FARMERS' REGISTER— RAILWAYS AND CANALSr 



179 



thirty miles. When, therefore, we see that the 

 affairs of the company will be improved by this 

 change of system, and that a million per annum 

 will be saved to the public now paid to the steam 

 engine builders and to the JNIarquis of Stafford, 

 for carrying fourteen hundred thousand tons upon 

 the canal, at the rate of twelve shillings per ton ; 

 and when it is remembered, that not the Directors 

 and the shareholders only, but the public general- 

 ly, are interested in the most economical manage- 

 ment of railways, and the consequent reduction of 

 the rate of carriage, and thence, of tlie necessaries 

 of life, — Acts of Parliament, which cause the vio- 

 lation of the property of unwilling individuals, 

 not being passed for the sole benefit of the Directors 

 and Stockholders, but for the general welfare, — it 

 is time that a different course of management 

 should be required to be adoptad by the Directors 

 of the__ Liverpool and Manchester railway. 



It will undoubtedly be answered, that tweaty- 

 fave tons, conveyed ten miles in two hours, is 

 an exaggerated estimate of the powers of a horse 

 upon railways. Indeed, in the lectures of Dr. 

 Lardner, upon tlie steam engine, that learned per- 

 son is made to estimate the daily performances of 

 a horse at twelve tons conveyed a distance of twen- 

 ty miles at the rate of two miles an hour. But 

 upon the suppositions and calculations of Doctor 

 Lardner, this is very far from being equal to the 

 conveyance of a load of twenty-five tons, even 

 for a distance of ten miles at the rate of four miles 

 an hour — the rate of draught being represented 

 as decreasing in a very rapid proportion, by an 

 increase of speed, even in the proportion of one 

 hundred and fourteen to fifty-tiiree, from four to 

 seven miles an hour. But with every possible re- 

 spect for the authority of Dr. Lardner, we beg to 

 suggest, that this is an unfounded and insufficient- 

 ly considered calculation ; ibr the principle ope- 

 rates in a manner the. very reverse of this supposi- 

 tion, owing to the increasing impetus upon an in- 

 creased speed, for which Dr. Lardner has made 

 no allowance Avhatever. This, upon a railway, 

 where the resistance is slight, and the weight con- 

 veyed so heavy, is an immense consideration ; 

 and if the force of traction be twelve times great- 

 er upon a turnpike road than upon a level rail- 

 way, so the impetus will be twelve times greater 

 upon a railway than upon a turnpike road. It is 

 the increase of impetus which facilitates the 

 draught of the boats upon the Ardrossan canal, 

 when drawn at the rate of twelve miles an hour, 

 as described by Mr. Grahame; for if the towing 

 rope were suddenly to be severed, the boat, with- 

 out any other propelling power than its own head- 

 way, would, probably, proceed for a distance of a 

 quarter of a mile : but if the rope attached to a 

 barge of similar weight, and travelling at the 

 rate of only two miles an hour, were similaidy 

 severed, the barge would, pi'obably, proceed but 

 a very few yards. 



The practice of the Directors of the Ardrossan 

 canal ought undoubtedly to be introduced upon 

 all railways, for similar advantages are produced 

 by an increase of speed in land carriage ; and this 

 indeed may be illustrated by the instance of the 

 Birmingham mail, us described by Dr. Lardner. 

 He says, that " the mail weighs two tons, and is 

 conveyed at the rate of ten miles an hour." There- 

 fore, at the rate of one hundred and fourteen, at 

 four miles an hour, to thirty-two at ten miles an 



hour, the same four horses would draw the Bir- 

 mingham mail, though it weighed more than se- 

 ven tons and a half, which is known to be double 

 the load of the four-horse wagons of the London 

 coal merchants, though not travelling at a rate 

 exceeding two miles an hour. But if the Bir- 

 mingham mail weigh two tons, many of the stage- 

 coaches are heavier built, and carrying sixteen 

 passengers, with a due proportion of goods, will 

 weigh more than four tons, and yet travel at the 

 rate of ten miles an hour ; to correspond to which, 

 the weight to be drawn at the rate of four miles an 

 hour would amount to more than fifteen tons, 

 which of course could not be moved by any four 

 horses in the Avorld. Therefore, we entertain no 

 doubt whatever that a rapid rate of conveyance, 

 with sliort stages, and rest and refreshment inter- 

 vening, is the most economical expenditure of the 

 powers of the horse, and contrary to the doctrine 

 of Dr. Lardner, that twenty-four tons may thus 

 be conveyed with incomparably more facility at 

 the rate of five miles an liour, the proper pace for 

 an English cart-horse, than twelve tons at the rate 

 of two miles an hour. The experience of Mr. 

 Grahame, " that it is much easier to draw a boat 

 along a canal at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, 

 than at the lower velocity of six miles," is equal- 

 ly true with reference to railways ; but though 

 twelve tons, according to the estimate of Doctor 

 Lardner, were the utmost daily performance of a 

 horse, conveying that load for a distance of twen- 

 ty miles, still the number between Manchester 

 and Liverpool would only be required to be dou- 

 bled, at an increase of the expense of £23,040 

 per annum, which sum would amount to an addi- 

 tional charge of four pence per ton upon the con- 

 veyance of goods ; and even at the extreme charge 

 of one shilling and four pence per ton, it cannot be 

 contended that the railway would continue to be 

 opposed by the tedious canal. 



I do not assert that horse power is in reality 

 cheaper than the steam-engine, upon a properly 

 constructed railway ; but the Liverpool and Man- 

 chester, and all other yet existing railways, are 

 inapplicable altogether to the economical use of 

 steam locomotive power, and were probably not 

 projected for the use of any other than horses in the 

 conveyance of goods. 



Enough has already been said, however, to 

 prove that no comparison whatever exists in the 

 cost of conveyance by railways and canals, for we 

 have seen that upon the Manchester and Liver- 

 pool railway, a charge of one shilling per ton pro- 

 duces a splendid dividend of ten per cent., by the 

 employment of horses alone ; from which it fol- 

 lows, that for a distance of one hundred and twelve 

 miles, the estimated length of the London and 

 Birmingham railway, the charge will not exceed 

 three shillings and sixpence per ton ; whereas the 

 present cost of conveyance by the canal, from 

 Birmingham to London, is three pounds per ton— 

 almost twenty times the rate upon a well manag- 

 ed rail-road. And as the railway is thus a more 

 substantia], cheap, and durable conveyance, never 

 obstructed in the winter, and requiring none of 

 the immense expenditure for cleaning out, and at- 

 tendance and repair of locks, banks, and walks, it 

 is certain that the canal will be no longer able to 

 compete with the railway. With regard to the 

 wide difference in the cost of steam locomotive en- 

 gines, as compared to the labor of horses upon rail- 



