The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-01 00:00:00

Sinking of a Railway Viaduct at Clapham,

Yesterday morning an occurrence of a disastrous
nature, though fortunately unattended with any
loss of life or bodily injury, took place near the
Clapham station of the Metropolitan Extension of
the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, in con-
sequence of which the through traffic on the line
will have to be suspended for some time to come.
It will be remembered that that part of the Metro-
politan Extension Railway which is to join the
Victoria station at Pimlico by a bridge across the
Thames at Blackfriars with the Farringdon -street
terminus, was opened a short time since from Vic-
toria station to the Elephant and Castle. The
second station on the line is that at Clapham, and
at about 300 yards distant the line crosses the Clap-
ham-road and the Bedford-road by means of two
iron girder bridges. Between these bridges is a
viaduct, consisting of nine arches of massive brick-
work, standing in a field. All the structure ap-
peared to be quite safe up to the evening of Tues-
day, when there were slight indications in the
parapet of a subsidence of one of the centre piers.
The officials of the company were at once apprised
of the fact, and precautions were taken for the pro-
tection of the safety of the public, by watching,
&c. Yesterday morning, at about half-past six
o'clock, the men on watch found that the pier began
to sink rapidly, and before long it had subsided up-
wards of four feet into the earth, and had carried
with it the next pier, and, as a matter of course, the
centre arch and portions of the arches on each side.
Notwithstanding this great sinking, and the manner
in which a large portion of the brickwork had be-
come broken up, the " road" (the rails) did not give
way for some time. Information was at once sent up
to the Victoria terminus, as a train was to leave
at 7.25, and the booking beyond Clapham was
stopped. Almost immediately a large body of
workmen were on the spot, and the traffic be-
tween the Clapham and Brixton stations having
been suspended, steps were taken to shore up the
arches on both sides of those damaged. At an
early hour the chief engineer of the line, Mr.
George Cubitt, with Mr. and Mr. Thomas, of the
engineering staff; Mr. G. S. Forbes, general
manager ; Mr. Mills, Mr. Bishop, and other officials
of the company, visited the spot and examined
the sunken piers and damaged arches. There was
not the slightest appearance of defect in the
brickwork, which is said to be of the best descrip-
tion. It seems certair, that the pier on the. Clapham-
road side must have gone first, carrying the other
portion with it. No positive reason can be assigned
for the subsiding of the pier. The foundations
were laid on the solid gravel, and as there is no
knowledge of the existence of any old sewer in
the vicinity, the conclusion arrived at is that
there is a great bottom at some considerable depth
below the gravel on which the foundations rested.
However, men were employed all day in taking
down the damaged arches, and when the brick-
work is removed the foundations will be dug out,
and the exact cause will, no doubt, become ap-
parent. It is most fortunate that the discovery of
the subsidence was made before the trains began
running, otherwise there might have been a great
loss of life. As it is, however, the traffic round the
whole circle, from Victoria station to the Elephant
and Castle, will be suspended for about three weeks.
The traffic from Victoria station to Clapham was
carried on all day, and will be continued, and the
company have arranged that a sufficient number of
carriages and engines shall be removed to the other
side of the spot, in order that the traffic shall be re-
sumed from the Elephant and Castle to Brixton
st4tion by Sunday morning next.

CONFEDERATE TROOPS.

(From Blackwood's Magazine.)

As the regiments marched past me, I remarked that,
however slovenly the dress of the men of any particular
company might be, their rifles were invariably in good
serviceable order. They marched, too, with an elastic
tread, the pace being somewhat slower than that of our
troops, and not only seemed vigorous and healthy, but
each man had that unmistakable look of conscious strength
and manly self-reliance, which those who are accustomed
to review troops like to see. I have seen many armies file
past in all the pomp of bright clothing, and well polished
accoutrements, but I never saw one composed of finer men,
or that looked more like work, than that portion of General
Lee's army which I was fortunate enough to see inspected.
If I had at any time entertained misgivings as to the ability
of the Southerners to defend their country and liberties
against Northern invasion, they were at once and for ever
dispelled when I examined for myself the material of which
the Confederate armies are composed. Anyone who goes
amongst those men in their bivouacs, and talks to them as I
did, will soon learn why it is that their generals laugh at the
idea of Mr. Lincoln's mercenaries subjugating the South.
Every man in that service, whether non-commissioned
officer or private, will declare to you that it is his fixed de-
termination to fight for his freedom and resist Yankee op-
pression as long as he has strength to march. A gulf deep
and impassible now divides the Southerners from the old
Union ; and such is the hatred and loathing entertained by
them for those who, forgetting the ties of brotherhood which
once bound all the states together, have not hesitated to
carry fire and sword into the land of their common fore-
fathers, that many have told me, were it possible that the
seceding States should ever be conquered, they would
emigrate to England to avoid an oppression more tyran-
nical than that which in times past had driven forth their
ancestors from Great Britain. I have heard many men of
influence say that they now believe the great rebellion to
have been a mistake, and that the acts complained of in the
Declaration of Independence (most of which, by the way
were committed subsequent to the first shedding of blood),
were trifles when compared with what had been inflicted
upon them by the Northerners. It was pretty generally be-
lieved last year that if Mr. Lincoln had picked a quarrel
with us, such was the antipathy felt by all Americans for
the " Britisker," that the South would at least have aided
the North in prosecuting the war. Indeed, a number of
American statesmen seemed at one time to think that the
best chance open to them of re-establishing the Union was
by engaging in such a war. But such a line of policy would
now be scorned by the South; and my own impression is,
that many generations must pass away ere it would be will-
ing to fight side by side with the, men of New England in
any cause whatever.

Of the cavalry I saw but little, as General Steuart had
left for his raid into Pennsylvania the day I reached head-
quarters, and only returned a couple of days before I com-
menced my homeward journey. I did remark, however,
that all the men rode well, in which particular they pre-
sent a striking contrast to the Northern cavalry, who
can scarcely sit their horses, even when trotting. Indeed,
I have no doubt but that all who have seen the Northern
troopers on duty in Washington will agree with me in
thinking them the greatest scarecrows under the name of
cavalry that they ever saw. Apropos of them, a Southern
lady told me that on one occasion, when jesting with a
Northern officer about the inability of his troopers to con-
tend with the Southern " chivalry," although the latter
were not half so numerous, he said, " What can we do
We can never catch them; for whilst we are opening the
gates, they are all over the fences." Every man in the
South rides from childhood, and, consequently, is at home
in the saddle; whereas to be on horseback is a most disa-
greeable position for a Yankee, and one in which he rarely
trusts himself. In the North thousands keep horses, but
only to drive them. " What is the use of having good roads
if you don't drive on them," they say. To have a horse
that can trot a mile in two minutes 40 seconds is the pride
of a New Englander; but a good fencer would be as useless
to him as an elephant. The troopers in the Southern ca-
valry have their own horses; and upon the breaking out of
the war they provided themselves with arms as well.
Sabres have since been issued to them by Government, and
they have mostly armed themselves with carbines or re-
volvers taken from their discomfited brethren of the North.
Their knowledge of drill is limited, and altogether their
constitution resembles much that of our irregular cavalry.
As they can never be required to act in an open coun-
try .suitable for masses of horsemen, they are admirably
adapted for the service required of them. Cavalry that
could not fence well would be utterly useless in
Virginia ; but in a close country like it, where the quantity
of wood always prevents any extensive view, a body of
good riders, such as the Southern cavalry, are invaluable
to a general, as by their means alone he can learn the move-
ments, and sometimes the whereabouts, of the enemy. The
want of such skilful horsemen is sadly felt in the Federal
armies, and accounts in a measure for their general igno-
rance of where the enemy is, and what he is doing. The
Federal generals hitherto have been either extremely rash,
or extremely cautious and slow. They spurn the advantages
attending upon an irregular army, and unable to attain the
efficiency of regulars, they possess the drawbacks of both
systems without the advantages of either. The Southern
ranks, on the contrary, have attained an efficiency equal to
that of the best irregulars. They are therefore enabled to
make long and rapid marches, caring little, meanwhile, for
regularity, so long as they can form line upon the decisive
points; whilst their puzzled enemy, clogged with all the
routine of drill, without officers able to direct it, or soldiers
sufficiently instructed to perform it, is trying in vain to
discover their whereabouts. It is owing to these circum-
stances that the Southern cavalry under Steuart has been
able to march round and round M'Clellan, seizing and de-
stroying his reserve of stores in the rear whilst he was
blindly feeling for them in front. As the real power of an
army rests upon its ability in marching well, the Confede-
rates make up for their deficiency in numbers by rapidity
of movement,