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Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1973, 1 September 1869, Page 3

Central Pacific Railway. —The following sensational scene, in connection with the completion of the Pacific Railway, appears in the New York Tribune. It is dated Washington, May 10;—“ The announcement having been made here about noon to-day that the driving of the spikes in the last rail which would complete the line of railroad between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans would be communicated al} the telegraph offices in the country the instant the work was done, a latge erbwd gathered in the main office of the Western Union Telegraph Company here to receive the welcome news. Mr Tinker, the fnanager of the office here, placed a magnetic bell in a conspicuous place, where all present

could witness the performance, and connected the same with the main lines, notifying the various offices throughout the country that he was ready. New Orleans, New York, and Boston instantly answered that they were ready. Soon afterwards, at about twentyseven minutes pist two p.m., many of the offices in different parts i f the country began to make all S’ rts of inquiries of the office at Omaha, from which point the office was to be started. The office replied, ‘To everybody—Keep quiet. When the last snike is driven at Promontory Point we will say ‘Done.’ Don’t break the circuit, but watch for the signals of the blows of the hammer.’ After some little trouble in the Chicago office and the closing of a circuit west of Buffalo, the instrument here was adjusted, and at twenty-seven minutes past two p.m., Promontory Point —2.400 miles wed of Washington—said to the people congregated in the various telegraph offices, ‘ Almost ready. Hats off; prayer is being offered.’ A silence for' the prayer ensued. At twenty minutes to three the bell tapped again, and the office at the point said : —“ We have got done praying. The strike is about to be presented.” Chicago replied “ Wemiderstand. All are ready in the East.” Promontory Point: —“ All ready now; the spike will soon be driven. The signal will be three dots for the commencement of the blows.” For a moment the instrument was silent, and then the hammer of the magnet tapped the bell, one, two, three—the signal. Another pause of a few seconds, and the lightning came flashing eastward, vibrating over 2400 miles, between the junction of the two roads and Washington, and the blows of the hammer upon the spike were delivered instantly, in telegraphing accounts, on the bell here. At thirteen mjnutes to three p.m, Promontory Point gave the signal, ‘ Done!’ The announcement that the continent was spanned with iron!”

Anyone who has seen Osborne House, supposing he has an eye for the beautiful, must, be charmed with it. Before you there are the woods and the Cast’e of Osborne; behind Cowes, its port, its little hills, and its smiling houses; to the left the sea, furrowed with steamboats and sailing vessels ; to the right the landscapes of the island in all the variety of their vegetation. Thus it is in autumn —pastur age, corn-fields, woods, orchards, flower-beds, and happylooking cottages. And even now, so highly is the Isle of Wight favored by the balmy breezes, it must be a pleasant resort. Osborne House—or the Castle, as it is familiarly called—is of modern construction. It has two towers of unequal height—the signal tower and the clock tower. Two magnificent terraces decorate the Palace, ornamented with fountains falling into basins of marble and bronze, while masses of rare flowers, when they can possibly t e had, are grouped near the balustrades, and round the statues. Some of these statues are after the antique; others are the work of contemporary artists, English, French, and Italian ; and conspicuous among them are busts by Marochetti, the favored sculptor of Royalty and the aristocracy. Osborne House is a splendid palace, convenient as it is beauttful. The large reception rooms occupy the ground-floor and open on to the terraces ; while the upper floors are reserved for private apartments ; and all the most refined luxury, all the elegances and comforts which can be devised embellish the apartments of the Queen. The New Color Test fob Blood.— We announced some time ago that an important test for blood had been discovered in Australia, consisting of the application of the tincture of guaiacuin and ozonised ether, which produces a beautiful blue tint with blood or blood-stains. The test is excessively delicate ; and we happened to be present at a lecture given by Mr Bloxham, in which he showed some experiments with it, and added that, in the case of a blood stain twenty years old, he had extracted a single linen fibre with an almost inappreciable amount of stain on it. The characteristic blue colour was immediately induced by the test, and readily detected by microscopical examination. The testimony of so able a chemist leaves no douLt to the value of the discovery. Ozonised ether, we may remark, is merely a solution of peroxide of hydrogen in ether.— Lancet.