The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1870-07-12

Tho HuQ'tSh =. ~
Rail--The from n,~so 'i"as q" Aa"a'''
AuIn,aI. ~,
Germs of invention fructlfy quiosn, Ia 'ne
warm atmosphere Of progress that dls ocs
time. Our rapidly of motion, as We rush on
''ahead," evolves mental as well as physical
caloric, and tiny acorn OF thought, dropped
by the wayside, quickly yields us the branch
ing oak OF hundredfold practical applica-f
ton. When, some twenty or thirty years ag
canal boats were constructed In sections
our New York and Pennsylvania lines, SO
the separate compartments could be cauf
bodily, swung to their places on railroad
form cars and whisked away over the
ghany Mountains, with all the nicely pad
freight tlat they contained entirely undistuI
very few Of even the most enterprising enginA.
could have copjectured that this plan wo,s
within the lifetime Of generation, be deN
oped into an oceanic service on the same
ciple. The difference of application in
matter which we are about to mention Is TIA
the latter case revsrses the system, since it
takes up freight cars and conveys them on
steam vessels across the seas.
Some time ago we stated the proposition Of
an English engineer to establish system Of
pontoon service across the English Channel to
the coast of France This suggestion has
been worked upto point that has brought IL
before the British Parliament, where, under
the title of "a Bill for International Commu-
nication," it has been approved, with certain
conditions, by Parliamentary committee.
Those conditions preserve intact all rights Of
admiralty and such as come under the control
of the Department of Public Works. The
bill, however, will rot have the force Of law
until after the French government shall have
fully adhered to it, nor work be commenced
until the capital shall all haveAbeen subscribed,
with onc-half of the same paid liz. Il is
known already that Napoleon ILL., ia greatly
pleased with the scheme and will favor it tx
every way. This much having been promised
we may briefly state the exact terms OF tho
project which, when carried into perfect exc
cution, will complete the chain of direct transit
for packed merchandise between the British
Islands and the Italian ports on the Medter-
ranean, passing through the French aud Ger
man centres on the way. The same system
then applied at those ports--the railroad
gauge Of track having been modelledin oon-
formity --might, for that matter, send;on the
Identical car that left Glasgow to India, Austria
liza, and after that to America, and soquito
around the world.
The project, then, is to establish p0ntoOn
service between Dover in England, and the
port Of AndrecelIes, near Boulogne, in France.
the pontoons to be made somewhat like our
ferryboats, 80 as to be boarded by trains at
either end, and large enough to accommodate
at one time twenty-four cars, with their loco
motive and tender. Each floating platform
will measure four hundred and twenty feet i'm
length and have steam propulsion of sixteen.
hundred horse power. The resources Of
science and the experience Of railroading and
shipbuilding will be exhausted in rendering
the transit as safe and easy az possible. Tho
pontoon boats will, in ordinary weather, glide
so smoothly and with such uniformity through
the water that the passengers will feel scarcely
any sea motion, and the speed attaiuable Ia
confidently estimated at from twenty 10 twenty
Eve miles per hour. The computed cost OF the
works necessary at either port for the embarka-
ton and landing of the trains and the shelter Of
passengers and goods will be about three
million five hundred thousand dollars, while
the vessels themselves will cost aboat six
hundred thousand dollars.
This enterprise receives great encourage
ment from the fact that several Of the leading
capitalists of Northern France, among. whom
is Baron Anthony Rothschild, president Of the
Northern French Railway, are urging the
imperial government to construct al the
needed works at Andrecelles. Those at Dover
are promised by various private parties,
and will be put up very rapidly. This
weighty enterprise, which is far more OF
an international than local character, and
which directly interests the governments Of
the two greatest trading nntions Of Northern
Europe, will render passenger traffic far more
easy and agreeable than it is at present, while
obviously facilitating the transmission Of the
mails and of freight immensely At the same
time 1t will become another bond of good un-
Outstanding and peace.
Effects In the United States Of a was
In EurOpo.
W., :, Eur,Auo will ho ya lfa frat aA,ot yxor.