Weekly Clarksville chronicle. [volume] (Clarksville, Tenn.) 185?-1857, 1857-09-11
NUMBER "A.

AMERICAN RAILROAD IRoN.--Gen. Duff
Green, as chairman of committee ap-
pointed by meeting Of persons interested
in railroads and charged with the duty
of bringing the subject before tho Post
office Department and before Congress,
has issued call for aconvention in the
city of Washington on the first Monday
of January next, to be composed of dele
gates to be selected by persons interested
lin the manufacture of iron and in rail
roads The leading subject Of the CON
ventionis to oefTectan organization by which
American iron can be supplied to our rail-
road companies at less cost than is now
paid for foreign iron. General Green sets
forth the proposed plan moro fully, as
! follows. s4g l~ @
He proposes 'an organization, under
Tacts Of incorporation in all the States from
which they can be obtained, with sufficient
capital, to be. invested in railroad bonds
and other good securities; that it shall be
the duty of this association to act as trus-
tee and agent of railroad companies in
the sale of their securities, and, from the
proceeds Of such sales and their own cap
ital, to furnish funds to aid in the manu-
facture of iron for railroads; that there
shall be a fixed duty upon iron, sufficient
toprotect the capitalinves'el in its manu-
fa,ture, and the currency from the contin-
gencies affecting the price Of foreign iron
produced by the financial policy of the
Bank of England that the laws regula-
ting mail contracts be SO modified as to au-
thorise contracts with railroad companies
for the permanent use Of their roads; and
that, instead of payments on contracts as
now made, there be delivered to such COM
penies upon bonds, chargcable on the rev.
enuese of the Department, redeemable at
the pleasure of the Government, and bear
ing interest at the rate of two and half
per cent. for sum the interest upon which
ats per cent. would be equal to the pay
ments made for such service under the
presentsystem; that the whole proceeds Of
the public lands be transferred to thep post
Office fund; and that whenever the funds
of the Department and the surplusinithe
treasury, beyond sum to be fixed by law,
will permit, it shall be the duty of the
proper officer Of the Government to pur-
chase up at atParsuch of these coupon bonds
as may have been deposited, under tho
laws of any of the States, as a basis for
bank issues, in. the order of the registry
of such bonds at the treasury by the banks
making such deposit" A ttf
The Union states that the same subject
! is now engaging the attention Of the head
Of the Treasury Department, and he is at
this moment occupied in the collection Of
facts and statistics with view Of recon-
mending some legislation on the subject
looking to the advancement Of our own
industry and of our own peculiar interests
in this respect. sq
THEIMMEEsffY OF oURSoLAR SYSTEM,
however much it may be magnifed, is, at
best, but mathematical point, speck a
mote in the immoasurable ocean Of space
which surrounds it, and yet no mind can
distinctly contemplate, can picture il to it.
self Pause for one moment and consider
the distance at which Uranus is placed
from its parent t-centre, Let us suppose
that an inhabitant Of the sun leaves his
noted orb, resolved on ajourney to the
most distant planet of his system. In
thought, he measures /, 1874, 1000 miles
as the intervening space which, before ne
can rest his wcaried limbs, he must bridget
He journeys at the rate Of one mile every
minute, or 1440 miles every day, or 525, 600
miles every year, and when Mt length he
accomplishes his task, and looks over the
past, he fpds that I'LL 900 times and up
wards has this planet-earth revolved in its
orbit around the central luminary since ho
J commenced the self-imposed task 1924.
200, O,0OO Who can more than repeat the
figures as they are combined2 They are
. beyond our comprehension. saturn is
|. 900 100000 miles from the sun; Jupiter,
d I494,7 ,797, 900; Mars, la, 900; Earth,
95lO3, ,0OO;o Venus, e6s, 1877 ,OOO; Mercury,
1854, ,0OOa The massof Mercury Isl 277,
lO0O; Of Venus, 2,463 $780, of the Earth,
I l2,8l7, ,4O9; of Mars, 392 ,735; of Jupiter,
> 9J3, $40, ,222; of Saturn, 284,735,0O0; of
s Uranus, 80, 10000 The distance Of Al
! pha, the nearest fixed star, is computed at
the enormous figure of sixty millions Of
millions of miles H 20 I 19s