MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 37 



existing travel across Mount Cenis averages 220 passengers and 

 120 tons of goods, daily, requiring 1,200 horses, or, allowing 10 

 miles a day to each horse, 12,000 miles of horse travel daily 

 across the mountain. The time required is from 9 to 14 hours, 

 but by the railroad the journey will be completed in less than 5 

 hours. 



An English paper sa} T s: "After leaving the deep valley in 

 which St. Michel is situated, the line passes by a gradient of 1 

 in 30 to the Pont de la Deuise, where an iron bridge spans 

 the river Arcq, near the site of that which was carried away by 

 the inundations of last year. The first very steep gradient, of 

 1 in 12, was seen in passing Modane, and, foreshortened to 

 the view, appeared on the approach as if impossible to sur- 

 mount; but the engine, the second constructed on this system, 

 had already proved equal to the task on the experimental line, 

 and, clutching the central rail between its horizontal wheels, it 

 glided quickly up, under a pressure of steam not more than" 

 80 pounds to the square inch, without apparent effort. 



" The progress was purposely slow, because no engine oV 

 carriage had previously passed over the line, and also to give 

 opportunity for examining the works. The damages to the road 

 on which the line was chiefly laid were found to be substantially 

 repaired by the French government. f The train entered Lansle- 

 bourg Station under a triumphal "arch, having accomplished 

 24 miles of distance, and attained an elevation of 2,100 feet 

 above St. Michel. From this point the zigzags of ascent com- 

 mence, and the gradients over a distance of 4 miles were for 

 the most part 1 in 12. Looking down from the train near the 

 summit, as if from a balloon, four of the zigzags were visible at 

 the same instant to a depth of 2,000 feet. The power of the en- 

 gine was satisfactorily tested in this ascent, and the summit was 

 reached under salvos of artillery from an improvised battery, 

 and amid the cheers of French and Italians who had gathered 

 to welcome the English on the frontier. 



" The hospice, the lake, and the plateau of the summit, sur- 

 rounded by snow-clad peaks and glaciers, rising to an elevation 

 of from 10,000 feet to 13,000 feet, were passed, and the portion of 

 the descent commenced from the Grand Croix. The railway here 

 follows the old Napoleon Road, which was abandoned long since 

 for diligence traffic on account of the dangers from avalanches. 

 Masonry-covered ways of extraordinary strength had here been 

 speedily provided for the railway. The descent to Susa was a 

 series of the sharpest curves and steepest gradients, on which the 

 central rail had been continuously laid. The confidence of the 

 party was manifested by their crowding round all parts of the en- 

 gine, and they thoroughly enjoyed the ever-changing scenes as 

 they passed round the edges of the precipices. Susa was entered 

 amid the acclamations of multitudes of spectators. Thus was 

 completed a journey unexampled in its character, both as respects 

 the steepness of gradients, the elevation of the summit level, and 

 the difficulty with which the curves and precipices were over- 

 come." 



