Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1832-05-31

u StlUtut lTOu ulS3 thots u osSom Sua
riage has only double the power wanted on COM
mon road, it can ascend any hill that we have.
If it has treble, it can ascend this hill, and has
one-third 10 spare: and so on. But, TO ascend
the same elevation on 4 railway, the engine must
exert a power no less than twenty one times that
it required on a level; and to have one-third to
spare, as the other, for contingencies, it had need
to be upwards of thirty times the force above that
necessary for propeIIlng it over the evel the We
~ weight needful for this Ito say nothing about
load) renders it practically impossible.
The same reasoning applies to horse; tor the
increment Of power necessary tn take htnasey up
the above elevation, is equal to One.tweifih his
weight; but, until we know the actual power re-
quired to move his muscles &c, we cannot de-
termine the exact proportions. The difference,
however, must be immense; and, had he not the
inexplicabe vital principle of giving out intensl-
tv Of power at will, he would be IN a situation
very similar to locomotive engine on railway.
This great increase of power wanted to propel
the horse up hill, added, with some physiological
laws, to the additional power required to draw
the weight at his heels, occasions the real distress
which is observed in such situations in this use
ful ANIMAL
This reasoning. founded as it is IN mathemati-
cal truth. proves in practice that, unless the rail-
road be made on dead. level. it will have little
or no advantage over the common road; while. on
perfect level, it will have an advantage as 240
is to 10. A practical illustration Of this fdctap.
pears on the Liverpool and Manchester railroad
AT this moment the inclined plane on this road
rises only one in ninety which is scarcely per-
ceptible to the eye, in fact is it never noticed
by any one travelling over the road! The steam
carriages are frequently reduced, against this
plane, in speed down to six miles per hour, from
a rate between twenty and thirty miles on the le.
vel. On going down this inclined plane, the steam
is invariably cut of from the engines, notwlth'
standing which, they descend at the rate of be-
tween thirty and forty miles per hour.
Ia order to prove the results OF actual prac-
tce, he observes. that
"ln the early part Of last Spring, carriage
was established as public conveyance between
Gloucester and Cheltenham. 1t commenced
running on the 2lst Of February, and stopped on
the 22d Of June, for reasons that will presently
appear. During this period the carriage travel
led four times day regularly. between these two
places. 1t carried upwards Of three thousand
passengers without single accident in less time
than horse coaches. and at one-half their iares;
every practical objection was settled, and pecu-
mary and other advantages confirmed BY positive
experience.
"The undertaking, which had hitherto been
considered as chimerical, or regarded as series
of philosophical experiments, now became serl-
Gus. Men, whose interests, real or imaginary,
were affected, became neutrality-suspicious.
hastily considered the subject as one calculated
to IN jure thcm-the public we're rapidly becoming
converts in its favor. In tins state Of things the
mist gross mis- statements were industrlOusly and
extensively circulated respecting the carriage
with what effect these reports were circulated,
NAV be Judged of vhen it is stated, othat, under
the impression arising from these reports. an i'm.
mense number of Turnpike bills hastily passed
both Houses of Parliament, Imposing prOhibltOry
tolls IT, some cases the tolls Imposed amount
ed to o. at every gate, at othere to 2l 8s., and
in some to ST. 8s.. as 1T it were national ob.
ject 70 prev ent the possibility of such engines be.
ing used.' The sCheltenham Roads Bi' was
one of the Acts passed amongst the number.
Here follow the returns of the daily work OF
the carriage at Gloucester. the amount OF cxpen-
ses. receipts, number of passengers. aud the
time of every Journey, in minutes. between Glou-
cester and Chrltenham. This table is very Gu
rious; it shows the gradual increase OF confidence
of the public, by the corresponding gradual in.
crease of passengers. The carriage seems to
have kept it's time with extraordinary punctuali-
ty, consideringit the first practical essay, it sell
dom varied more than from four to FIVE minutes.
Weight does not seem to have affected it. ltap-
pears. on the 10th of May, the carriage took SO
passengers at one time, and made the distance in
sixty minutes. The next journey, it took eight
passengers, and did it in fiftyeight minutes, ma
king only difference of two minutes. with this
extra load of passengers. Sometimes it made
the journey in forty minutes; but, on an average,
it seems to be about fifty-five. Immediately at
ter this account comes the following letter from
the Engineer:
"GLoucEsrER. June %, 1881.
"Dsar Sir: am exceedingly sorry to inform
you, that we have broken the hind axle. Yes
day morning we found the road filled up with
loose stones for considerable way, near the
four mile stone.
81 send you a continuation Of my Journal
We have made altogether 500 regular journeys,
making s,644 miles IN all. The number of pas
sengers who paid fares 2,666. Oar receipts
have been 2Osl Is. cd. our expenses IN coke al
together 78l One.thrd of this coke has been
b,,,,< ., ,xa,c;oo ond eynprimpnts when we