The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-08-18 00:00:00

T( ATMORPliEftie MILWAN

experinlents on the line of railroad which rigis from
the liabridgerToad, near Shepherd's-bush, across Wormwood
S4itbs, to the line of the Great Western Railroad, and on
which carriages are propelled by means of the atmosphere
forcing its way into an exhausted tube or pipe laid down be-
tween the rails, on the principle for which Messrs. Clegg and
Samuda have obtained patents, have attracted considerable
attention. The experiments were a few days ago attended by
the Government commissioners, Sir Frederick Smith and
Professor Barlow, who examined every part with the most
tninut

attention, and witnessed the transit of the carriage
along the line. Several of the most eminent engineers and
practical men were also present, and expressed themselves
perfectly satisfied with the results. The carriages travel at
the rate of 30 miles an hour, apparently by magic. Those
who have been accustomed to see the cumbrous locomotive
engines roaring and smoking along the lines of railroad will
be astonished to see a train moving with the rapidity of 30
miles au hour, without any perceptible power to put it in mo-
tion, and it is difficult to persuade many persons of the fact
that trains can be impelled by means so simple as those em-
ployed.
The invention is not a recent novelty in the history of
practical philosophy, but the manner in which it has been
made subservient to the purpose of railroad conveyance is
entirely the contrivance of the above-mentibned patentees.
In the year 1810 Mr. Medhurst put forth a proposition for
constructing a tunnel from one end of a railroad to another
through which a carriage or carriages were to be propelled by
means of a current of air generated by powerful air-pumps
worked by steam-engines, and in 1817 a Mr. Lewis proposed
a method upon a similar principle for conveying letters
through a tube from London to Windsor in the space of a
minute, and subsequently a Mr. Valiance proposed to convey
a carriage throligh a tube, the carriage to be attached to a
piston, upon which the influence of the exhaustion or rush of
the atmosphere into vacuum was to act. Mr. Valiance had an
interview with the Duke of Sussex on the subject, but the
business of course came to nothing ; his plan was little more
than what the plans of Mr. Medhurst and Mr. Lewis had
before suggested, but which in practice were not feasible. It
was obvious that the propelling power must be confined in a
tube or pipe, along which a piston must be propelled by means
of exhaustion or pressure of air, and that this piston must be
connected with the carriages by means of rods or bars of
iron coming through some aperture in the pipe or tube,
so that when the piston was forced along the inside of the
tube, it should draw the carriage or carriages which were
outside the tube along with it. But then arose the difficulty
of contriving such an aperture for the transit of the connect-
ing rods or bars, as should not destroy the vacuum within
the tube, by affording an opening for the rushing in of the
external air, in such places and in such manner as to destroy
the whole principle and power of the vacuum. A Mr. Pin-
kus thought he had effected this object. His method is said
to have consisted in a pipe 40 inches in diameter, with a slit
or groove in the upper surface. The groove was to be 04140
by laying a rope in it ; a piston was to move in the tube to
which thd rods or bars connecting it with' the carnage were
attached. Wheels were attached to the bar or rod, which
lifted up the rope as the piston passed beneath it ; and then
came another wheel behind th 3 bar or rod, which forced
down the rope into its former place, after the passage of the
bar had taken place. The defect here seems to have been
that the rope could not be sufficiently forced down, so as to
make the aperture air-tight. It seems that it was reserved
for Messrs. Clegg and Samuda to contrive the effectual me-
thod of closing the aperture so as to make it airtight after
the passage of the connecting rods, and thus render the ap-
plication of the vacuum principle of practical utility to rail-
road conveyance. Their contrivance is this :—A pipe of nine
inches is used for the transit of the piston ; along the top of
it is an aperture. To close the aperture there is a strip of
leather, strengthened by plates of iron, fixed like a lid, by
being attached on one side to the pipe, while the other side
falls into a groove tilled with a composition of oil and wax.
Wheels are attached for opening and closing the valve, and,
what is completely a new feature, a. heated upper rod passes
over the composition after the valve, has been closed, melts
the composition, soldering down the edge of the valve or lid
to the groove, and sealing the tube. It will be seen from
this description that the desideratum so long sought in vain,
viz., the connecting the piston in the tube with the carriages
above it in such a manner as to prevent the vacuum in the
tube from being destroyed by the rush of external air, has
been accomplished ; and it will repay the trouble of any per-
son interested in railroad conveyance to go to Wormwood
Scrubs, and witness the facility with which, by the applica-
tion of the principle of a vacuum, the most heavy carriages
are forced along. The method is an enormous saving of ex-
penSe in railroad engineering, an increased speed is attained,
and a variety of accidents avoided. The invention, like all
others, will meet with opposition, and will have to contend
with the prejudices and interests of a host of persons, but
that it must ultimately, and at no very great distance of time,
come into general operation, there can be little reason to
doubt. —Times of Friday.

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE NAVIGATION OF THE
RIVERS MERSEY AND IRWELL.

We mentioned, some months ago, the intention of the
Mersey and Irwell Navigation Company to deepen the bed of
the river, between the Victoria and the New Bailey bridges,
so as to extend the navigation of the river to the pool above
the former bridge, and thereby fulfil the Rowers with which
the company were invested by their original act, which
authorised them to make the river navigable as far as the
mouth of the river Irk. This intention the company are
now carryi4 into effect, and a number of men are busily
engaged in deepening the bed of the river between the two
bridges above mentioned, and, by throwing up the gravel to-
wards.each side, harrowing the channel as to preserve it here-
after of the depth requisite for the purposes of navigation.

a this work about i 0 men are employed, and their opera-
- - -

tions were commenced on the Ist instant. Their work, it is
expected, will probably occupy about six weeks ;. and, when
it is sufficiently advanced, it is probable that the Old Quay
Company's dredge-boat may be brought into operation, so
as to remove whatever may lodge in the bed of the river, and
thus deepen it sufficiently to admit of its safe navigation up
to Hunt's Bank, by the company's vessels, which have a

draught of about five feet. The whole of the operations re-
quisite to complete this extension of the navigation, it is an-
ticipated, will be finished by about Christmas next. It is
not, we believe, at present determined, whether to dredge

out the river in the way just stated, or to proceed by deep-
ening the bridge pond, and then raising the weir at Throstle
Nest, so as to impound the water at its present height oppo-
site the Collegiate Church. Part of the works will consist in
the erection of a rubble wall, so as to confine the course of
the river; but the water-way is not to be narrowed more
than to the span of the Victoria Bridge. In reference to this

'art of the operations, a meeting of the owners of land on
:he banks of the river was held at the Blaekfriars

Inn, on

Thursday, and an offer was made, on the part of the Old
Quay Company, to the landowners individually, that, if the
latter would erect a sufficiently strong breast-wall, the com-

pany would allow towards it such sums as it would cost the
company to erect a rubble wall for the several lengths in
front of each landowner's property. This proposition was
favourably received, and many of the landowners present
seemed disposed to accept the company's offer. We under-
stand, that, by these works, several large plots of land will
be gained from the river by different landowners.
To carry out the object for which this improvement and
extension of the navigation of the Irwell has been projected,
we understand that the Old Quay Company intend to erect
Warehouses on a plot of land belonging to them adjoining the
Salford end of Victoria-bridge, on the south side of the street,

opposite the Cloth-hall. the advantages of thus bringing
the carriers' warehouses into the heart of the town, in the
immediate vicinity of the Exchange, must be obvious; while
the extremity of these warehouses to the Corn Exchange,
Hanging Ditch, will afford great facilities to buyers for ex-
amining the bulk of the grain they may purchase, without
the difficulty or loss of time that would at present attend
such inspection. , There are several other plots contiguous
to the river, all well suited for the purposes of a vegetable
market ; and we understand that the Salford police commis-
sioners are desirous to promote the establishment of a good
market in that populous vicinity. And while such a market
in that locality would be a public benefit, there is no doubt
that the boats laden with potatoes would find it of no small
advantage, as saving the cost of the cartage of potatoes and
other vegetable produce through the town. Amongst other
individual speculations in connection with these contemplated
improvements, we have heard that Mr. Samuel Brooks in-
tends to establish a timber wharf and saw yard on the Salford
shore of the river, opposite the mouth of the Irk, for the
purposes of discharging and sawing timber. These improve-
ments will doubtless tend to relieve the many crowded
streets, some of them narrow and inconvenient ones ; and
altogether it promises to be of benefit to the public, while it
cannot fail to be productive of profit to the large carrying
company, which has projected it, and is now carrying it into
effect.

In no distant connection with this improvement, we may
briefly notice another and more extensive one ; at present,
we believe, under the consideration of the Old Quay Com-
pany. This is, by improving their navigation from this town
to Weston Point, a distance of 31 miles, making it shorter
and more direct, and deepening the channel where necessary,
to obtain the means of enabling vessels of considerably larger
tonnage than those at present found here, to make their way
up the Mersey to Warrington, and thence up the Mersey and
the Irwell to this town. Indeed, it is stated, that by such
improvements as have been suggested, it will be practicable
to bring steam-vessels of about 400 tons up to Manchester !
The company, with a view to ascertaining how far'such an
extensive improvement of the navigation between Liverpool
and this town was practicable, have availed themselves
of the professional abilities of Mr. H. R. Palmer, F.R.S.,
who has been engaged in surveying the rivers, and was re-
quested to report to the company on the measures requisite
to carry out the contemplated improvement. We have seen
the plan, not yet quite completed, which Mr. Palmer is pre-
paring to publish : and we understand that his report will
appear in the course of the next month. Under these cir-
cumstances we shall not at present enter into any details.
The plan is entitled, " Plan of the rivers Mersey and Irwell,
between Weston Point and Manchester; showing the pro-
posedimprovements, by which it is designed to render them
capable of passing sea-going vessels from Liverpool, through
Warrington, to Manchester; by H. R. Palmer, F.R.S."
One of the objects sought to be ended is the improveitnent
of the navigation of the Mersey between Runcorn and War-
rington. This portion of the navigation is at present subject
to continual neaps even for vessels drawing no more than
five feet water ; and it is designed to obtain a sufficient depth
in that length of the river, to have sufficient water, at all
tides for vessels drawing fourteen or fifteen feet. Besides
deepening the two rivers, wherever that, is necessary, the
contemplated improvements a considerable saving of distance,
—as much as four miles in the distance of 31 miles from
Manchester to Weston Point. This will be accomplished by
straight channels in various localities, 'where the aver is
tortuous. The principal work will be the reducing the num-
ber of ponds in this length of the navigation from ten to four.
The locks also af.e to be made capable of admitting vessels of
the large tonnage before referred to. We understand that
great interest is felt at Warrington in these contemplated
improvements; and they will, doubtless, if carried into effect,
be productive of great advantage to the trade of that town.
For the above particulars, also, we have been indebted to
Mr. I'. 0. Lingard ; and as the subject is one of considerable
importance, especially in connection with that of inland
bonding, we shall probably recur to it when the plan and the
report of Mr. Palmer are published.—Manchester Guardian.

Mr. J. H. Talbot. M.P. for Ross, has become a repealer

•
GIGANTIC SPECIMENS.—We have, in some of our late
papers, had to notice several natural productions which have
claimed, and properly too, to belong to the giant kind, and
we are glad to see that our accounts of them have attracted
attention, and excited very laudable spirit of emulation in
different individuals to become candidates for the gratifying
fame which is ever awarded to good Management. The reader
shall now, then, receive the satisfaction which the following
pleasing particulars' cannot fail to impart. As a specimen of
Oats we have this week had sent to our office, one stalk
which measures seven feet six inches in length, it was taken
from a field of Mr. Thomas Beesley's, at Higher Bartel,
Woodplumpton, and we are told the crop averages, in height,
seven feet. Of pease, a stalk from the garden of Mr. John
Hornby, innkeeper, Woodplumpton, four yards two inches in
length, and the greater part of the crop averages four yards.
Of Field Beans, a stalk taken from land adjoining Wood-
plumpton workhouse, seven feet eight inches long. Of Early
Kidney Potatoes, got up from one root in the garden of Mr.
Henry Eastham, picker maker, Woodplumpton, twenty-
one in number, and weighing six and a half pounds. And
a Common Yellow Turnip, grown by Mr. James Walmsley,
of Woodplumpton, which weighs nineteen pounds. The
above then are our present week's gigantic specimens, and
we shall he glad, if in our next; we may be enabled to describe
others of still larger dimensions.—Preston