EASTERN QUESTION. 



EAST RIVER BRIDGE. 



263 



Wo arc persuaded that fresh puunuitoos would ho 



found in the removal of a permanent CUUKC of irrita- 



ii .11 cxist'intf between the two powers whieh uru tliu 



.lir.H-tly Interested. Their mutual relation* 



I bo more firmly established on thu basis of a 



. 1 rioliil understanding. 



You are desired, Monsieur lo Baron, to road this 

 diiimtch, and leave a copy of it with him. 



Tho prinuipal Secretary of State of her Britannia 

 M.iji-Hty has expressed to us the regret tluit ho would 

 1 thus discussion should disturb tho harmony 

 which tho Government of her Majesty the Queen has 

 striven to maintain between the two countries. Bo 

 good enough to express to his Excellency how entire- 

 ly tliis regret would bo shared by the Imperial Cabi- 

 iiot. We believe that friendship between tho two 

 governments ia essentially useful to tho two countries 

 as well as to the peace or the world. 



It is with lively satisfaction that we have seen this 

 friendship during late yoars grow moro and mpro 

 close and cordial. Tho grave circumstances in which 

 wo find ourselves at this moment seem to us to 

 make it more desirable than ever. 



GORTSCIIAKOFF. 



A similar Russian reply to Austria was road 

 by Minister Novikoff to Count von Beust, on 

 December 2d. The conciliatory tone of the 

 note made a very favorable impression, and, 

 together with the verbal explanations of the 

 ambassador, promised a satisfactory basis for 

 the conference proposed by Prussia. The 

 Governments of England, Turkey, Italy, Aus- 

 tria, and Russia, proclaimed their intention to 

 accept tho proposal of a European Congress on 

 tho subject of the Eastern question, to be 

 opened in London, in January, 1871. Prussia, 

 in accepting the proposal, expressly stipulated 

 that no topic foreign to. the question of the re- 

 vision of tho Paris Treaty of 1856 should be 

 introduced into the deliberations of the body. 

 Prussia maintained that, having, like Italy, 

 signed only the treaty of the 30th of March, 

 1856, which was concluded, as mentioned in 

 the introduction prefacing the treaty, for tho 

 purpose of guaranteeing the independence and 

 integrity of the Turkish Empire, she was not 

 like England, France, and Austria, who con- 

 cluded the additional treaty dated April 17, 

 1856, by which they bound themselves to con- 

 sider any infraction of any one of the stipula- 

 tions of the treaty of March 80th as a casua 

 belli, or nearly so, and also mutually obligated 

 themselves to fight for the maintenance of a 

 clause to which a great power cannot submit 

 forever, and which does not in any way in- 

 fringe upon the principles of the first treaty. 

 So far as Prussia was concerned, she, therefore, 

 did not regard Russia's position as one threat- 

 ening war, because the St. Petersburg Cabinet 

 did not intend to endanger the independence 

 and integrity of Turkey at present. The 

 statesmen of Russia declared that any addition- 

 al conquest of territory was undesirable, and 

 they also relinquished the idea of creating a 

 Greek empire at Constantinople, under the 

 Russian protectorate ; neither did they intend 

 to establish any extensive naval arsenal on tho 

 ro.-nt of the Black Sea. 



Under these circumstances it was confident- 

 ly expected that, by diplomatic means, an un- 



derstanding would be reached by which the 

 parties which signed the Treaty of Paris would 

 accede to the request of Russia regarding the 

 neutralization of tho Black Sea, to which end 

 Prussia had offered her m.-dmtion. The meet- 

 ing of the conference was, however, retarded 

 by the peculiar position of Franco, for, al- 

 though the provisional government had de- 

 clared its unconditional acceptance of tho 

 same, it was necessary to apply for a passport 

 permitting its representative to pass through 

 the Prussian lines in order to roach London. 

 This passport was issued to Jules Favre, Min- 

 ister of Foreign Affairs, toward the latter part 

 of December, but it was not known when he 

 would leave Paris. 

 EAST RIVER BRIDGE THE CAISSONS. 



AND THEIE CoNSTRUCTIOV. One Of the mOSt 



extensive and important structures now engag- 

 ing the attention of the engineering profession 

 is the bridge across tho East River, New York, 

 designed by tho late John A. Roebling, now 

 being carried out under the direction of Colo- 

 nel W. A. Roebling. The caisson sunk at the 

 base of the Brooklyn tower forms an impor- 

 tant feature in the construction of the founda- 

 tion itself. It is, in fact, an immense pneu- 

 matic pile; but, unlike the piles used in the 

 Harlem and other bridges in this country 

 piles rarely exceeding six feet in diameter 

 this is 168 feet long by 102 feet wide on tho 

 outside, the chamber in which the excavation 

 is to be carried on being 160 feet wide by 98 

 feet, and 9 feet in height. 



The caisson proper contains 105,000 cubic 

 feet of timber, board measure. Of wrought- 

 iron, there are 85,000 Ibs. ; in screw-bolts, 30,000 

 Ibs. ; of flat bars in frames and angle-irons, be- 

 sides the large amount of drift-bolts and boiler- 

 plate, making in the aggregate about 200,000 

 Ibs. The whole structure weighs nearly 2,500 

 tons. The V portion forming the chamber is 

 nine, timbers in height, the lower side of the first 

 course being eight inches across, and tho upper 

 course of headers nine feet in length ; the face 

 of tho outer timbers having a batter of 1.6 in 

 12, and the inner face nearly 10.8 in 12. Tho 

 first course, which is of oak, 13 by 15 inches, 

 projects on the outside 1} inch beyond tho 

 line of the succeeding timbers, so as to receive 

 the sheathing-plank. The ends at tho corners 

 are halved, and the ends of the timbers com- 

 ing together in the same course are spliced 

 with a plane scarf of six feet in length. As 

 tho great weight of the structure will have a 

 tendency to open the corners, precautions woro 

 taken to make that part as strong as possible ; 

 and, in the second course, a solid hackmatack 

 knee was inserted at tho corners, running 

 twenty feet each way. Tho succeeding tim- 

 bers and the remainder of the second course, 

 which are of Georgia pine, one foot square, are 

 laid in alternate courses of stretchers and 

 headers. The tenth is tho first course of the 

 roof, which is carried np in alternate layers to 

 five timbers in height. 



