind the new hoard-
ing dividing it from the high road. The circular
framework covered with canvas, 75 feet high and
270 feet in diameter. is in the centre of this,
and on passing through ono of its doors
the visitor finds himself in a huge circus,
the ring of which has for bull's eye a hol-
low above which the balloon hovers, and
into which it seems to fit. Sinbad's roe's egg
with egg-cup to match, are suggested by the mon-
st iufiat. d mass and its receptacle. From the
latter comes the stout cable to which the balloon
is fastened, and which guides its ascent and
descent. This is worked by steam from a drum
21 feet long and 7 feet in diameter, which stands
at one side of the canvas building, and comes
underground to the balloon. The whole of the
mechanical arrangements merit the highest praise.
They prevent any of the rushing and confusion
which have hitherto characterised balloon ascents
in Ergiand. Everything is arranged on a scale
and with a precise:l which shows that the balloon
proprietors contemplate sweats becoming a
favourite and permanent amusement. The balloon
itself can lift 11 tone. The weight of its °able is
2f, tons, and its length 2,000 feet. The balloon,
car, netting, ropes, and paraphernalia weigh 34
tons, which, with its cable, make 6 tons of per-
manent weight, leaving a balance of 6 tons as
its available lifting power. Thirty people are the
complement the car is intended to hold, and
areuming three to average 15011 a. each, a balance
of some 3 tons lifting power is loft in favour of the
balloon. So much for the statistics of the new
venture.

The personal experience of those who went up
:;ebter4y is decidedly favourable to this latest ad-
dition to metropolitan entertainments. Between
three and four in the afternoon West London saw
a large brown globe—for the new balloon is nearly
spLeritail in shape—mount slowly into the air, the
cable attached to it recalling the inflated balls and
string which have been latterly a favourite child's
toy. This was a blank ascent, and purely experi-
mental. A quarter of an hour's waiting, during which
the balloon remained above us at a distance of from
1,500 to 2,000 feet, and the word was given to the
engine-men to pull down. Gradually and surely,
and with no perceptible strain, the brown ball was
brought nearer and nearer, until the circular ear
beneath it assumed shape and size, and the
stout strings and iron rings were caught by
the drilled men in waiting. and run into
the stout iron hooks waiting to receive them.
This done and the balloon is secure—the ease
with which this desideratum is arrived at being
not the least interesting of the experiences of the
afternoon. The experienoed French aeronaut
under whose personal care all sweats are made,
and the manager of the undertaking, go up to-
gether now, amid the cheers of all present, and
when these have berm brought down and the
balloon fixed with the same regularity
and certainty as before, a gangway is placed, and a
party of thirty, including two French ladies and
a little boy, are passed into the car. This is
circular, without seats, and open in the middle.
A pill-box, with its bottom knocked out, fixed to
an orange, and suspended in mid-air, would
form a rough model of car and balloon. Place
within the first pill-box another bottomless one
of smaller size, and run a flooring be-
tween the two, so that the inside of the one
and the outside of the other form two walls breast
high, between which the passengers stand in single
file in a circle, and the simile is complete. The
result is that, in addition to looking out upon the
world, those in the balloon look down an inner
circle, following the rope to the bottom, much as
if peering over the side of a coal pit. The last
experience is the least agreeable. The sailing or
flying motion through the air is inspiriting and
delightful. The earth and its dwelling-places, its
trees, its roads, its rivers, drop slowly down,
and resolve themselves into a clearly defined,
widely spreading map. The Wetmore plying
on the Thames recalled the toy-boats at the
Polytechnic; the black ants rushing busily to
and fro in the barren apace immediately below
were school-boys in a play-ground a few
minutes since ; the strips of drab tape stretch-
ing their devious courses to right and left are
roads; the square and oblong green patches
with dark borders, fields; and that large table
upon which a game of dominoes ie apparently being
played is Brampton Cemetery, and it is its pro-
fusion of white tombstone+, some flat some up-
right, which are revelling the old genie.
There seems a mighty stir among the pigmies
below, and huzzahs which become faint in the
distance, but are never quite lost, come up to us
cheerily. The small boxer drawn by ants, into
which cabs and omnibuses have resolved them-
selves, twine their way along the strips of drab
tape and almost arouse wonder by never deviating
from their path. A (schoolboy gives a shrill
whistle, and we hear it as if it were close by.
The atmosphere is unfortunately hazy ; and a
thick curtain of smoke and mist veils West-
minster Abbey and St. Paul's. it needed the
apparent proximity with which the irreproseible
Crystal Pelson looms out of the south to satisfy
some of us that our view is extensive at all. The
emit and sudden bend.; taken by the River
Tames, which 111,111111 to describe et least half a
cirtiebetwisii Butteries and Putney; the Premising
excitement of the ants, or men and women below
thisgn m friehnese of the fields beyond Parsan'e-
grec n ; the hit poreiliility of re.seenising the
feiniliar Leiden hintimarke ; and the 'theca
minutemen of the toy-train* running with
ridiculous smoothness slung their hlliputian
trenches, were subjects commanding equal