Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1831-10-13
From the Baltimore american.

From the Baltimore American
We publish this morning, the Fifth Annual Re- |
port of the President and Directors of the Bald |
and Ohio kdH Road Company, also the ac-
companying Report of the Chief Engineer. We are |
happy 20 have it in our power TO say that every |
succeeding report from this source as well the |
increasing conviction i'll the public at large of the
effectiveness of Railroads, leads anticipate
with fresh confidence the final completion of this
important work to its ultimate termination on the
OHIO. While the English Journals continue H.
nOunce the application OF locomotive engines to
Railroads one Of the creates: trumphs of art
and likely, i'll perhaps greater degree than any mo-
dern invcnlion to change tie face of society, those
who charged with this particular enterprise
have meanwhile given their sctlulous attention TO
a mode of transportation which they found yet
incomplete in its Details and in which the most
sanguinc naturally therefore anticipated diff
cutics. 1t is sufficient to say that hope has
becn acquired with added experience, and that the
road, as far made, has been constructed on tho
plan which experiment demonstrated TO be the best,
and answers all the Just expectations with which it
was undertaken. Those nearer home, who i'm
mcdiaely interested i'll these results will of
read these Reports for themselves. For distant
r adcrs, to whom they will perhaps not find their
way ut length, shall state some cfthe principal
f cts disclosed in the expeditions referred to- from
which enough Will appear, think, to Justify the
expectations VIC indulge.
Thine will be finished within the remaining
months of the present year, % miles Of road, nclu-
ding the branch road to Frederick of 81 miles OF
this distance - miles nearly completed with Il
double set OF tracks, and single set of tracks will
be finished the whole of the remaining distance
within the year. The double track Will be extend
cd 10 the Potomac during the ensuing spring. A
bout onc-third of this line vii! be laid with stone
| rails and the remainder with wooden The latter
arc employed, partly with view to let the embank-
incfts settle, and partly from the consideration that
stone by means of them be hereafter transport
cd more economically to finish the road in the
same permanent manner.
railway has been laid through the city from
the termination of the main road far as the head
OF tho Basin, thus connecting it wi'h navigation.
| 1t wri be continued forthwith to the CITY Block,
travcrsing III its progress the whole front of
the cIty.-We may add that no inconvenience arises
from this introduction ofhe road into town, horses
being The motive power and the street wide enough
to accommodate both the cars and the ordinary We
| hclCs of trade.
/ 1t is known doubt to distant readers that the
first few miles Of the road were attended with an
| extraordinary expenditure; Notwithstanding which,
sach has been the dimiEution of cost in its pro-
gTess, that the expense of the whole II
miles hetwcon Baltimore and the Point
of Rocks averages, Cor graduation, masonry and
rails, only S27, l25 per mile. How materially the
cost of construction has been diminished, and
! how well this augurs for the final success of the
scheme, may nc further gathered from the follow
ing facts; The graduation and masonry of tho
first l3 miles cost $40, 35i Il mile those of the
| remaining d! miles, will cost only IS, $50 mile.
| The graduation of tho first i2f miles has cost
The masonry on 5Sf miles will not cost more than
that of the first 81 miles. The graduation and
masonry together, in the first | miles, have cost
| 1893 900 mere than they will cost on the remaining
| 5b5. The 5lI miles between Ellcott's Mills and
! the Potomac will average, the laying of double
track OF rails included, only S26 6S mile This
cxPcns? will not be exceeded till the road reaches
tho coal mines in Allegheny county.
Stea power it is ascertained can be used On
the read with speed and economy answering the
most sanguinc expectation. An engine adapted
to the road has been obtained, and locomotives Of
that construction will be put in sufficient numbers
upon IT.
Since Jan. 81 ,905 passengers and 1891 tons Of
merchandise have been transported the first di-
vision Of the road, yielding income Of sS3l 405
~, and involving expenditure OF no. 9i 81.
The distance between the Point of Rocks and
Cumberland may be completed within three years.
Surveys arc making for branch railroad to
Washington, mocty OF the whole stock requisite
for making which is authorized to be subscribed by
the Baltimore and Washington Turnpike Company
and by the State When this road is completed, il
WILL with the railway constructing through Jersey,
and that between the Delaware and Chesapeake
bays, form grand line of communication between
the metropolis of the Union and it's commercial
emporium, taking in two Of its most important
cities by the wav
On the whole, the Directors rctcratc their con-
hdcnt expectation of realizing all the promises
made TO the public, and all the prospects of reward
held ont TO the stockholders. In this we conceive
they fully justified, first by the evidence daily
flowing IN of the general efficacy Of the Rail Road
system; secondly, by the diminishing cost of the
road as 1t advances; and, finally, by the new proof
we receive from every quarter of the vast advan-
tagc attached 10 the saving of time and 10 com
mpni'1ti"H uninterrupted by the seasons in com
inerciaI exchanges 1t is also always to he borne
IN mind, that the route proposed is the shortest
between an Atlantic port and the Ohio. that Il
mas the advantage in point Of climate,
point less important, indeed, to the road
itself than to the canals and rivers with
whose navigation it will connect itself and
mat II involves, considered general route.
Joss ranshiPmont and therefore less dglav risk md
expense than any other. We hope therefore. if
VIII recommend itself anew to Tie hopes and efforts
OF our citizens and oftosc very large portions of
country not less Interested in it,