RAILROADS.
TITS following paragraph appears in the Morning Herald of Wed- nesday- 4, It seems generally admitted, that the advantage of a railway is almost con- fined to a dead level ; and that a very Ii ifing ascent reduces the advantage so much, that capital can scarcely be with propriety invested in a railroad for general purposes where such want of level exists." A railroad differs from another road in one particular only,— the exceedingly diminished friction. A vehicle moves swiftly on a railroad and slowly on a common road, simply because the one is smooth and the other is rough. It follows that a railroad has exactly the same relative advantage over a common road, whether it be level or ascending ; or rather, when ascending, the advantage is greater, for the slightest attention to the effect of friction on a common road will show, that in an ascent it is very considerably greater than on level ground. So far is the allegation of the Herald from being " generally admitted," that it never was admitted, nor was it ever assumed, unless by one who was entirely ignorant of the subject on which he dogmatized.
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