The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1848-10-18

slife or limb on raj roads hnyes beeif regu-
.larl reported mid these ifeturiiss ssglhee
ScIeafl The super erior snfs Of This system.
nlls simme mense &c coppmy of lime eilGcted
ratlrond comm nicatoin is anottie ercon.
ssideration Of primo importance inn sbnsi-
mess view for in the business world lime
AisSmoney. five should make 3ihe low
estimate Tint the b1sincss OF. d country re-
quires n daily yerage Of. lO0, 900, travel
slers II i, 2 connection with it, and surprising
that the railroad giyes;a saving 81, time Of
ssonl half over the old mode, Fit would IoI-
'4toW5that the gain ofltime Sof this number
sofsrailroad travellers oyeran equal mum.
ber by stage coach would be nearly q
hundred Years daily, or three, hundred and
fifty years per dnnum. This, rs any re-
decting person Gun see, is not mere fNncy,
but \ lpable statistical fact, and it shows
prodigious advantage in favor Of n busi-
ness community with rnilroad facilities
over one destitute of them. When we
think oftlie immense consumption Of time
which attended the pursuit or business ,ln-
der the old, slow sys,em,. we, rather won
der how men Of extended connexions in
3trads could possibly accumulate property.
But the circumstance which we llad in
mind in, commencing this article, as illus
trsting with special force the great con-
3venience ofrailroads, was this, viz: tho
saving, by the people or large cities, in
receiving their provisions from distant
purts Of the country, in q much more per.
feet condition and without the usual loss
attendant upon the old modes of getting
them to market. sqa,iia;7 q. ,
Ihattexceslent work, the American
8 Rnilroad Journal, has called attention 10
some Interesting English Railroad stp,is-
tics, in q British periodical. I, is there
stated that The saving on the cattle, sheep
and swine, in ls46, by Transporting them
on railways, instead of#driving them as
formerIy, was 1880, 900 pounds! and
That the feed. saved by the same channe
wns S43.60O,000 pounds!! which alone
would sustain Population Of over sc, 900
people. IS s., ,..'s;. s:,.. IS.
These interesting and surprising facts,
appear. 10 be we'll authenticated, and they
|r'nre worthytof thoughtful consideration in
this country. II has not unfrequentIy
been questioned by the farming ainteres,
whether railroads were ultimately ol
much advantage TO them, although when
they have farms 10 dispose of they are
sure TO mention; the fnct if q railroad pms.
scs through or near them, and to enlarge
upon that fact as increasing The value OF
what they ofier.s tFs
The loss Of driving live stock will be
oofcourse in proportion TO the distance be-
tween the cattle markets and the regions
where they were raised. The distance
from the English grazing fields 10 the
marke, is trifing compared with the long
and wenrisomo route over which tho Yves
tern drover comes to Philadelphia, New
York, DC. The loss of flesh and the con
sumption of feed in consequence of the
lack Of railrond conveyance is, Of course,
vasily greater here ,hnn it could he in
England. Consequently railroad facili.
I. tics arc worth SO much the more to the
American than 10 the English grnzier.
But even when wc hnve railroad com.
munication, we believe it is rot customa.
ry for drovers to avail themselves OF it for
the conveyance Of cattle. They must re-
member that cattle driven six, seven, o,
eight hundred miles must lose much OF
their weight and value, and cost large
sum for feed by the way, and TO Fl, them
for butchering. Whether they decline
employing tho railroad from motives OF
economy, and if SO, whether that is moi
mistaken economy, may perhaps be better
determined in the light Of the English
stntislics on the subjcc, to which We have
referred above.