The Sun.
London, England, 1869-06-23 00:00:00

UNDERGROUND TEMPERATURE.

The temperature inside the earth has often been a matter
of speculation. Mr. G. J. Symons, the celebrated authority
on rain and rainfall, has been investigating the subject.
He has, like so many others, found success in the failure
of others. He has carried on his experiments at Hamp-
stead. When Hampstead was one of a series of pleasant
villv ges (in the days of Henry VIII.) the Hampstead Water
Works Company was formed. The supply of water, of
course, in time grew unequal to the demand, and a. new
well was sunk into the chalk to the depth of between 500 and
GOO feet. Again, the demand exceeded the supply, and
the company, taking the professional advice tendered to
them by a number of geologists, sunk an Artesian bore
through the centre of their well to the depth of a quarter
of a mile, expecting to find water in abundance in the
lower greensand. Into this the Waterworks Company
bored in 1853 ; they reached the depth of 1,302 feet, sunk
nearly £B,OOO in two years, found, strange to say, no lower
greensand, unfortunately, no water, and became ruined.
The property passed eventually into the hands of the New
River Company, who kindly and most liberally at once
accorded to Mr. Symons the permission he sought to conduct
a series of thermometric experiments on the abandoned
site. Mr. Symons soon erected a hut over the well,
and fitted up a snug little observing-house. At
the British Association meeting at Dundee a committee
was appointed to investigate the temperature of the earth
at great depths. Mr. Symons is a member of that corn,
mittee, also Sir W. Thomson, who moved for its appoint-
ment. Upon the solution hang certain matters of contention
between Sir William and Professor Huxley as to how far
underground temperature may be made to test the age of
the world. Mr. Symons's experiments are not yet con-
cluded. The results so far he regards as decisive. He •
has made gradual. observations down to a depth of 1,100
feet, and has ascertained that the temperature there is 20
degrees higher than above ground—that is to say, the
thermometer shewed 70 degrees, whereas • the mean
temperature of London is 50 degrees. If this rate
of increase continues, as there seems no reason to
doubt would be the case, boiling .point (210 degreeo
would be reached about a mile and a half down. At
present, however, Mr. Symons is at a standstill ; he has
literally stuck in the mud. About 200 feet of blue-black
deposit has accumulated at the bottom of the tube, and
into this the thermometers cannot penetrate. Of course
the learned society under whose nmpiccs the work is being
prosecuted will forbid such au iguominious termination of
a valuable investigation, the like of which has never before
been attempted.

WIRE TRAMWAYS.


We have already given our readers some particulars of the
wire tramway, the "aerial" railway as it is called, or, as
another speaks of it, "a railway without cuttings, em-
bankments, tunnels, viaducts, cr bridges, no matter how
hilly the country to be traversed." The Daily Ectrs gives
some further iefarmatiet concerning this new invention.
The wire tramway provides a simple and cheap
substitute for a line of . rails. The wire spans
over and evades obstacles in place of burrow-
ing. under or levelling them, and will perform its
task as easily along a rugged tract of country as uu the
smoothest road. The experiment being now prosecuted
with complete success between some Leicestershire stone
quarries and a railway station three miles distant consists
of an endless wire rope, supported on a series of pullies
carried by substantial posts, which are ordinarily about
150 feet apart, but the interval between which may be
greatly extended, as is shewn in one case where the ss
from post to poSt is Coo' feel. One of the ends of this
rope passes round a Fowler's clip-drum, worked by a
portable steam engine, and this drives the rope at a speed
of six miles an hour. Boxes are hung on the rope at
the loading end near the quarries by a pendant which is
ingeniously arranged to preserve a perfect equilibrium,'
and at the same time to pass without hindrance over the
supports. Each of these boxes carries one hundredweight of
stoee, and the delivery is at the rate of 200 boxes, 'or 10
tons per hour for the three-mile distance. Already wire
tramways on the Leicestershire model are in course of
erection in France, Italy, and Spain. Negotiations
are on foot, too, between the Turkish Government and
the engineers here, and it is not improbable that this
generation may see goods carried by wire as commonly as
messages. The tramway is, indeed, not unlike an exceedingly
stoat electric telegraph. The most important point in
Mr. Hodgson's invention is Lis method of passing the
points of support, which consists in so curving the frame
of the truck or box as to make the centre of gravity come
under the rope. So admirably is this managed that some
of our leading engineers have been discussing quite
recently the possibility of constructing a stout wire tram-
way between Dover and Calais, which should be sup-
ported from a line of pillars sunk in mid-ocean, and
along which passengers could be conveyed. The
cost would be comparatively small, and suspensory
trains could, it is argued, be despatched across the
Channel without difficulty or danger. Where heavy
loads must necessarily be carried a pair of stationary sup-
porting ropes, with an endless running rope for the motive
power, are employed, and by these means as many as
a thousand tons per day can be easily conveyed. The
cost of erecting these tramways in England, and of
supply motive power and rolling stock, is from £250
a mile for carrying fifty tons a day, in boxes holding
half a hundredweight each, to £1,500 a mile for
one of the double rope lines, to carry 1,000 tons a
day, in boxes or trucks holding six hundredweight
each. For all districts where there is traffic, but where it
would not pay to construct a railway, the wire tramway
le particularly applicable, and, as will be readily under-
stood, wherever there is standing-room for posts, there a
line can be erected. A recent application from traders in
copper for putting one up for them which should
run through an African forest, and over an African
jungle down to the coast, illustrates the varied circum-
stances under which the new system of transport may be
applied.

.fIIE HARVARD BOAT.—The four-oared boat in
which the Harvard crew will row their international races
arrived from Greenpoiut, L. 1., on Saturday. It is a
cedar shell, fifty-two feet long, eighteen inches wide amid-
ships, and three inches deep.—. New York Times, June 8. -
SERIOUS ACCIDENT AT ALDERSHOTT.—A serious
and singular accident occurred on Monday at Aldershott.
Some movements were being executed by two brigades,
the heavy brigade consisting of the sth and 7th-Dragoon
Guards, under the command of Colonel Calthorpe, and
the light brigade, the 6th Inniskillings and the 10th Hussars,
under Colonel Baker. The colonel was making a dashing
charge, and when near the north end of the valley, Brigadier
Baker ordered his brigade to retire by column of troops
from left of line. As this movement was being executed,
Brigadier Calthorpe's brigade was coming on at a gallop,
and before the rear squadron of Inniskillings could clear
the front the left squadron of the 7th Dragoon Guards
rode upon the flank of the rear squadron of the Gth
Dragoons. A fearful crush was the result, and a number
of men were put hors de combat. Private Thomas
Keetley, Gth Dragoons, bad his skull and ribs fractured,
and but small hopes are entertained of his recovery.
Some eight or ten privates were also seriously injured.
Horses belonging to each regiment, having their legs frac-
tured, were shot on the field. The men injured belonged
to C Squadron, Gth Dragoons—Squadron leader, Captain
A. F. Stewart ; and B Squadron, 7th Dragoon Guards—
Squadron leader, Captain D'Olier George. Medical aid
was at once procured, and the wounded men conveyed to
hospital. court oft 41cluir7 int,Q *I)W% WA
1211914 - -

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