The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1857-04-28
@bansbilIs Daily Sournd.
~ Iron the LONDON Timesl t.l
English View of American Rail.
tnoAs

iasuci ANIL w Whds VIC TeCeiNe WHICH |
friend whom we have not cast eyes on
for Is or 20 years, comes across US and !
reminds US forcibly Of the fact show old |
we are getting" Here is part of the |
world which we have scarcely left off
picturing to ourselves as aboriginal and
fresh from the great act of Creation, COM
pletely intersected by railways. Omit
ting all the intermediate stages between
Chaos and Bradshaw, it has taken very
violent leap into time, and from the very
first, sliced hold of the latest results of
civilization. A net work Of twenty six
thousand miles of railway now covers
the United States. This has been accom-
plished principally by Irish labor, and tits
unnecessary to say that the cost of con-
struction has been very small, compared
with that in this country. The single
article in the difference of the value Of
land would, of course make an enormous
difference. The cost of construction on
the New York and Massachusetts rail-
ways has been $4,000 to $4,000 as
compared with $4,000 on British rail-
ways. We quote the very interesting
report on the Railways OF the United
States, by Capt. Douglas Cation.
The cheapness OF land has been one
great cause, as we have just said, Of this
sudden and wonderful creation especially
in the Western States. Let Us take the
Illinois Central railway as an example
Of this method of railway making. Con-
gress granted to the State of Illinois, q
$50, 600 acres. The vacant lands in al
ternate sections, within six miles of the
road, were conveyed by direct terms in
the grant, and, in the lieu Of such por-
tons as had been previously sold, selec-
tons were authorized to be made be-
tween six and fifteen miles on each side
Of the road. The company raised $780,
10000 by mortgage upon the security
Of this land, reserying however, two
hundred and fifty thousand acres, to-
wards the annual payment of the inter-
est. At theIsame time they call in %
This pays for the Illinois Central rail-
way, which is therefore, in fact, giving
20 the company, with the exceptions oil
The quarter which they take from their
Dwn stock. The State only charges Z
per cent on the profits of the railway. as
compensation for its gift Of land, and
-hus a railway of 2o0 miles long, which
orms the back bone Of Illinois, and con-
meets Cairo with Dubuque, is built at
he cost Of the Company of 100000
dollars.
But the most remarkable feature
which this report brings out is the ener-
~ and impetus with which the Ameri-
ans pushed ia medals res at once in the
obstruction Oftheir railways. This ex-
plains the rapidity and the small cost OF
his vast work more than the cheapness
{ land or grants Of land.
The object for which railways are
ganted in America is, in one very i'm
ortant respect, different from that in
his country; they are wanted not simp-
v as railways, but as roads; not only to
uicken communication between differ
mt towns, but to open way into the
cart Of large spaces Of territory, and to
AIRY off their produce. The railway is
carrier. there. Railroads, as Capt.
ialton informs us, are cheaper
nan roads; there would not be funds
'rthcoming, for making even tolerable
Dads over the vast praIries of the West:
Mt the railway comes before the road
this extraordinary world Of inversion;
is the aboriginal road of the West
erforming the very first function which
ne new country wants-that of opening
to human labor, and affording a chan
FL by which the results Of that labor cav
AXE their way to a purchaser. "Wher
rst opened, three years ago." says
iptain Cation, of the Illinois Contra
ailway, "the station-houses were al
ost the only habitations on the line
)w there is large village at each sta
On, surrounded by vast tracts of cult
tied ground. When | passed alon:
&c line last autumn, sacks Of corn cover
every available spot around the sta
pms, and the means Of the company
ere scascely adequate to removing
en-" With boundless tracts Of land
en-, lying idle and waiting to be useC
land which will give an enormous re
IN to cultivation, it is obvious not tn,
terest Of the American to delay hi
ilway till ne can make the best curve
d the most even rails. He cannot al
I'd to wait for ehef dOeeurre of engin
ring; no, every minute is lost that thi
nd lies idle, and therefore he lays hin
wn railway good enough to take hin
to the heart Of this profitable region
him down there with a pillow. an,
ade, with channel of conveyance 70
q produce OF his farm. lie bends tn
lway to his temporary object, an,
lkes it serve the purpose he wants, a
time he wants.. e,-no,0. IL
shes at his end, and does not min,
arp curves and inclined planes. Thi
making the most Of the instrument Il
own case, and welding 1T most vic
iously and effectively. The Baltimor
Ohio railway as first made, avoide'
expensive tunnel by "series of zig
IS, ascending over hill by a gradi
OF 1 in Is its steepest part, eacl
gag terminating in short level spac
that the train was run upon one zig
on the level space, and then backe'
the next zigzag and so on" Thi
entric expedient was superseded by
mel afterwards, but the American
uld not wait for perfection before h
his railway in the FIRST instance. =
wish our Indian authorities woul,
e hint from American expedition
ey 90 on waiting for perfect engineer
and doing nothing till they can d