TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. l7l 



processes 7 per cent., and from linen hung before the fire 8 per cent. 

 These are the principal causes. The number of wilful fires was small, 

 only 1 in 64 fires. 



As regards insurance, two-fifths of the houses were wholly uninsured ; 

 one-third were insured for both building and contents ; 1 1 per cent, 

 were insured for the building only, and 17 per cent, for the contents 

 only. 



During the five years under review only 5 large fires have occurred 

 at which property to the extent of more than 20,000^. has been de- 

 stroyed. These were the Houses of Parliament, in October, ISS^; a 

 fire in Silver-street, Golden-square, in March 1835; that at the Western 

 Exchange, in March 1836; that at Fenning's Wharf, in August of the 

 same year; the fire at Davies' Wharf, in December 1837. The only 

 large fire this year was at the Royal Exchange, on the 10th of January. 



Abstract of the Report of the Railway Commissioners in Ireland. 

 By W. il. Rawson. 



The Commissioners of Railways for Ireland have founded their re- 

 commendations upon the distribution and employment of the population, 

 the commerce, traffic, and number of passengers in the various districts, 

 the facilities which the geological features of the country present, and 

 the comparative power of the several districts to avail themselves of 

 railway communication. 



It appears that the population is most dense in the northern counties; 

 next in order are the midland counties, east of the Shannon ; and then 

 the southern counties of Tipperary, Limerick, and parts of Cork and 

 Waterford. The population in the north is in the best condition, then 

 that in the south ; the midland districts nearly resemble the southern, 

 but the western is far inferior to either. 



The order of the principal towns as regards the amount of their 

 traffic, is as follows : Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Limerick, Waterford, 

 Galway, &c. Their order as regards the value of imports and exports 

 is the following : Belfast, Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Londonderry, 

 Newry, Limerick, &c. The returns of the amount of passengers, 

 traffic, of postage collected, and of banks, confirm the preponderance 

 of Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Limerick, and Waterford. The eff'orts there- 

 fore of the commissioners have been directed to lay down lines of rail- 

 way between these towns. The geological features of the country offer 

 peculiar facilities for eff'ecting this object, the principal part of the pro- 

 posed lines being carried through a country of carboniferous limestone, 

 the most level and easy formation for such works. 



The commissioners propose two main lines, one to the south from 

 Dublin to Cork, throwing off" branches to Kilkenny and Limerick, the 

 expense of which they estimate at 2,329,000/., and the annual profit 

 at 3^ per cent, upon that sum. Connected with this line is a branch 

 from Limerick to Waterford, the cost of which is estimated at 400,000/., 

 and the annual dividend at 3| per cent. 



