The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-19 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

Some important alterations are to be made in the
East India depots now quartered at Chatham garri-
son, in consequence of the determination of the au-
thorities at the Horse Guards to remove the whole
of the depots of those regiments whose service com-
panies are in India from Pembroke, and station
them at Chatham and at the other depot batta-
lions. Two depots, the 31st and 91st, have already
received orders to move from Pembroke and pro-
ceed to Chatham. The 31st depot, which numbers
about 250 men of all ranks, is expected to arrive at
the garrison this day. The depot of the 91st
(Argyleshire) Regiment, which is upwards of 400
strong, is also to move from Pembroke to Chatham,
to be quartered in the hut barracks. The depot is
expected to march into the garrison this afternoon.
The head-quarters of the 91st have been in India
nearly five years, having left England in December
1854.
A number of the Indian Sappers and Miners have
arrived at the Royal Engineer establishment, at
Chatham, from the depot at Warley, having been
selected by Lieut.-Col. Ross, R.E., for the purpose
of acquiring a knowledge of sapping and mining,
pontooning, the construction of earthworks, and
other engineering operations, preparatory to pro-
ceeding to India, intelligence having been received
by the Hon. Council for India of the great want
which is at present experienced in India of well
qualified engineers for the Indian Engineers' force.
The Clasmerden, 1,598 tons, hired troopship,
Capt. Bennett, arrived at Spithead yesterday from
Calcutta with the troops of the first division of her
Majesty's 29th (Worcestershire) Foot.

STATUE OF THE LATE GENERAL SIR JOHN
EILL.—A duplicate of the statue of this gallant officer has
been successfully past at the foundry of Messrs. Robinson
and Co., London. The one previously executed is to be
erected in the town of Ayr, Sir John Neill's native place;
that now cast is destined for Madras. The size is heroic,
and General Neill is represented in the dress which he wore
when he recieved his mortal wound at the gate of Luck-
now. when he, with General Havelock, made his second
and suceessfnl effort to relieve the heroic little garrison of
that city.
non At t;:;,:;
whicl2 foot of the fio.ure in the background is a
broken eah
the Inilitary cloak of the general
,
touches in easy folds. lit,
tirm qtaes will be placed on pe-
destals of granite.' 'llomceopathic Chemist)
A.DVERTISEMEN T.] —E rrs's .
is sold by the prin-
Co coA.—This esteemed preparation
in Vb., and lib.
cipal grocers at' Is. 6d. per lb.,
packets. Each packet is labelled i( —"" .9
•pps, Homoeo-
pathic chemist London."

IS.IMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL.

( From the Times.)

Our columns of Saturday last contained the ordi-
nary record of the death of one of our most eminent
engineers, Mr. I. K. Brunel. The loss of a man
whose name has now for two generations, from the
commencement of this century to the present
time, been identified with the progress and the
application of mechanical and engineering science,
claims the notice duo to those who have'edone the
State some service. This country is largely in-
debted to her many eminent civil engineers for her
wealth and strength, and Mr. Brunel will take a
high rank among them when the variety and mag-
nitude of his works is considered, and the original
genius he displayed in accomplishing them. He
was, as it were, born an engineer, about the time
his father had completed the block machinery at
Portsmouth, then one of the most celebrated and
remarkable works of the day, and which remains
efficient and useful. Those who recollect him as a
boy recollect full well how rapidly, almost intui-
tively, indeed, he entered into and identified himself
with all his father's plans and pursuits. He was
very early distinguished for his powers of mental
calculation, and not less so for his rapidity and ac-
curacy as a draughtsman. His power in this re-
spect was not confined to professional or mecha-
nical drawings only. He displayed an artist-like
feeling for and a love of art, which in later days
never deserted him. He enjoyed and promoted it
to the last, and the only limits to the delight it
afforded him were his engrossing occupations and
his failing health.
The bent of his mind when young was clearly
seen by his father and all who knew him. His
education was therefore directed to qualify him for
that profession in which he afterwards distinguished
himself. His father was his first, and perhaps his
best tutor. When he was about fourteen he was
sent to Paris, where he was placed under the care
of M. Masson, previous to entering the college of
Henri Quatre, where he remained two years. He
then returned to England, and it may be said that,
in fact, he then commenced his professional career
under his father, Sir I. Brunel, and in which he
rendered him important assistance—devoting him-
self from that time forward to his profession exclu-
sively and ardently. He displayed even then the
resources, not only of a trained and educated mind,
but great original and inventive power. He pos
sessed the advantage of being able to express or
draw clearly and accurately whatever he had
matured in his own mind. But not only that ;
Ise could work out with his own hands, if he
pleased, the models of his own designs, whether in
wood or iron. As a mere workman he would have
excelled. Even at this early period steam naviga-
tion may be said to have occupied his mind, for he
made the model of a boat, and worked it with loco-
motive contrivances of his own. Everything he did;
he did with all his might and strength, and he did
it well. The same energy, thoughtfulness, and ac-
curacy, the same thorough conception and mastery
of whatever he undertook distinguished him in all
minor things, whether working as a tyro in his
father's office, or as the engineer of the Great
Western Railway Company, or, later, in the con-
ception and design in all its details of the Great
Eastern. Soon after his return to England his
father was occupied, among other things, with
plans for the formation of a tunnel under the
Thames. In 1825 this work was commenced, and
Brunel took an active part in the work under his
father. There are many of his fellow labourers now
living who well know the energy and ability he
displayed in that great scientific struggle against
physical difficulties and obstacles of no ordinary
magnitude, and it may be said that at this time the
anxiety and fatigue he underwent, and an accident
he met with, laid the foundation of future weak-
ness and illness. Upon the stoppage of that under-
taking by the irruption of the river in 1828, he be-
came employed on his own accouut upon various
works. Docks at Sunderland and Bristol were con-
structed by him, and when it was proposed to
throw a suspension bridge across the Avon at
Clifton, his design and plan was approved by Mr.
Telford, then one of the most eminent engineers
of the day. This work was never completed. He
thus became known, however, in Bristol, and when
a railway was in contemplation between London
and Bristol, and a company formed, he was ap-
pointed their engineer. He had previously been em-
ployed, however, as a railway engineer in con-
nexion with the Bristol and Gloucestershire and
the Merthyr and Cardiff tramways. In these
works his mind was first turned to the construction
of railways, and when he became engineer of the
Great Western Railway Company he recommended
and introduced what is popularly called the broad
guage, and the battle of the guages began. This
is not the place or the time to say one word upon
this controversy. No account of Mr. Brunel's
labours, however, would be complete without men-
tioning so important a circumstance in his life.
Considering the Great Western Railway as an en-
gineering work alone, it may. challenge a compari-
son with any other railway in the world for the
general perfection of its details, and the speed and
ease of travelling upon it. Many of its structures,
such as the viaduct at Hanwell, the Maidenhead-
bridge, which has the flattest arch of such large
dimensions ever attempted in brickwork, the box-
tunnel, which, at the date of its construction, was
the longest in the world, and the bridges and tun-
nels between Bath and Bristol deserve the attention
of the professional student. They are all more or
less remarkable and original works.
Ii the South Devon and Cornish railways there
are also works of great magnitude and importance.
The sea wall of the South Devon Railway, and,
above all, the bridge over tlib Tamar, called the
Albert-bridge from the interest taken in it by the
Prince Consort, deserve to be specially mentioned,
together with the bridge over the Wye at Chep-
stow, as works which do honour to the genius of
the engineer and the country too. It was on the
South Devon Railway that he adopted the plan
which had been previously tried on the London and
Croydon line—viz., of propelling the carriages by
atmospheric pressure. This plan failed, but he en-
tertained a strong opinion that this power would be
found hereafter capable of adoption for locomotive
purposes. It is impossible, in such a rapid sketch
as this of his energetic and professional life, to do
more than notice, or rather catalogue, his works.
It was in connexion with the interests of the Great
Western Railway that ho first conceived the idea
of building a steamship to run between England
and America. The Great Western was built ac-
cordingly. The power and tonnage of this vessel
was about double that of the largest ship afloat at
the time of her construction. Subsequently, as the
public know, the Great Britain was designed and
built under Mr. Brunel's superintendence. This
ship, the result, as regards magnitude,
few years' experience in iron shipbuilding
not only more than double the tonnage ge of the Great
v aam
t
Western, and by far the largest shipin ehxeisGternecaet,
but she was more than twice as large as
a hesitated t
im
eabhoaj
be
extending the use of iron in the construction of
Northern,attmthpe rgesNtVtelda.shhillpe wohthicehrs
ships, Mr. Brunel saw it was the only material in
which a very great increase of dimensions could
safely be attempted. The very accident which be-
fel the Great Britain upon the rocks in Dundrum
Bay showed conclusively the skill he had then at-
tained in the adaptation of iron to the purposes of
The means taken under his imme-
diate direction to protect the vessel from the injury
of the winds and ;salves attracted at the time much
attention, and they proved successful, for the vessel
was again floated, and is still afloat.
While noticing these
.great efforts to improve the
art of shipbuilding, it must not be forgotten that
Mr. Brunel, we believe, was the first man of emi-
nence in his profession who perceived the capabi-
lities of the screw as a propeller. He was brave
enough to stake a great reputation upon the sound-
ness of the reasoning upon which he had based
his
conclusions. Fr )m his experiments on a small
scale in the Archimedes he saw his way clearly to
the adoption of that method of propulsion which he
afterwards adopted in the Great Britain. And in
the report to his directors in which he recommended
it, he conveyed his views with so much clearness
and conclusiveness that when, with their approba-
tion, he submitted it to the Admiralty, he succeeded
in persuading them to give it a trial in her Ma-
jesty's navy, under his direction. In the progress
of this trial he was much thwarted; but the Rattler,
the ship which was at length placed at his disposal,
and fitted under his direction with engines and
screw by Messrs. Maudslay and Field, gave results
which justified his expectations under somewhat
adverse circumstances. She was the first screw
which the British navy possessed, and it must be
added, to the credit of Brunel, that though she had
originally been built for a paddle ship, her perfor-
mance with a screw was so satisfactory that nume•
rous screw ships have since been added to the
navy. Thus prepared by experience and much per-
sonal devotion to the subject of steam navigation by
means of large ships, he, in the latter part of 1851
and the beginning of 1852, began to work out the
idea he had long entertained—that to make long
voyages economically and speedily by steam required
that the vessels should be large enough to carry the
coal for the entire voyage out wards, and, unless the
facilities for obtaining coal were very great at the
outport, then for the return voyage also; and that
vessels much larger than any then built could be
navigated with great advantages from the mere
effects of size. Hence originated the Great Eastern.
The history of this great work is before the public,
and its success in a nautical point of view is ad
mated, as well as the strength and stability of the
construction of the vessel. More than this cursory
notice of this last memorial of his skill cannot now

be given. Ali the circumstances attending the chon-
struction, the launching, the trial of this great!ip
are before the üblic. It would hardly be just,
however, to the memory of this distinguished enr
neer if we were to conclude this notice without an
allusion to his private character and worth. Few
men were more free from that bane of professional
life—professional jealousy. lie was always ready
to assist others, and to do justice to their morits.
It is a remarkable circumstance that in the early
part of his career he was brought into frequent con-
flict with Robert Stephenson, as Stephenson is as
with him, and that, nevertheless, their mutual re-
gard and respect were newer impaired. Brunel was
ever ready to give his advice and assistance When-
ever Stephenson desired it, and the public. will re-
collect how earnestly and cordially during the
launch of the Great Eastern Stephenson gav his
e
assistance and lent the weight of his authority t 9
his now deceased friend. Such rivalry and such
unbroken friendship as theirs are rare, and are
honourable to both.
e
The death of Mr. Brunel was hastenedff by th
to
fatigue and mental strain caused by his eorts
superintend the completion of the Greatent. Easterik
and in these efforts his last days were spent. But.,
we must not forbear to mention that for sever..ai
years past Mr. Brunel had been suffering from 111
health brought on by over exertion. Nevertheless
h.e allowed himself no relaxtion from his prnfe°;
sienal labours, and it was during the period 0,1
bodily. pain and weakness that his greatest diffial7
ties were surmounted and some of his greatest
works achieved. Possessing a mind strong I.n Te
consciousness of rectitude, he pursued, in Wig!"
hearted truthfulness, what he believed to be. tne
course. of duty, and in his love of and devotion to.
his profession he accomplished, both at home ana
abroad, on the continent and in India, works,
his
the
history of which will be the best monument to
memory. With an intellect singularly po.vierfil'
and acute, nothing escaped his observation in
any branch of science which could be made
.avau
able his own pursuits, et it was accompanied by.
humility and a kindlinessy of heart which endeared
him to all who knew and enjoyed his friendshe,
The very boldness and originality of his works, 0.!
which he was never known to boast, while it addedt
to his fame, added no little to his anxiety, and a°
nnfrequently encompassed him with difficulty--
" Great was the glory, but greater was the strife,"
which told ultimately upon his health and strength,
and finally closed his life when he was little To
than 53 years of age. We have left unnotic.ea
and. study of the young engineer. TheY
many of his works, and many' deserve the attention_
their record in professional works, and in themnsi.
his
works will hereafter be fully described and cosy
dered.. Mr. Brunel was a member of the 10;4
Society, having been elected at the early age.°l
In 1857 he was admitted by the University. 9.
Oxford to the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil
I Laws, a distinction of which he was justly proud.
will find