The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-17 00:00:00

18421 first five months
last seven months
1843
1844 5B
The saving effected in the last three years is due prin-
cipally to the arrangement by which a bonus is allowed
to the engine drivers and foremen of locomotive stations•
in proportion to the reduction effected in the consumption
of coke.
By an order of the Ist of January, 1843, the engine
drivers are to receive a bonus of 2;sd. for every 73Albs. of
coke (25 centimes per hectolitre of 35 kilog.) saved upon
the gross quantity allowed for consumption, by the Mi-
nister of Public Works. This regulation quickly showed
its expediency in the result: for the consumption, which
in the first five months of 1842 was 891bs. per mile, fell
in the last seven months to 67 1-10Ibs. per mile.
By an order of the 6th of May, 1844, foreman of sta-
tions, charged with the management of locomotives, are
to receive a bonus equal to a fourth of that before
granted to the engine drivers, in proportion to the saving
of fuel allowed for their respective stations.
Under these two regulations, the consumption of coke
has fallen to its present.amount, the lowest expenditure
yet obtained, 411bs. per mile (49 kilog. per league).
The saving in the quantity of coke in 1844, as com-
pared with 1843, represents a value of 4,1271. per annum.
The total amount of bonus paid to engine drivers and
foremen of stations in 1844 was 1,1151. per annum.'
The greatest saving in the consumption of coke results
from the before cited regulations ; but a part of the
saving is attributable to the improvements made in the
locomotive engines.
As a reward for his efforts to that end, a bonus of
600/. has been granted to the chief engineer of the loco-
motive department.
By the adoption of a system of contract by public
tender, the annual saving upon the local cartage and
delivery of the goods carried by the State Railway has
been 1,5601.
Power is given by law to the Government and to the
contractors to give up the contracts, upon giving three
months' notice.
In examining the returns -for passenger traffic at each
of the various stations on the State lines, the number of
travellers and the classes they occupy appear so un•
equally divided, that it is evident there exist many
secondary causes to influence railway travelling, and in-
crease or diminish the receipts under similar circum-
stances but in different localities ; seeming to indicate
that by a proper adjustment of the tariff of rates the
revenue would be increased, and without materially aug
menting the working expenses. Ic will obviously re-
quire much research to discover the invariable law that
should govern the fixation of the fares of the three
classes. It is, however, evident that they ought not to
be calculated from one invariable basis for all parts of a
country, ti aversed by long lines of railway. Thus the
first-class passengers at the Belgian stations on the
Prussian and French frontiers, and at Ostend and Ant-
werp, (the English frontiers), were respectively 16, 14,
17, and 15 per cent, of the total number of passengers
from those stations, while the general average on all the
lines, as has been already shown, was scarcely 10 per
cent. ; and moreover, the receipts from these passengers
were still more increased by the luggage that these tra-
vellers carry with them, which for one cwt. (and a
foreign traveller would certainly bring that quantity of
luggage), is charged 37i per cent., or 3.Bths of the
amount he pays for second class fares; whereas the thirl
class passengers at the first intermediate stations from
Ostend and from Ghent (Elansbeke and Plaschendall)
were actually 904 and 91,-I per cent. of all the passengers
a: those stations.

The fares to and from the vicinities of great towns
should, for second and third clases, be very low, because
country people, whose business brings them habitually
to towns once or twice a week to fairs or markets, would
feel more severely the cost of conveyance occurring
regularly, than those who travel for enjoyment. The
influence of the seasons also should be taken account of
in fixing the fares, and especially the greater or less
agglomerated population in a particular district; a thinly
' populated province traversed by a railway will not sup-
ply a local or intermediate traffic in proportion to the
number of inhabitants, as a densely crowded agricultural
or manufacturing province, even at the same fares, for
their industry and activity naturally leads them to travel
from village to village, if the cost is but little.
As to the extent of railway accommodation in various
countries, and applying a proportionate standard to each,
it appears that England, in the year 1843, had by no
means a disproportionate extent of railways measured
by its population. Taking the population of Great
Britain as having been then 27 millions, of Belgium at
4,250,000, of France at 342 millions, and of the United
States at 17,069,453, it is found that in 1843 there were:
In Great Britain, 2,236 miles of railway opened, or 83
miles per million inhabitants.

In Belgium, 347 miles of railway opened, or 83 miles
per million inhabitants.

In France,- 1,087. miles of railway opened, or 31 miles
per million inhabitants.

In the United States, 6,326 miles of railway 'opened.
or 530 miles per million inhabitants.

Thus Great Britain and Belgium are relatively in the
same position with regard to extent of railways. As to
the number of passengers transported in the year 1842
in England, on 1,430 miles of the principal railways,
there were 13,705,000 passengers carried, or 9,600 per
mile ; while in Belginrn in 1845, on 347 miles of rail-

way, there were 3,470,678 passengers carried, or 10,002
' per mile.
The fares in England, as compared with those in Bel-
gium, must provide fbr the great outlay ; for the heavy
parliamentary and legal expenses, to cover the interest
of which there must he, of course, greater profits ; and
also for the Government passenger duty, the taxes, and
parochial and county rates ; from all of which, in Bel-
gium, the lines conceded to private companies are spe
cially exempt by a clause in the law authorising them.
The difference, ho Never, is less than is g,,,merally sup-
posed. Taking, for ins ance, the ordinary mixed train
from London to Dover, a distance of 88 miles, stopping
at the intermediate stations, and performing the distance

in four hours 15 minutes. s d
First class fare from London-bridge to Dover is 0'
Deduct five per cent. for passenger duty, and four
per cent. rates and taxes
1

drebayaactomenp)aronyglv..e.n .
Id. 29-100:hs per mile per pas-
senger, Bel-
gian aGrisptaanrcinegotthsis,wmitihletsh,epreariflowrmayedfr,owmito4 sstteoupdpatgoeßs,riunsFfielyse,
first class, we have:—
s. d.
First class fare from Ostend to Brussels 9 6
Add, lc wt. of luggage, at 483 I ,000ths of a penny
per mile Sum retcheeivfea
3 7
hours,
c oannede
daepdpl),ing lines,
of

T0ta1......., l3 Os-
Which is a very close approximation to the Dover fare.
It is to be observed that the Government fare from
Ostend to Brussels is somewhat less than the aboie; be-
cause the fares are rather lower on the State lines than
On the conceded lines, and because also, on this particular
railway, as well as on that to Liege from Brussels, the
actual distance is diminished in estimating the fares by
10 kilometres, to compensate for the unnecessary in-
crease'of distance incurred over the ordinary coach road,
•
by passing
, by Malines.

WINDSOR, 'WEDNESDAY EVENlNG.—lnstructions
were received at the Castle this morning from. Osborne
House, for the private apartments to be prepared for the
receptlon of her Majesty, the Prince Consort, and the
Royal Family, on Friday next. The Court will leave
the Isle of Wight at an early hour on the morning of
that day in the Fairy tender, for Gosport, and proceed
thence by a special train to the Farnborou4h station,
where the Royal carriages have been ordered to be in at •
tendance at half-past ten o'clock, to proceed with her
Majesty to Windsor? where the COurt will arrive about
half-past one, - . • - "