The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-10 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, Trt URt‘DA EVENING, SEPTEMBER 10, 1868.

UNVILLt'S V.R. OLD IRISH WHISKY,
- BELFAST,
• regularly supplied to the House of Lords.
" V.R.' IRISH WHISKY.

DUNVILLE and CO.'S " V.R." OLD IRISH
"WHISKY, t BELFAST.
London Offices and Stores,
4, BEAUFORT-BUILDINGS, STRAti'D,
Established 1803., Quotations on application.

EUROPEAN ASSURANCE SOCIETY
Empowered by Special Mt of Parliament.
For Life Assurance, 'Annuities, and Guarantee of Fidelity in
Situationa of Trust.
Chairman.- General Sir FILEDEUIC SMITH, K.TI., F.R.S.
_ _

Policies payable during Life7ltylisputable—Not liable to

Forfoituire.

Anna it Ina;nno e]cml3 Thrco liandra 1 and Fifty Thousand
Pounds. . .

• 1
The Annuity Tables, offeriny, spec:lAl advantages to Annuitants,
and full particulars of the popular Principles of this Society, will
b 3 foand in the New Proc,poctas, which will be forwarded to
applicants post free.
HENRY LAKE, General Manager.
31G, Regent-street, and 17, Waterloo-place, Pall-mall, London.

OY AL INSURANCE COMPANY,
ROYAL INSURANCE BUILDINGS,
• Lombard-street, London, and Liverpool.
EPITOME of ANNUAL REPORT for 1867.
The " Ror.A.t." has never had a.larger body of Constituents
than now.
FIRE BRANCH.

PREMIUMS in 1867 £160,553
being a larger revenue than in any preceding
year.
LOSSES by Fire in 1867 £292,125
NET PROFITS, after paying all losses and ex-
penses £56,373
LIFE BRANCH.

Annual Average of new, business in 1865-6-7 £BOl,OOO
Do. during previous Quinquennium £688.000
Amount added to Life Reserves in 1867 . £128,583
LIFE PROPOSALS
_now effected will participate in the
Increased shato of Proffts.reCeitly conceded -to -Policy-
holders. _ .

PERCY M. DOVE, Manager and Actuary.
JOHN B. JOHNSTON, Secretary in Loudon.
August, 1868.

COMPAGNIE GEN E RAL E TRANSAT-
LANTIQUE.

4, Rue de la Paix, Paris.
FRENCH MAIL STEAMERS.
NEW YORK.
Leave every 14 days, from Havre and Brest, for New York.
RATES OF PASSAGE.
From HAVRE Or BREST to NEW YORK.
First Mass 7OO fr.
Second Class 425 fr.
Third Class - 275 fr.
From Paris to New York, via Havre or Brest, including
railway ticket, 725 fr. ; second class, 440 fr. ; third class,
285 fr.
WEST IN nIES AND MEXICO.
Leave St. Nazaire on the 16th of each month for St.
Thomas, Havana, Vera Cruz, New Orleans, Porto Rico,
Haiti. Santiago de Cuba, Guadeloupe, Martinique.
JAPAN, NORTH AND SOU 111 P A CIFIC, AND
CENTRAL AMERICA (via Panama).
Leave St. Nazaire on the Bth of each month for Mar-
tiniqne, St. Martha (United States of Columbia), Colon,
Aspinwall (Isthmus of Panama), La Guayra, Porto Ca-
bello, Guadeloupe, Trinidad, Demerara, Paramaribo,
Cayenne, &c., Callao, Valparaiso, &c., San Jose, La Union,
San Francisco, China, and Japai—
Hand books, with full details of all the routes of this
company, can be had of
STRINGER, PEMBBROKE, and Co.,
Agents, 8, Austiufriars, London, E.C.

CONTRACT FOR COALS FOR SAN PAULO
DE LOANDO.

Contract Department, Admiralty, Somerset
House, - ept. 1, 1868.
THE COMMISSIONERS for EXECUTING
the OFFICE of LORD HIGH ADMIRAL of the
TIMED KINGDOM of GREAT BRITAIN and
IRELAND, do hereby give Notice, that on TUES-
DAY, the 29th inst., at Two o'clock, they will be ready
to treat with such persons as may be willing to CON-
TRACT for supplying and delivering on oard her Ma-
jesty's Steamships and Vessels at San Paulo de Loando
all such quantities of
SMOKELESS SOUTH WALES COALS
as may from time to time be ordered under a Contract for
Twelve Months certain, from the Ist of April, 1869, and
afterwards, until the expiration of six months warning.
A. Form of the Tender and Conditions of Contra t may
be seen in the Lobby of the Storekeeper-General's De-
partment, Admiralty, Somerset House.
No Tender will be received after Two o'clock on the day
of treaty, nor will auy be noticed unless the party attends,
or an agent for him duly authorized in writing.
Every Tender must he addressed to the Secretary of the
Admiralty, and bear in the left-hand corner the words,
" Tender for Coals for San Paulo de Loando," and must also
be delivered at the Department of the Storekeeper-Gene-
ral, Admiralty, Somerset House, accompanied by a letter
signed by two responsible persons, engaging to become
bound with the person tendering in the sum of .£5OO for
the due performance of the Contract.
By order, •
ANTONIO BRADY,
Registrar of Contracts and Public Securities.

CONTRACT FOR FLOUR AND CONES FOR THE
ROYAL HOSPITAL AT'GREENWICH. • •

Contract Department, Admiralty, Somerset
House, 2,1 Sept., 1868.
T.HEcommissio NIERS for EXECUTING the
OFFICE of LORD HIGH ADMIRAL of the
UNITED KINGDOM of. GREAT BRITAIN and IRE-
LAND do hereby give Notice, that on TUESDAY, the
22d inst., at half-past On, o'clock, they will be ready, at
the Office of the Director-General of the Med:cal Depart-
ment of the Navy, Somerset House, in London, to treat
with such persons as may be willing to CONTRACT for
the supply of all such quantities of
FLOUR -AND CONES

as shall from limetotinebe required for the use of the
Royal Hospital at Greenwich, under a Contract for Six
Calendar Months. .

The Flour t be manufactured in the best manner, from
sound English Wheat, of the best quality, and to be of the
description known as," Best Whites ;" the Cones also to be
of the best quality, and samples (one pound of each) must
be produced by parties tendering.
The Contractor will be allowed the use of the Hospital
sacks.

The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty reserve to
themselves an unlimited power of selection in accepting
the Tenders.
No Tender will be received unless made on the printed
form provided for the purpose, which may be obtained on
application at the Department of the Medical Director-
General, Admiralty, Somerset House, or to the Steward at
the Royal Hospital at Greenwich, where also the condi-
tions of the Contract may be seen.
No Tender will be received after half-past One o'clock
on the clay of treaty ; and it will not be required that
the party tendering, or an agent on his behalf, should
attend at the office on the day of Contract, as the result
of the offer received from each person will be communi-
cated to him in writing.
Every Tender must be addressed to the Secretary of
the Admiralty, and bear in the left-hand corner the words
"'Tender for Flour and Cones," and must also be deli-
vered at the Medical Department, Somerset House, signed
by two responsible persons engaging to become bound
with the person tendering in the sum of £5OO for the due
performance of the Contract.
By order,
ANTONIO BRADY,
Registrar of Contracts and Public Securities.

pRINTIN G.—TO PROPRIETORS OF
NEWSPAPERS, PERIODICALS, &c.
The Printing and Machining of Newspapers, Btc., done
on exceedingly favourable terms: Use of Editorial and
Publishing Offices, if required. Estimates forwarded on
receipt of particulars, with stamped directed envelop for
reply. Address—The Managor, "Sun" Printing Offices,
8, Church-row, Savoy, Strand, W.C.

HOMELESS BOYS OF LONDON.-FUNDS
are earnestly solicited for the purchase of food and
clothing for the
126 boys on board the Chichester Training Ship.
150 boys in the Refuge, 9, Great Queen-street;
94 girls in the Refuges, 19, Broad-street, and Ealing.

370 children.
£l5 will keep a boy or.girl for one year.
Contributions received by the Loudon and Westminster Bank ,
211, High Holborn, and 41, Lothbury, ; and by
WILLIAM WILLI OdS, Secretary.
No. 8, Great Queen-street, Lincoln's-inn-flelds.

NATIONAL ORPHAN HOME, Ham-common,
Richmond, Surrey. Founded 1849. Enlarged 1861.
Under the patronage of H.R.H. the Duke of CAMBRIDGE, K.G.,
whereby a home has been afforded for 280 Destitute Orphan
Girls of all ages, classes, and denominations, front all parts of
the kingdom.
The object of the Charity is to give orphan girls a plain Eng-
lish education, and practical instruction in the kitchen, house,
and laundry, to fit them for domestic service; and, if not other
wise provided for when they attain 15 years of age, to obtain
suitable situations for them.
The Committee earnestly appeal for support. The Charity is
entirely sustained by donations and subscriptions.
HENRY K?NGSCOTE, Treasurer
W H. WAFWICK Secretary.
Office, 121, Pall mall,

THE RESCUE SOCIETY'S 'Rams
are as follows :
For Fallen Women.
28, Church-row, flamp- 150, New Kent-road.
stead. 48, Church-street, Stoke
13, Camden-street, Camden- Newington.
town. Maize-hill Cottage, Green-
-205, Great Portland• street. with.
For Young Girls in Danger.
27, Church-row, Hampstead.
9, Henstridge-villas, St. John s-wood.
St. Mary's Lodge, Buckhurst-hill.
Country Home—St. James's-street, Dover.
Temporary Home-85, Queen-street, Cheapside.
In addition to the above-named homes, the Committee
have under their charge three homes for servants of good
character, in which arc admitted about 1,000 friendless
servants annually.
The home at Great Portland-street is for young fallen
girls from 10 to 16. The committee ate deeply anxious to
upen another house for this pitiable class.
The Society admitted to its homes last year 687 young
women and girls. It was compelled to refuse 524 appli-
cants, whose histories are recorded in the applicant's book.
The Society's Report(of which a contributor writes, "I
never read a report of any charitable institution which so
entirely commended .itself to my mind rand awoke my
sympathy") may be had on application.
The Society is under the presidency of the Earl of
Shaftesbury. Its bankers are ••Messrs. Baeclay and Co.
The Committee very earnestly commend ita work to the
benevolent. DANL. =PER Sec.
851 Quelketrotj Chospoidei

JOliN GOSNELL and CO.'S CHERRY
TOOTH PASTE is greatly superior to any tooth
powder; gives the teeth a, pearl whiteness, protects the
-name] from decLy, and imparts a pleasant fragrance to
-the breath. Price Is. 6d.--Red Bull Wharf, 03, Upper
T strpet. London.

liARRACK CONTRA.CTS
For the Supply of
PAILLASSE STRAW
IN (411 EAT BRITAIN.
Whit Omen, PALL MALL, LONDON, S.W.,
Ist September,
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, That the Secretary of State
for War is prepared to rec.eive Tend:,rs for the supply of Straw
for Palliasses at the various -Barrack Stations in Great Britain,
for a period of One Year, from ILA Ist November next.
Tenders not be entertaintAl unless male upon the prcper
printed Form, which may be obtained, with every requisi,e in-
formation, upon application at this Office, or to the var;oas Bar-
rack Masters, between the hours of 10 aad 4 o'clock each day,
Sundays excepted. '
The Tenders mast be sent to this Offie, addressed to the
Director of Contracts, marked on the out .3ide; "Tender for
Paillasse Straw,!' on or before
.Saturday, 12th inst., after which
day uo Tender will be receive:l.
The Secretary of State for War reserves the right of rejecting
any or all of the Tenders.
rHoiA.s HOWELL,
Director of 'Contracts.

ANFIELD'S PATENT PICKLES arc per-
-31. fectly pure and uncoloured. To be had of all dealers,
and wholesale of JOHN BURGESS and SON, 107,
Strand (corner of Savoy-steps), London.

WHY incur the risks of Limited Liability, by
V V taking Shares in Civil Serviel or Co-operative
Stores,-when you can SAVE TEN PER Gaff.- by
PURCHASING of

THE EAST INDIA TEA COMPANY,
and can have the goods delivered at your own door ? Teas
of all descriptions from is. 3d. per lb. upwards. Price
Lists post free, on application at the Company's Ware-
houses, 9, Great, St. Helen's-churchyard, Bishopsgate.

B. ESKEItt..i. titmasoat--,DorTisT, the Author
of "PURE DENTISTRY, and What it Does for Us,"
"'PAINLESS TOOTH EXTRACTION, or AnTsthesia Locally
Applied," "DENTAL SURGERY—a Practical Treatise," &c., &c.,
may be Consulted Daily as hitherto from 10 to 4 o'clock, at his
ONLY Residence, 8, GROSVENOR-STREET, GROSVENOR-SQUARE (a
few doors from Bond-street).

PARTRIDGE AND COOPER.
MANUFACTURING STATIONERS,

192, FLEET-STREET (CORNER OF CILLNCERY-LINE), LONDON (S.C.)
ME PUBLIC SUPPLIED AT WHOLESALE PRICES.
CARRIAGE PAID to the COUNTRY ON ORDERS. OVER 20s.
per ream. s. d.
Fine Cream Laid Note; a cheap paper 3 0
Superfine Cream Laid Note; much approved 4 0
Super fineThiek Cream Laid Note ; especially recommended 5 6
Extra 'superfine Double Thick Cream Laid Note 7 0
itraw Paper, " Patent;" adapted for rapid writing 2 6
Large Commercial Note Papers 35., 45., 55., and 6 0
Foolscap Papers, blue or cream ..... ...10s. 6d., 12s. 6d., and 14 6
Outsides Foolscap 6 6
Letter Paper for scribbling plain, 45.; ruled ditto,. 4 6
Tinted Lined Note five quires for is. 6d., or 5 6
Double Thick Cream Wove "'Club House" ote, five quires for

SAUCE.—LEA and PERRINS'
WORCESTERS ERRE SAUCE.
This delicious condiment, pronounced by connoisseurs
" TILE ONLY GOOD SAUCE,".

Is prepared solely by LEA. and PERRINS.
The public are respectfully cautioned against worthless
imitations, and should see that Lea and Perrins' names
are on wrapper, label, bottle, and stopper.
ASS for LEA. and PERRINS' SAUCE.
Sold wholesale and for export by the Proprietors, Wor-
cester ; Messrs. Crosse and. Blackwell ; Messrs. Barclay
and Sons, London, &c., &c. ; and by Grocers and Oilmen
universally.

nR. HOWARD, SURGEON-DENTIST, 52,
Fleet-street, has introduced an entirely new de-
scription of ARTIFICIAL TEETH,fixed without
springs, wires, or ligatures. They so perfectly resemble
the natural teeth as not to be distinguished from the ori-
ginals by the closest observer ; they will never change
colour or decay, and will be found superior to any teeth
ever before used. This method does not require the
extraction of roots, or auy painful operation, and will
support and preserve teeth but are loose, and is gua-
ranteed to restore articulation and mastication. Decayed
teeth stopped and rendered sound and useful in masti-
cation. -
52, Fleet-street. At home from 10 till '6.

AMORNING and. EVENING DRAUGUT.
LAMPLOUGIFS PYRETIC SALINE is most agreeable
and efficacious, preventing and curing fevers, skin complaints,
and inflammation. It instantly relieves the most intense head
ache and thirst, and if given with lime-juice syrup Is a specific in
gout and rheumatism.-113, Holborn-hill, London, E.C.

" PAINLESS DEN nsTRY !"
A NEW 1"1/115HIET, '
Freo'by post for four stamps.
nESSRS. GABRIEL,
(Established 1815.)

London 56, Harley-street, Ca,vanlish-sinue, W.
61, Ludgate-hill, E.U.,
Liverpool 131, Duke-strut, and
Brighton h-street,
ATTENDANCE DAILY.

FETES 11V THE ALPS.

(From a Correspondent of the Times.)
tIoN, Monday Morning.

Sarcastic remarks have been made on the Eng-
lish custom of celebrating everything by a dinner.
Unfriendly critics have gone the length of saying
that if London were destroyed we should comme-
morate the event in borne newly-found Freemasons'
Tavern, or go down the river and condole with each
other over a dish of whitebait at Greenwich or
Blackwall. It must be owned that with us public
dinners are an institution ; but it is a fact that on
the Continent they have, if not exactly the same
kind of thing, something analogous to it. They
go much greater lengths than we do in connecting
pleasure with business. A fete is with them an in-
evitable concomitant of any commercial or social
movement in favour of which it may be desirable
to secure public approbation. If we open a hun-
dred miles or two of railway, the directors invite a
company to be passengers by the first train, a din-
ner is given at the terminus, and there is an end of
the whole business of inauguration. To-day ten
new miles of an iron way have been opened in the
Canton of Valais, and the fetes to celebrate the
event commenced on Friday night, and will not
terminate for sonic days to come.
It is right, however, to at once premise that those
ten miles form part of an undertaking of even more
than European importance. They are a portion of
a line which is to give a direct railway communica-
tion between Paris and Milan via the Simplon Rail-
way, and which, its projectors state, will form part
of the highway between England and our Indian
empire. The scheme has the approval of M. Les-
seps, the projector of the Suez Canal, who regards
it as a supplement of his own plan for shortening
the overland route to India, and I think I have seen
enough within the last few days to warrant me in
saying that the Simplon Railway is not regarded
with any disfavour by the French Government.
The whole affair is essentially French. The de-
monstration now being made in its favour was
actually commenced in Paris, and has been carried
on till, in the midst of the Alps, and at many hun.
dreds of miles from that city, it has its culmination
under circumstances altogether unparalleled in the
history of commercial enterprise. The company
which has undertaken this work is styled 6' La
Nouvelle Compagnie Anonyme de la Ligne Inter-
nationale d'ltalie par le Simplon." For some time
it has been in possession of a line well known to
tourists in Switzerland—the railway from Bouveret,
on the south-east extremity of the L ike of Geneva,
to the town from which I now write. From here
the company intends to carry the line through the
district between this point and Brieg, thence
through the Simplon, and on to Arena, in Italy.
To-day an advance has been made on the road
Brieg as far as Sierre. Henceforward travellers to
the Simplon or to. Zermatt may go ten miles fur-
ther by rail, that being the distance in English
measurement from Sion to Sierre. Brieg is over
23 miles beyond the point to which the railway has
now been carried, and Brieg must ,be reached
before the Swiss end of• the Simplon can bo entered
upon. Already there is a railway over lliont Cenis,
Mnd one is being tunnelled ,throughit. For a long
Man iEQ wsy through the it! Qottkiii

been talked of, and now we have this plan o

one by .the Simplon. I shall reserve for a fu'ure
letter same remarks on the comparative merits of
the competing schemes. As the ceremony of inau-
guration to Sierre. did not conc'u le till past mi l-
nigitt, and as this coaa.nuuicatioa mast be pose I
at the railway staq >n by 4 Mimic this morning, 1
must for the present confine myself ti what I have
been witnessing during the last two or three days.
The directo -s of the company were very liberal in
their invi!atiarts to the inauguration fetes, which,
according ta their letter, were to commence at
Geneva on Saturd ty forenoon, imme.liately after the
arrival of tin express from Paris dae in the former
city at 11 o'clock. Very w any of the invited h td•
left Paris ou Thursday or early on Friday in Ruing
but, perhaps, no larger number of psraoui ever de-
parted from any station in a train of exclusively
first-class carr:ages than that which assembled ac
the Paris terminus of the Lyons Railway on Friday
evening. Geneva is a favourite spot with tourists
about to enter Switzerland, and the season for Swiss
tours is now at its height. There was, therefore,
a rush of ordinary travellers on Friday night ; and,
in addition, there were some hundreds of the in-
vited coming to assist at the fetes. The train was
of immense length, but all the passengers were
seated without noise or confusioa by 20 minutes to
9, the hour of departure. We got off to the minute,
and arrived at Macon at 6 o'clock on Saturday
morning, only a very few minutes behind the time
at which we were due there. But there was a rather
ludicrous circumstance in connection with our arris
val and appearance at Macon. The night bad been
very hot, and one window at least in every carriage
had been left open. When we entered the refresh-
ment-room at Macon everybody began to scare at
everybody else, and every one to laugh at his or her
neighbour. Had we descended from chimneys we
could not have been much more sooty. We looked
like a monster party of sweeps out for a holiday.
The fuel used all night by the locomotives which
drew the train must have been of the most abomi-
nably dirty character. We discovered that it had
done the • mischief. Probably the Lyons Com-
pany bad . been trying an experiment with some
new kind of charbon. If so, it is to be hoped they
will not repeat it without due notice to pas-
sengers. We reached Geneva at •11 o'clock,
Geneva time, which is ne trly 20 minutes in ad-
vance of that of Paris; and it was arranged that
the whole of the invited should leave for Bouveret
at half-past 12. Precisely at that hour the steamer
which was to convey them left the north quay.
The point of departure was close to the splendid
bridge called after Mont Blanc, and near to the
Isle of Jean Jacques Rousseau. The Simplon, the
steamer fitted up for the occasion, was radiant in
brilliant flags and steamers, and as she left her
moorings and got out into the middle of the lake
she was saluted by a long and continuous cannon-
ading from the steamers lying on the 'south quay,
the usual place for departure and arrival for
steamers traversing the • lake. The Simplon re-
turned the salutes from miniature guns placed both
on stem and stern. A capital band on board com-
menced its performance, and the guests cheered
"La Ligne d'ltalie." Nearly all of them were
French. The journalism of France was largely re-
presented among the visitors. The French, and
especially the Parisians, are not a travelling
people, and very many of the gentlemen on board
the Simplon had never been in Switzerland before.
It need hardly be said that, apart from its trans-
cendent beauties, the Lake of Geneva had peculiar
interest for them. The words of Voltaire,
" Mon lac est le premier," were quoted more than
once ; there was anxious gazing at the island
of 'Jean Jacques, and when this was no longer iu
view we had a general look oat for the portion of
the shore near which the villa of Madame de Stael is
situate. Iu order to give the invited a full view of
all that is to be seen from the lake, the Simplon
crossed and recrossed from the north to the south
sides. A great portion of the latter is French ter-
ritory since the annexation of Savoy and Nice. It
is now in the department of Haute Savoie. Even
any one previously ignorant of that fact might
easily have surmised it yesterday. At the French
landing places everything and every one, the gen-
darmerie -included, were in gala • turnout. The
übiquitous eagle was on all sorts of standards and
flagstaffs, and as the Simplon passed an extraordi-•
nary quantity of powder was expended in doing
honour and wishing God-speed to the French
company now about to peaceably invade Italy.
The villa of Prince Napoleon Jerome is on the
north side of the lake, which is all in Swiss
territory. I believe the Prince is not in Switzer-
land at present, but in and about the beautiful
little rustic residence of Count Walewski, near the
extremity of the French territory and close to the
margin of the lake, there were greetings. Sa-
lutes were exchanged as the steamer passed, an 1
a number of ladies stood on the balcony of the
villa and the grounds surrounding the house.
There was not Ling, however, like a spec'acle till
the Simplon, crossing from the Castle of Chalon,
approached Bouveret, closely followed by another
steamer belonging to the company, and which had
kept along by the south bank. This second steamer
also sported the French and Swiss colours in pro-
fusion, and was plentifully provided with little
broadside guns. As the two boats neared Bouveret
salutes were fired from different points up the

mountains which tower over the town. In some
cases one could see neither the guns nor the men
who fired them. The report and the red glare
which followed it appeared here and there in
situations where one might least have expected
them. The shots followed in rapid though irre-
gular succession, and were echoed and re-echoed
with marvellous effect through the giant chain of
Alps leading up to Mont Blanc. It was now past
six o'clock, and the setting sun coloured the sur-
face of the distant waters with an azure hue of
exquisite beauty, while the portion shaded by the
mountains retained that light blue colour which
forms one of the most striking characteristics of
Lake Leman. The station at .Bonvel et had been
converted into a vast summer-house in the

midst of a well-pl uted garden. Fir trees and other
evergreens had been removed from other places,
and brought to that spot for the occasion. A special
train was drawn up in front of the station. The
locomotive was so decked out in garlands that
nothing but the top of its funnel presented the or-
dinary appearance. Immediately behind the en-
gine was a large waggon got up as a bower, around
which were fruit trees and creeping plants. In this
a band was stationed. From Bouveret up to Sierra
the country forms a portion of the Canton of Va-
lais. At Bouveret there was an official reception
by the local authorities, who warmly congratulated
M. La Valette, the president, and the other mem-
ber of the council of administration of the railway
company. When the congratulations had been
gone through, the party of travellers entered the
train, which left the station amid
.a flourish of
trumpets and the loud and repeated acclamations
of a dense crowd of the inhabitants. At all the sta-
tions on the way to Sion the populations had
turned out and awaited the special train. By the
time we had reached Mouthey, the second on the
route, it had become dark, but the station itself
was illuminated with oil lamps, and improvised
trees, which had been planted in front of it a few
hours before, were hung with coloured limps.
Across the road was an arch of evergreens, from
which Chinese lanterns of various colours were sus-
pended. As the train entered the station the band
played " God save the Queen." Why 'our national
anthem was chosen I know not, but probably it was
because hor Majesty is Sovereign of British India.
We all descended at Mothey, and there was a de-
monstration in favour of Fzance. Shouts of " Vive
la France," were followed by cries of " Vivent les
Parisians !"4.a, compliment which v 044 tha,
Ciiilol3 U 2 tot higUlt- pitch ottatimium. They

4

Pitleh'.... 4d.
STAMPED 5?,

responded with " Vice la Suisse!" The tunnel
through which we entered St. ➢Maurice was illutni-
natcd with a suddeness and effect whiCh drew forth

the warmest expressions of almiration. At one in-
stant the subway through the mountain was green,
next it was red, mid then green again. Every stone
m the great cavern was visible ith startling dis-
tinctness. At St. Maurice there were more illumi-
nations, more salutes, and more fireworks ; but at •
Sion, our destination for the night, a t ;reldight pro-
. eessi•ni Was tuned to give variety and still greater
drauiatic effect to the reception of the Simplon.
company in the Canton of the Valais.' When the
trrin pulled up at this station there wt:re the in-
complimeats and congr..tulations between
the town, represrnted by the principal ;y, Lority,
and the railway company, as personifie I by NI. La
Valente. . Then a small regiment of hardy moun-
taineers, walking two and two, andeach c arying a
blazing toich, preceded a procession of the leading
inhabirants and the directors of the company.
Some hundreds of visitors, each attended by a porter
or two carrying baggage, brought up the rear.
There was not a vehicle of any kind to be had ; so
.that we were all processionists whether we liked
it or not—and in ►uy of us did not like it—over
a very dusty real of three-Tuners of a mile in
length.

But all this feting was only a leading up to what
has been done to-day. It may aifely be said that •
to-day's fetes have been perfectly unique. Never
was any other.railway inaugurated as the line be-. 1
tween Sion and Sierra has been. No such inaugu- '
ration could be held anywhere but in the midst of
mountains like the Alps ; and when the only other
Alpine' line was opened, that over Mont Cenis, the
ceremony was performed in a style that had no
pretensions to amazing effects such as those accom-
plished to-day. The special train by which the line
was to be opened started from here at about one
o'clock, and arrived at Sierre in a little more than
half an hour. All the way from Sion the new line
runs through a country abounding with magnificent
scenery. Tnere are lofty ranges of mountains on
either side ; those to the right are covered with ver-
dure nearly to the tops ; those to the left are sub. ;
lime in their enormous height and savage desola-
tion. Several of them were c,appe I with snow even
yesterday, after a long continuance of hot wea-
ther, and when the sun was positively of scorch.
ing heat. There is an easy incline all the
way to Sierre, but the station lies in a
valley surrounded on all sides by gigantic
mountains. The neighbourhood of the little town
is always picturesque. Yesterday it was much
more so than usual. The canton of Switzer-
land is having its Tir at Sierre, and there is an en-
campment all about the shooting-ground. The
green slopes rising from the valley were dotted all
over with little white tents, and M. La Valette and
his company had come in to assist Nature and the
Tir in making still more picturesque one of the most
beautiful spots in this most beautiful country. The
president of the railway administration and his col-
leagues contrived a spectacle which carried one back
to the Middle Ages, and at the same time kept him
ever conscious that he lived in the engineering period
of the 19th century. The locomotive was brought to
a stand some 300 feet short of a canopy raised on a
little green mound. The canopy was formed of
wood work, concealed by. foliage, amid which fruit
and flowers of various kinds were placed as if they
had grown there. Beneath the canopy sat a
venerable-looking old man, with white linen flowing
down on his shoulders. He was arrayed in the full
pontificals of a Roman Catholic bishop. Around
him stood the canons of his chapter with 'heir scarlet
rochets and white surplices. This was the Bishop
of Sion, who was in waiting to bliss the locorautive.
Swiss sol tiers, rifle in hand, kept guard near his
chair. W hen the persons who had been conveyed
by the train were let down at a pavilion erected fur
the banquet which was to come off in the evening,
and when the indispensable vie d'honneur had been
disposed of, a gun was was fired, and the engine,
having blown a shrill and triumphant whistle, ad-
vanced at a slow pace till within a few feet of
where the bishop was seated. MonseiAneur then
rose and, with his mitre on his h ad and his pastoral
staff in his left laud, advanced to the front of the
canopy, where he delivered- a really • eloquent ad-
dress. With much force he alluded to many of the
scientific improvements which have been made is
our own day, and expresSed the delight he felt at
seeing the progress of intercommunicat'on between
the different peoples of the earth. He regarded the
fact that he had been selected to pronounce a bene-
diction on the engine as an act of faith on the part
of the company—an acknowledgment before all
men that God is the Lord of Science. In conelu-
sibn, he said he hoped that no intercommunication
with other people would ever make the inhabitants
of the Canton of the Valais cast off their simplicity
of manners, impair the faith, or diminish a patri-
otism for which the Swiss were pre-eminent. The
Bishop then read the prescribed prayers, and,
sprinkling holy water on the engine, pronounced a
benediction upon it and all the vast assembly who
witnessed the ceremony.

There was now a general movement to a pavilion,
which was a perfect triumph in its way. A large
wooden roof, supported at the corners on natural
trees, some light woodwork outside, a gallery and
tribune within, a fountain playing in the centre,
evergreens, flowers, fruit, inscriptions in all direc-
tion, tables for betwten six and seven hundred
people. This was the structure and its ornamenta-
tion, but no pavilion ever stood in a grander spot.
From which ever side of it you looked there were
the lofty Alps, range behind range, at but a
short distance. In your immediate neighbourhood
the Swiss valley, with its green slopes and quaint
chalets, and the white huts of the riflemen. There
were other tents about, too, in which the peasantry
were making merry while awaiting the unrivalled
illumination in the evening. The dinner was so
plentiful in viands and wines that after the
G5O guests had been entertained a banquet for
all comers was carried on for several hours after-
wards. What the name of the caterer may be who ,
managed this in the midst of the Alps. with only •
the resources of a village near at hand. I do not
know. I think some of our Lvindon dinner con-
tractors ought to try and find it out. He might
give them a useful lesson. Soup, fish, and meats
were served up hot, and there was coffee egad to
what is to be had at the best cafés in Paris. An
exuberance in speaking followed dinner, each orator
as the parole was granted to him mounting a tri-
bune much higher than a church pulpit. I should
not, perk ips, omit to mention that among the toasts
was " The English Press."
The illumination commenced as soon as the even-
ing had become dark. A sigaal gun having been
fired, a shower of rockets was sent up from au open
space in front of the pavilion. For au instant this
attracted the attention of a vast concourse of people
which had by this time assembled in the vall-y.
When the light of the rockets ha l died away great
was the astonishment of the stran4ers and enthusi-
astic the admiration of all to find that the Alps
themselves were illuminate 1. Fires burnt on some
of the highest peaks ; fires blazed on the sides half-
way down ; arid the flames of huge bonfires as-
cended from the base of the chain of tremendous
mountains enclosing the valley. In another second
fresh rockets shot up from the froot of the pavilion,
wheels of coloured fire flew round and sent red
sparks and spangles in all direction ; cannon
boomed, volleys of rifles were fired, bands played,
and men and women and children joined in wild
acclamations. The effect was absolutely magical.
this wonderful illumination continued for more
than an hour, and must have been seen at places
many miles distant from Sierre.
An excursion to the pass of the Gemmi is the
next eatry in the programme of these remarkable
fetes,