1846.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



3SS 



Pans Academy of Sciences. — Sept.li. — A communication was received 

 from Mr. Morse, giving an account of the extent of ttie telegraphic lines 

 alreailv establislied in the United States of America. It is as follows i — 



Miles. 



Albany io liuff.ilo 350 



New York to Boston 220 



Do. to Albany 150 



Do. to Washington , 230 



Washington to Baltimore 40 



Baltimore to Philadelphia 97 



Philadelphia to New York 88 



New York to Nevvhaven 84 



Newhaven to Hartford 30 



Hartford to Springfield 20 



Springfield to Boston 98 



Albany to Rochester 252 



Total 1C59 



Mr. Morse states, in his letter, that the electric telegraph is now the chief 

 mode of transmitting all the news of the Government and the important 

 correspondence of mercliantsand of the public generally. Its influence has, 

 he says, been already felt by the press. The journals of the large towns, 

 which were taken in the country on account of their giving the most recent 

 news, have lost a great number of their subscribers ; whilst there has been 

 a very large increase in the circulation of the journals of the small towns 

 near the extreme points of the electric telegraphs. 



New Volcano. — A letter, dated Aug. Uth, from Lieut. Barker, of the East 

 India Company's steamer Victoria, states, that on that day smoke was ob- 

 served to issue from the summit of Saddle Island, lat. 15° 7' n., long. 42° 

 12' E. The account adds : " The weather at the time was very squally, with 

 thunder and lightning. Saddle Island is one of a group called Zebayer 

 Islands, in the Red Sea, in the direct track of vessels proceeding up and 

 down , and are all of volcanic origin ; but there is neither record nor tradi- 

 tion of their having been in active operation. Jibble Seer, in lat. 15° 32' n., 

 and long. 41° 55' e., was observed to be smoking when visited by the officers 

 of the Benares during (he survey of the Red Sea, but never since. There 

 is a tradition among the Arab pilots of its having been on fire some fifty 

 years ago, and it bears among many of them the name of Jibble Dookhan 

 or Hill of Smoke, and has the appearance of having been in active operation 

 at a much later period than the Zebayer Islands." 



The " Great Western" Locomotive is taken off the line to be repaired, 

 though it has been but a short time in use. 



The " Great Britain" Sleum-ship has gone ashore off Ireland. All the 

 passengers were rescued. 



The Marley Tunnel. South Devon Line. — Fifty yards have fallen in, and 

 four men have been killed by the accident, 



Newcastle and lierwick Railway will consist of six arches of 125 feet 

 span. The quantity of iron required is 6,000 tons. 



On the Glasgntv and Greenock Railway, 3rd class passengers pay one 

 farthing per mile. 



Ipswich and Bury Line. — The embankments on the Stowmarket Marsh 

 have sunk into the morass (which is 80 feet deep), and disappeared. 



St. Mary's, Truro. — Some time back, the pillars of the chancel were 

 restored by the vicar. The effect was so good, that several parishioners 

 undertook to restore each one pillar of the nave. The improvements are 

 ■very encouraging. 



All Saints, Wigan. — %'ery extensive repairs are in progress. The ar- 

 chitecture is Perpendicular. 



Holy Trinity, Hull. — This noble church has been the subject of a costly 

 renovation. The capitals of the pillars are gilded, the ceiling is coloured 

 blue with stars of gold, and new church furniture has been provided, 



St. John's Gate, Clerkenwell. — The reparation progresses slowly. All 

 that the funds suffice for is the rebuilding the parapets in brickwork, and 

 pointing tlie stonework where it is not too much decayed. 



Whitfield, in Glussop. — A new church in the Early English style is 

 nearly completed : it has a lofty enriched steeple. 



The New Music Hall, in Licerpool, has been commenced. It is to be in 

 the Italian style, and will contain 2,300 people. Mr. Cunningham is the 

 architect. 



Manchester. — The Infirmary is enlarged. Two large Catholic churches 

 are being built. 



The Brussels and Antwerj) Telegraph is open to the public. The charges 

 are, for communicating from 1 to 20 words, _/ii)e francs; reply, one penny ; 

 sending it to the residence of the inquirer, five pence. In England the 

 charges are from twelve to twenty times dearer. How much better (is the 

 old remark) do they manage these things on the Continent ! But John 

 Bull has plenty of money, and can afford to spend it. On all the lines ter- 

 minating in London five shillings is the lowest charge for a telegraphic mes- 

 sage ; and 8d. per mile is usually charged for sending a porter to communi- 

 cate the message in any part of London. 



NOTES ON FOREIGN WORKS. 



The Water-cities vf China. — The French commissioners lately returned 

 from that country, have added much to our present knowledge of those 

 curious habitatious of the Chinese. That country is literally paved with 

 human beings, hence great numbers have chosen the waters for an abode — 

 their they are born, live, and die. Canton, for example, has a floating 

 city on the Tchou-Kiang. Eighty thousand barges are there at anchor, 

 and form regular districts and streets. Allowing to each barge only ten 

 inhabitants, which is surely not enough in a country where families are 

 very numerous, tliis rivercily will have a population of nearly a miilioa 

 of souls. The cities in the interior resemble rather ants' nests than any 

 thing else. The wonder of all is the city of Sou-tchou, on the Imperial 

 Lake, 180 miles from the sea, with which it communicates by a marine 

 canal, accessible to the largest vessels. M. Hedde, one of the commis- 

 sioners, has vi.^ited it, and stales the number of its inhabitants at twenty- 

 five millions (?) Of these, ten millions live on the waters— viz., in the 

 port and the canals of the city. Up to a certain age, the children in these 

 water-cities have a sort of wooden buoy attached to their shoulder, which 

 preserves them if they fall in the water. Not only men, but even animals live 

 on these barges, and ducks, to an enormous extent, fill up the decks and 

 holds of barges and vessels. 



Panoramas of the Principal Cities of Russia. — The attention of the 

 people of Moscow had been attracted, during the summers of 1844 and 

 1845, towards a person, who every day established himself on the platfoi-m 

 of the steeple of Ivan-Veliki, and remained there until sun-set. This 

 height commands a view of the holy city and fifteen leagues around it. 

 They knew, in fiue,that this curious personage was M. Acaric Baron, a 

 French artist, who painted a panorama of the old city of the Czars. The 

 higher classes of Moscow thus took an interest in the artist. Such was 

 the renown of his prseverauce and skill, that the Emperor wanted to see 

 him, and M. Acaric-Baron received orders, as soon as his beautiful car- 

 toons were completed, to repair to St. Petersburg. His Majesty, after the 

 inspection of the work, ordered that the panorama of Moscow should be 

 placed in one of the rooms of the Imperial palace. M. Acaric obtained, 

 moreover, permission to publish his work on stone, and the Emperor and 

 Prince Leuchtenberg headed the list of subscribers. It is now spoken 

 of, that M. Acaric will receive commands to paint the panorama of St, 

 Petersburg and the other large cities of Russia. 



Art in Italy. — The Italian Academies, like those of other countries, lay 

 under the imputation (right or wrong, we shall not decide), that the truly 

 vivifying and pregnant spirit has departed from them. It is to be taken 

 into account, however, that while all other instructional institutions aim 

 only at the affording of the current stock of knowledge and acquirements, 

 art-academies, ou the other hand, are only then praised, if they have pro- 

 duced extraordinary talents. More than ever, Italy is engaged in the ex- 

 ploration of her subterranean treasures; and soon, the art-specimens of her 

 old inhabitants— the Etruscans and others — will cover the presses and 

 tables of our museums. As to the general mode of exhibition, we may 

 rejoice at the greater adherence to historical arrangement now generally 

 resorted to; while, ou the other hand, those merely arbitrary shiftings of 

 the specimens of art in the Vatican, or the pasting of a row of tickets ou 

 them (requiring the constant purchase of new catalogues), as has been 

 done at Naples, are far from being commendable. Even the, perhaps 

 well-intentioned, transposition of the antiques in the Villa Albani inspires 

 us with grief, when we think that the former arrangement had originated 

 with Winkelmann. The picture galleries of Italy lose, at times, by the 

 circumrotation of men's fortunes, their fairest gems ; and thus that splen- 

 did picture of Francesco Francia, of the Ercolani Palace at Bologna, has 

 gone to Russia. Others, however, refuse any offer, as for instance, the 

 Duke of Terranuova, in Naples, who praises his Holy Family, by Ra- 

 phael, painted for one of his ancestors, like a family relic. <Jn the other 

 hand, many hitherto forgotlen.or buried pictorial treasures are brought to 

 light, as, for instance, the paintings of Gritto at Florence, in the Bargello, 

 or the Last Supper of Raphael in the convent of St. Onofrio delle Mo- 

 nache, in the same city. Collections which, hitherto, were scarcely con- 

 sidered of any note, like the Royal Palace at Turin, are better known and 

 appreciated, and at Rome a new one has sprung up, which has made a 

 splendid beginning, with the acquisition of the great Altar piece of 

 Filippo Lippi. In several galleries the lighting from above has been 

 introduced ; if, however, this is not done efficiently, it will always be 

 unsatisfactory, especially were pictures of small size are to be viewed. 

 Moreover, such a half-light from above will make pictures appear in an- 

 other light than that in which they were painted, and in which the artist 

 intended them to be seen. 



X.<.<e Excai-ations in Italy. — M. Alessandro Fran9ois, known by his for- 

 mer sucesses in the above enterprise, has began of late some excavations 

 at Chinsi, in the so-called Nun's bush, and his tact is so correct, that after 

 he had traced his lines, by the work of only six excavators, after the short 

 space of two hours, the vestiges of an ancient tomb were found. Further 

 exertions laid open the row of tombs, which led to the subterranean cham- 

 ber. To penetrate, however, to this, full six days of incessant labour 

 were required, as the Hypogoeum lay at a tremendous depth. This con- 

 sists of three rather large rooms, of which the first is adorned with wall- 

 pictures. Two, however, only have been preserved. One represents a 

 chase — two men and a dog pursuing a hare. The other consists of two 

 persons, who are received by another, sitting, with a certain air of solemn- 

 ity. A flute player stands beside them. 'The pictures are made in an 



