The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1863-10-27

house. ~ These are the best; some Of them
are not nearly ~ psrfsc.-mads PsrhaPs by
"the boys.y 10 0elcols afef 81 ~
+ One cannot travel day in England with.
out being struck with the excelIencss Of their
Rail Roads.p / might say Also the high price
of their Rail Road fares. 70 Their roads are ss
solid asd smooth as II is possible to make
them--far more 90 than most OF ours. Hence
they suu their trains more rapidly yet with less
jolting aud less peril. Forty miles an hour is
average speed. Fifty aud even iixty miles
an hour is daily occurrence on most Of the
roads. Liverpool is 2I2 miles from London,
Yet the merchant 10 the one city will leave
home at 10 the morning, spend six hours iu
doing business in tho other, and be at home
again before his usual bed time aud all this
is dou4 % comfortably that he Is not even
wearied with bis days work. s6i 80 glra9 ~
But the fares are more than twice as high
as 10 AmeTica-I mean their frst-c -class fares,
which are 10 cars about ss comfortable 90 those
ordinarily found on any American Railroad.
have not yet become quite accustomed to
English termiuology. Here ocery body says
" coaches or "carrisges" instead of cars.
Aud IL you inquire for the +" ticket Office" you
are scarcely understood; (; they call il I. bo, X.
ting-oifice /, and you are /" booked for London
or elsewhere as The case NAV bc.) The reason
Of higher faies il is not dlfficuIi to explain.
Railroads in England are built thus: 3 sref
Before an application is made to Parliament
for Rail Road charter, 'he line must be nc
curately run, and the application is to state
through what estates or parts of estates (Oen
tioning The name even of every feli) it pro,
poses to pass (for The fields all cave nsmes) -
and every man interested is to be notified Of
the fact that an application is to be made and
when, that he my oppose il if he wishes. Of
course holders Of leases, long or short, as we'll
as freeLolders, are interested, and there is gen
orally no vigorous an opposition that many Of
the roads, as I am assured by the best au-
thority have cost $4,000 TO $4,000 a mile
before blow was struck. This SUN expend
ed in attorneys fees and other, ways 10 engin-
Ger the thing through Parliament. "A .er. 81,
Then Gomez the buying of the land. II
the parties agree. very we'll; otherwise il is
left to arbitration as with US. But lands that
rent for $95 10 $50 a year arc considered
worrh $500, and the R. R. Companies pay
on the average more than this. ~, sil
| Aud besides all this, no Rail Road is al
lowed to run on the same level with the com
mon roads, but either above or above them.
No person driving horse in England need
ever fear collision with the cars. Tbs mskes
their roads more convenient by far, but more
expensive. We passed through one tunnel Of
three miles 10 length and this is only one
out Of dozen, longer or shorter, that have
found in seven hours ride J which it required
the utmost skill Of the great engineer Steven
son to construct. Large springs were eucoun
tered, and almost iusupersble difficulties,
which well nigh led TO the abandonment Of
the whole enterprise. Finally four steam en-
goes were employed in pumping out the wa.
ter and the work was accomplished. But
that single tunnel cost four million two hun.
dred and fifty thousand dollars.
And now that am speaking Of tunnels,
may allude to my visit few days since TO the
celebrated Thames Tunnel, which you will
bear in misd is double track highway under
and across the Thames River. The architect
was the distir guished Brunei, who was also
the architect of the Great Eastern. The
length # the Tunnel is 1900 feet-wdth SO
feet-heigbt 224 feet. Considering tho diff
cul,ics which had to be overcome, aud the al.
I
come them, this tunnel may be rsckoned one
Of the seven wonders Of the world. The
cost Of tLis work-less than fourth Of mile
in length was little less than two millions
anu a alf Of dollars. 1t VAS intended as a
bridge; but so far it is simply a curiosity, Of
no great practical utility. There is but little
commerce between the two sidos Of the riser
at that point-no carriage road has YET been
graded down TO it on either side, aud you
reach IL only by descending ninety nine steps
on one side and hundred and nine on ,be
other. 1t is well worth visit, and the pay.
ment Of penney's toll to walk through It.
An amusing Incident occurred 10 connection
with my visit TO it. A friend-Rev. Thos.
(ioadby-accompapied me. We were passing
burriedly in, and as my friend was paying the
toll, tho gate keeper said-" Here take this
for your american friend-it describes The
whole thing" had not said world
don't think my square-toeL boots were vi.i
bic, but | was instantly recognised! The
American beard and slouc!l hat reyealed me ;
aud as Goady said with great good humor--
4" you cant conceal yourself sir ! II you speak,
they know your voice; If you don't they
know your hat; if your hat is off they know
your beard and il you should cut that off,
they would know your sharp features and
American complexion" Well, fortunately,
I am proud to be an American, and go the
recognition is by no means dissgreeable.
Another great Lordon work deserves no.
tice 10 this connection-the Metropolitan Un
der grouad Rail Road--ruuning four miles
through the very heart Of the city. 1t tho
first experiment of The Kind in the world, but
il will not be the last. Il isa great success
in every respect. II lies for. the most part
under ono of the main streets; and still i'm
,nerse difficulties had to be overcome in its
constructions; for gas pipes, water-pipcs and
sewerage drains must all be got out Of the way.
But il is an accomplished fact, and the stock
i. above par. The lraip moves from EACH end
every fifteen minutes--staps five or siy times
on the way, and gets through iu a quarter OF
an hour. Like every other Rail way in the
country, il has double track, and lst, 81 &
Sd class cars. It is so managed that each
station is lighted By skyiight by day, and
brilliantly by gas in the evening. Nc trains
run after IL O'Clock at night but arrange
ments arc 10 progress by which the six hours
after midnight are TO be occupied in trans
porting all the cattle ppd freight Of the Grea,
Western r. Road. This will add siiil more