Apeil 1, 1899.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
68t 
age« and ^ooils and cattle trucks have been made in the 
conipxu-'^M woikcihops. the ironwork being imported 
fiom Europe, and the Westinghousa brakes— with 
whii;h all eoKines carriages and goods wagons are 
fitted— from U S of Amnrioa. 
Tbero are w nkshopsat San Joao del Key and at 
the terminus o£ the two extensions. Those at the 
latter are needed to keep in repair, in addition to 
the railway stock, the flotilla of stern-wheel steam- 
ers and barges belonging to the Company, which 
v)lv on the Rio Parana (or Bio Grande as it is called 
there) and the Rio Sao Francisco. In these localities 
timber of tirst-class quality is cheap, and labour both 
skilled and ordinary is abundant and cheap ; pre- 
nared iron work is imported dutyfree. It is astou- 
ishin" what can be turned oat by the native work- 
men °wheu the supervision is European. It is such a 
lou-^ time since I was in Ceylon, I do not remember 
weU how the trains there are made up ; but I fancy 
like all railways worked with British capital and 
train" they stuck a long time to the close compart- 
ment"' carriages with doors opening direct on to the 
Dlatform of the railway station, the same as the 
JSritish Company's here. In the tropics where one 
hkes the air civ.n but not to circulate freely around 
one, and as a part of pass-time to _ view all the 
movements about one, be they of animate or inani- 
mate objects, nothuig is like the long open 
saloon carriage, and here in Brazil one sees nothing 
else and a iournev on a railway reminds one more 
of a' voyage on a steam boat (without the sea-sickness) 
than the wearisome rolling in a close stage coach, 
which the old British system reminds one of It has 
be..n a subject of regret to me as a Britisher, ever 
since I came to Brazil, that all the riilway locomo- 
?ives one sees here' are of North . American 
(U S) make. One may sse saloon carnages, goods 
wagons and cattle trucks, together with rails, 
water-tanks, turntables, travelling cranes, and weigh- 
ing machines, not to mention iron roofs, lattice 
brid-'e'^ gas works and electric installations of 
Britrsh'make; but for the railway locomot.ve the 
American seems to stands supreme. If Butish lo- 
comotive builders are aware ot this, why do hey not 
try.bv imUation 01- improvement, to supplant the Ame- 
rican? Material and skilled labour ai-e cheaper m 
Great Britain than in the United States, and tne 
mime or reputation of all other British made goods 
stands hi"b above that of any other nationality, and 
^us omers°on this side prefer to have dealings w.th 
the British merchant. I am slow to believe that 
t ero is either too much demand for the British 
pattern locoa.otive, and that the makers have not 
fime to change their models, or hat there is an old 
conservative obstinacy existing on their purt ; but I am 
rather inclined to imagine that the sub.,ect has i o 
given them much thought. It is an important matter 
all the same, for even railw-^ys in this country, sup- 
ported by British capital, coutiim^ to order the Ameri- 
can locomotive. 
Some years ago the 
OOVERNIIENT CENTRAL RAILWAY 
had many British-made locomotives and one now 
and then comesacross a "Stephenson made t^venty- 
nr thirtv vers na-i, and on the Sao Paulo Rail- 
way, owned\'y a British Company all are of British 
make, but the heavy work on that railway is done 
bv stationary engines and vyire ^'f <? het Sao 
Paulo railways there are a few also of British make, 
but the work there is easy-the wire rope hayng to 
do all the sevra or mountainous work. In that state 
la the far interior where tbo Mogyaua railway ex- 
tends to the mountainous region ot Minas, one finds 
the American locomotive doing a U the heavy work^ 
It ia witJi great reserve, and also with great respect 
to the opinions of Colonial Consulting Engineers, and 
Colonial Crown Agents, that I, as an outsider, express 
the opinion that a great deal of paper and luk, and 
-what is of more importance— valuable time has been 
lost to the Colony on the qneatlon ot (/au</<:. 1 erso- 
naliy the metro-gauge is a very convenient one m 
my opinion. The urmt tl.ui'j 
auu'j<:, Xhe aata 1 have g'veu abovo 0^ Ijhe >Ye»ti 
of Mina Railway prove that — with a two-feet-six 
gauge, with (jradients not more than one in fifty, cui-ves 
under two and three quarttn- chains radius, rails steel 
of 50 lb. per yard, locomotices of thirty tons, hridijes 
made to support such weight — a train of two hundred 
tons paying weight can be run each way per day— 
that is calculating only one train each wa) — and more 
can easily be run if required and that is as much as 
any of the branch lines in Ceylon will be required to 
work for some years to come. 
With reference to the " Mogul " and "Consolidation'' 
types of locomotives mentioned above — taken from 
the Government Engineer's Report — I may mention 
that the " Mogul " is on the old single cylinder, 
single pressure style, and the " Consolidation " is an 
improvement on Webb's compound cylinder, double 
pressure system of locomotive. There are a few of 
the latter on the Central Railway — five-feet-threa 
gauge — but I doubt if they have many on the West of 
Mina's two-feet-six gauge. 
GENERAL NEWS. 
From Railway matters to general news the transi- 
tion is easy. Coffee No. 7 — the Brazilian middling 
type — is 6| cts. per lb. in New York ; and I write it, 
with the sentiment of one revealing a secret, 
the arrivals of coffee at the sea port towns 
are not diminishing in quantity, nor the stocks 
in consuming countries are not getting smaller. 
The weather is all that the incoming crop is in 
need of — occasional hot days with evening thunder 
showers. 
With the New Year comes new taxes to enable the 
Government to meet its promises made in London in 
July last. First in importance is an increase on all 
customs duties to be paid in gold — ten per cent. : this 
need not be paid in sovereigns but a receipt from a 
Bank will be sufiicient. Opposition by the 
Mercantile community is given to this, for goods 
which arrived in the harbour before Dec. 31, 
had not been despatched at the Customs House. 
There is also great delay in despatching at the 
Customs House ; goods have to lie in lighters in the 
C. H. docks for some time, before all the forms can be 
got through to enable the consignee to get possession. 
Articles of common consumption ate taxed in the 
form of stamps, hut those of national and those of 
foreign production, such as boots and shoes, tinned 
provisions, Vv-ines, spirits and liquors, also all prepared 
medicines either of national or foreign preparation. In 
fact, everything one buys now has a stamp. Tobacco 
was taxed before and it is now quadrupled, 
but : this is only for manufactured tobacco : the 
poor man's in roll or in leaf is free, and 
the grower pays nothing. The consumers do 
not object, for the difference in price is small; but 
a few agitators try to get up meetings which 
generally end in failure. 
Exchange has not improved, nor will it do so until 
we hear of the destruction of some of the paper money 
so long talked of, but slow in coming. 
The new President still continues to please every 
body. The members of Senate and Camara ia 
Deputados have all left for their homes, and all ia 
quiet. Yellow fever has up till now kept away, 
although we are never at any time without an occa- 
sional case. 
A. SCOTT BLACKLAW. 
IvAiLWAVS AND Plaxtimo IS Bkazil.— Ia 
the above, will be found one of Mr. Scot^- 
Blacklaw's long and iiiterestinu; letters. This 
time he I'eals witli Kailwaya on three gauges in 
Brazil : 5 ft. .3in., ft. .'i in., ami '2 feet 6 inches — 
and in respect ot each we have useful information ; 
wliile the letter winds up witli the latest 
general news. If Mr. JJlacklaw were able to 
visit the estates in wliiuii Ceylon men are inter- 
e.sled, he would have nmgli to tell us ot uov^l 
cUavacter to uur leaders, 
