The Portland daily press., 1868-12-04
DAILY PRESS.
CORTLAND.
Friday Morning, December 4, 1868.
Notes by ihe W NY.


LONDON, Nov. IA, 1868.
To the Editor OF the Press.
The passage from Kingsown the seaport
of Dublin to Holyhead "a miles, is made in
four hours. At Hoyhead you land and an
express train takes you 10 London. The
train is run at a very rapid rate and makes
but few stops. We went the distance f. ON
Holyhead to Chester 81 miles without once
hauling up. By the burning of coal. the en-
gine can carry sufficient supply Of fuel for
great distance. The arrangement TO sppply
the engine and tender with water without
stopping the train is very peculiar At vari-
Gus places lohg trough OF iron, about 12
inches wide, 8 inches deep, and some miles
IN length is placed between The rats and sun
Piled with water When the locomotive ar
rives at the spot, without stopping the train
or sackenin9 its speed, a curved pine is uron,
ped down into the trough, and pushed
against the water, by which action tue water
forces itself up the pipe into the tender.
The road from Holyhead to Chester is
alorg the sea coast, through portion of
northern Wales and crossing the famous tu-
bular bridge at Menai straits. You have fine
views of beautiful scenery of the sea shore
and mountainous regions. Chester is one Of
the most interesting places in England, on
account of its great antiquity and memorable
history. 1t is supposed to have been found
ed by the Romans, and many remains of their
antiquities have been discovered. an an
cient wall 2 IL miles in extent, surrounds a
portion of the city. Houses are built into
the wall and all accessible by steps from the
streets below. The wall il used for a prom
enade and in walk about it, 1 obtained de-
lightiul view OF the city, its surroundings, and
the river Dee, which flows through it, At
the hotel where | stopped the waiter inform
ed me that he had the pleasure of waiting
upon "One Of the Presidents OF the United
States" few days since, in the person OF JEFF
ferson Davis, who had spent the previous
Sunday there in company with Mr.. Spence.
London. with all its vastness, its large ter
lestrial limits, its crowded thoroughfares-
with its busy throngs, is not a magnificent
city. The public buildings are large and i'm
posing, but the humidity OF the atmos. hele
with the constant smoke defaces them great
ly. Its stores and private dwellings are not
equal to those we have in New York and
others of our cities. They are built Of
dinsy brick, and in short time become de-
faced. The extensive parks, with their walks
and drives, afford abundant appurtenances to
the citizens of this smoky metropolis to
breathe fresh air, and to see whatever of sun
is visible through the coludy haze. The
metropolitan railways run either under
ground, or at high level above the roofs of
houses among the chimney tops.
The American Minister, Hon. Reverdy
johnson, wins golden opinions from the press
and community. All whom meet are quite
lavish in their praises, and his course and the
election of Grant, seems to give general salts
faction to all Englishmen. The announce
ment was made by Mr. johnson and confirm
ed by Lord Stanley at the Lord Mayors dur
ing week since, that all matters in dispute
between England and the United States had
been amicably adjusted with much satisiac-
ton. The papers here have it that all claims
for injuries to American commerce by the
Alabama as we'll as tue claims of British neu-
trails, for damage to thes,o~.~, : the late war,
and all other questions are to be referred to
joint commission for adjudication, and
those matters upon which the commissioners
do not agree are to be left to the arbitration
of the King of Prussia. 1t looks on the. face
of it, as if the English government have
come to the conclusion to pay the losses oc-
casioned by the Alabama, offsetting it as far
as possible by any just claims that their sub
jects may have upon the United States.-
This undoubtedly will be very favorable
time for the settlement of these questions
Intelligent Englishmen are very willing that
some reparation should be made to our coun-
try, for the course England took towards
them during TIE late war. III.