Contributor.

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 40, 30 December 1893, Page 10

Contributor.

,IMPRESSIONS OP AMERICA. A WONDERFUL STRUCTURE RAILWAY NOTES.

(By W. H. Mathieson.)

, When in New York I devoted an afternoon to seeing some of the sights of the city, one of the clerks in my agents’ office going with me. We took the tramcar across Brooklyn Bridge. Looked at from the harbour, as I first saw it, it appears so delicate that one would think a breath of wind would destroy it, hut when I got on the structure I went up to one 'of the wires and found that my arms, when extended to their utmost width, just reached round one of them. The fare across is 2M (5 cents) or> as it is called in the States, a nickle. This is the lowest charge for anything, and it answers to our penny. From the Bridge I had a magnificent view of the city, harbour, and shipping. It is a peculiar sensation to be able to look at a large steamer passing right under you, and to be able to see right down into her funnel. The Bridge is 136 feet above the water line, so that there is plenty of room and to spare. The span is 1562 ft, and the bridge is hung on four great steel cables 16 inches in diameter. They carry a weight of 8120 tons, and the stress or lengthwise pull on the cables due to the load is 117,000 tons. The most wonderful part of this work was the building of great blocks of masonry up from beneath the bed, and through the rushing tides of a deep arm of the ocean. The masonry goes down 80ft. to the solid rock. This was a more wonderful achievement than the building of the pyramids, for with the sea beating against the bases of the blocks it must have been very difficult to get them perfectly plumb so as to bear the tremendous strain of the cables. It is one of the wonders of the world, and I was glad to be privileged to see it. I think the Americans, more than any other people, are fond of display. Although they pretend they do not care for titles, many of the rich men like their daughters married to English noblemen, and as for their love of doing things in style, I had several instances. While standing on the bridge I saw three splendid yachts passing under it. One of them had her saloon covered with brass sheeting, which looked in the sunlight like burnished gold. It was told it was a private yacht, and had cost its owner £50,000, and that it would take at least £IO,OOO a year to keep this expensive luxury going. The owner uses it for going to and from his private residence in the bay, and is not singular in this respect. I was very much taken with the electric tramways. You pay a uniform rate, and can go five hundred yards or nine miles for a nickle. They are fairly fast, but not so rapid as the elevated railways. They have got railway travelling, or rather stopping down to a fine point. The guards on the elevated line stand at the end of the carriage. The train comes full speed up to the station. The Westinghouse breaks go on, and it stops instantly. Those who wish to get out make for the door. The moment the train stops the guard puts his hand on two levers and the doors open. The people press out. Those who wish to join the train pass in, and before the latter are seated the train is off again, only a few seconds having been taken. There ,is no worry, no bustle. A little of the ssme thing on our lines would enable the guards to keep time. When we were coming up the harbour to New York we met four large steamers crowded with passengers on their way to Britain and the Continent, while ours was only half frill, although the World’s Fair was then in full blast. The fact is that, outside of America, it has fallen fiat, and not half the people who were expected to visit it have done so. The financial

panic that overtook Australia, coupled with the monetary troubles in America, has had something to do with this, but the combination among the railway companies to keep up the fares has told greatly against the success of the exhibition so far as the number of visitors is concerned. This action naturally incensed the pub! ’• and although the companies started an excursion train the last week of my stay in New York, it was then too late to counteract the had impression already made. Thanks to their own greed the companies have lost a golden opportunity. Referring to this subject, The Hub, the leading carriage journal, says : —■ “ There is a widespread feeling of discontent and disappointment over the fact that the railroad fares to Chicago and home again are not reduced. The best that has been done from New York, and we know of no better arrangement from other places, is to furnish a slightly reduced fare to those who are willing’ to take a slow train, and unless some other arrangements are made the masses who would see the Fair must stay at home. With trains as full as they would be if a low rate were made the companies could aiford to transport passengers at one cent a mile, and even less for a long’ distance. As it now is, two cents is the very lowest excursion rate —a rate no lower than the regular fare per mile from New York to Boston or New York to Buffalo. It may he that lower rates will he made later in the season, but we think exhibitor’s, and particularly the managers of the Fair, should take some action in regard to this matter. It will be unfortunate if no better rates can be made than those now ruling - unfortunate unlike to exhibitors and would-be visitors, and particularly unfortunate to the managers of the great exhibition, who have done so much to provide a feast, and then find that their guests cannot come.”