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 IIKPORT AltfO E9TIAIATI2 
 
 CONCl-UtNINO AN 
 
 ELECTRO-XUKAGNETXC TELEGRAPH 
 
 n£TWEEN 
 
 FREDERICTON AND SAINT JOHN, 
 
 ADOaKSSUD TO 
 
 sm 'vvxiii.iAiii M. €». coxiEBXtooKx:, K. n*, dec. Ac. 
 
 lieutenant governor of the pbovince of new brunswick. 
 25th januaky, 1847. 
 
 Frederict07i, 25th January/, 1847. 
 
 Sir, — At the desire of Your Excellency we have prepared a short Report upon 
 a line of Telegraphic communication between Fredericton and St. John. 
 
 It has been drawn up with as much care as the novelty of the subject, and the 
 means of judging at our command have allowed, and, in submitting it, we desire 
 to say that it will alwayf? be our anxious wish to assist Your Excellency in for- 
 warding tliis most important and laudable undertaking. 
 
 A revolution in the Telegraphic system has been recently effected by the aid 
 of a force called Electro-Magnetism, and this application of the force in question, 
 seems to be fraught with consequences not less important to mankind than those 
 which have resulted from the application of steam to the purposes of locomotion. 
 The Electro-Magnetic Telegraph can be made to ccavey intelligence in few or 
 in many words, on matters of trivial or of vital importance, openly or with secrecy, 
 for one or for one thousand miles, by night or by day, in winter or summer, at a 
 cost not greater than is incurred by the present Post Office system, and with a 
 velocity which is only comparable to that of a thought or a sensation, or to a ray 
 of light, or a flash of lightning. 
 
 Not only are all these marvellous effects asserted to be possible, but they have 
 been demonstrated, and are capable of being realized wherever it is thought 
 worth while to try. 
 
 The value of such a mode of transmitting intelligence cannot be over-estimated, 
 and we feel confident that, within a very few years, the adoption of this system 
 will become general in all civilized countries. The thoughts, the feelings, and the 
 wishes of one man will be conveyed to another, one hundred miles off, as fast as 
 they can be uttered or intelligibly expressed to himself, or to his nearest neigh- 
 bour, and we will at length have acquired a power over time and space as great 
 as that which we have already acquired over matter. 
 
 As these remarks are based upon a consideration of what, has been already 
 achieved and done by means of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, it remains still 
 to determine whether the importance of the communications between any two 
 given places is sufficient to Justify the outlay required to secure the advantages 
 of such ]:apid transmission. 
 
2 
 
 Although we ilo not feel that it is our province to decide upon the importance 
 of the communications now going on between the Seat of Government and the 
 chief seat of Commerce in New Brunswick, yet we cannot refrain from stating 
 our decided conviction that, if the present communicaiions are not of suflicient 
 importance, the mere fact of the establishment of an Electro-Magnetic Telegraph 
 would soon make them so. 
 
 These considerations are entirely apart from any that might attach to a line 
 of Railway from St. John to Fredericton, or to the connection of our Telegraphic 
 Circuit with others from Quebec to Fredericton, or from St. Jolm to Halifax ; we 
 speak at present in favor of a line between this place and St. John, and of that 
 line as being worthy of immediate adoption. 
 
 By the estimate which we have attempted to make, the cost of construction 
 and maintenance for the first year would not much exceed five thousand pounds 
 currency, and the permanent charges would not exceed one thousand pouuds 
 a-year, so that we may be justified in saying that tlie outlay is not great in com- 
 parison of the public advantages which would result from its establishment. 
 
 But it is not all expenditure : there is a certainty of considerable returns, at 
 both termini, :n the course of every year. If these exceeded the interest on the 
 money expended, it might fairly be asked wliether, in view of the responsibility 
 connected therewith, the Government was not entitled to secure and maintain the 
 Telegraph as a source of Provincial Revenue ; or, supposing that the returns did 
 not cover tlie interest on the investment, whether the Government ought not to 
 assume the loss, in consideration of the public benefit derived therefrom. It is to 
 be doubted, after all, whether private parties would be likely to take up an enter- 
 prise of so novel a character ; whetlier they could give it the same title to public 
 confidence ; or whether they could, so efficiently as the Government, protect it 
 against wanton or malicious injury. 
 
 Tiiere lias been considerable difficulty in preparing the estimate herewith 
 annexed, and there are several of the rates which we state with great diffidence; 
 yet, on tlie whole, we apprehend that the general charge will be found adequate 
 to meet the several heads of expenditure. 
 
 It will be necessary to make some further explanatory remarks upon the various 
 charges, which, it will be seen, refer — 1st, to the apparatus and the wires; 2nd, 
 to the posts wMch sustain the wires; and, lastly, to the salaries and office 
 expenditure. 
 
 The system which we advise for adoption in New Brunswick is that of Pro- 
 fessor iViorse, of New York. His method is not only cheaper than all the others, 
 but likewise excels them in the important peculiarity which it offers oi registering 
 ■upon paper all Telegraphic communications.* 
 
 It would be only fair to Professor Morse to ascertain how far the adoption of 
 his system in this country, without reference to him, would prejudice his rights. 
 At all events, we are not now prepared to recommend °ny system which does not 
 register upon paper the Telegraphic dispatch. 
 
 We suggest that a double circuit should be established in the first instance, and 
 that this be attempted with two wireg only, the earth being, by a peculiar arrange- 
 ment, rendered available in both circuits. If a third wire, or other circuits, were 
 found to be necessary, they could be added at any time, and at an outlay for the 
 wire only. 
 
 The estimate has been made out for a line of 65 miles, which, we believe, is the 
 length of the route to St. Jolm, by the valley of the Nerepis River ; and we have 
 preferred tlie present Jiighway to any other line, because it is already well cleared 
 of trees, and, therefore, less likely to endanger the wires and posts by "windfalls," 
 
 • See a description of the Amtriean Electro- -Maguclic rdegraphby A. Vail, rbiladeliihia, 18i5. 
 
3 
 
 Ac. A bhorter line through tho woods might, no doubt, be found ; but, in such a 
 rough country, and in sucli a tempestuous climate, it would be liable to accidents 
 which would be always difficult to detect, and almost impossible speedily to repair. 
 Op the present highway the wires would always be under hispection, and there 
 would be no difficulty in proceeding with any occasional repairs. 
 
 By the route proposed, the wires would keep the right bank of the River St. 
 John as far as the Falls, where nature has very greatly favoured their transmission 
 across the River to the City of St. John. 
 
 We suggest that posts, eight inches square below, six inches square above, and 
 about twenty feet long, with a board capping (to prevent the lodgment of water 
 or ice about the wires) and strongly braced, and loaded with two or three tons of 
 stone, should be set upon the ground, at distances not exceeding 200 feet apart, 
 where the ground is favorable for sinking. The posts might be set in the ground, 
 but it would be necessary to enter them tc the depth of five or six feet, a cross sill 
 having been previously fixed at their lower extremity, to prevent the disturbing 
 action of the frozen soil upon them. 
 
 Where the posts are thus sunk, we conceive that a considerable saving might 
 be effected in the estimated charges for scantling, for framing, and for loading 
 with stones. 
 
 Whatever method of securing the posts is adopted, it mi'st never be forgotten 
 that their stability and sufficiency are of paramount importance. 
 
 It would seem, at first sight, that metalic tubes placed underground would be 
 safer and better conductors of the wires ; but the expense of trenching, and the 
 difficulty of seeing and remedying defects, forbid their adoption in the present case. 
 
 If the Telegraph was adopted by Government, and put under the control of the 
 Post Office authorities, we imagine that the requisite accommodption for the 
 apparatus might readily be found in their offices, at the respective termini ; and 
 the charges for transmisson of correspondence and intelligence need not exceed 
 the average rate under the present method. 
 
 The salary of the Chief Superintendent of construction ought not to be less 
 than £500. 
 
 His familiarity with all (he chemical and mechanical details must be undoubted ; 
 while his personal presence on the line would be continually required, and no 
 portion of the work could be completed without his most thorough supervision 
 and warranty. The above charge need not, however, become a permanent one, 
 although those for the Clerks and Messengers undoubtedly would remain. The 
 Clerks would have to acquire a familiarity not only with the Telegraphic charac- 
 ters, but also with the details of the galvanic battery an. register. 
 
 The estimated average ccst per mile of this line is considerably greater than 
 that which has been adopted as the ground of action elsewhere ; bv' .c does not 
 at present seem possible to establish a double circuit in this Province at any thing 
 so low as £41 per mile. 
 
 All which is most respectfully submitted by Your Excellency's most obedient 
 and humble servants, 
 
 J. ROBB, M.D., 
 
 J. B. TOLDERVY, M.D. 
 
 To His Excellency Sir Wm. M. . Colebrooke, K.II., 
 Lieutenant CJovernor, fcc, &c. 
 
4 
 
 Estimate of Charges in establishing and maintaining, for one yeai\ an Electro- 
 Magnetic Telegraph betiveen St. John and Fredericton. 
 
 130 miles (for two circuits) of prepared Copper wire, at 
 
 .€12 10s. per mile ^162.'; 
 
 Delivering f ■>(] fixing the wires, at lOu. per mile 32 1 
 
 Batteries, .legisters, and apparatus, for two statioiij, at ^£75 
 
 per station ]50 
 
 1,716 Posts, 20 fctt long, 8 in. m 8 in. below, and 6 in. h 6 in. 
 
 above, with two Cross-sills below, 10 feet long, and 
 
 8 in. « 8 in. thick, and four Braces, 7 fett long, and 
 
 8 in. H 8 in. thick, or C8 feet of scantling, at about s. d. 
 
 12s. 6d. per 1 00 feet (lineal measure) aay . . 7 b' 
 
 Planing, framing, and capping the Posts, say, at '^ foot . . 76 
 
 Preparing ground, hauling and setting each Post . . 3 
 
 Coal Tar, and painting each Pest 2 
 
 Loading for each Post, viz. : two perches of stone, at 2s. 6d. 
 
 per perch 5 
 
 25 
 
 — 2145 
 
 Salary of the Chief Superintendent of construction for one 
 
 year ^£500 
 
 Two Clerks at Je200 ,.. 400 
 
 Two Messengers at jC50 ., jqq q q 
 
 Two pffices, Rent and Charges at X40 . , . * 80 
 
 1080 
 
 Average cvst per mils, about jt:77. 
 
Frederictoii, Ath February, 1847. 
 
 Sir, — In reply to Your Excellency's note of the 30th ult., requesting ua to 
 extend our estimate for an Electro-Magnetic Telegraph from Saint John to Halifax, 
 we beg to state for Your Excellency's information, that we are inclined to believe 
 that it might be continued at nearly the same rate of outlay as that at whi 3h we 
 have already estimated it between Fredericton and Saint Jolin. 
 
 The distance from this place to Saint John, by the Nerepis Road, is 65 miles, 
 or exactly one fifth part of the distance from here to ffalifax, so that the charge 
 for establishing the whole Line of Telegraphic communication lirom here to Hali- 
 fax, would be somewhere near £25,000. 
 
 It will be seen that our estimate for this distance is as great as that assumed 
 by the parties in Quebec, as sufficient for the whole Line from Quebec to Halifax, 
 but we frankly avow our inability to reduce it to a figure so low, and we doubt 
 whether they can have thken up the details of the subject with sufficient accuracy. 
 They also seem to think that a short saving of distance by the Metis Road and 
 the Gulf Shore, might induce them to carry a Line in that direction, but while all 
 the difficulties of maintaining the Line in an unsettled country would thus be 
 greatly increased, almost all the advantages of a Telegraph would be lost to this 
 Province. Thus we at once decide against the feasibility of any Line in the 
 direction above referred to. 
 
 In the present state of our knowledge regarding the maximum distance to 
 which the powers of a Galvanic Battery and its conducting wires are limited in 
 practice, it would be premature to decide minutely upon the number of points or 
 stations along the Line, where it would be necessary to take up and repeat the 
 Telegraphic Despatch, but as it will always be a matter of the greatest conse- 
 quence to be able to discover where interruptions have arisen, it would not be 
 prudent to place these repeating stations more than sixty or seventy miles apart. 
 In this view of the case, one repeating station between Saint John r nd the Nova 
 Scotia Frontier, would be sufficient, and again, another between tuat point and 
 Halifax, making in all, three stations intermediate between Saint John and 
 Halifax. 
 
 The small outlay required for this undertaking, when c jmpared with the im- 
 mense advantages which must accrue from it, seem to warrant us in the belief 
 that it might be proceeded with immediately. If there was a Line of Railway 
 actually in existence, no doubt the Telegraphic liine would accompany it ; 
 but as many years must elapse before the Rail Road is completed, it becomes a 
 matter of consideration whether the Telegraph should be doomed to the inevi- 
 table delay to which the other is obviously subject : and again, were the present 
 plan adopted, the commercial advantages of the Telegraph would be at once se- 
 cured at places which the Line of Rail Road might not probably approach. 
 
 All of which is most respectfully submitted by Your Excellency's most 
 obedient and humble servants, 
 
 J. ROBB, 
 
 J. B. TOLDERVY. 
 
 To Hit Exeellcney Sir Wm. M. G. Colebrooke, &c, &c. &c. 
 
RKPORTS OF MR. WILKINSON 
 
 ON 
 
 IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Fredericton, 2\th February y 1847. 
 May it please Your Kxcellencv,— 
 
 In obedience to an instruction communicated to me, at the instance of Your 
 Excellency, on the 8th ultimo, that I would take the opportunity of ray intended 
 visit to the United States, to obtain for the Government such practical details 
 respecting the construction and expense of Wooden Railways and the Electric 
 Telegraph, as would be likely to be useful in reference to the project of establish- 
 ing the same in this Province, I have, with a view to these objects, employed 
 the necessarily short period at my command, embraced in a month's absence, 
 including going and returning. 
 
 In order to report to Your Excellency in a manner sufficiently full and intelli- 
 gible, with regard to both Railway and Telegraph, it is probable that a longer 
 time will be necessary than may be desirable in relation to the Telegraph sepa- 
 rately. 
 
 As I was in fact prevented oy want of time from applying to all the sources 
 of information I should have wished to consult respecting the Telegraph, I am 
 the less disposed to speak minutely on the details of construction, or to claim for 
 my observations generally higher authority than would be due to those of any 
 intelligent observer of what is passing amongst our neighbours, dnring an excur- 
 sion of a few days through the most populous, active and improved parts of their 
 country. I therefore beg Your Excellency's permission the more generally to 
 treat of this object, and to report on the other separately, and with the more 
 particular consideration which, 1 trust, it will be found to claim. 
 
 The Magnetic Telegraph is now so well established, and its results have be- 
 come so divested of uncertainty, that it can no longer be considered as a subject 
 belonging only to the progressive investigations of science. Like other high 
 achievements which have preceded it, it is now in full energy, exerting and daily 
 extending Hs influence upon the affairs and relationships of communities and of 
 the world, but more than all others does it exhibit a capacity of rapid and uni- 
 versal extension. 
 
 In the year 1844 the first American line of Telegraph was completed by 
 Professor Morse, of the United States, under the sanction of Government, and 
 extended between the cities of Washington and Baltimore, a distance of forty 
 miles. This experimental line fulfilled all that was promised by its projector ; 
 but continued the only one in operation until the Spring of 1846, when, by the 
 exertions of Joint Stock Associations, Philadelphia and New York were also 
 connected with the cities first named ; and from that time, within a few short 
 months, the system embraces an extent of upwards of thirteen hundred miles, 
 connectirg the following important points of the United States and Canada : — 
 
 From New York to New Haven, Hartford, Springfield and Boston, 265 
 
 From New York to Albany, and the intermediate places to Buffalo, 507 
 
From New York to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, 
 
 From Philadelphia to Harrisburgh, 
 
 From Boston to Lowell, ... 
 
 From Boston to Portland, unfinished, say, 
 
 (The whole diRtanre i« 1 10 milea, and all the posts are erectc ) 
 From Auburn (on the Albany and Buffalo Line) to Ithaca, ... 
 
 From Tiroy to Saratoga, ... 
 
 From Buffalo, U.S., to Toronto, in Canada 
 
 I'otal 
 
 1374 
 
 In addition to these, besides several contemplated inferior Lines, a principal 
 one of nearly 1400 miles is represented as already contracted for, ar.d most 
 probably is in progress, extending from Washington, by way of Charleston and 
 Mobile, to New Orleans. In fact no Schedule of Telegraphic Lines can now be 
 relied upon for a month in succession, as hundreds of miles may be added in that 
 space of time. So easy of attainment does such a result appear to be, and so 
 lively the interest felt in its accomplishment, that it is scarcely doubtful that the 
 whole of the populous parts of the United States will, within two or three years, 
 be covered with a Telegraphic net-work, like a spider's web, suspending its prin- 
 cipal threads upon important points along the sea-board of the Atlantic on one 
 side, and upon similar points along the Lake frontier on the other. The experi- 
 ment has proved that no important intelligence of general interest could touch 
 any one point, but that, if need be, it would be instantly and simultaneously 
 understood at every other point of such a system. This is assuming, however, 
 that a net-work so liable to derangement by accident or by wanton injury, is at 
 the moment in perfect working order. It is found not to be exempt from such 
 occasional derangement ; yet that the defect is, in most instances, such only 
 as may be speedily detected and repaired. The whole range of wire being exposed 
 to observation along a public way, it can be examined nearly as rapidly as the 
 inspector can travel by the ordinary modes of conveyance adapted to such way. 
 
 This difficulty is therefore not considered of much weight against the more 
 important recommendations of the Telegraph as at present constructed. It is 
 besides surrounded by the moral and social protection of a well-understood common 
 interest and benefit ; so that a wilful injury to the Telegraph would bring upon 
 its author, if detected, besides the proper civil penalty, also the disgrace which 
 would be due to an odious offence against the public. 
 
 The confidence in the efficiency of Telegraphic communication has now become 
 so established, that the most important commercial transactions daily transpire, 
 by its means, between correspondents several hundred miles apart. Ocular 
 evidence of this was afforded me by a communication a few minutes old between 
 a merchant in Toronto, and his correspondent in New York, distant about 632 
 miles. The advantages of this rapid mode of communicating and of spreading 
 intelligence, are also nolrless experienced by other classes, and especially by the 
 farmer, who can thus, as promptly as the merchant, avail himself of a knowledge 
 of changes in the market. This effect was remarked after the arrival of the 
 Hibernia last month, with heavy orders for agricultural produce, and the news of 
 the scarcity in Great Britain, Ireland, and elsewhere. WitHin four days from 
 the time of the Steamer having touched at Boston, and almost as soon as the 
 news could ordinarily have reached them, the farmers from the interior of the 
 State of New York, informed of the state of things by the Magnetic Telegraph, 
 were thronging the streets of Albany with innumerable team-loads of grain, whilst 
 the freight -trains of the Railways from thence to New York and to Boston, were 
 wholly inadequate either to the conveyance of the accumulating supply, or to 
 meet the urgent demands at the shipping ports. 
 
8 
 
 From such general fucts alone it may be inferred thai the extension of the 
 Magnetic Telegraph between important points, has not only so far been prac- 
 tically advantageous and successful, but, on the Great I^ines at least, financially a 
 good investment. The profits, in fact, are represented to exceed, on some Lines, 
 the expectations of the projectors; but no authentic statements, I believe, have 
 yet been put forward. The first dividend publicly declared on Telegraphic stock 
 18 said to be on behalf of the New York and Huflfnlo Company, being 3 per cent 
 for the first four months — from 7th September, 1816, to 7th January, 1817. It 
 must be understood, however, that the right of the Patentees is agreed at one- 
 half, whence the dividend of 3 per cent to the Stockholders is ojily half the actual 
 profit. This right does not at present extend to the British Provinces; yet all 
 Lines established in the latter would undoubtedly more or less contribute to the 
 profits of those Lines which ar« beneficial to the Patentees. The claim of the 
 American Patentees is chiefly, if not solely, to the mode of registration, which, 
 because more simple, efficient, and certain than European modes, has been 
 altogether adopted in the United States. But another mode is, I believe, before 
 the public, claiming the superiority of legibly printing at once, on slips of paper, 
 the ordinary letters of the alphabet, instead of the substitutes of lines and dots. 
 
 To this assumed improvement, however, Professor Morse has himself devoted 
 much study ; and, though he admits it to be practicable, does not acknowledge it 
 to be susceptible of equality with his Telegraphic alphabet for the purpose of rapid 
 communication ; and that such improvement can besides be attained only at the 
 expense of simplicity, and consequently increased risk of derangement in the 
 mechanism employed. For these reasons he considers it unlikely to suspersede 
 the Register at present in use. 
 
 There is, however, another difficulty in the way of adopting diflTerent modes of 
 registration, not very dissimilar to that of the break of guage on railways; wherever 
 it occurs a certain delay must be the consequence. No doubt a method of print- 
 ing the letters of the Roman alphabet at once, if unattended with any serious 
 j)ractical objection or difficulty, would be preferable to any other, and it would be 
 desirable that its adoption should be general. But when a different system, 
 answering so well, has already been widely extended, some time would be neces- 
 sary to effect a change. Within the British Provinces, where Telegraphic com- 
 munication has only commenced, any approved method might be adopted with 
 less disadvantage, as only one point of communication, that by way of the Niagara, 
 with the whole American system, would perhaps be established for some years 
 to come. At that point only would the interruption and re-transmis^ion of each 
 communication be necessary, but would unavoidably incur serious delays when 
 communications should follow each other in uninterrupted succession, unless the 
 two modes of registration were equal to each other in point of dispatch. The 
 accumulation of delay would vanish in the proportion that this equality should 
 be attained ; and when perfected, the inconvenience would be reduced simply to 
 the loss of time incurred by each re-transraission. 
 
 With regard to the method and the expense of construction of Lines of Tele- 
 graph, the extensive demand in the United States has there created a ciass of 
 persons who have acquired skill and experience which enable them to contract 
 at a moderate ratcfor Lines of any extent, including all materials, excepting the 
 Registers and Batteries, which make comparatively a small part of the whole 
 cost of a long line. The New York, Albany and Buffalo Line is reputed to be 
 one of the most efficient in the United States. Fro i uch information as I deem 
 to be reliable, the portion of this Line between Ne v York and Albany was con- 
 structed by sub-contractors at about $125 per mile, v. i blading all materials, with 
 two Copper wires of lOOfts. each to the mile. 
 
tm 
 
 9 
 
 A fiine between Halifax niid Quebec, along the only Post Roud at present in 
 Ude, CDS miles, estimated at the same rate, would cost as follows : — 
 
 CouHtruction, 008 miles, at ,£31 Tis. permile, £20.875 
 
 lOcjuipnient, say 10 Telegraphic stations, rcrpiiring for each 
 
 'J Registers at i,'l I 58., 2 Rectving Magnets at £5 
 
 325 
 
 £3,810 n 
 
 250 
 
 
 
 
 
 1,572 
 
 
 
 
 
 1,308 
 
 
 
 
 
 £21,200 
 
 To the nhovo must be added the exponse of cutting down trees which may be 
 likely to full within range of the wires. On the whole Line of the St. Lawrence, 
 fn)m Quebec to River tin Loup, the road passes through cleared country. A very 
 large proportion of the remainder of the Line to Halifax is also cleared ; but au 
 csaminsition would be necessary in order to judge safely of the expense of clear- 
 ing away such trees and such portions of the forest as might interfere with the 
 wires. 
 
 I am personally ignorant of the character of the land route from St. John to 
 Halifax ; but, assuming the obstacles on an a^-erage on that portion of the Line 
 not to exceed the same from River du Loup to St. John, I should conceive that 
 it would, by judicious arrangements, cost less than £5000 to remove the whole ; 
 and that this sum, with the view to an ai)proximate estimate, may be assumed 
 us a maximum. This would make the total cost of the Line £20,200. 
 
 Tlie expense of working in an efficient manner may be ] 
 
 approximately estimated as follows: say for four | 
 
 principal and six intermediate stations, ... I 
 
 OlTice rent, stationery, fuel, light, salaries of asuperinten- ( 
 
 dent, four operators, four assistant operators, six | 
 
 operators ',t intermediate stations, messengers, &c. J 
 The annual expense of Battery kept in active operation, 
 1 nterest on capital, £20,200, at per cent. 
 Travelling expenses, repairs, and contingencies, 
 
 £7,000 
 
 The number of intermediate stations suggested may not ataU times be so much 
 demanded by the Telegraphic business at those points, as by the efficient pre- 
 servation of the Line in working order, ond the promptitude they will afford in 
 detecting and repairing injuries. They may also beneficially promote, through 
 the interior country, an intelligent appreciation of the merits of the Telegraph, 
 nnd create a common interest in the security and perfect working of the Line at 
 all times. 
 
 In order to judge of the extent of business necessary to yield a revenue 
 equivalent to the above expense, the tariff of the New York, Albany f'ld Buffalo 
 Line may be taken as a guide. (Copy anuvxed.) 
 
 Assuming that the Telegraph shall be in operation 300 days in the year, then 
 188 communications per day, or equal to 01 in each direction, of not exceeding 
 15 words each, transmitted the whole length of the Line, or 134 communications 
 per day, or equal to 07 in each direction, if exceeding 15 words each, transmitted 
 the whole length of the Line, charged at the rate of 2s. Gd. each for the former, 
 and 3s. Gd. each for the latter for transmission and delivery, would be necessary 
 to yield the required Revenue : that is to say withoi t reliance upon profits from 
 the intermediate stations, yet which may prove to be )f importance. 
 
 In order to estimate the time which the transactior« of the above e'*:tent of 
 business would occupy at each of the extreme statioi s, we may take the 94 
 communications from each to be composed of 7050 characters ; which, at 'he 
 rate of 80 characters per minute^ would require 88 miuu'.es for the transmission, 
 
 B 
 
10 
 
 an ,ual time being simultaneously occupied for writing out and delivery. 
 But II skilful operator cau transmit on emergency 100 to 120, or even more 
 cliaracters per minute, or equivalent to the above 7050 in aboTit an hour. 
 
 Gentlemen engaged in mercantile affairs in the principal sea-ports of the Bri- 
 tish Provinces, are the most competent judges whether the average of about 
 one hour per day be the extreme probable employment that will be given to a 
 11 lie of Telegraph capable of transmitting in both directions, when connected 
 with. Montreal and Toronto, almost instantaneous intelligence between all those 
 j)laces and the several ports of the Atlantic coast, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence 
 to the Gulf of Mexico. Also rendering i^'e arrival of a British Packet at Hali- 
 fax equivalent in the effect of the intelligence with which she may be charged, 
 to her arrival at New Orleans, and at every telegraphic station, nearly at the 
 same time ; and again, her departure from Halifax to Europe, equivalent, in 
 point of intelligence, to her departure, nearly at the same instant, from all the 
 important points of North America. 
 
 With regard to the time that would be necessary for the construction of a 
 Line of Telegraph between Quebec and Halifax, all the poles might be deposited 
 in tlieir places, and all material be nearly in a state of readiness before the pre- 
 sent frost be out of the ground ; after which the progress of the ^"ork will depejul 
 much upon the arrangements made and the force employed. If so desired by 
 the respective Provincial Le'gislatnres, and the gentlemen who may actively 
 iiilerest themselves in the accomplishment of the object, and provided the neces- 
 sary exertions be ordinarily prosperous, the whole line may be fit for the trans- 
 mission ofintplligence by the end of July next. 
 
 I have estimated for the cost of a lin(^ by way of the Post Road at present 
 used by Her Majesty's Mails, chiefly because the route appears to offer facilities 
 for the prompt construction, and afterwards for the management and preserva- 
 tion, of the line, at materially less expense than seems to be practicable by any 
 other route, whether shorter or longer, no other being as yet so well settled or 
 free from natural obstacles. The opening of any other and more eligible line is 
 Dierely a question of expense. The difference with respect to local objects 
 would be comparatively small. 
 
 1. Say distance from Quebec, via Frederieton and St. John, to 
 
 XJcXliitlX} ••• !•• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• 
 
 Add a Branch from the Bend of Petitcodiac, extending through 
 Miranichi to Bathurst, 
 
 'J. Say distance from Quebec, via Metis, Campbelton, &c. to 
 Halifax, ... ... , 
 
 Add a Branch from the Lend of Petitcodiac to St. John and 
 Frederieton, 
 
 C68 
 
 miles 
 
 138 
 
 (( 
 
 800 
 
 (( 
 
 0.57 
 
 miles 
 
 158 
 
 c 
 
 815 
 
 Tf I may be permitted to express an opinion as to the reason assigned for 
 preferring a line remote from the American frontier, 1 should say that it is in a 
 material degree founded in misconception. From the observations already made, 
 it is manifest that t'lere is and nuist be a common interest n\ the security and 
 success of such a line, an the prin( ipal or trunk Jnie of the most rapid commu- 
 nication between the whole of this Continent and Europe. Our interest in 
 par*^aking freely of the advantages of the whole American system cannot be less 
 important to us than a like interest in our system to theni. 
 
11 
 
 For llie present the British Mail is transported through New Englund to 
 Montreal, hut the establishment of Rnihvay coniniunicntion for the snnie objeet 
 through the Provinces, will n^^ doubt embrace also the means of telegraphic com- 
 munication. Yet, independently of this, it is true with regard to both the imme- 
 diate and prospective importance of a line 'of Telegiaph by way of the Metis, 
 that it holds out the recommendation of touching at several ports along the 
 Eastern Coast between Quebec anC Halifax, and thus promises to benefit in a 
 _lugh degree the sliipping and commerce of tlie River and Gulf of St. Lawrence, 
 whilst the distance being nearly the same, the heavier cost of constructing and 
 protecting the line, might not, upon investigation, seem to outweigh its advan- 
 tages ; and if once in operation, the same consideration of utility would toiid to 
 ensure its pernumence, even after a more direct line along the route of the rail- 
 way may be established. Should the coast line, therefore, be at all events pre- 
 ferred in Canada, these may be reasons for concurring in its adoption. 
 
 In the mean time u is our obvious policy to inspirit and advance our frontier 
 population by the encouragement amongst them of every judicious enterprise that 
 may tend to such a result. 
 
 All which is with great deference submitted. * 
 
 1 have the honor to be, Sir, 
 
 Your Excellency's most obedient humble servant, 
 
 J. WILKINSON. 
 
 To His ExcL'llcncv Col, Sir \V. M. G. Cok'brooke, 
 K. n., &c. &c. &c. 
 
 OFFICE OF TliE NEW YORK, ALBANY AND BUFFALO TELEGRAPH COMPANY. 
 
 fJtica, September, 1846. 
 
 Rates of Charges : — For the transmission and writing out of every Com- 
 munication of Fifteen JVords or iindiT (every Figure or Character beyond 
 the Address and Signature being counted as a Word.) viz : — 
 
 For any distaiK^e — 
 
 N«t cxeceJing ;>0 milns, 15 cts. For every additional Five Words or under, 10 cts. 
 
 Over 50 and undcuv 150 miles. 25 cts. " " " lOcts. 
 
 Over 150 and under ;5U0 miles, 35 cts. •• " '< L5 cts. 
 
 Over 300 miles, - - 50 cts, " " " 20 cts. 
 
 Exclusive of the charge for delivering Communications, which in Cities and 
 Villages will not exceed Two Cents each. 
 
 Regulations : — 1. First co?ne, jirst served. 2. Paj/mcnt in advance. 
 »}. Communications to be written in plain copy and handed to Manager. 
 4. No one to occtipy more than fifteen minutes, whilst others are waiting. 
 /). No talking allowed in the Operator's Room during bu.siness hours. 6. No 
 admission in the Operator's Department without special permission. 
 
 Communications destined for any place beyond the termination of the Tele- 
 graph, or branching oil from any Station, will be faithfully written out at the 
 last Station, and put into the United States Mail. 
 
 THEODORE S. FAXTON, President. 
 
 C. Livingston, Secretary. 
 
 TABLE of distances BY TELEGRAPH. 
 From Ntw York to Troy and Albany, 180 miles. 
 
 From Troy and Albany to Utica, 100 miles. - - 280 miles distant from New York. 
 
 Utica to Syracuse, • 50 " - - - .330 
 
 Syracuse to Auburn, - 2G " - - 356 
 
 Auburn to Rochester, - 78 " - - - 434 
 
 Rochester to Buffalo, - 75 '< - - 509 <' 
 
 (I 
 
12 
 
 (Supplementary.) 
 
 Since closing the foregoing Report, I have, at Your Excellency's request, peru- 
 sed the Report and Estimate of Doctors Robb and Toldervy, dated on the 25th 
 ultimo, with regard to a Telegraphic line between Fredericton and St. John. 
 In their Report generally I entirely concur, excepting with regard to the expense 
 of constructing the line mentioned. In the absence of other data for their 
 guidance, they have very properly, and of necessity, founded their estimate upon 
 the circumstances of perfect novelty and inexperience involved in the under-- 
 taking in this Province. They have consequently assumed to be necessary to 
 the efficiency of the Telegraph certain precautions, materially enhancing the 
 cost, which experience in the United States has proved to be dispensable. 
 
 1. The insulating of the extended wire, (except at the points of suspension.) 
 
 2. The bracing, framing, planing, ballasting, &c. of the poles. 
 
 It is found to be sufficient to use a simple pole of Oak, Hemlock, Pine, Spruce, 
 or Hackmatack, in its rough state, with the branches merely trimmed off, and 
 measuring about thirty feet long, eight inches diameter at th3 butt, and four to 
 six inches at the top. This is inserted in a hole about five feet deep, made by 
 a boring tool contrived for the purpose. Such poles may be obtained in this 
 Province, delivered where required, at from 8d. to Is. 3d. each, according to 
 situation. 
 
 The additional expense of Kyanizing or Pavnizing might be advisable. I'he 
 expense of the former process, which is found to be efficient, is about equal to 
 2sd. currency per cubic foot. It would probably enhance the cost of the poles 
 about 50s. or 60s. per mile. 
 
 Whilst the experiment was yet untried in the United States, Professor Morse 
 estimated the expense of constructing a line on poles at ^350 to $400 per mile ; 
 but, including every thing, the actual cost of the line between Washington and 
 Baltimore largely exceeded this estimate ; involving as it did, numerous expendi- 
 tures of an experimental character. Profiting by the experience thus obtained, 
 and by stiH more extended trials, it is now found practicable in the United 
 States to construct an efficient line at the comparatively trifling cost exhibited 
 in the Estimate which I have submitted to Your Excellency. 
 
 I believe it would not be found difficult to contract with competent persons in 
 the United States to construct a long line at that rate, but probably for a short 
 one a higher rate might be demanded. 
 
 J. WILKINSON. 
 
REPORT 
 To Ills Excellency Sir "W. M. O. Colebrooke, K. H., dec. &c. Oce, 
 
 ON SOME OK THE RESULTS OF EXPSSRIKNCK IN THE 
 
 UNITED STATES, 
 
 WITH REOARO TO THE USE OK WOOD IN THE CONSTRUCTION OP 
 
 It A I li IfV A T S , 
 
 AND WITH REFERENCE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF SIMILAR WORKS IN THE 
 
 PROVINCE OF NEW BRUNSWICK, 
 
 BY 
 
 J. WILKINSON, 
 0/ Stir. Gen. Departm&iitt N. B. 
 
 Fredericton^ 17M March^ 1847. 
 May it please Your Excellency,— 
 
 AgreeaWy to the instructions communicated to me by direction of Your Ex- 
 cellency on the 8th January last, I have now the honor to submit such observa- 
 tions on Railway experience in the United States as may be useful in this 
 Province. 
 
 The pressure of time on this occasion does not permit me to treat the subject 
 either as fully, or with so much care, as I should otherwise desire. But any 
 further information in my power to communicate is at Your Excellency's 
 command. 
 
 In the construction of public works, it is doubtless the wisest policy to have 
 regard to the utmost degree of perfection consistent with circumstances and a 
 well-considered economy. Hence the costly degree of perfection generally 
 exhibited in such works in Great Britain and other portions of Europe, and also 
 iu the older parts of the United States, where population, trade, manufactures 
 and wealth are so largely disproportionate to the corresponding circumstances 
 here. For tliis reason there are but few of the more perfect models which we 
 are competent in all respects to' imitute. We can understand and profit by the 
 same principles, but the same details of application are, as a general rule, not 
 expedient. 
 
 But it does not necessarily follow that we must wait until our social condition 
 be advanced to that of older countries, in order to enjoy, in many respects, 
 equally the advantages of science and mechanical skill in our public works. 
 We are, on the contrary, surrounded by inducements and by natural advantages, 
 which, though associated with some difficulties, hold out the promise of ample 
 success to well directed industry and enterprise, even with very moderate extra- 
 neous aid. 
 
 The enormous expense of the first Railway experiments in England for the 
 transport of both passengers and freight, did not divert our neighbours on this 
 side of the Atlantic from the incalculable advantages which were assured by an 
 
14 
 
 M 
 
 !9 I 
 
 improvement so great and so peculiarly adapted to this Continent. On the con- 
 trary, they immediately began to consider the means within their reach of secur- 
 ing its benefits. They had the advantage of experience, purchased so liberally 
 by British enterprise, and also natural advantages of their own, not available in 
 England. Tn New England, ind-^ed, where population, wealth, and local cir- 
 cumstances, amply justified the attempt, railways were begun and finished very 
 closely after the English model. But in South Carolina, whore the abundance 
 of timber and the favorable character of the country naturally suggested the idea, 
 timber foundations, and also rails essentially of timber, were adopted to obviate 
 the costly alternatives of earthen excavations and embankments, solid masonry, 
 and the heavy iron rail. 
 
 A line of this kind was constructed between Charleston and Augusta, 13G 
 miles, within the years 1S30 to 1833. Descriptions of the road, more or less 
 parlicular, are given in some of the published official reports in relation to the 
 work, on the authority of which I believe that dependance may be placed. 
 
 The result appears mainly to have fulfilled the expectations of the projectors, 
 leaving no material difficulty to be provided for besides the consequence of the 
 perishable quality of the structure, which was well understood and anticipated. 
 It was necessary that all the timber should be periodically renewed, or that per- 
 manent earthen embankments and masonry should be supplied. The latter 
 alternative was adopted, and the road being in full operation afforded facilities for 
 embanking which rendered the cost comparatively light. But it does not appear 
 from the experiment, that had any certain means of preventing the dacay of the 
 timber been known and made use of, that any necessity for embanking would 
 have arisen for an indefinite period, if at all. 
 
 The manner of construction was, upon well-driven piles when the ground was 
 soft, upon trestles when firm and solid, and simply on longitudinal under sills 
 united by cross-ties, when excavations occurred, or where the grades coincided 
 nearly with the natural surface. 
 
 Besides the exceedingly small expense, the advantages of this method in 
 superseding, to a great extent, the necessity of bridges, culverts, and drains, and 
 in avoiding the disasters which are so liable to bS the result of any insufficiency 
 in these structures, appear to have been very deserving of notice. The adapta- 
 tion of the plan to large portions of this Province, and to similar descriptions of 
 country everywhere, will appear by the following extract from the Report of the 
 Commissioner of , the South Carolina Rail Road, dated May 1st, 1838, being 
 after the first year of trial of that Road: — 
 
 " The plan adopted in the construction has been peculiarly ibitunate ; it has 
 been emphatically called the ' Inland Bridge' — recently it has proved itself so. 
 At a time when every mail teemed with accounts of the disasters occasioned by 
 the late heavy freshets ; when the Savannah River rose higher than it lias done 
 since the memorable Yazoo freshet; when serious apprehensions were at one 
 time entertained for the safety of the Augusta Bridge ; when the houses in Ham- 
 burg were encompassed by water, and all communication between Hamburg, 
 Augusta, and Barnwell Court House was suspended for three days, and resumed 
 on the fourth at the risk of losing the mail and the lives of those entrusted with 
 its conveyance ; when the navigation of the rivers was stopped, their banks 
 strewed with fragments of houses, mills, &c. ; the highland roads washed into 
 gullies, and the bridges in the low countries in many places washed away — at 
 this period, so destructive to property, and when intercourse between various 
 
 was entirely stopped, it will be gratifying to stockholders to 
 
 parts 
 
 )untry 
 
 learn, that, with the exception of the sliding of the side of a bank on the road 
 (avalanche) within two miles of Hamburg, the works have not sustained injury to 
 
15 
 
 ihe amount of five dollars. During this v^liole pct iod the trips were perfornwd 
 v'^ulnrhj in the usual time and with the usual load, and the passengers expe- 
 rienced no inconvenience^ except that resulting from a moist atmosphere. Had 
 the system of embankment, which is generally resorted to in similar works, in 
 order to preserve the grade over low grounds, been adopted in this work, it is 
 probable that a large portion of it this day would have been a mass of ruins ; as 
 human sagacity could scarcely have anticipated the necessity of culverts suffi- 
 ciently capacious to have afforded an outlet to such immense and overwhelming 
 flood " 
 
 s. 
 
 )> 
 
 But the security afforded under such circumstances as the foregoing is not the 
 only benefit likely to be derived from the same plan in a climate where deep and 
 drifting snows threaten to interrupt, if not to prevent railway communication for 
 several months in the year. So plainly essential to the success of a railway are 
 certainty and regularity of communication, that without some satisfactory assu- 
 jrance that these are attainable at a limited and reasonable expense, the prudence 
 of embarking in such an enterprise might be justly questioned. When, however, 
 uninterrupted transportation may appear to be feasible by a plan not only avoid- 
 ing extraordinary outlay, but requiring even a less expense for the whole con- 
 struction and management than by any other, its claim to consideration in these 
 Colonies seems to be such as will scarcely be overlooked. Such plan appears 
 to be that of an open wooden structure, elevated above the ordinary level of the 
 snow, and presenting slight obstruction to the same in a drifting state. There 
 are questions of detail in relation to this object which may for the present be 
 deferred. 
 
 After an eight years trial of their system, the President of the South Carolina 
 Rail Road Company, in a Report dated in 1840, thus speaks of its merits : — 
 
 *' The superiority ot the peculiar construction of our road — the superstructure 
 on piles driven into the ground and embanked afterwards — was shewn very satis- 
 factorily in the repairs after the great flood of the Savannah River in May last, 
 which raised the water five feet over the top of the rails, yet not one fourth thus 
 covered wete removed ; and had it not been tor the great weight of timber, 
 houses, and whole trees, which were forced against it with great violence, no part 
 would have been dislodged from its foundation. 
 
 " The plan, regarded by many as a great mistake in the building of the road, 
 has proved an economical one, as well in repairs as original construction." 
 
 The following is from a semi-annual Report in 1843 : — '" The construction 
 of the Road on piles is becoming more in favor with others, as well as those 
 having the advantage of it. Several roads at the North are partially on this plan. 
 The New York and Erie Railroad, to be 44G miles long, is to be about one half 
 built in this way. Over 70 miles of piles have been already driven. 
 
 " It saves much of the cost of embanking a road by being able to transport the 
 earth upon it to fill the valleys and swamps, and before it is necessary to do this, 
 the income of the road is providing for the payment v hile it is constructing. 
 
 " It preserves the line and level of the road after the embankment is made. 
 When roads are built on fills and cuts without piles, the superstructure is con- 
 tinually liable to be disturbed by the sinking of the banks, or water settling in the 
 excavations, much to the injury of passing trains, breaking axles, and otherwise 
 deranging the machinery of the engines." 
 
 The same Report furnishes a statement of the cost of the Road, from which it 
 appears that, for the wooden structure and materials, it aniounted to $584,542 43 ; 
 or equal to $4,300 per mile, exclusive of iron and spikes for the plate rail, which 
 amounted to $125,309 47, or about $921 per mile. Preliminary expenses, 
 Surveys, Engineer departmentj workshops and materials, machinery, engines, 
 
h-fJ 
 
 ;i 
 
 "-1 
 
 U' 
 
 16 
 
 cars, inclined plane, land, road police, office expenses, &c., amounted to 
 $241,2'J6 47; or equal say :o $1,774 per mile. 
 
 The road continued in active operation as thus constructed until 183G, wlien 
 heavy repairs became necessary. At this time,^therefore,^the whole|;^expense of 
 the construction o( the road, exclusive of the Iron rail and the other expenses 
 .".hove enumerated, was no more than $4,300, or £1,075 Halifax currency, or 
 about £896 sterling per mile ; and including everything, only equal to about 
 c€l,460 stg. per mile, under the unfavorable circumstances of a first experiment. 
 
 Afterwards the replacing of such timber as had began to decay, the embanking 
 of the piled portions of the road, and importing heavy flanged iron, increased the 
 whole cost to $2,506,762 61, or equal to $18,432 p,3r mile, up to the year 1839. 
 Since then the increase of cost appears to be upwards of one half more. But 
 how this arises, or for what reasons the Company may have deemed it necessary 
 or expedient so largely to increase their permanent expenditure, are questions 
 which do not seem to be involved in that under consideration. It appears that 
 during a period of at least four years the advantages of a railway were obtained 
 and enjoyed for the small expenditure before stated; but afterwards that the pro- 
 gressive re-construction of the work, at heavy expense, became necessary. It is 
 therefore chiefly desirable to ascertain whether the same advantages might not 
 have been secured for a much longer, or even for an indefinite period, without 
 furth3r extraordinary expenditure, or any serious practical objection to the plan 
 itself, had the material employed in the first construction been imperishable. 
 
 The opinion of Engineers of long-known ability and experience in the United 
 States, as well as of others practically conversant with the subject of Railways, is 
 that there is no valid objedion to a properly constructed wood:^n foundation, 
 exce\ii the perishable nature of the material. That as a general rule, to which all 
 must assent, the introduction of perishable materials into works intended to be 
 permanent, is as much as possible to be avoided; and at the present time wherever 
 the means can be commanded, earthwork and masonry are generally preferred. 
 Under different circumstances, however, and where wood is abundant, the piling 
 system is adopted, if the characte. of the country will permit; for besides being 
 more rapidly executed, it is regarded as an efficient and economical foundation, 
 even at the risk of a periodical renewal every five or six years. 
 
 In some of the substantially constructed Railways of New England, small por- 
 tions founded wholly on wood are to be met with, and which have been so con- 
 structed either from the necessity of the case, or from some consideration of 
 present economy. In passing over these the passenger is unconscious of any 
 transition from the earthen foundation. 
 
 I was kindly invited to pass over and examine, in company with the Engineer, 
 a portion of wooden foundation adopted ri a Branch Railway from Salem to 
 Danvers, just completed and opened for traffic. It iiad been thus constructed 
 with a view to dispatch and the more immediate benefit of thj Railway, leaving 
 the filling up with earthwork to future convenience before the wood should have 
 time to decay. The elevation of the work, substantially constructed on piles, is 
 from five to thirty feet above the natural surface of the ground. During the 
 passage of the train no vibration or unsteadiness was perceptible; and in standing 
 upon the platform behind the last car, as it were in mid air, and in clear view of 
 the open wooden framework below, retreating with a velocity of 25 miles per hour, 
 it was not easy to ''onceive how it could be more difficult to pass any ordinary 
 depth of our uoriliern snow, and that at rates of speed equal to those attainable 
 under the most favorable circumstances. 
 
 The expense of this wooden structure was from two dollars to six dollars per 
 running foot of the railway. But besides the great elevation of the way, a large 
 
17 
 
 proportion of the piles were driven to a groat depth and in deep water. At two 
 dollars per foot, for which a portion of this example was made, the cost would be 
 equal lo about JE2180 sterling per mile, the elevation being about 10 feet, and the 
 piles driven lo a depth of 12 feet. The limber was here, however, comparatively 
 ejCpensive, being obtained from a distance, and as an article of merchandise. 
 
 1 was favored in a very obliging manner with the opportunity of inspecting the 
 result of a wooden structure on the New York and Erie Rail Road, which is of tho 
 broad gaugn, and intended as one of the great trunk lines of the Lake and western 
 trade. The portion lo which I have refereuce is near its commencement, and 
 consists of a viaduct 60 feet at its highest part above the bed of the valley over 
 which it passes. Thirty feet of this height consists chiefly of an earthen embank- 
 ment, and partly of a stone bridge; but in order to avoid the delay and immediate 
 expense of so heavy an embankment as that which would be required for tho 
 whole elevation, the remaining 30 feet was filled up with strong trestles of white 
 oak. At the time of my visit this had been subjected tjo a regular traffic of 
 upwards of five years, and still remained strong, steady and sufficient. But in 
 order to provide against the certain effects of gradual decay the whole structure was 
 in progress of being embanked with earth to the level of the roadway. Earthen 
 embankments had also been made on this division of the road wherever the timber 
 structuce had in the first instance been employed. But I was assured by the 
 Engineer af the work that no practical or efficient objection existed to this kind 
 of foundation, except that of the perishable nature of the material, and that not- 
 withstanding this objection, where wood was abundant, the plan was the most easy 
 and rapid of execution, as well as in the first instance the most economical, and 
 in a climate where communication was liable to be impeded by snow, it was 
 superior to any other that had been devised. 
 
 A large portion of the Line of the New York and Erie Rail Road, where the 
 country was favorable, has been piled; but the financial difficulties of tho Com- 
 pany having caused a suspension of their works until recently, they will be deprived 
 of much of the benefit of the wooden structure. It has been exposed to decay 
 during several years, but will still afford the foundation of a Railway, which besides 
 sustaining a regular traffic in the meantime, will facilitate the substitution of earthen 
 embankments in an economical and expeditious manner. 
 
 A practical exposition of the merits of this system is afforded by the following 
 extract from the evidence of one of the intelligent and experienced Engineers of 
 the New York and Erie Rail Road, as given before a Committee of the Legislative 
 Assembly of the State of New York, appointed to investigate the affairs of the 
 Company, in the year 1842: — 
 
 " Question 23. — Have you made or examined any tests with the view of ascer- 
 taining the comparative merits of a Rail Road constructed upon piles^ and one 
 upon a bed of earth or stone, and if so, state the conclusions to which you have 
 arrived, with the facts connected therewith.-' 
 
 " Answer. — I have made numerous examinations relative to the construction 
 of Rail Roads \x\ionpiles within the last three years, and have become thoroughly 
 *' convinced that the piling system is an important improvement in Rail Road con- 
 '* struction, and especially in northern climates, where severe frosts and deep 
 ** snows are common in the winter months. 
 
 ** A road resting upon white oak ^iles (from eleven to eighteen inches in 
 *' diameter,) driven to a depth of five feet or over, and in all cases reaching a 
 *' solid foundation, and sawed off two or three feet above the surface of the earth, 
 " is not liable to derangement by frost, nor obstructions by snow^ and combines in 
 *' a greater degree than any other mode that has been adopted in this country, 
 
 c 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
18 
 
 ii;' 
 
 •• cheapness and permanency —xh^ l\yo most essential requisites in Rail Road con- 
 *^ struction. Piles that have stood in the most exposed situations on the Utica 
 •* and Syracuse Rail Road for the/bvr past winters, and those driven on this divi- 
 *• sion during the summer and fall of 1540, in every variety of sw/, abundantly 
 " prove the fact i\\Vii frost cannot displace them, if they are driven to a depth of 
 ^'- Jive feet or ever. 
 
 " A piled road is also free from the obstructions and dangers incident to a 
 *' graded (earthen) road, in consequence of the washing of the banks by floods 
 " and rain, and by settling when on a soft bottom; thereby requiring constant 
 '' anfiua/ expense to adjust the road and replace the earth material. 
 
 " It will, I think, also lessen if not entirely prevent the frequent accidents that 
 *' occur on graded (earthen) Rail Roads, arising from cattle and other animals 
 " obstructing the track when trains are passing at high rates of speed. 
 
 " The permanent and uniform foundation that a piled road affords during all 
 •' seasons of (he year, cannot, 1 think, be too highly appreciated; and for roads 
 " calculated to transport heavy freight, its decided superiority over the usual 
 *' modes of constructing Rail Roads in the State cannot be questioned. 
 
 " From the experience afforded me during the construction of the Syracuse 
 " and Utica Rail Road, as well as ihe two past years on this division,* I have no 
 *' hesitation in strongly recommending the adoption of a piled road, wherever the 
 *' nature of the soil, surface of the country, and a supply of suitable timber will 
 *' admit of the structure. On this division* there is being made over one hundred 
 " miles of piled roa6y along the valleys of the Susquehannah, Chemung, Tioga, 
 ** and Canisteo rivers, of which the piles are now driven for seventy miles; and 
 " the eight steam pile-drivers are now in operation, driving the residue at the rate 
 " oi ten miles per month. 
 
 " The actual cost of this piling (when sawed off in readiness to receive the 
 *' superstructure) has averaged less than ^<^o Mowsaw^^ rfo//ars ;?er miVe,f including 
 *' the white oak pile timber, from eight to thirty feet in length, and from eleven to 
 •' twenty inches in diameter, costing on an average about three and one half cents 
 *' per lineal foot, delivered on the line of road. These piles are driven from five to 
 *• twenty feet, and wher'j required by the looseness or softness of the earth, double 
 " piles are driven to the depth of fifty feet or more, aud sawed off from two to 
 *' four feet above the embankment, or the natural surface of the ground. 
 
 " To have substituted a graded (earthen) road-bed in place of this piled road 
 *' in this division would have cost not less than four thousand dollars per mile 
 ^^ for the whole distance, without including the grading necessary for the piled 
 *' road, when the surface of the earth requires to be excavated or embanked for 
 
 the purpose of bringing the earth grade from one lofour feet from the grade-line 
 
 of the road. No difiiculty has been experienced in driving white oak, chesnut, 
 *' or Norway pine piles below the reach of the frost, in sand, gravel, clay, or 
 
 alluvial soils; and wherever excavations or embankments occur exceeding four 
 
 feet in depth or height, the cost o*" removing the additional quantity of earth 
 
 necessary for a graded road-bed, with its side ditches, exceeds the cost of piling, 
 
 including the piling timber. 
 
 " The excavations for piled road on this division are made twelve feet wide on 
 
 the bottom, with side slopes of one foot vertical to one and a half feet hori^^ontal. 
 
 The piles are sawed off one foot above the bottom of the cut, and a ditch of 
 
 three feet wide and one foot deep is made between the rows of piles, to carry 
 ** off the water. The earth from the excavations is carried into embankments, 
 
 
 tt 
 
 
 
 (( 
 
 * Suequehaniiah division of tlie N. Y. and Erie Rail Road. 
 t S»j equal to jf-^l? Sterling. 
 
19 
 
 <( 
 
 it 
 
 i( 
 
 where the grade exceeds three feel in height. The enibaiij^metits are made to 
 within three feet of the tops of the piles, twelve feet wide on the top, with 
 side-slopes of one and a-half feet to one foot. 
 
 " From the experience that I have had in the construction of pile road, and 
 fiom the examinatior)s that I have made relative to the cost of grading, and 
 keeping in repair the ordinary graded roads of the country, I thinic I am within 
 bounds when I say that the interest of the amount saved by building a piled 
 road instead of a graded road, for the one hundred miles on this division, 
 together with the annual expense in keeping a graded road-bed in good adjust- 
 ment and repair, will renew the piles^ should it be necessary, every ./Jt'e or s/j; 
 
 " years, so long as suitable timber can be obtained at twice'ws present cost in that 
 
 *' division. 
 
 *' If the white oak piles should not remain sound more than eight or ten years, 
 *' the expense of filling around them with earth, at the expiration of that lime, 
 *' with the use of cars to move the earth, would cost at least ^fifty per cent, less 
 *' than it would now cost to make the embankments to the graded line with bar- 
 " rows or waggons ; as most of the earth would require to be drawn from the 
 " h'lls, for great distances, in consequence of the alluvial soil, found along the 
 *' bottom lands of the rivers, not being suitable for a road bed for a graded 
 *' road. Wherever the valleys to be filled are deep, and the excavat-ons from 
 which the earth is to be taken to embank over them, are at any considerable 
 distance off, the hauling of the earth is postponed until the track is laid on the 
 piles, and then done with cars at a great saving of expense. 
 " Another consideration in favor of a piled road is, thai when the piles are 
 partially decayed, the earth embankments can be cheaply brought up to grade, 
 as has been shewn, and the strength of the pile will, for many years thereafter, 
 keep the road from settling ; thus you will perceive that the superstructure 
 having been kept from the ground, and of course in a great measure preserved, 
 *' the earth being brouglit to grade, as before remarked, and well rammed under 
 " the superstructure, we have a new and permanent road, much more perma- 
 *' nent than roads where the rail is laid upon a new, and of course not thoroughly 
 " settled embankmenl. 
 
 " The construction of pile road en this division has, I think, enabled the com- 
 *' pany to make •contracts with the landholders along the route (where such road 
 " is made) for right of way, fencing and farm-crossings, for at least aerenljf fire 
 " per cent, less than they could have done had a graded road been substituted in 
 " its place. This arises from the fact that while the piles remain in good pre- 
 " servation, there will be no necessity of fencing along the railroad, excepting 
 *' the nailing of a few boa-rds upon the piles, while the farmer can cultivate all 
 " the land sold to the Company, and which is from 4^ to 6 rods in width, (until 
 " it is required for a graded road,) except the width of eight feet, occupied by 
 " \\\e piles. The piled road also permits cattle and other animals to pass U7}der 
 " the track, and thus saves the great expense usually required on graded roads, 
 *' to make embankments ot tlie roads for farm crossings, or expensive bridges 
 or culverts, to allow teams and cattle to pass under the road. A large amount 
 is, also saved in the single item o^ cattle guards., necessary on graded roads, to 
 prevent cattle from passing from private or public roads, on to the track of 
 the railway, and'thereby obstructing the passage of trains ; and which occa- 
 sions a great share of the destruction of life and property on graded roads. 
 *' As I have before remarked, the great advantages of the piling system con- 
 sist in its cheapness and permanency ; and in regard to its durability^ it will 
 be seen, that if the perishable material of which it is constructed can be 
 
 tc 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
^11! I 
 
 t 
 
 20 
 
 " renewed at an expense of less than the vifmst upon the diflerence in the first 
 " cost, and necessary annual expenses, (when compared with a graded road,) it 
 " must result in an uhimalo sovi/)<j; of expcma.''^ 
 
 Tlie substa.ice of this testimony, received with that consideration to which the 
 opinions and experience of other competent Engineers support its claim, gives to 
 the question of Wooden Railways a peculiar interest in these Provinces, and pla- 
 ces in a striking light the importance of some available method of insuring their 
 durability after their first construction. 
 
 The most satisfactory experiments which as yet appear to have been made in 
 the preservation of wood, are by the process of " Kyanizing ,•" not that they 
 conclusively establish the comparative merits of this process, but because ihey 
 extend over a longer period of time, say than any experiments by the more 
 recent methods which have been introduced to public notice, amongst which the 
 most approved appears to be that of "Paynizing." 
 
 No well authenticated instance is known of the failure in the United States of 
 the Kyan process where it has been fairly tried. On the contrary, prepared 
 Railway sleepers of Spruce, one of the most perishable of American woods, 
 exposed in a njanner least favorable to its durability, have been found at the end 
 of six years, the fidl time of its ordinary duration, remaining quite sound and 
 elastic, and even retaining the original marks of the saw. 'JMie cost of this pro- 
 cess by hydraulic pressure has been found to be 5 12-100 cents, or about equal 
 to 3 l-8d. Halifax currency per cubic foot. By soakage only, it ought to be 
 much less, as the value of the corrosive sublimate necessary to each cubic foot, 
 does not, according to some experiments, exceed l^d. currency. The efficiency 
 and economy of this process, as now confirmed by numerous experiments, has 
 tended to create a general confidence and renewed interest in it ; the risk 
 of further trials Is now freely incurred, and its extensive adoption is highly 
 j)robiible. 
 
 Tiie simple process of natural absorption, by immersing the foot of a newly- 
 felled tree in a preservative solution, say the pyrolignite of iron, seems well 
 deserving of consideration and further experiment. By this process it would 
 appear thai the vitality remaining in the wood for a short time after it has been 
 cut, causes the artificial fluid to circulate with the natural sap throughout the 
 whole tree. JNIr. Beihell claims a right in this process by patent, dated July 
 1 lib, 1838. Public attention was drawn to the discovery by Dr. Boucherie, of 
 Paris, in 1S40. It would of course be necessary that this process should be 
 practised on the spot where the timber is cut. 
 
 It seems diflicult to attach too much importance in these Provinces to some • 
 feasible and certain method of rendering wood, if not imperishable, at least capa- 
 ble of resisting decay for a long period. The elTect would be to place us in a 
 position to prosecute a railway system, and other works, at a cost so moderate 
 as to remove reasonable fears of success. It would probably also give us a large 
 share of additional manufacturing benefit in the staple of the country. For the 
 preservative process seems to be most easy and effectual when applied whilst the 
 wood is in a green state. 
 
 Wood as a substitnte for Iron Rails. 
 
 So far we have chiefly considered the eligibility of wood as the principal 
 material in railway foundations. The entire substitution of wooden for iron rails, 
 and thereby avoiding nearly the whole expense of the latter, has perhaps engaged 
 more attention in these Provinces than in the United States. On first naming 
 the subject of wooden rails in that country, you are understood to mean the 
 wooden rail, or longitudinal sill, upon which a light plate of iron is laid and 
 
21 
 
 secured as in the first experiments there. But this expedient, having been 
 found to be very objectionable and insufTicient, especially under heavy locomo- 
 tives and high velocities, is generally becoming abandoned in favor of the 
 heavy iron rail. The light iron plate of 2 J inches by '.} inch is found to bo too 
 flexible, and the wood beneath it too compressible. It is now deemed necessary, 
 even with a continuous wooden bearing, that the iron should possess the stiffness 
 of the usual forms of the heavy iron rail. The failure of the light plate rail, 
 therefore, seems to have created a degree of prejudice against much depen'^encu 
 upon wood, and a dependence upon it aliogether is regarded as somewhat chi- 
 merical. The results of the limiteil experiments in England have not apparently 
 had the eflect of disturbing in the United Slates the general conviction of ilie 
 necessity of employing strong rails of iron in order to sustain a heavy trans- 
 portation. 
 
 It may be allowed that the statements of the experiments as yet made, though 
 calculated to give a favorable impression, do not conclusively settle the ques- 
 tion of the safe application of the wooden rail to the various circumstances of a 
 long line of railway intended to sustain heavy loads and high velocities. Enough 
 however has been made known to draw attention in these Colonies to the im|)or- 
 tance of a more perfect investigation of the subject. A few suggestions in rela- 
 tion to it I will venture to submit. 
 
 Tho principle of the woodtm rail is acknowledgod to be without novelty. ltd 
 employment is merely a return to what was in utrC upwards of two hundred years 
 ago, but now resumed under the more favorable circumstances of greatly 
 advanced knowledge and experience. The form of the rail appears to have been 
 not materially different from that which has been subjected to recent experi- 
 ments ; but the wheels of the wagons are said to have been, during a longpiMiod, 
 only of wood, and of rude construction. Afterwards cast iron whet'ls were intro- 
 duced, which, it would appear, from their imperfect adaptation to a rail of much 
 softer material, soon led to the use of cast iron rails. Again a difficulty was 
 experienced. Jt was found that the cast iron rails, especially w/irn their siirfa- 
 res were narrow, cut the rims of the iron wheels, forming indented groov(>s, 
 which caused considerable friction and the frequ.nt breaking of the rails. 'I'o 
 remedy this the breadth of the surface of (he rail rras increased, which dimi- 
 nished the evil to a certain extent, but the expense of repairs was still considera- 
 1)le. A eoiripleto remedy was eventually effected by '■'■ cas^e-hurdening''^ the rim 
 of the wheels in the process of casting. Tiie furlher improvement of introducing 
 malleable i.on rails, wiis for several years retarded by the .'same evil which first 
 appeared in the use of the cast '\\\^x\ rail ; the 7iarroicness of the edge being fdund 
 to out the perij)hery of the wheels. The cast iron rail with a broader surface 
 was therefore j)referred, because a mnlleable iron rail with a surface sfijjicient'}/ 
 broad wiv-^ too cotilly. ]l:it eventually a malleable iron rail was produced, tiie 
 section of whicli presented i.he same bearing surface us the cast iron rail, com- 
 biniiig with lightness the necessary degree of strength.* 
 
 A'o-.v it .seenis manifest tliat these progressive improvements proceeded from 
 a necessarij regar(l to the relatirr hardness of the periphery of the wheel aruf 
 the hearing surface of the rail. Cast iron wheels were found to cut a soft mate- 
 rial lilvC wood, and rendered also cast iron rails apjiarenlly necessary. But these, 
 when narrow, were found in return to cut the wiieels, an evil which was in part 
 reuiedied by making the surface of the rail broader, and more perfectly remedied 
 by making the periphery of the wheel harder. It was also found necessary to 
 tlie suc(;ess of the malleable iron rail th;it the breadth of bearing surface should 
 be adjusted to the relative hardness of the periphery of the wheel. 
 
 Wood's Treatise on Rail KoaJs, p),i. 8, 13, 141, 191, 192. 
 
i 
 
 22 
 
 These conBiderations seem applicable to the failure of the Iron plate rail spiked 
 upon a rail of wood, as tried in the United States. It is obvious that a thin rib- 
 bon of iron, only 2 J inches wide, could do no more than protect the wood from 
 the abrasive action of the wlieels. It was too narrow and flexible to prevent tlie 
 effects of compression. Hence nearly the same result might be expected, though 
 in a less rapid and sensible degree, as from the first experiments of narrow cast 
 iron wheels rimning immediately upon wood. A thin strip of iron, subjected to 
 th« rolling action of a heavy pressure, arul depending for its stifTnehs upon a soft 
 and irregularly compressible bearing, must necessarily lose the essentia! qualities 
 of a rail. It could not remain either uniformly plain or rigid. 
 
 For thifl evil there appears to be three remedies, difTering materially in their 
 relative economy. 
 
 1. An iron plate rail widened to an extent to be determined by its increased 
 stiffbess, and the hardness of its wooden bearing. 
 
 2. An iron rail of suitable form, and sufTiciently stiff to compensate for its 
 narrowness of bwiring upon wood. 
 
 3. A rail exclusively of wood, to which the width of the rim of the wheels of 
 the locomotive and of the train shall be duly adjusted. 
 
 The second of these remedies is that adopted in the United States, and which 
 involves a minimum of expense of eight or nine thousand dollars per mile for the 
 iron and its fastenings. 
 
 Yet without further and satisfactory experiments there seems to be no sufficient 
 reason to doubt that nearly the whole of this outlay might be avoided by the third 
 proposed remedy ; and which is the adoption of a duly proportioned wooden rail, 
 to be acted upon by iron wheels, t/ie peripheries oj tchich shall bepluin, and of a 
 width which shall be adjusted to the weights and velocities to be sustained, and the 
 relative hardness of the ivood, thereby obviating the necessity of a bearing surface 
 of metal in any form. But the experim.nt should include the substitution for the 
 "flanches" now in use, either the grooved 'iagonal guide wheels of Mr. Prosser, or 
 plain horizontal wheels to roll against the inner side of the rail, fur the same 
 purpose. 
 
 I would therefore suggest, in order more perfectly to test the merits of this kind 
 of rail, that such experiments should be made as may be sufficient to determine 
 whether its efficiency does not depend upon a due adjustnuMit of the width of the 
 iron periphery of the wheel as may be due to the relative hardness of the 
 wood under the pressure of given loads, and under the least favorable circum- 
 stances incident to railway transportation. It is probable that one result of such 
 experiments would be to show that the diminution of the compression is nearly 
 as the square of the ratio of the increase of the width of the periphery of the wheel, 
 that is to say by increasing such width twice, thrice, or four times, we relieve 
 the fibres of the rail from the compressing or crushing effect as four, nine, or 
 sixteen times. 
 
 Further experiments appear also to be necessary in order to determine the 
 adhesion of the driving wheel upon wood under various circumstances. It has 
 been represented as much more than upon iron. I n a dry state this is very proba- 
 ble ; but in a perfectly wet state it is doubtful whether it will not be considerably 
 less, and if so, the supposed advantage of being able to ascend steeper acclivities 
 on the wooden rail may cause disappointments against which it is very material 
 to guard. The same expedient, however, which has been beneficially adopted in 
 
23 
 
 the iron rail in & wet state, tha*^ of sa.d.r.g, may prove to be e/;\ually or more 
 eflTicacions on wood. 
 
 In the meantime there appears to be \.o sufficient reason to discourage a reli- 
 ance upon the wooden rail under ordinary circumstances, if abundant breadth 
 be given to the rims of the iron wheels. In the breadth of the wood a liberality 
 can be observed, which in the use of iron is restrained to a minimum by its cost- 
 liness. 
 
 In closing these imperfect observations, it may be proper, with regard to the 
 general recommendations which they convey of wooden foundations for railways, 
 to remark that it is not pretended that they can always obviate expensive cut- 
 tings and embankments, which must in some instance of necessity be encountered. 
 
 I have the honor to be. Sir, 
 
 Your Excellency's most obedient humble servant, 
 
 J. WILKINSON. 
 
 To Hit EtceUaney Sir '^m. M.O. Colebrooke^ tec. 8te. k'j. 
 
 J, SIMPSON, PRINTBH TO THE QURIN's MOST BXOKLI.ENT MAJESTT.