The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1857-04-14
VOL. XI.--NO. 90.
An English View Of Rnilwa, Progress.

The London fimes Of the l7sh uit. has An art
e'e on American go-aheadativeness, brought fort
after reading the Report on the Railways Of III
United States by Captain Douglass Cation. l
says:
fhc hrst sight OF an American Railway map. d
as'a Voisarism, quite tases one absck5 An i'm
p'esnoh y produced rather akin to what recev,
wnnn . iriend, whom we have uot east our eyes OF
for htcen or TWEEN years, ccmes acros. IN and rs
mlnd: u: foreibiy of the fscs how old we are get
lug hete ,se part OF the world which have
sosceiy ieh On pictuIins to ourselves as aborixina
and fresh from the great act of creation aou et Al,
sn.eFsecie' BY raif~als Omitting all the iIrerme
diste stages bet ween Chaos and Biadshay IL hss =
Ken violent leap into time and fom The va. e.,
seiked hoo of the latest re- suIts or civ,iiz.,io
nstwoIk OF 40 600 miles OF railway now covers tb-
onitSa ststss- Ihis has been accom- shed prin Il
psly by Irish labor and r Ia unnecessary 10 th
the coat OF conatrustion hes been verv mail
60 VIZ that IN th,s country The ,iage article OF
tne dlnerenos in the va of land would of oonr,.
mske an enormous difference The cost of con.,,ns
iiIn per mile, on the New York and M.ssachn ..ts,
nAIlw >ys has been 900 to sl2O0o A ca N, ~
with SIS COZ on British railways.
The most remarkable feature which thi. Report
brings cut, 10 the energy and impetus with which
the Americans have rnsned IN medeas res ct In
the construction of their always This plains the
rapidty the small cost of this vast woik more
than the cheapness Of land ths grants of land
There .re som persons who cannot besin to work
till they have perfect tool. They fdgety end
uncomfortable without III they wait and wait, and
de ay perations till their tool 10 nicely
ground, polished Snd Ahaped, and convenient hand
put TO it, There others who won't wait, bat tax
the first tool they get and work with it. bad
tool 10 than good one, but in the meantime
they are doing so much work while the others are
doing nothing, tut only waiting 1t depends OF
course hat the department Of work 10 which OF
these two methods 10 the best.
The obj ject for whsh rsilwsys are wanted in ame-
RIGA IL in very in cortsut respect different from
tn at IN this couaty; they wanted not simply
railways but IS roGds, not only to quicken cotnmuni
cation between different towns, but to open a way
int, the h-nV Df farw farrI
carry Oft their produce. The railway 10 the carrier
there. Railroads, az Captain Cation informs u.s. are
cheaper thar ro.3s; there would not be funds forth
somng for mating even toiereole roads over .he
preires of the West hut the railway comes before
the road in this exuaordnary world of inver ersious
II the aboriginal road of the West, performing the
very tir't function whieh new country that
Of opening 1t to human labor and afJroing channel
by ch the results of that labor their sy
| to purchaser.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railway, as fl st made
avoided expensve tusnel by "a series of zigzags
ascending ever hill by gradient of in IS a. itl
steepest fart each zigzag teTmnatlng in short eve
space, 90 that the train could up zisZas OF
to this level space and then backed up the next zig
gag, and 30 on" This ecceutric expedient was su
p.lseded by tunnel afterwards but the America
would not wait for perfection before he had his rail
wsy In the first instance We wish our Indian au
thorltits w6u take hin from American exps6i
| ton They go on waiting for perfect engineering
and doing nothing till they do everything as it
done In this country. The Am srieans would have
covered India with railways before now The mode
OF Iu6os TO- the construction OF RAILWAYS
means OF grants Of land, IT, perhaps, useful hint to
our Australian authorities.
1t would, however, be doing Injustice to the
American railways to omit 'hs great convenlences
and good accc III odation which they Afford not
WthstandlDg he haste oftheir construction ind eed
1t Is one of the most remarkable characteristics OF
the syste N how 1t combines roughnees and expedi-
ton in the construction of The railway with conve
nience and RI fiaenent in the railway furniture and
carriages, even greater in many respects Than those
We have IL this country. The average American is
perhaps more particular about indoo, comfort even
thsn the aversge Epglishnan; he csrpets hi.
churches, and complains of our cold rooms
The railways humof these tastes and the carpets
the cushions the chairs with bscks, that can be put
either way, thu room for moving about the lights
and the warm air pipes put all except frat class
carriages TO shame. The ingenious contrivance on
the New York and Erie railway. of a funnel " hich
conveys air down into chamber, here it is plri.
hid by spray tofcsd up from jets below and thence
makes lts way through the Car, is specimen of
American railway Indulgence TO summer traveller.
The saniing widows ard screens of tarred Gu
vafs throwing eff the dust sho the same sonsld-
eration wbie the use of bell instead of whistle
on leaving it.tons proves regard for the human ear
st which we have not arrived in this country.