Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1860-05-01

John e. Underwood.
In connection with this letter, We call the at
tention of our readers TO tho contents Of an act
Of Assembly, passed At The last session, the
provisions OF which, if carried out, will nd
our State of just such pestiferous fellows as we
suppose will congregatc at Wheeling to hatch
treason against the dearest rights Of the Com
monwcalth.
The 'act authorizing conaty courts to ap-
point special police in certain cases" provides
that the court Of each county may appoint
special police force, to consist Of not less than
twelve suitable and discreet persons, who are
empowered to apprehend and carry before
justice Of the peace any persons whom they
have cause to suspect have violated the laws OF
the State, or intend 80 10 DO, and particularly
those persons who may be found tampering
with our slaves, or who may be suspected Of
so doing; or who may be engaged in printing
or circulating any documents Or writing Of an
inccalary or unlawful character; or any
Nonresident Of the State whom such police
officer may have cause TO suspect NEDITArEs a
violation Of the laws Of the Commonwealth;
and 10 carry such person 50 apprchcnded before
Justice Of the peace, who shal! dispose of him
according TO laws heretofore in force, and may
further require him 10 enter into rccognizance
TO keep the peace and good behavior. We
hope that this law will be rigidly enforced
against all lueddlcrs with our Institutions, and
thus teach them und their hackers, At home and
abroad, that Virginia has reached the point be-
yond which patience ceases to be L virtue.
For ubyions reasons we have suppressed tile
name Of tic writer, which, however, is at the
service nf the authorities of Ohio county, if
they shall desire il.
To The Editors Of The Enquirer:
ALEASY, 22d April, 1860.
am constrained to inform you that j. G.
Underwood expects to make, at Wheeling, Va,
one Of his revolutionary speeches, At the pro-
posed convention Of the 2d May.
He has been the chief disscminator of the
Helper book in the North, and hence warn
you Of him. Yours, respectfully.
.--I-G>S---
Brazil.
Our large and growing commerce with Brazil,
gives To our citizenS an interest in whatever
affects the ;rcgrcss Of that country; and the
fact that several citizens Of Richmond arc lead
ins nemhcrs Of the firm who contracted to
build the SECOND section Of the Don Pedro II
Railroad, and that the bulk Of the machinery,
engines, implements, &C., was supplied by the
machine shons oi Richmond induces dur read
ers 10 take an especial interest in the progress
of that work, and hence we CLEAN from an
, article in the last number Of the American
Railroad Journal" the following some interest
ing items relative To the Don Pedro II Rail
road.
The entire length Of the road, now being
finally located by Major Andrew Ellison
Engineer in Chief, is $50 miles, extending from
the city Of Rio Iancrio to the valley of the
Parahyba river, and thence up and down the
stream. The entire capital in round numbers,
embarked in the enterprise, is % millions Of
dollars
The first section Of the road, IS miles in
length, was completed in 1853. The "sccond
section" was let in May, Of the same year, to
Mcssrs Robert Iiarvie i Co. The contrac-
tors were required to complete the first fifteen
! and n half miles, TO the big tunnel on the main
ssrru, by May, 1863; to have tho l.g turncl
"holcd' through by the same period, :.'"i lrnl,i.
cd ready for locomotives to pass within one
year thereafter.
From the progress made in the work to the
present time, there is every reason to believe
that it will be complete within the contract
time. Beyond the big tunnel the graduation
will be much less difficult, although portions
of the line will be heavy work. A cunSidcra
BILE portion ofthc second section has been sub,lct
to different contractors from the United States,
England, France, Italy, Portugal and Brazil.
Most of the mechanics and foremen are
from the United States, but the majority Of the
common laborers are Portuguese orthc country,
who work we'll a number OF blacks are also
employed.
The big tunnel, which has not been >ub-lct,
is 1000 feet long, and, as far MS il has been
worked, proves to De all granite and solid
enough to dispense with arcliing.
The first section" was opened for freight
and passengers on the lst of April, 1858, and
in the 81 months to the close Of the year 1859,
the number Of passengers carried was 3o4, ,o3s,
and The gross receipts from freight and passen-
gers amounted to $500, ,000-cqual to about
1000 per mile per ann,m on this short sec
ton Of IS miles.
Coffee figures largely among the articles
tranSported--thc amount transported during
the last halfyear being over twenty.scvcn mil
lions of pounds. Intelligent Brazilans, who
are familiar with the capabilities Of the great
coffee rcgion which this ROAD tx designed to ac-
rnmmo1atc, are Of opinion that the business
sill he considerably greater than the above
This Important improvement may be regarded
rs something more than merely a bold enter
prise in Il new corrntry--it is also wise public
measure and judiciu'Is investment ;nr The
stockholders and the government.
The Brazilians are an enterprising people. y
city rail road was opened in 1859 extending
from Rin about Ave miles towards Tcjuca, and
the business OIL it has been steadily increasing,
lar beyond the calculations Of its most sanguiuc
friends Another rail road over Il hundred
miles III length is about being commenced from.
Santos, running into the interior. lndeed ihc
spirit Of improvement seems 10 be increasing
i'll every SECTION Of Brazil.
-----~S-cD-S~----
Wore silver thnn Gold In California.
A specimen of mineral silver from California
lately reached ~ Peligot, = Professor Of Che
mistry in Paris, through the agency of General
Morin, the Director Of the "Conseryatoire dcs
Arts ct Meters" The specimen is said to
have hern taken froin mine which occupies q