The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-24 00:00:00

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RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.
LANCASTER AND CARLISLE.

Messrs. Stephenson, Brassey, and Mackenzie, the con•
tractors for this line, gave a sumptuous dinner to cele-
brate its opening from terminus to terminus. The
entertainment—which we notice for its novelty, and for
the interesting insight that it gives into the labours of
those captains of industry, who carve out and construct
our highways, of which the statistics of "work and
labour done" are formidable and truly startling—took
place in the assembly-room of the Crown and Mitre Inn

and Coffee-house. This beautiful room had been elabo-
rately embellished for the occasion, and in its verdant
and artistic decorations presented a scene such as has
never before been witnessed in that city. The stately
windows were hung with drapery of a rich crimson,
fringed with orange, and flowing curtains of white mus-
lin. At the upper end of the room, behind the presi-
dent's chair, was displayed a mantle of white silk, em-
blazoned with the royal army, and arched over with
laurel and flowers. On each side appeared an illumina-
tion, forming together the initials "V. A ," and sur
mounted by the order of the star and garter, within
wreaths of evergreen. Against the wall, at the lower
end of the room was displayed an elegant flag, embla-
zoned with the incorporated arms of the towns of Lancas-
ter and Carlisle, typical of the union of these two impor-
tant towns by railway. Against the wall on each side
were disposed six flags, bearing the titles of all the
railways for which Messrs. Stephenson, Mackenzie, and
Brassey are contractors—about a doz-n in number, and
constituting in the aggregate upwards of 800 miles of
railway communication. In addition to these dccora-

Lions appeared a number of other devices, illuminated by
royal crowns, stars. &e., wreaths of evergreen gemmed
with roses, and including loyal and other motto. s. With
the lustre of the illuminations, aided by the light of
three chandeliers, depending from the ceiling, the room
presented a most brilliant appearance. The feast was
in every way worthy of the consummation of a gigantic
and national undertaking like the Lancaster and Carlisle
Railway, and, as an evidence of the munificent hospitality
of Messrs. Stephenson and Co., will be remembered by
every guest far a considerable number of years. The
dinner, supplied by the host and hostess of the hotel,
was of the most costly description, not only recherché in
quality, but various and abundant in quantity. To the
dinner succeeded a dessert of British and foreign fruit,
confectionery, &c., laid upon the table in the most ornate
and attractive style. The wines were, for rarity and
variety, appropriate accompaniments to the princely
feast. The chair was occupied by Mr. John Stephenson.
The number of guests was about 270, c mprising not
only the heads of the various departments engaged in
the construction of the railway, from the engineers and
contractors downwards, but a considerable number of
influential strangers interested in other lines, and many
representatives of the trade of Carlisle, Kendal, Lan-
caster, Preston, &c. As a congregation of talent, in-
fluence, enterprise, and wealth, this assembly had per-
haps no parallel in the festive annals of that city. At
the lower end of tt:e room, an orchestra, elegantly dra.
peried and festooned, had been erected. This structure
was occupied by an instrumental band from Cobden's
establishment, Cross Hall, near Charley, and also by a
party of glee singers.

Mr.
lallll, on toasting the contracters, observed--
Neither he nor his partners, he was sure, would feel
humbled if he ventured to make allusion to their bumble
origin. They had risen from the humble ranks of life.
—(Cheers.) By the dint of their own energy they had
accomplished those enormous undertakings which were
indicated by the flags which adorned the room that
evening.—(Cheers.) First came the Lancaster and Car-
lisle Railway, 70 miles in length.—(Cheers.) He might
state without contradiction that at the time that line was
undertaken, it was the largest contract ever entered into
by one firm, and up to the present day it had never been
surpassed except by themselves.—(Applause.) At the
opening of that line all must have been struck by the
skill which could run a line through so rugged and
mountainous a country; but, however they might admire
the skill, they must still more admire the ardour of the
was
sas takenthe ltehneg
priceth of
etth
labourline. was
bold hearts by which it has been executed.—(Cheers.)
the time
little compensation for it. The work,
there was very
necessarily taken low. The average
unusually low. Very little work was in the market, and
to 2s. 6d. day. Now
wages of excavators
amounted per
exe-
cution—certainly two thirds of the time—the amount of
wages paid for labour
shilling a day above
the line was undertaken.—
(Hear, hoar.) The greatest
1 e
number of men that which was contemplated when
ern/3.0;d was 10,000, the average
number about 5,000.
con-
tractors had to a a shilling
aday more than was cal.
Five shillings 1
culated upon. were 250 Five
thousand
To this number of men the
days in the week, which were generally calculated en,
_
construction of the
line would make the sum 90,000
The year and a half occupied in the
than was con-
templated,l,2sol in wages alone, by the contractors.—(Hear,
hear.) Well, did these noble-hearted men quail, or
attempt to sneak out of their bargain ? The directors,
if present, would bear him out in asserting that they
never did so.--(Cheers.) No ; they had driven on the
work with as much energy as if they had been making
a shilling a day more, instead of a shilling a day less,
than what had been reckoned on.—(Cheers.) He would
not say that they had been absolutely losing a shilling
a day, but he mentioned the fact to show the dif-
ficulties they had to overcome without bringing in-
domitable energy and activity to bear upon the works.
—(Loud applause.) Had they not done so, they must
have failed.—(Hear.) lie would pass to the next fl igs,
in proof of the extensive nature of their contracts. As
Wellington was termed the hero of a hundred fights, so
might Messrs. John Stephenson and Co. be called the
heroes of a hundred contracts.—(Cheers.) There was
the Oswestry and Shrewsbury,3s miles; the Kendal and
Windermere, 11 miles; the Great Grimsby, 50 miles;
the South Midland, 30 miles; the Trent Valley (that
prince of railways), 50 miles; the Scottish Central, 50
miles; the Clydesdale Junction, 15 miles; the Barrhead,
30 miles; the Caledonian, 127 miles.—(Loud che2rime)
Besides these there are several others which he Cad
omitted to mention—undertakings so immense that he
should fear to detail them; but there were the trophies
hanging around them.—(Cheers.) Mighty responsi-
bilities, therefore, rested upon their shoulders; yet, not-
withstanding all this, Messrs. Stephenson, Brassey, and
Mackenzie were not lifted up at all, but were as essily
approached as they were when they worked, and as hard
as any present, with their own tools.—(Loud cheers.)
It was a matter of boast, and properly so—(Cheers)—
that they had risen from the ranks, and that was the
secret of their popularity among their workmen. They
had been workmen themselves, and could treat them
with proper feeling—aye, with a degree of kindness too

seldom exhibited
monr,st contractors. He concluded
by Proposing " The health of Messrs. John Stephenson
and Co."—(lmmense cheering.)
Mr. STEPHENSON returned thanks. lie would much
rather make a railway than a speech. They had
striven to execute the work in a first-rate manner, and
to do justice to others in all their dealings, as they would
others should do to them.—(Cheers.) In forming the
Lancaster and Carlisle Railway they had had many
unfsreseen difficulties to contend against. The elements
had been against them, and an unexpected rise had taken
place in the price of labour, as had been very truly stated
by Mr. Horn, so that the extra expense above that which
had been calculated at first had been very great.—(Hear,
hear.) Fortunately the contractors had efficient assist
ance from the engineers, or else they might have been in
a sorry plight indeed. Had such not been the case, the
opening might have been protracted far beyond this
time.—(Hear, hear.) But, besides the difficulties com
prised in the bad weather and high wages, there we;
another to which he must allude, and that was, that one-
sixth of the excavations had turned out to be a trap-rock.
—(Hear.) This caused a formidable expense, not at
' all calculated upon. However, the line had at length
been opened, and without Intending a compliment to
himself or his partners, he would say. and he said it
conscientiously, that there wag not a safer line in the
kingdom, or one more highly finished.—(Loud cheers.)
kll the bugbears in respect to gradients had been satis-
Factorily answered and put down by the fact, that in a
train of nine carriages and about 200 passengers, the in-
cline had been ascended at a-rate of upwards of 22 miles
an hour. Thus the prophecies of those who said Shap
Fells could not be crossed, falsified; and who knew
but some improvement invented in the con-
struction of engines 'shoutd render it practicable
to travel on a gradient of 1 in 75 at the rate of thirty
miles an hour, or even at twice that speed? —(Loud ap
plause.) It was consoling and satisfactory to mark the
orogress of science, and he trusted that the time would
some, and that ere long, when passengers could travel
right through to Forfar.—(Cheers.) The communica-
ion by iron rails between England and Scotland would
be a great benefit to both countries, and as a humble
individual he felt proud to have been the means of amal-
gamating both sides of the Sark by the trunk line, part
of which had yesterday been opened.—(Cheers.) He
could only say he felt obliged for the kindness of the
company, in speaking of him and his partners as they
had done. He only regretted that he could not reply
adequately to their compliments, for he would repeat he
would rather make a railway than a speech any day.
Mr. DUNN next proposed the health of Mr. Mould,
superintendent for the contractor".
Mr. MOULD returned thanks, and expressed the gra-
tification he experienced in being instrumental, on the
part of John Stephenson and Co., in promoting the com-
ph Con of so important a work as the Lancaster and Car-
lisle Railway. So long as that firm-were satisfied with
the arrangements, he had no more to say. It was and
ought to be a proud day in any man's life to have been
instrumental, in some degree, in bringing so formidable,
so giga tic a work to a successful close.—(Cheers.)
How formidable that work was might be estimated from
a few facts. In the blasting of rocks no less than
4,800 barrels, or 200 tons, of gunpowder had been
used.—(Hear, hear.) The patent fuses alone, if put on
a line, would reach 400 miles. The length of drilling
in the rock would extend to 200 miles. The number
of nights during which the men worked was 152,147.
The number of horses, employed was 10,500. No
less than 400,000 yards of samel required blast-
ing, and being so hard a material, could not be over-
come by any other means than gunpowder. The number
of bridges on the line was 219, of culverts 230, and of
viaducts, 500. The greatest number of men employed
was about 10,000, and the number of workmen altogether
was equal to 3,000,000 in one day; whilst the excava-
tions averaged 100,000 cubic yards per mile. The number
of waggons employed was 2,200, which, if extended in
a line, would reach nearly five miles; and the temporary
wheeling planks, placed end to end, would extend to 35
miles. [The enumeration of these facts elicited loud
applause.] Mr Mould concluded an able and effective
speech by thanking the agents on the line for their ac-
tivity and energy, and by repeating his thanks for the
compliments which had been paid to him. He sat down
amidst prolonged cheers.
Mr. DODDS proposed the health of Mr. Day, and the
agents of Messrs. John Stephenson and Co., on the Lan-
caster and Carlisle Railway. As clocks must have wheels
and watches springs, so must railways have men to get
them in working order. In the execution of the Lan-

cater and Carlisle Railway, they had done everything
that lay in their power, and he was sure more efficient
agents could not have been selected from any district.
Temperate and zealous, they emulated each other in
doing their duty to the best of their bidding, and render-
ing the heaths and moors, formerly inhabited by black-
cocks, available for the convenience of the public.
Mr. DUN N' returned thanks, expressing a hope that by
the 16th of December, 1847. a train might ;sere Carlisle
and arrive at 'Edinburgh and Glasgow on the same day,
although the contractors were allowed till March in the
following year.

Mr. MOULD proposed the Trent Valley Railway,
connected with the name of Mr. Horn, who had been
connected with the public works for a great number of
years, and had as perfect an acquaintance with them as
any one who could be named. The Trent Valley, with
which he was connected, would be opened in a few
months, and he wished it every success It was a line
which had been completed in perhaps a shorter time than
any other line in the kingdom, and great credit was due
to Mr. Horn for the efforts by which he had contributed
to its progress.—(Cheers.)
Mr. HonN reronded In the centre of England the
Trent Valley was considered the prince of railways—a
crack railway. It passed through a picturesque and
fertile country, it had better gradients, and had been
more speedily executed than any line in the kingd
(Hear, hear.)—Kendal Mercury.

LLOYD'S SHIPPING.
LONDON, DEC. 23.—Wind E.N.E , light breeze, and thick
hazy weather. •
OFF MARGATE, DEC. 22.—Black Cat, Daniels, California.
RAMSGATE, DEC. 22. -- Wind W.N.W., light.—Arrd.
Normand, Ducamier, St. Domingo, for Havre.
DEAL, DEC. 22.—Wind N.W. to W.N.W., moderate.—
Arrd. Gilmore, Maw, China ; Tartar, Gregson. Calcutta ;
Wilsons, Campbell, Matanzas; Carolus, Stour, New Orleans,
for Bremen; Ann and Mary, Cunningham, St. John's, New
Brunswick, for Stockton ; Isabella, Veale, St. Andrew's, New
Brunswick ; Pleiades, Bell, North America ; Claud, Buck-
well,re'', Bombay ; Islander, Gordon,
Quebec; Atlas, ditto; Mabel, Andus, St. John's. Sld.
Buckinghamshire, BPGgo
Barbadoes ; Thomas Arbuthnot, Thomson, Port Philip;
Kingston, Karwood, Adelaide ; Amelia Mulholland, Wil-
kinson, Mauritius; Martha, Woolley, Algoa Bay; St. Vin-
cent's Planter, Ryan, Sierra Leone, with the rest of the out-
ward-bound, except her Majesty's steamer Elphinstone.
LIIVERPOOL, DEC. 22.—Wind W.N.W.—Arrd. Ganges,
Smith, Calcutta; Paragon, M'Gowan, Carnarvon ; Fame,
Dunley, Rio Janeiro; Windsor, Pepper, Para; Jos. Christal,
Close, Maranham ; Santas, Muniatigui, Havannali ; Liver-
pool, M'Lellan, New Orleans ; Conqueror, Barr, Charleston ;
Victoria, Harthson, New York; Eliza, St. John, N.B. ;
Samuel, Leighton. ditto; Belmont, Grant, ditto; Skylark,
Brown, Prince Edward's Island ; Jane, Newfoundland.
Sailed, Queen of the Tyne, Jamieson, Bahia; John Moore,
Withycombe, Bombay, Majesty, Knowles, Africa; Diadem,
Bimet, Rio Janeiro; Sisters, Vickers, St. Thomas; Ward
Chipmarr, Bilton, New Orleans. Off port, Wilson, Quebec ;
Abigail, ditto ; Roscius, Isabel, Commodore, Europe, and
Christina, —.
PoßTsmouru, DEC. 22.—Wind N.W., fine.—Arrd. Miranda,
Leonard, Antigua, leaky.
BIDEFORD, DEC. 20.—Arrd. Damaris, Thompson, Prince
Edward's Island ; Lady Sale, Richards, Quebec. I
CLYDE, DEC. 20.—Wind S.E.—Arrd. Galileo, Blaney,
New York; Calloa, Warrens, ditto; John S. de Wolf, Raid,
St. John's, New Brunswick ; Widow Goran, ditto ; Magog,
Shanks, Bay Chaleur ; Athol, Currie, Quebec; Sir H. Pottin-
ge r, Reed, ditto; Lord Byron, Todd, ditto; Bellona, Auld,
ditto; Emigrant, Price, ditto; Prince of Wales, Wilson, Mau-
ritius. Sld., Clydesdale, M'Farlane, Trinidad; Cheverell,
Stork, ditto; Marcellus, Young, Antigua.
DUBLIN, DEC. 21.—Wind N.N.W.—Arrd. Charlotte,
Campbell, St. John's, New Brunswick; Medium, ditto.
DUNDALK, DEC. 20.—The Rebecca, Holmes, of Garlies-
town, from Miltown to Liverpool, was abandoned, 14th inst.,
off Scilly ; crew brought here by the Burnam, Patton.
SUNDERLAND, DEC. 21.—The Therndale, Wilkie, of this
port, was in contact off Robinhood Bay, 18th inst., with a
vessel, name unkown, and received damage.
KINGSTOWN, Dec. 21.—Arrd. St. George, Poole, Pugwash.
and GREENOCK Dxc. 20.—The Tug steamer, Conqueror, with
cargo, from the Superb, from New York to the Clyde, stranded
dhyori May, of Hull
thisfrom Pillau to
morning,
D
in the sound of Barris, has been destroyed by tire.
WIIITEIIAVEN, DEC. 21.—The Minerva, of Ramsey, LM.,
but
phoassebdeteon wb-eredcrkoewdooend.the coast of Driggs (Sylcroft); crew sup-
floa uCnßdAe DEC.t
R C k 1 0911. thei'h e
IsZlaenp
andted off
very leakywas run on shore near Rome,
much damaged
FALMOUTH, De
rrdc. 22.—Wind N. to N.W., strong gales
Antwerp, lea ly.
ky, &c. —A. Maybrough, Stephenson, Kertch for
Mir am
SCILichi,LY, DecforLiverpoo. 21.—Wlind N.W —Arrd. 15, Eagle, Hayes,
CORK, DEC. 20.—Wind S.S.W.—Arrd. Jessie Miller,Crow-
ther, Patagonia; Velocity, Darrell, Cuba; Lord William
Bentinc
k Allen, Honduras; Solon, Moody, St. John's New
Brunswick;
True Blue, Oliver, Miramichi.
LIMERICK, DF •C. 21.—Wind S.W.—Arrd. California, Ro-
bertson, New York ; St. Lawrence, Butten, Quebec. The
Maria, of Dublin, O'Mealy, has strained at the quay, and is
making water.

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.—On Tuesday afternoon a
young woman, genteelly dressed, entered Mrs. Oakley's,
the " O'Conr.eli " Coffee-house, Kent road, and desired
to be served with coffee, and seated herself in one of the
darkest boxes in the shop. Iler agitated manner, and
her superior appearance to the generality of her cus-
towers, excited the attention of Mrs. Oakley, and after
tsehnetsseorr a phialvedth into m
the coffee, observedoahkeelr empty the con-
y suspected her
object to be suicide, and she stepped forward, and begged
permission to put some sugar into the coffee; removing
the cup for that purpose, she-adroitly substituted fresh
coffee, which the young woman almost immediately
swallowed. The coffee that contained the contents of
the phial was taken to a neighbouring chemist, who pro-
nounced it to contain laudanum. Mrs. Oakley called
the youug woman into the parlour, and by persuasion,
or by threatening to send for the police, she gave the
address of her friend, and was conveyed by her brother,
Mr. Quaiating, to her residence in Great Wild-street,
Lincoln's Inn. The attempt was caused by her husband
having enlisted in the army.