The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-16 00:00:00

-EVENING, NOVEMBER 16, 1858.

THE N.Arx.

L

The Ch. 12,Commander W.Swinburn, from
the West Coast of Africa, .is ordered to be paid off
at Chatham. The Childers has been in-coininision
nearly four years.

The paddle-wheel steam yacht Black Eagle, ten--
der to Fisgard,.at Woolwich, Mr. John E. Petley,
Master in command, got under i-4y yesterday morn-
ing at an early hour, and wo.a ordered to Foceed
to Dover on special. service.
The iron paddle-wheel steatner. Harpy,iieut.
and Commander George. A. Brine, from- Malta,
arrived at Woolwich yesterday morning, and after .
landing her powder and embarking the inspector
of machinery:from- the factory department of the
dockyard, she proceeded down the xiver on trial of
her engines, andreturned to Woolwiait under. Drders
to be admitted into basin tobe strippedand paid off.
Her Majesty's screw steam-sloop Curlew, 9,CoM
.mander Wm. Horton, from the Mediterranem, is
expected at Woolwioh to be paid -off,

THE FIRST TURKISH RAIL WAY.

Ssvn.NA, Oct. 30.—During the past • week all
SmYrna has been in a state lit:excitement, owing
'to the arrival of Lord Stralforzt-de Racliffe. One
of his principal objects
.in visiting the-glace was to
illipect the works of the Smyrna and. Aidin Rail-
way, in the success of which enterprise—the first
railroad commenced in Turkey—he has Always
taken the greatest interest. On Thursday, at noon,
ho proceeded to the terminus at *Daragaz Point,
where the harbour connentettwith the:riiilway will
be formed. Here he found A-:scene of to
which he had probably known no parallel during
his long. experience of the East. .The carpenters'
sheds were filled with English and Greek n.echanies,
hard at Work with saw, plane, and chisel. Stone-
cutters 'and masons were dreitiling the blocks des-
tined for bridges and culverts, while on the line of
rails' close by the engines arrived with trains of
ballast destined- for the raised ground at the station
and warehouses. After inspecting the various
works and examining the plans of the engineers
and architect, his Lordship proceeded up the
_line
to the rock cuttings made through the valley of
St. Ann. Several waggons had been fitted up

with seats and covered with awnings, but Lord
Stratford, who seemed in most excellent health
and spirits, determined to ride on the locomotive
itself. Accordingly, accompanied by Mr. Blunt,
her Majesty's Consul, and Mr. Meredith,
the company's chief engineer, he mounted the " St.
Sophia," and proceeded at a rapid pace along the
line. After a long and minute examination of the

works hnreturned to the town, and, as the Curagoa
was detained in harbour for a few days, he con-
sented to lay the foundation stone of the great ter-
minal station at Smyrna. The progress made dur-
ing the present year in the execution of the railway
works has been most satisfactory. Upwards of
2,400 men are employed on different parts of the
line, and there are few nationalities which are not
represented. Good wages and regular, employment
have enabled the contractor to procure any amount
of labour he requires. It was prophesied that
during the fruit season the great demand for men
in the fig-gardens and vineyards, and in the pack-
ing warehouses, would cause the railway works to
be abandoned. However, very few deserted their
posts, and their places were immediately demanded
by a host of applicants. Many of these men now
handle pick and shovel with all the skill, if not
with all the force, of an English navvy, and they
have acquired habits of patient industry at utter
variance with the ordinary ideas of Eastern charac-
ter. The line is about 70 miles in length, and is di-
vided into three sections. The first, 45 miles long,
extends from Smyrna to a range of mountains
called the Saladin Dagh, dividing the valley of the
Kayster from that of the Meander. The whole
energies of the contractor have until recently been
applied to this section. Considerable difficulty has
been experienced in obtaining a passage from the

low ground of Smyrna to the plain of Boriza, over
which the line runs for many miles. These difficulties
have now been conquered, and the earthworks and
cuttings are nearly ready for the rails as far as
the village of Sedikoi, ten miles from Smyrna.
Thence to the Saladin Dagh the country is perfectly
flat, and there is no doubt that this section will be
open for traffic in the course of next year. The
second section consists of a tunnel through the
mountain into the plain of the Meander. Upwards
of 500 workmen are now occupied in sinking three
shafts, and the tunnel will therefore be worked

from several points simultaneously. The third
section extends from the mountain, up the valley
of the Meander, to Aidin. There are few districts-
across which a greater traffic exists than that
between Aidin and Smyrna. Nearly the whole of
the fruit and tobacco that are exported hence come
down this track, and during the busy mouths
upwards of 5,000 camels arrive daily at the Caravan-
bridge. Being the first railway commenced in
Turkey, unusual interest was excited by the cere-
mony of laying the foundation-stone of the station
which Lord Stratford had appointed for 11 o'clock

to-day. Precisely at that hour Sir M. Stephenson,
chairman of the board of directors, who had arrived

the previous day from England to examine the
works and expedite the opening of the first section,
proceeded to the Point. He was there joined by
the engineers' and contractors' staff, and by many
of the leading bankers and merchants of the place.
The Pasha and sub-governor also came in state,
and Lord Stratford was conveyed in one of the
boats of her Majesty's ship Curagoa. He was
accompanied by Lady Stratford de Redcliffe, the
Hon. Misses Canning, and the noblemen and
gentlemen attached to his late mission, as well as
by the British Consul, Mr. Blunt, and his family.
An engine and waggons run down to the extremity
of the line brought the party to the spot at which
the foundation-stone was to be laid. After a short
prayer had been offered by the Rev. Mr. Lewis,
the stone was duly lowered, and Lord Stratford-
trowel and mallet in hand—performed the ceremo-
nies usual on such occasions. The party then
adjourned to a tent which had been prepared by the
contractor, and which was most tastefully decorated
with flags supplied from the Curaeoa. After an
excellent dejeuner, the chairman, Sir Macdonald
Stephenson, proposed " The Health of the Queen,"
which was succeeded by that of " The Sultan."
Each of these toasts was responded to with three
times three English cheers, to the surprise and
delight of the Pasha and his suite.
The CHAIRMAN then rose to propose "The Health
of his Excellency Lord Stratford de Redcliffe," and
said,—That every one present must feel the diffi-
culty under which he laboured in attempting to
do justice to the name of a man who throughout
his long career of Eastern diplomacy had so per-
severingly upheld the honour and dignity of his
native country, and so consistently supported the
best interests of Turkey. (Cheers.) He felt him-
self wholly inadequate to express the sentiments
which he and all around him must feel for the ser-
vices that Lord Stratford de Redcliffe had ren-
dered not only to Turkey, but to Europe at large
—services so signal that the names of Canning and
Constantinople would for ever be associated to-
gether. (Loud cheers.) When he reflected on the
particular occasion which had united so many
persons that day it seemed to him a singularly
happy coincidence that the laying the foundation
stone of the great terminal railway station it
Smyrna had been reserved for Lord Stratford de
Redcliffe. By this act he might be said to have in-
serted:the keystone of the arch at which he had so
long .laboured for the consolidation of European
interests with those of Turkey. The present
act was by no means the least in Lord
Stratford's long and glorious career, and he
could only express his conviction that the rail-
way and the electric telegraph were destined
under Divine Providence, to bring to maturity those
fruits, the seeds of which his lordship had so suc-
cessfully implanted in the Ottoman Empire. He
would conclude by wishing his lordship's health
and happiness in the repose which he had so ho-
nourably earned for himself, and by proposing
" The Health of his Excellency Viscount Stratford
de Redcliffe."
The toast having been drunk with three times
three, and most enthusiastically applauded,

Lord STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE, on rising, was
received with immense cheering, and spoke as fol-
-" Our respected Chairman, Ladies and Gen-
/emen, in propossng my health as one of the very
limited number of toasts intended on this occasion,
has done me an honour founded on your kindness
far more than on any merit of my own. He has
pjaced my name in immediate connexion with those
of our most gracious Sovereign, whom we so affec-
tionately revere, and of the munificent Sultan under
whose protecting auspices we are now assembled.
He enhanced, if it be possible, even this high di
s-

lows:—'

tinction when he described me as being entitled to
your favour by the steady and succes frl per`orin-