Star.
London, England, 1825-08-19 00:00:00

OF SY!..BET CANS, OR GROUND RATTANS.
" This curlout change was, we understand, eff cted
with ease in a few hours. The result is very interesting,
inasmuch as it proves 'the great facility and economy
with which these ingenious structures can be cumposel
and suspended.
"It appears Abet came horn One .hundred to two
hundred and tWenty-frie if in lerigtl4.--aard from one
L
to nearly two inches in diameter, are -pmcirrable on
our North Eastern frontier, merely for the cost of tlpe
labour in collecting them together. The
.Governor-
General's agent, Mr. Scott, when at Sylheti sent.doSra
to Calcutta, at the requrnt of Mr. Colo Stakts'pear, a.
supply of canes, coiled up iike rope; and of which 4te
has constructed the present small bridge of one hun-
dred and thirty feet span by 6ve feet in width. Not
only the road-way; but ail the radiating guys, catenary
Curved swingi, preventer braces, and vertical suspenders,
are of cane, none exceeding one and a quarter inch in
diameter, and many not three-quarters of an ineh.
" The use of iron thimbles throughout the compo.
sition, gives an air of symmetry and neatnes7, while
they greatly &tannish_ friction, and add mach to the
strength of the bridge, which, like its nut:a predeces)or,
has only one iron jointed arm in the centre. •
"The appearance of the arch is singularly light, even
more so than rope; and it is in reality lighter as a
whole, beeause the bamboo cross slips, forming the
road-way, are lashed at once to the canes,- and. thus it
becomes firmer than in a rope bridge, in which the - -
tread-way is clistiuct, and lies over the strands. •
41 E.ghteen canes of 150 feet each form the.hevrings.
These are lashed together at each end of the bridge,
and then bound round four opera hearts,- in substirottori
of dead e) es. Thus the setting sip power acts in re.
same way as•with the rove bridge.
"There are no friction she-acts, ',II e standard*, with
the exception of one for the lowest guy, the angle .
being acute.
" The strength and chrrability of the sane is by some
considered equal to that of rope, but this is a questidts- •
that time %ill solve. Meanwhile it is quite clear, that
if the cane should only last a season or two of the rains,
and it is strongest when kept moist, the advantages
-gained to the country, abounding in that useful and
cheap commodity, will be incalculable, no bridge
whatever, we beieve, having been attempted in that •
quarter up to the present time. And we may cOnclude
that the natives, from habit and method in working np
cane, will improve both on the neatness and strength
of cane bridges now to be introduced, especially as they •
well know; from experience, how to thorn! the 'btu
kind of cane, and to cut it at the proper season for Mb
purpose intended.
4' The Right Hon. the Governor-General visited the •
cane bridge on Friday morning, and his Excellency
was pleased, after a minute inspection, to signify his
approbation of so novel and nteful a structure.
" The original experimental Baru Torrent Bridge,-
still lying at Allipore undercover, was also exhibited
to his Excellency preparatory to its return tb its station,
for the third season of the approaching rains. It is then,
we are told, the Postmaster General's intention that it
shall be accompanied by a new bridge, fcr a tomtit• a
few miles west td' I3ancoorah.

“ This facility of transporting and erecting rope
bridges of all dimensions naturally leads to the.queotion,
whether such machinery would not have proved yoiy
useful in the present warfare on our &Ist and Rents
East frontiers, especially with General Siuldham's
vision in Cachar, a country interNected with is 1111--
Fable nullahs, and an enemy in front ?”

CILERITY OF EXPRESSES AND THE COMMON DAL.
" We are happy in recording a very extraordinary in.
stance of further increased celerity in the progress of our
mails to Madras. On the 4th of last m ;nth, an express
from Government to Ceylon via Madras, reached the
latter place in the short space of nine drys and three-
quarters of an hour, having thus e• .towed by twelve
hours the greatest speed yet attained, even on the im-
proved rates which of late years have tsken place. Th.e
measured distance, it is well known, is 1,044 miles.—
The common Dak which brought this inrellige ce its
little more than eleven days, now greatly surpasses all
former expresses on the old regime.
" From the Bombay side of India, an express reached
Calcutta, on the sth instant, in the shoat space of thir-
teen days and a half, the dist •nce being 1,30 S miles.
On the advantages to Goverment and the met cantiis
body, thus acquired by these very espeeitions rates of
communication, it would be superfluous to say mo-e,
than that they refixt much credit on the Post OtF.ce
Department.
" The Madras Supplementary Gazette, of Tuesday
evening, the 22d ult. taings acounts of the s fe arrival
of the French ship Anna at that rut, after having
struck on the Pul cat shoal. She had on board tree
Shakespearian bridge models for the Madras Govern-
ment, one a highly-honleti town model, the other of the
rustic order."

A Flanders Paper states, that the plan of cutting a
canal at Brussels, to be navigated by mrrchantmen tf
between 400 and 500 tons bui den, or even by fright !,
fully r'ggesl and armed, is prosecuting with actieity.
Accounts were received in town yesterd ,y, from
Enterprise India steam vessel, dated just as the post
leaving Falmouth, on Tuesday; scat ng that- every
son was embarked, and as the wind, thought Stijl
curly, Vk as light, the vessel' would leave t%i4 'Mgt
Unit attest' ou.

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