FITCHBURG RAILROAD.

Incorporated in 1842. Opened in 1845. Length, 66 miles, including branches. Length of double track, 51 miles. Cost, January 1st, 1849, $2,945,600. January 1st, 1850, $3,445,800. Increase, $500,200 Increase of net income in 1849, compared with 1848, $37,681. Par value of shares, $100. Market value, January 1st, 1850, $106. RECEIPTS IN 1849 FROM ALL SOURCES.

Run'ng Exp'ses.
$255,160 25

Net Earnings. $237,900 18

Total.

$212,000 00

Surplus. $25,900 18

A dividend of 8 per cent was declared in 1850. Number of passengers carried in the cars in 1849, 875,410. Three passengers were killed; two, in consequence of jumping from the cars when in motion, and one was thrown under a train, while standing on a platform between the two tracks, and instantly killed. Seven employees were killed. Four other persons were killed; two by collisions at crossings; one was run over and killed while walking on the track; and one, having got upon a freight train, without permission, was killed by coming in contact with a bridge.

CONNECTICUT RIVER RAILROAD.

Incorporated in 1842. Opened through in 1846. Length, 52 miles, single track. Increase, Cost, January 1st, 1849, $1,588,200. January 1st, 1850, $1,766,700. $178,500. Increase of net income in 1849, compared with 1848, $10,184. Par value of shares, $100. Market value, January 1st, 1850, $92.

Number of

A semi-annual dividend of 24 per cent was declared in August, 1850. passengers carried in the cars in 1849, 325,520. No passenger was injured Two employees were killed.

OLD COLONY RAILROAD.

Incorporated in 1844. Opened in 1845. Length, 45 miles, including branches. Length of double track, 11 miles. Cost, January 1st, 1849, $2,080,900. January 1st, 1850, $2,292,400. Increase, $211,500. Decrease of net income in 1849, compared with 1848, $10,206. Par value of shares, $100. Market value, January 1st, 1850, $67. RECEIPTS IN 1849 FROM ALL SOURCES.

Number of passengers carried in the cars in 1849, 773,120 Two passengers were killed, in attempting to enter a train when in motion. Three employees were killed.

PROVIDENCE AND WORCESTER RAILROAD.

Incorporated in 1844. Opened in 1847. Length, 43 miles. Cost, January 1st, 1850, $1,939,660.

A stock dividend of 40 per cent was declared in May, 1849, and a cash dividend of 3 per cent in December. Number of passengers carried in the cars in 1849, 306,734. No passenger or employee received injury. One person was run over and killed while walking on the track.

VERMONT AND MASSACHUSETTS RAILROAD.

Incorporated in 1844. Opened through February 20th, 1849. Length, 69 miles, single track. Cost, January 1st, 1850, $3,078,350. Par value of shares, $100. Market value, January 1st, 1850, $29.

The number of passengers carried in the cars in 1849, 146,306. No passenger was injured. Two employees were killed. One person was run over and killed, while walking on the track. A boy was killed while playing about the cars.

Number of passengers carried in the cars in 1849, 252,767. No passenger was injured. Two persons were killed, in consequence of collision at a crossing.

CHESHIRE RAILROAD.

Incorporated in 1845. Opened through in 1849. Length, 53 miles, single track. Cost, January 1st, 1850, $2,618,070. Par value of shares, $100. Market value, January 1st, 1850, $66.

Number of passengers carried in the cars in 1849, 94,988. No fatal accident occurred during the year.

PITTSFIELD AND NORTH ADAMS RAILROAD.

This company was organized in 1845, and the Western Corporation contracted to build the road, and operate it as a branch of their own; paying the Pittsfield and North Adams Company an annual rent, equal to 6 per cent upon the cost, for a period of thirty years. The road was opened in October, 1846. Length, 18 miles, single track. Cost, January 1st, 1850, $446,540.

Number of passengers carried in the cars in 1849, 34,011, No person was reported to have been injured during the year.

WORCESTER AND NASHUA RAILROAD.

Incorporated in 1845. Opened through in December, 1848. Length, 46 miles, single track, Cost, January 1st, 1850 $1,361,530.

Number of passengers carried in the cars in 1849, 145,405. No accident reported.

CAPE COD BRANCH RAILROAD.

Incorporated in 1846. Opened in 1848. Length, 27 miles, single track. Cost, January 1st, 1850, $616,760. Par value of shares, $100. Market value, January 1st, 1850, $47.

Passengers. $35,430 47

RECEIPTS IN 1849 FROM ALL SOURCES.

Mails, rents.
$879 00

Tot. Income.

Run'ng Exp'sos. $51,282 21 $31,145 98

Net Earnings.

$20,136 23

Freights. $14,972 74 No dividend was declared in 1849. Number of passengers carried in the cars in 1849, 66,825. No accident occurred during the year.

LOWELL AND LAWRENCE RAILROAD.

Incorporated in 1846. Opened July 1st, 1848. Length, 12 miles, single track. Cost, January 1st, 1850. $321,998.

Number of passengers carried in the cars in 1849, 131,607. No person injured during the year.

NORFOLK COUNTY RAILROAD.

Incorporated in 1847. Opened May 1st, 1849. Length, 26 miles, single track. Cost, January 1st, 1850, $950,600. Par value of shares, $100. Market value, January 1st, 1850, $26,

Number of passengers carried in the cars in 1849, 35,002. No person injured during the year.

The total cost of the twenty-two railroads mentioned above, amounted, on the 1st of January, 1850, to $51,219,335. Total net earnings in 1849, $3,109,170. Whole number of passengers carried in the cars in 1849, 8,633,250. Passengers_killed, 8; all of whom met with death in consequence of their own carelessness. Employees killed, 27. Other persons killed, 26. Of the latter, eighteen were run over and killed while walking or sleeping on the track. Whole number of deaths, 61. Total length of roads, single track, 1,070 miles. Length of double track, 259 miles. In all, 1,329 miles.

In addition to the foregoing, may be mentioned the following roads, which were in operation in 1849:

Essex Railroad. Incorporated in 1834. Length, 20 miles. Cost, $484,948. Berkshire Railroad, operated by the Housatonic Railroad Company. Incorporated in 1837. Length, 21 miles. Cost, $600,000. Stony Brook Railroad, operated by the Nashua and Lowell Railroad Company. Incorporated in 1845. Length, 13 miles. Cost, $262,556. South Shore Railroad, operated by the Old Colony Railroad Company. Incorporated in 1846. Length, 11 miles. Cost, $373,616. Total length of these roads, 65 miles. Total cost, $1,721,120.

The railroads of Massachusetts, including those whose lines extend into the adjoining States, were, according to the foregoing statistics, on the 1st of January, 1850, 1,394 miles in length, costing $52,940,455. Increase in length, over January 1st, 1849, 135 Increase of cost, $5,617,517.

miles.

THE PROGRESS OF ENGLISH RAILWAYS.

Herapath's Railway Journal publishes a table showing the traffic returns of the principal English railroads for nine years past, together with the number of miles of new railway annually opened. By this table it appears that the whole extent of line in operation at the commencement of 1843 was 1,417 miles. Since that time the number of miles opened were, according to the above table, in 1843, 56 miles; in 1844, 194 miles; in 1845, 263 miles; in 1846, 593 miles; in 1847, 839 miles; in 1848, 975 miles; in 1849, 835 miles; and in 1850, 1,078 miles; but the latter include several

railways which were open in 1849, but the traffic returns were not published. The number of miles opened during the past year in the United Kingdom was about 591. The annual increase in the traffic receipts has been very considerable, partly arising from the continued development of traffic on the trunk lines, and partly from the additional receipts derived from the opening of new lines and branches. The increase of traffic in the year 1843 over that of the preceding year, amounted to £500,874; in the year 1844, to £768,337; in 1845, to £1,058,342; in 1846, to $1,020,650; in 1847, to £1,285,797; in 1848, to £1,083,335; in 1849, to £954,811; and in 1850, to $1,741,418. The average traffic receipts per mile per annum were as follows:-For 1842, £3,118; for 1843, £3,085; for 1844, £3,278; for 1845, £3,469; for 1846; £3,305; for 1847, £2,870; for 1848, £2,556; for 1849, £2,302; for 1850, £2,227.

The amount of capital expended on the railways referred to in the table up to July, 1842, was £52,380,100; in 1843, £57,635,100; in 1844, £63,489,100; in 1845, £71,646,100; in 1846, £83,165,100; in 1847, £109,528,000; in 1848, £148,200,000; in 1849, £181,000,000; and in 1850, £219,762,730.

The average cost of the railways per mile in operation would appear to be, in 1842, £34,690; in 1843, £36,360; in 1844, £35,670; in 1845, £35,070; in 1846, £31,860; in 1847, £31,709; in 1848, £34,234; in 1849, £35,214; and in 1850, £35,229. The increase in the average cost per mile is a bad feature in railway statistics, because it shows that the continual additions to the capital accounts of the old and completed lines, far outweigh all the professed advantages of constructing thousands of miles of new lines and branches, at considerably less cost than the average expenditure per mile on the old trunk lines.

In addition to the above, there are a number of lines that made no traffic return. The extent of these lines is 495 miles. The length of these, added to the above, would make the aggregate length of line 6,753 miles; the cost, £330,522,731; and an average receipt per mile of $1,944, and a cost of £34,238.

INSURANCE OF PASSENGERS ON RAILWAYS IN LONDON.

The accidents which are constantly occurring on railways, have set at work the wits of capitalists to make money by these accidents, and yet afford relief to the families of those who suffer by them. They have perceived that, taking into account the immense number of passengers making use of railways, but very few injuries, comparatively, have occurred. On this calculation they have ascertained that they can afford to pay occasional losses, even if they receive but a small premium for the risk. The great point is to bring the practice into general use, and then the business of railway insurance would be very lucrative. The following extract from the second half yearly report of the London Railway Passengers' Assurance Company, will illustrate the working of the system. We quote the following, which is the substance of the report:-

"The abstract statement of the accounts of the company to the 30th of June last, has been placed in the hands of the proprietors; and from these it will be seen that the amount of premiums received during the half-year which terminated on that day, amounted to £2,087 0s. 4d.; and as the income of the society for the previous half-year was £1,421 78. 1d., the increase in the last six months, over that of the first six months, is £665 13s. 3d.

"The entire receipts of the year just closed are £3,508 7s. 5d.; the expenditure, including the sums paid for compensation to parties injured, amounts to £2,480 5s. 6d. ; and, after estimating the liabilities of the company for charges which were not paid when the accounts were made up, and deducting them, the net balance amounts to £678 1s. 11d., which, for the first year of a new company, the directors conceive will be regarded as a most satisfactory result.

"This balance, unless reduced hereafter by payments for compensation on some of the policies issued prior to the 30th of June, will yield about 8 per cent on the capital paid up; and though for the present the directors cannot recommend its division, they trust that, at the next half yearly meeting, they will be in a position to pay interest to the proprietors upon the capital; and, unless it should be deemed necessary to preserve a portion of the surplus to go in diminution of preliminary expenses, a dividend of an almost equal amount of the interest may likewise then be paid.

"The obvious course which the directors would venture to recommend to the pro

prietors at this meeting, however, is to reserve this balance until the risks upon the old insurance are run off.

"The issue of the company's tickets, which, at the date of the last half yearly meeting of the proprietors, was established on twenty-seven railways, has since been extended to five more, so that the public can now obtain insurance tickets on most of the lines of railway. The number of single journey tickets issued during the year ending 30th June, has been 24,788 first-class, 41,515 second-class, 43,771 third-class-total, 110,074; and the periodical tickets issued in the same period have been 2,808. There is still an unwillingness on the part of two or three railway boards to sanction the issue of insurance tickets on their lines. The plea of alarming passengers has been put forward as the ground of this refusal, as if provision against a possible danger made danger more certain or imminent.

"The directors stated, in the last report, that the principle of effecting insurance against railway accidents was beginning to be appreciated in France and America; they have just learned that a company is now formed in Paris, on the authority of an act passed on the 22d and 23d April last, which will commence the issue of tickets on the principal railways of France, as soon as the necessary arrangements are completed. The promoters of that company are also about to enter into negotiations with the governments of the principal Continental States of Europe, to obtain permission to establish branches in the principal cities, viz:-Vienna, Berlin, Baden, &c.

"In the short period that has elapsed since the expiration of the first series of periodical tickets, so great a proportion has been renewed, that the directors are persuaded the comfort of being insured has induced the greater number of policy holders to continue their insurances, and they trust that this may be regarded as a satisfactory feature with reference to the future business of the company."

MAWDESLAY'S SELF-ACTING FEATHERING SCREW.

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SCREW-PROPELLER.-The Mining Herald (London) gives a brief account of the trial trip of the Bosphorus, the ship destined to be the precursor of the regular steam communication between England and the Cape of Good Hope, after being fitted with Mawdeslay's new screw propeller. He says:

64

At the measured mile the mean speed of 94 knots, or 10 2.3 statute miles, with an easiness of steering that was very remarkable, established most conclusively the triumph of the new principle. This improvement on the old propeller is termed Mawdeslay's patent self-acting feathering screw, which of itself assumes such a position that, when the ship is under canvass only, the least possible amount of impediment is offered to its being drawn easily through the water; and, when the ship is under steam-power, it again takes, spontaneously on the engine being put in motion, the right angle for propelling. In fact, to all intents and purposes, in form and reality, with this new screw the vessel is, at the will of the navigator, either the perfect sailing-ship or the auxiliary steam-ship, for the screw is so fitted that, when not required to propel the ship, it may be said to form a portion of the lines of the after portion of it. The important advantages of this new plan of screw are almost self-evident, and, when it is stated that it is constructed in component parts, the improved facilities it affords for stowage or repairing will at once be seen and acknowledged, and we venture to predict, will be generally adopted in all services in preference to those now in use."

CHEAP TRAVELING FROM PARIS TO LONDON.

Traveling in France, like everything else there, has been reduced to a science. Companies are now formed at Paris which convey passengers to London and back at an expense of only thirty francs-about six dollars. They will pay all your expenses for this sum, and give you four days in London to see all the lions. It took more money a few years ago to journey from Paris to Rouen, which is only a few miles off. These pleasure trains, as they are called, quit Paris on Sunday, reaching London in the afternoon, give the voyagers Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in the city, leaving in time to get back to Paris by Friday night.

A POWERFUL LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE.

A locomotive engine has bean lately manufactured at the works of the Great Northern Company, at Boston, England, which is warranted to run the distance from Boston to London, (108 miles,) with six carriages and two breaks, as a usual express train, in one hour and a half.