The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1874-03-28
CONGRESSIONAL.

The House of Representatives on Mon
day last, suspended the rules and took up
the bill making $500, 100000 the legal
volume of currency. Mr.. E. H. Roberts
offered an amendment limiting the volume
of currency to $685., 1000, 900, and Mr..
Dawes one limiting it to 1856, 900, 000.-
MIR. Dawes amendment was rejected by a
vote of 172 to 20, and Mr.. Roberts by a
vote of TT to "a. The bill as reported,
fixing the volume of legal tenders at $780,,
600, 900, was then passed by vote of 1Gs
to II. The Ways and Means Committee
were directed to consider the expediency of
repeating the stamp taxes on matches and
bank checks, and restoring in lieu thereof
the tax on lotteries and places of amuse-
ment.
1t is generally admitted that the $500,
600, 600 currency bill which passed the
House will be taken up in tina Senate in
place of Senator Sherman's BILL and pass
ed by that House also. Specie payment is
in consequence, postponed to an indefinite
time that no one can pretend to predict.
Another initiation, another blow up, anoth-
er panic, are likely to ensue before we see
gold and silver as the circulating medium
of the country.
~ The National Publishing Company,
whose office is 10 North Seventh street,
Philadelphia, has in press work, written
by Edward Winslow Martin, author of
Behind the Scenes in Washington" etc.,
which cannot fail to prove most interest
ing book. The title of the work is "The
history of the Grange movement, or the
Farmers war against Monopolies; being
an account of the struggles of the Ameri-
can farmers against the extortions of the
railroad companies, with the history of the
rise and progress of the order of Patrons
of Husbandry.'
The following extract from advanced
sheet, gives history of the first small
beginnings of the mighty system of rail
roads which stretch their iron tracks
through every section of this vast country:
1t was not until 1926 that capitalists be-
came satisfied of the value of the railway
as P means of communication between dis
ta,nt points. The first road of this kind in
America was mere tramway for the trans
portation of granite from the quarries at
Quincy to the Neponsett river, in Massa-
chusetts. The total length of this road
was about three miles. 1t terminated at
the quarries in a self-acting inclined plane.
1t was built upon granite sleepers, seven
and half feet long, laid eight feet part.
The rails were laid five feet apart, were of
pine, a foot deep, and covered with an oak
plate, and this with flat bars of iron. The
cars were drawn by horses.
In January, 1927, second road was be-
gun, and completed in May of that year,
from the coal mines, at Mauch Chunk,
Pennsylvania, to the Lehigh river, a dis
tance of nine miles. 4" From the summit
within half mile of the mines the descent
to the river was 9S2 feet, of which 225 feet
were included in self acting plane at the
river, and twenty-five feet more in a shute
by which the coal was discharged into the
boats. The remainder was in a continual
descending grade, down which the loaded
wagons ran by gravity, one of them being
appropriated to the mules by which the
empty wagons were drawn back. The
rails were of timber, laid on wooden sleep
ers and strapped with flat iron"