The Sun.
London, England, 1845-11-18 00:00:00

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"On these roads the T edge rail pattern has been need,
except on a few recent side branches, weighing 56% pounds
to the lineal yard, supported by wooden sleepers, principallyof chesnut, seven feet long and seven incites through, at dis-
tances of three feet from centre to centre. The sleepers rest
on loygitudinal sills of planks eight inches by three, with a
short piece of the same under the sleepers at the joints of the
iron rails. On some parts the number of the sleepers and
their lengths are greater, so as to increase the bearing sur-
face. The greater part of the road has been graded, levelled,
and formed to a width of 20 feet in the cuts and 16 feet on the
embankments for a single track. The deep cuts and high
embankments generally have been graded to a width of 120
feet in the cuts and 16 feet on the embankments for a double
track. The heaviest rock cuts are of double width ;so is the
masonry, except the Connecticut river bridge and a few of the
smaller structures. A great part of the Albany road is graded
for two tracks, from 26 to 34 feet hi the cuts, and 22 to 26
feet on the embankments; the remainder 20 to 34 feet in the
cuts, and 16 to 20 feet on the embankments. The masonry
and rock cuts are all for two tracks.
" The bridges east of Connecticut River are constructed
of tritss-frames (Long's patent) for two tracks. The Con.
necticut River Bridge, and those westward, are of truss-
frames (Howe's patent), and for one track only. The truss-
frames of all are covered in on the sides and top, and tho-
roughly whitewashed. The entire flooring of the Connec-
ticut kiver Bridge is covered with tin, painted of a dark
colour. This bridge is 1,264 feet long, of seven spans 180
feet each. The whole length of bridges is about 6,000 feet,
and they are 48 in. number. On the Albany road they are
17 in number ,and in length 1,474 feet, 14 feet in width for a
single track ; they are all on Howe's patent, and covered in
and whitewashed.- There are on both roads 15 stone bridges,
besides culverts, and a tunnel 548 feet long, exclusive of the
rock cuts at each end, 26 feet wide and 19 high, the sides
and arches being of the natural rock ; the cost of the excava-
tion was 35,000 dols. The least width of land taken for the
road was 5 rods, and increased, as occasion required, to 18%
rods. The road has had to cress the hills between the
sea and the Hudson River, and one divition, of about 131%
miles, has cost more than 70,000 dols. a mile; there was also
a very expensive embankment at Richmond, and the Con-
necticut Bridge cost 131,612 dole.

"This road- does not appear, at the time to which the
report comes, to have attained its full trade, and no divi-
dend had then been made. Its total cost exceeds 7,000,000
dols. The income of the road open was--for a fraction of
the road open in 1839, 3,288 dols. Mc.; and for 1841,
50,275 dais. 67c.; from the Ist of January to the Ist of
December, 1842, the receipts were 512,688 dols. 30c., and
the expenditure for the same period 266,619 dols. 30c.
In that year there were sent from Greenbusb, eastward,
170,615 barrels of flour, weighing 18,341 tons, and of
other merchandise 12,347 tons. Westward there passed
5,624 tow. The Directors call this year one of experi-
ment. It does not appear that the expenses of transporta-
tion are greater during the winter than in the summer.
There is only one item for clearing snow, about 3,000 dols.,
and there are a few inconsiderable charges for repairs of
ploughs and scrapers. The traffic is greater during July,
August, September, October, and November, including goods
and freight. The total number of passengers are as fol-
lows :

Ist Class. 2d Class. Ist Class. 2d Class.
Jan....... 11,425
Feb 11,783i...... 9811 Aug 18,798i...... 3,023
March... 13,888
April ... 13,133
May ... 33,378 2,081 N0v..... 12,0461 2,517
June ... 14,204
" The Berkshire Railway was, at that time, unfinished,
though open and in use. Its length is 21 miles 11 chains,
and the amount expended 205,000 dols. The width of the
road-bed in excavation is 16 feet, on embankment 14 feet.
The manner in which the rail* is supported is as follows:
There are undersills of chestnut and oak 7 by 7 inches, on
which are placed cross ties 7i feet long, with notches sawed
in to secure the rail, which is 6 by 6 inches, and secured with
oak keys. On this rail is placed the flat iron car 2/ wide
by % of an inch thick, weighing 22 tons per mile. The
undersiils are covered with dust and gravel. The width
of the track is 4 feet 8i inches. Nothing is said as to
difficulties or expenses in winter, and no account is given
of passengers. .
...
..
.._.
.. .

The Boston and Lowell Railway is 26 miles in length,
and its capital 1,800,000 dols , upon which is paid, in the year
1842, two dividends of four per cent. each. The rail first
laid was 361 b. to the yard, which has been found insufficient,
and one of the T pattern, of 561 b., has been substituted. No
mention is made of any interruption from winter. The
amount received was 278,310 dels. 68c. ; and the expenditure
(exclusive of relaying )1.31,012 dols. 78c.
" The Boston and Maine Railroad is only partly In Massa-
chusetts; its entire length from Boston to Portland is 109
miles. It was then only partially completed, and has some
extensive earth excavations and tunnels. It will form, with
other roads, one of the most entensive lines in New England.
The amount then paid was 1,242,598 dols. 88c., and the re-
ceipts 155,881 dols. 69c.
" The Boston and Providence Railroad is 41/ miles, and
the capital 1,834,100 &Is. The then income from passen-
gers was 163,787 dots. 95c., and from merchandise, mails,
&c., 72,679 dols. 96c., or thereabouts; the whole expendi-
ture, including rent of another road, ferry, &c., 112,214
dots. 63c., and two dividends were made, 1842, of 3 per
cent. each.
" The Boston and Worcester Railroad is 44 miles in
length, and its capital 2,700,000 dols, The Directors state,
referring to a part of the work, that ' some inconvenience
has resulted from a prosecution of a portion of this work at
an inclement season of the year; but this advantage has
been countervailed by the greater cheapness of wages at this
season. The regular passenger trains have been run during
the year, without the loss of any trip from storms or other
causes.' The total cost was 2,764,396 dols. 4c.; gross receipts,
362,283 dols.-82 c. ; current expenses, 168,509 dots. 51c. ; and
two half-yearly dividends, one of four and the other of three
per cent., have been made.
"The Eastern Railroad from Boston to Portland (lower
road), 105 miles, is stated to have been in use during 1842,
without injury to a single passenger, or any interruption to
its regular traffic. The flat rail now in use on the Marble-
head branch being found inadequate to the constant use and
speed required for the public convenience, the Directors have
determined to replace it with the chair-rail similar to the
main track. The receipts during the then past year were
269,168 dots. 72c. ; and the number of passengers 468,703.
The expenditure was 144,039 dols. 71c. ; and a dividend of
6 per cent, was paid on a capital of 2,100,000 dols.
"The Norwich and Worcester Railroad is 103 miles in
length ; its cost 2,163,561 dols. Receipts in 1842,137,358 dols.
57c. ; expenditure, 122,130 dols. 32c. There is a very trifling
charge in January, February, April, and December, for clear-
ing the road. The earnings, are greatest in September and
October, and least in January and February.
"The Nashua and Lowell Railroad returns its capital,
380,000 dola.; earnings, 131,188 dots. 91c. ; expenses, 91,577
dots. 53c.; and two dividends of four per cent. each have
been made. The number of passengers was 92,943.
" The new Bedford Railway is 20 miles long ; its capital
400,000 dots. Gross receipts, 55,575 dole., and expenses,
23,354 dols. 27c. Two dividends of three per cent. each were
this year declared.

"The Taunton Branch Railroad is, in length, 11 miles ;
has a capital of 250,000 dols.; the total annual expenditure,
57,777 dols. 58c. ; and the income, 77,170 dols. 59c. and two
dividends of four per cent. each were declared within the
year.
" The Fitchburg Railroad was then Unfinished.
"The Portland, Saco, and Portsmouth Railroad give their
number of passengers for six months, ending Nov. 30, 1844,
108,7431,; and for six months, ending May 31, 1845,
42,5351%—t0ta1, 150,279. Their total income for that period,
131,404 dols. 18c.; expenditure, 51,822 dols. 26c. ' • and they
make a net profit a little above 7 dols. per share. They state
the average expense of transit per mile run to be 43c. and a
fraction, and make no mention of any expense of clearing
snow, &c. I have, in fact, mentioned every instance where
any such costs, or anything that might be supposed to in-
clude it, appears in the account as a distinct item.
" I have also obtained the following account of the cost of
the motive power and receipts per mile travelled on some
other of the great roads :
Cost per mile. Receipts per mile.
Georgia...
South Carolina
Central Georgia
Western 62c. ...
Boston and Lowell 106 c.

" The foregoing particulars may be useful to you and to
the committee in forming your calculations. In the state of
Massachusetts land would have to be purchased at a higher
price than Boston and the towns; indeed, quite as dear as it
is in England."

* " I think the rail here mentioned is the wooden plank I referred
to in a former letter, and the car the fiat iron tire."

It is said that Mr. Charles Ross, one of the Special
Commissioners of the Property and Income T ax, will have
the Commissionership vacant by the death of Sir John
Mortlock.
ROBBERY AT CHELMSFORD WORKMOUSE.--OH
Tuesday last Mr. Burningham, the active porter in this
establishment, saw George White, a pauper belonging to
Great Waltham, throw a parcel over the garden fence into a
field adjoining, and, upon examination, discovered it to con-
tain a pair of sheets and a pair of stockings. Suspecting
White, who had been attending the sick in the hospital, and
gWhite immediately
was
who had given notice to go out the same evening, to be the
thief, Burningham watched, when his suspicions were
i
con-
firmed. He saw White go to the spot and take up the parcel,
when
taken
nrebheernodree cadhpitami
.
follow-
ing nornhien
11
end committed for trial.—Chelmsford Chronicle.
POST-OFFICE, Nov. 14.—The next mails for Gib.
raltar, Malta, Greece, the lonian Islands, Egypt, India, &c.,
via Southampton, will be dispatched from hence on the
morning of the 20th inst. The next mail for the Mediterra-
nean, Egypt, Ceylon, India, and China, via Marseilles, will
be dispatched from hence on the evening of the 24th inst.
Great Liverpool, for the Indian mails of the morning of the
20th inst., Madrid, for the Peninsular mails of the morning
of the 17th inst. West Indies, &c.—Teviot, for the mails of
the morning of the 17th inst. America.—Cambria, for the
mails of the evening of the 18th inst.
DETECTION OF A SWINDLER.—We regret to learn
that a young man named August Schmidt, the son of a re-
spectable merchant in Schlawe, Prussia, has been detected in
a series of forgeries in this country, one of which has been
effected on an extensive and influential mercantile firm in
Newcastle. The delinquent, it appears, came to London
about two months ago, with letters of credit and introduc-
tion, which turn out to have been forged, and in consequence
of the supposed genuir,ess of which he realised 401. from a
mercantile house in this town. lie also obtained a letter of
introduction to parties in London,
from the said firm, and on
reaching the metropolis, forged a bill on the house that had
thus obliged him, adhibiting no fewer than seven false in-
dorsements of well-known merchants in London, and after-
wards discounting the forged bill with a corn-dealer there.
Deeming it dangerous, however, to continue such transac-
tions, the delinquent next decamped to the continent, nar-
rowly escaping, in his tour, the eagle-eye of the celebrated
Forrester, who had been dispatched after him. Yesterday
another forged bill of Schmidt's, negotiated through a bank,.
ing- house in Marseilles, was presented for acceptance to the
same firm he had previously swindled in this town, and, of'
course, refused. Forrester has been instructed to apprehend
the delinquent, and we shall doubtless hear of that being
done in a few days.--Tyne Mercury.

STAttli VtAALWAVII
AND TRAFFIC. - -
The followinginformation on the above has been addressed
by Mr. Buckerfield to Sir R. Broun, and was received by the' vaLSAMENT
last mail
" Westmoreland, near Amherst, N.S., Oct. 15, 1845. r
"I shall devote this letter principally to giving you as
much information as possible with regard to the railroads fn
the American States; especially in that of Massachusetts,
which I have derived from the reports of each road laid be-
fore the Legislature, and which may, therefore, be relied upon
as authentic.
" The most important is the Western Railroad, forming a
line between Boston and Albany, a total distance of about
238 miles, of which the Boston and Worcester is 44, the
Western, 156, and the Albany and Stockbridge 38; they are
all under the same direction, and form, with branches, the
same line of internal communication. A single track only
has been laid, with the necessary turnouts and depot tracks
at the stations.