The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-02 00:00:00

7 HE EUROPEA.

V AND NORIH AMARIC.AIV
RAILWAY.

To Europeans, one of the most interesting rail-
way developments in America is that by which
Halifax will be connected with the railway system
of the American continent. Those who desire

speedily to reach the point to which their travel is
directed between America and Europe, and those
who desire to shorten to the utmost the sea voyage,
will rejoice in the completion of a railway by which
Halifax can be made the American port of arrival
and departure. This is the work undertaken by.
the European and North American Railway, by
which St. John in New Brunswick is to be brought
into direct communication with Bangor in Maine,
whence any town in the United States on a line of
rail or on a navigable river can be reached by
steam. The road from St. Jolla westward is
nearly completed to the boundary of the State of
Maine, and will be open for traffic on the Ist July,
together with the branch to Frederickton, the capital
of New Brunswick. On the Maine side, to meet
it from Bangor, 55 miles will be in working order
on the Ist of June, and the remainder is under
contract, and will be completed as rapidly as
possible. Already the line extending eastward
from St. John to Halifax has been constructed,
with the exception of some 40 miles in Nova Scotia
now being made. Between St. John and Shediac,
on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a distance of 108 miles,
the road is finished, and from a place called Monck-
ton the Trunk line will branch to the Nova Scotian
boundary 31 miles, thence to Truro 69 miles, and
on to Halifax 61 more. The whole distance between
Halifax and Bangor is 458 miles, and from Halifax
to the City of New York 940, which, at the average
rate of thirty miles, will make the time under 32
hours. The distance by sea is 700 miles, which
takes 70 hours at ten knots, making a saving of
nearly 40 hours in time and of 700 miles in sea
voyage. For the mails, and for passengers hurried
by business, the opening of this line is of much im-
portance. Whatever tends to shorten the time be-
tween San Francisco and Europe is of moment to
England, for the mails from Eastern China,
Japan, Au4tralii, and New Zealand, as well
as the quick passenger traffic, must seek this
route. Maine has always regarded her territory
as that through which Europe would have to
pass to reach the Pacific. At any rate, with all
the bits of railway that State has built for years,
this object has steadily been kept in view. The
Government engineer of New Brunswick has just
reported on that portion of the European and North
American line within that Province. Mr. Boyd
says, " The work is very thoroughly done, and both
materials and workmanship are, in all cases, of
the beat construction ; all benders of more
_than
forty feet span will have iron superstructures.
The company are evincing every desire to build
a first-class road." If their road be not
first-class, considering the nature of the traffic, it
will be worthless, for it must be constructed for a
high rate of speed, being essentially a line for rapid
transit. The company calculate on diverting half
the first-class passengers from New York, and what-
ever tends to shorten materially the sea voyage
will in that proportion increase the number of pas-
sengers, especially from Europe, and America will
be better known when the sea passage is reduced
one-fourth. We will watch the progress of this
road with interest, as it is in the truest sense an
Anglo-American line.