Rivers, St. Lawrence & Mississippi Mills. 1 Canals, Erie enlargement..... 2 to 4 66 2 3 to 4 2.5 3 Mills. 4 er.. 5 to 6 5 other larger but sh ordinary size... ordi'ry size, great lockage.. 6 to 8 Railroads, transporting coal...... 6 to 10 not for coal, favorable 66 lines and grades.... 12.5 tributaries of Mississippi. 5 to 10 Railroads, not for coal, steepgrades 15 to 25 By applying these rates to the transportation of freight between the eastern end of Lake Erie and the Atlantic ports, we arrive at the cost for the several routes as follows: 1st. By Welland Canal, Lake Ontario, and Oswego and Erie Canals enlarged, and Hudson River*. 2d. By Erie Canal enlarged and Hudson River to New York.. 3d. By the Canadian Canals and the St. Lawrence to Quebec.. 4th. By the Welland Canal, Lake Ontario, the Oswego and Erie Canals, and the Hudson River to New York 5th. By the Erie Canal and the Hudson to New York.. 6th. By the Welland Canal, Lake Ontario, St. Lawrence, proposed Caughna- 7th. By the New York Central Railroad and the Hudson River. 9th. By the New York and Erie Railroad to New York..... $2.43 2 52 258 2 94 316 3 43 619 8 02 843 It appears, therefore, that after the Erie Canal is enlarged, it will be the cheapest channel of trade between Lake Erie and the Atlantic; but there is now a difference in the cost of transportation in favor of the route by the Canadian Canals to Quebec. Applying the foregoing rates to the several routes between different points on the Ohio and Mississippi and the seaboard, gives the following results: The cost per ton from New York by the Erie Canal, Lake Erie to Cleveland, and the Ohio canals to Beaver, is $4 77. The same from New York to Cleveland, and the Ohio Canal to Portsmouth, is $5 97, or by way of Beaver and the Ohio River, is $5 85. The same from New York to Toledo, and the Ohio Canal to Cincinnati, is $5 82. The same from New York to Toledo, and the Indiana Canal to Evansville, is $6 99. The cost from New York by the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes to Chicago, thence to Peru, and the Illinois and Mississippi to St. Louis, is $7 09, and to Cairo is $7 61. The cost per ton from the capes of the Delaware, through the Delaware and Chesapeake and the Pennsylvania canals, Portage Railroad and Ohio River to Beaver, is $4 59; to Portsmouth $5 67; to Cincinnati $5 98; to Evansville $6 96; to Cairo $7 54. The same from the capes of the Delaware by Philadelphia, the Union Canal, and to Beaver, as before, $4 31; to Portsmouth $5 39; to Cincinnati $5 70; to Evansville $6 68; to Cairo $7 26. The cost per ton from the capes of Virginia to Baltimore, and thence by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Wheeling, is $6 99. The cost per ton from the capes of Virginia to Richmond, thence by the James River Canal and the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers to Portsmouth, is $4 11; Cincinnati $4 42; Evansville $5 40; Cairo $5 98. The cost per ton from St. Louis to New Orleans, including the extra cost of drayage and shipment at New Orleans, is $6 89. From the above statement it will be seen that the Pennsylvania canals reach the Ohio River at Beaver and Portsmouth 46 cts. per ton cheaper than the New York and Ohio canals-Cincinnati, Evansville, and Cairo, 12 cts. cheaper. To the cost of the movement in each of the above cases, has been added a price per ton which would, on a movement of 2,000,000 tons per annum, pay the annual cost of maintenance and interest at 7 per cent on the cost of the artificial works through which the several routes pass. In the case of the enlargement of the Erie Canal, the movement is taken at 4,000,000 tons in consequence of its greater capacity. The Virginia Canal, if completed, would reach the Ohio River at Portsmouth $1 74 per ton cheaper than the New York and Ohio canals; and Cincinnati, Evansville, and Cairo, $1 40 cheaper.* The dividing line of trade between the Pennsylvania and New York canals is fortysix miles north of Beaver and Portsmouth, and twelve miles north of Cincinnati and Evansville; but when the enlargement of the Erie Canal is completed, the dividing line of trade, in accordance with the same principles, will be extended to the Ohio, and for a distance of thirty miles up that river from Beaver, (say to Pittsburgh,) and will embrace all of the trade below that point, until it is intercepted by that which will descend to New Orleans. The dividing line of trade between New Orleans and the New York canals, is now above the mouth of the Illinois River, but when the Erie Canal is enlarged, with the advantages of the New York market aud the facility of foreign shipment therefrom, it will be extended to the Mississippi, at least as far down as the mouth of the Ohio. The completion of the enlargement of the Erie Canal will reduce the expense of transportation about 75 cents per ton, which will increase the area of the drainage of its trade as far as that sum will transport by land or water, and will also increase the amount of trade within the present drainage, by permitting the exportation of many articles of large bulk and small value, which are restrained at the present time by the cost of transportation. This extension, as will be seen by the application of the rates given in the preceding table, is equal to two hundred and fifty miles on a river similar to the Ohio; one hundred and fifty miles on an ordinary canal; fifty miles on a railroad; and five to seven miles on common roads, where these distances are not met by competing lines, and one-half of those distances where they are so met. The foregoing tables show the relative cost of transport by each route, allowing on each a sum that will pay the interest on the expenditure which has been made to construct the artificial works on them. They do not include the tolls which are charged to reimburse the cost of the works, nor the charges which are necessary to be paid to the forwarders. If such tolls and charges are made upon the same basis upon each route, the expense of transportation would be in the same ratio as the cost charges given in the preceding tables, while the actual charges would probably be in each case about double the cost charges The annexed table shows the charges on the principal water and railroad lines, according to the last published rates. THE CHARGES FOR TRANSPORTATION BETWEEN THE SEABOARD AND THE WEST BY THE VARIOUS RAILROADS AND WATER LINES. The Legislature of Virginia, at its last session, decided to abandon the water line across the mountains, and a railroad is now being built instead of the canal. This increases the cost of transportation by that route, and prevents its consideration as a competitor with the New York Canals. Illinois Canal... 1 66 River 1 66 942 2 BOSTON AND WORCESTER RAILROAD. The length of this road, main line, from Boston to Worcester, is 44 miles. The Boston and Worcester Company have six branch lines (24 miles) now open for traffic. The total length of the main and branch roads is 68 miles. The Millbury Branch opened in 1836, the Saxonville Branch opened in 1846, the Newtown Lower Falls Branch opened in 1847, the Brookline Branch opened in 1848, the Milford Branch opened the same year, and the Framingham Branch opened in 1849. The following statement shows the capital stock upon which dividends have been paid, cost of road, gross and net income, expenses of operating the road, and dividends paid by the Company for the eighteen years, commencing the first after its completion: The gross income of the road for eighteen years has been $8,898,583, and the expenses during same time $4,685,528. The total net income for the eighteen years was $4,213,676; the whole amount of the dividends divided in the eighteen years has been 126 per cent. The dividends paid by the Boston and Worcester Railroad Company have been nearly equal to 7 per cent upon the whole expenditure. The increase of cost of the road over original estimate has been $3,966,880, or 550 per cent; of earnings, 620 per cent; of expenses, 1,200 per cent; and of net earnings, 400 per cent. The annual increase has been pretty uniform. At the end of nine years from the opening of the road for traffic, the gross earnings reached the sum of $426,403; at the end of eighteen years, $887,219. The cost of the road reached its maximum in 1849, since which time it has been slightly reduced. The earnings in the meantime have increased from $703,361 to $887,219-a gain of $183,858, or 26 per cent. The road is thoroughly constructed, with ample grounds, buildings, and side-tracks for the accommodation of its business. The amount paid for real estate has added largely to the cost of the road. The equipment of the company on the 30th day of November, 1853, consisted in 26 locomotive engines; 100 passenger-cars; also, 44-236th parts of 24 passenger cars belonging to the New York and Boston Express Line; 18 baggage-cars, and 44-236th parts of 10 baggage-cars belonging to the above line; 640 merchandise cars; and 84 gravel cars. It is the declared policy of the company to make no further addition to the capital account. No railroad in the country is better or more efficiently managed than the Boston and Worcester, especially since it has been in charge of GINERY TWICHELL, Esq., the intelligent and energetic Superintendent. THE VICTORIA RAILWAY BRIDGE AT MONTREAL. This stupendous enterprise, as we learn from the State of Maine, is now in active progress, and unless unforeseen circumstances should occur, it is intended that the first train of the Grand Trunk Railway Company shall go through the Victoria Bridge in the summer of 1858. For the following description of what has been not inappropriately designated the greatest work of modern times, we are indebted to JOHN A. Poor, Esq., the editor of the State of Maine, and one of the earliest and most efficient agents in bringing about the "annexation" of Canada to the United States by means of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad. This account was prepared by Sir C. P. Rooney, from data furnished by Mr. A. M. Ross, Chief Engineer of this great work, and may be relied upon as entirely accurate in all its details: As is already well known, the commercial reason given for the construction of the Victoria Bridge, is the necessity of bringing in the exhaustless products of Canada West, and of the Western States of the Union-such as Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, &c.—without break of gauge or of bulk, from the extreme Western point of British North America to the Atlantic seaboard. The promoters of the undertaking allege that, by means of the bridge, they will be able to meet the requirements of this traffic more cheaply and expeditiously than by any other existing route, whether of rail or of water; and they must be doubtless strong in the faith, as its cost is to be about seven millions of dollars, or about one seventh of the total expense of building the 1,112 miles comprising the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada. The bridge is to be tubular, on the plan of the celebrated Britannia Bridge over the Menai Straits, in North Wales. It will consist of 25 spans or spaces for navigation between the 24 piers, (exclusive of two abutments,) for the support of the tubes. The center span will be 330 feet wide, and each of the other spans will be 242 feet wide. The width of each of the piers next to the abutments will be 15 feet, and the width of those approaching the two center piers will be gradually increased, so that these two piers will each be 18 feet wide, or 3 feet more than those next the abutments. Each abutment is to be 242 feet long and 90 feet wide, and from the north shore of the St. Lawrence to the north abutment there will be a solid stone embankment, (faced in rough masonry towards the current,) 1,200 feet in length. The stone embankment leading from the south shore of the river to the south abutment, will be 600 feet long. The length of the bridge, from abutment to abutment, will be 8,000 feet, and its total length from river bank to river bank will be 10,284 feet, or 176 feet less than two English miles. The clear distance between the ordinary summer level of the St. Lawrence and the under surface of the center tube is to be 60 feet, and the hight diminishes towards either side, with a grade at the rate of 1 in 130, or 40 feet in the mile, so that at the outer or river edge of each abutment the hight is 36 feet above the summer level. The summer depth of the water in the St. Lawrence varies from 14 feet about the center to 4 feet towards the banks, and the current runs, at the site of the bridge, at a rate varying from 7 to 10 miles an hour. Each of the tubes will be 19 feet in hight at the end, whence they will gradually increase to 22 feet 6 inches in the center. The width of each tube will be 16 feet, or 9 feet 6 inches wider than the rail track. The total weight of iron in the tubes will be 10,400 tons, and they will be bound and riveted together precisely in the same manner and with similar machinery to that employed in the Britannia Bridge. The principal part of the stone used in the construction of the piers and abutments is a dense, blue limestone, found at Pointe Claire, on the Ottawa River, about 18 miles above Montreal, about 8 above the confluence of that river with the St. Lawrence. A large village has suddenly sprung up at the place, for during the last twelve months upwards of 500 quarrymen, stone-masons, and laborers have been employed there. Every contrivance that could be adopted to save manual labor has also been applied, and its extent will be judged from the fact that the machinery at the quarry and the adjacent jetty has-including the cost of the jetty-involved an outlay of $150,000. Three powerful steam-tugs and 35 barges, each capable of carrying 200 tons of stone, have been specially built for the work, at a cost of about $120,000. These are used for the conveyance of the stone to the piers; and by the end of September next, a railway on the permanent line of the Grand Trunk track will be laid down from the quarry-close to which the permanent line will pass-to the north shore of the St. Lawrence, so as to convey along it the stone required for the north embankment and for the northern abutment. The piers close to the abutments will each contain about 6,000 tons of masonry. Scarcely a block used in the construction of the piers will be less than 7 tons weight, and many of them, especially those exposed to the force of the current and to the breaking up of ice in spring, will weigh fully 10 tons each. As the construction of "Pier No. 1" is already several feet above the bed of the river, the process of binding the blocks together can now be seen and appreciated. In addition to the abundant use of the best water cement, each stone is clamped to its neighbors in several places by iron rivets, and the interstices between the rivets and the blocks are filled up with molten lead. If the mighty St. Lawrence conquers these combined appliances, then indeed is there an end to all mechanical resistances. In consequence of the increased bight and width of the piers converging towards the center, the weight of stone in those that will bear the center tube will be about 8,000 tons each. The total amount of masonry in the piers will be 27,500,000 cubic feet, which, at 13 feet to the ton, gives a total weight of about 205,000 tons. The lat Mr. Robert Stephenson and Mr. A. M. Ross are the engineers of the bridge, on behalf of the Grand Trunk Railway. The former gentleman visited Canada last year, and purposes returning again when the works have made further progress. ter is permanently located in the province, not only for the superintendence of the bridge, but also as Engineer-in-chief of the railway company. The contractors are Messrs. Peto, Brassey, Betts & Jackson, and their representative in Canada for the Victoria Bridge, and for the railway from Montreal to Kingston, a distance of 180 miles, is Mr. James Hodges, a gentleman well known in connection with some of the most important engineering works in England. The coffer dams, (entirely on a new principle invented by Mr. Hodges,) for the northern abutment and the three first adjacent piers, have been some time successfully placed. The masonry in Pier No. 1, as has already been stated, is several feet above the bed of the St. Lawrence. It is commenced in the next pier, and is ready for a beginning in the abutment. The whole of these will be raised ten feet above the winter level of the St. Lawrence, which is 17 feet above the summer level, before the ice sets in in December, when all masonry work will have to be suspended until the spring of 1855. HOW RAILROADS INCREASE WEALTH. Inasmuch as at the present time there exists quite an outcry against some of the railroad enterprises of the day, we copy the following from a late number of the Cincinnati Railroad Record with the object of showing the influence of railways, and the increase of capital and the facilities of Commerce: Annual gain in transportation $7,000,000, which is interest on Aggregate value $50,000,000 35,000,000 51,000,000 100,000,000 15,000,000 $201,000,000 Deduct the original cost, and we have a clear gain of capital to the extent of 151 millions of dollars. Mr. Mansfield, the editor, thus comments: Try this estimate by any other test that can be applied, and it will be found to be within limits. Take, for example, the valuation of the State. In three years three hundred millions have been added to the assessments of the State, and the assessments are under valuation. Take Cincinnati as an example. In five years her Commerce has doubled. What has done it? Her bank capital is constantly diminishing, and her rates of interest are enormous. What has sustained her? But for the extension of her trade through the interior, by railways, the tyranny of legislation, and the equally bad municipal management, would almost have crushed her. The vastly |