The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-07 00:00:00

a smile as they thought, perhaps, of what would
happen if a real Guido Fawkes were met, match in
hand, ready to fire the train. Arrived at the back
of Mr. Speaker's chair, now—like the benches. on
either side, and the galleries at either end—vacant
and silent, a small trap door about 2ft. square was
opened, and down this the cavalcade was to pass.
The big beef-eaters looked wonderingly, to see how
they could screw their long bodies and their scarlet
and gold trimmings down this little and dark open-
ing. They drew their swords, not, however, for the
purpose of offence, but as a precautionary measure
to prevent their being tripped up as they descended
into the cellars ; and by dint of good management
this first stage in the descent was made, and the pro-
cession reformed beneath the floor of the House of
Commons. Its appearance resembled the maindeck
of a man-of-war cleared for action. There vas a
bulkhead at either end with small doorway openings
—there were hatchways carefully covered, and
steam pipes, and iron columns supporting the floor
above. At the further end a door was opened, and
again the searchers came to a hatchway, downwhich
they passed to a lower deck. Here is the place where
the air is manufactured and purified, and warmed
and cooled and moistened for consumption by the
legislators above. Along each side of the hall or
deck long sails of gauze are stretched to catch the
breezes that are wafted into this cave of .7Eolus.
Lower down, and resting on the floor upon each side
of the hall, is a row of " batteries." liaise
holland wrappers that keep them all so scrupu-
lously clean, and it will be seen that each of these
batteries is made up of a series of plates of metal
arranged as in the cells of an electric battery.
Through the centre of these plates there passes an
iron pipe charged with steam, the heat from which
is radiated from the plates of the batteries, and
warms the air that comes down and is filtered
through the area of gauze like sails. Thence the air
ascends by shafts up to the air chamber, and passes
through the pieried iron work of the benches to
warm and comfort the hon. members who early
and late sit in debate on the welfare of the nation.
From this hall we were conducted to a large and
lofty vaulted area immediately under the octagon
hall, between the House of Lords and Commons.
Here a hundred or more of large iron pipes rise
from the ground to the roof—here clustered, like
the columns of some gothic cathedral ; there single,
as though a large meter or gasinain had started up
on end ; in other places arranged in groups of a
score or more. Some sprang out of horizontal pipes ;
some climbed up and rested against the walls ; others
stood solitary and alone. The great hall resembled
the interior of a gigantic organ—some immense
instrument which Vulcan might have forged for a
Titan organist—and it would hardly have excited
surprise among the cavalcade if they had heard
thunder pealing from this gathering of great pipes.
Through these, however, there come no sounds of
music, save when the hot air of the cold blast rushes
through the hollow pipes, and then they gave forth
a moaning noise which mingles strangely with the
roar that may be heard from the furnaces below;
and to these our steps were next directed. At one
corner of the great hall there is yet another descent
to make, and this conducts to what may be termed
the realm of Pluto. Here furnaces glow, and huge
' fires roar, and the winds howl, and keep up a con-
stant tornado as they rush towards the glowing
fires. We are at the bottom of the great shaft which
runs up the centre of the Victoria Tower to a height
of nearly 300 feet, and on the hearth or bottom of
this huge shaft there is a fire which would roast or
grill a score of oxen, and cook more beef and mut-
ton than all the beef-eaters of het Majesty's Body
Guard would eat in 12 months —be they as voraci-
ous as popular notion supposes them to be. This
immense fire causes a constant draught of air in the
shaft, into which the foul air from the various parts
of the building is conducted, and discharged high in
the upper strata of the London atmosphere. The
furnaces in which the air is heated are in another
part of the gallery. Walking along the galleries
which form the entrance to this laboratory of purl.- I
fled oxygen, the yeomen shivered with the cold,
noble lords buttoned close their overcoats, and hats
were firmly held_ to prevent their being blown—
where, it is impossible to say. The roar of the rush-
ing air, the lights that burned dimly along the gal-
leries, the winds that howled, shaking temporary
doors and brattices, the crimson glow of light from
the furnace fires reflected on the whitened walls,
gave considerable interest to this portion of the
search. Glad to escape from this part of the lower
Parliamentary regions, the cavalcade next wound
its way through another long gallery. Here they
saw overhead a huge pair of paddle-wheels, only the
paddles were formed of canvas. This was a novelty
introduced by that wondrous Dr. Reid. Fans like
these were to be turned round rapidly by powerful
steam-engines, and bring in the fresh and cast out
the foul air. Somehow or other the plan did not
answer; like many other great inventions, it would
have succeeded but for some little "if," or some
unforeseen " hitch" which baffled all the calcula-
tions of the sanguine mechanist. The paddle-
wheels are permitted to swing on their axles ; and
Goldsworthy Gurney, who now reigns in the stead
of his great predecessor, may look upon them with
something of the feelings of gratification with which
the soldier surveys the tattered flags of the enemy
that he has *on in hard fight. The scarlet
and gold of the halberdiers, and the uniform of the
marshals, and the gleam of the lanterns, and the
remainder of the procession in irregular order,
wound their way through this long gallery, until a
small ladder leading to a trap door was scaled. This
ascent made, another spacious hall, charged with
batteries and hung with gauze sail, and with care-
fully covered hatches, was entered. This was two
t
stages below the floor of the House of Lords. The
here was mild, and an agreeable con-
trast with the cold and chill of the gallery below.
' Another ascent was made, and the diligent searchers
were conducted by Mr. Fincham
imme-
diately below the House of Lords, similar
in
deck-like arrangements of bulkheads to the floor
beneath the Commons. From this a smallidoor was
at the en
opened, and the procession merged into daylight
d h
of o
t_e last
near the Chamberlain's office, to the floor.tsof the series of open courts.
that the
search Guy Faux was search was a fruitless one.
dis-
covered in the vaults, but one vulgar wag was
member of the procession
heard to say as the lasi
r behind Mr.
disappeared down the trap door
one down. Not only Speaker's
The reader will not have failed to notice
chair, that all the Guys hadrarcegoncealed in the
no cellars in which cellars,he
All the lower regions tin,-
could conceal himself:
s halls, formed into
versed are broad spacious hinny
i the arches which
ries by rows
of pie
or floors. Everything below
but,was strangethere n
too caoanys,ptihraereto
support the basementslean
a worthiy scientificof paoni n t o
whitened ; and the explo-
ration,is in perfect order,. c
interesting in
the curious, answered ious answered
f
view, or however gratifying
no practical purpose. It is a ceremony Which casts
smile upon what should be in
ridicule and raises a .
ceremony befitting the dignity of a
every respect a
great nation, and occasiontinin
en-
lightened nation.—Morning . ' n —Morning Post.
however initneres

RAILWAY • COLLISION.—An accident occurred on
Friday night, on the Great Western Railway, near Charl-
bury station. The accident arose from a collision between
two luggage trains. The line was blocked up for a consi-
derable time, and the carriages forming the express train,
which should have reached Kidderminster at 10 on Friday
night, only passed through that station at a few minutes
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