The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-18 00:00:00

60ft. below the river. Anything more extraordinary
than the scene which it presents it would be difficult
to conceive. First the subway is being built; below
that are being constructed the chambers for the
overflow of storm water from the low-level sewer ;

below these again is the low-level sewer itself, and
deepest and beneath them all the tunnel for the
pneumatic railway is being laid. It seems something

" " 7
marvellous to look down into this great excavation

where the steam pumps are always going, to keep it
free from water, and watch the men working in tiers
beneath each other, in a sort of twilight, building
four different structures. Powerful caissons arc sunk
here to keep the water out, but still, at such a depth
beneath the tide, great leakage is unavoidable, and
but for the incessant actio❑ of the pumps we have
mentioned the vast hole would be filled to its brim

in a single day. Probably the engineering labours
in connection with the pneumatic railway are more
curious still tha❑ even those of the Embankment.

These, however, will be dezcribed fully on another
occasion, when we hope we studl not have to say, as
we must now do, that their progress has materially
retarded that of the Embankment itself. Opposite
Yo

)rk stairs a pier is being erected, both for steam
and small boats, and a design has been made by Mr.
Bazalgette for the landing near Temple-gardens. At
various places along the granite wall massive rings
are let into it, to which barges can be moored. This,
however, we venture to think, is a mistake, for al-
ready serious injury has in one or two cases been
done by lighters bumping against and chipping the
close fitting granite mouldings. It would be diffi-
cult to praise too highly the exquisite finish with
which all this granite work has been executed.
The blocks are carved and fitted literally like so
much cabinet work. The large pedestals and what
are called the rustic carved blocks near York stairs
might be pointed to as perfect specimens of this
kind of workmanship. As far as the works have yet
gone they have consumed no less than 8,000,000
of bricks, with 40,000 cubic yards of concrete,
50,000 cubic yards of earth have been dug out,
500,000 cubic yards haye been " tipped" in,
125,000 cubic feet of granite have been bedded,
and about 60,000 cubic yards of earth remain to be
added before the whole is complete. What the
subterranean railway company will have to dig out
and fill in again is at present a matter of conjecture,
for nobody seems to know when they mean to begin.
It is gratifying to be able to add that since the very
commencement of the work there has not been the
slightest settlement of any kind in the foundation
of the granite walls. They remain true to plumb
and rule, exactly as when they were designed. If
anything can add to their solidity, it will be the plan
according to which it is not intended to draw the
wooden piles behind which they have been built. These
piles are all being sawn off by a patent machine at
2 feet below low-water mark, and the rest of their
bulk, which is driven down into the clay, will re-
main to form permanent supports against even the
slightest movements of the foundations themselves.

THE RECONSTRUCTION OF EUROPE.

tance from Austria, and of but little value to that
kingdom. WILLIAM of Prussia, or rather Count
BISMARK, his Minister, thought that FRANCIS
JOSEPH would readily sell for a due consideration
property which could be of not much value to him,
and to which he had never supposed that he had
any claims. Prussia accordingly offered Austria
three hundred million of francs for the relinquish-
ment of her title. Austria refused. The posses-
sion of the duchies would make Prussia too for-
midable a rival. Austria would only consent to a
temporary arrangement by which Prussia should
hold Schleswig and Austria should hold Holstein.
This arrangement was entered into at a meeting
hell on the 11th of August, 1865, called the Con-
vention of Gastein.

ENGINEERS.

hai to actual conflict of this nature ; but yet strilas.
are in themselves as justifiable as any other sort of
means of driving a bargain, and, so long as thei
are conducted within the limits of the laws' I
must be respected as the exercise of an for,
right. It must not, however, be for-
gotten that it is a very unpleasant way of for-
gotten that
and one which does not harmonise wlt_ll
our ordinary ideas of the courtesy and gov-
temper which should subsist between buyer and
seller, and when once this disturbance of the oral
nary relations is brought about it is not to be -
cc'
pected but that the seller should insist upon the very
1
last farthing he can get, and that the buyer shoul
refuse to add one jot to the price for which he
satisfy his requirements elsewhere, while both wl'e
certainly long retain a very considerable degree
irritation not calculated to facilitate future tray.s
actions. It may be perhaps said that strikes furiuslt
the only means of bringing disputes to an issue, b,le
the same was said, in their time of trial by bal'
and of duelling, and yet we see that when private In;
dividuals have a dispute to settle they are now conten
to resort to the courts of law and to abide by the de.:
cision arrived at. There is no reason, except obsut
nacy and stupidity, why the same course should n.°
be adopted for trade disputes which has succeeded 111,
all others. It has been objected that if any tribunT3
of the nature of courts of arbitration were estan,
lished it would not be possible to invest then w ith
authority to enforce their decisions, but, if the
courts were known to be impartial, the mere bet
that the decision had been arrived at would give, 3t
any rate, a preponderating weight to the side till
might favour or to any compromise they might Or
gest. At present, however, the only plan that ha,
been discovered is for masters and men to fight 9%
their quarrels by inflicting asmuchinjury as possible
upon each other, and no inconsiderable amount 1
the public; and the latest examples of this sort.%
conflict are very edifying as to the manner in which
such struggles are carried on and the sort of result fe.
which they lead. The Brighton Railway strike,
.0
will be remembered, ended almost as soon as It
began, by the return of the men to work upon ter
which, virtually, were the same as those upon which,
they had struck. It was very generally thought thal'
the men were not justified iu requiring that all drive
should be paid alike, irrespective of their merit, an
they themselves ultimately had the good sense to see
this and to come to an agreement with their directors.
But that strike had one very unexpected result, 1°
that it taught us that an engine-driver is not such
°
difficult man to replace after all. The inconvenience:
upon the pressure of which the men had no doubt
eounted to help them in their demands, proved, 1u
.
fact, to be much less insurmountable than was OA
pected, and there is no doubt that if the strike had
continued a few days longer the whole of the planet;
of the men who had left their work would have bC
filled up. The strike on the North-Eastern
has naturally, after this experience, been received
with much more equanimity than would hitheft;
have been felt at the prospect of all the traffic 01!:d
important line beingstopped for an indefinite perl
and it has again been made clear that the comm°l3',
cations of the country are not in the exclusive COo
trol of the drivers. So far as the interests of U'lc
public is concerned, therefore, we can afford to 10e,
upon the struggle with great composure; but, as
garde the abstract justice of the case, there is a g°
deal deal more to be said than with respect to tu.t
Brighton dispute. The North Eastern drivers, ,„
appears, are engaged under a contract that a mont.b
notice should be given on either side of an intenti.ooo
to terminate. the engagement, and when the questl%
o. f strike was first mooted the men did actually se d 3
in such notices, which, however, were aftenvar",
.withdrawn in consequence of an arrangement hal
ing been made. But a week ago the men chose
consider that the arrangement had been violated
and then and there, without any notice whatevefir'
they one and all struck work, and left the coraParil,
o
r r
to conduct their traffic as best they might. 't h f
very strong measure was met by a prosecution•
breach of contract, which was on Tuesday last de,
tided against the men by the Leeds magistrates, 313'2
although sentence has been postponed for the pr;
sent, it appears not unlikely that the matter 10.0
yet be complicated by the actual punishment of 80°30
of the offenders. In the meantime, the unioue,
making every preparation to continue the strugg' a
The Central Committee of the Engine-drivers' 8330
Firemen's United Society has made a levy upon
the drivers and firemen belonging to it for the neee:a
sary funds, and it has been distinctly threaten 0
that unless the demands of the North Eastern 130,0
are complied with, a " united movement" of "
great body of our own calling throughout the 004
try" will be resorted to, or, in other words, all tPto
drivers in the country are to be taken away fr°o
their employment unless those who are now -e
strike get what they want. The facts of the eas
as we are at present in possession of them, do °OB,
tell in favour of the justice 03
of the men's claim, a 0
unless it is consider ably stronger than it now aPPe „,
to be, they are certainly not entitled to our syl°l?,,`",,
thy, while the threat held out of a universal strl'o
s still more calculated to make the public look up°
their pretensions with suspicion and distrust.