The Nevada picayune., 1885-04-16
Gar Exposition Letter.
From our Regular Correspondent.

iDOlIIt IlC " hutA NAblb- it's are almost constantly being add ed to this greatest show on earth" whose last days bid fair to be its best. The latest single object of universal interest to be placed on exhibition, and deserving of more than passing notice, IS a complete working model ot Capt. Eads pro- posed 'Tchuantepec Ship Railway now on exhibition, very apropriate- l ly, in the Mexican section of the Main building, and is constantly surrounded by an interested crowd of spectators, This most interest ing ''model' shows the intire prac- 1 ticability of lifting the heaviset yes .els out of the water by means of pontoons. or floating dock, almost precisely such as are on the river in this port the ordinary method in use for docking ships in all com mercial countries. The "modeo shows the sinking of the pontoon in the dock to receive the vessel when she Is raised by a lifting block which is capable of raising..,a vessel of five thousand tons gross weight; the dock will be 4JO feet long, 75 feet wide and l5 feet deep, arranged with system of ,hydrau, lie rams placed on an intermediate deck oS tho.poato )a. The object Of these rams is to distribute equally the weigtt of the vessel. The pon. .oon is guided in it's upward and downward movement by strong anchor rods, or columns, passing through it freely, and firmly secur- ed in the foundations of the dock Upon the pontoon is.placed carrl age for supporting and moving the vessel, and, as shown in the model, receives and moves off with the ship as much apparent ease as any railway train, The track or rail
 way, will have six rails, three stan. dard guage tracks of 1 feet s 1 in ches each. A full detail of the proposed railway would occupy
 too much of your space and could not be made clear without the aid ot diagrams, but the working of the "modeP conclusivcly demonstrates it's entire feasibility, and the gen tleman in charge of the exhibit re-
 marked to your correspondent, that ''they would certainly not be advocating the interprise if any doubt existed in their minds of the success of the system"
 l It may be added that all the best engineers in Europe and America have given Capt. Ead's plan their endorsement, and 1t only remains to obtain the necessary capital , to begin and prosecuted to sue
 cessful compile ton. Several sur
 veys have already been made to find a suitable route across the 18th mus, and the distance tits known can be reduced to 13i miles of track, at cost not to exceed fifty millions, though Capt. Eads him self believes he can complete the entire work at a total cost of thirty i five millions. The result of this mammoth undertaking will be to rovolutionize the carrying trade of the world, and cannot fail 10 be of ! Iincalculablc benefit to the people, not only of America, but of Europe and Asia. To the people of the in tire Mississippi Valley it must es- pecially prove of vast commercial interest opening up, as it must, new and most desirable trade with the entire Pacific coast, and it's now far off Islands. This rout will re- duce the distance of ocean travel between San Francisco and New Orleans r., i5l miles below that  via Cape Horn, and lessen the dis tanc between the former city and New York, by water, l0,797 miles, and between San Francisco and Liverpool the Ship Railway will re- duce the ocean travel from 1j, ,S03 via Cape Horn to :, ,527 miles or saving of fifty per cent. Anyone can thus see what important re suits are inevitable on the compile ton of the new route. That conflic ting interests are likely 10 an:agon ise the jnterprise may readily be expected, but when the people learn of it's certain advantages they will override all opposition and compel the necessary aid to insure its success, which will be another N.,.N [ | Al