The Sun.
London, England, 1869-10-18 00:00:00

ECONOMICAL GOVERNMENTS.

It must be exceedingly pleasant to be a subject of
the Sultan or the Khedive, and, as ataxpayer, to watch
the eccentric doings of those two personages. There has
been a splendid fête at Constantinople in honour
of the French Empress. The Imperial lady was
received in a calque especially constructed for her
own use—a forty-oared barge surmounted by a
canopy, at the mere fringe and tassels of which 200
Turkish women, skilled in golden embroidery, have
been at work for months, and with a massive silver
dove at the prow, concerning the weight and value of
which almost fabulous accounts are given. There
has been a grand gala, splendid banquets, and an
illumination which reached all the way from
Constantinople to the Black Sea, outdoing every-
thing which even Rome ever saw. And these
performances aro but the beginning of a
series still greater. The Emperor of Austria, the
Crown Prince of Prussia, the Duke of Aosta, and
lesser lights will soon he present at the opening of the
Suez Canal. There the Viceroy, and probably the
Sultan also, will exercise hospitality on the grandest
scale. There is talk of golden barges and silver tents,
sumptuous feasts and gala operas, steamers, hotels, and
i
palaces for thousands of guests. And yet, will tbe
believed, as the Times pertinently puts it, this Sultan
and Viceroy are the very sovereigns who are now
moving heaven and earth to contract a loan on ruin-
ous terms, and one of whom recently lectured his
vassal for lavishness and extravagance, the vassal re-
torting that his liege was no better. Really European
sovereigns have something to answer for in encou-
raging this waste by their presence.

FOREIGN NOTES.

TIIE GREAT AMERICAS RAILWAY.

A correspondent of the Times gives an amusing account
of his railway journey frvni Chicago to San Francisco.
The first start was not very premising, as before the train
had gone far the wheel-boxes grew so hot that a stoppage
was necessary. This occurred several times, entailing a
considerable expenditure of time and pai icnce, until at last
the conductor laconically observed, " Guess it will cool
it,clf running." Thin it was not sufficiently complaisant
to do, and after " running " a little further, one of the
boxes w:ri in full blaze. Some alarm was excited, and one
man _jumped oil, but the conductor, whose one great horror
appeared to be a stoppage of the train, "guessed" the box
could be put out at the next station, "neSSed the man
wasn't burnt," and pushed resolutely on. At Fulton the
line cr:;ssos the its iaei, i, an] further on comes the vast
plains of Nebraska, whose fiat raid wide expanse resembles
the Sea. The whole liue to San Francisco is not finished,
and at Sacramento the passeagers have not only to change
lines, but to ferry across the bay. The latter part cf
the
line is made by Chino:x. who I:pv,:a to be very successful

as " navvies." The road in some places is, however, ,stirt
so rough that a Yankee declared the train went "like a
scared bullock."

The rival lines of the Central Pacific and the Atlan-
tic and Pacific Companies run close together in some
parts of the route, and as one is being constructed by
Irish labourers and the other by Chinese, there is, as may
be supposed, a strong feeling of antagonism between. them.
The time during the journey is whiled away by cards, con-
versation, and reading. A boy traverses the train with a
stock of novels, English periodicals, &c. The traveller
who gives this account, only left Chicago on
the 13th of September, arriving at San Francisco
on the 20th, yet, en route, he purchased a copy
of the Cheyenne Leader containing an extract from:an article
in the Times of September 14 on the CF4amenical Council,
a sign of the telegraphic enterprise of Transatlantic
editors. Punch was the first object he saw on a Chicago
bookstall. The greater part of the route was a lifeless
desert, and the dreary alkaline plains whose dry soda-dust
whitened the passengers presented a striking contrast to
the vigour and animation which we usually associate with
American life.