The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 16, 1863.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

MADRAS.

meeting of this company was held on
Friday hyaaifttLealY London Tavern ; Lieut.-General D. Sim in
the chair. . . _

—The report, an abstract of which has appeared in The
Sun, was taken as read.

The CITAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report,
said the railway consisted of two separate lines—namely, the
South-West and North- West lines. The South-West line
commenced at Madras, on the east coast, and crossing the
peninsula by the towns of Arcot, Vellore, Salem, and Coim-
batore, terminated at Beypoor, on the Malabar, or west
coast. The trunk line from Madras to Beypoor was 406
miles in length; it commenced into 1852, and opened for
traffic in May, 1862. In addition to the trunk line there
was a branch to Bangalore, 84 miles in length, making the
total length 490 miles. About three-fourths of the decayed
wooden sleepers between Madras and Godavery river, a dis-
tance of 245 miles, had been replaced by iron sleepers,which
had increased their expenses ; but those expenses would be
compensated by the solidity of the line, and the diminution
in the cost of maintenance. The works had progressed
satisfactorily on the Bangalore branch line during the past
half-year, The chief difficulty and delay in the construc-
tion of this branch had been caused by the rocky and hilly
ascent to the table-land of Mysore, in the course of which
large quantities of rock had to be removed and deep cuttings
excavated. Those difficulties were very much increased by
the unhealthiness of those particular places. They had,
however, overcome those difficulties, and the remainder of
the line would be completed as fast as the materials for the
permanent way could be delivered. The Bangalore branch
would be completed by the middle of next year, and would
conaect the main line with the large and populous city of
Mysore, an emporium of trade and manufactures, and the
largest military station in the south of India. It was ex-
pected that this branch would bring a large accession of
traffic to the main line. The North-West line commenced
also at Madras, passing over the south-west or main line to
Arconum, where it diverged to Cuddapa, Gooty, and Bel-
lary, the original intention being to continue it to Moodgul
and on to the Nizam country, where it was to form a junc-
tion with the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. It had since
been proposed that, instead of making the line to Moodgul,

it should be carried to Hyderabad, and there form a junc-
tion with the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. The ques-
tion was now before the local Government, and would be
decided by them. The works in the meantime were being
carried on to Bellary; the great obstacle to the construction
of the North-West line was the unhealthy ascent from the

lower country into the district of Cuddapa. lle believed
the line up this ascent had just been completed, and he had
no doubt the trains were passing over it by this time. It
was expected that this line would be completed for a distance
of 66 miles from Arconum in the early part of next year.
The traffic had been fully stated in the report, and he
thought the results were satisfactory. The increase in the
passenger traffic during the past half-year had been 12 per
cent., and in the goods traffic 24 per cent. on the main line.
The increase in the receipts had been £16,400 over those of
the preceding half-year. The increase in the traffic on the
41 miles of the North-West line had been about 96 per cent.
as compared with the corresponding period of last year.
The increase in the expenses had been caused chiefly by re-
placing the wooden sleepers with iron ones, but that would
cease when the operation was completed. The sunstitution
of wood for coal and coke in their engines would effect a
saving of 50 per cent. in the item of fuel. They proposed to
raise additional capital to the amount of £1,000,000. They
had already raised £5,000,000 on shares and £2,000,000 on
debentures, making £7,003,000. There was a sum of about
£400,000 in the hands of the Government, which would
probably be sufficient for the next six months to carry on
the works.

Mr. ARBUTHNOT seconded the motion for the adoption
of the report.
In reply to questions it was stated that the amount ex-
pended on works which were at present unproductive was
£3,000,000. The working expenses on the main line were 54
per cent., and on the North-West line 40 per cent. of the
gross receipts. The bridge on the main line near Beypoor,
which had been accidentally swept away by a flood, was only
30ft span; but the bridge built in place of it was erected on
screw piles, and had openings of 200 ft, so that there was no
probability of such an accident again happening
at that
place.
Resolutions were passed adopting the report and autho-
rising the directors to raise additional capital to the amount
of £1,000,000 under a guarantee of 5 per cent.
A vote of thanks to the chairman and directors concluded
the proceedings.

THE KING OF GREECE.

The following is an extract from a letter dated Athens,
Nov. 6 :—I meant to write last week, but as we were in all
the excitement of the new King's arrival, I thought I
would wait until that great event was over, as it will, per-
haps, amuse you to hear how it all passed. From the mo-
ment the telegram came to say he was on board the Hellas,
and fairly sailed from Toulon, all the inhabitants of Athens
lost the little good sense nature has gifted them with, and
went stark mad. The town was full of strangers, come
from Turkey, Egypt, the lonian Islands, &c., with the usual
portion of English tourists—more than 30,000 it is said.
Of course, though ho had been expected and hoped for for
nearly a year, nothing was ready. I met the Demarque
rushing frantically through the town to find linen to make
his sheets, and mattresses for his bed, and a carriage and
horses to bring him up from the Pirmus. However, by
the time he did at last land all was in perfect order. You
cannot think how pretty the town looked—all the balconies
and Shops were decked with flags, Turkish shawls, brocades
and myrtle and laurel in profusion, with a picture of his
Majesty of some kind or other on every house, strings of
coloured Chinese lanterns all across the streets, and lots of
triumphal arches, and over all the glorious blue sky and
bright sunshine of Greece. He was received at the Pirmus
by a Royal salute of 101 guns from 11 vessels of different
nations in the harbour, the usual speeches, charity school
hymns, &c., and then nearly all the inhabitants of the
Piraeus ran alongside of his carriage up to Athens,
shouting " Zeto," and tossing their fear in the air, and
looking very picturesque with all their different costumes.
He came into Athens by the new entrance, which strikes off
near the Temple of Theseus, and comes by a wide, hand-
some street to the new Place de la Condoide, opposite M.
Domando's house, which is now the bank; thence along
the Rue d' Elole, and up the Rue d'Hermes to the new
cathedral, where there was a Ts Deum sung ; from there to
the square before the Palace (where we were otationed on
a balcony), and from there up to the Palace, where he
showed himself on the balcony, good-naturedly standing on
a chair that he might be well eon over the heads of all his
entourage. You cannot conceive the enthusiasm and ex-
citement of the people, who, after all, are just grown-up
children ; but I think it is much to their credit that, in spite
of all their crowding to get a sight of him, there was not a
single accklent or quarrel, and, still more wonderful, not
one gun fired, as Mr. Scariett had told the authorities that
he was sure the young king would not relish that mode of
rejoicing. In the evening there was a general illumina-
tion, which, with the help of the gay decorations, was really
very presentable, and as it was a lovely evening the whole
world walked about half the night. To be sure, the mise en
scene is a great help to all fetes, with the Acropolis for back-
ground ; and the beautiful marble columns of the temples,
lighted up with an illumination look grand. The next morn-
ing he was walking about seeing all the antiquities, and in
the evening there were fireworks at the Temple of Jupiter,
at which about 60,000 people attended, and which the chil-
dren, who were there too, thought the most beautiful thing
that ever was seen. The first act of authority of the new
King was to order the throne which had been erected
for him in the cathedral to be taken down, to
request the people not to shout " Zeto" in the church, and
to desire that the soldiers should never enter the church
with their arms. On the Saturday he went to the National
Assembly and took the oaths (in Greek), in the evening
there was a great dinner at the Palace, and on Sunday
morning he walked down to the Greek church, accompanied
by one aide-de-camp, and attended the service, which
raised the enthusiasm at least 100 per cent. He walks
about all over the town in the most free and easy manner,
and takes every occasion of recommending simplicity and
economy. When Haydi Petro was presented to him,
covered with gold embroidery (and coming, of course, to ask
for a place), the King asked him if there were any gold
mines in his province, and then told him that he thought
the money thrown away which was spent in adorning one's
person, &c. Of course, we cannot judge yet of what sort of a
king he will be, but he has at least had the tact to debuter very
well, Count Sponneck seems a very clever, decided sort of
person, too, eo that I really think it promises well. They
are busy now cooking a new Ministry, which is no easy
task. Charles Soutyo has been named Marechal de Palais,
and permission given to all King Otho's household, which
had been exiled, to return to Athens whenever they like, as
the King said he did not consider it at all just that any one
should be persecuted for having shown himself faithful to
his King. Next week he goes to Corfu to take possession
of the Seven Islands, and I hear there are great prepara-
tions making there too for his reception. Among others it
was said that seven young ladies, to represent the Seven
Islands, were to row him to shore, singing the national
hymn ; but I hear he hinted that he would greatly prefer
listening to the young ladies on dry land, and being rowed
by English sailors. We have had beautiful weather ever
since he came, and though we are nearly dying of thirst
for want of water, as it has not rained for nine months, no-
body complains."

The American Crocodile at the Zoological

Gardens.

Mr. F. Buckland in a letter to the Field, says :
"In the last Fkld I described this new arrival at the
Gardens, I have since communicated with Dr. P. L.
Sclater, secretary of the Zcological Society, on the subject,
_ _ .

who has been kind enough to place in my hands the follow
arr
ing lively account of the capture of this animal, extracted
from aletter yth(corresponding
LemaEt-
br o
voyage I instructed a friend of mine to purchase a large
specimen of a cairn in for me, the price not to exceed 100
doll, (all charges included). Two Indians offered to get
consequently I only paid the expenses, A smart
active half-bred,
one for me, which they captured in the Deeke and brought
dead
named by myself Jacare' (a noted caiman
hunter), agreed to procure one to supply the place of those
e,t the
society) addressed
to
Dr,
Gray
. l‘
Sclater,
which were defunct. In five days on my return to Car-
thagena from Vanta Marta, I was visited by a friend, who
told me Jacare had turned a large alligator (caiman he
nervous
ysm heaanopkrtpe
nrt
yooha
anavtesd:
htei
afraid
barkedf andrcat
ledea rofhbci et
likevaa.
meant) into his court-yard that morning, and would
escAt
aa. tkmtel rtoa despatching
teeiamffmspiavntneyddb owt
perfecthti mltiehssyh, officialoesmaeli
tafhe,sv:
h brinsuegkdti duties
I w
and lacerating his tail thereby, but slightly.
"I ordered a cedar-wood box to be made for his enclosure
by 4 p.m. the next day (at any reasonable price). At the
appointed time for its readiness, I was shown a huge sar-
cophagus, which I atoncereduced myself, doffing my jacket
to the labour, much to the surprise of the dozen carpenters
who were too self-opinionated, even had they understood
(much more) my mongrel articulation of their language.
This done, I made them hammer it together firmly, fix
nails ready for the cover, and march off with it to the court
yard of my friend's residence.
" Now for the scrimmage I We discovered on cpening
the gates of the cell in the court-yard, where he lurked im-
mured, that he had grown savage and surly in captivity,
and determined upon resistance. I had invited a few of my
immediate friends inside from the cuff cation of the fancy
coloured mob outside who crowded at the street doors ; but
they soon wero scared with one or two exceptions,and those
elevated themselves on tubs and other conveniences out of
his reach, in case he broke from the rope which secured
him by the tail; but seeing this pretty safe they at length
came to assist in the capture, which was not effected until
the strength and patience of all were nigh exhausted. lie
couched himself open-mouthed, and floundered like a shark
in our attempts to drop the noose round his jaws, that we
might lay hold of him fearlessly, banging in the panels of
the doors with his firm tail, and again getting among the
bottles, which he whisked right and left. Jacare, in the
most courageous and sang froid style, seated himself on the
reptile's back to bind the snout more securely, and then,
with the assistance of myself and colleagues, lifted him into
his ' coffin of a crib,' which I took the precaution to bed
with rushes that he might wallow on through the tropics,
and which at the same time would provide against the
colder passage of the Channel. Sliding the lid on about
three..quarters, we were enabled to relieve him of
his fetters and lot his jaws at liberty ; then sliding the
cover the whole length, leaving a trap-door through which,
during the voyage,
we might note the welfare of the
reptile. We proceeded with our menagerie, hoisted on a
mule cart, in triumph to the wharf, followed by a motley
mole of llispano-Indian juveniles, and adults of both sexes,
yelling and screaming in the zenith of their glee. Here,
on our arrival, we shipped him in a canoe hired for the oc-
casion ; the next sensation scene being the arrival alongside,
the crew suspecting, from the size and shape of the pack-
age, it was some Imperial soulless body homeward bound."
The creature is now in the gardens, and apparently in
good health, he is about eight feet long. lam glad that I
expressed my doubts in my last as to this boast being
a true alligator, for Dr. Sclater tells me that this specimen
is the American crocodile (Crocodiles Americtnus), and not
the alligator. There is a very old joke that the difference
between a crocodile and an alligator is "the same as be-
tween a solicitor and an attorney." The real zoological
difference between the alligator and the crocodile is, that in
the former the lower canine teeth fit into a hollow or pit in
the upper jaw made for its reception, whereas in the latter
these same canine teeth project on the outside, as we see
sometimes the case in bulldogs. There is also a difference in
the toes—the crocodile having webs to his toes, the alliga-
tor's toes being only partly webbed, and the outer toe being
free, like a bird's claw. In America the terms alligator and
crocodile are in ordinary parlance, I believe, applied indis-
er iminatelspecies. to both

to the re-
Major.
Genera'.As eG
el
oe
rdg
eo
Bu re l e
ea r. h taos sau tic
et ieceidpeadt e,
giment vacant by the decease of General Roderick Macneil.
The transfer of Sir Patrick Grant from the 104th to the
78th Highlanders, furnishes the first instance of an. Indian
officer becoming colonel of an old Line regiment. Some
financial details in connection with the transfer have been
arranged, but beyond this there is nothing in the change
which does not follow as a natural consequence of the
amalgamation of the Indian with the Imperial forces. The
old Line officers have nothing to complain of, inasmuch as
one of their own body is provided for iu the person of
General Bell; and the 78th will not feel otherwise than
pleased at having a a now chief who is so closely identified
with the nationality whose fame they so admirably sus-
tain,—.Army aid .Nary Gazette,