RAILWAY. 



RHODE ISLAND. 



633 



in parts where there was light, loose, sandy 

 soil, & great deal of difficulty was exper 

 rienced. All the really difficult parts have 

 now, however, heen surmounted, and the tun- 

 nel built in the most solid manner. The lines 

 of rails are laid through many lengths, each 

 line being double gauge, intended for both the 

 broad and narrow traffic. "Where the junctions 

 have been effected, at Paddington and King's- 

 cross it was necessary at the point where the 

 switch rails joined to widen the tunnel and at 

 these parts make it, in fact, like the mouth of 

 a trumpet. This was the most difficult opera- 

 tion ever attempted in either tunnelling or brick- 

 work, but Mr. Fowler surmounted all the ob- 

 stacles in a masterly manner. 



What made the work at King's-cross more 

 difficult than all, was that at precisely the most 

 difficult part of all the junctions the great Fleet 

 Ditch sewer crossed it right through the crown 

 of the tunnel arch. As the sewer, of course, 

 could not be disturbed, the obstacle was met 

 by carrying it across, slung, as it were, in a 

 powerful cast-iron trough, and there it now 

 hangs, peering through the brickwork like a 

 colossal main, and with all beneath it as dry 

 and sweet-smelling as if Fleet Ditch the fullest 

 and foulest of all London sewers were 100 

 miles away. The stations along the line already 

 enumerated will, all but two, be open-air sta- 

 tions, and even those that are to be under- 

 ground will be amply lit by daylight coming 

 through apertures in the roof of the arch. But 

 one of the greatest difficulties of all the many 

 that had to be overcome consisted of construct- 

 ing an engine that should be at once of great 

 power and speed, capable of consuming its own 

 smoke, and, above all, to give off no steam. 

 Ordinary engines passing through tunnels so 

 completely enclosed would in a very short time 

 fill them with such a mixture of steam and 

 smoke as would be very nearly suffocating, 

 would make signals almost useless, and, in short, 

 render the traffic not only disagreeable but 

 dangerous. To avoid all these complicated 

 evils Mr. Fowler has invented an engine which, 

 while in the open air, works like a common 

 locomotive, but when in the tunnel, consumes 

 its own smoke, or rather makes none, and by 

 condensing its own steam gives off not a par- 

 ticle of vapor. 



In a trial trip, as long as this engine remained 

 in the open air at Paddington, it fizzed and sim- 

 mered like any other locomotive ; but the in- 

 stant it entered the tunnel it condensed its 

 steam, and scarcely a mark of vapor was per- 

 ceptible ; while, from the flues into the smoke- 

 box being damped, not the least smell of smoke 

 was given off. As upon the success of this 

 engine the practical working of the line de- 

 pends, the result of the experiment was watch- 

 ed with a good deal of anxiety. It, however, 

 was perfectly conclusive : not even the most 

 distant lamps in the long vista down the sides 

 of the tunnel were dimmed in the slightest de- 

 gree in short, nothing could have been more 



entirely complete and satisfactory. Raving 

 gone through the tunnel, the engine returned 

 down the same track, and when in the centre of 

 the tunnel, to show the difference, the engine 

 was allowed to work on the usual plan, and in 

 a few instants the whole place was full of vapor, 

 which was so thick that even when the visitors 

 returned through for the third time the lamps 

 were still scarcely visible. The through trains 

 from east to west and rice rersd, will be arranged 

 to start every ten minutes, to accomplish the 

 distance from end to end in thirteen minutes, 

 at a rate of fares which, it is said, will compete 

 with those of the cheapest omnibuses. If this 

 is so, the line ought to prove remunerative to 

 the shareholders, though whether it is so or 

 not it must be an immense convenience to the 

 public. 



RATIONS FOR VOLUNTEERS. The 

 amount of subsistence allowed to each volun- 

 teer, and known under the term "ration," pre- 

 vious to the extra session of Congress in July, 

 1861, was as follows: 



} pound of pork or bacon, or li pound of fresh or salt 



beef; 



18 ounces of bread or flour, or 12 ounces of pilot bread, 

 or li pound of corn meal ; 



8 quarts of beans or peas, or 10 pounds of rice, "j 

 or 140 ounces of desiccated potatoes, or 82 g 

 ounces of desiccated mixed vegetables ; 

 10 pounds of coffee ; 

 15 pounds of sugar ; J- S3 



4 quarts of vinegar; 5; 



1} pound of adamantine candles; 



4 pounds of soap, and ? 



2 quarts of salt. 



This ration has been found, by long experi- 

 ence in the regular army, to be ample. 



At the extra session above mentioned, Con- 

 gress increased it, until it is now as follows: 



1 pound of pork or bacon, or 1} pound of fresh or salt 



beef; 



22 ounces of bread or flour, or 1 pound of pilot bread; 

 8 quarts of beans, 10 pounds of rice or hominr,~\ 

 and 1 pound of potatoes three times a week, 

 or a substitute therefor ; 

 10 pounds of coffee ; 

 15 pounds of sugar ; 

 4 quarts of vinegar ; 

 1} pound of adamantine candles ; 

 4 pounds of soap, and 



2 quarts of salt. 



Extra issues of molasses are occasionally made. 

 This ration, if cared for, and properly cooked, is 

 more than can be eaten. 



PiHODE ISLAND, one of the original thir- 

 teen States, and one of the New England 

 States, is the smallest of the States of the 

 Union. It lies on both sides of Narraganset 

 Bay, chiefly on the Avestern. It extends from 

 41= to 42 N. latitude, and from 71 8' to 71 54' 

 W. longitude. The continental portion is 56 

 miles in extreme length, is 40 miles broad at 

 the southern, and 20 at the northern eud. The 

 area is 1.225 square miles, including the bay, 

 or 1,200 miles of land. Its surface is very di- 

 versified, considering its extent. 



Its political division consists of only five 

 counties. It has a coast line on the Atlantic 



