The Express.
London, England, 1850-03-11 00:00:00

THE BRITANNIA TUBULAR BRIDGE.

Mr. Stephenson, in proposing the health of the
Directors of the London and Holyhead Railway, and re-
turning thanks for bis own at the entertainment given at
Holyhead in celebration of the opening of the great tubular
bridge, spoke u follows in reference to the stupendous week
which be has accomplished.
It was to him certainly a triumph, and a proud one, to
have been able to piece to the must sceptical the possibility
of that safe transit over the Menai by means of a tubular
beam, which at first sight had appeared to be altogether im-
practicable. But, in exact proportion as he felt the impor-
tance of the triumph, did he feel • grateful consciousness
towards those whose confidence and trust had enabled
him to achieve it. Had they ceased to confide, his project
would have been inevitably blighted. Yet he was sometimes
surprised himself, at the unwavering trust which bad been
reposed in him ; especially when the peculiar, the gigantic,
and the unprecedented nature of the undertaking presented
itself to the mind. To throw an iron tube over the Menai
of such solidity and strength as to ensure safe transit, to the
utmost extent of any possible contingent traffic, was no
small undertaking; and well did he remember being startled
at the magnitude of the idea when it first preseated itself to
his contemplation. It was, in fact, difficult to reduce an
hie' ja.,;lving the contemplatioA and due arrangement of
physical elements to stupendous without some feeling allied
to awe or to dismay. When, however, the conceptaiM lad
become reduced to figures, calculations, and the minute consideration of ell its details, he found it to ba per-
' fectly practicable an' p...!ectly safe. The occurrences
of the present day had proved sou ! how then could
he be otherwise than grateful towards the company
who had unhesitatingly left to him the direction of the
undertaking and the full completioi of the plan. The
scheme had not been perfected ell at once, but had been the
result of many combined considerations, the didiculties and
details of which would shortly be made known to the world
in • work which was being prepared by his friend Mr.
Clarke. The public would then be better able to appreciate
the real difiiaulties that had been overcome. He trusted
that the: eveat of this day would be the precursor of
great future good ; and would lead to a closer and
more intimate intercourse between the two islands, that
would ensure the pacification and happiness of Ireland.
Notwithstanding the national importance of Up undertak-
ing, he regretted to state that, in some other points of view,
• cloud had hovered over it; but he was now glad to recog-
nise the commencement of • more hopeful and brightening
prospect to the financial interests of the railway company.
The true and accurate calculation of all the conditions anti
elements essential to the safety of the bridge bad been a
source not only of mental but of bodily toil : including, as
it did, • combination of abstract thought and well-considered
experiment, adequate to the magnitude of the prrjeet.
And what could be said of these men who, with-
out study, without knowledge, without baying sub-
mitted their notions to the test of experiment, came forward
to shake the confidence of the public by raising a cry of
danger where all was safe and durable, as the material of the
bridge itself. Persons capable of appreciating the nature of
calculations essentially preliminary to the formation of such
a bridge, would know that such calculations were not
visionary : end what wu the result ? Why ! that the bridge
would sustain, and sustain safely, more than sees n times
such trains as had that day passed through it were they piled
one upon another ; and that • wsight of three thousand tone
might safely press upon any part of the Moor of the tube, or
be suspended from its centre. In fact there was no Portion of
the railroad so adequate to its work as was the tube.

AfreLEY'S.—Her Majesty hes presented Mr. Batty,
the yr..prietor of this theatre, with a pair of pure Arabian
poises recently imported, whose tint appearance in the arena
is to take plats as soon as their objectless to the substitution of
" sawdust ' for " mad" hays been reeonciled, and their ef-
forts to square the circle overcome.
TUE DEATH Or MR. THOMAS HALLWAX, of the
banking-house of Glyn, Banda:, atir,,, and Co.,
nounold in the City yesterday (/' - --
77 years of ego, and had beet
than half a century.—Asit.

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