The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-05 00:00:00

-- -
TUE OPENING OF THE V1CT081..4
BRIDGE, CANADA.
(rim the 21-oniYet-el Herald,)
On Saturday, the 17th or December, the Victoria
Bridge, the greatest in the world, was finally
opened for traffic. Holding in mind the formal
opening by the company next spring, Mr.
Hodges, the agent and representative of the
contractors, did not intend to make the
occasion a grand celebration. Yet he felt that he
could not allow the opening of the bridge for traffic
to pass without inviting his friends to ero::s it in
the first train, and partake of a collation. Nearly
a thousand Montreallers, members of the Govern-
ment, &c., wended their way to the Point St.
Charles depot. A train of 14 carriages was made
up for their accommodation. The engines were
gaily decorated with flags and evergreens, as was
the entrance to the bridge. Shortly after 1 o'clock
the signal was given, and the train started. We
noticed just ere entering the tube two cars laden
with cotton, brought through from Cairo by this
route for shipment, or for New England factories.
In two or three minutes the bridge was reached,
and we plunged into the twilight which reigns in
the interior of the great tubes, rendering the light-
ing of lamps necessary within the carriages. Nine
miuutes were consumed in crossing froni abutment
to abutment. On arriving at the St. Lambert side
the train paused, to allow people to examine the
end of the structure, and enjoy the view of the city
the embankment there affords, and again at the
crossing over the Champlain Railway. Over the
entrance to each abutment wall is engraved :
ERECTED MDCCCLI.X.2• ROBERT STEPIIENSON
AND A. McK. Ross, ENGINEERS.

Over the entrance to each tube the names of the
contractors and of Mr. Hodges find their appropri-
ate place.
From the end of the bridge the train proceeded
to Charrons, where the new line connects with the
old leading to Longueuil. Thence after a short
delay it returned, and the passengers being again
landed on the north side, went thence to the mas-
sive stone entrance built above the abutment, which
had been roofed in and prepared as a banquet hall
for the occasion.
Mr. Hodges presided here as representing the
contractors, having on his right his lordship the
Anglican bishop of the diocese, the Hon. J, Rose,.
Mrs. Fulford, Mrs. Holland, Mrs. Hodges and seve-e
ral other ladies ; on his left his Excellency the Com-
mander of the Forces, Mr. A. McK. Ross, the Hon.
John Young, Mr. Bruce, C.F., Mr. Stikeman, C.E.,
the Hon. John Ross, president of the company, and
several other ladies and gentlemen. The band of
the Royal Canadian Rifles occupied the tempo-
rary orchestra. Due justice having been done to
the edibles.
Mr. HODGES, in rising to propose the first toast,
was very warmly received. He said—l desire,
before giving you a toast, to make one little ex-
planation. When I proposed to ask the presence
of a few of my friends here to-day, I did not expect
to meet so large a number as are now assembled.
The number is so great that I am afraid this may
be considered a public opening of the bridge. But
it is no such thing, and anticipating something that
will take place very much grander than this, I wish
it to be understood that this is not the opening of
the bridge, and I would like the yress to note the
fact. (Hear, hear.) I have much pleasure in pro-
posing to you her Majesty's health, standing as we
do in this tremendous structure, the strength of
which has been tested by having to withstand the
pressure of millions of tons of ice, such as no other
structure in the world has had to resist. (Cheers.)
The health of her Majesty has been drank in many
an extraordinary place, but I question if it has ever
been drunk before in a place like this, through
which a locomotive has passed a few minutes ago,
drawing a train with nearly a thousand souls in it.
(Cheers.) Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you to drink
the health of " The Queen."
The toast was drunk with three rounds of loyal
cheers, and the band played the Royal Anthem.
Mr. Honues, in proposing the next toast, said
he was sure it would be responded to as warmly by
every loyal subject of her Majesty, as had been the
toast which had just been honoured. He begged
to give—" The Prince Consort, the Prince of Wales,
and the Royal Family." (Cheers.) He might take
this opportunity of mentioning that, in the antici-
pation of a visit from the, Prince of Wales at the
time when the formal inauguration of the bridge
wauld take place, one of the stones of this great
work had been left unset, the stone which might be
seen at the entrance, so that upon his Royal High-
ness might devolve the task of completing the
work. (Cheers.)
Baud—" Prince of Wales's Band March."
Mr. HODGES next proposed " The Governor-
General."
Band—" Old English Gentleman."
Mr. HODGES then gave " The Army."
Mr. Hopoes, in giving the next toast, said he
felt it quite unnecessary to accompany it with a
single word of comment—" The Grand Trunk Rail-
way
Company."
Band—" Grand Trunk Celebration Polka."
Hon. Jolts Ross responded. He said—Ladies
and gentlemen, as President of the Grand Trunk
Railway Company, I am very much obliged to you
for the very kind manner in which you have been
pleased to receive this toast. In replying to it, I
feel that I shall best consult your comfort and
wishes by saying as little as possible on this occa-
sion. Mr. !lodges has stated that this is not the
formal opening of the Grand Trunk, that it is but
a private meeting of his own friends whom he has
called here to-day to celebrate this event—which
is a most important event to the company which I
have the honour to represent. It is a most impor-
tant event to the company because it enables us to
send on the traffic which is crowding upon us in
thousand of tons, and which we would have been
unable to carry had not the bridge been completed
just at the time when the cold of winter was closing
the natural channel. And I accept your cheers as
showing your conviction that it is not only a great
event for the company, but a great event for this
province, nay for the world—(cheers)—that so
splendid a structure should in the short space of
time which has been employed in its construction,
be reared before us in all its magnitude and mag-
nificence. No one can look at it without being
Fateful to the Almighty for the way in which it
has been carried through by the skilful heads and
able hands which have been entrusted with its exe-
cution—those of Mr. Hodges and the engineers
who have acted with him. (Cheers.) I trust you
will excuse me if Ido not trespass longer on your
attention, and I conclude by again thanking you for
the manner in which you have received this toast.
Mr. HoDoes again rose and said—l have now a
sad task to perform. I have to ask you to drink
in silence the memory of the greatest man in the
engineering profession that ever lived. (Hear,
_hear.) . It is scarcely more than six years since
he visited this country, accompanied by my friend
Ross, and standing- on the banks of this
river, not a hundred yards from where we now
stand, he saw in his vivid imagination the bridge
as you see it now, and these two great men pro-
ceeded to plan the structure such as it now
stands before you. Unhappily, only one of them is
left to witness the realisation of those plans. lam
sure you all join me in the deep regret that we can-
not drink the health of those two great men toge-
ther. But respect to the deceased requires that we
should drink to his memory in silence; The way
he was received, when he was himself amongst you,
showed how much you respected him. I ask you to
drink to the memory of Robert Stephenson, the
greatest engineer the world ever saw.
Drunk in solemn silence. Band—" Dead March
in Saul."

Mr. IIoDGEs—I give the next toast with great
pleasure. The man whose health lam to propose
is before you, You all know him well, for his
works speak for him—(cheers)—and it is unneces-
sary that I should pronounce upon him any eulogy.
It is enough that I give you his name—Alexander
Mackenzie Ross, the engineer who assisted in plan-
ning, and who has superintended the carrying out,
of this mighty structure on which we stand. (Loud
cheers.)
Iland2—" Scots wha hae."
Mr. A. M. Ross, on rising to respond, was loudly
ejleerea, lie thanked the assemblage most cordially
for the compliment raid to him in the way his
health had becknro. a received on this most interesting
raieb
occasion. '
retrospective view of the part
he had borne in thin work this expression of their
approbation gave him
time, having present to much pleasure. At the same
" Do unto others asgolden rule,
mindl the
tdhheave others do to
you," you
ehe must say that, whit',
co-operation he
had had, his task had been an ea
least as the duties pertaining to hissoy,v7e, so far at
ing had been concerned. Yet it NV ouldSpllevialbcall-
tc3 much to have expected that a work likee this, conducted in the face of the more than ordiftl:
'conflicting elements of a rigorous climate, p a
have been accomplished without sonic diMeulties
and drawbacks. x These difficulties, however, had
only served to draw out into action otherwise latent
energies, and he must say that the respected and
talented agent of the contractors, who had been in-
.

vested with the responsibility of carrying out this
great and important work to its present perfection,
had never been found wanting►, (Cheers.) The le-

sources of his mind were at all ti;nes equal to

the exigiencies of the case, and so far frorn incur-
ring any reproach, the result had been such as to
win for Mr. Hodges the unmingled approbation of
all who were acquainted with what had been done.
(Cheers.) He hoped the completion of the bridge
would serve still more closely to cement that bond
of union -which should exist between man and man.
(Cheers.) Mr. Boss went on to refer to the oppo-
sition which the Grand Trunk had met with from