The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-25 00:00:00

THE FRENCH IN MEXICO.

The Moniteur of yesterday publishes the follow-
mg documents from Mexico :

LETTER FROM GENERAL MEDIA TO GENERAL ALMONTE.
Guanajuato, Dec. 8, 1863.

Respected Sir,—l occupied San Miguel Allende on the
sth, and we met with as warm a reception there as at San
Juan del Rio, Queretaro, and Celeya. General Donay,
whose division encamped around the town, arrived here on
the 6th. Towards the evening, the French camp changed
itself into a pleasant promenade, on which the principal
lamilies of San Miguel assembled. A large concourse of
the people came also to welcome the French with a military
band; they cheered the Emperor, his Highness the Grand
Duke, the Regency, and the Empire. General Donay dis-
played much satisfaction in consequence of these public
ovations.

To-day at Guanajuato there was great rejoicing on the
part of the inhabitants, although I expected coolness. a con-
sequence of the influence exercised by Doblado ; but it ap-
pears that the latter, in losing the capital, lost also his
former prestige, leaving nothing behind him but the re-
membrance of his crimes.

I shall duly report to you all subsequent events, and I
remain your affectionate friend and servant,
(Signed) TOMAS MEJIA.
NOTE ADDRESSED BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE UNDER-SECRE-
TARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS TO HIS EXCELLENCY M.
GUTIEILEZ DE ESTRADA.

Imperial Palace, Mexico, Dee. 17, 1863.

Sir,—As was to be expected, the campaign in the in-
terior has been a triumphal march for the Franco-Mexican
army. The iuhabitants, bowed beneath the yoke of dema-
gogic tyranny, received our treops with indescribable en-
thusiasm. The enemy's bands, pursued with energy, re-
treat as our forces advance; so that, withour fear of
deceiving myself, I am enabled to assure your excellency
that at the end of this year the empire will be recognised
by the majority of the nation.
The Franco-Mexican troops have already occupied Quere-
taro, Celaya, San Miguel de Allende. Guanajuato, Morelia,
and the intermediate points, proclaiming the empire, and
recognising his Imperial Highness the Archduke Maxi-
milian as Emperor of Mexico. Doblado has evacuated
Guanajuato, and taken the direction of Guadalajara, with a
small body of troops, who, as they go further from their
homes, desert him and come to join the imperial army.
On the Bth of this month Gen. Mejia, with his division,
occupied Guanajuato, which place Gen. Donay occupied the
following day with his own troops. These two generals
will probably march towards Zocatecas, while Gen. Bazaine,
with the divisions under Castagny and Berthier, will march
upon Guadalajara, which is threatened by the imperial
fcrces under the command of Gen. Jovar, who have been
ordered rot to take the town, lest, after a three years' con-
test, it should be impossible for them to avoid the disorders
by which the taking of a town by storm is accompanied.
Gen. Marquez. with his division, is now at Morelia, en-
trusted with the pacification of this important department.
We receive daily information of acts of adhesion to the
empire from the points occupied by our troops, which
proves that as soon as the inhabitants acquire the convic-
tion that under the authority of the Imperial Government
real liberty is guaranteed to them, they hasten to place
themselves under the protection of the only Government
which can save them from utter ruin.—l have, &c.,

The Honorary Secretary of State entrusted with the
Secretaryship of Foreign Affairs, J. M. ARROYO,
NOTE ADDRESSED BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE UNDER-

SECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS TO M GITTIEREZ DE

ESTRADA..

Imperial Palace of Mexico, Dec. 15, 1863.

Excellency,"-I have just received your letter, dated from
Paris the sth November last, informing me of the speech
delivered on that day by his Majesty the Emperor of the
French at the opening of the legislative session.

Twenty- four hours before the receipt of this note the
telegraph despatch upon the same subject arrived, which
your excellency had taken care to have transmitted from
Puebla, the efficaciousness of which has been duly appre-
ciated by the supreme Government.
The regency of the empire has profited with the most
lively satisfaction by the part of the speech relative to the
affairs of Mexico, because in addition to the propriety of the
terms in which it is conceived we remark therein the inte-
rest of his Majesty the Emperor in our cause. It is this, as
your excellency observes, which firmly guarantees that no
opposition shall be made to the conclusion of the work
which has been undertaken and already so far advanced for
the political and social regeneration of our country.
The regency has likewise seen with extreme pleasure the
just and merited appreciation shown by the Emperor in this
imposing and solemn act of the eminent merit and high
qualities of his Imperial Highness the Archduke Ferdinand
Maximilian, whom he fully recognises as Emperor of Mexico,
a circumstance of extreme and incalculable importance for
the development of the events transpiring at the present day,
and which so greatly affect our happiness. Theoe facts and
those rapidly succeeding here by the occupation of the
principal groups of the population of the interior (as your
excellency will see from the annexed documents). lead us
to hope that in a short time Prince Maximilian will come
to a decision, and commence his voyage to the empire the
future destinies of which are confided to him by the ma-
jority of its inhabitants.
' • '

In making this reply to your excellency, I renew with
pleasure the assurance of my distinguished consideration.
The Under Secretary, &c., J. M. ARROYO.
NOTE ADDRESSED BY THE UNDER SECRETARY OF FOREIGN
AFFAIRS TO HIS EXCELLENCY M. GUTIEREZ DE ESTRADA.
Imperial Palace, Mexico, Dec. 17, 1863,

Sir,—l have the honour to confirm the letter addressed
to yon by me on the 10th inst., and forwarded by the
French packet, giving you an account of the state of the
campaign undertaken in the interior of the country by the
Franco-Mexican army.

In this note I announced to your Excellency the early
occupation of Guanajuato, and in reality this occupation
was effected on the Bth inst., the date on which the town
was :evacuated by Don Manuel Doblado and the forces
under his orders, who took the road towards Leon in the
greatest disorder, leaving numerous deserters on the way.
A party of the Imperial troops have been despatched in
pursuit, and it is probable that the fugitives will in a short
time entirely disperse. In this manner one of the strongest
elements on which the dissidents reckoned to oppose to in-
tervention will have disappeared. Your Excellency will
acknowledge, after this fact, how well founded has been
the opinion of those who maintained that no serious reist-
ance would bo offered. and that the campaign would
promptly and successfully be concluded.
The town of San Miguel el Grande has been likewise
occupied, as well as Trapuato and other towns and com-
munes of the department of the Guanajuato.
It appears that San Juan de los Lagos has been captured
by Colonel Hermeno, of the Imperial army. Official notice
of this event has not yet been received, but it appears certain,
and if it be so your Eminence will perceive its full import-
ance in view of the approaching submission of Guadalajara,
since it is believed that San Juan de los Lagos is one of
the most considerable towns of the department.
The Hon. Secretary of State charged with the Secre-
taryship of the Department, J. M. ARROYO.

The Moniteur thus refers to the above document
in its bulletin :—" We draw the attention of our
readers to the correspondence from Mexico which
we publish elsewhere. These documents show the
extreme eagerness with which the Franco-Mexican
troops are welcomed by the population in the towns
and the localities successively occupied, and augur
that in a short time the greater part of Mexico will
have spontaneously adhered to the empire. This
news shows with what satisfaction the words of the
Emperor Napoleon have been saluted which were
erof the legisla-
tive and which referred to the interests of
uttBeed session,
inio o, the speech at the opening
Mexico."

THE ENTIRE NUMBER OF PERIODICAL PUBLICA-
tions of all sorts now established in London is 729.,0f these
no fewer than 359 are monthly publications ; while 254 are
dailies and weeklies, 81 are quarterlies, and 35 are Trans-
actions of Societies.

rapidity of its construction, this Chatham and Dover Rail-
way bridge is long likely to be regarded with wonder. Only
last May the first stone of the bridge was laid—in another
month the first of its gigantic lattice girders will be,itt place
ready for testing, and by June next it is hoped-gait all will
be complete and the city traffic flowing in to the temporary
station in Earl-street. The subsoil at this thoroughfare
is all made ground, and one in which it has been
exceedingly difficult to find a proper foundation for
the massive arches on which the line will thence
be carried high over the level of Ludgate-hill, across
the site of the old Fleet Prison and down an incline to the
station of the Metropolitan Railway in Victoria-street. In
seeking for a good foundation in Earl-street the workmen
have come upon the remains of what was evidently the old
Roman river well many feet below the present surface, and
nearly 200 ft distant from what is now the south bank of
the Thames. As this wall was exceedingly didcult to re-
move,it was thought better to utilize it where it was ; it has
accordingly been used as part of the fuundaticns, which
here can only be obtained by a perfect structure of piles
and transverse beams forced under ground and tilled in be-
tween with concrete.

The railway bridge which is to connect the great goods
station on the south side of the river with the station in
Farringdon-street and Victoria-street is one of the most
important of the works by which these changes are being
brought about. The length of this structure between the
abutments is just 997 ft, and its width 55ft, it being intended
for four lines of rails, not only on the bridge itself but for
some distance over its approaches on either side. The
whole structure is carried at a uniform level of 32itt above
high water. The two shore abutments are of great solidity.
They were built in wrought-iron caissons, and contain no
less than 223,000 cubic feet of solid masonry, the founda-
tions being taken 30ft below the surface and down into the
London clay. From these abutments four piers carry the
main girders across the river, the two spans at the shore
ends being 169 ft wide, the two next to these 194 ft, and the
centre span of all 205 ft, the longest single span we believe,
excepting that of the Britannia-bridge, that has yet been
attempted in this country. It is in the piers, however, that
the most striking features of this great work consist. The
permanent way of the bridge being carried entirely on three
immense lattice girders, each so-called pier, in reality, consists
of three distinct structures or piers,one for each girder, which
are built quite separate and independent of each other. These
single plates consist of columns of masonry built in circular
caissons or wroughtiron tubes 18ft in diameter,and which are
forced down never less than 30ft, and somettnees as much as
40ft below the actual bed of the stream. On cacti of these
columns of masonry, at 6ft above high water mark and
springing from handsomely ornamented pediments, rise a
group of four massive cast-iron columns, which united have
a total diameter of 14ft. These are joined together at their
summits by a massive and boldly ornamented capital about
41t high, making the total height'of the columns from the
masonry about 26ft. The cast-iron columns are then built
in solid with the hardest description of bricks laid in cement,
and over all are built the wrought-iron main girders. Thus,
then, though each one of these groups of stone and iron
columns form a pier, yet each pier consists of three
distinct columns of stone, surmounted by four distinct
columns of iron. The caps of these four columns, by unit
ing them together, virtually make one column of them, and
the transverse fastenings between the three piers in like
manner unite their strength; and over all come the main
longitudinal girders which carry the radway, stiffening the
whole into one rigid piece—the ends only of each span being
left free on rollers, to meet the contraction and expansion
caused by variation of temperature. Just now the whole
system by which this remarkable structure is being raised
can be seen more perfectly than has yet been the case since
the works commenced. On the Surrey side the massive
groups of cast-iron columns arefiniehed, and peer on; grimly
through the net-work of timber, more like the beginning
of some colossal Egyptian temple than any modern railway
work; while on the City side, the last of the great tircular
caissons, or iron tubes, aro being sunk, and one can look
down and see where the men are quietly at work in a
gloomy sort of twilight, nearly 40ft below the bed of the
river. When Messrs. Joliffe and Bankes, the contractors
for London bridge, succeeded, after 13 months of unremit-
ting labour and pumping, in getting their first ceferdam
water-tight and empty, all the civic authorities went le state
to see the wonder; had luncheon there, and drank the
health of the engineers who had wrought this marvel in so
short a time. How much the science of engineering has
advanced since that may be judged from the simple fact
that from the time of commencing to sink one of the three
caissons at Blaekfriars till the men are at work in a dry
chamber far below the bed of the river, occupies from het to
last only a month ! If the corporation now hays any
curiosity to dine far beneath the bed of old Father Thames,
they have only to signify their wish, and in a month from
that time their sells-ci-manger in the London clay on be
made ready for them beneath any part of the tideway they
y chpoorge than Yt
theylikewColumbus'segg problem, nothing can
be a
simpler
engineering efeat is accomplished. :It may be b'iefly
described thus :—Over the site of the intenda column for
may
the pier the traveller brings the first circular wrought-
iron joint of the tube. It is lin thick, 18ft diameter, 15ft
long, and weighs 27 tons. It has a sharp edge at the bosom,
but a fl it flange or rim at the top, for the next joint to be
laid on it. This is lowered between four guiding piles to the
bottom of the river, and the next joint, of the same weight
and size, put over it, when the divers go down and, plating
bands of vulcanised indiaruber between the rims or flanges,
screw them both so firmly together as to be perfectly water
tight. As the joints above are added one by one, the weight
of the whole tube sinks it equally through the mud and
gravel till it will go no further, when a new process com-
mences. A steam pump, of Mr. Woodtord's patent—cue
of the simplest and most powerful machines of the kind
ever invented—is set to work, and pumps the water out of
the tube in a single hour, when men go down and begin ex-
cavating the earth out of the tube, Which goes lower and
lower as they work, joint upon joint being added on above
as it sinks at the rate of 4ft a day. At last the increasing
density of the London clay resists the weight of the tube ;
it is then loaded equally, but very heavily,
all round its
interior on wrought iron ledges left for the purpose with
masses of iron ballast, which again take it lower and lower,
till at last, when some 30ft into the London clay, no pros-
, Miro above or excavationbelow will move iemore. One that
had reached its bearings was weighted with 900 tons of rails
at the top without getting it down half an inch. When so
fixed the iron tube is about 65ft long, reaching from high
water 30ft into the clay, and the gloomy circular aperture
then precisely resembles in size and depth the present ap-
pearance of the mouth of the terrible Hartley pit shaft.
The last labour is then to excavate a circular chamber at
the base of the tube some 24ft in diameter, and 3ft deep,
which is filled up with concrete, when the hardened bricks
are laid in cement up to 4ft below low water mark,
when the blocks of masonry begin. These blocks have
been chosen from the largest stones of old Westminater -
bridge, and after being laid they are fastened together
with brass cramps and dovetailed in, like the keystones of
an arch,so as in strength to be equal to a single block of 18ft
diameter and 4ft thick. All of the iron caissons that can be
seen above low water is then removed, and the groups of
iron columns built and fastened together in the way we have
described. Moat of these piers and columns being ready,
and all on the south side complete, the work of building the
main centre girder has already been commenced there.
These girders are to be wrought iron and on the lattice
principle, somewhat similar, but much larger than those at
the sides of Mr. Hawkshaw's bridge at Hungerford, to
resist tension and compression. They will be 16 feet deep;
but the centre one, as having to bear the transverse iron
beams which unite it to the outer girders, will bo made of
extra strength. The two outer ones will at each span be
tested with a strain of 400 tons—the inner one up to 800
tons, and the weight of wrought iron used in the three will
be no less than 3,500 tons. The scaffolding required for the
erection of these main beams has to be almost as strong as
the beams themselves. More than 70,000 cubio feet of
timber have been used in constructing it. The mixed wood
and iron lattice framework which our readers may now see
at the top of all is what is called the American truss, It is
precisely similar to the framework by which all the railways
in Canada and America are carried over the broadest rivers.
This has been constructed, with the staging underneath it,
to support the first span of the girder while being built, and
its strength may be judged when we say that this scaffold-
rig has been loaded to a ton and a half per foot without

sign of yield or weakness of any kind. When the spans of
the main girders join above the groups of columns their
junctions will be concealed by massive ornamental castings,
which will be relieved with gilt and colour. In the same
style the termination of the girders at each end will be
ornamented with exceedingly bold and massive castings.
On the Surrey side of the river the enormous range
of buildings which are being erected are intended
mainly for a goods station—a great central depot
for all the traffic that will be brought from the Great
Northern by the connexion of the Metropolitan Railway and
that coming from the south. Abutting on the deep water of
the river, the company have hero got a range of waterside
premises which are not surpassed on any part of the '1 homes
and the necessity for taking their line at a high level to meet
their railway bridge, has onablt d them to build what may
almost be termed acres of fireproof warehouses under their
river-side station. All goods coming by water are lolled
on trucks in these warehouses, and thence raised in batches
by one of Sir William Armstrong's powerful hydraulic lifts
to the level of the line above, and thence despatched with-
out further change to any part of England north or south.
From this point of the river-side station on the Surrey side
the line passes through, and has or will have stations at the
Borough, Elephant and Castle, Cambei well-gate, Camber-
well-road, and thence the main line continues due south to
Chatham, Dover, or, in fact, anywhere over the south of
England, while the Metropolitan line is extended round by
Brixton, Clapham, Wandsworth, South Lambeth, and Bat-
tersea, into Victoria, making junctions en route with all the
southern lines. North of Blackfriars the trains will run
into the Metropolitan Underground line, and thence to Pad-
dington, and so on by the Great Western and West London
Junction round by Notting-hill, Kensington, Brompton,
Chelsea, Battersea, and by Battersea-park over the Victoria-
bridge into Victoria-station, thus completing one perfect
inner circle of railway, which embraces nearly all the chief
districts in the metropolis. But the Victoria station can
by no means accommodate this threatened addition to its
traffic. Already there is more traffic in and out of that
station daily than at any other station, and one Thames
bridge is not. enough for it. A short line, therefore, is
proposed to be built from the south side of Battersea, so as
to give the Chatham and Dover an independent Thames
bridge of their own into Victoria station. This will
make the tenth new bridge across the Thames begun on
completed within the last four years, eight of which are for
railways. By next June it is expected that the city branch
will be ready for its traffic into Earl-street, and by next
Christmas the circle will be completed by the routes we
have named, and the distances of this unwieldly metropoli•
lis reduced, in point of time, to as manageable dimensions
as those of a country town. This, however, is not likely
to be the only new line into the metropolis, and to the pro-
moters of those who hope to follow we would say, in the
interest of the public, go and see the new stations which
the Chatham and Dover are about to give their passengers.
They are models of convenience, of cheerfulness, and even
comfort. They are models, in fact, of what such stations
should be, but which the public have never got till now.
To the engineers, Mr. Cubbit and Mr. Turner, is due the
praise of having designed the stations en such a compre-
hensive and liberal scale, and the contractors, Sir Morton
Pete, Mr. Betts, and Mr. Crampton, have carried out the
designs splendidly.
Naval and Military Intelligence.