400 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[November 



We think the proprietors of the Polytechnic Institution deserve all the 

 success they are reaping, for the spirited way in which they are bringing 

 forward all new scientific discoveries ; and may, with great confidence, re- 

 commend our readers, both scientific and otherwise, to witness the splendid 

 effects of this new machine. 



PREPARED PAINTED SURFACES OF PAPER. 



Henry Martin, of Norton-terrace, Camden-town, painter, has obtained a 

 patent fur " improvement! in preparing surfaces of paper. — Patent dated 

 March 30, 1840; they consist in embossing and enamelling the surfaces of 

 paper, and In manufacturing paper-hangings. A coat of oil-paint of the de- 

 sired colour, is first applied to the surface of the paper, as evenly as possible, 

 with a common paint-brush ; it is then rubbed lightly over with a brush, 

 similar to a clothes or shoe-brush, (giving it a circular motion.) to remove the 

 marks of the paint-brush; after which, an additional smoothness is given to 

 the painted surface, by passing a dry brush, called a " a softener," lightly 

 over it. If more than one coat of paint be laid on, this process is repeated. 

 Or, instead of the above method, the paint may be applied by conducting the 

 paper between two rollers, together with an endless felt or other fabric, 

 which is supplied with paint by passing under a roller, partly immersed in it; 

 the superfluous paint being removed from the felt, as it ascends, by a scraper. 

 The paper, thus prepared, is embossed, by passing it between engraved rollers 

 or dies; or is converted into paper-hangings, by printing the required designs 

 upon it with blocks or other surfaces. If a glazed or enamelled surface is to 

 be given to the paper, the oil-paint must be used in a thick or round state, and 

 thinned only with turpentine, in the same manner as if it were used for 

 " flatting." When the turpentine evaporates, the colour becomes set ; the 

 paper is then placed upon a bed of woollen cloth or other soft material, and 

 a pallet-knife or trowel, with a polished surface, is passed over the painted 

 surface of the paper, with B slight pressure; the colour being set, yiebls to 

 the pressure, and a glaze is thereby produced, which may be afterward! 

 heightened in the usual manner. ( Niter means may be resorted to for glazing 

 the painted surface of the paper, if preferred. 



RAILWAY CHRONICLE OF THE MONTH. 



The Railway proceedings of this month have been principally confined to 

 the results of the great amalgamation movement of last mi. nib. The inilu- 

 ( nee "I the Great Midland junction has l«'cn to produce the greatest i 

 all tin- railway interests of England by the creation of a new power, with a 

 new policy. The London and Birmingham, hitherto the ruling line of the 

 south, has been the first to feel thi' change. It is said that the Great Mid- 

 'and has made a proposition requiring the London and Birmingham to let 

 Hum work their own traffic to London on the same terms as the Manchester 

 and Birmingham do on the Grand Junction, under the penally of having 

 their own line from Leicester to London. The London and Birmingham 

 have, in consequence, taken a bold step by bringing about an amalgamation, 

 or rather union, of the Northern and Eastern and Eastern Counties, so as to 

 prevent these latter lines from falling under the power of the Creat Midland, 

 and assisting them in obtaining the traffic of the north and east of England ; 

 while it is expected this measure will secure to the London aud Birmingham 

 the benefits of the Northampton ami Peterborough line. It is most probable 

 that these hopes of the London anil Birmingham will not be fulfilled : but 

 the union of the two lines has taken place, meeting of each being held at the 

 Shoreditch Station on the 25th. when residutions were passed, almost without 

 opposition, approving of the plan, except that Mr. D.W.Harvey, at the 

 Kastem Counties' meeting, made a speech two hours long. The plan gua- 

 rantees 5 per cent, dividend to the Northern and Kastem. then the Eastern 

 Counties to have i\ per cent., and the remaining profits to be divided in the 

 proportion of two-thirds to the Eastern Counties, and one-third to the 

 Northern and Eastern. The joint board to consist of twelve Eastern Counties' 

 Directors and six Northern and Eastern Doctors. 



The Devon and Cornwall Railway is progressing, two meetings having been 

 held at Plymouth and Devonport on the 25th and 26th, in favour of it, at 

 which Mr. Saunders, secretary and chief superintendent, and Mr. Brunei, 

 chief engineer of the Great Western Railway, attended. 



Two lines have been started as branches from the Eastern Counties Rail- 

 way to Harwich, and the pian for the extension to Ipswich is being prosecuted. 

 A line has been brought forward to carry the mineral traffic in Furnessfor 

 shipment to the Piel of Foudrey : it will also form part of a West Cumber- 

 land line. 



The Churnet Valley line lias been revived. This railway would proceed from 

 the Manchester and Birmingham Railway by Leeds to Deri y. 



Mr. Rastrick is surveying for a Brighton Railway branch from Shoreham 

 to Worthing and Chichester. 



We ought to have mentioned above that an amalgamation is also on the 

 tapis between the North Union Railway and the Bolton and Preston. Many 

 parties justly tear that the uliima'e result of ama'gama:ion will be to throw- 



all the lines into the hands of the Government. The French government, in 

 defiance of the expression of public feeling on the General Railway Act, is 

 trying to get the lines into its own hand in France. It is said they intend 

 next session to ask the Chambers for her authority to work the Paris and 

 Northern Railway and Montpellier and Nismes Railway. This, if successfnl, 

 would also be an example for our parlies here. 



With regard to foreign railways, the great event has been the opening of 

 the junction line between Liege and Aix-la-Chapelle. This forms a con- 

 tinuous communication of upwards of 200 miles from Cologne, on the Rhine, 

 to Antwerp. Oslend, and Lille. 



The Darlington Junction Railway has guaranteed the projectors of the High 

 Level Bridge 3 per cent, on the expenditure of £100,000. as a composition 

 for toll on railway traffic. Messrs. John and Benjamin Green are appointed 

 architects, and Robert Stephenson consulting engineer. The idea of em- 

 ploying wood is abandoned, and either stone or wood will be the material 

 employed. The capital is to be raised in shares of 20/. each, and the esti- 

 mate of the cost of the bridge is £80,000; a revenue from traffic of B\ pet- 

 cent in addition to the guaranteed percentage is anticipated, notwithstanding 

 which, very few shares have been taken ; the prospectus was issued last Sep- 

 tember, and John Hodgson Hinde, Esq., M.P., is chairman of the committee. 

 Another great event of the month, has been the decision in the important 

 case in Chancery of Ranger v. Tin- Great Western Railway, involving in 

 itself and the cases depending upon it, upwards of a quarter of a million 

 sterling, some say £400,000. This litigation has long acted to the disadvan- 

 tage of the Great Western Railway Company, Mr. Ranger and his advocates 

 having been large in their demands and loud in their denunciations of fraud 

 against the company and its engineers, particularly Mr. Brunei's. The Vice 

 Chancellor of England. Sir Lancelot Shadwell, in giving judgment by special 

 appointment, at Lincoln's Inn on the 27th, gave judgment on every point in 

 favour of the company, dismissing the plaintiff's bill with costs, and de- 

 claring his statements to be devoid of foundation, at the same time that he 

 vindicated the high character of Messrs. Brunei, Frere, and Babbage. As to 

 the plea that contractors were not to be guided by the decision of the en- 

 gineer as to the mode in which the work was executed, the Vice-chancellor 

 repudiated such a doctrine; he said it was of importance to the safety of 

 mankind that railways should be executed under the directions of eminently 

 scientific men, and that in the act of the Great Western Railway Company, 

 the legislature had set an example, in declaring the opinion of the Surveyor 

 General of Metropolitan Roads, and of the Engineer of the London and 

 Birmingham Railway, decisive as to certain works, as to quantities and valu- 

 ations, however application might be made to that court. He treated as 

 nonsense the attempt to reject the decision of the engineer, because he was a 

 shareholder in the company ; it was notorious that engineers and other offi- 

 cers of railway ei mpanys were shareholders in them : and there could be no 

 doubt the interest of the engineer was paramount to that of the shareholder. 

 The Vice-Chancellor, on the plaintiff's own showing, upheld the system of 

 penalties for the fulfilment of a contract, as a wholesome system to insure 

 the work being effectually and punctually executed, since the plaintiff him- 

 self had adopted the same system with his subcontractors, and on the same 

 gronnds] He also asserted the legality of the taking possession of the wink 

 and plant. In line, the Vice-Chancellor dismissed the bill on nearly every 

 ground, with costs, leaving the plaintiff to any remedy he might have at 

 common law, and allowing an account to be made out subject to the penal- 

 ties and conditions of the contract. This result was w hat was anticipated 

 by most reasonable men. though Mr. Ranger and his friends had buoyed 

 themselves up to the last with the hopes of success. He wil . however, very 

 probably try to induce his creditors to appeal from this judgment, though it 

 is not likely with any success. This decision is of important e, not merely on 

 iis technical grounds, but as it relieves the property of the Great Western 

 Company from a bearing influence in the money market, secures the present 

 management in office, which otherwise was in jeopardy, and leaves free scope 

 for the exercise of the plans of extension entertained by the moving parties 

 in the concern. 



Midland Counties Railway.— We are informed that the platfoim across the 

 Trent was not carried away by the floods, as stated in last month's Journal, 

 but was removed at the latter end of August, in consequence of the Weir 

 being finished. 



English ami Belgian Coke.— For the comfort of the Newcastle coal- 

 owners, and as a set-off" to a paragraph deprecatory of the Newcastle coal, 

 »e have to mention that serious complaints have been made by all parties 

 connected with the Paris and Rouen Railway, in reference to the Belgian 

 coke which has been latterly used upon it. The Journal qf Rouen, states in 

 a recent number, that on the opening of the railway, and for some time alter- 

 nards, the locomotives were supplied with Engl sh coke, and all went well. 

 Ilie stock, however, became exhausted, and recourse was had io Belgian 

 c. l.e. The trains immediately became seriously retarded, anil the company has 

 appealed to the Tribune of Commerce, for damages against the merchant who 

 supplied il.e Belgian coke — and surveyors have been appointed, in consequence, 

 to estimate the damage.— Gateshead Observer, 



