AMERICAN RAILWAYS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 110, 11 May 1871, Page 2

AMERICAN RAILWAYS.

The following letter ou the subject of railways in America addressed by the Hon. Mr. Yogel to the Colonial Secretary and by him forwarded to his Honor the Superintendent, was laid on the Council table lasfc%i)ight. 'New York, March 7, 1871. Sir— l have the honor to submit to you a few observations respecting American railways, and to make a few suggestions which may be useful in New Zealahd.\* Of course, I do not pretend that the suggestions have the value of those com.ii.ig from an expert, or that they are anything more than might occur to any person travelling through the American continent, and who bore in mind that we are proposing to initiate, in New Zealand .tlyj construction of a thorough system of railways. There is a remarkable contrast' between the estimation in which railways are held in this country, and tbat in which they are' held in New Zealand; or, as far as I am aware, in the Australian, colonies, or in Great Briiain. Just as we in New Zealand should th'mk of constructing a road and mKailingJt; completely, $i< metalling .bin a ;! portion of , the centre^ or ; evep being content with, surface- formation! at firati accoi'.dingi.to.lthe probable extent of

the traffic, so, in America, is the freest discretion used ;in the construction of railways, ;which work is thought no more of than, ; if so much ns, is thought of ordinary road work in the colonies. Consequently, railways in every stage of I •'ompleteness nre to be seen here from the roughest and slightest style of construction, suited only for light traffic and low rates of speed, to strong and perfect lines suited for much heavy traffic and high rates of speed. „," , One of the most remarkable, and probably useful, consequences of the popularity of railways in this country ■ippears to me to be the absence of all necessity for carefully shutting them off 'mm the approach 'of aH other kinds of faffic. It seems to' be regarded as wholly unnecessary to fence or guard railway inns from the approach of human beings. Tlie sole object, of fencing seems to be to keep off animals. Thus through a great leal of country where animals might stray or wander upon the lines, some sort of •retention is provided, but wherever toad lines, highways, or street lines have td he cross d, it appears to be a matter of course that the lines shall pass without any attempt, being made to guard against accidents. In thinly peopled districts, and even in towns, one constantly sees hoards stuck up with the words "Look oui for the locomotive," but this even is not considered .necessary where railways pass through towns,. the ringing of a bell upon 'he engine being regarded as sufficient warning of the approach of each train. Through the most populous portions of <nme populous towns the trains pass constantly, and, as you glide by, you see men, women, aud children, horses and carts, and other vehicles waiting at each crossing until the street line shall be clear. Along some streets in Chicago, goods trains are drawn to-and-fro for the purpose of shunting or picking up particular waggons ; Mild although there is, consequently, often a delay of several minutes before the line cau be crossed, the pedestrians, and the drivers or riders who are stopped accept, the delay as a natural and proper one. One night, on waking and looking out of the window of n\y berth in a sleeping car. I was amazed to find that we were running through almost the centre of a large town — Pittsburgh, as I afterwards learned. In Baltimore, an exceedingly populous city, and where the traffic ia very great, and the streets are narrow, there is a distance of something like a rnile-and-a--half between the station which one reaches on the way from Washington, and that which is the station for booking on for New York ; but instead of the passengers leaving the cars, or a heavy expense bting incurred in constructing a viaduct or anything of the kind, rails are laid in the most direct line through the streets of the town, and long trams aie drawn from one station to the other by four or five horses attached to each carriage. When it is considered that the two lines thus separated are * amongst those vvliich have the largest traffic in the country, that many fast trains are run over them, and that it would be practicable to construct a complete connection, though the. cos' would be considerable, an idea of the "railway policy," as it may be called, of the United States can be gathered — that policy being to save heavy expenditure by' whatever seems to he the most convenient aud ready method of doing so, and of dealing with each case upon its merits, without thought of precedent or rule. Further instances of this are afforded by the facts that, out of New York, and out of Scjn Francisco, the railway systems have to he approached by means of ferry, boats. I am not able to suggest what would be the provable amount of the cost of overcoming the natural difficulties in the way of continuous railway transit iv either of these cases. Probably, in the case of New York, the cost .pf a bridge would he very great indeed. But this I am able to say, that the use of the ferry boats is produciive of no inconvenience. The arrangements in connection with the ferry are. such, as regards luggage, &c, that as little inconvenience is felt as if passengers at once entered the/ railway cars. I am not setting down these isolated facts without an object. .You must,, of course, accept them for what they 1 , are worth* and understand that the observations: are those of one merely passing through the country, without leisure to study the question, or special knowledge to enable him to do so thoroughly. But I think-that the observations will suggest this at least:—' Now that we are commencing the construction of railways' in' New Zealand, we should resolve to construct them upon' a basis not dissimilar ; to that adopted in this country, that is to say, we should lay dowm/as rules— (}).< Jhafc: railway hoes shall be constructed, on precisely that scale whidh is suitea* to meet the probable present trafnVdemands of 3 'tfa'd ; -parts of the

country in which the lineß are to be constructed; and (2). That the people of the colony will ;be sufficiently intelligent to protect themselves against accidents without continuous fencing of the lines, or the necessity for costly crossiugs where the street lines or roads are intersected. If I recollect rightly, on the Otago Southern Trunk Railway from Dunedin to the Clutha there is inteuded to be even yet some heavy expenditure for the sake of avoiding level crossings, and that, where such crossings are contemplated, it is proposed to go to the expense of constructing gates, aud paying gatekeepers. This appears to me to be an imitation of the English system, without the excuse for it which is afforded by difficulties existing in England. For example, io passing a bill through Parliament, enormous expense has generally to be incurred, and concessions in the direction of what is supposed to be for the protection of the public are readily granted rather than that there should be discussion. In fact, costly road crossings are constantly adopted for fear that some individuals might raise more costly objections that the lines proposed would be hindrances to traffic. Again, railways iv England are mostly constructed for rapid traffic, whereas in New Zealand, as in America, I anticipate that the average rate of speed will not very much, if at all, exceed twenty miles an hour, and that there the same care can he exercised in driving trains as is exercised here ; constantly, where curves are sharp, or roads or streets have to be crossed, there are small boards stuck up with figures indicating the speed at which the trains are to pass. If it be decided,, as I think it should be, that people in New Zealand are to be familiarised with railways, aud that they are quite as capable as any other people of protecting themselves against accidents from passing trains, it seems to me that costly crossings may be avoided. We may also follow the example of America in having the most simple style of stations; and further, we may decide that where great difficulties exist in crossing any river, or approaching any town, for a time at least, until the traffic warrants the incurring of heavy expenditure, such expedients shall be resorted to as, while not entailing a large amount of inconvenience, will save a very considerable amount of expense. I am, &c, (Signed) Julius Yogel.

An Eruption op Vesuvius. — An account of the fresh eruption of Vesuvius is given in a letter to the Atheneeum from Naples, dated the 23rd January: — "The eruption," the writer says, "is of that intermittent character which indicates a continuance — sometimes ceasing altogether, and a few hours after blazing out again ; so that Professor Palmieri regards it as the beginning of the end of all those shocks which have long agitated Europe,and Italy especially. The shocks were sensibly felt in all the houses in the neighbourhood, which trembled with the vibrations. On the night of the 13th a current of lava flowed into the Atrio del Cavallo, whilst two other currents ran down, one towards the crater of 1855, the other towards that of 1868, this last current being about 10ft. wide. The new crater has already attained the height of about . 100 feet, on the top of which are three mouths* vomiting forth continually columns of stones. On the night of the 14th inst. its sides were full of fissures, the current which ran towards the crater of 1855 ceased to act, whilst the other current increased somewhat in its velocity. The grand cone became more active, and launched its columns of stones to a great height. On the two following days there was a diminution . of eruption, and the instruments in the Observatory were but slightly effected. • There were no signs in Resina, Torre del Greco, or Bosco Tre Case of a speedy invasion of the lava, and people remained tranquil, but the thunder from the grand crater continued at intervals, and was followed always by streams of lava. On the 18th inst. the instruments slightly increased in activity. The thunder and shocks were continual, and during the whole of the night a red light was plainly observable above the great crater,, being the reflection from the ■ lava contained within that mighty furnace." Electrical Phenomenon.— The telegraph operator at Santa F 6, New Mexico, writes, on February 2!3rd, to the Santa Fe Post, tbe following : — -A most singular electrical phenomenon took place on the telegraph line running into this city, yesterday., , On ; returning from dinner, I noticed an unusual strength' of electricity on the line. This continued to increase in; a wonderful manner, j; The main battery —that' is, the battery which generates the electricity. fori working the entire wire — was entirely disconnected from the line ; the operating key was ihen thrown open, which is exactly the same as breaking the

wire and leaving the two end 3 about the eighth of an inch apart. The line bad become so hetivily charged with electricity that the current passed between the two points, emitting a most beautiful and brilliant light, at times nearly as large as a candle blaze, but much more intense, accompanied with a hissing sound similar to escaping gas, and a strong sulphurous smell. I placed pieces of paper between the two points, but this did uot step the wonderful flow of electricity, which passed through the paper, burning little round holes 'as the paper was moved. This singular phenomenon^ lasted nearly two hours, when it gradually died away. The same circumstance took place in Las Vegas aud Fort Union. The same thing has been known to occur ou western wires before, but is very uncommon, and generally, if not always, during a high wind. T should judge the current was equal to a thousand cups of battery. We use, to work the wire, about thirty-five. A Moving Mountain. — The organ of the Zurich Society of Natural History publishes a curious account of travels of the\ glacier of Mount Rosa during the last sixly years. For fifty years it steadily aud surely approached the town of Zermatfj moving at the rate of three feet a week during the Spring months. Its way was through pastures and grain fields, over which it passed like a devouring pestilence. Its approach was heralded by great boulders which it kept constantly moving before it. Serious apprehensions were at one time entertained for the safety of the town, which lay directly in its track. But during the last ten years this ice monster has changed the direction of its movements, and thus the danger has been averted ; but the fields through which its track lay can never be again cultivated, on account of the many immense fragments of stone by which its course was thickly marked and which are deeply imbedded in the soil. Rochefort, in his new paper Le Mot jyOrdre says: "We are for our part obliged to acknowledge and declare : After three hundred thousand assassins have bathed France in blood and corrupted tbe atmosphere we breathe, we regard all Kings as beyond legitimate defence. The miserable Prim imposed on Spain a son of Savoy. He was punished by three stabs of a poiniard. This makes us rejoice. The day on which the same poiniard shall demand audience of Amadeo I. we shall rejoice still more. This word, so euphonious and grand — republique — which, some day or other, may be proscribed by the reaction, I believe it my duly to make the immutable base of our politics. This is why we have called our new journal Le Mot d'Ordre. But if I thought this title did not answer my purpose, I would uot scruple to entitle my journal Le Regicide ! " The writer of " Talk ou 'Change," in the Australasian, Ap|il 8, says — "They say on 'Change that Ministers are doing the right Ihing in examining the merits of the narrow guage railway system of Mr. Fairlie, as against the broader guage now in use in Victoria. It is worth noticing that, whilst evideuce is daily accumuiatiug in favor of «ie M Fairiie system, there is really no argument or evidence adduced on the other side. With the narrow guage the lines are uot only more cheaply constructed, but more cheaply worked. When the first Fairlie line, with its rationally light rolling stock, is built, we shall look on the cumbrous and uselessly heavy engines and carriages now in use., jwst as the owner of an Abbot's buggy now does on the ponderous and obsolete dog cart of twenty years ago. On Short Commons, — " My dear Madam, can you give me a glass of grog ? " asked a fatigued traveller in Arkansas, as he entered a cabin on the roadside. " I ain't got a drop, stranger," replied the womau. * 'But a gentleman told me you had a barrel." " Why, good gracious," replied the woman, " what do you reckon one barrel of whiskey is to me and my children, when we are out of milk ?" Striking Time. — As a gentleman was walking the streets of Washington the other night, he was accosted by three ruffians who pretended to be drunk, and asked him the time of night. " I will tell you," said he, in his blandest tones. Placing his hand in one of his pockets, as if to draw out his timepiece, and, drawing forth a revolver instead, he presented the latter, aud coolly remarked, "It is going to strike three ! " The ruffians vanished in an instant. The beet sugar prospers in California. That State has 400 acres in beet, and a factory costing 20,000 dollars. Matrimonial. — Aa regards matrimony the arguments pro and con are most frequently found to resolve themselves into pro-posal and con-sent. Shifting G-round. — " Mrs. Grimes, lend ,me ; your tub ?'[ " Can't do it— all the hoops are off — its fall of suds; besides. I never had one— l washes in a barrel."

The Singing Telegraph. — Mr. C. F. Varley, C.E., has just invented some telegraphic apparatus whereby two, three, or more messages can be sent on one line wire at the same time, and without interfering with each other. A remarkable feature iv the invention is that the instruments sing or hum their messages. The Morse alphabet is used; a long, loud hum is given for a dash, a quieter and shorter hum is given for a dot. When one of the intsruments is at work it sounds as if a big bee were teaching a little bee to exercise its voice, because as a general rule the loud and softer sounds are given alternately. The sounds are caused by the vibrations of a thick long wire, the instrument being something like a violin, five feet long, with one thick string.