The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1857-03-13
Canada and the Niagara Suspension
Bridge.

At the request Of several Of our readers we
rcputlish the following letter which originally
eppcared in the columns of the Due West
1sieseope It is quite an interesting sketch,
and We have no doubt will DC read with pleas.
urc by our patrons:
Rev. j. /. Bonner My Dear Sir !:
We arrived in "Od ALLcville" again on
Thursday the 2lst instant, after an absence
Of about seven months. We left petrcit in
the State Of Michigan one week previously,
TO wit, on Thursday morning the l4th of
August, and travelled through Canada over
the Great Western Railway 2aO miles to
Niagara Falls crossing Niagara river below
the Falls OH the Suspension Bridge. The
country through Canada differs, toto coio,"
from any idea that had ever previously
conceived of it. had supposed that it was
:, bleak, barren, out of the way region, but
assure you that it is one Of the finest farm
ing regions, have ever seen, and if the
Lighting influence Of Queen Victoria's gov
ern,nent was removed from it, or rather if it
had the genial influences of ours thrown
over it, hesitate not to say that it would
surpass any Of the rich farming country
If Western New York. After leaving De-
troit, or rather Sandwich, (which is on the
Canada side Of Detroit river and directly
opposite DctruiI about five miles we pass
over the richest Prairie it has ever been our
province to sec. This Prairie extends about
30 miles along the Railroad and on either
sile as far rs the eye can reach for consider
able part of that distance. Parts of this vast
Prairie had been planted in Wheat, Oats,
Corn DC, and the matured AS well rs the
growing crop afforded abundant evidence Of
'ts exceeding richness. After leaving this
Prairie We passed through large body Of
rimbercd lands which will compare f,vorably
with the rich tmbercd lands of Illinois and
Indiana indeed the who le country is an en-
ceedingly Interesting one. The Hallway is
~ fine one and is in fine condition, and when
your readers are informed that the distance
from New York to Detroit by Railroad is
179 miles, and that through Ticket is pur-
vhased for thirteen dollars, perhaps some OF
them may he induced to take the trip i,
is worth the money to see the bridge. There
is an arrangement on the Great Western
Railway that VIC have never before seen, al
though it is said to be common in England
We allude to the Rotary Lamps wl,cl, are
placed in sight Of each other throughout
the entire length Of the Road. These lamps
have four faces and each face Ii ight of
different colour, as, for instance Red, White,
Green and Blue, each one representing diff
fcrcnt conditions Of the track or other i'm
portant information. Now surprising part
Of the track is torn-up or bridge is swept
away, or locomotive thrown across the
track which it is impossible to remove at once,
the nearest lamp sounds the note of alarm
by exhibiting red light and tho next lamp
takes it up and thus it passes on until the
coming train is warned Of danger ahead"
and is continually on the "lookont." II the
injury or damage is repaired before the ex-
pectcd train arrives another light is exhibit
ed and extended which gives the informa-
tion that all is right" and the engineer
lets on steam and resumes his former speed.
These lamps are attached to iron rods some
tweEty feet high, which are supported by
large posts and are instantly turned by a
crank at the bottom. This arrangement
must subject the company to a heavy item
of expense, but human life is valuable, and
general "smash up on Railroad also
costs something.
The Railroad suspension Bridge at Nj
ngara Falls, Mr.. Editor, Is worth seeing and
riding over assure you, and itseems to us
that no man or woman can ride over it, no
matter how heavy the train he is upon with
out feeling that he. is entirely safe.-I had
in$charge my wife and two children and
not one Of us felt the slightest trepidation in
passing over that gigantic structure. The
bridge, you know, Mr.. Editor, is built of
wire; it has span Of eight hundred and
twenty-five feet, and the Railway track is
two hundred and fifty feet above the water.
1t is supported by four cables made of tws-
ted wire, the diameter of each being ten
inches, and the number Of wires in the
bridge is four thousand miles, and the en-
tire weight of the bridgeis one million six
hundred and seventy eight thousand seven
hundred and. twenty-five pounds. The
whole bridge is supported by four towers,
two on each side Of the river built of mas
slve rock dowelled and cemented together,
&c that :hey are as firm as Gibralter itself.
These Towers are sixteen feet square at the
base and eight feet at the top, eiehty-two
feet high from the ground, and sixty feet
high above the Railroad track. NV little
son and myself stood upon the hindmost
platform Of the hindmost car, and cxamin-
ed closely to see whether there was any Vi
bration whatever and could not discover
the slightest. :. 1t is the most magniffcent
structure Lever beheld and is,well worth
journey across the Atlantic to see it, to saw
nothing of the Falls Of which I attempted
dlscriptionin a former number of our Pa
per- We stopped IA tonrs at the Falls, ar.
rived in Albany on Friday at 4 o'clock P.
NJ. and remained till Monday morning
arrived in New York on Monday at 10 A.
NJ. left the great Emporium at 6 p. NJ. and
arrived in Columbia s: c. in precisely 4s
hours from New Yorkb Railroad all of the
way excepting from Washington City to
-Acqnia Creek, SIS miles. Forgeneral infor-
nation will add that's traveller can dine
in Detroit on the fourth day after leaving
here, that the distance is 1855 miles and
that the ;Rsilrcad Fare is forty dollars.
/. B.
IHE LEMON SEAvE CAss.-The Lemon