The New York herald., 1851-10-14
s1nInEs OF TIE UNITED STATES.
rns Progress OF Locos.otion by River and
railway In tine United States.
From the London Times, eept. Is

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~.. Progress or Loco.aotien ny River and
Ra7ivsy IN the United states.
From the London Times, eeYt Is
England has been 20 dazxlsd BY the splendor of
her own achieven ents, in the creation Of new art
of transport by land and water, within the last 30
that has been accomplished in the same interval
and in the same department Of the arts, else where
improvements less brilliant, indeed, intrinscally,
than the stupendous system OF inland transport
which we lately noticed in these columns, and hav-
ing lustre, mitigated to view by distance, yet
presenting in many respects circumstances and con-
ditions which may well excite profound and general
interest, and even challenge respectful compari
son with the greatest of those advances in the art
Of locomotion of which we most justly proud.
1t will not, therefore, be without utility and in
teIest after the detailed notice which We have late
ly given OF our own advances In the adaptation OF
steam to ooomotion, to direct attention to the pro-
gress in the same department, which has been smul
taneously made in other and distant countries, and
first, and above all, by friends and couutrymen
in the other hemisphere.
The inland transport of the United States is dis
trbuted mainly between the rivers, the canals, and
the railways, comparatively small fraction Of it
being executed on common roads. Provided with
system Of natural water communication on q scale
Of magnitude without any parallel in the world, it
might have been expected that the sparse DO pu-
laton Of this recently settled country might have
continued for a long period Of time satisfied with
such an apparatus oftransport. 1t is how wever the
character OF man, but above all, OF the Anglo Sax
man. never to rest satisfied with the gifts of ma
tlre, however munifcent they be, until he has
dertd them ten times more fruitful by the appica-
ton Of his skill and industry; and nd according
~, that the population Of America has not only
made the prodgous natural streams which int ,rsect
,ts vast territory over - many thousands of miles,
literally swarm with steamboats,, bat they have, be-
sides, constructed system Of canal navigation
which may boldly challenge comparison with any
thing Of the kind existing in the Oldest, veal
thess, Az d N ost civilized States CT Europe.
IL appears from the official statistics, that, on the
Ist Q. January, 1873 the extent OF canals Ia actual
operation amounted TO 4333 miles, and that there
were then in prt gress 1859 miles, q considerable
portion Of which has since been )mpeted, so tha.
!. is probable that the aciual extent OF artificial
water Communication now in use in the United
States considerably exceeds 5000 miles. The
rsge cos, of executing this prodgous system Of
artificial water com munic stion was at the rate of
60 iS2 per mile SO that 900 miles would have ab
serbed captsl Of above E32, 600 600.
This extent Of canal transport, compared with
the population exhibits In striking point of view
the activity and enterprise which characterize the
American people. In The United states there is
mile of canal navigation for every 5000 inhabitants,
while in England the proportion is to every 5000
inhabitants, and in France TO every $4,000 The
ratio, therefore OF this instrument of intercommu
nicatOn in the Uaited States is greater than in the
United Kingdom, IN proportion TO the poulation,
TO ., and greater than in France in the ratio os
I3 20 5.
The extent to which the American people have
fertiEsed to speak, the natural powers Of those
vast collections of water which surround and inter-
sect their territory, is not less remarkable than l
their enterprise in constructing artificial lines of
water cou In uIic alton Beside the internal com
mELication supplied by the rivers, properly so
called, vast apparatus Of liquid transport is de-
rived from the geographical ca ar lcter OF their
tensive coast stretching over space Of more than
40c0 miles, from the gulf Of st Lawrence to the
delta of the Mississippi, indented and serrated
with a.ural harbors and sheltered bays, fringed
with islands forming sounds, throwing out capes
and promontories which enclose Of the sea, in
which the waters are free from the roll Of the ocean,
and which, for all the purposes Of navigation, have
the character Of rivers and lakes The Ines of
Communication formed by the vast and numerous
rivers are, moreover, completed in the interior by
chains Of lakes, presenting the most extensive bo-
dies Of ire wa;er in the known worll.
Whatever question may be raised on the conflict
ing claims for the invention Of steam navigation, il
10 an incontestable fact, that the first Steamboat
practically applied for any any useful purpose,
placed on the liudson, TO ply between New York
and Albany, in ls0S; and, iron that time to the
present. that river has been the theatre Of the ost
remarkable series Of experiments Of locomotion on
water ever recorded in the history Of man. TIE
Hudson Is nav gable by steamers of the largest
class as nigh as Albany, a distance Of nearly lJ0
miles from New y ork. The steam navig alton upon
this river IS entitled TO att ntion, not ony because
Of tie immense traffic Of which is the vencle, bat
because l. forms sort OF model for all the rivers Of
the Atlantic states. Two classes Of steamers work
upon it-one appropriated to the swift transport Of
passengers and the other TO the towing Of the
traffic which is maintained between the city of New
York and the interior Of the State Of that name,
into the heart Of which the Hudson penetrates.
The passenger steamers present curious con-
trast TO the ses-going steamers with which
familiar Not having to encounter the agitated
surface Of the ocean. they supplied with neither
rigging sails, are built exclusively with a view
10 speed, slender and weak in their stru:ture,
with great length in proportion to their beam, and
have but small draught Of water The position and
form OF the machinery are peculiar. Tue engines
are placed on deck, in a comparatively eleyaed cit
uation. IL is bat rarely that two engines used
single engine, placed in the centre of the deck
drives crank constructed on the axle Of the
nous pad addle-wheels, the magnitude Of which, and
the velocity impaired TO them enable them to per-
form the Office Of ly-wheels. These vessels, which
are Of great magnitude, are splendidly fitted up for
the accommodation Of passengers, and have been
within the last ten or twelve years, undergoing
gradual augmentation Of magnitude, to which it
would seem to be difficult TO set limit.
In the following table, which we borrow from the
work on Railway Economy, from which We we
already derived so large q portion Of informa.
t'on. are given the dimensions and the details o.
fourteen OF the principal steamers plying the
Hudson 10 the year Is3s
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