Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1843-07-08

W dtfC, Etb" t"O "NCipsc PIS'" 'FN' '~
nus lines, exclusive Of stoppagc, as follows
London L. Birmingham, 81 miles per hour
Great Western. 33; Northern and Eastern,
35; North Midland. 20 !; Midland Counties,
% Manchester a. Birmingham, IS New
kenhead, %; and Birmingham g. Derby, %.
The average speed on the Metropolitan lines,
exclusive of stoppages, is about ~ miles an
hour.
The foregoing returns Of speed on the Eng
lish railroad shows an average rate exceed
ing the rates in this country,-say 10 to 70
miles per hour. On some of our best roads,
with the heavy edged rails, We have accom-
plished as high rates of speed, to wit, a mile
in a minute, as once performed in England.
Our engines have drawn larger loads up high
err grades in comparison to their weight. The
great difficulty with most of our roads is, thst
they are too slightly built, from the deficiency
of capital int his country. There will be no DIFF
ficulty with a good road, and none other should
be built between this city and Albany, in &C
complishing the distance in six hours, which
is only 25 miles per hour, a speed 30 per cent
less than that performed on the Northern and
Eastern Railroad.
Mr.. Lang, in a report to the London Board
of trade, shows by a number Of facts, that rail-
roads are the safest of all conveyance, and
more particularly safe than steamboat travel
ling. From 1st January to LIST July, Al, only
three losttheir lives from causes beyond their
control. The number of passengers travelling
was 9,l22, O0o. The distance travelled 1872
100000 miles. The number killed from eau
ses beyond control, were one to 3,04O,666
Only one passenger lost his life for each co..
Sl3,333 miles travelled.
Effects Of perpetual day.-Nothing made SC
deep an impression on our senses as the
charge from alternate day and night, to which
we had been Infatuated from our infancy, tc
the continued daylight to which we were
subjected as soon as we crossed the Artlt
circle. Where the ground is but little trod'
den, even triies are interesting and | dc
not, therefore, hesitate to describe the feel
ings with which we regarded this change
The novelty, it must be admitted was very
agreeable :; and the advantage of constant
daylight, in an unexplored and boisterous sea
was too great to allow US even to wish for q
return of the alterations above alluded to
but the reluctance we felt to leave the deck
when The sun was shining bright upon oul
sails md to retire to our cabins to sleep, Of
ten deprived US ofmany hours of necessary rest
and when we returned to the deck to keep
our night watch, if it may be so called, anc
still found the sun gliding the sky, it seemed
as if the day would never finish. What there.
fore, at first promised to be SO gratifying
soon threatened to become extremely irk'
some and would indeed, have been a Sc
rioue Inconvenience, had we not followed the
example of the feathery, tribe which we daily
obefved winging their way to roest. with
clock-work regularity, and retired to OIL
cabin at the proper hour, where shutting ou1
the rays of the sun, we obtained that repose
which the exercise of our duties required
At first sight it will, no doubt appear to many
persons that constant daylight must be a valu'
able acquisition in every country but a little
reflection, will, | think, be sufficient to show
that the reverse is really the case, and to
satisfy a rejecting mind, that we cannot over.
rate the blessings we derive from the-whole.
some alterations of labor and rest, which il
in a manner forced upon us by the success
sion of day and night. 1t is impossible, by re.
moving to a high latitude, to witness the diff
fcultv there is in the regulation of time, the
proneness that is felt by the interchangeable am
Jealous to rivet themselves to their occu2a
tions, and by the indolent and procrastjnatins
to POSTPONE their duties, without being trul,
thankful for thatsaIlwise and merciful provi
sion with which naknfc has endowed tht
more habitable ~portionspf the globe-Bee'
chy's narrative Of Buchan's EpedHton toward
the North Pole.