The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-06 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 0, 1862.

TILE iNTENipE:II.N.ETV, ~RIDGE AT
.13 zieffERIARS.

At the beginning of last year, when the design
for the bridge across the Thames for the Chatham
and Dover Railway was first talked of, the Commit-
tee of the Bridge-house Estate determined seriously
to consider the state of their old and expensive in-
curable at Blackfriars. Fortunately the case was
one which offered no particular difficulties in its
I solution, inasmuch as Blackfriars-bridge has been

built fora century, and during the last 25 years of
its existence has raised quite a school of bridge en-

gineers, all whose efforts have been concentrated
upon the infirm old structure to keep it, by main
_ .

force, from going bodily into the river. In this
laudable object they have, up to the present time,
been eminently successful, and as the sum spent in
repairs is still within the amount which would have
given us a new bridge 10 years ago, the job is, on
the whole, not considered as more than ordinarily

unsatisfactory and wasteful. But when it was
known that it was intended to build an iron railway
bridge only 100 feet to the east of it things wore a
very different aspect, and even engineers who had a
kind of blind confidence in the structure from its
having held up so long, in defiance of all laws,
readily admitted the increase of danger to its stabi-
lity if its piers were further disturbed by other piers
being sunk down near them. The Bridge-house
committee therefore, a 9 we have said, turned their
attention to the case, and after much anxious deli-
beration arrived safely at the conclusion which the
piblic had reached many years before, and decided
that a new bridge was not only necessary, but would
be cheaper in the end than trying to keep up the
old one. They therefore called on the principal en •
gineers in England for designs, and 12 gentlemen
sent in plans and estimates—viz., Mr. Barlow, Mr.
Brereton, Mr. Goodchild, Mr. Brunlees, Mr. Joseph
Cubitt, Mr. Bidder, Mr. Edwin Clark, Mr. Mylne
(grandson of the architect of the present bridge),
Mr. John Fowler, Mr. llawkshaw, Mr. Rennie, Sir

John Rennie, and Mr. Page.
We had heard sufficient of the general nature o.
the various designs sent in to learn that all, in fact,
were very good, and that the committee out of such
a selection as was offered to them could not possibly
take a bad one. The designs for granite and cast
and wrought iron bridges were as follows :—Sir
John Rennie, a granite bridge of three arches, the
centre span being 236 ft 10 in ; Mr. Geo. Rennie,
five arches, centre span 150 feet; Mr. G. Rennie,
five arches, each having a span of 125 ft ; Mr.
Mylne, five arches, each having a span of 156 ft,
The designs for a wrought-iron arched bridge were
submitted by Mr. John Fowler, three arches, centre
span 275 ft ; Mr. John Fowler, five arches, centre
span 184 ft ; Mr. John Hawkshaw, three arches,
spans 200 ft each ; Mr. John Hawkshaw, five arches,
spans 145 ft each ; Mr. P. W. Barlow, three arches,
centre span 250 ft. The design for a wrought-iron
girder bridge was submitted by Mr. R. P. Brereton,
five openings, the centre opening being 220 ft. The
designs for a cast-iron arched bridge were submitted
by Mr. Thomas Page, three arches, centre span 280
ft ; Mr. T. Page, five arches, centre span 156 ft ;
Messrs. G. P. Bidder and Edwin Clark, five arches,
each span being 172 ft; Mr. George Rennie, five
arches, centre span 160 ft ; Mr. George Rennie, five
arches, centre span 175 ft ; Mr. George Rennie, five
arches, centre span 180 ft; Mr. Robt. Wm. Mylne,
five arches, centre span 163 ft 6 in ; Mr. Joseph
Cubitt, five arches, centre span 150 ft ; Mr. James
Brunless, five arches, centre span 172 ft. Each and
all of these were really noble designs, but while the
committee had them under their consideration we
most carefully abstained from saying a single word
in reference to the competition lest we might influ-
ence the decision in the slightest possible degree.
When, however, the committee announced their
award we hastened to lay before our readers a descrip-
tion of the long-needed structure decided on, and
we also expressed our belief that the committee had
certainly chosen the best out of the many fine de-
signs sent in to them, and congratulated them sin-
cerely on their choice. The design selected was
Mr. Page's, which was one of the handsomest and
one of the cheapest. It was to consist of only three
arches, the centre one being of the gigantic span of
280 ft, or 40 ft wider than the central arch of South
wark Bridge. From the springing of the arch to
the crown the rise is only 20 ft, which, in a span of
such an extent, merely amounts to the most gentle
curve ; so that, when seen from the river, the line
of the structure would appear almost straight. The
cornice beneath the parapet is of exceedingly bold
and handsome design, surmounted with a parapet
above of solid granite. The spandrils of the outer
iron ribs on each side were closed, but filled up with
figures in bas relief and ornamental scrollwork. The
piers were designed to form the most massive and
noble looking features of the whole. There were to
be four of these—two at the shore side arches, and
two in the river for the support of the centre arch.
Each' was to be of granite, of immense sixe, width,
and depth, surmounted with a red granite Doric
column, 40 ft high, 23 ft in diameter at base and
capital, and 18 ft diameter in the column. Each,
though built hollow, would weigh upwards. of 500
tons. Their capitals reached to the summit of the
bridge, and Mr. Page proposed to subsequently adorn
them with colossal groups of statuary. The length of
the bridge was to be the same as the present, but its
width nearly double—namely, 76 ft against 42.
There were to be two roadways of 14 ft wide, instead
of, as now, two of 7 ft. There were to be two tram-
ways of 8 ft wide. These were to be placed in
the centre of the roadway, leaving two roads, each
16 feet wide, for the omnibuses and light traffic
coming and going. The whole area of road and
footway was to be 78,000 feet, instead of 41,000,
the area of the present structure. The cost of the old
bridge was at the rate of £3 15s. 6d. per square
foot of surface, while the cost of the new bridge,
estimated at £245,000, is at the rate of £3 63-a foot,
or, size for size, nearly half the price of the old one.
Such is a rough general outline of the design
which the Bridge-house committee selected and re-
commended to the Court of Common Council for
adoption. To use the words of their report, they
chose it for " the manifest grandeur of style and
beauty of the proposed structure, which they deem
worthy in all respects of this great municipality,"
and "combining the desiderata best calculated to
meet the requirements of the public."
It is just upon six month ago since this decision
was arrived at, and yet nothing has since been done
but to cavil at the decision and intrigue against it
till the prospect of a new bridge now seems even
more remote than when the designs were called for
last March. Some object to the proposed structure
on the ground that the low curve of the arches will
at high tide prevent laden barges and steamers pass-
ing under them close to the piers ; but the general
practica of these craft seems to be always to take the
centre of the arch for their passage. If, however,
there is anything in this objection, it is easily
met by demonstrating that a bridge with only
two piers in the stream leaves a greater space of
waterway navigable than one with slightly
higher arches that requires four piers for
its support over the river. The real secret
of the opposition appears to be a desire to get a
five-arched bridge, and to make its architecture sub-
servient to that of the bridge for the Chatham and
Dover Railway, the promoters of which, naturally
enough, do not wish to incur the expense of a three-
arched viaduct, such as they will have to build if a
three-arched bridge is chosen for Blackfriars. But
our object in drawing the attention of the public and
the corporation to this matter now is simply to point
out the valuable time which has been lost in these
disputes, and in striving against the award of the
Bridge-house Committee. We are very glad, there-
fore, to find that some steps have been taken to bring
the matter to a conclusion one way or the other,
and that the whole subject has been brought under
the consideration of the Court of Common Council.
This Court is perfectly competent to deal with the
question, if the whole subject is not made a stalk-
ing-house for endless debates and fortnightly
adjournments. The Court have simply got to say
Yes or No. If they find that they have, or can get,
a better design than Mr. Page's, let them at once
throw Mr. Page's overboard and adopt the other.
But at least the city has a right to expect that
something should be done towards a final decision.
If the Common Council can give the public a strong
and spacious bridge they will be very glad to get

it. If, as well as being strong and spacious, it is
Cheap and bandsofte too, Why all the better still ;
but a bridge of some kind must be built at once, for
no one denies that the present structure is in an un-
safe condition. The centre arch is completely
broken, and resting entirely on the massive timber
centreing beneath it. It Vibrates dangerously under
the passage of the traffic, and if any further settle-
ment of the piers were to take place the whole
structure might come into the river in a few days.
The immense web of scaffolding now around and
under New Westminster-bridge so impedes the ebb
and flow of the tide that the water, when running
up or down, is from 12 to 13 inches higher on one
side of the bridge than on the other. When all
these obstacles are removed, as they will be by the
end of next March or beginning of April, the flux
and reflux of the water will be so much the greater,
and with this the scour of the river largely in-
creased. The condition of the defective piers at
Blackfriars-bridge would then most probably be-
come seriously affected, and need the most anxious
care to enable them to carry traffic at all. It is from
foreseeing the evils which may thus arise from fur-
ther delay that we do earnestly hope that the
Court of Common Council will come to a final deci-
sion in this matter. All the public want is a safe
bridge, whether it is Mr. Page's or anybody's else,
though we are at once willing to admit that we
should be sorry to see the decision of the Bridge-
house Committee disturbed from a simple feeling
that the metropolis would thereby lose the chance
of getting one of the handsomest bridges that has
been designed for many years.

THE CtiUSES AND PROBABLE .RE•
SULTS OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR.

(From the Record.)
The Hon. Arthur Kinnaird, and Mrs. Kinnaird,
invited a number of gentlemen and ministers of
various denominations to their residence, 2, Pall-
mall East, on Friday evening, to meet the venerable
Bishop of Ohio, who was asked to give information
on the present war in the United States. Additional
interest attached to the occasion from the presence
of Mr. Thurlow Weed, a leading American politi-
cian of the Republican school, to which Mr. Lincoln
belongs, and of Mr. Bancroft Davis, a nephew of
Bancroft, the eminent American historian.
. The company having assembled in the drawing-
room,
Mr. KINNAIRD explained, that his object in call-
ing his friends together was to aid in removing the
misapprehensions which prevailed in regard to the
unhappy conflict now raging in America. It could
not be denied that, among certain classes in this
country there was a disposition to favour the South ;
and there was also a general want of information as
to causes which had brought about the present dis-
ruption. He had, therefore, taken this opportunity
just before the meeting of Parliament, to ask their
American friends to give explanations as to these
causes, and as to the probable results of the war.
Bishop M'ILTAINE then rose, and made a length-
ened and interesting statement on the whole subject
of the war, and its causes, proximate and remote,
He opened with an emphatic denial of the assump-
tion, put forward in some quarters,' that there
was an inherent and irreconcilable incompati-
bility of union and association between the people
of the North and South respectively. The close
intercommunication in all matters—educational,
ecclesiastical, and social—which prevailed between
the two parts of the country prior to the disruption
entirely negatived the allegation in question, if
then the division could not be accounted for by na-
tural antagonism of races or sections—what was
the cause? It was an institution ; not the people,
not man, bat a thing. It was simply slavery and
nothing else. The Right Rev. Prelate then entered
on an historic resume, to show that the disruption is
only the culminating point of a conspiracy, pre-
pared and steadily kept in mind by the slave-power
for 30 years past. He traced the origin of the
secession to the promulgation of Mr. Calhoun's doc-
trine of " Nullification," which asserted that an
individual State, not agreeing with a law passed by
the Congress, might nullify it within its own
boundaries ;—a principle which was the seed of
secession. He next adverted to the effect produced
on the slaveholding interest by the adoption of the
Missouri compromise, prohibiting the formation of
new slave States north of 36 deg. 40 min. north
latitude ; and, by the growth of population, and
the consequent increase of the political weight of
the free States, while the slave States were almost
stationary. The election of Mr. Lincoln was (he
said) only a pretext, a mere convenient moment, for
the outbreak of the slaveholding conspiracy, so long
prepared, under the operation of the circumstances
which he had detailed. The rebellion had some-
times been attributed to the operation of the tariff
laws ; but neither the Morrill tariff, nor any other
cause, had the weight of a feather in the matter,
except this question of slavery, and the power of
extending it to the (as yet) unoccupied territories
of the Union. The bishop next combated the
pretext of " a legal right of secession" in the
individual States of the Union, quoting the provi-
sions of the Federal Constitution, which proved
its fallacy. Its assertion was, in fact, equi-
valent to that of " a legal right to destroy Govern-
ment." The question was net "the legal right of
secession," but " the legal right of revolution."
What, he would next ask, were the matters of
grievance put forward by the seceded States—what
the pleas for revolution ? Just nothing. The only
serious plea was that fugitive slaves, who had
escaped to the free States, were more or less pre-
vented from being returned to their owners, and
that certain States had enacted personal liberty
laws, conflicting with the Fugitive Slave Law. The
law of Ohio, for example, freed every slave putting
his foot upon its soil; and the practical operation
of this law of liberty was illustrated by an interest-
ing example. The right rev. prelate dwelt at con-
siderable length on this and kindred points, refer-
ring in detail to events in Virginia, which exhibited
in a strong light the tyrannous proceedings of the
leaders of secession in keeping down, by armed in-
timidation, the largo substratum of Union feeling
in that, and, as he believed, in other Southern States.
Among the facts bearing on the last-named point,
he had just received a copy of the Memphis Appeal,
a journal published in Tennessee, a Secession State,
and it contained an article regretting the failure of
attempts to organise the militia, and declaring that
" If the Federal troops were to march in, thousands
upon thousands would welcome their approach."
The bishop's statement was followed by conver-
sational remarks and questions, in which the Rev.
J. Hampden Gurney, the Rev. William Arthur, Mr.
Joseph Hoare, the Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel, Mr.
G. Rochfort Clark, the Rev. J. Davis, Mr. Kin-
naird, and other gentlemen took part.
A leading point in this discussion was, the cause
of the alleged want of English sympathy towards
the North.
This was attributed by Mr. JOSEPH HOARE to
the fact that as yet there had not been the slightest
sign that if the North were at once restored to power
the condition of the slave would be one atom im-
proved. (Hear.)
Mr. ROCHFORT CLARK having asked information
as to the past policy of the United States Govern-
ment in regard to the amelioration of slavery, and
as to whether the suppression of the rebellion would
not be followed by the re-establishment of the Union
on the same principles as formerly,
111 r. THURLOW WEED gave some details in regard
to the policy of the Whig or Republican party, to
which the present Federal Government belong.
As to the prospects of the future, he said they not
only desired but expected emancipation as the fruit
and result of the war. Slavery was, and would be,
burned out; of every acre and," rod of territory
conquered from the rebels. The slaves of rebels
were confiscated, while those of the loyal would be
paid for ; so that, by process of war, and by legal
enactment, if the United States Government were
successful, slavery would cease to exist.
The discussion was continued by the Rev. NEW-
MAN HALL and the Rev. S. MINTON.
The Rev. WILLIAM ARTHUR gave inter aria some
details on the mutual misapprehension in the two
countries (England and America) as to the feelings
of each towards the other. He also asserted the
existence of a pro-slavery feeling among certain
classes, and in certain organs of the English Prom.
The Rev. HENRY STEVENS, on the other hand,

•••••••••••M1..•
declared /hat, from travelling widely throughout
the country, he was convinced that the supposition
of any English sympathy with slavery or slave-
holders
was entirely groundless. He believed that,
as there had been no evidence of any tendency
among Americans to put down this monster evil,
the war had been permitted by Providence as the
means for its extinction. ( Hear, hear.)
Bishop APILVAINE again rose, and replied with
much earnestness to various points which had been
urged in the course of the debate. He dwelt em-
phatically on the difficulties which beset the United
States Government in connection with the subject
of slavery, and the fallacy of schemes resting on
the proclamation of immediate emancipation, or in-
volving submission to the dismemberment of the
Union. With evident and deep feeling the bishop
expostulated on the want of consideration for these
things among the people of England, and also on
England's virtual support of slavery by the import
of its very pabulum—slave-grown cotton.
Mr. BANCRGIT DAVIS also delivered an address,
in the course of which he urged that the United
States Constitution did not recognise property in
slaves, and had not the word " slave" in it. lie
proceeded to show, by a variety of facts, that the
war was one of slaveholding aggression on the
part of the South.
The proceedings were closed with prayer by the
Rev. G. T. Fox, vicar of St. Nicholas, Durham.

TILE HARTLEY COLLIERY ACCIDENT•

SEATON DELAVAL, TUESDAY.
When the jury met this morning, Emmerson,
one of the sinkers employed, was called and gave
much the same account as Mr. Coulson of the ope-
rations in the shaft, which he described as being
very unsafe all the time they were at work. The
masses of stone which fell were so large that they
had to be split up before they could be removed.
No air came up through the ruins at first, but when
they had made sufficient progress for the air to rise
up it smelt " stythy"—i. e., laden with gas.
Mr. John Taylor, coalowner and check viewer to
the colliery on behalf of Lord Hastings, the lessor,
was the next witness. He was at the pit shortly
after the accident, and assisted in the first opera-

tions for clearing the shaft until it was given over
into the hands of Mr. Coulson. He felt no alarm
until the Tuesday, when Mr. Coulson came

;o him and asked whether there was car

.0,, ...
buretted hydrogen in the mine. Upon that
he went down and made an examination of

the air returning from the pit. He could discover no
indications of gas with the lamp or candle, but his
head was affected, and shortly after that the sinkers
were obliged to come up, being affected by the gas
which rose in the shaft. He was convinced that
every possible exertion had been used by Mr. Coul-
son and his men to get through the obstruction. Mr.
Taylor said he had paid great attention to the sub-
ject of gas generated in mines, and he believed that
in this case when the beam fell, carrying the brat-
tics with it, the openings by which the air was
taken into the middle seam and the furnace drift
were both blocked up, the consequence of which
would be naturally that the smoke from the furnace
would travel backwards and forwards in the middle
or yard seam where the men were. The oxygen in
that seam would thus be deteriorated, imperfect
combustion would be going on, and carbonic oxide
would be generated, which, mixing with the car-
bonic acid gas naturally produced in the mine,
would kill the men. Hartley Colliery, he believed,
had been skilfully managed, and every precaution
had been taken for the safety of the men. It was
not a dangerous colliery, nor was there any inflam-
mable gas in it.
Mr. John Short, the engine-wright, was recalled,
and gave the following dimensions of the engine
and beam. The engine was 300 horse power. The
diameter of the cylinder was 861 in., with a 10ft.
stroke inside, 91t. 3in. outside, and seven strokes per
I minute. Ine beam was cast by Messrs. Losh, Wil-
son, and Bell, of the Walker Ironworks. Its weight
was 42 tons. The weight which it had to lift, in-
cluding the spears and the -column of water, was 43
tons 18 cwt., and it was calculated to carry at
least three times that weight, if not more. The
length of the beam was 34ft. 6in., and the vertical
section in the centre where it broke was Bft. 2in. It
was formed of two separate sides, joined together by
bolts and studs. The diameter of the piston red
was 9in., and its weight 4,8161 b. The weight of
the piston was the same, and the weight of the cross-
head, which was of malleable iron, and was frac-
tured by the accident, 1,9041 b. The cap of the
cross-head, which was also fractured, was 31in.
thick on the top side, and 31 on the under side. The
main dry spears or pumping rods were 14 in. square,
and the bottom spears 10 in. square. They wero of
Memel pine. The pumps in the staple worked from
the cylinder, and were not disturbed by the acci-
dent. The load of the engine was balanced by a
counter beam and by a metalcatch-pin. Thebottom
and middle pumps were 24 in. diameter in the bar-
rel, and the staple pumps 20 in. The steam was
condensed on both sides of the cylinder. Mr. Short
reiterated his opinion that the spears broke before
the beam. The face of the fracture was quite bright
and there were no indications of a previous crack.
Mr. T. Hoskings, C.E., chief engineer to Messrs.
Hawks, Crawshay, and Sens, was next called. He
said that he had minutely examined the whole of
the beam and was of opinion that the metal was of
very fair quality and would be calculated to carry
a weight considerably greater—at least four times
as great—than that which it was carrying at the
time of the accident. A sudden check, operating
with other causes, would be very likely to cause it
to break. Ile did not believe that the slipping
down of the beam from the hydraulics when it was
raised three inches out of the brasses would have
fractured it, and certainly if there had been a crack
then it would have gone on to complete fracture
long before the accident, which he understood was
several weeks after. The face of the fracture was quite
bright, but if there had been a crack before it would
have been rusted by the atmosphere. The sides of
the beam were what were called opens and castings,
which would not be so strong as box castings. The
cavities in the beam revealed by the fracture had
occurred from the contraction of the fluid metal dur-
ing the process of cooling. Such cavities would
always occur in cooling where there was a large sec-
tion to cast, unless the metal abstraction by the con-
traction were supplied by a process of feeding. That
might prevent such cavities occurring to a certain
extent, but not altogether. The centre gudgeons or
axles of the beam had been wedged and keyed into
a hexagon hole in the beam. This must have re-
quired very great force—so much so that their
heads showed strong marks of the " swages " used
to drive them. The effect of this would be to throw
an enormous strain on the cohesion of the metal
surrounding the gudgeon-hole, and probably it
would be one of the causes assisting to break the
beam. In addition to that the angular shape of the
gudgeon hole was unfavourable to its strength; a
circular hole would have been the best. Two of the
angles of the gudgeon-hole, those at the top and
bottom, coincided with the line of fracture. The
modern practice in fitting these gudgeons on axles
was to bore a circular hole in the beam, turn the
gudgeon to fit, and then simply secure it by one
key. That mode threw the least possible tension on
the metal.
On being asked his opinion of the cause of the
fracture, Mr. Heskings said there must have been
two or three causes in operation. In the first
place, he thought the gudgeon had been unduly
keyed—driven home with unnecessary force. There
had also been a want of due distribution of metal ;
there was too much metal in the centre boss,
and the vertically curved ribs along it, instead
of adding to its strength, would impoverish the
metal in the line of the fracture. If the gudgeon
worked hot—which he had been told was the case
—a slight expansion would thus be produced, and,
with the tight keying, this would be another ope-
rating cause of the fracture, especially at the time
when it took place, there being a severe frost.
Mr. Hoskings did not think that the pumps had got
wedged, but the ;bottom spear had given way,
judging from the fracture he had seen, from the
weight which was on it. The wood did not appear
to be of the best quality. The engine would thus be
relieved from the outside weight, and the beam
would strike violently on the spring beam inside,