The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1895-03-15

was used for many wears in the lead
mines of the peak of Derbyshire: but if
hemp had remained the strongest ma
terial for rope making, the aerial rail
way would never have taken the plare
which 1t has, or attracted the attention
which 1t now claims, among the prac-
teal means of cheap transport.
The invention of the twisted steel
rope has made the development of the
aerial railway practically safe and com
mercially possible, and more than two
thousand miles of line are now in work.
ing order in Spain, Italy, South Amer
lea, India, the Cape, China and Japan
To overseas Englishmen" the cable
way at Hong Kong is as we'll known as
the Devils Dyke" line will soon be to
London visitors to Brighton. 1t shares
with the latter the distinction of being
the only aerial line used solely for pas
senger traffic, though it was built for
useful and commercial reasons II
was found necessary to transport all
European workmen in the port up the
mountain every night, in order to sleep
In purer air, and the cheapest and
quickest means was found to be the
construction of "Telpher' line. The
saving in time alone is said to have al
ready repaid the cost of its construc-
ton. Nothing could be simpler than
this Hong Kong line 1t is carried
straight up the mountain side, the end
less line stretching from ravine to ra-
vine, on high steel trestles, through
ma ha ,ly -
on the rope like section of the knife
board of an old-fashioned omnibus.
Three passenges sit on each side; and
though the height at which they
travel must be trying to the nerves.
they are not shut in by aprons of steel
wire, as in the case of the Brighton
cars An awning, for protection from
the sun, is the sole addition to the
minimum of accommodation provided
on this airy journey The length of
the line is two miles, and the exact
height assembled ten hundred and nine
ty feet. The Chinese population of
Hong Kong were much disturbed by
the invasion of the mountain by this
railway. They attributed the epidemic
OF the plague to the anger of the
mountain demons, who were prevent
| ed by the wires from making their
nightly flights round the circuit of the
hill.
The difficulty in the construction Of
the Table mountain in wire-lines were
far greater than in that at Hong Kong.
A precipice and incline of eight hun
dred feet in height interrupted the as
cent midway. The summit of this
precipice was used as support, and
the suspending wire leaped in a single
span of fourteen hundred and seventy
feet to the edge of the cliff, and from
thence in another span of fourteen
hundred feet to the fiat top of the
mountain. The loads carried across
| these CULTS average half ton each,
and the line is used both for passenger
and goods traffic. The rock of Gil
braltar has also its wire line,
though of slighter build, and
far more striking steepness. The
height to the signal station is barely a
quarter less than the total length of
the line, and the wire runs straight to
the summit on a series of lofty trestles,
after first leap of one thousand one
hundred feet in an ascent of one foot
in every one and one-half feet. Viewed
against the sky, looking parallel to the
mountain side it looks like telegraph
wire stretched tight from the tops of a
series of little Eiffel towers; yet the
soldiers ascend and descend in the lit.
tie wooden boxes which travel on it
with equal safety and comfort. The
Hong Kong. Gibraltar and Table noun
tain lines are worked on double cable
along which one car ascends as the
other descends, the two being connect
ed by hauling rope.
But these are toys, compared with
the complicated and ever-increasing
system of aerial trains now working in
the great iron mines of Spain. Near
Bill bao, the greater part of a mountain
side is quarried away at different levels
to obtain the fine iron ore, which is
carried to the railway by nine lines,
running from the station at the foot of
the mountain to the mines along the
summit. These nine lines carry on an
average twentythree hundred tons of
ore day, none of which touches the
level of the ground till it has travelled
some five miles through space. The
appearance of these multipleX lines of
wire, stretching from tower to tower
of light trellised iron, and hung at in
tervals with hundreds of ore-carriages
in constant motion, is one of the
strangest spectacles in modern mining
enterprise. The double line of iron
scaffolds, where it leaves the terminus
! in the valley, looks like the support for
/ some enormous viaduct, festooned with
j wires slung with rows of pendent
buckets. Higher up the mountain,
where deep ravines cut the face of the
hill, the trestles tower to such height
| that the travelling loads of ore look
like little black balls against the sky.
! When the different levels of the mine
are reached, the lines of the wire-way
diverge and are carried to nine sep
arate points in the workings.
Yet the traffic is controlled with little
| difficulty, and there is no risk of any
serious stoppage by accident, as in the
/ case of a breakdown on the trunk lines
of a great railway. At the worst one
or two lines only would be blocked,
leaving the others free for use. 1t is
calculated that one hundred thousand
/ tons Of ore can be carried on each OF
/ these cables before it becomes uh 1t for
service In crossing wide ravines or
rivers where one bank is lowei than
another the aerial line is used exactly
works, the descending load being used
I - IL, la