The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-08 00:00:00

THE ROAD STEAMER,

Among the many various improvements in our
means of locomotion, Mr. Thomson's road steamer
certainly occupies no inconsiderable place. The
reports upon it, which- have just been issued among
the parliamentary papers, are unanimous in its
favour. There seems, indeed, to have been no room
for hesitation in pronouncing judgment. One of the
most confident of the witnesses in its behalf
is Mr. White, a large corn merchant in
Aberdeen, who employs one of these engines
or road steamers in drawing wheat and flour
daily between his granaries in the city and his flour
mills three miles distant. Part of this road is so
steep and crooked, that Mr. White employed fourteen
horses for the work, and usually lost several in the
course of the year. Z he gradients vary from 1 in
72 to a level road. By the aid of the road steamer
Mr. White now makes three journeys daily, to and
fro with a load each time of fifteen tons gross, carry-
ing thus ninety tons per diem, the repairs, &c., having.
been slight, and the accidents trivial. The road-
steamer has been tried in Ceylon, in Australia, and
in Paris, with equal success. In Paris the artillery
officers were quick to perceive the immense
advantage of the system as applied to
military transports, and an inquiry set an
foot by our arsenal has resulted in unqualified ap-
proval of, its working.„. The assistant controller and
:the -superintendent of machinery, Ili' their report to

the Controller in Chief, observe that the general
statement that 150 pairs of horses are required to do
the daily work of Aldershott, irrespective 'of those
required by the artillery, is sufficient to warrant the
trial of a road steamer there without delay. In
every department its success is equally remarkable.
A three-horse power engine drew a boiler weighing
thirteen tons up an. incline of one in twelve, though
the ground was slippery from frost. It has been
tried on hard stiff clay soil, along sea sands,
loose and dry, and soft and wet, and even through a
running creek. The peculiarity is the thick india
rubber tires on the wheels, which run with facility
not only on common roads, but under the various
conditions specified. The road steamer will. pro-
bably be very extensively applied before long.

THE TWELFTH OF AUGUST.

The near approach of the 12th of August is a sign
to our law-makers that their labours are tending to
a close for the present, In a few days there will be
an exodus to the north, and, instead of hunting out
defects in Government bills, members will be engaged
in looking after the grouse. Fortunately the accounts
are most favourable, and the ardent sportsmen will
find no lack of employment. The last winter on the
Scotch moors was not too cold for , the grouse, and
the breeding in spring was most successful. Although
in the lowlands rain has been a great desideratum,
and farmers have been in a state of frenzy owing to
the unusually dry fieasoo, in the Highlands the
weather has not been particularly dry, and this, com-
bined with the fact that no disease has yet made its
appearance among the birds, is a guarantee that the
coveys will be above the average. It is believed that
so generally favourable a season as the present has
not been known for many years, and that throughout
Scotland the moors have been thoroughly replen-
ished. Of course there is always a drawback when
the birds are particularly strong on the wing, and
heavy bags will depend on a steady hand and good
breech-loaders.

AN AMERICAN BULL.

The Americans give themselves the reputation of
being the smartest people on the face of the earth,
and their fertility of invention is conceded to them
without dispute. It is -observable, however, that
at times a spirit of imitation invades their minds,
and European designs—and manners too—are copied
with a slavishness much to be reprehended. Taking
the Pope as a pattern, the Episcopal Council of the
Diocese of Wisconsin has been doing a little business
in the "bull " line on its own account. The last
decree issued by this infallible board is not likely to
be 'successful, as it touches too closely a matter
upon which-our cousins have independent notions.
The Council, finding, perhaps, that their congrega-
tions were getting scanty in numbers have decided
that members of the Church must find life-partners
in their own communion. The paper which brings
the news does not inform the world of the result of
the "notion," but it is to be feared that the young
people of Wisconsin will pay as much attention to
the decision of the Council as other people have paid
to "bulls" nearer home.

A NEW DRAUGHT ANIMAL.

Now that the French and Prussians are reported
to be purchasing all the horses Englishmen will allow
'them to have, it behoves cabmen and farmers to be
on the alert in search of a new beast of burden.
Cattle of the bovine species we have certainly, but
the slow speed they proceed at in harness would be
so much worse than even that which we are accus-
tomed to in the streets that it would render them unac-
ceptable to hackney coachmen, and the long time re-
quired for their education as drawers of ploughs and
of waggons acts against them in point of favour with
the agriculturist. In this difficulty an extraordinary
animal has suddenly shown himself docile and willing
to work, and the fact is a striking instance of the
manner in which nature seems to meet every defi-
ciency almost the moment it takes place by a
ne'w benefit. According to the Augusta Chronicle, a
planter in South Carolina has cultivated his entire
farm this year, so far as ploughing is concerned, with
an—alligator. This domesticated Silurian is reported
as working splendidly in plough-harness, and as being
far superior to mules or horses in power, if not in
speed. It is said that his only difficulty is to repress
the natural penchant for having a little niggar occa-
sionally for dinner. As baby-farming is so rife in
England, cabmen perhaps might with facility enter
into some agreement to gratify the alligator's taste in
this respect.

~. ~-_%,,
It- C
:i---,L.,;.,:p..i_.,,,,i,
. ~. ,i.._. ,/--
trail '''•)---*-4'- I- -,
..*,----041-
--- - eli.gr, Jiallat