Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1871-08-25

'velopmentsd, an where oheapness OF trans.
portation,is OF so great Importance the mar.
row gauge roads may, in many localities, be
well adapted, if not positively necessary, as
they Gao be easily built, md at such cost
th't, with but small traffic, they are able,
not only to cover tho cost of operating them,
but pay good interest on the capital in.
vested"
Words Of weighty Significance, which sound
as it they had been written for us, so appli
cable are they to the circumstances anl needs
of this community.
Captain Tyler, tho Government Inspector
of Railways in Great Britain whose attain.
mcnts aud largo experience give peculiar
value to his opinion, says: "Whatever the
exact gauge, whether 2 feet 6 inches or 3
feet, or any other dimension which might be
considered most suitable for lines of minimum
traffic. there can be no question that system
OF branch lines, costing two thirds as much
as the branches now ordinarily constructed,
sud worked and maintained at three f0urths
OF the expense Of those branches, would be
of decided benefit to Great Britain and Iro
land. aud would be most valuable in India
and in tho Colonies; in fact, wherever there
are people to travel, produce to be trnnspor.
ted, or resources to be developed, when it
would not be commercially profitable to incur
tho expense, in the first instance, of first.
class railway. There seems no
reason why districts, which could not support
railway of afoot'ea inch gauge, should be
altogether deprived of the advantages of rail.
is in ono sense, question Of speed. Speuk.
ing roughly, on railway of two feet gauge,
with two feet driving wheels. travelling might
be made as safe at twenty miles per hour. as
on the Great Western, with its feet gauge
and feet of dri ing wheels. Mt seventy miles
per hour. have travelled on parts of this
little line (the Festnlog,) at the rate Of thirty
miles per hour, with every feeling Of safety
'Thc adoption Of the locomotive power up.
on the Festiniog Railway is very important,
and has evidently been very nucceSsfu ex.
pertinent. The cheapness with which such
IA line can be constructed, the qnrntity of
work that can be economically performed
| upon it, and the safety with which the trains
run over it, rcuder it an example which will
undoubtedly be followed, sooner or later, in
| this country, in India, aud the colonies, where
it is desirable to form oheap lines for small
| traffic, or as commencement in developing
the resources of Il new country"
! 10 this record Of opinions of those in every
way qualified, by professional training and
experience, to judge the merits of this ques-
ton, might odd many and daily increasing
list of names, but have already exceeded
| tho limits which had proposed. and gone
far enough, believe, to put you in posses
| sion Of sufficient material upon which to base
| a sound judgement. close, therefore, with
the saying Of Mr.. Rnbcrt Farle: 'sthat'i
| ought to be engraved on the mind of every
engineer that every inch added to the width
of gauga. beyond what is absolutely neccs
snry for the traffic. adds to the cost of con
struction, increases the proportion of dead
weight. increases the cost of working. and, in
consequence, increases the tariffs to the pub
lie, and, by SO much. reduces the useful effect
Of the railway"
JAMES P. Low,