The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-12-20 00:00:00

GRAND JUNCTION RAILWAY VIADUCT.

The ceremony of laying the keystone of the twentieth and
last arch of the viaduct across the valley of the Weaver, near
Dutton, in Cheshire, was performed on Friday the 2d instant,
in the presence of the directors of the Grand Junction Railway
and a numerous assemblage of gentlemen, who were accom-
panied there by Mr. Locke, the engineer to the company. The
masonic ceremony was . deputed to Mr. James Heywortii, one
of the directors, and, after the stone had bee❑ laid into the place
assigned for it, amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the assemblage
and the workmen and_ the firing of canon, Mr. Heyworth
dexterously applied the trowel and the mortar, and then address-
ed the company in a very eloquent speech of considerable
length, and peculiarly well and happily adapted to the various
circumstances connected with this interesting event; he was
followed by an able speech from Mr. Locke, which afforded the
highest gratification upon his announcing that, through the
whole progress of this stupendous work, neither a life nor a
limb had been lost, which- reflects great credit upon the arrange-
ments of the resident engineer, Mr. Errington, and Mr. Betts
and his son, the agents of Mr. M'lntosh, the contractor for the
work. The Rev. Mr. Stanhope concluded with a very feeling
address in allusion to the exemplary conduct of the workmen
employed, and in the evening the viaduct was illuminated with
torches, and the operat►ves were regaled with a bountiful supper
and ample allowance of ale.
' This gigantic structure, which is now so near its completion,
appears to be less known tb the public than the grandeur of the
design and the maenificence of the undertaking merits, and it
will scarcely be believed that a work of this extent and of such
superiority in style and architecture, far exceeding inf magnitude
anything of the kind yet accomplished in this country, or per-
haps in Europe, not even excepting the splendid bridge over the
Menai Straits in Wales, should have attracted so little notice
hitherto.

The viaduct is of the Gothic order, formed of red stone pro-
cured from the neighbourhood of Bolton and Runcorn ; it con-
sists of twenty arches of sixty feet span and sixty feet in height,
and the battlements, when finished, will add twelve feet more
to the height; and the whole length is 1,400 feet. 700,000
square feet of stone have been used in the work, and it will be
completed in less than eighteen months from the time of its
commencement, and at an expense of £50,000, being considera-
ably under the estimate.
It will•enable our readers in this neighbourhood to form some
idea of the magnitude of this great work when we inform them
that its length is equal to the distance from St. George's Church,
iu Castle-street, to the Postoffice, in Church-street, and the
height of the arches equal to our loftiest-warehouses. The view
from the: v idduct is exeeediug picturesque, commehendiug an
extensive valley for miles in every direction, variegated with a
winding stream, and fringed up to the horizon with rich wood-
lands.

As the viaduct may be approached by means of a steam-boat,
direct frOin• Liverpool up the river Weaver, it will no doubt
be a favourite water excursion during the ensuing summer;
and, for.those who wish to visit it with greater expedition, as
the entire length of the Grand Junction Railway to Birmingham
is now decided to be opened on the Ist of June next, a sight of
this fine piece of workmanship may be then obtained iu little
More than a❑ hour from Liverpool.

LOSS AND RECOVERY OF A BANKER'S PARCEL.

Some accounts were lately published relating to the loss of a
parcel belonging to the Northern and Central Bank of Eng-
land, which were, in many important particulars, erroneous.
The following statement still be found to be correct:—
On Tuesday morning, the sth instant, Mr. Evans, the ma-
nager of the head office in Manchester, arrived in town by mail,
having with him a parcel containing about £96,000in good bills,
£5,000 in Bank of England notes, £4OO in the notes of country
bankers, and £lO,OOO in American and other securities. The
parcel was placed iu a crimson bag and locked. The bag Mr.
Evans took with him in a cab from the new Post-office to St.
Paul's Coffee-house. The bag, with its contents, was lost, but
the loss was fortunately discovered before daylight, and was im-
mediately made known to Mr. Braidley, one of the directors,
who happened at the time to be in London. Immediate steps
were taken by Mr. Braidley mid Mr. Evans to recover the pro-
perty; their first efforts, however, were unavailing, and Forres-
ter, was consulted. Mr. Braidley and Mr. Evans thought of
offering a high reward for the recovery of the parcel ; but, by
the judicious advice of Forrester, it was determined to offer by
handbill a reward of £lO only for the delivery of a crimson bag,
describing it, and the manner of its being lost, at St. Paul's
Coffee-house, no mention of banker's parcel or banker's office,
or any idea of the value of the parcel being given, 'The bag
was found by the horsekeeper, in the stable-yard, some hours
after the cabman had put up his horse, and gone to bed, his duty
being night-work; and it was thrown by the finder under some
straw in a vacant stall. When the cabman went to 'fake out
his horse again, the horsekeeper told him of the booty, and they
together determined to keep the bag the three days allowed by
law, and then, if no reward was offered, to take it to Somerset
House. Two men then knew of the loss, and it could not be
passed the
t
wrongly appropriated by either without their joint privity. The
o
cabmanby t
the
e
had taken
cabman
whhioss
whose
true
ronuit
eof h
andi s
taken,
,aatTsd
h "e 'as
re complained
stand near the Postoffice; and the former replied, " Oh, it was
no great catch, for 1 ouly got a shilling for taking a gentleman
to St. Paul's Coffee-house. It happened that one of the hand-
bills fell into the hands of the disappointed cabman, who, put-
ting things together, concluded that it related to his rival of the
morning, and forthwith went to him with the news, and finally
a bargain was struck, that the two cabmen and the horsekeeper
should share the reward among them, and the parcel was deli-
vered at St. Paul's Coffee-house, by the three men, about eight
o'clock in the evening, being within thirteen hours of the time
when the parcel was lost.
It is right to mention that £lO was given to each of the three
men who aided the speedy delivery of the parcel tti its owners.
In the course of the day, when the loss was made known, ru-
mour magnified the disaster, as far as the result to the bank
was concerned, and on Wednesday its credit became exceed-
ingly shaken in quarters vitally important to its stability and
efficiency. A consultation upon the affair immediately took
place between the principal London agents and the chief ma-
nager in London, when an intiniatien was conveyed to them to
the following effect :—That if th2y were pressed, the Bank of
England was ready to advance them
:eny suns to carry them
over their temporary difficulties. ,The offer of the hank of
England was finally accepted, and the doubts and fears occa-
sioned by the rumou soon subsided.

THINGS IN STRANGE CoLOUR3.—We have all either seen or
read of that anomalous creature, a u*ite blackbird. Perhaps
of a morning too, gentle reader, after sitting up too late on the
previous night, you may have been told that the white of your
eve was red, and all this, too, without starting. A native of
Paddy-land, asked a neighbour if he had ever seen red black-
berries ? "To be sure I have," said Pat, "all blackberries are
red when they are green !"—Laird of Logan.

WORKING OF THE BALLOT.—A periodical writer describes
the following effect of the Ballot in A merica :—" I have seen
the Ballot in Aine'riea: and I tell you that if it would he here a
juggle, it is there a jest; if here it would be a trick on public
honesty, there it is an insult to common understanding. It has
two uses : one is, that it allows the candidate to bribe to any ex-
tent he likes, without fear of being brought to book afterwards
for his laid votes; the other is, that it allows men who are too
drunk to know their right hand from their left, to give their
votes at. the hustings. I have seen it at New York, at Boston,
at Baltimore, and at the head-quarters of republicanism. I have
seen `free citizens,' as they call themselves, carried to the poll,
so drugged with brandy and opium, that they knew no more of
the candidate than of the man in the moon: that they could no
more speak English than one of the Unknown Tongues.' and
no more walk, than if they had been bOrn without legs: I have
seen such fellows actually carried in men's arms to the hustings :
I have seen the balloting ticket put into their hands when they
could not distingtlish black from white:. I have seen the tickets
of a particular candidate poured out in heaps upon the voters,
and every man's vote as umeh known in this way beforehand as
if it had been Published by the common crier. Just before I
left America, I was at the Philadelphia election. the whole city
was in terror, from one end to the other : mobs paraded the
streets, threatening horning and murder to every one; and this
was no chance quarrel. The,mob.were regularly set in motion
by the committees. I saw them t:ting in the streets. I saw
them atternpt to take the committee-house of the unpopular
candidate by storm ; they were beaten off. and that with no
small loss of lives; for this was none of your child's play of
' hontin.! and throwin,., mud, but an affair of bullet and haynner.
Finally, they
street
to the charge, and burnt down the house
and half the street a!imii ith' it!" Horns fur Freedom!