The Cairo daily bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1870-1872, 1871-07-09

r0aa ABOUT to be built between piono and
oc,'na, IN ohio, will have n oauge 2I foet
snu - determined that the Ilno from
Sante re TO Denver CITY. over a0o niles
III lonstn, shail be constructed on tho mar
row gauge principle
pispRoPoRTIoNArE CAPACITY ,Nvotvrs
HEAVY LOSS.
1t is almost Unnecessary To do,oi, tho
many items of saving in Tho cns, Of
construction of narrow uauso i,nos
The road bed of n 4 foot 81 inch gauge
line Is almost uniformly is feet wide
in cuttings. and Ia #. wide on embank-
mchts The reduction of two feet In the
gauge would allow of more than a CORES.
ponding reduction in the width of en-.
bankments. 1t 10 also acknowledged ty
the most eminent engineers that a narrow
gauge admits OF sleeper grades and sharp
or curves; both OF which items sensibly d.
minish the cost of construction. The
same lessening of the cost also appIics 10
tunnels, bridges, culverts, slccpers. cross.
ties, bnllasting etc. The smaller weight
of trains, too, admits the use of lighter
rails. In fact, the cost of construction of
narrow gauge line may be fairly put
down as at least $4,000 mile less than
that of broad gauge line. But great as
1t is, the first cost of construction of a
broad gauge line lie not greater drain on
the resources of railroad companies than
the excessive cost Of operating them. In
q. paper lately read by Mr.. Fairlie before
the British association Mt Liverpool, that
gentleman said; at ought to be en-
graved on the mind of every engineer that
every inch added to a gauge beyond what
Is absolutely necessary for the traffic adds
to the cost Of construction, increases the
proportion of dead weight, increases the
cost of working, and in consequence re-
duces the useful effect of the railway" In
this sentence Is the gist of the whole ques-
ton between tho broad and narrow gauge
railroads. The real point involved Is the
the proportion Of capacity to requirement
IL has been the invariable custom of en-.
gineers to build lines of inordinate capaci-
ty, thus rendering them financially failures.
Mr.. Fitzgibbon, chief engineer to the gov
eminent Of Queensland, in advocating
narrow gauge lines says: at
is the wisest possible policy to provide
only for the wants we now foresee,
and to carry out effcctually O system of
railways which is within our present
means; leaving posierity TO decide what
further expenditure should be- incurred TO
meet its wants" And he adds: ITO ex-
pend two or three times the necessary
amount now, with view to meet any want
which cannot be felt for 20 years or more
is simply to expend in interest alone, q
sum sufficient to rebuild an entirely new
system of communication"
THE GREAT MISTAKE IN THE UNITED
STATES.
In no country is the inordinate capacity
| of its railroads more marked than in the
United States. There are now 1913 miles
Of railroad belonging to the companies OPP
Grating in the state of New York, which
have boon built at an expense Of 1924, 1885,
4l2 30. For the year ending Sept. go
1860 (thc last official report published),
their gross earnings were $54,1s5,94s 10;
their gross expenditures Si4,8S5,585 20
and their dividends paid, S.
$50, 1880. These figures show
the expenses h. be 60. IL por
cent, of the gross earnings, and the aver
age rate Of interest to be 4.25 per cent.
This average would be very much lower
but for the New York Central, the Harlem
lines, which pay an average dividend of
81 per cent, and whose united capital
is one-fourth Of the aggregate capital Of
all State railroads. All the lines carried
last year l9,903,49 passengers to a car.
$3.50, or about II passengers to carr The
average number of tons Of freight to Il
train was 1904. Now compare. these fig
ures showing the inordinate capacity
of these lines, with those published by tho
| board of trade in England. The report
| from which the latter are taken Is Tor the
| year 1868, when the whole railway system
OF England had just passed through fear
full CONFUSION. The comparison, therefor
should be very favorable to the railways
Of this country.
| ENGLISH AND AMERICAN RESULTS.
There were then l4,247 miles of railway
in Great Britain constructed at an outlay
of capital Of f5O2 262,887. This is about
3 80 times the mileage Of the railways op.
Grating in the state of New-Iork. The
returns show that 3l3,699,26S were ear
red in that year. But this includes sea-
son ticket-holders who travel every day
the real number::of passenger carried was
computed at 350000000 One line alone
carried ,4,694,S32 tons Of merchandise.
| This same line-tbe London and North
western-carries about 20,00O,O0O passen.
gers year and has revenue OF about E2,
600, 900 per annum. Its gauge Is, never
theless, the usual one, 4 feet ~ inches.
Thus this one line carries more passengers
and has 81, 100000 more than all the rail.
ways operating in New-York. And yet
it declares its urgent need of more BUSH
ness and is making every possible
effort to obtain it. Nc less than 300, 900
persons travel in and out OF
London daily. The number of trains dai.
ly running into Cannon st. terminus il
nearly COO the number of trains passing
through the Chaplain is over 100 daily
This enormous traffic is carried on at an
expenditure of fraction over so per cent
of the gross earnings; and the average
net profit is fraction over per cent.
and this in spite Of the startling fact that
tho average cost of construction df English
railway is f4l 500 per mile. There are
then 80 times as many miles Of railway
| in Great Britain as there are in the state OF
New York. For convenience cali 1t four
times as many. Four times the number
Of passengers carried by the New York
railway would still give them only go.
0O0,0 900 passengers against the 800, 900, ooC
carried by the British hallway; the aver.
age travel Of an American passenger DO.
ing 33.7l miles. The average travel oil
each British passenger is only 81 miles
but this is accounted for by the innumera.
bic, short branch, trunk-feeding lines
which feed the country, and reduce the av
erage distance Travelled by each train to the
low figure Of nineteen miles. The freight
| tra no oh AZ n,