LOCOMOTIVE CARRIAGES—PROSPECTS OF SOCIETY.

• A PROVINCIAL journal has lately reproached the newspapers of the metropolis, and not unjustly, with having devoted their columns to the most unimportant matters, !while they have taken little or no notice of an event equally calculated to reflect 'lasting honour on the ingenuity of our countrymen, and to bring about great im- provements in the social condition of mankind.

' "The experiments at Liverpool," says the editor of the Scotsman, after vitu- perating the negligence of the London press, "have established principles which 'will give a greater impulse to civilization than it has received from any single cause since the press first opened the gates of knowledge to the human species it large. They may be said to have furnished man with wings—to have sup- plied him with faculties of locomotion of which the most sanguine could not have tdreamed a few years ago. Even steam-navigation gives but a faint idea of the wondrous power which this new agent has put into our hands. It is no exagge- Sion to say, that the introduction of steam-carriages places us on the verge of a

new mra—of a sodial revolution of which imagination cannot picture the ultimate effects."

Without sharing altogether this somewhat exaggerated view, we wish to redeem the character of the London press by a brief notice of some of the conspicuous

consequences of the late experiments. They were made, as our readers are aware, with locomotive carriages running on an edge railway. In this there is nothing new ; for carriages of this description, dragging after them a great weight and moving with considerable velocity, have long been in use at Newcastle, Darling- ton, and various other places. But the perfection to which the experiments have demonstrated that this mode of tratlling can be brought, far surpassed what had previously been achieved, or Aver' in general anticipated. We shall recapitulate briefly the results.

The Rocket, Mr. Szzexesisores locomotive carriage, which gained the prize of 500/. dragging after it a weight of 13 tons performed one journey of

35 miles in 3 hours 10 minutes, and a second of tons, same distance in 2 hours

52 minutes. The first was done at the rate of 11 and the second at the rate of 12 miles an hour. As the engine sometimes moved at the rate of 16 miles an hour, the whole distance of 75 miles might have been accomplished in 5 hours. The same carriage, " stripped forithe race," or loo-ened from its attendant waggon, performed the distance of 7 miles in 14 minutes 14 seconds ; being at the rate of 30 miles an hour. " On Saturday, after the public experiments, it was tried

again," says the Liverpool Times of October 27th ; " when it drew after it the enormous weight of 20 tons at the rate of from 18 to 20 miles per hour."

An engine belonging to a Mr. ACWORTH, called the Sans Pareil, " drew a weight of 18 tons after it, a distance of 25 miles in 2 hours, going sometimes at the rate of 15 miles an hour."

But these feats were outdone by the Novelty, belonging to Messrs. BILAITH- WAITE and ERICSSON of London. This beautifully light and compact machine, weighing very little more than half either of the others, and so effectually

consuming its own smoke that none whatever was visible, —" dragging after it thrice its own weight, or 9 tons, moved with a velocity of from 30 to 32

miles per hour." " Afterwards, a carriage, with seats for the accommodation

of passengers, was substituted for the loaded waggons attached to the Novelty, and about forty-five ladies and gentlemen ascended to enjoy the great novelty of a ride by steam. We can say for ourselves," says the editor of the Me- chanics' Magazine, who went from London to be present at this extraordi- nary race, and from whose account we have transcribed these passages, " that we never enjoyed any thing in the way of travelling more. We flew along at the rate of a mile and a half in three minutes; and though the velocity was such that we could scarcely distinguish objects as we passed by them, the motion was so steady and equable, that we could manage not only to read but to write." One of the peculiarities of the Novelty is a blast furnace, which enables it to perform its work at an expense of one-sixth of the fuel consumed by the other engines, but which produces such an intense heat, that the materials, particularly the cement, were inadequate to resist it. The ingenious proprietors, being convinced that they can surmount this difficulty, and not wishing that the haste used in building their engine (it having been constructed in a few weeks) should throw discredit on the principle of the contrivance, withdrew the Novelty from the contest. It appears, however, so superior to the others,—gaitiing, as has been observed, the grand prize Of public approbation,"—that the extra- ordinary performances of the prize engine will, we have no doubt, ere long be

effectually surpassed. -- -

We will not now insist that the greatest velocity attained, 32 miles in an hour, can be continually performed; but these trials demonstrate, beyond cavil or dispute, that we can travel on railroads conveniently, comfortably, cheaply, and safely, at least twice and probably thrice as fast as we can now travel in the best- ordered Mail-coach on the most carefully kept macadamized road. What has k been done surpasses so much the speed which can be attained by locomotive carriages on common roads where the friction is much greater than on rail- i roads, that all our efforts for le improvement of travelling must henceforth be

directed towards the latter. - - Plating out of view the expense of making them, the pecuniary advantages of locomotive carriages moving on railroads over our present methods of travelling, including the saving of time by the increased velocity, will be, on the most mo- derate computation, as 8 to 1.

"Let us suppose," says the Scotsman, "the speed to be 20 miles an hour, and the expense Is. for 15 miles and the fares by the ordinary stage-coaches about 411. a suite. The journey from London to York by the mail, costs at present 3/. and occupies 23 hours. By a steam-coach it may be accomplished in 10 hours, at an expense of 14s. "A journey from Edinburgh to London now costs a man two days travelling, with a sacrifice of two nights' rest, and a sum of 71.; and his journey down the same. By a steam-coach running on a railway, he may reach London in 20 hours, without losing one night's sleep, at an expense of '26s. or including his food 36s.: and his journey home will be performed in the same time and at the same expense. If we compare the two cases, the time will be as 24 to 1, the expense as 4 to 1, and the comfort and convenience as 6 to 1 in favour of the steam conveyances." The superiority of railroads over every other means of conveyance, is all to be traced to one single principle, which, though previously demonstrated by some mathematicians, was first practically applied to encourage the exertions of engineers, and to elucidate this important subject, by Mr. CHARLES MACLAREN, the editor of the Scotsman ; a gentleman whose scientific attainments do honour to the newspaper press.* This great principle is, that friction is the same for all velocities; consequently, no greater power is necessary to overcome this resist- ance at a speed of 20 than at a speed of 2 miles per hour. COULOMB and YINCE had previously demonstrated this ; Dr. YOUNG had remarked, "that on railroads there was scarcely any resistance to be overcome except that of the air, and such roads will allow the velocity to be increased almost without limits ;" but the merit of showing the results of this principle belongs to Mr. MACLAREN. In a series of excellent papers, published about four years ago, he demonstrated, as friction is the only resisting power on a railroad, except the air, and as the power is not increased by increasing the speed, that on railroads a velocity of 20 or 30 miles per hour might be conveniently attained. He has now the satisfaction of seeing his calculations reduced to practice. Floating bodies must overcome a resistance which increases with the square of their velocity, and renders it impos- sible to propel vessels much faster than at present. A horse expends his whole power to carry forward the weight of his own body with a velocity equal to 12 miles an hour. Beyond that, the average run of horses can draw nothing. The two modes of travelling at present in use, cannot, in point of velocity, compete with locomotive carriages moving on railways. We do not hazard much therefore in asserting, that many years will not elapse, should the country * This gentleman has contributed of late to the amusement no less than to the instruc- tion of the public. It was our painful duty, a fortnight ago, to chronicle some a thti 05tIrdaied into which his P4Sgela fur martial as well as literary renown betrayed Win.

remain at peace, before they will have superseded every other means of con- veyance. A plan is already on foot to form a railroad from Wigan to New- ton, to join the one from Manchester to Liverpool. If we are not mistaken,

a company was formed some time back to construct such a road from London to Liverpool, and the success of the late trials will undoubtedly now cause that project

to be resumed. Canal-owners may oppose the laying down of railroads ; but their opposition, like that of the hand-loom weavers to the introduction of power-loom, will, we suppose, be of no avail, and railroads must come into general use.

Knowing the important effects of such inventions and discoveries as printing, gunpowder, lighting by gas, we are necessarily led to speculate on the probable

results of this improved method of travelling. The editor of the Scotsman has shown its advantages as to increasing communication and equally distributing commodities over every part of the country. It will enable a manufacturer, he says, to come to London from Leeds or Manchester in one day, transact his business, and return the next. A shopkeeper, we are told, may transmit an order from Edinburgh on a Monday to Leees, and have the goods he writes for in his shop on Wednesday morning. These will be great benefits to the manufacturer and shopkeeper ; but in the present state of society, to call on ingenuity to " anni- hilate space and time " in order to " make two traders rich," seems assigning it a very superfluous task. Mr. HE1EPA:11, in a letter to the Duke of WELLINGTON, published in the form of a pamphlet, has taken great pains to point out the effects of substituting locomotive carriages for coaches drawn by horses, on the national prosperity. It will enable us, he calculates, to raise food for fourteen millions more people than at present. Trade will he wonderfully increased by the facility of transporting commodities ; the revenue will be augmented, and national power increased. Above all, he looks on it as calculated to put an end to all the croak- ings and grumbling we hear about our growing population. It is to substitute activity for idleness, wealth for poverty, and strength for weakness.* These are splendid-looking benefits ; but many persons doubt whether multiplying people be not augmenting poverty and sorrow, degradation and crime. National revenues have hitherto been put to such bad uses—it is now so obvious that crippled re- sources are the best guarantees of peace, and that peace is the season of improve- ment,—that an increased disposeable national revenue, to be followed by war, is hardly one of the things a friend of mankind ought to desire. One conspicuous effect of mechanical improvement, is to equalize the en- joyments and power of individuals. Bodily strength is of no avail for purposes of oppression where gunpowder is in use. It makes but little difference, even in the production of wealth, when applied to a steam-engine or an hydraulic press. Books may now be obtained though a man have not the wealth of a convent; and by saving 6d. a week, he may buy as much learning as if he had all Lord GROSVENOR'S property. The manufacture of the best species of clothing has been so extended within a few years by mechanical inventions applied to the arts of spinning and weaving, that hardly anything is[now made to suit indivi- dual taste. All but the very lowest and most destitute are clothed with the same materials, and no distinction of ranks is visible ia dress. The wholesale methods of supplying the markets, consequent on a 'vast number of consumers, has produced a similar effect as to food. There is a great difference in the com- mand possessed by individuals over the necessaries of life—some few luxuries are reserved exclusively for the rich ; but the staple food of the great majority of our people is everywhere similar. The chief difference consists in the preparation, and in the accompaniments. The present public methods of conveyance, being more convenient than private carriages, have extended to all the ad- vantages of the best mode of travelling; and all classes are now mingled and ;ambled. together in, ..the same stage, or the same steamer. Mechanical im- provements, promoting trade, have enriched those who were not the owners of

the soil, and have raised up throughout Europe that large middle class, which gradually increasing faster than either the feudal baron or the serf, has almost extinguished both. There is here, we think, undeniable evidence of a general moral tendency in mechanical contrivances to equalize the comforts and con- veniencies Of all mankind.

To us it seems likely that railroads will have similar effects. The men who lay them down, and who build locomctive engines, must be skilful artisans and engineers who are at present among the best-paid classes of the community. They will be multiplied, while ostlers and stone-breakers, the most ignorant and worst-paid part of the people, will die out. The change we are contemplating

will substitute skilled for unskilled labour—manufacturers and artisans, possess- ing all the intelligence of people living much in society, for horse-feeders and peasants. It will introduce or increase new arts, not subject to the old guild and corporation laws ; and, like the manufacture of cotton, and new branches of trade, will enable society more rapidly to outgrow the shackles of ancient re- strictions. By greater cheapness, locomotive carriages will promote travelling even to a greater degree than stage-coaches and steam-boats. But a railroad does not admit of carriages running except on one track. On them there can be no competition and no rivalry, and perhaps no private carriages. Princes and nobles may have their own locomotive carriages, as they have yachts; but they can no more have a railroad than an ocean to themselves. 'they will not be content to go 10 or 12 miles an hour, when they can go 20 or 30 • and the great majority of them therefore will, we apprehend, be obliged to travel by the public vehicles. The superiority of the locomotive carriages, which will be provided for the great mass of the people, will induce the highest men in the land to use them. Private travelling equipages, we apprehend, will he in a great measure laid aside ; and with them must disappear much of the vanity of wealth, and some of the baseness of need. Railroads and locomotive carriages will nut only pro- mote travelling, they will also mingle all ranks and conditions Being very cheap, and at the same time superior to any method of conveyance that private opulence can command, like the other mechanical improvements adverted to, they will equalize as well as improve the comforts and accommodations of all. They are parts of a great system of successive improvements, which has been gradually developed and gradoally made known to man since he was first placed on the earth ; which is gradually changing all our institutions and leading forward—whether for good or for evil we say not, though we know What are Our own hopes—a con- dition of society the details of which philosophy cannot predict, nor legislation prescribe.- * See a Letter from Mr. Herepath to the Duke of Wellington, on the Utility, Advan- tage, and National Importance of Mr. Gurney's Steam-carriage.