Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S., Past President of the Institute of Civil Engineers / Comprising the history of his professional life, together with reminiscences dating from the commencement of the century to the present time.

by Sir John Rennie

To return to my subject. As time went on, the money market got in such a bad state—no end of failures—that nothing could be done with the Swedish railway, and I began to think all my money and labour would be thrown away. The period for which Count Rosen’s concession was granted had elapsed, and it was very doubtful whether it would be renewed at all, but it certainly would not in any case be to the extent of the original concession, which comprised the whole kingdom.

Fortunately, however, in 1852, confidence in the money market had been restored, and we received a renewal of the concession for so much of the line as extended between the Lakes Malari and Werner, with a branch to the iron mines of Nora from Orebro, which was as valuable as any part of the line; and the Government gave a guarantee of 4 per cent, on the amount of capital required, namely, 420,000l., with power to raise 167,000l. more. The line was very easy, and Mr. Burge, the contractor, agreed to complete it for that sum. A company was accordingly formed, the capital was immediately subscribed, and the shares went to a premium. I went over to Sweden again; appointed Mr. Watson resident engineer, and the works began and proceeded very well for one year; unfortunately the chairman and leading man on the committee was the notorious John Sadlier, M.P., who afterwards made away with himself near Jack Straw’s tavern, Hampstead Heath, when the whole of his proceedings were made public; and, amongst others, his mismanagement of the Swedish railway. What became of the money I never could make out, for I never could account for above 60,000l. as having been expended on the works and land combined; but it is certain that accounts far beyond that were presented to me by the directors for my certificate, which they were obliged to get before they could be passed by the Government, though I never would give the certificate, because they kept everything back from me; and finding that matters were going on in such a discreditable manner, I felt that with any regard for my character I could no longer remain their engineer. I therefore resigned at once, and fortunate it was that I did so, for I afterwards was informed that they had not only spent the whole 420,000l., but also 167,000l. of debentures, and had issued 167,000l. more without authority; so that in round numbers they had expended about 700,000l., and had not completed 50 miles of single line, which required nothing more than surface formation, and one or two short lengths of embankment and cutting scarcely exceeding 20 feet high; for which 6000l. per mile complete was ample. In fact, there never was a good affair so completely mismanaged, not to use much stronger terms. The consequence was that after Sadlier’s death the whole came out, and everyone laid the blame upon him. The particulars I do not know, and thank God I got clear of it in good time, finding that it was impossible to remain with honour. I never would certify the accounts the directors presented to me, because I believed that at the least they were in error, if not something worse. All I did was to certify to the contractor, Mr. Burge (who, as I knew, behaved very honestly), to the extent, I think, of 25,000l. or 30,000l. Thus this fine concern went to the dogs from sheer mismanagement, to speak mildly, and the shares, which had stood at a premium, were worth nothing; whereas in the hands of any sensible, honest body of directors, the line ought to have been completed for the estimate, and would have paid well. The Swedish Government could not with justice pay any guarantee when no part of the line had been completed and no satisfactory accounts rendered; and I have reason to believe that they were so disgusted with the way in which this railway had been mismanaged by the Board that they would have nothing further to do with English or any other companies, but determined to make all the rest of the lines themselves—which I understand they have done—and that the cost did not exceed my estimate of 5000l. to 6000l. per mile, including stations and rolling stock.

I had previously examined several other parts of Sweden, and in November, 1850, I had gone there, undertaking to deliver on my way a confidential letter from Count Reventlow, the Danish Ambassador in London, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs at Copenhagen. We went by Hamburg and Kiel, for at this time war was again expected to break out between Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark, and both parties were watching one another with the greatest anxiety.

Schleswig-Holstein is not a rich country by any means, although there are apparently some substantial farmers. The country is generally flat, with here and there some gentle eminences, with patches of fir trees; but there are some extensive mosses which might be reclaimed and converted into valuable land if properly drained. These mosses in many cases rest upon a bed of marl, which upon being dug up and mixed with the peat forms most valuable manure. We saw many examples of this in the fens of Lincolnshire, and in the north of Denmark. I have been informed upon credible authority that there are vast tracts of moss lands lying upon marl, and small lakes which might easily be drained and become most fertile; and it is to be hoped that the Danish Government will find the means of reclaiming them, as they will well repay the expense. Rendsburg, through which we passed, is a little town, well fortified, and may be made much stronger. Kiel, situated upon a splendid bay in the Baltic, is the university of Holstein, and a very neat little thriving town, with prettily wooded environs. From here we proceeded to Schleswig, the capital of the province, its inhabitants being partly Germans and partly Danes; in the northern part of Schleswig the inhabitants are wholly Danes. The town of Schleswig is about 12 miles from the Baltic; it is well built, surrounded with a very pretty fertile country, well cultivated, and diversified with wood. There is a good deal of agricultural traffic with the surrounding country, and the place appeared very thriving and prosperous. We arrived there about six o’clock in the evening, about two hours after dark, and it began to feel very cold. We got to a very comfortable inn, and were dining, or rather had finished our dinner, when the waiter entered with a quiet, mysterious air, and said, or rather whispered, that a gentleman wished to speak to me. Knowing no one in the place, I could not conceive what he meant; he, however, repeated the whisper in my ear in the same mysterious manner. When I told him to show the stranger in, there was no person in the room but my friend, Mr. William Sim, afterwards the solicitor to the Swedish Railway Company, who had accompanied me. Immediately after the waiter’s departure the door opened, and in came a gentleman muffled up to the eyes in a blue military cloak. He cautiously shut the door, then uncovered his face, and looking stealthily round, and observing nobody but Sim and myself, advanced at once to the table, threw off his cloak, took off his cap, and saluted me as a naval officer. I motioned him to be seated, which he courteously declined, and addressing himself to me, said that he had been informed that I was the English gentleman who had brought despatches of importance from Count Reventlow to the Danish Government, and that he was a Danish naval officer, and had been sent by the commanding officer of Alsen to request that I would deliver up my despatches to him, as it was of the utmost consequence that they should be delivered to the Danish Government as soon as possible. I told him that I was perfectly unacquainted with him, and that I could not do so without a personal conference with the General commanding at Alsen, because these despatches had been confided to me by the Danish Minister in London, and as a point of honour I could not deliver them to any but an accredited officer of the Government. He then said that if I would be at Dussel, opposite to Alsen, the following morning, at eight o’clock, the General would have a boat ready to take me over to the island, and would have a war steamer in readiness to take me to Kosoa, where I could readily get to Copenhagen. I accordingly agreed to be at Dussel the following morning at eight o’clock. The officer, who was a perfect gentleman, then muffled himself up in his cloak, and requesting that we should say nothing about his arrival, quietly left the room. Sim and myself ordered a carriage with four horses to be ready the following morning at six o’clock, paid our bill, and went to bed. During the night there had been a very heavy fall of snow, and when we started there was some difficulty in moving forward. We were therefore obliged to take extra horses, and passing by the now celebrated heights of Dussel, reached the shore opposite the island of Alsen precisely at the time appointed, where we found a boat with four oars ready to take us across the Sound (which was about half a mile wide); here we were received by the General in full uniform. I then delivered him the despatches, for which he felt very much obliged, and we went on board a small war steamer, which got under way immediately, and landed us at Kosoa, not far from Copenhagen, where we slept. Next day we examined the cathedral at Roskeld, and reached Copenhagen in the evening.

When I first visited Sweden, a vast quantity of brandy distilled from potatoes was consumed; so much so, that the country was, to a certain extent, demoralized, and drunkenness was very common; and the farther north you went, the worse it was. The Government therefore determined to take every means in its power to suppress it. Heavy duties were imposed on potato brandy; and since that time, I am glad to hear that drunkenness has considerably abated. The Swedes are an excellent, open-hearted, gallant, and generous people, and most amiable and hospitable. I was treated with the greatest kindness by them, for which I shall always feel grateful. Christmas is a general holiday throughout the country for a month, commencing with Christmas Eve. During that time, scarcely any business is done. There is nothing but visiting and social parties from morning to night; and it requires a strong stomach and head to go through that festive ordeal without feeling the worse for it. When once entered the house, you cannot refuse to accept their kind and profuse hospitality. As a specimen, whenever a marriage takes place, the bride not only appears before her friends, but the house is thrown open to the public, and everybody is at liberty to enter and pay his respects to the bride and bridegroom, who receive all comers in full-dress bridal costume; and refreshments of all kinds are in great profusion. When I was there a marriage took place between two noble families, to which I was invited. The bride and bridegroom were both young, and bride very handsome and splendidly dressed. I was most kindly received and entertained, and did not get home until very late in the morning. I found that I had taken as much as I could decently carry, and if I had not escaped at the time I did, I must have remained all the next day, as many of the bridegroom’s friends did.

In Sweden I made acquaintance, amongst many others, with our excellent Consul, Major Pringle, who during the last American war had the command of Washington for twenty-four hours. I was frequently a guest at his house, and I owe many thanks to him and his amiable wife and family for their great kindness and hospitality. Another excellent fellow was Mr., or Colonel, Elsworthy (as he called himself), the American Consul. He was a bachelor, and kept open house, and he was so exceedingly hospitable, and pressed his guests so strongly, that it was with the greatest difficulty you could escape sober enough to reach your quarters with safety.

The woods of Sweden were being fast cleared away, both to furnish fuel for the iron manufactory, in which a great quantity was consumed, and also that the land might be used for agriculture, so that this source of fuel for iron making is rapidly disappearing. In addition to these causes may be mentioned the great export of timber to every part of Europe for building and other purposes. It is true that large forests of fine timber still exist farther north, and also in Norway, but then the expense of transport to the iron districts will be very heavy; yet as Swedish iron is so very valuable, on account of its magnetic properties, for making steel, a large quantity must always be required for the southern markets of Europe, and with the greater cost of fuel the price of Swedish iron must increase.

The Bessemer process has considerably reduced the expense of producing good iron in England, and also for converting it into steel, still the Swedish iron is so much better that there will always be a certain demand for it.

It becomes a question, then, whether it would not be worth while to export the Swedish ore to England, where there is plenty of fuel, and where it could be converted into the best iron at the least expense. Would it not be cheaper to do this, than to manufacture the iron in Sweden, where fuel is so much dearer? and as the Swedish iron ore is very rich compared with ours, except the haematite, the extra freight would soon be recouped. I think it is by no means improbable that it will come to this at last.