In our first steam-boats, engines of only two or three horses power could be employed; and the proposition to use larger ones was met by the usual exclamation, “Impossible!” We have now many steam vessels in which engines of 200 hones power are employed; while there is one in which they are above 300 horses power.
[45] The average produce per acre, throughout the island, is estimated at 2½ quarters for wheat, 4 for barley, and 4½ for oats; average, 3⅔rds.
[46] “Steam-Engines.—It has been ascertained that there are now in Great Britain not less than 15,000 steam-engines at work; some of almost incredible power. In Cornwall there is one of one thousand horses power.”—New Monthly Magazine, for July, 1831.
Independent of the large air-pumps which the iron masters themselves use, those I put up to exhaust air from the tunnel which I constructed at Brighton would, if worked at an extraordinary rate, have pumped five hundred thousand gallons per minute through it.
[48a] The limits of the page render it necessary that the scale of length should be in hundredths of an inch; but as the width would have been imperceptible had the same scale been observed, tenths are adverted to for it.
[48b] “Having performed what was due to his country, Columbus was so little discouraged by the repulse which he had received, that, instead of relinquishing his undertaking, he pursued it with fresh ardour. He made his next overture to John II. king of Portugal, in whose dominions he had been long established, and whom he considered, on that account, as having the second claim to his service. Here every circumstance seemed to promise him a more favourable reception. He applied to a monarch of an enterprising genius, no incompetent judge in naval affairs, and proud of patronising every attempt to discover new countries. His subjects were the most experienced navigators in Europe, and the least apt to be intimidated, either by the novelty or boldness of any maritime expedition. In Portugal, the professional skill of Columbus, as well as his personal good qualities, were thoroughly known; and as the former rendered it probable that his scheme was not altogether visionary, the latter exempted him from the suspicion of any sinister intention in proposing it. Accordingly, the king listened to him in the most gracious manner, and referred the consideration of his plan to Diego Ortiz, bishop of Ceuta, and two Jewish physicians, eminent cosmographers, whom he was accustomed to consult in matters of this kind. As in Genoa, ignorance had opposed and disappointed Columbus; in Lisbon, he had to combat with prejudice, an enemy no less formidable. The persons, according to whose decision his scheme was to be adopted or rejected, had been the chief directors of the Portuguese navigations, and had advised to search for a passage to India, by steering a course directly opposite to that which Columbus recommended as shorter and more certain. They could not, therefore, approve of his proposal, without submitting to the double mortification, of condemning their own theory, and of acknowledging his superior sagacity. After teasing him with captious questions, and starting innumerable objections, with a view of betraying him into such a particular explanation of his system, as might draw from him a full discovery of its nature, they deferred passing a final judgment with respect to it. In the mean time, they conspired to rob him of the honour and advantages which he expected from the success of his scheme, advising the king to dispatch a vessel secretly, in order to attempt the proposed discovery, by following exactly the course which Columbus seemed to point out. John, forgetting on this occasion, the sentiments becoming a monarch, meanly adopted this perfidious counsel. But the pilot, chosen to execute Columbus’s plan, had neither the genius, nor the fortitude of its author. Contrary winds arose, no sight of approaching land appeared, his courage failed, and he returned to Lisbon, execrating the project as equally extravagant and dangerous.”—Robertson’s America, Vol. I. p. 86–88.
[52] Items: up to the 31st May, 1830.
| £ | s. | d. | |
| Bridge account | 99,065 | 11 | 9 |
| Fencing | 10,202 | 16 | 5 |
| Chat Moss account | 27,719 | 11 | 10 |
| Cuttings and Embankments | 199,763 | 8 | 0 |
| Formation of Road | 20,568 | 15 | 5 |
| Land account | 95,305 | 8 | 8 |
| £452,625 | 12 | 1 |
And this, exclusive both of the 300,000l. (nearly) which has been expended since, and of the 130,000l. which is the estimated expense of the tunnel now in course of construction.
[53a] “Railway Accident.—We are sorry to have to mention a very serious accident, which occurred on Saturday, on the railway between Kenyon and Bolton. The locomotive engine was going up the lower inclined plane, with a heavy load of goods, and at the turn-off at Colonel Fletcher’s colleries, ran off the road, and was unfortunately overturned against a bank, and fell upon the engineer and fireman, who were killed on the spot. Two other men were riding on the tender, one of whom was dangerously hurt, the other scalded. This engine, we understand, was the only one which was ever worked on a railway with wheels of six feet diameter; and, on that account, had never been allowed to take the coaches.”—Times, 26th July, 1831.
“On Wednesday morning, the engine drawing the first-class train of carriages from Manchester to Liverpool, on the railway, had the misfortune to break an axle-tree, when at full speed, near Chat Moss; which, after ploughing the ground for some time, went off the rails, and drew the whole train over the embankment, [53b] when, most providentially, out of two hundred passengers, not a life was lost, or a limb broken. Several persons were bruised, and some seriously.”—Morning Herald, 9th December, 1831.