The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-13 00:00:00

SHIP-RAILWAY OVER SUEZ.

There have Igen many wonderful events in connexion
with the extension of the railway system. Not the least
marvellous of these is the ship railway across the
Isthmus of Suez. The following remarks on this sub-
ject are taken from the first number of the B,itsh and
Foreign Railway Magazine
" To a mind, scientific in its bias, one subject imparts
infinite pleasure. It is the consideration, resulting from
the reflection, that mechanical undertakings, con-
sidered vast in the olden time, have now, through mo-
dern discovery, become so puny and unimportant,
as to be barely feats for college boys ; while, in a
more extensive class of these mighty labours—the
work of many thousand of artificers—capital of many
c::iilior s, and the prolonged half century of the ar-
tisr.n's labour, are compressed, with all their Iliad
of conlingencies, into the comparatively easy nut-shell
of a task, accomplished by a brace of competent engi-
neers, and a staff of subordinates, with the collaterals of
material and time. It is thus, by the fortuitous discovery
of the element of fire by accidental friction, that a Pro-
metheus augmyntS the comforts of a race with a useful
auxiliary, diminishing the savageness of primeval bar-
barism, and endowing it with ornament and art. The
discovery of steam-power in this latter age is a second
stupendous lever towards moving tardy and inert matter
into rapid and astonishing movement, and also into trans-
portation of enormous masses, in a space of time, over a
league-long distance, equally regardless of their im-
menseness of bulk. The Prometheus of this latter case
was Watt—was Stephenson.
" But in no project, perhaps, of the present day,
feasible in its aims and probable accomplishments, is this
new power to be comprehended in a more showy
and remarkable order of development then in its pro-
posed application towards transporting across the
Isthmus of Suez merchant vessels of the largest
burden, filled with their cargoes and merchandise, by
a railway and engines, after the ordinary mode of
locomotion in this country. Further, it is considered
that even the necessity of engines in the case proposed
might be dispensed with, and that, as a still further

improvement on this scheme, it would be quite practic-
able to construct all the steamers emplo) ed upon the
navigation of the Red Sea on such a principle as to do
away with the necessity of locomotive engines to bring
them across the Isthmus. They might be fitted, says
the noble originator of the plan, with propelling screws
in lieu of paddle wheels ; in the place of which latter
might be substituted railway wheels, so that the vessel
of its truck could wol`k its way with its own engines.
This, then, is the beginning of the exemplification of
our new plan.

" To preclude the supposition that anything chimerical
is proposed, or that here is tendered the public any rail-
way toy or deceptive • Glenmutchkin,' we lay before
our readers the name of the actual surveyor of the
Isthmus, together with the occasions and facts which
led him to the conclusions adduced.

" Sir William Cornwallis Harris, major of engineers
of the Bombay establishment, so' far back as 1830,
during the administration of Lord Clare, was nomi-
nated by his Lordship to the Bombay Government,
who had instructed him to select an officer to con-
duct a survey of the Isthmus, in view to the exe-
cution of a navigable canal then in contemplation,
although subsequent political events unfortunately
set this project askle. He had, meanwhile, diligently
collected information on the subject about to be confided
to him, arid when returning through Egypt from the
mission with which he had been entrusted to the Court of
Shea in Southern Abyssinia, he enjoyed an opportunity
of studying on the spot the facilities presented towards
a project, important alike to the interests of Europe,
and to the advancement of the eastern empire over which
the East India Company presides.
" The ease and simplicity of the means by which great
undertakings are generally attained, naturally excite in
the thii.king mind feelings of surprise that no simili-
tude of the same idea should have been conceived
before, or come under discussion for contemplation or
adoption.
" Sir William, however, traces the delay that to this
hour obtains in the establishment of a communication
which all parties must, and do, concur in admitting to
bo most desirable, to the rival opinions that have
hitherto been advanced on the respective advantages and
disadvantages, the adequacy and inadequacy, of a rail-
way and a navigable opening at the track, ports, and
sea in question.
" A favourite project of a late ' crowned king of
Gaul,' was to make a navigable passage across the
Isthmus of Suez. It was, in fact, one of the gigantic
projects of a mind that had hoped to restore Rome to its
old splendour, to re-establish the solemn Sanhedrim of
the Jews—to make and unmake the rulers of empire.
To cut, as with an axe, this arm of land in two—to
cause the free waters of either ocean to flow in co allied
currents, through this grand and new-formed channel—
and to behold the fleets of nations sailing majestically
through a marine highway, with merchandise and men,
was among the noblest, yet unaccomplished achievements
of Napoleon, on the throne of the Bourbons.
" The establishment, however, of this desirable com-
munication, by the combined powers of steam and
machinery, has now become a matter—not of diminished
grandeur or importance, but of more easily accessible
accomplishment in carrying it out to a speedy consum-
mation. A company, capital, and co-operation are the
auxiliaries in present request, and the feasibility of
establishing the marine-railway in question is beyond
the power of a doubt.
"From the first entertainment of this project it has
been stoutly asserted that the natural obstacles that op-
pose its construction are somewhat imminent. Sir
William Harris, in his opinion on the subject, showing
at the same time the ease of its accomplishment at
infinitely less expense, and by a much less complicated
process than a canal, as also in a much briefer space of
time, states that the line over which the rail must pass,
far from being beset with difficulties to the engineer, has
been ascertained to present a very favourable profile ;
and a hard, gravelly soil, is known to prevail in lieu of
the shifting sands of the desert, which were skilfully con-
jured into existence by a faction whose theory was to
arrest the progress of the plan. Those who had a pur-
pose to serve in thus/opposing the construction of a rail-
way, are now compelled to admit that it could be made,
and would fully answer the mu of accelerating mails and
passengers through Egypt ; but they still cling to the
scheme which dazzled the mind of Napoleon, and stea"ily
maintain the necessity of piercing the Isthmus, so as to
obtain uninterrupted water communication by means of
a canal, which would enable merchant vessels of the
largest class to perform the voyage between Asia and
Europa without discharging their cargoes.
" The rails of the proposed road being laid down, the
next exigent in the case is the special order of engine
to be fabricated to adapt itself to the peculiar neces-
sities of the case. For this purpose it is proposed to
construct a class of narrow steam-vessels of about 800
tons burden, suited for freight, and to transport them
across the Isthmus of Suez upon trucks, by means of
locomotive engines of adequate power. The vessels
would advisedly be built upon the plan that will best serve
to counteract any additional strain upon the sides in-
volved by removal from the water, and the cradle truck
upon which each will be placed during the transit would
be constructed with the same view._ _ _

" The most eligible point to which the railway could
be carried is of course determinable solely by the geo-
graphical character of the surrounding and adjacent
country. The Nile about Cairo is clearly the point itidi
cated for this purpose. Here the laden steamers might
be transferred from ons to the other of the divided seas,
through its always navigable channel.

„
” The inaccessible character of the Mediterranean
shore, lying over against the Sea of Suez, and the gene-
ral unfitness of all the ports or roadsteads on that coast
for vessels of any considerable draught of water, render
it almost unsafe to regard any other point as available.
" Owing to the peculiarities of the situation, the en-
gineer will have to look to the ordering of some few mi-
nutiae, which we shall specify at the end of our descrip-
tion. With regard to the locomotive power neces-ary, it
appears, in the opinion of judges on the spot, that
the engine required to draw a laden vessel of 800
tons burden across the desert of Suez, would not
need to possess above three times the power of those
ordinarily used upon an English railway ; and the
increased disposable breadth for the machinery
would render this power one of easy acquisition.
The masts of the vessel would have to be so con-
structed as to fold over and lie flat during;the transit, in
order to prevent any action of the wind upon them ; and
a moderate width between the rails would then be found
sufficient. A station, or siding, to admit of vessels on
their trucks passing each other midway, would also have
to be constructed in the centre of the line ; and, as the
entire distance of eighty -four miles coldd be accom-
plished in four or five hours, communication between
Suez and Cairo might be daily held each way upon a
single line of rails.

" A million sterling, then, in conclusion, is the outside
sum at which this very noble project could be carried
out. This sum falls very far short of the lowest
estimate that has been framed for ts ship canal, and it

may appear a small sum for so long a line as that
in contemplation ; but it should be borne in mind that
the ground has not to be purchased, that there are
neither bridges nor tunnels to construct (both of which
are amongst the heaviest items of an English rail-
way), and that only one line of rails will be re.
quired. The railway might be completed in two years,
whereas the construction of a canal, supposing it to
be within the compass of human exertion, would
occupy ten. Commercial interests generally cannot
fail to be materially promoted by this mode of trans-
porting cargoes across the neck of land which
disconnects Europe and Asia ; and it must propor-
tionablyimprove the revenues of his Highness the
Viceroy of, Egypt. It is always observed that the
operation of a railway is to treble the traffic upon a
new line ; and the improved relations with China, as
well as the success of a new branch of commerce on
the eastern coast of Africa, will both tend to swell the
importance of the plan suggested. Recurrence also may
here be made to the highly important subject of the coal
beds which have been reported to exist within a reason-
able distance of the coast of Abyssinia, in a position the
most convenient for the supply of the depots both at
Aden and Suez.
" The plan, when carried out, will certainly in those
distant and comparatively untravelled regions, produce
a new era of commerce, and wider. field, for the spread
of civilisation, philanthropy, and intelligence."

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.London, has a little girl, who for
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remedy for such cases tried in vain, when the fetAlr of the
child, who is a law-writer, was recommended to try Hollo-
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three weeks. No scrofulous, sores, blotches, • pimples, or
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Holloway's Establishment, 244, Strand, London.

• ;141.
DEATH OF GENERAL lial" 5°
)f th°
We have this day to record the demise of one 000
oldest officers in the army, and one who retained t
last as much of the true spirit of a British soldier
o. those whom he has left behind—General 10°Pirbe
Colonel of the 4th, or King's Own Regiment; sod.
Gallant General was the son of Field-Marsha core.
holme Hodgson, who is known in history, as them the
mander of the expedition which took Belleisle fee re.
French, in the year 1761. The following to,kts,rge
corded by Horace Walpole, in his memoirs of George
111., is characteristic of the man and times :—Sem"„eDt
Govero—eo
after the siege of Belleisle, when the then
were above everything anxious to conciliate the I,prr o.
Court, General Hodgson was desired by the Mini'', so
the day to explain the cause of Belleisle having 00,
severely sacked. The reply of the old Marshal he
'
" that he had been order d to take Belieisle ; 111814
had done so ; and that he had nothing more to sebY4tbe
ber
the subject." He was greatly distinguished Yd.
friendship and favour of the Duke of Cumerst
and by the confidence and good opinion of the 1/1,,e
Earl of Chatham. The mother of the deceased 01';,e
was Lady Catherine Howar, trough whom
nephew to the late Field Marsha lhthe Right Hoe °lO4
Sir George Howard, KB., and first comin to the ge
of Effingham, and to Mary, Countess of Roseberrkho
was educated Harrow School, and was still there," the
he obtained his commission, so far back as 1779, ```,DJ
King's Own Regiment, which was his father's orPoioo
was then its Canada. He shortly afterwards
to join it, and served with it for serne years in '-'lll,oril
under the auspices of his friend and coanexi°nlnftlle
Dorchester, the Governor; and as Captain-Geeef,''',-,g de
province in 1793, he was employed as Major et
at the reduction of the Islands of St. Pierre and P197,-
11e was twice taken prisoner at sea, in 1794 andafter
on the latter occasion by a French printer, lcori
severe action, at the close of which he sunk tb,e„Cl:,
of the "King's Own," to prevent their faluvii°olo
the enemy's hands. He was then taken to Nri79s,
where he remained a prisoner until October, tom'
when he was exchanged. In 1799, he served °s
he 0,
manding officer with the 4th in Holland, where °
p!esent at the capture of the town and gartiristober.
Hnoorn, and at the actions of the 2d and 6th of October'
dday'l
the action near Egmont-of-Sea, he wei n)°,s,.acteci'
gerously .vounded, the ball having never been e%`,' toslr
Hewas subsequently appointed Governor and Co is the
der-in-Chief at the Bermudas and afterwards,„; tb
same situation at Curacoa, which latter govern
red 0
retained till the peace, when the island was res tile
the Dutch. In each of thegse,ssiGtuoavteiornnsmbenetr:ancedil;tllbirl
repeated toanks of the Kin
return home was appointed to the Colonelcy of
garrison battalion. In 1822 he received that of
sfle
Foot, from which he was, in 1835, removed lloweothl
cial command of his late Majesty,ll.'l s'l",
distinguished regiment of which he died coloneoe' ot
over the interests of which he watched with tbe eller
a parent. The General retained to the end, in,
usual degree, the fire and energy, as well as WV
ness of disposition, whiCh distinguished him thryl ogle?,
and fell a victim at last to the ardour and Persee;:ea'
with which, within a very few weeks, be coo"lieftse
follow his private pursuit of shooting.' He] MIS be
venal children to deplore his loss, and will oogiteroo
membered with affection and veneration by a °-
circle of friends and acquaintance.

f ,0
At the Epiphany Sessions for the county rgreosliPes,
the Earl of Devon, in charging the grand jury, eg, tio,ot
regret at the lareeness of the calendar, there beton ioe
than 119 prisoners for trial, and expressed his Ivo ofsi:ord
steps should be taken to prevent this by the aelnP"..,4 0"
mode by which offences of a light and ordinary
bt
should be summarily dealt with. b111`1:„I°
DESTRUCTION OF A COTTON-SPINNING ,ap•
FIRE.—The most destructive fire which has °sti, Ito
Glasgow or its vicinity, for several years past, filooat
ception of that which consumed the City Theatre
org,ter
months ago, took place yesterday (Friday) 11., cot,
Savoy-street, Bridgton. Ile workers in the large )1 or
spinning factory situated in that street, belonging,,,iy
Gemmel!, Brothers, and Co., it appears, had 610
menced their labours for the week a short tizne,.sci in
alarm of fire was raised in the picking-room, 3111, ps,
course of ten minutes the flames had made fop ,01
gress that they were coming out of the wirlu„osetitjot
alleged cause of the conflagration is, that sheol
loose cotton ignited in the arms of a girl 1:00 10#
passing one of the gas-lights, although at the 1" It fa
the burner was inclosed in a glass-case or lanter' fire
certain, at any rate, that it was near this girl the lee
first discovered ; and in consequence of the volt cA)all cil!
material which it had to prey upon, it spreadthe
rapidity. As soon as the fire was discoverer 4 byte
police and West of England engines were sent °) •165°dr
consequence of the distance, which is more than a Vele.
time elap-ed before they arrived, and in the Well b'.
vouring element had nearly spread over the w'bes en %
The engines were set to work, however, with greldlio 011'0
and succeeded at last in checking the flames,
the engine-house, and a small portion of the W°rt o,igiOteo
is situated farthest from the point where the fire a 1)1
,10
The work of destruction was almost comPlete.oter Lrio
o'clock, but the engines continued to throw rosi
the burning ruins till sunset. The mill was •nvistej
high, and about 230 feet in length, and it is estl-„•st t°l(
the loss on the building and machinery will ain°,-ro till
wards of 5,0001. The property, however, is insured tbAt„S
the full amount of the damage ; we regret to 10.- cis '9"
s ha
calamity will throw a considerable number of t
employment.— Glasgow Courier.
EXTRACTION OF NEEDLES FROM -
striking illustration of one of this class of cases bast, ill
tp
in Sheffield in the course of this week. The sub:l6 ileP9
instance, is a female servant, in the family of idr"eoC,Jtt
stall, of Upperthorpe, and about twenty-one of t'oya.:4,,
years of age. It seems the young woman was rer,llicetl 71e;
the care of a medical man, whose treatment preu„t peed
vation, subsequently to which she fancied th; 00'01
were slowly progressing from her left shouldervoloifter
at some depth in the muscular substance. On
pain became became excruciating, and presently one, and the
wards three small needles were extracted frole• to Pis,i!'
part of the arm ; and on the following morning cepit
with part of a third! They made their al pe",„11,11tIv
above and partly below the elbow, and seem Per,:self ,vp?
and uncorroded. Mr. John Heppeustall, who bt"--,.
out the latter portion of the needles, says that tneifoilotj
by any means easily come away ; and that no bine
fee
from the puncture. Next in interest to the cut,. the 110
the undoubted extraction of so many needles under to t>l,
cumstances, is the question, as to how they goto seropeoi
young woman's flesh ? Of this she can give
having no recollection of ever having either swat°, oeir,ul
or received them into her body from any externtrictiliV,
but she says that sometimes she has felt the
down ber,.o7,
needles in her chest, while their progress daw"Tea
was quite perceptible. She states also, that se litet:Aa
since, or when about thirteen years of age, she tecjiee, 7,ht
fewer than fifty similar needles, and pieces of nev-fsra'''
extracted from one of her fingers in the course of a
—Sheffield Mercury.
xi 011'6 ot"
Nothing could be better devised than
gistered Paletot to suit the ever-varied nature of ();05040'
forming, as it now does, not only the sine qua
dot!'"
railway traveller, but is equally so adapted for any o'o
taking out-door exercise. It may be said distineP;T4 kip;
the costume of the nineteenth century, if that nre- tet)•,-,
called marked which is only conspicuous for an uric st •Al-1
and graceful bearer, the wearer feeling se mric;,sa is sP
Certainly as an over-coat it is patronised highly' -0.1;511_,.
aaC
voiding all
public
.favourite, being so peculiarly 016'ii'st rest,
()Wing all foreign extravagance of style. l',,lllsatll,*
knowledged as a vast improvement ever the 01" „gsl,lV,
associated in our remembrance with an uncemfal'iselsl•6'ol
tion of tight buttonings, which, from its yen,' :rte et
defeated its object, the warmth of the person, ae,flic•iesl,ell
with the proper circulation of the blood. The Pr'" tiff
are black, blue, brown, and olive; also the clerirel r ea.l,o`tel
called Oxford, and can be had of the patenteej;:ele;
the most respectable clothiers out of London. P,'- „ies„"
paletot is three guineas, and is stampted in theij,
the words, "Registered 6 and 7 Vic., cap. 65. Pi. 09
Nicoll, 114, Regent-street, London. off
„Lc,. PLOW MONDAY.—Yesterday the Lord l'iurr-je
Aldermen held " a Court" at Guildhall, for seheaord
of receiving presentments from the several 01 re,
quests, and swearing in special constables, lsitf the is
the transaction of general business. Many ttsil9
sentments complained that numbers of inbay- oeF
wholesale business and in affluence, continued Wore°
to take up their freedom. The presentments. claPatte
dered to be taken into consideration on a filtu`:, ill;
Baron Alderson, when at Cambridge, II"-
...,o0"150
year the senior classic and the senior medalist• god ihei
occurrence has not been known for 140 year%gel''
only the second instance recorded of step disr --
honour having been attained by one individuni•
,AOlll
at' /H.RoTbaHrtS:t.own,van i;inisflo'Lec,Peccie;
On the 19th July last
the lady of Zachary Pearce Pocock, of a son. g7ree
ham, on Christmas-eve, the lady of George Pe- v
Esq., of Norfolk-street, Strand, of a son.
On the 6th inst., at Wellington, Somerset, the - d
thßev. Henry S. Templer, of a son and heir.
On the 6th inst., at Lower Pembroke-street,,,4
lady of Lieutenant Boileau, Madras Engineers, of -et•t•
On the 7th inst., at Clifton, the lady of R. '.",l‘ 4.1
Esq., of Fonmon Castle, Glamorganshire, of a see The 7)
On the Bth inst., at Burnham, Somersetshire, • ,i.eob
B. T. Allen, Esq., of a daughter. tbe
On the Bth inst., at Yarmouth, Isle of Wight,l
Mr. William Squire, of a daughter.
tbe la`i'f
On the 9th inst., at Pull-court, Worcestershire,
William Dowdeswell, Esq., M.P., of a son. ' stoat'
On the 9th inst., the wife of George Few, Esq.' dfr
common, of a daughter.
vcr IIoOP
On the 9th inst., in the Seven Sisters-road, sse--
at'
Adolphus Lewis, of a daughter. ptrol
On the 10th inst., Mrs. Lewis Engelbach, of
crescent, of a daughter.
MARRIED
;. ',C, 4,1
On the 6th inst, at the Cove of Cork, Franrc-',„ v,r° rt,
to Julia, second daughter of the late J. Barry, r's'iltie
On the Bth inst., at St. Dunstan's, SteimeY' Old" 0.
Ratcliff, of Stepney, to Caroline Martha llatig„,,"' e
daughter of William Leach, Esq., R.N., of Celet ''"•°
same parish. b
On the 10th inst., at St. Marylebone Che.r%)o trees
Baker, Esq., of Victoria-park, Manchester, to I,o";t'''
eldest daughter of John Brown, Esq., of Seel-
Portman-square.
4 fiir
West DrE.D.
At the Swan River, n Australia, June 27 184.
.011
relict of the late T. Wittenoom. rjapn
On the 13th of October last, at the Isl'and e- Ice
John Taylor, Esq.
Char lee °
On the 2d of December last,
at S', Vincent, r#
jun., Esq., barrister-at-law. *
On the 18th of Deoemb.:e, at Rome, the Key' oPet'
Knapp, Rector of Arantlilt, Bedfordshire. road
On the 26th ult, Mr. Praiser, of the New.
Herts, aged VI
ce,
On the 31st of December, at Sandy-P.9- ,
of°e°igi
Colonel Buckworth, aged 76.
On the 10th inst., at Kew, Anne, daughter 00'
Twining, Esq. k-14/16
On the 11th inst., Mr. J. Turnbull, of Suffol
nonestreet, aged 73.
Lately, at Carnarvon, Thomas Jee, CosfejisP
tor, ir
Esq., r .udge"
On the Bth inst., in Stationers' Hall-court, m.o, A
William, youngest son of the late Mr. Robert Dr •
if
nn TO /
London : Printed and Published by 31111-
No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun 1 ce, .04. 7
COr""
Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy,
Middlesex, Tuesday, January 13, 1646'