﻿ABOUT RAILROADS. 



281 



primarily talked over. An agent is appointed to visit the various 

 towns and villages upon the route, and to hold meetings for the 

 information of every individual. Gradually, the people become 

 interested with the idea, and the various newspapers take up the 

 subject. 



When the road has been fully determined on, the first thing to be 

 dune is to ascertain pretty correctly the travel and traffic between 

 the termini and along the line. This requires great care and atten- 

 tion. Sometimes one or more men are stationed by day and night. 

 for two or three weeks, to count all vehicles passing a given number 

 of points along the line. The number of passengers is also noted, 

 and the cause of any increase or decrease on particular days. All 

 this, and various other kinds of information relative to the subject, is 

 entered in a book, methodically arranged, and from this book, judi- 

 cious, calculating men can generally estimate what the traffic will 

 be. 



In the mean time, the surveyor or engineer is busy in taking the 

 levels of the country, boring to discover the nature of the strata he 

 may have to cut through, and preparing a rough sketch or profile 

 of the ground. There are generally two or three lines surveyed, 

 and from these the best is selected. 



Matters being thus far proceeded with, an act of incorporation, or 

 a privilege to build the road, must be obtained from the State Legis- 

 lature. The plans are prepared and laid before that body, and if 

 there is good reason to believe that the work will prove a public 

 benefit, and that it will pay its stockholders a proper return for their 

 money, a charter is granted. Subscriptions to the capital stock are 



