IS-IG. 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



291 



NOTES OF THE MONTH. 



The Tubular BrUlgie. — It appears from the report of the engineer of the 

 Chester and Holyhead railway, that the model tube constructed by IMr. 

 Fairbairn, one sixtli of tlie actual size, has been subjected to such experi- 

 ments as he considers sulliciently justify the company proceeding with tlii' 

 works. He reports: — " In tlie former preliminary experiments, I Has led 

 to the conclusion tliat gi'eat care would be required to prevent the npfier 

 side of the tube from crushing, — that, In short, the main object to be aimed 

 at was to give the top of the tube the requisite stiffness. In this respect, 

 the result obtained from the model has been highly satisfactory ; and, being 

 upon so large a scale, may be deemed perfecly conclusive upon seveial 

 important points. The dimensions of the tube were as follows: length, 

 75 ft. between the supporters; depth, 4 ft. 6 in. ; width, 2 ft. 6 in. The 

 total weight a little above five tons. When progressively loaded, the mean 

 deflection was about one-tenth of an inch per ton ; and with a load of 

 thirly-tive tons suspended in the middle, it gave way on the under side, — 

 the upper part not having exhibited the least sign of failure up to the mo- 

 nient of fracture. Hence, therefore, we have arrived at a most interesting 

 result ; viz., that the liability of the plates on the upper side to crush has 

 been completely removed from the construction in compartments. The 

 experiments having now furnished us with the necessary means of calcu- 

 lating the relative thickness and proportions of the several parts of the 

 tube, we are in a condition to contract at once for their construction.'' 

 .Supposing the strength proportional to the size, the real bridge ought (o 

 break with six times the load on the model — that is, with 210 tons, ami 

 the deflection would be 21 inches. Mr. Stephenson stated, in his report, 

 that 747 tons on the centre, or double this distributed over the whole 

 bridge, though equal to any weight " that can in practice be placed on (he 

 bi'idge, is not sufhcienliy in excess for practical purpctses." But the 6<ip- 

 position which seems to have been acted upon iu this experiment that the 

 strengih is directly proportionul to the dimensions, is founded on false phi- 

 losophy. The load which can be sustained is a function not of the length, 

 but of the square af the length nearly ; or at all events, depends on a 

 higher exponent than the lirst power of that quantity. The deflection 

 would depend not on the breadth aud depth simply, but probably on the 

 cubes of those quantities. 



Buckingham Palace is to he enlarged by the addition of a fourth side, 

 completing the quadrangle : the architect is Mr. Blore. Let us hope that 

 the faults iu the present structure will not be repeated — that columns will 

 be used to support the building — not to be supported by il, and that there 

 will be no sham pediments stuck on for show. The destruction of the 

 huge triumphal arch, supporting nothing but a little flag-staff (" a must 

 lame aud impotent conclusion"), is happily resolved upon. The p^opo^i- 

 tion to build an altogether nevv palace of purer architecture seems pit-t:-r 

 able to thnt of paiching up the old one. The liberality of the people o. 

 England must, in the former case, be the more acceptable to the Qii'-eti, 

 because forced upon her, as it were, in generous disobedience to her ex 

 pressed wishes. 



Triumphal Arch, Piccadilly. — The statue of the Duke is to be hoisted 

 lip after all, and to remain ou the arch tor three weeks, to see how it will 

 look. Sir F. Trench might as well walk through London on stilts, to see 

 how he would look. This scheme of putting up the statue on trial appears 

 very much like a ruse: the pieces of metal, if soldered together, cannot 

 be disunited witlmnt injury. Besides, it would be much easier and 

 cheaper to again raise the great wooden doll which was placed in the 

 same situation as a gaziug-stock some time ago. 



At the anniversary meeting of the Botanical Society of London the 

 receipts were slated to be £12,041 and the expenditure l'9,84o. 



In the Papal Slates an Anglo-Indian company has been formed for es- 

 tablishing a complete system of railway communication. The I'ope is 

 stated by the Journal ilei Dibats to have obtained from the French Go- 

 verunient copies of all the statutes relating to railways. 



Alont Blanc, this summer, appears for the first time this many years, 

 discrowued. The sun has roblied " the monarch of mountains" of his 

 insignia of royalty ; neither •' the avalanche is iu his hand," uor does the 

 *' diadem of snow" remain upon his brow. 



Narigulinn of the Seine. — The French Chambers have voted 26,000,000 

 francs for the improvement of the Seine navigation. Near the mouth of 

 the river the channel will he narrowed, in order that the current by its 

 increased rapidity may constantly act to scour the passage. 



Mr, Hudson's railu-uijs. — The following table exhibits the average of 

 fares per hundred miles ou the railways under iNIr. Hudson's management 

 and eleven other railways : — 



1st. Class. 2nd. Class. 3iii. Class. 



Hudsoniao lines 24s. 7d. 10s. 6d. 13s. 4d. 



Eleven other lines ISs. 9^',d. 13s. 7y,d. 8s. 9f[d. 



la one case (the Great North of tngland), 17s. yd. per 100 miles is 



charged for second class passengers, while ou the London and Birmingham 



Uie first cla^s tare for tiie same distance is 16s. Gd ! 



The Birmingham Town Hall has been decorated in the Polychromatic 

 style. 



The Masonic Hall Cowes. — A long account of the laying the first stone 

 of this building has beeu given iu the newspapers, The Illustrated Lon- 

 don Ntu-s publishes the design, which appears to be perfectly disgraceful. 

 It has been observed, among other things, that the Grecian-Doric pilasters 

 are twelve diameters in height ! 



The Sailor's Home, Liverpool, is to be erected in the Elizabethan style 

 from designs by iMr. (_'uriningl;:im. It has been calculated that the cere- 

 mony of laying the fouiidatiuu stone by Prince Albert has cost more thau 

 will sultice for erecting the building. 



St. Michael Heavitree, near E.xeter. — This church has been re-erected 

 under the superintendence of Mr. Alexander. The form aud details of the 

 former church have been almost exactly repeated. 



Trinity Church, Puddington.—The cost of this building is £18,000. 



St. John Baptist, Sudbury — A small church, near the Birmingham rail- 

 way, has beeu erected from an excellent design by Messrs. Scott and Mof- 

 fatt. The style is Decorated ; the materials flint, with stone dressings. 



All Saints, Harrow-weald.— The first stone of this church has beeu laid. 

 The design is by Mr. Harrison, iu the Early English style. 



Frescoes in the House of Lords. — Very favourable reports of the success 

 of Mr. Dyce's labours are in circuhilion. His mural picture is said to 

 have been recently inspected by the members of the Ifoyai (Commission of 

 Fine Arts, aud to have given great satisfaction to the distinguished 

 visitors. 



Statue of uSir Fowel Buxton. — The competition respecting this statue, 

 which is to be erected in M esiminster Abbey, has resulted in favour of 

 Mr. Thrupp. The price is £l,Ot)0. 



M. Vignon, architect to the Empress Jose|ihine at IMalmaison, to Louis 

 Bonaparte when King of Holland, aud to iMurat, recently died at Pans, 

 at the age of eighty-tive. 



The Society for building, Sfc., churches and chapels determined, at their 

 last meeting to grant assistance towards the erection of II new churches, 

 the rebuilding w ith enlargement 7 parish cliurthes, and the enlargement of 

 19 churches and chapels. The Socieiy, since November last, has contri- 

 buted £20,360 towards the erection of (J9 new chuiches. 



South Devon Railway. — Atmospheric tubes of the increased diameter of 

 22 inches are said to be in course of formation. 



The Midland Counties telegraph, from Leeds to BirmiDgham, and from 

 Derby to Nottingham aud Kugby, has beeu completed at a cost of £40,000. 



Instruction of engine drivers. — The French Rlinister of Public Works 

 has resoheJ ou instituting a school for this purpose at Pans. 



A failure of an embankment oa the Sliellield aud Manchester railway 

 took place recently, when 3,000 yards of earth fell. 



The Richmond line is opened. It cost only £170,000, though the ori- 

 ginal estimate was £:iOO,000. Mr. Locke is the engineer : the rate of 

 progress was a mile a mouth. 



Foreign conijietition with English manufactures. — The merchants of Bir- 

 mingham have beeu ollered liclgiau wine-glasses and tumblers 2.i to 35 

 per tent, cheaper thau they can be produced in England. 



The newspapers announce the death of Dr. Bostock, of Liverpool, an 

 associate of Priestly and Davy in their labours. His principal work was 

 the " Elementary System of Pliysiology." 



Discorery of an ancient forest. — In excavating the new road from Wood- 

 side, which has beeu commenced by the Birkenhead tommi.-sioners, the 

 workmen have discovered a forest six or eight leel below the level of the 

 soil. Many of the trees retain their original forms almost perfectly. 



The Newfoundland Times asserts, from observations of the sea level, that 

 all the land about Conception Bay, and piobaldy the whole island, is gra- 

 dually rising above the sea. 



Chichester Cathedral. —A rose window has been placed in the east gable. 

 The tomb of Kichard, bishop of Chichester (1252), has beeu restored aud 

 placed iu the south trauscpt. 



London Docks.— A new warehouse is being erected by Mr. \V. Cubitl. 

 The length of the new building is 2$4 feet, the breadth 189 feet, and it is 

 five stories in height. 



The Hotel de Ville of Aix-la-Chapelle is being restored. In this build- 

 ing took place the congress by which the celebrated treaty of Aix-ia- 

 Chapelle was concluded. 



Railway Legislation of the Present Session. — 3,072 miles of railway 

 have beeu aullioi ized, witli a capital of £90,500,000, aud povser to borrow 

 £38,700,000 moie. 



Loudon and \orth-\Vestern. — In consequence of the graud amalgama- 

 tion of the Loudou aud Birmiogbam, the Grand .Junction, aud the Liver- 

 pool and Manchester, into one great company, uanicd the Lunduu and 

 North- Western, most extensive improvements are coutemplated. At Eus- 

 tousquare aud Camdeu-towu whole streets will be demolished to gain 

 additional space. The Wolverton and the Crewe statious will be greatly 

 enlarged ; but the most important alterations are being carried ou at 

 Liverpool: there will be a tunnel right under the town of cousiderable 

 length. 



The Contracts for the Menai Tubular Bridge are distributed as follows: 

 Mr. W alter \V illiams, 2,000 tons of best irou plate ; Brauiah and Co. and 

 Foster aud Co., each 1,500 tons; Thornejcioft aud Co., the Colebiook 

 Dale Company, and the Butlerly Company, each 1,000 tons; — lU all, 

 8,000 tons. 



The Railway of the United States extend over 10,500 miles. 



The late Stornt has considerably injured the exleruul masoury of Henry 



