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is thereby afforded to the greatest number, and to attain this, the particular inconveniences of the few must be disregarded. If public health or convenience should dictate the expediency of making a canal for boats in the centre of a public street, (as was at one time the project for Canal street,} surely the inconvenience which a portion of the inhabitants might suffer from being deprived of the power of crossing at any part of the street, and travelling over the centre of it with carriages, could not prevail against the advantages to the whole as a community from such a measure.

It all results, then, in this-If the advantages to be derived by the community from the use of a railroad in any street of the city, should preponderate over any public disadvantages with which such use might be attended, it is the duty of the common council to give their consent to such use; if otherwise, to withhold it. The matter does not involve a question of right on the part of the common council, but presents one for their judgment and sound discretion.

Jan. 6, 1840.

R. EMMET.

The following extracts from the 2nd report of the British commission ou a general system of railways in Ireland, "on the influences of railroads in developing the resources of a country," are so true, yet so little understood by the multitude, that we give them a place in the Journal, with the hope that they may find their way into some of the daily papers of this city, and thus reach those who ought to understand the subject better than they now appear to.

ON THE INFLUENCE OF RAILWAYS IN DEVELOPING THE RESOURCES OF A COUNTRY.

Experience testifies that increased facilities of intercourse between distant places, and more especially between sea-ports, and the interior of a country, are among the most effective means of extending civilization, with its attendant lights and benefits. Together with the opportunities of communication, a desire to take advantage of them is diffused, and this readiness will be more decided, and the important results to be expected will follow more promptly, in proportion as the means thus presented shall combine security with convenience, and despatch with both.

The proofs and instances which sustain this assertion are not confined to the case of any one country or district; although they are more observable in communities where the resources of wealth and commerce, already possessed by the inhabitants, enable them to turn every advantage, as it arises, to immediate account. In England, wherever new channels of communication have been opened -either between different parts of the interior, or the interior and the coast, or between different sea-ports one with another, or with other countries-these opportunities have invariably been embraced without delay; and the changes so produced have been, on that account, the more striking. In less favored countries, the ability to profit by the occasion does not always exist, but must be acquired by degrees; consequently, improvement also will be gradual, and its first manifestations the more tardy.

The degree to which intercourse is not merely promoted but actually

created by the facility of accomplishing it, could be scarcely credited, but for the numerous and authentic examples which establish the fact. The omnibus traffic, of modern introduction, between different parts of London and its principal suburbs, is a familiar instance which immediatedsuggests itself. There is a constant succession of those conveyances, to and fro, through all the leading avenues and streets of the metropolis, and their number is increasing daily: yet, in addition to these frequent means of transfer from east to west, small steamers are continually plying between Westminster bridge, Hungerford market, Dyer's wharf, and the Surrey side of London bridge; by which many thousand persons are withdrawn every day from the omnibus traffic; while below London bridge the number of passengers, by steam vessels, down the Thames--also an introduction of recent date-amounts to several millions in the year.

We learn that each of the two Greenwich steam packet companies carried, last year, about 400,000 passengers; that the Woolwich old company, calling at Greenwich, carried more than 100,000 Greenwich passengers, besides 192,000 to Woolwich; and the New Woolwich company carried nearly 100,000 passengers between Woolwich, Blackwall and London bridge. To these are to be added the many thousands who pass those places to Gravesend, Margate, Ramsgate, Southend, Dover, Herne bay, &c., &c.f; and, above all, the multitudes, greatly excedingly one million, who, during the last year, passed by the railway to Greenwich, while the public conveyance on the high road scarcely appeared diminished in number or in the frequency of their journeys.*

These may possibly be regarded as peculiar cases, incidental to the immense population of the great metropolis; but similar results are found to occur, in a proportionate degree, in places quite beyond the circle of that influence.

A writer on statistics (G. R. Porter, Esq.) relates, that two generations back "there were no means of reaching London from Horsham, in Sussex, but on foot, or on horseback-the latter not practicable in all seasons.— Horsham is 36 miles from London-and the journey between the two places now occupies less than four hours. More than thirty coaches pass through it daily, to and from the metropolis, in addition to private carriages, post chaises, &c. The traffic of goods, chiefly coal and agricultural produce, carried on in the district of which Horsham is the ceutre, exceeds 40,000 tons in a year; besides which, the road is constantly covered with droves of cattle, and flocks of sheep."

This result has been obtained by a rise of only the first degree in the scale of improvement, namely, and excellent road, without even a canal. It is the effect of improved communications on a country of rich soil, and bears analogy to what has taken place in many parts of Ireland.

By referring to our notes, A and B, it will be seen, that on the Stackton and Darlington Line the passenger traffic, prior to the establishment of the railway, amounted only to 4,000 persons in the year; it now exceeds 16,000. On the Bolton Line the average weekly number of passengers is 2,500, whereas the number of coach journeys out and in per week, which the railway has superseded, amounted only to 28, carrying, perhaps, on a weekly ave.age, about 280 or 300 persons.

We believe it to be a fact, that thirty years back, the only public mode of conveyance between Woolwich and London was by coach; and two coaches, each leaving and returning twice in the day, were then deemed sufficient for the whole passenger traffic of that place. There are now omnibuses leaving twenty-four times, and returning as often, in the day; and a still greater number of vans and single horse coaches, running, as they fill, to Greenwich only whence most of the passengers proceed by railway, steam boat or omnibus, to London.

On the Newcastle and Carlisle road, prior to the railway, the whole number of persons the public coaches were licensed to carry in a week, was 343, or, both ways 686; now the average daily number of passengers by railway, for the whole length, viz., 47 miles, is 228, or 1,596 in n the week.

The number of passengers on the Dundee and Newtyle Line exceeds, at this time, 50,000 annually; the estimated number of persons who performed the same journey, previous to the opening of the railway, having been 4,000.

Previons to the opening of the railway between Liverpool and Manchester, there were about 400 passengers per day, or 146,000 a year, travelling between those places by coaches; whereas the present number, by railway alone, exceeds 500,000.

In foreign countries the results arising from the same cause are equally if not more striking. The number of persons who usually passed by the road between Brussels and Antwerp was 75,000 in the year; but since the railroad has been opened from the former place to Malines, it has incressed to 500,000; and since it was carried all through to Antwerp, the number has exceeded a million. The opening of a branch from Malines to Termonde, appears to have added 200,000 to the latter number; so that the passenger traffic of that railroad, superseded a road traffic of only 75,000 persons, now amounts to 1,200,000.

It is remarkable, that on this, as on most other railroads, the greatest number of passengers are those who travel short distances, being as two to one compared with those who go the whole distance. This appears from a statement read by Mr. Loch, before the Statistical Society of Manchester, showing that between April 30th and August 15th, 1836, 122,417 persons travelled the whole distance, and 244,834 short distances; chiefly to and from Malines. He further states, that "nearly one-third of the whole revenue of the railway is derived from travelling to and from Malines, and paying a fare of about 60 centimes or nearly sixpence sterling." On the same authority we learn another fact, most deserving of attention in calculating the probable success of a railway in such a country as Ireland, viz : --that nearly three-fifths of the whole revenue of the company are derived from passengers of the lower class, paying a very low fare.

The following list of railroads in the State of New York, now in successful operation, is extracted from the Governor's Message. From this list it will be perceived that there is but one line of railroad in the State exceeding 47 miles in length, to wit-the line from Albany to Auburn, which line in truth consists of four distinct companies-making together 170 miles of continuous rail-track, and which in our view of the subject completely refutes the generally entertained opinion that "railroads ought not to be extended into, or through cities." It is well known to the thousands who have travelled from Albany westward to Utica, Syracuse and Auburn, that rails are laid through, or across, the principal streets in most of these populous places; and that even locomotive engines are used upon them without injury, or as far as we are informed, serious inconvenience to the citizens or country people who assemble there on business, in great numbers, at particular seasons of the year —

The railroads consist of "a continuous line of railroad from Albany to

Auburn, 170 miles; a similar line from Lockport to Lewistown and Baf falo, 47 miles; a railroad from Rochester to Batavia, 35 miles; a railroad from Schenectady to Saratoga Springs, 21 miles; a railroad from Troy to Ballston Spa., 25 miles; a railroad from New York to Harlem, 8 miles; a railroad from Brooklyn to Hicksville, on Long Island, 27 miles; a railroad from the termination of the west branch of the Chemung canal to the Tioga railroad in Pennsylvania, 14 miles; a railroad crossing the ridge between the Susquehanna at Owego and the Cayuga lake at Ithaca, 29 miles; and a railroad from the line of Massachusetts at West Stockbridge, to the city of Hudson, 30 miles. These roads have all been constructed and are managed by companies.

NEW MODE OF PRODUCING COPIES OF MEDALS AND METALIC ORNL

MENTS.

A curious, and we conceive, extremely valuable discovery has been lately made by a gentleman named Spencer, of Liverpool, by which he appears to be enabled to obtain fac-simile copies in coper, of medals and other subjects in relief, by means of voltaic electricity. We have perused a paper read before the Liverpool Polytechnic Society, in which a variety of experiments are detailed relative to this discovery, some of which appear to have been highly satisfactory; whilst others not so successful have yet developed facts which may be eminently useful in directing the adaptation of this discovery to various departments of the arts.

Without following Mr. Spencer through the several experiments which he has detailed to the Society, we may state generally certain results at which he has arrived, and the means by which he has obtained them.

It appears that from a long investigation of the phenomena of electrochemical science, Mr. Spencer perceived that voltaic electricity afforded the means of conducting copper from a solution of sulphate of copper in the voltaic battery, and depositing it in mass in its metallic state upon other metallic surfaces, placed within the range of the electric action. der this process useful, it is necessary to bring the operation completely under command, in order that the metal deposited may be made to arrange itself in such forms as shall be conducive to the productions of work s of

art.

To ren

In order to effect this, attempts were made by depositing the copper, through the voltaic agency, in raised lines or ridges upon the surfaces of metal plates, which might be capable by their relief, of being employed for surface printing (as stereotype plates.) This was partially accomplished, but the most successful attempts appear to have been the production of facsimile copies of medals.

The means adopted in this case, were two discs of sheet lead, and having the medal placed between them, were submitted to pressure, either in a stamping or rolling press, which caused the lead to take the counter impressions of the two faces of the medal, each as a matrix. In these leaden moulds, when so prepared, copper wires from the voltaic battery were inserted, and the two faces, or hollow matrixes, being then put together, and the galvanic process carried on, the copper became deposited in a few days in the mould, and ultimately filled the mould, producing eventually a mass of deposited metal in the identical shape and exact fac-simile of the original medal.

If the moulds were separately employed, of course the two faces of the medal would be obtained separately, and might after a thin coating or shell

Tarnbridges on the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire canal. 51

had been deposited in each, be backed or filled up by some easily fusible

metal.

When copies are to be taken from bronze or other figures, it is proposed to take casts in plaster, and to coat the internal surfaces of these casts with leaf gold. Or metallic foils may be pressed on to the external surfare of the figure, and its shape so taken,-which moulds being submitted to the voltaic process, as above stated, the copper will be deposited in the exact form of the original.

It will be perceived that we have not attempted to go into any minute details of the manner of conducting this curious operation, or of explaining its extensive adaptations; we have not yet seen any of its productions, but we hope to be enabled shortly to lay before our readers further particulars of the discovery, and of its useful appropriation to many of the purposes of art to which we conceive it will be found applicable, and form a new and valuable feature in practical science.

As it may be more satisfactory to give the author's own words as to his process, we quote a portion of his paper in which he says, "In September, 1837, I was induced to try some experiments in electro-chemistry, with a single pair of plates, consisting of a small piece of zinc and an equal sized piece of copper, connected together with a wire of the latter metal. It was intended that the action should be slow; the fluids in which the metalic electrodes were immersed, were in consequence separated by a thick disc plaster of Paris. In one of the cells was sulphate of copper in solution, in the other a weak solution of common salt. I need scarcely add, that the copper electrode was placed in the cupreous solution- I was desirous that no action should take place on the wire by which the electrodes were held, together, and to attain this object I varnished it with sealing wax varnishg but in so doing I dropped a portion of the varnish on the copper that wa attached."

"The operation was conducted in a glass vessel; I had, consequently, an opportunity of occasionally examining its progress, when after a lapse of a few days, metallic crystals had covered the copper electrode;— with the exception of that portion which had been spotted with varnish, I at once saw that I had it in my power to guide the metallic deposition in any shape or form I chose, by a corresponding application of varnish or other non-metallic substance."

"I had been long aware (of what every one who uses a sustaining galvanic battery with sulphate of copper in solution must know) that the copper plates acquire a coating of copper from the action of the vallens, but I had never before thought of applying it to a useful purpose."

Then follows the details of experiments, the results of some of which we have stated above, and hope to return to this subject with further particulars of the process and its achievements, on a future occasion.-Repertory of Arts, Sciences and Manufactures.

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A DESCRIPTION OF THE TURNBRIDGES ON THE HEREFORDSHIRE AND

GLOUCESTERSHIRE CANAL."-By Stephen Ballard, A. Inst. C. E. In taking to pieces the old turnbridges on the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire canal, the author observed that the spikes used to fix the planks down to the carriers had caused the decay of the timber; that the balance weights of stone confined in a box under the planks kept the timber very moist; that the timbers near the ground where there was not a free circulation of air, and the wood wherever it was pierced with iron, were decayed.

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