Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-05-05

coo feet long, and has accOmmoda-
ton for several thousand persons.
New York, which consisted of but
few huts in 49, when it was
bought from the Indians by the
Dutch for the nominal sum of $2l,
is now the largest city and the most
important seaport ON the Western
Continent. What a tremendous
differencei In 1913 Henry Hudson
entered New York Bay on a clumsy,
old-fashioned vessel, but now thou
sands of crafts from the modest and
fran skiff to the strong and proud
ocean-steamers ply on those waters.
A suspension bridge of the boldest
conception across the East river will
soon be finished, connecting the two
sister cities New York and Brook
lyn, and a tunnel under Hudson
river is to be built to bring New
York and jersey City in closer con-
tact. That tunnel will be made
large enough for two railroad tracks
and Illuminated with gas. The
rocks at He'll Gate in the East river,
obstructing navigation, have been
partly blasted out, and thus the
route to Europe will be shortened
from one to two hundred miles.
Not only powerful steamers, to carry
man and the products of peace and
prosperity, have been constructed,
but also formidable irOn-clads and
gun-boats, to strike terror, spread
destruction and helch forth death.
The "Invincible" and "Devasta-
ton" of the English navy, "Dan-
doIo" and HDuiIiO" of the Italian,
and "Peter the Great of the Rus
sian navy, with iron plates 1915
inches thickness, are the strongest
men-of-war, built on the latest and
most improved style. Man circum-
navigates now the whole globe; he
even penetrates to the icy terrOrs of
the arctic regions. By means of
the moon and stars, the compass and
sea-clOck, which does not vary one
second in a complete circumnaviga-
ton, he determines the direction,
the latitude and longitude of his
station.
The first railroad in England was
built in 1923, between Liverpool and
Manchester; the first railroad in
the United States, from Baltimore
to Washington, in 1881. Now
there are more than $4,000 miles OF
finished railroads in this free coun-
try; Illinois alone has 5000 miles.
In about seven days we can go from
New York City, on the Atlantic, to
San Francisco, on the Pacific Ocean,
which was first discovered by the
Spanish adventuTer Nunez de Bal
bOr' in 1913. Two other transcOnti.
mental railroads, the Northern and
I Southern Pacific, are in progress OF
construction. In South America
there is also a Pacific railroad pro,
ceeding from CallaO, in Peru, cross
ing the Andes at an elevation OF
about $4,000 feet, and terminating
at OrOya, village situated at the
place where the Amazon river emer-
ges from the mountains, winds it,
course eastward and becomes navi-
gable, thus affording uninterrupted
connection between the two oceans
In Europe, four of the boldest and
most finished specimens of railroad
engineering are those iron tracks
which cross the Alps, and connect
the Northern and Western Europe
| with Italy, namely, the Brennel
and Sommering r. r. in Austria
the GOtthard r. r. in Switzerland
and the Mont Gents r. r.. in France
The tunnel through the Mont Gents
is about $4,000 feet long, and tbs
one through the GOtthard, when
completed, will have nearly the
same length. French and English
capitalists are just now building q
tunnel under the Strait Of Dover q
miles long, while about 10 years age
they intended to erect a floating
tunnel in the form OF huge iron
tubes. Engineers are discussing the
feasibility of bringing Europe and
Africa in closer contact by building
a tunnel under the Strait of Gibral.
tar. The SUBMITS of Mount Wash
ingtOn in New Hampshire (Over6, 00C
feet high and Rigi in Switzerland
$1,000 feet high are reached by rail
roads starting from their very base
on an inclined plane according to
Mr.. Marsh's plan,
The telegraph is another wonder.
Prof. Morse, following in the track
of the Swedish naturalist Oersted,
the discOverer of electromagnetic
and author of "Genius of Nature, "
established, but poorly supported
by the Federal government, the
first telegraph line in the United
States, between Baltimore and
Washington, In 1874, The first dis
patch sent was the announcement
of the nomination of Mr.. Knox as
President, the convention having
been held in Baltimore. Gigantic
efforts were made in 1S5G-5S to lay a
transatlantic cable, but twice they
| failed, until finally in 1866, through
the untiring eXertiOns of Cyrus
| Field, the Atlantic Ocean was sue
cessfully spanned by a telegraph
wire. President johnson sent the
first greeting to Queen Victoria,
brother Jonathan thus cOngratuia,
ting John Bull on the important
event. Now there are at least three
submarine cables from North Amer
lea to Europe, one from Rio JaneirO,
the capital of Brazil, to Lisbon, the
capital of Portugal another from
Florida to Cuba, and from here to
/ Mexico. \ few months ago En-
/ glish papers announced the plan of