, 1893-03-18

1di Rdc6s "a AAhAN '6hA'
1t extends along the quays Of the great linsof
docks on the Mersey for nesrly seven miles.
It's carriages ale Of iull size, not arranged like
q tram.car, hut like the ordinary passenger
car of the United States. each being IN two
compartments, and cap bic of seating nifty.
seven persons Beneath each car is IN sieG-
trio motor of from one bundled to s venty
horse power. and the speed will be RS high u"
thirty miles all hour. The poUe r to work the
trains. and with them the aces ssorirS of siG.
1als and light. j. tn" same. and generated
from 8 single point on the system. The whole
iuns upon an overhead railroad" or %contiau-
Gus bridge of iron. That is not, however. OF
the essence Of An electric railw y, though the
l~ightness of electric rolling gear makes such
an arrangement cheap aud suitable for the
purpose.
If its progress abroad il a probable measure
of its future il England, the electric railway
in Liverpool is bur the pioneer of q multitude
Of similar undertakings in our great owns.
In 1884, according to Mr.. Preecs, there WAS
but one electrical railway in America. In
1898, one Company alone has 1928 miles at
work, and in some caaes. speeds Of ~ miles an
hour are obtained. In the whole United
States there were in 1892. El2, 100000 in
vested in electric railways, 5O.000.oO0 pas
ssngera wete carried, and the cost Of working
averaged I'D. per mile. Mr.. PrSece does not
probably include in this estimate the sleotri-
cal tramways Of the United States, where
more than 400 Companies are using the over
head trolley system for street lives alone. In
England. though the Liverpool r ilw&y is the
most complete, il is not tho first enterprise %
The kline. Al B ighton y small electrical rail
way has been running Tor some time. Ryde
owns another miniature line q third runs in
ooMOanFinp 18th IVA Dn) krnah and Gi4pfA
Canssway. The NEST rScentexperiment OF the
kind is the City and South Lonuon Railroad,
running for a distance of ak miles from King
William Street to Chaplain. The difficulties
overcome in making this line could hardly he
surlat.s ID among the problems set for tho con-
struetion of n railroad in a populouB city, and
the method chosen was thu exact opposit OF
that adopted in Liverpool. There the ears are
carried on a xiaduct above the streets. In
London, it was decided to burrow far below
the foundations Of All buildings. Shafts were
sunk to O depth Of sixty feet below the snr-
face, and Is tunnel was run between each, thus
avoiding the 'cdt-and- COZ err systrm which
put the District arl Metropolitan Railways to
such enormous expense for compensation to
existing house property, The absence o.
smoke, Feat, anG foul air IA the electrical
system, alone rendered such deep and %continu-
Gus tunnelling possible; but financial Success
does not always follow a mechanical victory
The fourth half-yeerly report of the City and
South London Railway. however, will pro-
b blv remove the laat doubts on this the most
important question, bearing on the new in
%vention. In tn" frat half year, the cost winch
would tall under tho head IT ordinary locolno-
tive expenses in a steam raj wa VS. ID per
mile, equalling that of the most economically
managed trunk lines of tbs Kingdom. But
in the three succeeding half years it has fallen
to led, I'D. and now to Z Id. Butfrom this.
in order 10 make fsir comparison between tn"
little London railway and The great lines,
must be taken the differ, oe between the c at
OF coal at the pits mouth. and the expenses
FOR its delivery in London, which would re-
duoe the locomotive expenses to Sd, per male,
an average which exactly comedies with that
on the American electrical railways. The evil
dencs given by the report on a still smaller
undertaking of the kind, the PortruAh Elec.
Arical Railroad, is even more favourable. The
cost of running the steam locomotives on ths
line during the past year Is per mile, while
on the portion worked by electrical motors it
was sd. per mile. and last year as low as I'D,
The estimate for the Liverpool line is set far
lower; and il, az is anticipated, the oonsump-
zion Of coal does not rise beyond Z ID. for
avarv mile run. the Impetus given to the con.