The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-05-06

they would run the four miles across at the rat,
of seven or eight miles an hour, without MISSING
step. Had they slipped off the diminutivs
causeway, they would have sunk in many place.
up to their middle. The slight extension O
| the bearing surface through the cross sleepers
to which the rails were fastened at intervals o.
three feet, enabled the bog to uphold this tenn
porary line, and the circumstance was a source
of increased confidence to the engineer in the
formation of the permanent road
The digging of drains had for some time
been proceeding along each side of.the intend
ed railway; but they filled up almost as soor
as made, the sides flowing in and the bottom
rising up ; and it was only in some of the driel
parts OF the bog that depth of three or foul
feet could be reached. The surface between
the drains was merely spread with branches O
trees and hedge cuttings, except that in ths
sofsst places rude gates, or hurdles, some eigh
or nine feet long by four feet wide, interviewer
with heather, were laid in double thicknesses
fthsir ends overlapping each other. Upon this
floating bed was placed q thin layer of gravel
ON which the seepers, chairs, and rails, were
| land IN the usual manner. Such was the mode
IN which the road Was formed upon the moss.
/ IT was found, however, after the permanent
road had been thus laid, that there was a tend
ency to sinking at some parts where the bog
was the softest. In ordinary cases where q
bank subsidies, the sleepers are packed up with
ballast or gravel but in this case, the balIas,
was dug away in order to tighten the road, and
the sleepers were packed instead with cakes o.
dry turf or bundles of heath. By these expe
dents the subsidized parts were again hoated ur
to the level. But the most formidable Difficult
| ties were encountered at the centre and towards
the edge of the moss. The moss, as has al
ready been observed, was highest in the centre
and there presented q sort of hunchback, with
a rising and falling gradient. At that point il
was found necessary to cut deeper drains in
order to consolidate the moss between them on
which the road was to be formed But il turn.
ed out here, as at other parts of the moss, that
the deeper the cutting, the more rapid was the
flow of fuid-bog into the drain, the bottom
rising mp almost as fast as il was removed. To
meet this emergency, number of empty tar
barrels were brought from Liverpool, and as
soon as few yards of drain were dug, the
barrels were laid down end to end, firmly Fixed
to each other by strong slabs laid over the Joints
and nailed. They were afterwards covered over
with clay, and were simply an underground
ever, formed of wood instead of bricks. The
expedient succeeded, and the road across the
centre OF the moss was rendered firm and sure.
The embankment upon the edge of the bog
at the Manchester end proved less complying.
Moss, as dry as it could be cut, was brought NJ
IN small wagons; but the bank had not been
raised to three or four feet in height before the
material, light as it was, broke through the
heathery surface of the bog, and sunk. More
moss was emptied in, with no better result; and
for many weeks the process was continued, with.
out any visible embankment having been made.
1t was the duty of the resident engineer, when
he drew the wages for the workmen employed
under him, TO color up, On section suspended
against the wall of the directors room, the
amount of excavations, entertainments, &C..
which had been executed But on many of
these occasions Mr.. Dixon had no progress
whatever to show. Sometimes, indeed, the visi.
bic work done was less than it had appeared a
fortnight or month before
The directors became seriously alarmed: the
resident engineer was called upon to supply
them with an estimate of the cost both of fiji
ing up the NOES with solid stuff from the bot.
tom; and of piling the roadway. The latter
OF timber across the moss, iroI1 swenty to thirty
feet high. The expense appalled, the directors;
and the question then arose, whether the work
was to be proceeded with or abandoned. The
Worseley and Trafford men, who lived near the
moss, and plumed themselves upon their practi
cal knowledge of moss work. declared tbs com.
pletion of the road to be utterly impracticable.
II you knew "a much about Chat Moss as we
do" they said, "you would never have entered
on 80 rash an undertaking; and depend upon it,
all you have done and are doing will prove
abortive. You must give up altogether the
idea of q floating railway, apd either I'LL the
moss up with hard material from the bottom,
pr else deviate the line 80 as 10 avoid it alto.
gether." Such were the conclusions of science
and experience.
In the midst of all these alarms and prophe.
cies of failure, Mr.. Stephenson never lost heart,
but held to his purpose. His motto wae "2er.
severel "You must go on Gllina,h he said !;
there is no othef help for it. The stuff empti.
ed in Is doing its work out of sight, and if YOU
will but have patience, it will soon begin to
show" And so the filling went on; the moss
was skinned for many Thousand yards rouna
for the purpose, until at lengsL, a. the stuff
rested upon the bottoIa, tine embankment grad
Ssliy stood above the surface. In the course
of its formation, the pressure of the moss tipped
out of the wagons caused copious stream of
bog water to flow from the end of the embank.
msnt, in color resembling RarolaY's double
stout end when completed, the bank looked like
a long ridge of lightly pressed tobacco.leaf. The
compression Of the moss was such, that 670 900
OuOC J6IuS VI EhW mOSo was TcuuC6U 10 II ,UUU
cubic yards at the completion of the work. The
slips, like London or Oxford clay, end nov
forms one of the best pertG Of tho road.
The roas scsoss Chat Moss was finished by
the LIST Of January, 1880, when the FIRST expert
mental train of passengers passed over it, drawn
by the "Rocket :" and instead of being tine
most expensive part of the, lina Is proved near
" the cheapegt, its cost being only about
81 900 per mile, which Is considerably under
the average. 1t also proved TO be one of the
pleasantest portions of the railway. Being a
floating road, it was easy to run upon. There is
springiness in it, such as is felt when psssip g
over suspended bridge and those who looked
along the moss % Q train went over ii, said
they could observe bend, like that which pre-
codes and follows skater upon ice.
Charles McMicken went to Cincinnati about
1909 penniless. He became fat boatmap,
and died recently, worth q million of dollars.
He has bequeathed to the corporation of that
city the SUM of 100000 for the foundation of
two Free Universities, one for boys and the
other for girls. Orphan children between the
ages of Eve and fourteen are to be received.
supported and educated out of the funds of the
Colleges. Those who may remain in either
institution until the age of eighteen, are to be
bound out to some useful occupation, their in.
clinations towards particular branches OF trade.
to be invariably consqlted. bupils who develop
marked talent aye 70 be professionally educa-
tsd. The course Of instruction is to range
from rudimentary principles to the full college
course. Orphans who shall thus be reared and
educated, and shall intermarry, from the male
to the female institution, or virc ssrsq, are to
receive at the date Of carriage, q loan NOT ex.
ceeding $500, at per cent. interest. No
other restriction is placed upon the CONDUCT of
the institutions, than that the Rrotestsai bible