The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-25 00:00:00

THE PANAMA RAILWAY.

The summary in the papers of yesterday of the com-
mercial intelligence brought by the Canada c,mfirined
previous accounts of the increasing business of this im-
portant line. So slight a notice, however, conveys but
a feeble idea of what is really being done at the Isthmus.
The third vessel of the line from New York to Aspinwall
will sail on Monday next, and all have gone full ; indeed
the freight business increases so fast that three vessels
monthly, instead of two, will soon he necessary. A
complete answer to the assertion of certain recent advo-
cates of the ship-canal scheme of Humboldt, that the
railway is not adapted for the transit of heavy goods, is
affordod by the fact that a full cargo of coal from Balti-
more, and one of sugar from Cuba, were lately sent over
the road. The Cub in vessel was loading at Aspinwall
with cocoa from Guayaquil, and a consignment of Peru-
vian bark was waiting for shipment to New York. A
cargo of ice had just arrived, and was to be sent over the
Isthmus to Panama The passengers by the Empire
City, on her last outward trip, were conveyed from
Aspinwall to Panama in four hours, with a train of
18 heavily loaded cars, dr'awn by a single locorm,tive,
a performance which may he considered somewhat re-
markable even for America. There were about eight
hundred passengers, with all their luggage, and
several packages of express goods ; and the road super-
intendent estimated the weight of the train at 100 tons.
These facts are sufficient to prove the capability. of the
railway to do an extensive freight business. No railway
in America, in tact, is better adapted for the transporta-
tion of merchandise. The New York and Albany Rail-
way has lower grades than any other line east of the
Allehenies, and its heavy locomotive cannot " make
time" with more than eleven passenger cars. An iron
bridge is being constructed for the Panama line at Liver-
pool, and two iron lighters at Birkenhead ; and it, as is
probable, a vessel should be charteied to convey them
direct to Aspinwall. an opportunity will be offered to
merchants sending goods to Calfornia and the south-
west coast to do so more advantageously than by the
Royal mail steamers, which now take out goods for
Aspinwall every trip. Indications of an increasing
freight business are continually presenting themselves.
Applications have been made to the directors for the
transportation cf coal from New York to Panama, for
the use of a small steamer running between that port
and Costa Rica ; and a firm largely engaged in the im-
portation of pearl shells has made arrangements for
bringing them over the railway in future, instead of
round Cape Horn. The representatives of a London
house have applied for the terms of sending about 200
tons of goods over the line, and specie to the amount
of nearly 500,000 dollars lately came over it for Eng-
land by a single train.

THE AMERICAN HARVEST.—The Echo Agricole con-
tains a letter from New York, which states that the
harvest of the United States and of Canada may be esti-
mated in round figures at 64,000,000 hectolitres of
wheat ; and that after deducting 3,000,000 for seed,
46,000,000 for home consumption, 1,500,000 for export
to the West Indies, South America, and Australia, there
remain 13,500,000, flour included, for exportation to
Europe. According to the correspondent of the Echo
Agricole, it may be expected that the probable exporta
tion to Europe from the Ist Senternher, 1855, to the Ist
May, 1856, will he about 6,000,000 hectolitres, and that
the surplus 7,500,000 will be reserved to be exporter;
next summer, after the promises of the harvest of 1856
can be estimated.