The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-02 00:00:00

THE BALAKLIVA RAILWAY CORPS.

Sir Francis Head has addressed the following letter to
his Grace the Duke of Newcastle :
_

_ •
"My Lord Duke,—lt is stated in the newspapers
that you are about to despatch to the Crimea a fleet of
laden with navvies
at Balaklara of a rail-
way,aos efavdnembwsar thtueeiaaerrahi astanfintsdr expectedt
w:;eli ccs°ha ell ill ra7 chips,ttiebende to completed
enable b y
not the
only end
the enormous weight of guns, mortars, and ammunition
now lying on the beach to reach the batteries which have
been constructed to receire them, but to enable forage,
provisions, medicine, and Clothing to reach the horses,
soldiers, and sick of our army.
a" I h
caret no desire to discuss whetleer or not a great
y
Rtioh as you propose to con-
struct br:wslithilnrcahnildiwseasntafgnant in the Crimea; but I
v
restoring circulation to that
militaryer art"
mass
publicly to submit to you, for as much conside-
tru ar i
ventureela a
thes
ration,as you may deem it worth, the following brief
description of a road, which, I conceive,
might occa-
sionally be usoful in sieges.
"Throughout North America, and especially in Ca-
nada, the new roads, cut through the wilderness, become
so deep and sticky during the wet season, that, although
well mounted, and not totally unaccustomed to riding, I
have more than once been unable in 12 hours to advance
more than 20 miles. Indeed, I repeatedly came to little
gulleys, gutters, or sloughs of despond not three feet
months
boggy
erlaiwnelien, g
bread, but yet so soft that it was as much as ray heart
could do to get into them, and as much as my horse
could do to get out of them.
"
along which people
had
like flies across a
Plate of treacle, are suddenly, and I may almost say ma-
bNeoenw,
seenthe these miry, iry,
nto
ma-
gically, converted into a road as hard and as good as
Regent-street by the following simple process, which is
usually adopted as soon as the feeble funds of the young
colony can purchase the blessing
"A small gang of men with spades and ran:inters quickly
level one end of the earth road.
"As fast as they proceed four or five rows of strong
beams or sleepers, which have been brought in the light
waggons of the couutry, are laid down longitudinally,
four or five feet asunder, and aio sooner are they in posi-
tion than from other waggons stout planks, touching
each other, are transversely laid open them. Front a third
series of waggons a thin layer of sand or grit is thrown
upon the planks, which instantly assume the appearance
of a mere level M'Adam road than in practice can ever
be obtained. _ _

"Upon this new-born road the waggons carrying the
thesealeepetrhsr, e
eplanks,and descriptions sand,of i a tee°Xl7fo rlvith peircet ease
Its continuance.
The work advances literally about as fast as an old
gouty gentleman can walk, and as soon as it is com-
pleted there can scarcely exist a more striking contrast
than between the two tenses of what it was, and what
it is.

" Waggons of all descriptions and horsemen of all
ages walk, trot, canter, and gallop over it with indes-
cribable delight, until, coming to the point at which the
f Inds of the new settlement have been exhausted, at a
single step they plunge from the last plank into the
mass of mud already described.
"This plank•read,' as it is termed in America, usually
lasts from eight to twelve years, and, as it is found
quite unnecessary to spike the planks to the sleepers,
the arrangement admits of easy repairs, Which, however,
is but seldom required.
"In Canada there are many hundred miles of this
beautiful description of road broad enough for three or
four carriages to travel abreast.
" I have the honour to be, my Lord Duke,
" Your Grace's most obedient servant,
" Oxendon, Northampton. "F. B. HEAD."

T3rE DUNMOW FLITCH.—Mr. and Mrs. Blackwell, of
Cranbrook, Kent, having claimed Mr. W. Harrison
Ainswortli'm Flitch of Bacon, Mr. E. T. Smith, of Lon-
don, has kindly offered On the same conditions) as a
second prize, a Silver Goblet, with a suitable inscription
to a second happy couple. Mr. Smith, in his communi-
cation to the committee, remarks—" The Flitch may be
consumed, bat the Goblet will endure, and can be
handed down from parent to child, as a proud trophy of
the happiness of their ancestors,';