The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1850-02-28
INTERESTING RAILROAD REMINISCENT

0EH.
We have before ~ the second edition Of o
pamphlet upon Railways, published in 1880, from
which We glesn some interesting Facts relative to
Tie early History Of Railroads. From it we as
certain that experiments had recently been made
on the Liverpool and Manchester Railways by
putting in competition several locomotive steam
carriages. s.There are, = says the pamphlet, son
" three Railways in Great Britain, which have
been constructed for the purpose OF superced'ng
The employment Of ordinary roads BY the public,
as far as carriages are concerned.' On the sec.
ond Of these Roads, the Stockton and Darlington
Railway, steam power was, for the first time, en-
ployed in transporting passengers.
By an extract from Baltimore paper we per-
ceiye that the Directors Of the Liverpool and
Manchester Ralway-then IA miles long-had
offered premium Of $500 fer the most impor-
,ant locomotive s.capable Of drawing after i, day
By day, on well constructed Railway, on lev
ell plain, a train of carriages Of the gross weight
OF twenty tons, including the tender and water
tank, at the rate of Ten nsilss per hour.''
An English editor very truthfully remarks
about this time, ssLet the country but make the
Railroads, and the Railroads will make the coun-
ty.''
The following Railways were in operation in
the United States in 1880. In Mass, the Quin-
cy Railway, miles in length In Penn, the
Mauch Chunk Ralwsy,of9 miles, and the Lack
AWAKEN of l6 miles in length; making grand
total Of % miles, The utility, il not the abso-
Lutte necessity, Of Railways. however, had be-
come apparent TO the people, and more than
thousand miles were then under construction.
The author says, s.rhe spi'it Of Improvement
is abroad in the land, and when this important
section Of our country shall awake to its true in
terests, and shall have burst the shackles of
jealous and short-sigh,ed poicy,it will rise tri-
umphant over physical obstacles, and the strong
ermounds of local prejudice; and its several po-
litical members viii shine, with distinguished
brightness, amid the stars of our national gal
axy." Twenty years of successful experience
have passed, and with pertinaciiy unacconn,a-
BILE, the scales yet hang to the eyes and blind to
their interests few Of thi perverse generation!
The object fthe writer of the pamphlet, from
which we CLEAN the above information, is to show
The necessity of s.Great Railway Rou.e'' from
New York TO Council Bluffs on the Missouri riv-
er, crossing the Mississippi at Rock Island. His
arguments are much the same as those used at the
present day and his route pretty nearly the one
now being constructed
In urging the subject he states that in 1928, 10
millions of pounds Of lead were obtained from
the diggings at Galena and during that year there
were 90 arrivals OF steamboats, and "a Of keel
boats at that depot.
About this time they had in England "brag''
engine built by Mr.. Robert Stevenson and, from
the velocity with which it propelled the cars,
termed The "Rocket." The people had trial OF
he wonderful powers ofthis locomotive. 0nthe
third day, we are informed, ii started for run Of
35 miles, with load OF l2 tons, which il per.
formed, including all stoppages, in hours, 10
minutes, being upwards Of II miles per hour!
The Edinburgh Scotsman Of this date, truth
fully 'exclaims: "How trifing was the effect pro-
duced by all the wars of the fifteenth century on
the state Of the world, compared with the discoy-
cry Of Printing! And how little were the con-
sequences of that discovery understood by the CO.
iemporalies OF Faust and Gottenburg! The ex-
periments at Liverpool Chose alluded to above
with locomotives) have established principles
which will give greater impulse to civilization
than it has ever received from any single cause
since the Press first opened the gates OF knowl-
edge to the human species at large. II is no ex
aggeration 10 say, that The Introduction of steam
carriages, or railways, places us on the verge of
new era-ofa social revolution, of which imag-
nation cannot picture its Ultimate eHects.''
A Mr. Wood, who published book on Rail-
ways, after the opening Of the Stockton and OAR
ling'on Railway, with beclouded vision and that
seii-imporance which ignorance so frequently
eonfers upon its norsipper, says, SIT is far from
my wish 10 promulgate TO the world that the ri
dieuious expectations, or rather professions of the
enthusiastic speculatist will be realized, and that
we shall see engines travelling at the rate of
teelre, siItcen, eighteen, t,centy miles an hour
Nothing could do more harm towards their adop-
ton. or general Improvement, than the prom lga-
ton Of such noasense'' Mr. Wood lived to see
what he considered nonsense reduced 10 unqges-
ionable matter of fact, as will doubtless many or
those who contract their yetrousse noses at the
magnitude OF some Of the undertakings projected
at the present day.
The effect of the Railway improvements pro-
jected in England about the year 1890, upon ca.
nails, was ruinous, as witness The following ex-
tract; "New Railroads are projecting all over the
country-a meeting is 10 be held on Wednesday
TO create company 10 GARY one TO Birmingham.
Canal property is ruined. / believe the Sanky |
has fallen from f cooper share to f6oO In fact,
they are even anticipating that it may be necessa
y to let the canals dry, and to lay rails on them
The canal property, in this country, has cost
about thirty millions Of pounds sterling-its
length about 2600 miles" The stock in the
above canal had risen from El0o to ff8o0 per
share, so profitable had been the work, yet on the
9th Of Novemher 1900 the sfor kho,ders held A