1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



21 



more likely to be faithful. I quitted the place with 

 a just admiration of its extraordinary management, 

 and not without a deep surprise at the system, 

 skill, care, and success, with which such heavy 

 and various concerns were carried on, and a press 

 of business maintained and conducted, under 

 which ordinary men would have been overwhelm- 

 ed and confounded; the cumbrous and complicated 

 machinery making its gyrations and movements 

 without dislocation, without friction, and without 

 any sensible concussion or jarring of the moved or 

 the moving body. 



Extract of aletterto the Editor of the Rail Road Journa'. 



SWIFT CANAL BOATS STEAM CARRIAGES ON 



COMMON ROADS. 



When at Glasgow I visited the "Paisley" and 

 the "Forth and Clyde" canals; and as our coun- 

 try is very much interested in canal navigation, 

 some memoranda relative to the swift, passage 

 boats on those two canals may not be uninteresting 

 to your readers. 



First, of the "Paisley canal," which has been 

 the longest known, and is still most successful as 

 regards quick travelling. This canal commences 

 at Glasgow, and goes through Paisley (eight 

 miles distant) to Johnston, where it terminates; 

 12 miles long; no lock in the whole distance. The 

 boats are of iron, of one-sixteenth of an inch 

 thick, 70 feet long, five feet nine inches broad, 

 and weigh 16 cwt. 14 lbs. This is the weight of 

 the iron part alone. The total weight of the boat, 

 including the wood work, (the cabins are of this 

 material,) fixtures, &c. is 33 cwt.; and with 100 

 passengers, draws 19 inches aft and 18 inches for- 

 ward. Two horses draw the boat in stages of 

 four miles each; the pair of horses go only 12 

 miles per diem. There are lour boats, which 

 make six journeys each, or twenty-four journeys 

 for the whole, each day. These boats have been 

 running four years. They are generally full. 

 They meet the greatest encouragement, and are 

 very profitable to the proprietors, notwithstanding 

 the fare is so very moderate. The charge is six 

 pence, in the after cabin, and nine pence in the 

 forward, to Paisley, eight miles; to Johnston, 12 

 miles, the charge is nine pence in the after cabin, 

 and 12 pence in the forward cabin. The time 

 usually employed between Glasgow and Paisley 

 is 50 minutes; or 9| miles per hour. This is the 

 narrowest canal I ever saw, generally 30 feet 

 wide and five feet deep. The captains of the 

 boats on board of which I travelled, told me that 

 on a narrow canal, such as this, the horses can 

 pull a boat easier, when travelling rapidly, than on 

 one of greater section. This, paradoxical as it 

 may appear, is verified by the fact, that on the 

 "Forth and Clyde" canal which is of nine feet 

 depth, and 68 feet breadth, the boats, which are of 

 nearly the same dimensions (68 feet long, and 5\ 

 feet broad,) as those on the Paisley canal, are 

 drawn by three horses, with 70 passengers on 

 board, and yet travel at about the same velocity 

 as on the narrower and shallower canal. I asked 

 these captains, and also a civil engineer of some 

 eminence, whom I met on board, returning from 

 Johnston, how they could account for this circum- 

 stance. Their reply was as Ibllows: on a narrow 

 canal, say 30 or 40 feet wide, the boat passing 

 svvilUy through the water, throws the wave 



against the shore, which being thrown back again 

 against the boat, raises it up, and thus propels it. 

 The wave strikes the boat about two-thirds of its 

 length from the bow. But if the canal were much 

 wider, the boat would pass by before the reflected 

 wave could reach the boat, and thus give it aid. 1 

 give this explanation nearly in the words of these 

 captains, and am responsible only for the correct- 

 ness of the report of what they told me. I hope 

 this will meet the eye of our distinguished coun- 

 tryman, Gen. C. F. Mercer, chairman of the 

 Committee of Internal Improvements in the 

 House of Representatives, who advocates with so 

 much ability broad and deep canals for transporta- 

 tion, as far more economical than narrow canals. 

 I will now finish what I have to say respecting 

 the fast travelling on' the "Forth and Clyde" ca- 

 nal. 



This canal, as 1 have said above, is 68 feet broad 

 by nine feet deep, and the iron boats are 68 feet 

 long and 5^ feet broad, and when light draw eight 

 inches water, but with 70 passengers draw 20 

 inches; this is when in a state of rest — when in 

 rapid motion they draw less. There are three 

 horses employed to each boat, and the passengers 

 who get into the boats at Port Dundas (Glasgow) 

 are set down at Port Hopetown (Edinburgh) in 

 6£ hours, a distance of 56 miles, or nearly nine 

 miles per hour. It is necessary to explain to you 

 that the passengers go only a part of the distance 

 on the "Forth and Clyde" canal. They start 

 from Port Dundas and go to Port Downie, (the 

 commencement of the "Union Canal,") a distance 

 of 24| miles, which includes four locks. In the 

 next half mile are eleven locks, which are avoided 

 by the passengers being conveyed in omnibuses to 

 boats in the "Union Canal," which carry them on 

 a level of 31 miles to Port Hopetown (.Edin- 

 burgh.) I regret that I did not take a memoran- 

 dum of the cost of these iron boats, which are 

 light and beautiful vessels, and being fearful of 

 making a mistake I do not quote from memory. 

 On the Lancaster, Carlisle, and Kendal canals, 

 there are rapid boats, but not having travelled by 

 them I do not give you any details. But if any 

 of your readers feel an interest in the above re- 

 marks, and wish further information, I can with 

 facility procure it, and will with pleasure communi- 

 cate it to you. 



Since my return from the north I have called on 

 Mr. Hancock, in company with Mr. T., one of 

 the engineers of the Boston and Providence Rail- 

 way. We found that for the last two months the 

 "Era" and the "Autopsy" have discontinued run- 

 ning, owing to the absence of Mr. Hancock in 

 Ireland, whither he went with the "Era," for the 

 purpose of ascertaining if he could profitably in- 

 troduce locomotives on the roads of that country". 

 He is now returned to London, and will, I am in- 

 formed, recommence running these two engines 

 on the metropolitan roads in a few days. Mr. T. 

 and I also went to see Mr. Russell's steam car- 

 riage, recently arrived from Glasgow, which will 

 in a few days ply regularly, in conjunction with 

 others of this gentleman's make, between Hyde 

 Park Corner, and Hammersmith (t'.ie commence- 

 ment of the great western road out of London.) 

 This carriage is by far the most tasteful of all the 

 steam carriages I have seen. It is built exactly 

 like the stage coaches of this country, except the 

 dimensions are larger. The whole of the ma- 



