LITERARY NOTICES.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 35, 10 March 1863, Page 3

LITERARY NOTICES.

(From Smith, Elder and Co.'s Monthly Circular,) Boadsand Bails, and their Sequences, Physical and Moral. By W. Bridges Adams, Egineer, Post Svo, pp. 872. 10s. 6. With respect to our " Roads and Rails," is it necessary to repeat the oft-told tale how railways have advanced the civilization of every country in which they have been introduced, and how in England, more particularly they have changed, not the aspect only, but the very habits of society ? Who has not heard tho old story of the twelve or fourteen days' journey from Edinburgh to London: of the will that had to be made before starting on the perilous adventure ; of goods in still earlier times laden on pack-horses ; and of the want of roads botween many important towns on which even a pack-horse might travel P All this, and much more of the same kind, is so well known that it is p'most idleness to allude to it. When we hnve said that our iron roads have created new conditions of society, we have said all that is necessary on that side of the question. But to this, as to cvory other question, there is another side, on which it happens that very little has been said. If it be true that our railroads and locomotives have created new conditions of society, it is no less- undeniable that new conditions of society have, e converse, 'created those same railroads. Except vast strides had been taken in civilization, and the practical sciences had been inspired with a new and vigorous life, a railway or a locomotive would bave remained simply impossible. It is only of late that the properties of steam have been thoroughly understood, or thafc the method ot raising a large quantity in a little space has been devised. Little more than fifty years ago there were but few manufacturers able to bore a cylinder perfectly true and smooth ; and it, is only very recently indeed, that the application of t';e turning lathe and the planeing machine to the working of iron rendered it an easy matter to construct a well put together and cheap engine. But, even had the engine been invented and secured, it could not have been advantageously used unless placed upon a railway. Railways, howover, can scarcely be constructed witliout the employment of iron in large quantities- Iron was not manufactured to any great extent in any part of the world until little more than half a century ago. To manufacture or r" luce irou from its ore, a large quantity of fuel is necessary. Until 17*10, the fuel was always charcoal, and the proceeds of all the timber in England would not have smelted iron enough to supply lialf a dozen great railways. It was then discovered that coal might be used instead of charcoal, and owing to "this discovery iron has come into very general use. Yet the advance of the arts only rendered a locomotive nnd railroad possible, and would never have initiated such a convenience. Changes of this magnitude first take place in society which demfds new arrangements. To take another exam p'e. Scholars had read and studied in all ages, but t cir narrow requirements did not suggest the nc.vl of the printing press. So with the means of travelling. Kings might toil slowly along in h-in-hering a'.r.te coaches, or be carried in palanquins ; the fAhionnbles of Cheltenham and Bath might 101l contcntdly in the Bath chair; but the commercial spirit, • s* it diffused itself among the multitude, demanded the swift four-horse coach, and, in a short time, somctl'ng swifter than that. The million were resolval to travel, and something better than commercial men or princes^ had ever dreamed of was invoked to their aid. Nothing was swift enough, perfect enough, or, one may say, stupendous enough for the common people, until the railroad and the locomotive were forced into existence. The gradual rise in men's minds of the idea of speed is curious to remark. At tho commencement of the railway era, the projectors of the line between Liverpool "and Manchester offered a premium for tlie best engine ; anrl what docs the reader suppose were the conditions presented? Whv. that it should be able to draw three times its o"wn weight at the rate of ten miles nn hour! Encouraged hy the success ach' ved in this instance, the London and Birmingham Company soon afterwards ventured a little farther, and timidly demanded an engine that would perform eighteen n Hes an hour -.vithout bursting. Then twenty, twentv two and a half, and twenty six miles, were s -eressivelv demanded. The pulse heat quicker, and people was getting bolder ; the travelling population were bestirring itself and increasing its demands. Better and better, quicker and quicker, wr.s the crv ; for now a whole people were becomingtravcllcrs". Years have passed hy.and speed safety have been greatly irlcreasd ; yet we are lar from satisfied. This is 'the general fce ' ,g. and it can hardly be deemed unreasonable, when we iind Mr Adams, a practical engineer, declaring his conviction thnt, "the railway in its perfection^ com' plete in all its parts, hns "yet to be invented." Before this can be done we must resolve to separate passenger lines from goods lines, in whieh ease the fornKr could be conveyed at " a Higher rate of speed ; and the latter moving with diminished velocitv, would be infinitely less destructive to flic permanent way than at present." The question is, would it pay ? Mr Adams replies — "That must depend upon the wealth or commercial importance of the district. If the expenditure in law were light, and the land could be hired at a rental of its agricultural value for a lease of 909 vears. lines of double way might be constructed for fast light trains at the rate of £10,(100 to £15.000 per mile, including locomotives and rolling stock of the best quality. The convenience of humanity would be studied as the datum line for the construction of (lie carriages; thoy would be lofty enough to perm ft, standing upright ; they would be ten feet in width, with a central passe; -c way to permit the guard to pass from one en 1 of the' train to the other, thus getting rid of the great difficulty of want of communication between guard and driver. On cither side the passage would be inclosed cabins or apartments for lour persons each, for passengers wishing to he private, and open saloons would he provided for the gregariously disposed. The seut of each pnsscngcr should be arranged to fold np against the partition, SO that each passenger might sit or stand at pleasure, nn important consideration to ensure free circulation of the blood, Arrangements would be made to provide tea and coffee, and similar refreshments while travelling, and also for efficient warming, ventilation, and lighting, and by fitting construction easy movement witliout vibration or oscillation would enable the traveller to read or write at pleasure. In this mode a constant speed of from fiftv to sixty miles per hour could be maintained without the necessity of the traveller alighting, or injuring his health hy vibration of thc*brain or nerves or of the digestive organs, or by swallowing food in too great a hui-Jy or at too distant intervals of time." It may he thought that something like this may bo reserved for the Millennium, but Mr Adams is a daring speculator and a practical engineer at the same time.