The Sun.
London, England, 1852-06-24 00:00:00

HOLLAND.

----.-- -
A letter from the Hague
says :—" Accounts have
been received from M. VANDER Kure, the Govern-
ment engineer, who has been for some time in Bel-
gium, stating tint the convention between that
country and Holland, relative to the junction of the
lines of railway, is on
con-
cluded. The line will follow the direction of Ant-
werp to the Moerdik and Rotterdam with a branch
,
line on Breda. the point of bting

BELGrum.
A Brussels journal say,,--,c
All the country dis-
tricts in our environs hive at present the most mag-
nificent ap q 1)
pearence.
--2 e crops in general, notwith-
standing the rainy Reather, promise to be most
productive. The potatoes and wheat are very
fine, and do not present VI. *lightest trace of ma-
lady."
A singular wager came
oat Antwerp on Satur-
day. The master of a merchantunn bitted another
4001. that one of his sailors would climb to the top of
the steeple of Notre Dame, ant,A
remain seated on the
ff
weathercock :or six hours. A sailor executed this
dangerous feat. fie climbed
o'clock, and remained seated till nine. A large
crowd assembled, and remained until the man came
down, cheering him heartily on his reaching terra
firma. on to th® cock at three

SWITZERLAND.
The Swiss Federal Assembly-- is convoked for the
sth July.
The Bale Gazette, under date of Berne, 16, states
that the Executive Council has dissolved the asso-
ciation of the Grutli, and ordered members
all the
who do not belong to the The
canton to quit it.
motives given for this measure are that the associa-
tion distributed communist and
socialist books among
the people, and kept up communications with socialist
associations abroad.

1 ITALY---.
The Official Gazette of
Savoy of the 21st states,
o n the. 19th for Vevey
,where
Turin, that the Armonia, a
been seized for. an
.intemperate article against the
new Marriage Bill, in which it attempted to prove
that it was contrary to the Catholic religion,
.and
that, consequently, in virtue
.of Art. 1 of the Pied-
montese. Constitution, which
enacts that the Catholic
religion is the religion. of
. the t ~..,
clerical paper, has
8-a, every one has a
right to refuse submission to the Bill when become
he expects his family to join
. him.
theml.awmoifEßthselelfatnTd.urin
A correspondent, writing from Rome, June 14,
says:--
" With regard to the case of ice lam
..ur. Murray,
happy in being able to state, om
fr
a most trustworthy
source, that the Pope has at last Consented to ant th.is
unfortunate young man a pardon.
consignr Anna
leaves this evening for Ancona, and i the bearer of the
where
reprieve. The original. sentence of death is commuted
into hard labour for life at the gEoleys.
I have, how-
ever, reason to believe that it willtiot be fully carried
into execution, but that before long it will be materially
altered; hopes are,
~, indeed,
entertained ei. Murray being
eventually set at liberty.

_—_,__—___._
THE PORTLAND BRE,uf WATER:
than
theA very interesting and novel engineering
operation is
ut
tion at this place, which is nothing le
building
of a bridge across, or rather into, the See.
In order to
render the necessity for this intelligible, it will be better
to describe the general design of the breakwater. This
is intended to consist of two separate portions—the one
extending from the shore into the sea about 1,900 feet,
and
in an east-north-east direction;A
the other about
in progress at the breakwater now in coless
6,000 feet in length, and isolated, the
nearest point
of which will ultimately be 400 feet from the inner
portion. During the progress of the works, and until
of these arms are
space for Constructing them,
and other contingent causes, will
heads forming the ends
Prevent the
bthueiltp,ierthehea
rough unfinished portion of the two arms aroaching
pp
nearer to each other than from 800 to 1,000 feet. The
stone with which the breakwater is formed is quarried
by convicts; but the general execution of the same, re-
quiring too much mechanical knowledge for such a class
of men, is under contract. The stone (an admixture of
rough large blocks, from six tons and under, mixed with
a sufficient quantity of small ribble to fill the interstices)
is tipped into the sea from railway waggons (without
any attempt at regularity, with the exception of a due
regard to a proper proportion of sizes), trains of which
aro hauled along the breakwater by locomotive engines.
This mode of depositing the material renders its execu-
tion very cheap; and it is principally with a view of
adopting this manner of construction on the outer break-
water that the bridge above alluded to becomes neces-
I sary. This is of course a timber structure, and
although only for what may be called a tem-
porary purpose, is necessarily, both from its position
and from the length of time it will have to remain,
erected in a manner which would ordinarily be
called permanent. The general depth of water at low
water is about 57 feet, and the roadway being
25 feet
above this level, it follows that the piles
must be about 80 feet in length or height, and, as single
timbers would be manifestly not obtainable, they are
made like the masts of vessels, each weighing (when
prepared with the necessary iron work connected with
it) about seven tons. The mode of fixing these in the
ground is ingenious. They are shod with cast-iron
shoes of Mitchell's patent, having a thread or worm
pitch, which are screwed into the
clay or shale by means of
a capstan head, and bars
fixed on the head of the piles.
upon them of a largo
Each pile is supported
guys or stay
rods, and upon these piles, which are in rows, 30 feet
apart, the necessary superstructure for carrying
very
strong
three
lines of railway and a horse-track is fixed, making
a bridge of about 80 feet. wide. A visit to these
works would well repay
e maby one who is interested in
these matters, both from the
in an upright position by
magnitude of the work and
the speed with which it is executed,
1,000 feet only taking about four months to do. The
harbour of refuge at Portland is the largest now being
constructed, under the recommendation of the Harbour
Commissioners, appointed some few years back, and the
works have been carried forward with great spirit. The
breakwater staging i
-3
now
approaching hal".mil° in
length of
length from the shore, and ti,
already affords very considerable shelter in the
the,anchor-
ae the advantages of which are beginning to be felt by
mtrs of vessels, foreign
48 well as British. The
works are being constructed for the Admiralty, under
the superintendence of Mr. safer M. 'undo, F.R.S.,
th© part fitllheedtuoptalwithstone
erig:ueer in chief, and Mr. er e
the contractor for the
gineer. Mr. J. T. Leathern -i(s4n
same. Coode, resident en-

----7.....................10.
RAILWAY TRAypic
THE GMAT NORTHERN RA1LW.........
'''' (Miles in work, 223)
'Ret Pas Traffic for the Week endin—
g June 13, 1852:
engers, Parcels, carriages,
horses, dogs, and mails
...
RETURNS.
5,230 3 4
Merchandise and minerals
Cattle ••• ••• ... 259 13 10
_ ... £5,343 16 4

Total ..
Corresponding week, 1851 (236 mile • £10,833 13 6
Passengers, parcels, &c. es):—
Merchandise, Cattle, Sze„. ••• £8,052 3 11
_ . ••• 3,570 12 0

Total ...

....£11,622 15 11
jr,,,,tl44e4k2olLw£Auy.6-57(21860
3milee
LANCASHIRE AND YkORKOISIIIRR la
Year (260 '
o en )—Traffie for wee
.enl ing
PCom.rrilesespoonpdeinnf w!k 111...a5t
...
...
£16,521 13 2
CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD ItAIL
week ending June2o: N, Ay. Traffic for the