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HIGH BRIDGE, Ac. 



flSoi 



Al'jssrs, Jdcqacs & Hay':^ Cabinet Dejn: tinsni. 



We omitted to notice in its proper pl;ice Messrs. Jacques & 

 Hay's Cabinet Department. The subjoiueJ desoription of that 

 truly admirable exhibition of Canadian woikmani^hip we extract 

 from the Family Herald. The furniture was arranged in a small, 

 single-roomed cottage, 21 feet by 17 inside, with three windows 

 and a door, erected by themselves, and nicely hung witheiimson 

 and drab damask, and carpeted with rich Brussels. It cont;iined 

 a unique display of walnut cabinet furniture. On the right hand 

 was a three-door Ladies' Wardrobe, made for C. H. Tuiner, Esi|., 

 of Rook's Nest, Surrey, England, and valued at £35. The door 

 panels ai'e veneered with a very rich curl, and the mouldings are 

 broken in the centre of the circle, by a carved ornament. The 

 inside is all tinished in birds-eye maple, and finely polished. On 

 the left hand stood the principal attraction, — a veiy magnificent 

 French Bed, with au elabojately-carved foot board and pediment. 

 In the centre of the foot-board is a Madonna and child, boldly 

 carved, surrounded by a graceful wreath of convolvulus, combined 

 with a garland of flowers, copied from nature, including the dahlia, 

 German aster, rose, and convohulus, all neatly grouped and carved 

 in relief. On the top of the pediment is a Cupid, with a bird on 

 its finger, and at each end, suspended from a scroil, is a group of 

 fruit, also taken from nature. The pillai-s are closely in keeping, 

 being surrounded with groups of convolvulus on the upper jiart, 

 and hung with wheat and wild flowers on the under part. The 

 rails are also tastefully decon.ted with raised panelling. This 

 bed, worth about £60, was got up expressly for the Exhibition, 

 by Messi-s. Jacques & Hay, and designed and the principal parts 

 executed by Mr. Charles Roger, Designer and v arver for the 

 estabhshment. Beside the bed stood au antique Confessiorud 

 chair, made for Fred. AVidder, Esq. The back and seat are 

 covei-ed with very elegant sewed work, executed by one of Mr. 

 Widder's daughter. The carving is a combination of the pink 

 and tiger-lily. The value of the chair, without the needle-woik, 

 is about £10. In one corner was a veiy elaboratelj'-carveJ 

 French Card Table, fo]-ming, when folded, a very handsome ^lier 

 table. In the opposite corner was a small ornamental table, with 

 a pretty^ good specimen of dining room chair, done in Morocco, 

 standing beside it. In the centre, between the bed and the 

 wardrobe was a fancy drawing room table, with four truss legs 

 and oval top of Italian Maibte. The rails are carved in relief 

 and partly fretted. This table has been purchased by Mr. Chan- 

 cellor Bla'ke. It is worth about £14 10s. At the back of the 

 table stood a French Chair done in rich French Damask of an 

 elegant style, and very tastefully finished. This completed the 

 furniture of Messi-s. .lacques & Hay's rural cottage, and gives a 

 very favourable idea of the kind of work turned out of the 

 establishment, and speaks highly for the refined taste, skill in 

 design, and mechanical ability of Mr. Roger. 



" HisSi Bridge,'' Portage, \ew ITork. 



Those of our readers who attended the opening of the Buff'alo 

 and JS'ew Yoik City Railroad, will remember the immense Wooden 

 Bridge which sp.^xs the Genesee Valley at Portage in Wyoming 

 County, and which formed the chief object of interest on that 

 ocaision; — through the kindness of Mr. Lelaud, of the Ontario, 

 Simcoe and Huron Railioail, we are enabled this month to give 

 an illustration of the Bridge in question with some particulai's 

 in reference to its construction. 



The Buft'aio and New York and City Railroad, is one of the 

 Branch Roails which have sprung from the New York and Erie 

 Road anvl is the more especially interesting to us as bringing the 

 six foot guage to our fivntier, and which will at an early date be 

 continued to the mouth of the Niagara River, when it will form 



one of the m:my roatos of travel which will connect ad\antjigs- 

 ously with the lines of Road now being built in Canada. 



At Portage, the fi-uitful valley of the Genesee, famed at other 

 points for its gentle slopes and teeming farms, is contracted to a 

 deep and nairow gorge, through which the river dns-hes over 

 three successive falls of about three hundreii and fifty tVet, be- 

 tween almost perpendicular banks of rock, piled in horizontal 

 stratii, of from ten to thirty feet in thickness, to a height imme- 

 diately below the middle fall of about eight hundred feet. Thirty 

 yards above the Upper Fall, at a point where the banks are eight 

 hundred feet asunder, the Railroad crosses at a height of 234 feet 

 above the bed of the ri\er — viewed from the foot of the fall, 

 which adds au hundred feet to the height of the structure, a 

 piissiiig train, relieved against a clear sky, has a wonderful and 

 bc^autiful appearance — while the view fiom the train, embracing 

 as it does, a large portion of Wyoming, is one of surpassing 

 grandeur. 



The Bridge was designed by Mr. Silas Seymonr, the Chief 

 Engineer to the Company, and the successful economy with 

 which he has succeeded in overcoming the difficulties opposed to 

 him, is entitled to great praise, especially when we take into 

 account the short space of time in which the works were 

 completed. The general design of the Bridge will be understood 

 from our Drawing. The Piere on which the '■Trestles' rest are of 

 the best Ashlar Masonry, of compact Sandstone obtained from 

 the Banks of the River; their base is 75 feet by 15 feet; they 

 are cari'ied up with a slight batter to a hc-ight of 30 feet above 

 the Bed of the River, and coped with heavy Limestone Blocks. 

 Upon these aie placed the Timber Trestles (as shown in the 

 Drawing), connected with each other in a ver}' secm'e manner, 

 by a system of Braces and Girders. 



The Trestles are 190 feet in height, from the top of the Pien=, 

 At their base they are composed of 21 Vertical Posts, 14 inches 

 by 14 inches, dimini.-hed in number to 15 at the top; and in 

 size to 12 inches by 12 inches. The Lateral and Longitudinal 

 Braces, and also the Girdere, are 6 inches by 1 2 inches. Each 

 Trestle or Pier is calculated to be capable of sustaining a weight 

 of one thousand tons, in addition to its own. 



The Trusses resting on the top, and connecting the several 

 Tiestles or Piei-s (which are 50 feet from centre to centre), are 

 14 feet in depth, and a.e composed of three Framed Girders, 

 with Main Counter and Sivai/ Braces, in the usual manner. 

 On the top of these Trusses the Track is laid. 



The whole length of the Bridge is eight hundred feet, and each 

 span (with the exception of that across the canal, which 54 feet) 

 is fifty feet. The arrangement of the structure is such that, w hen 

 any particular piece becomes defective, it can be taken out and 

 replaced without disturbing other parts of the Bridge. The 

 occurrence of tire is, theretbre, the chief danger to which it is 

 liable, and against such a calamity every precaution is taken. 

 Tanks of water are placed at convenient distances, and watchmen 

 are employed day and night. 



The tot;d cost of the Biidge was about £35,000 currency, and 

 the quantity of materi;il employed in its construction is as follows: 



Masonry 9,200 cubic yards. 



Timber _ _ 1 33,500 cubic feet. 



Wrought Lou 49 tons. 



It was estimated that the cost of a stone viaduct would have 

 been about £250,000, the interest of which, at 7 ^ cent., would 

 n new the present structure every two years. It wis also 



