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PICTORIAL MISCELLANY. 



then opened in the various places along the line, so that all may 

 have a chance to help the work along. When the stock is taken 

 up, the company is regularly organized, by the choice of president, 

 directors, and other officers, and then the work commences in 

 earnest. 



The engineer has by this time made his estimates; so much for 

 tunnelling, so much for embankments, for bridges, viaducts, &c. 

 The principal works are done by contract. The whole line is 

 divided into sections of about one mile each, and one man or com- 

 pany of men, for instance, will contract to complete the grading 

 that is, levelling the way, filling up valleys and cutting through 

 ridges, building the bridges, &c., ready for the rails of one or 

 more sections. These are again let out to sub-contractors, who, 

 perhaps, do the same again. Assessments of so much per share of 

 the capital stock are called in as the money is wanted, and so the 

 work goes on, until all is graded ; then comes the party to lay the 

 rails, and now the road is ready. Clerks and conductors are 

 appointed, the locomotives are placed upon the line, the cars are 

 linked together, the steam is up, the bell rings, the engine is snort- 

 ing and whizzing like an eager steed, and finally off they go. The 

 railroad is now open, and the vast amount of money that has been 

 expended in its construction begins to return slowly into the pockets 

 of the shareholders. 



The progress of railroad building in New England, since it com- 

 menced, has been astonishing, almost beyond belief. The first train 

 of cars ever run by a locomotive was on the seventeenth of April, 

 1834; less than fifteen years ago. Now there are more than three 

 thousand miles of road in operation in New England. It is almost 

 incredible that people twenty years since were contented with the 

 slow tumbling old stages ; but so it is. The destiny of civilization is 

 onward, higher improvement ; and a few years hence we shall look 

 back upon some of our present customs and habits with as much 

 wonder as we now do upon the days of Uncle Sam's fast " MAIL 

 COACHES." 



* * If those who cluster round 

 The altar and the hearth, 



Have gentle words and smiles, 

 How beautiful is earth. 



