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

glad tidings for the political regeneration O
the world, Wesley listened with timid trembling
~ 70 the fearful bursting OF the Aoodeates 8
revolution and he knew not that God vas do
ing work which should leave the nations O
the earth to joy.
CHAT MOSS ENGLAND AND ITS RAILWAY
FROM an article on the Difficulties of Railway Engi
| .neermg," in The London Quarterly Review.
Inc hrst, and, even to this day, one of til,
most remarkable works, was the making th.
road over Chat Moss-an enterur;se Which ~,
engineers of the old school treated with deris
ion, and declared to be impossible. GeorS,
Stephenson himself published no account o
the manner in which he executed this or apy
other OF his celebrated works but we are ena
bied, with the aid of Mr.. John Dixon, civil en-
gineer, who superintendent the formation of tina
part OF the Liverpool and Manchester line which
crossed Chat Moss, to furnish more complete
history OF this remarkable achievement thar
has yet been published. .nLH ~
] fhat Noes is an immense peat bog of abou,
twelve square miles in extent In most piaoe,
1t Is 90 soft that it is incapable of supporting
man or horse; and if an iren rcd be placed
perpendicularly on its surface, it sinks by il,
own weight to a depth Of some thirty feet. Tn
like the swamps of Cambridge or Lincolnshire
which consist principally of soft mud or silt
Chat Moss is ? mass of spongy vegetable pulp
the growth and decay of ages. The sphagni
or bog moses, cover the entire area. One
years growth rises over another-ths Older
growihs not entirely decaying, but remaining
partially preserved by the antiseptic properties
peculiar to peat. Hence the remarkable fact
although semi-huid mass, the surface of Chai
| MOqq ahoya he &c Al L..
country. Like turtles back, it declines from
the summit in every direction, having from
thirty to forty feet gradual slope to the solid
land around. Flt, EtFt
From the remains Of trees, chiefly alder and
birch, which have been dug out, and which
must have previously fourished upon the soil be-
low, it is probable that the sand and clay base
on which the bog rests il saucer-shaped, and
| by this means retains the entire mass in it's DO
sitlon. In rainy weather it sensibly swells with
the water, and rises in those parts where the
moss ia the deepest-the capillary attraction OF
the hbres of the submerged mass, which is from
twenty to thirty feet in depth, causing the re-
tention of the moisture, whilst the growing
plants effectually check evaporation from the
surface. This peculiar character of the moss
has presented an insuperable difficulty to any
system of Wholesale drainage-such as by sink.
| ing shafts in its substance, and pumping up
| the water by steam power. A shaft of thirty
feet deep, Mr.. Dixon has calculated, would
only be effectual for draining circle of one
hundred yards-the water running down an in
| cline OF about five to one. 1t was found that
ditch three feet in depth only served to drain
five yards on either side, and two bitches of this
depth, ten feet apart, left a portion of the NOSE
between them scarcely affected by the outlet. I
IL dnubffa,o n l<>lJ n.
Stephenson to entertain the idea of carving q
railway over such dismsl swamp. One expe-
rienced civil engineer declared, before the Par
liamentary committee, that no read could pos
| sibly be formed across the NOES on which q
| carriage could stand, Short of the bottom, y
except by taking out all the soft stuff, and
filling IN the cavity with solid soil; and q
Manchester builder, who was examined, could
not imagine the feat possible, unless by arch
ing over the moss, in the manner of a viadnct,
frpln one side to the other. 1t was the old
story Of nothing like leather" When the
survey Vi tne me was nirouc, vrIIy vnc1cugos VI
the moss could be entered upon, and that with
difficulty. One gentleman, of considerable
weight and rotundity, when endeayoripg to OBJ
tain stand for his theodolite, found himself
suddenly sinking. He immediately threw him.
self down, and rolled over and over until he
reached the firm ground, in q sorry mess
Other attempts which were subsequently, made
to enter upon the moss for the same purpose
were abandoned for the same reason-the want
of sufficiently solid stand for the theodolite.
The act authorizing the construction of the
Liverpool and Manchester railway was no
sooner obtained, than Mr.. Stephenson began
to do the impossible" thing. The three resi-.
cent engineers selected by Mr.. Stephenson to
superintend the construction of the line were
Mr.. Locke, lnow N. P.,l Mr.. Allcasd, and
Mr.. Dixon. The last was appointed to that
portion which included the proposed road
across the moss, and the other two were by no
means DESTROYS of exchanging posts with him.
On Mr.. Dixon's arrival, Mr.. Locke proceeded
to show him over the length he was to take
charge Of, and to install him in Office. Tie
line had already been staked out, and the levels
taken in detail, by the aid of planks laid upon
the bog. The drains along each side of the
proposed road had also been commenced but
the soft pulpy stuff had up to this time flowed
into the drains and filed them Up, az s.ss as
they were cpt. Proceeding across the moss,
on the first days inspection, the new resident
slipped off the plank on which he walked, and
sank to his kness. Struggling sent him deeper,
and there was probability of his disappear
ing altogether, when some workmen, upon
planks, FASTENED to bis assistance, and rescued
him from big periious position. His brother
residents endeavored 10 comfort him by the as
surance that he might in future avoid similar
perils, by walking With boards fastened to the
soles Of his feet, which distributed the weight
over greater surface-a continuance adopted
by themselves when taking the levels, and by the
workmen when engaged in making drains in the
softest parts of the moss. But the puxzling
problem remained, how q road was to be con.
structed for a heavy locomotive, with train
Of passengers or goods, upon a bog which was
incapable of supporting the weight Of a soil.
tazy individual. III
Mr.. Stephenson's idea was, that such road
might be made to float upon the bog, simply
by means Of a sufficient extension of the bear
ing surface. As ship is capable of sustaining
heavy loads, hoated in water, 80, in his opinion,
might Q light road be foated upon bog which
was of considerably greater consistency than
water. Long before the railway was thought
Of, Mr.. Roscoe, of Liverpool, had adopted the
expedient Of fitting his plough horses with fat
wooden soles, to enable them to walk upon the
moss-land which he had brought into cultiva.
| ton. The foot of an ordinary farm horse pre-
SCENTS base Of about Ave inches diameter; bat
if this be enlarged to seven inches, the slight
extension, of the base, since the circles are
to each other as the squares of the diameters,
will furnish footing Of nearly double the area,
and consequently the pressure of the foot upon
every unit of ground upon which the horse
stands viii be reduced one-half. In fact, this
contxivance has an effect tantamount to setting
the horse upon eight feet instead of fogr, :
Apply the same reasoning 70 the locomotive,
and even snch q ponderous machine NAV be
made to stand upon d bog by means of q SINH.
lar extension of the bearing surface. Suppose
the engine to be twenty feet long and FIVE feet
wide, thus covering surface of hundred
square feet. Then, By extending the bearing