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Leader (1850-1860), 20th August 1853, Edition Country of 2, Page 17

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      Now Ruacrc Vs Shcurwo. — Ministeiual 10x...

      Government has hitherto falsified or retreated from every assurance , you , sir , are too painfully aware ; that it hag not acted with as much energy as its antagonists , is disgracefully patent to the world ; and that its opinions and interests are likely to be but litfcle regarded in the iEastj is also but too true . The " peaceful policy" and the " moderation" doctrine , have met with , their reward , and a few words will suffice toylage their entire results before us . Throughout this dispute there has been , as I before asserted , one great principle involvedwhether . Russia had only to make certain unconscionable demands upon any power , and to

      support that demand by force of military display , in order to succeed in frightening Europe and in obtaining what she desired . In the present instance the public law of Europe has been foully broken , a country has been invaded , its authorities disregarded , its revenues appropriated , its administration seized , armies have been quartered upon the people , and , to render the cup more bitter , the grossest insults showered upon the aggrieved sovereign and upon his ministers . The only atonements that would suffice to compensate for such outrages would be the immediate withdrawal of the [ Russian

      forces , the payment of a large sum as a reimbursement to Turkey for the ills she has suffered , an apology to entire Europe for the mischief caused by so glaring an exhibition of irresponsibility , and an offer of guarantees against the future repetition of such proceedings . At present , not one valuable stipulation has been made , for if even jRussia evacuate the Principalities , she will have loaded Turkey with debt , have excited the religious feelings of her

      population , disorganized her provinces , and exhibited herself as mistress of the world whom all Europe humbly waits upon with files of civil ambassadors and civil compliments , and for whom Europe has permitted the peace , commerce , and prosperity of England and the European Continent to be stayed and imperilled . And Europe indeed has not only allowed this , but appears to be now concluding a disgraceful negotiation without having inserted any stipulation for the future !

      The peaceful policy Lord John asserted in painfully feeble reiterations , secured Austria , previously not at all a certain ally . For heaven ' s sake , sir , what is the use of securing faithless allies only to make our own failure the more apparent ? If with the four Powers cordially united , just nothing has been done , the victory of Nicholas is the more brilliant : he has taken us at our

      strongest , and won the battle . I would infinitely have preferred that both Austria and Prussia had remained doubtful , than that , with their assistance , with such an overpowering and enormous preponderance of physical force on our side , we should have permitted the Czar to assume tho victory in the eyes of all the races of the East , and before disgusted and humiliated Europe . The success of this movemont has been so

      decided , that it will be strange indeed if tho omnipotent Emperor should not repeat it at intervals . In tho meantime , it would bo just as well to remember that wo are losing our political iniluonco abroad , and that along with it our maritime power will decay ; that if Russia gain the ascendant , restrictive tariffs will oxcludo our commerce , and diminish our sea-hoard and our allies . The longer wo postpone a vigorous course of- action the less fitted we becomo fqr it , and the stronger grow our enemies ; but concession in tho order of tho day at present . Wo waste

      - cjuantities of powder m shows which prove nothing , except that , possessing tho largest naval power , wo are afraid to appeal to it ; wo mako a ridiculous exhibition of our obedient and silent Parliament , who go out playing at battles iiko schoolboys , led by respectable old gentlemen who ought to know bettor . Wo are told how ^ "ightened Nicholas would havo boon if ho coiild ° 'ily hnvo scon and '' hoard ' the groat [ Review : while Nicholas , undiKuiayed , is girdling Europe " ¦ nd Aaiu with red tape . Alpha .

      Attgust 2d > 1853 J Ttlfe Leader. 809

      AtTGUST 2 D > 1853 J Ttlfe LEADER . 809

      I'Ll Hi Ac Killing In Scotland. (Hankow,...

      I'll Hi AC KILLING IN SCOTLAND . ( Hankow , Thuvmlay Morning , TViikumI ; 11 , 1 H 5 U . I Hio Trongnfo in nearly impassable . At every anglo ]> l ; » 'spiring mob . s of dirty men ami tattered women rush V'lHt you , like , || U Hvulanoho of ordure . It is tho carnival d » y of Hcumps anil riiittowH . JIuiih Smith MaofurJano

      and Helen Blackwood are out in Jail Square , and the operation of strangling them is commencing . The Salt Market is wedged full of raw depravity . You can take the dimensions of villany by the square inch ; The cubic measure of scoundrelism may be ascertained in Glasgow this morning . You reach the river side , and the human beasts of the wynds

      come in full packs upon you . Waddling bags of fat and filth hustle against you . It is only the motion of the rags that make you suspect the hobbling effigies are alive . Heavy breasts , wallowing in front , tell you they are women . Blear-eyed , sodden , and debauched , they pant along . A minuto more , and their reward is complete . They feed and batten on the struggles of the wretches suspended in the air .

      If the earth was suddenly smitten with corruption , or some modern Moses had waved his wand over this northern Egypt , you might account for the slimy and creeping things of crime and abjectness that crawl up from the river side , and appear to rise even out of the ground . The dark and foetid streams roll on . It is the fete of scum . The Provost has high enjoyment for it this morning . The mob is tired of melodrama . Bombast ,

      blue lights , and Penny Tragedies have palled on whiskyblistered stomachs . Rows and bloodshed have kept up the criminal spirits for a time . They now want a real murder—safe as cowardice can make it , and as public as ferocity can wish it ; and it is all prepared by " lawful authority . " Vice has its bloody conditions of growth and development ; and the Government takes care they are not wanting this morning .

      A fog hangs over the city , and you can only discern the edge of the mob on Glasgow Green , like a deadly exhalation . Its thick , invisible murmur resounds like that of the coming of the cholera cloud over a doomed city , said to be heard by its first victims . Retreating down the Bromielaw to avoid making one of the loathsome multitude , you see the vast span of tho last bridge , adjoining Jail-square , covered with human heads , gilded by beams from the bursting sun . All beyond and before that living arch , is an undefined sea of life . From this point of sight the scene resembles a triumph . The huge city appears to have lined its walls to welcome homo some national hero . The heart for a moment swells . The majesty of a civilized race is being revealed as the grand beams of the sun fall down upon the multitude . Alas ! the spectacle is a disgusting Aceldama . The beastly head of Barbarism glares before the opening heavens . The country welcomes np victor : it regnlcs its villains The wild beasts of Assault , Burglary , and Murder , are brought out to learn tho tasto of blood ; and then to bo dismissed to their lairs to wait for their prey .

      Among the crowd arc sensitive and beautiful women , trormilou 3 girls , graceful young men and boys with tho first blush of innocence on their cheeks , and wondering girls aro pulling their mothers by the hand , to " gang awa' and see the sight . " These aro drawn into tho stream by tho forco of example , and for the first time they look on Murder surrounded with tho bastard halo of vulgar glory . Tho scoundrel thrives—for a free killing is the condiment of his life—tho innocent arc depraved , for this is a spectacle upon which no man or woman over looks without being tho worse for it .

      Other members of tho domestic circlo have profited by this civic morning lesson . Tho factories havo disgorged thoir ruder hands ; and perspiring and swearing , with toddy-swelled lips and bloodshot eyes , tho mechanic has for a , fow moments stuck his cutty pipe , half extinguished , into bin pocket , and lias got in nt tho last moment—just in time to hco tho last struggle of the girl Blackwood , who happened to live longer than her miscrablo companion . Tho lato arrival malcen no secret ;

      of his satisfaction , as you hear by Ins returning comments . Ilia sullcnncHS will next turn to savageness . He has feasted Iuh dulled oyoa on doliborato strangulation ; ho has advanced u step in ferocity . Next time ho strikes his wife- lio will add torture to brutality . Tho infection of violence nnd recklessness Hnroads . Tho thief linn boon , since last night , familiarized with a deopor crimo , and life is loss safe in Glasgow to-dayboth by tho fi reside and in tho street . But tho Lord Provoat has discharged his appointed duty—tho

      Government has favoured the public with another moralizing public execution . The policeman and the gaoler profit—and thus civilization goes on ! - . - ¦' . ' . ¦ ¦ ¦¦ ••¦ . ¦ ¦ . ' ¦ ¦ ' , . - Ion .

      The "Accident" At The Crystal Palace. As...

      THE " ACCIDENT" AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE . As one of the many so deeply interested in the complete success of the Crystal Palace scheme , may I bo allowed the help of your widely read journal in suggesting some points for consideration in reference to the late fatal accident at Sydenham . ! Our public has become so vain of its vast engineering undertakings , the gigantic achievements of tins branch of applied science , that people have been contented with the notion that a certain amount of'human life is as necessary to be buried in the construction as so much concrete ; and the great engineers , those men of algebra and geometry , and the great contractors , those leviathans of labour , foster this idea—the one set going in for " name" the other for " money . " I would be the very last to oppose the practical application of abstract science , but , at the same time , it must be admitted that the practical application is by far the most important , inasmuch as it is the test of principles ; frequently points out the worthlessness of theories , and exhibits weak points that were never dreamt of on

      paper . With regard to the fall-of tlie scaffolding in question , I have no hesitation in starting at once , upon this ground—viz ., that it might have been prevented—tliat its fall might have been foreseen— -that it fell to pieces from errors of construction , and not from fault of the materials * or the workmen . It is only in dealing . with the elements that accidents are at all admissible in undertakings of this kind ; a storm may demolish the noblest ship at Spithead like a gossamer , or a flooded riper may sweep away blocks of stone of tons

      weight lifte bits of cork—a spark may blow up half Woolwich like so much puff-ball—these sre real accidents that we do not expect our engineers to calculate upon ; but when a roof is to be made , we have a right to depend upon a thorough provision against its fall , upon everyjitom of weight to be sustained being known and taken into account , and that every member contributing to support it is able to bear its share , and cannot bear more than its share , of strain ; if this could not be done , then there would be an end to tubular bridges , and all such glorious triumphs of skill over inert matter .

      At the Crystal Palace , it is designed to form an arched transept of 384 feet long by 120 wide ; this space being , however , diminished by the galleries , which run all round the building , and occupy 21 feet at each end of the transept , the whole building being in this way tied together by the longitudinal girders and Mooring , of which , at the ends of the transept , there are live tiers or stories ( an important point in the explanation of tho fall of the sea Holding ) .

      How to erect those arched ribs was tho question . To have built up an old-fashioned scaffold from tho ground for the support of the centring of tho ribs would have been so easy as to bo scarcely worth the notice of " great engineers ; " something more daring and wonderful must be . done . As the writer in tho Times sapiently remarks , this scaffolding , with a . skill littlo inferior to that clever insect ' s , was to bo hung , " like tho spider's web , in the most impossible . situation ; " pity that it was not quito so light as a cobweb . Well , the first thing to bo done is to stretch across the opening two ribands of wrought iron , each about seven inches broad

      and five-eighths thick ; these were fixed at eiich end and placed edgeways , just so far apart as to admit of tho end of one of tho upright trusses being bolted in between them ; the first truss was pushed out by moans of outriggers and guide , ropes , and being ko ( ixed at one end , its companion followed and was also lixcd at its lower end , and then the two upper eiul . s wcvu inclined together and bolted , so that with the lino of tiebar they Conned a triangle . In this way a series of four p .-tirs of trusses ran across tho transept space ; but in mlditioj ) , between the upper angles of each pair there was fixed another truss of tho sumo kind , . ho forming u series of inverted triangles , which may !><> explained by

      comparing tlioin to tho letters W piled one on tho other . These heavy trusses , each iibont VI owl . ; wisro retained upright by piecesof "diesquaro" timber lushed and bolted to thorn . ' Over the first tier of Itunmos was built another of three pairs , with two intermediate ones inverted , ami ihis reached tho required height for fixing tho iron rib . It wuh at first , intended thai after a few lines of these trusses wore . sot up a rib should bo placed , and tho wholo scaffold moved on by means of ro llers , to servo the Kiiuio purpose for another rib , and so on along tho transept ; but after the fall of the first . scaffolding ( fortunately for tho " great engineers , " during a very hi gh wind , and wJiou tho mon wcro at dinner ) it wuh decided

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 20, 1853, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20081853/page/17/