The Sun.
London, England, 1847-07-21 00:00:00

CALEDONIAN RAIL WAY WO. RKS.

(From the Railway and Shipping Journal.,'
The works on the Caledonian line are morswhere
being prosecuted in a most vigorous mavner. On the
Thsiuscrhorptrioongrbeesisnghaisn
abesetnatemtu:::,easn
Glasgow main line—from the junction with the ishaw
and Coltness Railway, a distance of 35 miles, to fa 'e sum-
17aits.,r;anr
Or'dlYoualit'hteoadf
for tralc in the coarse of the year, with two months .to
spare. The greatest ac:nrity prevails ; at the bear?
points two sets or shifts of waYmen are constantly em-
ployed.
Near Carluke are the two deep ravines of G;trion Gill
and Carluke Burn, over each of which the rai?way is
carried by embankments SO feet in height. Such works
are always tedious of execution. These embanktnat:ts
mere closed, to have a road over, on Ist July. The rock
cutting at Cleghorn is in active progress, and a road at
the proper level may be expected through it in the mid-
dle of August. Over the Mouse Water will be a hand.,
some stone viaduct of five arches, each forty feet spansan
tenrly the whole of the siCne is on the ground, n
workmen engaged in building the arches. Over this
light part of the works the permanent way is laid. Air
excellent material for ballast is found in the furnace slag
of Shotts Iron Company, a cosnmunicatior: to which is
formed by a temporary railroad.
Near Carstairs the earth work is nearly finished.
Towards Thankerton the heavy embankment at Grange
will, the contractors are sanguine, be close in August;
as also, at same time, aorfoadTthroug, h Liggetfoot excava-
e is
lahiadn.keArttona
short
the south of the village the main line
lion. On each side
length of permanent way •
iosfthseanvdery bestgravel ss itt dha enr rocauebg tol
ha
passesoret odni
mt (the kaims of the pea-
santry);hig h moundsthis
locomotive engine
With
so much permanent road readayaear.ailal
mtobsetsuesehfaulml asn, dis
north and south, to less yexpected, to drag
fa-
voured localities.
thes%. lguir gravel from b e
Towards Abington,nearLeamington Bridge, the Clyde
is crossed by 2, timber viaduct. This in course of erec-
tion—the principal timber being all on the ground.
South of this the work i; light, the excavations nearly
finished, and the material proctT for ballast.
At Crawford the formidable whin:tone cutting through
the village is being executed in good eai%nest. It is quite
expected to have a road through in August. South from
this, over the Newton meadows, is the largest tuitinifilled
embankment on the division; but a large portion being
from convenient side cutting, the completion in proper
time may be considered safe.
A very large quantity of work has been executed in
the last month—the weather being favourable, and work,
men by no means scarce.
The enterprising contractors e • vince their high spirit;
as also sound judgment,-at this period of the summer, by
bringing at once additional horses, when two shifts of
workmen are required on the works. The services of
these useful animals must, however' soon be at a discount
for the purposes of the Caledonian Railway.

OPENING OF THE LANDEN AND
HASSELT RAILWAY.

The opening of this line took place on Tuesday last,
and was celebrated at Hasselt with great festivities.
At a quarter-past one a special train left Brussels,con.
veying the Minister of Public Works, and the Secretary
General of his department, Mr, Kennard, the president,
and Messrs. Bruneau, Bullot, Barry, and Terceline
Sigart, directors of the Concessionary Company, togee
ther with a numerous party of guests, both Belgian. and
English, amongst whom were many ladies.
On their arrival at the Hasselt station, at half-past
four, they were received in a magnificent pavilion by M.
de Theux, the Minister of the Interior, who wag sup-
ported by M. de Schierval, the governor of the province;
General Delahaye and Delacoste, and the other au-
thorities, both civil and military.
As soon as M. de Bavay, the Minister of Public Virorktio
had taken his place in the pavilion, he was addressed,
on the part of the company, by M. Bruneau, who touched
briefly but energetically on the present advantages/
that would result from the new line, and on the stilt
greater importance it would assume on its junction with
the line from Maestricht to Aix-la-Chapelle (now in
course of execution), whereby a communication would
be established between the Scheldt and the Lower
Rhine, and the Hasselt railway would become the first
interri?.tional line between Holland and Belgium. M.
Bruneau also acknowledged the zealous co-ope-
ration of the GO:'‘ti'atnent and of the engineers of the
Ponts et Chausse-s.
M. de Bavay intimated, in
reply, that the Government
would always be ready to aid in :2%T.
work of public utility,
and expatiated, in his turn, on the
nefits which the new
line would confer on the province of -
Limbourg and its
chief town, by the connexion of the 112. 1
I reseau of the State railways. He looked up,
,tter with the
.!.as,!L
noble result of the intervention of foreign cap., I, Tri
rected by skilful and earnest men, and he complimeni.„
the company on the vigour and promptitude with which
they had prosecuted their works, during a season of
great financial difficulty.
Both these speeches were received with loud and long.
.continued shouts cf " Vive le Rot !"

Two Royal decrees were afterwards read by the ice-
eretary General of the Minister of Public Works—thf:
one creating Mr. Kennard a Knight of the Order or
Leopold, and the other promoting to the third rank in
the corps of the "Pouts et Chausiees" M. Grosfils, the
resident engineer of the company.
A procession was then formed, and the whole party
left the station, headed by the colossal figure of Dots
Christopher, the effigy of a knight ermed cap a pied
and with lance in hand, the history of which is
involved in some obscurity, but which is said to
represent a noble Spaniard, who, in the thirteenths
or fourteenth century, saved Hasselt front famine,
At six o'clock a superb banquet of 200 covers was
served at the Hotel de Ville, in a saloon very richly and
tastefully decorated. The seat of honour was occupied
by Mr. Kennard, the president of the company, who .hsa
hiso his
left right handn the
Minister
terof Ministerthe
interior,
Pu
h,
sahodp Of
Liege, Messrs. Bruneau, Bullot, Barry, and Tercelin-
Sigart, the Generals commanding the province end bri4
wade. M. Bared, &c. Amongst the guests we observed
Df. de Coyet, Grand Marshal of the Court of Swedci3J
and who is an extensive proprietor in Limbourg.
At the dessert Mr. KENNARD rose to propose the first'
toast, " The King," and spoke as follows:—In rising to*
propose our first toast, I feel assured that no preface is re-
quired on my part to excite your loyalty to that excel-
lent monarch under whose paternal and fostering
reign so many blessings have been conferred on this
rapidly improving country. When the wisdom of
your senators accepted a Saxon prince for their future
ruler, they rightly judged that he who had naturalised
himself in a foreign land, and had acquired the love and
respect of his adopted.countrymen, had given con=
wincing proof of the posdession of high qualities both of
heart and mind. It was no easy task or slight responsi-
bility that was involved in the acceptance of the sove-
reignty of Belgium—a country just emerging
from
successful revolution, and still agitated and cotivuls,"d.bY
the struggle it had gone through. How triumpliatOk
through the prudence of his measures, and the sagacity O.
the councillors whom he summoned to his aid, that task
has been achieved, it is not for me to dilate upon ; but,
after the ceremonies of- to-day, I am naturally reminded
of one—perhaps the crowning benefit—conferred by him
on this country : I mean the construction of the .rescau
of the railways of Belgium ; and I cannot but look tipott
it as a conclusive manifestation both of his wisdom
and his policy that almost the first great national act Of
the enfranchised state should be one which, while it re-
flected imperishable honour on his own name, secured
sub-
jects,
bringingb37 together developing
t sal al theg tie
ur
le
tsuoruarlc easn
do f
mt
ihnee
rcaolu
dn
itsrtyr bt
sy,
at the same time the permanent well-being of his
and, beyond this, by its furtherance of that great
system of international communication which I
believe to be destined, more than any other
human agency, to work out the civilisation of the
world. This was an act, gentlemen, which requires nes
eloquence on my part to bring home to every ono of your,
and to which, on the present occasion,
need only thus briefly advert, to ensure your entering
with me, heart and soul, into the toast I have now the
in the presence of tho
honour to propose—a toast which, lam persuaded I
in our festivities, I have the greater pleasure in distinguished Ministers who have so kindly taken a part
pro-
posing, "To the health and long life of his Majesty
Leopold, King of the Belgians !"
In his delivery of this speech, Mr. Kennard was in-
terrupted continually by loud acclamations,which were
repeated at the close with the greatest possible en-
thusiasm.of Th
her
iManj iesstteyr
theof PublicQu e e n Works o rGk
Great
ea t
f
also greeted with prolongedeheer
the French, havingcheers.
r Britain," dulyai n, " whichreplied in
s
s replied bayndl
om present.pn3.; the toast, and then gave
mr. Kennard acknowledged
F" rTahneee ;l'i' King
ghicohr wa
of his countrymen
afterwards I.thueullPortoopnritehtoersi er
part
President
I deß
proposed "The Health of the
aovlatYhe C which was followed by a
toast from M. Bruneau—" To the Prosperity of the City
of Hasselt."

Mr. Barry then expressed the gratitude which the
company felt to the Minister of Public Works, who had
granted the concession, and aided and encouraged the
works; and he was persuaded, that, from the manner in
which the Government fulfilled its engagements with
private companies, foreign capitalists would never hesi-
tate to engage in Belgium in such enterprise's as the
present,
e spacious sa-
AKtetveenrso:colorckßraussspellesn,dlsidasbgalilv,en..n th under the direction of
M.
loon of the Casino, and was kept up till late hour
doubt,
ht back
longto Brussels
preserve
and at seven and ten o'clock the following morning two
the special trai
numerousns
guest,left i Hassel
will, l t,
no conveying
d
lapl enocdpt iuooi nal; ofotui
et ho
of Hassell
hospitalityllinatesrsee ttinagnd whichceremonythe co n e
et h 5
seiyo irty-
they received
ntheesserdec,
fromc omp
at
nh
joe

A general feeling of sympathy has been created
amongst all ranks of people fur the difficulties in which
Mr. Calcraft, the lessee of the Theatre Royal, Dublin,
has been plunged, through his long exertions to support
the drama in the Irish metropolis. A committee of the
officers of the garrison, under the immediate patronage
of Sir Edward Blakeney, the Commander of the Forces,
and of his Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge,
has been formed, for the purpose of giving a performance
on Saturday, the 24th instant, for the benefit of Mr.
Calcraft. The committee consists of Major-General Sir
John Burgoyne, K.C.B , Colonel Mansell, Lieutenant-
Colonc.l Greaves, Major White, Captain Ponpnby,
Captain Tupper (7th Fusiliers), and Captain Leicesterta
Smith, who are exerting themselves zealously m
n deL.
I)
praiseworthy work they have undertaken.
stand that Mr. Charles Kean will go to
to play on the occasion. übilu :we u
specially