THE 
 
 TUNNEL HEARING 
 
 IN 1 8 5 4. 
 
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 Stiff Import of tijt softener 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PETITIONERS FOR A LOAN TO TIIE TROY AND GREENFIELD 
 
 RAILROAD COMPANY 
 
 TWO MILLIONS, 
 
 BEFORE 
 
 A JOINT SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE LEGISLATURE 
 OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY THURSTON, TORRY, AND EMERSON. 
 
 MDCCCLIV. 
 
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 JOINT SPECIAL COMMITTEE. 
 
 SENATE. 
 
 Messrs. Mitchell of Nantucket. 
 Mansur “ Worcester. 
 Kimball “ Suffolk. 
 Borden 11 Bristol. 
 Alvord “ Franklin. 
 Smith u Hampshire. 
 Holland “ Hampden. 
 Faulkner 11 Middlesex. 
 Ellis “ Plymouth. 
 
 HOUSE. 
 
 Messrs. Richmond 
 Parker 
 Clark 
 Wiggin 
 * Kingsley 
 Hubbard 
 Coburn 
 Gilbert 
 Mathew 
 
 H AMMOND 
 
 Kenrick 
 
 Baker 
 
 French 
 
 Walden 
 
 of Adams. 
 
 “ Greenfield. 
 
 “ Northborough. 
 “ Suffolk. 
 
 “ Northampton. 
 “ Ludlow. 
 
 “ Dracut. 
 
 “ New Bedford. 
 “ Chilmark. 
 
 11 Nantucket. 
 
 “ Orleans. 
 
 “ Marshfield. 
 
 “ Canton. 
 
 “ Lynn. 
 
 
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 PROCEEDINGS BEFORE COMMITTEE. 
 
 The Committee met in the Senate Chamber, Tuesday, January 31, 1854. The 
 petitioners were represented by E. H. Derby and J. M. Keith, Esquires. 
 
 The Petition having been read at a preliminary meeting, the case was opened 
 by Mr. Derby, in an argument which occupied the afternoon, and of which the fol¬ 
 lowing is a brief summary : 
 
 He stated that he appeared for the Troy and Greenfield Company, on their third 
 application for aid. Although directly and indirectly opposed, they had received 
 two nearly unanimous verdicts—had once carried the Senate, and last year the 
 House, and had entire confidence they should obtain the sanction of this com¬ 
 mittee. 
 
 The exigency had been shown by the grant of a charter for the Railroad and 
 
 Tunnel. 
 
 The railroad from Greenfield to the State line was nearly forty miles north of 
 the Western at Springfield, and on the air line from Boston to Troy. The latter 
 city was five miles nearer Boston than to New York, as could be demonstrated by 
 a tape on the map of New England. 
 
 The Hoosac was the sole obstacle between Troy and Boston. 
 
 A railroad through the Hoosac would cut down the summit 620 feet, and going 
 east would reduce grades from seventy-eight to thirty-nine feet, avoid seven circles 
 of curvature, cross the Connecticut 135 feet above the level of Springfield, avoid a 
 costly ferry, and reduce the distance from the lower bridge on the Hudson to Bos¬ 
 ton and other centres of distribution, from twenty-two to sixty-five miles. 
 
 These advantages would reduce the time of passage between Troy and Boston 
 to five hours, and by doubling the power of the engine, avoiding friction, saving 
 distance, maintaining elevation, and reducing cost of fuel, would diminish the cost 
 of transportation forty to sixty per cent. 
 
 That Greenfield, now 146 miles by railroad from Troy, would save sixty-three 
 miles of distance, and the tunnel route would supply with breadstuff's for use and 
 exportation, the whole northern half of Massachusetts and southern sections of 
 Vermont and New Hampshire, a district equal in extent and population to the entire 
 State. 
 
 That it would enable Massachusetts to participate largely in Western Commerce, 
 now barely touched by the Western Railroad, which pursues a devious course over 
 the tops of the mountains. 
 
 That last year the Welland Canal conveyed one million of tons. The tonnage 
 passing between the Hudson and the interior was four millions annually, and 
 increasing at the rate of sixteen per cent, a year. 
 
 T 
 
 
4 
 
 That New York now exports five millions of dollars monthly in provisions; — 
 last year shipped in wheat and flour a quantity equal to three and a half millions of 
 barrels, and is erecting from three to six thousand buildings yearly. 
 
 That Philadelphia, Baltimore, Richmond, Charleston, Mobile and Portland, were 
 making new avenues to the West, and diverting commerce from Boston. 
 
 That new railways extending to the Council Bluffs, the canal at Lake Superior, 
 the railways across Canada, and the enlargement of the Erie Canal, soon to bear 
 barges of 250 tons, were all swelling the tide of commerce, in which the tunnel 
 would enable us to participate. 
 
 The Troy and Greenfield line would also pass through an important local dis- 
 trict, rich in men, minerals, timber and products, and remote from the line of the 
 Western Railroad. A district which had never shared in the benefits conferred by 
 loans of the State credit, and could support a railroad. 
 
 The tunnel proposed was 24,000 feet in length, with three shafts of 300 to 800 
 feet in depth. The contents of the tunnel were 361,000 yards of mica slate, with 
 a little limestone, which would be quarried on the outside for $1 per yard, and 
 within for 83 to 844 per yard. Although we could not see into the interior of the 
 mountain, skilful geologists could determine its contents from the exterior surface. 
 
 The mountain was 24,000 feet across and 1000 feet in average height above the 
 tunnel. The vertical ledges of mica slate appeared in regular courses at the east¬ 
 ern end, and along the whole route across. They might be compared to the books 
 in a public library, on a shelf twenty-four feet in length, with their titles indorsed. 
 The geologist could read the titles inscribed on each collection of mica, and thus 
 determine the character of the volume. 
 
 Although the tunnel was long, it was shorter than several European tunnels, and 
 its contents less than those of many similar works in France and England. 
 
 It would require no masonry, and be subject to little embarrassment by water. 
 
 It could be mined either by the hand-drill as in Europe, or by machines fitted 
 with the revolving cutter, which would be exhibited to the committee. 
 
 Fie would satisfy the committee by the evidence that the tunnel would ventilate 
 itself, could be finished in less than five years, and for less than two millions of 
 dollars, leaving a considerable margin to cover interest and equipment. 
 
 That he should ask for gradual advances upon the railroad and tunnel as sec¬ 
 tions were finished, and no advance on the sole security of the tunnel until it was 
 nearly or quite one half completed. 
 
 Although New York, Virginia, and other States removed such obstacles with the 
 public purse, and relieved private individuals and companies from the risk, we 
 should tender an adequate security, for we had confidence in the result, but required 
 a large capital at low rates of interest. In former years our State had aided new 
 and important enterprises. She had shown she could pause ten years and watch 
 the result, and now that results were so encouraging as to attract the notice of the 
 Governor and the Mayor of Boston in their annual messages, and a new exigency 
 had arisen, she could resume her onward march. 
 
 That the measure found favor with the people, had influenced their choice of 
 officers, had been virtually indorsed by the convention, and if we wished to be 
 progressive, would be no longer delayed. 
 
 That our resources were ample, the State wealth doubled in ten years from 1840 
 to 1850, and increases sixty millions yearly. Even the poor amassed capital in 
 our Savings Banks of Massachusetts, and had in the past year increased their 
 deposits more than six millions'. 
 
 That the Western Railroad Company had opposed the measure, but were over¬ 
 whelmed with business, and had withdrawn from the field. Their income had 
 increased last year more than $150,000. Seven-eighths of their net revenue 
 sprung from local trade, and they could spare a part of their through business. 
 This business was insignificant when compared with the mere annual increase of 
 western commerce. 
 
5 
 
 Their sinking fund was a million and a quarter, and would soon extinguish their 
 loan, and there was ample room for both enterprises. 
 
 That he had entire confidence that this committee, assembled from every county 
 of the State, would discard all sectional feeling, and go for a measure which would 
 promote the progress, welfare, and glory of the whole Commonwealth. 
 
 TESTIMONY OF ALVAH CROCKER, ESQ. 
 
 I reside in Fitchburg. I have been connected for some time past with railroads. 
 I have been connected both with the Troy and Greenfield and the Troy and Boston 
 lines of road. I was quite active in getting up the Troy and Greenfield road. My 
 interest in these roads on the other side of the mountain dates back to the com¬ 
 mencement of the Fitchburg road, as early as 1843 or 1844. I was anxious to 
 secure through lines in connection with the Fitchburg road. One plan l had in 
 view was through New Hampshire and Vermont, and the other was the Troy and 
 Boston route to the Hudson River. 
 
 At that time I went to Troy to ascertain whether that route would meet with 
 encouragement upon the other side of the mountain. The mayor of the city 
 called the principal citizens of the place together, and I presented the plan for their 
 consideration. They received it with favor, but remarked that the Fitchburg road 
 itself was a plan merely as yet, and they thought it no more than just that 1 should 
 wait, not only till that road was completed, but also a route in connection with it to 
 the Connecticut River, or possibly further up towards the mountains. I pressed 
 the matter in order to learn what they would do in case we should build the Tun¬ 
 nel, and the reply was prompt. “ If you will do that, we will meet you at the foot 
 of Hoosac Mountain.” 
 
 After the building of the Fitchburg road, as of course is well known, the Ver¬ 
 mont and Massachusetts came in its turn ; then, in 184"’, l think, we applied for a 
 charter for the Troy and Greenfield road. After that had been granted by the 
 Legislature with a seven years’ period to run, I again visited Troy. I had taken 
 good care on my first visit to note the prominent citizens present at the meeting, 
 and on this visit I found that a great many — General Wool, and a number of the 
 other leading men who were then present — were in attendance at this second meet¬ 
 ing. I called upon them for the redemption of that pledge. The result was, that 
 they immediately resolved to commence what is now called the Troy and Boston 
 road. I assisted to some extent in the organization of that road. Some twenty 
 miles or more of the Troy and Boston road is now constructed as far towards us 
 as Eagle Bridge. I should also include a branch in the direction of the Hoosac, 
 making in all about twenty-five miles now completed. I regard this road as one 
 of the best and most thoroughly constructed roads l have ever been upon. The 
 whole expense of its construction was a fraction over $1,000,000. It was more 
 difficult of construction than the Greenfield route, but the difficulties have all been 
 surmounted. The line from Hoosac village to Massachusetts line — is some fifteen 
 miles; the whole distance completed upon reflection is twenty-seven miles. It 
 follows the valley of the Hoosac, which is a wide valley, and very level, a little 
 falling the whole distance, and easy for the construction of a railroad to the Ver¬ 
 mont line. The rest of this line, to wit, the Southern Vermont road, as-it is called, 
 is likewise through the same valley and easy of construction. I think there would 
 be no trouble in completing these lines, as there seems to be a disposition to take 
 hold of them in case the State aid is granted for the tunnel. 
 
 From a visit to the region this fall, I should think a great deal of progress was 
 making on the Troy and Greenfield road, west of the mountain from North Adams 
 to the State line. 1 should think some six miles were graded from North Adams 
 through Williamstown, between the village of North Adams and the Vermont line. 
 It will require little bevond laying the track and building the depots to complete 
 ' 1 * 
 
6 
 
 this part of the line. The superstructure of the road must be put on, and it will 
 cost something like $100,000 more to complete the road. 
 
 There have been some negotiations between the Troy and Boston and the Troy 
 and Greenfield roads, in relation to the use of this part of the road by the former 
 before the tunnel is done. 1 met the Board of Directors of the Troy and Boston 
 road, at the instance of the Board of the Troy and Greenfield, for the purpose of 
 negotiating an arrangement with their company to work that road when it should 
 be completed ; that is, when the track should be laid down and the depots con¬ 
 structed at Williamstown and North Adams. They made me a proposition in 
 writing. It was to work the road after it should have been delivered to them in 
 that condition, until the tunnel was completed, and they were to pay to the Troy 
 and Greenfield Company twenty per cent, of all the receipts going from North 
 Adams and Williamstown, or any point east of Troy in Massachusetts, to Troy and 
 back; and the same proportion of the rates for passengers and merchandise 
 coming from Troy, or passing between Troy and these points and Williamstown 
 and North Adams. The Troy and Greenfield Company were to be at no expense 
 whatever, the Troy and Boston Company engaging to keep the road in good repair, 
 and return it in as good order as when they received it, excepting the necessary 
 wear of the road. The arrangement was substantially sanctioned by vote of the 
 Troy and Greenfield Board. 
 
 I am some acquainted with the local business of this route, but any computation 
 I should make would be necessarily very approximate. 1 will give my general 
 impression of what will be the receipts, but there are others more able to judge on 
 this point than 1 am. According to my best judgment, (and I confess I am very 
 much assisted in making an estimate by the results on the Pittsfield and North 
 Adams Railroad,) I feel safe in hazarding the opinion that $50,000 would accrue 
 to the road from this arrangement the first year, and of course this would greatly 
 increase afterwards, as the country is susceptible of great development and growth. 
 I think from the opinions I have heard expressed, that my estimate is not too high. 
 Friends in Troy with whom I have been associated some years thought it too low, 
 but 1 wanted to make a safe estimate, and I think I have done so. It is not based 
 on the present rates of transportation, of men and merchandise to these towns, but 
 on a fair price, much lower than is now paid. One-fifth of this will accrue to the 
 Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company. 
 
 In regard to business and facilities for supporting a large population, taking the 
 country from Greenfield to the State line, l think it will compare favorably with the 
 Fitchburg and Vermont and Massachusetts line. Taking it at this end from 
 Waltham, the distance will be a little further, but the western portion has the 
 advantage in capacities for sustaining an immense population. They have abun¬ 
 dant water-power of the best kind, and a very productive soil, more particularly 
 on the west side of the mountain. They have much timber still remaining, mostly 
 on the east side, which to be sure will last but a few years, but when it is cut off 
 other things will take its place. On the whole I feel constrained to say, that the 
 western portion of the line has the advantage over the eastern. 
 
 In North Adams there is a great deal of manufacturing done, in a small and 
 individual way. The factories are not large, but there are some twenty or thirty 
 of them. There are more than twenty. Considerable cotton is manufactured 
 there. There is a very large hardware establishment at Shelburne Falls, — one of 
 the best in the country. The business of this place is large, and constantly 
 increasing. It is a growing village, and possesses a large amount of the best 
 water-power in the country. Except Greenfield, there is not a town between there 
 and Waltham surpassing Shelburne Falls. North Adams resembles Fitchburg 
 very much in some respects. This is a large town containing 7000 people, I 
 should think. There are large foundries in this town. It reminds me very much 
 
7 
 
 of Fitchburg, resembling it in locality and other respects. There are other 
 flourishing villages to sustain the route on the other side of the mountain. 
 
 My railroad experience has not advanced my own interests perhaps so much as 
 the interests of others. I began in 1836, serving under Loammi Baldwin. I 
 had a long interview with him about this Tunnel line, before 1 struck a blow for 
 the Fitchburg. His views were that I should go to my grave before the line 
 would be completed, but he did not hesitate to say that it was the route. He did 
 not advise me to engage in the undertaking, but he thought the line should be con¬ 
 structed, and was bound to be constructed, and would be sooner or later the route. 
 He remarked that a considerable portion of the way the population was sparse, 
 and the local business would be light. This was, 1 think, in 1842. 1 was then 
 
 casting about — looking around me to see what I should do. Mr. Baldwin was a 
 strong convert to a tunnel there for a canal, and, although the odium of broaching 
 such a scheme did not rest on his head, he probably did his share towards origi¬ 
 nating it. He did not act directly in the matter, — it was more attributable to 
 a man whom we all revere, an inhabitant of an adjoining city, — Gen. Dearborn. 
 
 [Mr. Derby here said he had no further questions, but wished to have the 
 witness state any facts bearing on the subject that might occur to him.] 
 
 Mr. Crocker. — I should like to state one single fact. So far as my observation 
 has extended, it is a fact that there seems to be more interest felt for the con¬ 
 struction of this tunnel west of this State, than ever has been evinced in the State; 
 
 — even in this metropolis, where all are interested. My correspondence has ever 
 evinced this fact. It has been constantly noticeable from week to week, from 
 month to month, and from year to year. 1 recollect when I was endeavoring to 
 induce the Trojans to subscribe to the Troy and Boston stock, people came in 
 crowds from other places, and my remarks were reported in their newspapers 
 much better than I gave them. They were dressed up so much better than they 
 were delivered, that I read them with more satisfaction than 1 ever did my speeches 
 in my life before. I mention this merely to show the general interest of the 
 public in this undertaking. Then my correspondence, from all the way to the 
 lakes, — from Rochester, Oswego, Buffalo, and all those places which we look 
 upon here as the great marts to supply our manufacturing population, — has shown 
 the same degree of interest in this subject. The inquiries have been constant — 
 44 When is the tunnel going to be built ?” They say, — 44 Just complete that tunnel, 
 
 — just build your road from Boston to-Troy, and we will straighten our line so as 
 to give vou a 4 bee’' line from Boston to Buffalo. We can do it without extraordinary 
 effort.” One influential gentleman said to me, when the subject of the tunnel 
 was broached, — 44 When that is built, we will give you nine hours from Troy to 
 Buffalo, and why don't you — why don’t you take hold of that end?” I have in 
 my hat a letter which I have just received from a gentleman in Rochester. 1 do 
 not know the gentleman very well, but understand he is one of the largest flour 
 dealers in Rochester. His name is Lewis Chapin. By permission I will read the 
 letter. It goes to show that the Western road and the other through lines have 
 been utterly unable to accomplish the rapidly increasing business of transportation. 
 
 Mr. Crocker then read the letter in question, which is dated Rochester, N. Y. 
 Jan. 31st, 1854. It states that the subject of tunnelling the Hoosac is one that 
 interests the produce dealers there and west very much, and in its progress will be 
 watched with interest. He had consigned flour to Springfield, Lowell, Worcester, 
 &<c., every year since the completion of the Western road, and every year the 
 hindrance at Greenbush had continued to increase with the increasing business, so 
 that he looked a-head with solicitude for the future. During the last fall he had 
 been under the necessity of consigning flour to an Albany house with orders to 
 send to eastern markets, if they could get it to the depot at Greenbush without too 
 much difficulty and expense, (that house being experienced,) and with power to 
 send it to New York or elsewhere, in a contrary event. The impossibility of 
 
getting flour transported over the Western road had compelled him to send flour to 
 other markets which he had designed should come over that road. He had 
 been charged various sums — from $10 to $25 — demurrage on single boats, for 
 detention at Greenbush, and had to pay three cenls a barrel for cartage from 
 Albany to Greenbush, besides which, the loss from rough handling during the 
 trans-shipment averaged from half a cent to one cent per barrel, notwithstanding 
 that the barrels were well made, and of the best white oak timber. The constantly 
 growing business of the west, he thought, would soon tax the enlarged Erie Canal 
 to its greatest capacity, and he had no doubt that both roads will find abundant 
 business to do when the tunnel is completed. 
 
 PRESIDENT HITCHCOCK’S TESTIMONY. 
 
 I have examined Hoosac Mountain geologically during the last twenty-four 
 years, but never but once with reference to the route of the tunnel. I examined 
 the mountain in 1830, and again in 1839. I examined these rocks of the moun¬ 
 tain on a great many of ihe lines, in the limits of the State, with a view to mak¬ 
 ing out a section across Hoosac Mountain, which is given in my report to the 
 government. The north part of the structure of Hoosac Mountain is extremely 
 simple. Here it is ; [taking up specimens from the table] it is almost entirely 
 like this, of mica slate. It stands perpendicularly, in thin layers which can be 
 split up very fine. On the east side especially it stands very nearly perpendicu¬ 
 larly, and a little obliquely across the route of the tunnel. On the west side of 
 the mountain this same rock projects all along. It dips down, but in some places 
 it is less inclined than in others. This is a fair sample of all the rock over the 
 main part of the mountain, with the exception, perhaps I ought to say, that you 
 may meet occasionally with a little of a rock which the geologist would call 
 gneiss rock, differing a little from the mica slate, and along towards the west 
 margin of the mountain I came upon a rock resembling feldspar. There is 
 scarce anything in the mountain but this mica slate, occasionally mixed up, how¬ 
 ever, with a little quartz of an imperfect kind, which does not differ materially 
 from the mica slate in hardness. The whole mountain is made up in the same 
 way. There is no granite, or trap intruded in the form of veins or dikes. It 
 is of extremely simple formation, as it is throughout the whole of the Green 
 Mountains, and down through the Hoosac range. There are occasionally nodules 
 of quartz in this rock, as you go down to the westward of the mountain, in the 
 town of Adams. 1 do not know exactly where the tunnel is to terminate, but 
 there is a bed of this quartz which is very hard, and it is possible the tunnel may 
 have to pass through it, some little distance on the western slope. I cannot say 
 positively whether or not it does pass through it, not having been on the precise 
 route of the tunnel in that locality. Iron ore is very frequently found in con¬ 
 nection with quartz rock and limestone. You will find bits of iron ore on the 
 surface, but cannot tell where the beds will occur till you dig down. As I have 
 said I do not know whether or not these foreign rocks occur where the tunnel 
 is to pass, only that quartz and limestone exist in Adams. 1 have noticed this 
 rock (mica slate) all the way over the mountain, and it has this same appear¬ 
 ance. It is the same rock all the way till you get near the foot on the west 
 side. I have no doubt at all that the whole mountain is cpmposed throughout 
 of this mica slate as well as on the surface, and probably it is the same rock 
 thousands of feet lower than the Connecticut River. I will give my reasons for 
 this opinion. It now seems to be generally admitted in relation to this slate forma¬ 
 tion, through the whole of the Green Mountain range, that it was not lifted up by 
 granite or any of the igneous rocks, pushing upwards from underneath, but 
 crowded together from the sides or edges, so as to cause a folding together of 
 the strata, the entire range pitching downwards towards the sea. Another 
 
9 
 
 reason for this opinion is, that in passing over the Rutland road in Vermont, as 
 far as Ludlow, I think, you find that the same rock is cut through, and if you 
 travel over the Vermont Central Railroad you will find that it is cut through the 
 whole distance of the mountain, and that too on a level as low down as the 
 tunnel. This proves that the mountain is made throughout of this rock, down 
 to this depth, and there is no reason why the same formation should not extend 
 into Massachusetts. I am therefore of opinion that the mountain consists of 
 solid rock, unless there should be a little of those quartz or limestone rocks I 
 have mentioned. I am sure there is no trap rock ; I have never seen so much as 
 one vein of it in the whole of Hoosac Mountain. 
 
 I do not believe there will be any cavities found in the mountain. There may 
 be slight ones, but if so they will be caverns, and not filled with earth like the 
 soil or gravel of the surface. 
 
 I do not think there will be any masonry or arching required For in¬ 
 stance, if the boring machine should be found to operate well, and the tunnel 
 should be bored through the mountain, l do not believe that it would re¬ 
 quire any more masonry for its support than would be necessary for a good 
 sound stick of ^timber with an auger-hole bored through it. A little mason¬ 
 ry may of course be required at the ends, but I have so much confidence in 
 this opinion, that I should not be afraid to engage to put in all the masonry that 
 will be necessary after you get beyond the surface, for a very few thousand 
 dollars. If there is any confidence to be placed in the principles of geology,, 
 then we may rely upon the rock’s proving to be the same throughout the moun¬ 
 tain, without cavities. It would be a thing unheard of in geology otherwise. I 
 
 know of no place where you will find soil after you get into the solid rock, unless 
 it is where a valley comes down from above. Undoubtedly the rock will be 
 much easier to work after you get down through the edges. The tunnel will 
 support itself just as well a little inclined as if the rock stood perpendicularly. 
 
 There is no question but that the rock is easy for drilling, but I am told that 
 
 powder in blasting does not throw out so large a mass as in the case of some 
 other rocks, which are harder to drill and more easily cracked by powder. It 
 will be more easy to pass through the layers than if they were horizontal. 
 
 Water will undoubtedly be found near the surface and elsewhere to some 
 extent, but I have an impression, or rather an opinion, that this tunnel will be 
 found to go below where the water percolates, unless the layers are found to bo 
 more broken than I suppose they are. I will mention a case of this kind which 
 I noticed last year at a coal-mine in Rhode Island. This mine goes down ob¬ 
 liquely, at an angle of thirty or forty degrees, to a depth of some 600 feet. In 
 sinking the mine to the depth of about 300 feet, they were troubled with a great 
 deal of water, but below that there was no water, the mine being entirely dry, 
 although it goes down 300 or 40J feet below the level of the ocean. 1 have an 
 impression that this tunnel will be found to be dry after penetrating a considera¬ 
 ble distance from the surface. 
 
 Another fact, which I believe is now generally admitted, is, that the further 
 down into a rock you go the softer it becomes. It is a fact, that most rocks 
 harden when brought up to or near the surface. 1 cannot, of course, say posi¬ 
 tively, but I should suppose that in working this rock so far below the surface, it 
 will be found much softer than on the face of the mountain. 
 
 There are boulders of granite scattered all over the surface of the mountain. 
 According to some theories, these boulders came from New York. It was not till 
 I had observed them for a number of years, that I became anxious to find where 
 they came from. I at length discovered their origin in the south-western corner of 
 Vermont, on the northern part of the Saddle Mountain range. They had been 
 knocked off by icebergs from the Vermont mountains, when the country vvaa 
 under the ocean, and carried and scattered all along over the valleys to the west 
 
 0 
 
side of the Hoosac. They are strewed all the way, some of them 15 or 20 feet 
 in diameter, increasing in size towards the Connecticut River. Boulders are not 
 unfrequently met with, which have been carried in this way four or five hundred 
 miles. This may be observed in Essex county, New York, and along the 
 valley of the Hudson River. The direction taken by the current or force which 
 carried these boulders was about south-east. I am confident they did not originate 
 near the mountain, because I traced them to the place of their origin, and I am 
 certain there is no rock like them in the mountain. My belief is that the structure 
 of the mountain is very simple, consisting almost entirely of this mica slate. 
 There may be some varieties mixed in. 1 believe I did observe a little hornblende 
 in some parts — a rock somewhat harder than mica slate. It sometimes, but not 
 commonly occurs in the mica slate. In places where this rock and quartz should 
 occur in considerable quantities, it would make the tunnelling harder. 
 
 I have not had a great deal of opportunity to observe tunnels except in Great 
 Britain, where the rock is quite different, being mainly a chalk formation, which, 
 of course, is easy to work. In the vicinity of Liverpool is a tunnel a little over a 
 mile in length, constructed through red sandstone. I should think there would be 
 no great difficulty in constructing the English tunnels. In Belgium 1 passed 
 through 25 tunnels in one afternoon, none of them, however, were very long; 
 one, I believe, was about a mile in length. They are built through what is called 
 silurian rock, which is harder than red sandstone. It would be rather worse than 
 this mica slate. Mica slate would be easier to drill than either red sandstone or 
 silurian rock, but I cannot say as to the quantity which would be thrown out by 
 blasting. 
 
 [Mr. Derby here said he had no further questions to ask, but wished to have 
 the witness state any additional facts which might occur to him as having a bear¬ 
 ing on the subject.] 
 
 Mr. Hitchcock. — It may be proper to mention other geological features in the 
 neighborhood of the tunnel. Near where the tunnel commences, on the eastern 
 side, are large deposits of serpentine and soapstone. Serpentine is not much used 
 in this country as yet as an ornamental stone. It is more expensive and harder 
 than marble, and is a beautiful ornamental stone. Soapstone is very valuable. 
 There is a large bed of it within perhaps a couple of miles of the east end of 
 the tunnel. Some of it is the most beautiful I have ever seen, while other por¬ 
 tions are of the common kind, not so good as some I have seen, but very good, 
 however. On the north, in the town of Rowe (?) is another bed of it. Six miles 
 south of the road are iron mines, which have been worked to some extent. In 
 Charlemont is some of the most splendid stone for flagging I know of in New 
 England. It stands very even, and a slab of almost any dimensions may be got 
 out— larger 1 should think than can be carried in a railroad car. 1 should judge 
 it to be admirably adapted for sidewalks. It stands perpendicularly, right up in 
 the open air on the side of the mountain, in plain sight as you pass along 
 the road. There are also iron and marble in Adams; and a little south, in 
 Cheshire, you find beautiful quartz sand as white as the finest loaf sugar. In the 
 mountains are beds of iron, and there is lime, of course, where there is marble. 
 Some of this lime is of the purest kind. I analyzed specimens of it, in which I 
 found about ninety-nine parts out of a hundred to be pure limestone or carbonate 
 of lime. There are the largest forests I know of in New England in this region, 
 and much good timber all along towards the Connecticut as you go down from 
 the tunnel. 
 
 In reply to questions by Mr. Wiggin, Representative from Boston, he said, if 
 the rock of the tunnel should be found to differ from what he had supposed, it 
 would be an exception to the general rules of the science. Of course, he had not 
 been into the interior of the mountain to examine the rock, but there were no 
 reasons why geologists might not be able to judge ; and he was certain that no 
 
11 
 
 veins of granite, trap, porphyry, &c., exist in the mountain. He would not dare 
 to assert an opinion so directly and positively, without good and sufficient reasons 
 which he had seen nothing to change. There was no reason why this slate 
 should not extend down even lower than the level of the Connecticut — especially 
 as it is shown in the Green Mountains — where a gorge cuts across, and shows 
 the same rock the entire width of the range.* Some portions of this rock is called 
 talcose slate, but there is no great difference in the formation ; it is merely talc 
 instead of mica. He had calculated the height of the mountain with the barometer, 
 but could not recollect the exact result. He believed, however, it was about 
 1500 feet above the level of Hoosac River. 
 
 [Andrew Ellison, Jr., Esq., Engineer to the Board of Public Works of Virginia, 
 was next introduced and sworn.] 
 
 MR. ELLTSON'S TESTIMONY. 
 
 He had had charge of various public works, as principal or assistant engineer, 
 and had built the South Shore Railroad, in this State. He spoke of a line of rail¬ 
 road from Covington, Va., to the Ohio, crossing the Alleghany mountains in 
 Virginia, and making a continuous line from Richmond, of which the Blue Ridge 
 Tunnel is to form a part. He is assistant engineer with Mr. Fiske on the Covington 
 and Ohio line. This route is, in all, about 240 miles in length. There has been 
 some dispute in regard to the route. There are to be three long tunnels on the 
 line in crossing the mountains west of the Blue Ridge, the longest of which is 
 6500, the next 4500, and the third 1800 feet in length ; and several smaller ones 
 ranging from 300 to 900 feet. The whole distance to be tunnelled is about three 
 miles and a half. This is the only work constructed entirely by the State. The 
 Blue Ridge Railroad is 17 miles in length, passing through the centre of the 
 country, and is of very great importance to the Central Railroad, in which the 
 State owns stock to the amount of three-fifths. The reasons why the State under¬ 
 took these enterprises were, the importance of getting a continuous line from the 
 Ohio to Chesapeake Bay, and the difficulty of accomplishing it by private enter¬ 
 prise. The highest price paid for tunnelling between Covington and the Ohio is 
 $3,374 per yard. This contract is taken by one of the most experienced con¬ 
 tractors in the country. There will be two, certainly, and perhaps three shafts. 
 The lowest price now paid for tunnelling is $3£ per yard. A contract was made 
 for $3, but the price was raised to $31. Short tunnels are not considered serious 
 matters in constructing a railroad. The contractors offered to complete the 
 largest tunnel in three years Several short tunnels have just been completed on 
 the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. The largest of these is 900 feet, and the 
 price paid for excavating was $24 per yard. The material was slate and sand¬ 
 stone. The material in the Covington and Ohio tunnels is slate, clay slate, and 
 sandstone, and, in the third mountain, limestone, which was spoken of by con¬ 
 tractors as the hardest rock they had seen. He would like to compromise for the 
 Hoosac mica slate throughout, a large specimen of which was on the table before 
 him. The clay slate was too soft, and two-thirds of it would require arching. 
 The Hoosac rock would work easier than their sandstone, and would require no 
 arching. 
 
 He had not visited Hoosac Mountain, and was not familiar with the localities of 
 the Troy and Greenfield road ; but the exigencies of the tunnel might be similar 
 to that of the Blue Ridge road. The latter was an intermediate link of seventeen 
 miles between two State roads, and was built entirely on State account., for the 
 express purpose of connecting the two roads, without which it would be of no 
 value. The progress made in tunnelling in the Blue Ridge was 60 feet a month, 
 and would be much greater but for its extreme hardness. The rock is the hardest 
 in the State, and no shafts have been made. 
 
MR. JOHN A. CARPENTER’S TESTIMONY. 
 
 I have been a Railroad contractor many years, one of the firm of Belknap, 
 Gilmore & Company. I have worked at the Hoosac Tunnel. The rock drills 
 very easily, and you can blast very large masses at a time. We look upon it as 
 a very favorable rock for blasting. The amount of rock thrown off at a blast 
 depends upon the width of the cutting, and the size and depth of the holes. I 
 believe we have thrown off, at the deep cut leading to the tunnel, over oOO yards 
 at a blast. We first put down holes and blast them to raise a seam, and then 
 blast the seam altogether. 
 
 1 got these specimens at the foot of the mountain. I believe they are fair 
 specimens ; I meant to ‘procure such. A drill will not be so dull after going 
 through three feet of Hoosac rock as after passing through one foot of granite. 
 So far as we have worked, we find the rock more favorable as we go down. 
 I have worked on the Portland, Old Colony, Fitchburg, Vermont and Massachu¬ 
 setts, Norfolk County, Nashua and Worcester, and other railroads, and have 
 found no rock which will bore more easily than this. 
 
 MR. EDWIN FAXON’S TESTIMONY. 
 
 Resides in Boston. Is a leather dealer. Has travelled a great deal in Europe — 
 in Great Britain, France, Belgium, Austria, and other countries. In these travels 
 he had made use of Murray’s Guide Books of the several countries he passed 
 through, to assist in his observations. The works referred to were published by 
 an established authority, who continues them from time to time in revised editions. 
 They corresponded with other authorities and with his own observations. They 
 contained descriptions of a great number of works of art, many of which he had 
 himself visited. Some of these he proceeded to give some account of. He had 
 travelled over some Alpine passes, and the tunnels, galleries, &c. were stupendous 
 works of art. The highest of these passes is one constructed by the Austrian 
 government; its summit is more than 9000 feet above the level of the sea. It 
 connects Lombardy and Austria. The name of this pass is the Stelvio. It ap¬ 
 pears to be one of the greatest works of engineering in Europe, and is generally 
 considered a great undertaking. It contains a great many tunnels, some of them 
 very difficult of construction, on account of the material. Many of them are of 
 great length. There are also many covered ways, built of wood and masonry, to 
 carry over the road the avalanches, which at certain seasons of the year slide 
 down from the mountains, so that travellers may at all seasons pass over the road 
 with safety. The ascent is very steep on one side, so steep that, ascending it on 
 foot so as to have the better opportunity for observation, he was unable to cut off 
 the corners of the zigzags, and was obliged to follow the road. The road is car¬ 
 ried up the mountain by these zigzags on the sides, up which a coach and horses 
 may be driven almost as easily as on a level road. 
 
 Some of the longest railroad tunnels he knew of were in England. One on the 
 Manchester and Sheffield road was said to be over three miles long. He found 
 no inconvenience or unpleasantness in passing through it on account of smoke, 
 steam, &c.; in fact, it did not then occur to him that there might be inconvenience 
 arising from that source; and he had passed through probably more than a hun¬ 
 dred railroad tunnels on his travels, and had never experienced any inconvenience 
 on that account. He named other tunnels through which he had passed, and 
 which are described in these guide-books. The Marseilles is about two and three 
 fourth miles long ; the Blaisy two and a half, &c. A tunnel near Liverpool is over 
 a mile long. Did not pass through a tunnel on Manchester and Leeds line; took 
 another route. On a line from Aix-la-Chapelle to Liege, in a distance of a few 
 miles, he went through many tunnels; this is between Belgium and Prussia. It 
 seemed to him as if he was under ground about half of the time, but probably 
 
13 
 
 such was not the case. These tunnels are considered a great curiosity ; so much 
 so that travellers frequently prefer going by that line, for the sake of passing 
 through them, end seeing the skill exhibited in their construction. The road 
 passes over a broken, hilly country, at right angles with the ranges of hills. 
 These tunnels are by no means considered the most expensive part of the road. 
 It crosses over great ravines and gorges, by means of magnificent bridges and 
 embankments, many of which might be quite as expensive as the tunnels. He 
 passed over another line of railroad in Austria, leading from Trieste to Vienna, 
 which is considered a great undertaking, with many tunnels, &c. That part of 
 the road leading over the Alps was not completed when he passed over it, but he 
 saw the works going on. He had since learned that it was finished. It involved 
 a great amount of tunnelling rock, and zigzagging in the mountain part. He also 
 mentioned a tunnel in Saxony (not a railroad tunnel) twenty-four miles long, 
 which is described in these guide-books, as well as a great many other useful and 
 interesting works of art. 
 
 These guide-books were left in the hands of the committee by way of collateral 
 evidence, going to show what had been accomplished by enterprise, and skill and 
 science, in European countries. 
 
 OTIS CLAPP’S TESTIMONY. 
 
 I visited the tunnel in Cincinnati, Ohio in June last. This tunnel is building 
 for the purpose of obtaining an outlet from the city for railroads. Cincinnati is 
 situated on the bank of the Ohio river with a high hill back of the city, and as 
 the city is built up and down the river, the railroads are obliged to enter at the 
 ends, so that the depots are a great distance from the centre of business. It is 
 expected therefore when the tunnel is completed, that some eight or ten roads 
 will pass through it and have their depots in connection. 
 
 There will be deep cuts or headings arched and covered over for about half 
 a mile, which will make the tunnel about two miles in length. There are three 
 shafts which vary a little in depth, and average 182 feet. The work was com¬ 
 menced in January or February 1853, and in June the three shafts were all 
 down, and the tunnelling commenced. The contract price for excavation was 
 $2.20 per cubic yard. The rock was easy to work, as easy or easier than 
 Hoosac rock, though I understood they have since come to harder rock. 
 
 [Mr. C. then produced a copy of Ore’s “Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and 
 Mines.”] This work is one of standard authority, contains a vast amount of in¬ 
 formation, and the author has had charge of a mine some 20 years. It contains 
 descriptions as well as numerous pictorial representations of the tools used in 
 mining, modes of shafting, excavating, hoisting, draining galleries, ventilation, 
 &c. &LC. 
 
 As many doubts have existed, and still exist in the public mind, with regard 
 to the feasibility of working shafts 775 feet deep, (the proposed depth of the 
 Hoosac.) or of the ability to ventilate a tunnel of the length proposed, I have: 
 marked some passages bearing upon this question to which I propose to call 
 the attention of the committee. It will be here perceived that shafts are oft»»n 
 sunk from 100 to 1900 feet deep. It will therefore be perceived that the tunnel¬ 
 ling of Hoosac Mountain, and making the necessary shafts, is only attempting 
 on a small scale, what has often been performed in other parts of the world, on 
 a much larger scale. 
 
 The mines alluded to are very numerous, employing hundreds of thousands of 
 persons under ground to the depth of from 100 to more than 3000 feet. He gives 
 descriptions of mines under 22 different heads such as the mines of the Ural 
 Mountains, the Alps, Cordilleras, Pyrenees, &c. Under these h£ads, they are 
 2 
 
14 
 
 divided into groups. Humboldt describes 3000 distinct mines as worked in Mexico 
 at the time of his visit. In the kingdom of Saxony, with a territory less than 
 that of this State, there are about 500, and in the region of Frieburg the capital 
 of the mining region, about 130. This place once contained 40,000 inhabitants; 
 it has now only 13,000; its rise and fall have kept pace with the productiveness 
 of its silver mines which have been worked since the 12th century. “ They 
 have of late, 1 ” according to Murray’s Guide Book, u much fallen off, owing in a • 
 great degree to the richest veins being worked out, or to the shafts being driven so 
 deep that it is impossible to drain off'the water from them. A project of clearing 
 them, by piercing a tunnel through the mountains to the Elbe at Meissen, is in 
 progress, and is certainly one of the most stupendous undertakings of the kind ^ 
 in Europe, its length being about 24 miles. It has been calculated by Breithaupt 
 that the Freiburg mines have produced, in 640 years, during which they have 
 been worked, down to 1825, 82,000 cwt. of silver, or the worth of 240 millions 
 dollars. The amount of silver gained in 1850 equalled $800,000.” 
 
 “ Several of the enterprises ” says Mr. Ure, “ executed in mines, or in subser¬ 
 viency to them, merit a distinguished rank among the history of human labors. 
 Several mines are worked to a depth of 1500 feet, some even to 3000 feet below 
 the surface of the soil. A great many descend below the level of the ocean ; 
 and a few even extend under its billows, and are separated from them by a 
 thin partition of rock, which allows their noise, and the rolling of the pebbles to 
 be heard.” 
 
 “ The great drainage gallery of the mines of Clausthal, in the Hartz, is 6J 
 miles long, and passes upwards of 900 feet below the church of Clausthal. Its 
 excavation lasted from the year 1777 to 1800, and cost about $330,000. Several 
 other galleries of efflux might also be adduced, as remarkable for their great 
 length and expense of formation.” 
 
 “ The carriage of the coal extracted from the mines in the neighborhood of 
 Newcastle to their points of embarkation, is executed almost entirely, both under 
 ground and on the surface, on iron railways, possessing an extent of upwards of 
 500 miles.” 
 
 The Hartz is about 43 miles long, and 18 in breadth. “ As agriculture 
 furnishes few resources there, the exploration of mines is almost the only means 
 of subsistence to its inhabitants, who amount to about 40,000.” 
 
 The richest silver mines are worked to a depth of 16^0 feet. 
 
 The district which yields most lead is Clausthal ; it comprehends a great many 
 mines, several of which are worked to a depth of 1650 feet. 
 
 The water is all saved for a distance of 125 miles in 34 tanks and reservoirs, 
 and carried through subterranean galleries, which supply water to 92 wheels of , 
 30 feet diameter, 55 of which serve for drainage of water, and 57 for the ex¬ 
 traction of ores. 
 
 The mines of Kuttenberg in Germany have been excavated to upwards of 
 3000 feet. 
 
 The tin mines of Aberthom are explored to a depth of 1650 feet, and those of 
 Altenberg 990 feet. 
 
 A table of French mines in 1832 gives the number as 131 iron, and 67 of other { 
 
 ores. They are sunk to a depth of 660 feet. The lead mines produce annually 
 1,200,000 lbs. lead, several thousand pounds of copper, 1,034 lbs of silver, and 
 employ 900 men. 
 
 Cornwall and Devonshire produce annually about 6,180,000 lbs. tin. 
 
 18,'00,000 “ copper. 
 
 1,760,000 « lead. 
 
 making a total of 
 
 26,640,000 lbs. 
 
15 
 
 Many of these mines are explored to the depth of 1200 feet, and steam engines 
 of several hundred horse power are used. 
 
 The mines of Sweden produce annually about 165 million pounds of iron, of 
 which two thirds are exported. “ The workings of the copper mines are now 
 prosecuted by shafts and galleries, into the lower part of the deposite, and have 
 arrived to a depth of 1290 feet. They display excavations spacious enough to 
 admit the employment of horses, and the establishment of forges for repairing 
 the miners’ tools. It is asserted that the exploration of this mine goes back to a 
 period anterior to the Christian era.” During its greatest prosperity, it produced 
 5000 tons per annum. 
 
 Jn the mine of Kutz-Puhl, in the Alps, the workings reached in 1759 to near 
 3300 feet in depth. 
 
 The Salt Mines of Austria have been worked over 600 years, and present 
 numerous tunnels and under-ground galleries. “ The limestone mountains of 
 Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Transylvania, and Bavaria abound in deposits of salt, 
 which are enveloped in the strata of the mountain, to use a homely phrase, like 
 apples within the crust of a pudding,” and the mines are sources of considerable 
 revenue to all these countries, employing a great number of persons. To obtain 
 the salt, pits and galleries are cut through the solid limestone rock as far as the 
 softer beds containing the salt. Here mountain streams of fresh water are let 
 in, which becomes saturated with the salt, and is then drawn off at pleasure and 
 carried to points where boiling or evaporating pans are in use to turn the brine 
 into salt. It is calculated that 100 lbs. of brine, produces 26 lbs. of salt. Whole 
 forests are consumed for fuel, which is floated down the streams for this purpose. 
 When fuel becomes scarce, the brine is carried by conduits to points where it is 
 more plenty, it being cheaper to carry the water than the fuel. These conduits 
 sometimes extend 30 miles, and in one case, in Bavaria, nearly 60 miles. They 
 are carried along the side of precipices, through tunnels or canals cut in the 
 rocks, and over deep ravines supported upon piles or props. 
 
 At Rosenheim 20,000,000 lbs. of salt are made annually, and the brine is 
 carried in iron pipes 42 miles, and is actually pumped up over 1500 feet, by the 
 aid of very powerful and ingeniously contrived hydraulic pumps, to surmount 
 two ranges of mountains. 
 
 At Hallein mines, 10,540 tons of salt are made annually. The Durrenberg 
 hill, 1200 feet high, is bored through by 8 horizontal levels or galleries, each con¬ 
 nected with those above and below by shafts cut at a slope of 45 degrees. “ So 
 great is the extent of the galleries and passages of the mines, that a week, it is 
 said, would be required to traverse them from end to end.” — Hand Book , <S. Ger¬ 
 many, pp. 186, 256. 
 
 The salt mines near Cracow have been worked over 900 years. Their depth 
 is 1783 feet, and their annual produce averages 55,121 tons, nearly 10,000 tons 
 more than was brought from Albany to Boston by the Western Railroad in 1852. 
 The miners are represented as a fine race of men, and their labor as healthy. 
 A fortnight would scarcely suffice to explore the whole extent of the excavations, 
 the whole town, including a lake, being undermined with them. — Hand Book , 
 p. 489. 
 
 Styrian Railway over the Semmering Pass. 
 
 It is 25 miles in length, and is carried over the Semmering by means of 12 tun¬ 
 nels, and II vaulted cuttings. The main tunnel, which is also the highest, is 
 1561 English yards in length, at an elevation of 2893 English feet above the sea. 
 Gloggnitz is 137s feet, and Murzzuschlag 2181 feet above the sea level. The de¬ 
 cline from the tunnel to Gloggnitz is therefore 1515 feet,and to Murzzuschlag 712 
 feet. The Wolfsberg tunnel is 485 yards long, the Weberkogl tunnel 458 yards, 
 another 388 yards. Altogether, there are about 4000 yards of tunnelling. The 
 line rises in gradients, varying between 1 to 40, and 1 in 100. About 7 English 
 
16 
 
 miles on the Styrian, and 4f on the Austrian side of the mountain are ready for the 
 rails, which are now (May, 1851) being laid down, and it is expected that before the 
 close of the present year, 1851, the Semmering railway, which is unquestionably 
 one of the most extrardinary works of the kind in Europe, will be nearly com¬ 
 pleted.— Murray's Hand Book S. Germany , p. 403. 
 
 Verniers Railway — Liege to Aix-la-Chapelle, finished in 1843-44. 
 
 “The country between Liege and Aix-la-Chapelle (34f miles) presented seri¬ 
 ous obstacles to the formation of a railway, which have been overcome only 
 by the utmost skill and arduous exertions of the engineer. The cost exceeded 
 25,000,000 francs, ($5,000,000); there are no less than 19 tunnels in the Belgian 
 part of the line alone, so that it has been compared to a needle run through a 
 corkscrew. It is conducted across the Meuse by a fine bridge (Pont du Val St. 
 Benoit) of 7 arches 4fc9 feet long, a little way above Liege. It afterwards follows 
 nearly the same line as the high road as far as Limburg, crossing the Vesdre 
 by 17 bridges, and repeatedly piercing the rock. The river Ourthe is crossed by 
 a bridge of 3 arches.” — Murray's Hand Book N. Germany , p. 177. 
 
 Stelvio Pass , over the Alps — Hand Book , p. 306. 
 
 “This very remarkable road, the highest in Europe, practicable for carriages, 
 being 9.76 feet above the level of the sea, [nearly 3000 feet higher than Mount 
 Washington,] and 2300 feet, or nearly half a mile perpendicular above the Simplon, 
 and 1000 feet above the St. Bernard, was constructed by the Austrian government, 
 in order to open an additional line of communication between Vienna and the centre 
 of Lombardy, and was completed in 1828. It was planned by the chief en¬ 
 gineer, Donegani, and executed under the inspection of the engineer Domenici, 
 by the contractor Talachini, at an expense of nearly 3 million florins, or about 
 $1,450,500. 
 
 “ Whether we consider the boldness of the design, the difficulties of its execu¬ 
 tion from the great height and exposure to storms and avalanches, or the grandeur 
 of the scenery through which it passes, the route of the Stelvio is the most re¬ 
 markable in Europe. The galleries cut for miles through the solid rock, along 
 the margin of the Lake Como — those higher up built of massive masonry, strong 
 enough to resist the fall of avalanches — the long causeways carried over morasses 
 — the bridges thrown across torrents — the long succession of zigzag terraces, car¬ 
 ried up with so gradual a slope, that an English mail-coach might trot up on one 
 side, and scarce require to lock a wheel on the other; which nevertheless scale 
 and surmount one of the highest ridges in the Alps — these are works which with¬ 
 out exaggeration deserve to be called stupendous.” 
 
 “Where slides occur, tunnels and galleries are made by which the road is skil¬ 
 fully protected. Seven of these galleries, 2226 feet long, occur on one side of 
 the mountain, and 50 zigzags are constructed to preserve a gradual ascent.” 
 
 “ The Grand Ship Canal of North Holland is one of the greatest undertakings of 
 the kind ever executed, extending from Amsterdam to Helder, a distance of 51 
 miles. It is 124 feet wide at top, 31 feet wide at bottom, and 21 feet deep, and 
 will allow two frigates to pass. The difficulties which opposed the formation of this 
 canal through ground consisting of low swamp and loose sand, increase our admi¬ 
 ration of the skill and perseverance by which it was planned and executed. The 
 original seashore, which is the only firm ground in North Holland, was found by 
 borino; to be 45 feet under the surface, and the foundations of the locks were laid 
 at that depth. 
 
 “ It was begun in 1819, and finished in 1825, and cost about $7,500,000.” — 
 Murray's Hand Book N. Germany, p. 61. 
 
 1 have a list of 76 tunnels in France. One 3J miles long, one 2f, one 2 miles, 
 5 between one and two miles long, &c. 
 
 On the railroad from Paris to Rouen are 5 tunnels, two of which exceed one 
 mile each in length. 
 
17 
 
 A wire bridge across the Rhone, suspended from 4 piers 1446 feet long, built 
 in 1820, is represented to have cost c£600,000, or $3,000,000. 
 
 “77ie Canal of St. Quentin , in France, is of great importance to the town; it 
 connects the basin of the Somme with that of the Scheldt, and is carried through 
 the intervening hills by tunnels, one at Tronquoi, half a mile long, another at 
 Riqueval, 3£ miles long, cut through the solid rock; it is 20 feet high, and 20 feet 
 broad ; it admits only one barge to pass at a time towed by men. By means of 
 this canal, a communication is opened between the river Scheldt and the extreme 
 eastern departments of France and the Atlantic, through the river Somme, Seine, 
 and Loire; it was completed by Napoleon in 1810.”— Murray's Hand Book of 
 France, , pp. 573, 574. 
 
 By this canal Paris is supplied with large quantities of coal taken from 40 coal 
 mines in the Department du Nord, the most important in France, some of which 
 are described as 1640 feet deep. 
 
 Canal to Marseilles from the Durance — completed in 1847. 
 
 This canal derives its water from the Durance, and is conducted by open cut¬ 
 ting and tunnelling for a distance of 60 miles, through a most mountainous and 
 difficult country until it reaches the arid territory of Marseilles, where it is em¬ 
 ployed for the supply of the city, as well as for irrigation, and giving activity to 
 various branches of industry which require water power. 
 
 The section and fall of this canal is calculated to pass 1£ million tons of water 
 per day, and its levels are so disposed, that this quantity of water will arrive 
 near to the city, at an elevation of 400 feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 Perhaps no work of this description has been attempted either in ancient or 
 modern times more hardy in its conception, or more really useful in its effects. 
 
 Three chains of limestone mountain are pierced by 45 tunnels, forming an 
 aggregate length of 8J- miles, and numerous intervening valleys are crossed by 
 aqueducts. The ravine of the river Arc (about 5 miles from Aix) is a structure 
 of gigantic dimensions. Its elevation above the river is 262 feet [some 30 feet 
 higher than the Bunker Hill Monument,] and its length across the ravine is 1287 
 feet. The design of this gigantic structure is in excellent taste, and as a work of 
 art, it will not suffer from comparison with the famous Pont du Gard, which it 
 will much surpass both in altitude and size. Its total cost was $155,970 
 
 One of the tunnels was over 2 miles long. Great difficulty was experienced in 
 making these tunnels on account of the hardness of the rock. 
 
 The object and use of this canal is to convey to the arid territory of Marseilles 
 an almost unlimited supply of water for irrigation, and to the city a quantity suffi¬ 
 cient for domestic and public distribution, and for giving activity to various 
 branches of industry, which may require water power. Branch canals for dis¬ 
 tributing the water are made, which amount in all to 97 miles. The total cost is 
 rising of $10,000,000. 
 
 The Breakwater at Cherbourg , in France , is worthy of attention, as an exhi¬ 
 bition of engineering on a gigantic scale. It is for the purpose of forming a safe 
 and strong harbor on this part of her coast, exactly opposite Portsmouth, 
 England. It has been over 50 years in building, and is not yet quite completed. 
 The operations of the first 16 years were destroyed by a violent storm. It has, 
 however, been steadily prosecuted by every government since Louis XVI. 
 
 The Breakwater is 4111 yards long, 310 yards at the base, 22 yards high, 103 
 yards at the top, making 18,631,052 cubic yards. It is laid in water from 36 to 
 45 feet deep, and contains more than 50 times the number of cubic yards of 
 stone required in the excavation of lloosac Tunnel. The Breakwater at Ports¬ 
 mouth is 1760 yards long, 120 yards wide at base, 16 yards wide at top, and 14 
 yards high, and contains 1,1*75,520 cubic yards, or nearly five times the number 
 of cubic yards as the Hoosac Tunnel. 
 
 1 have an English work entitled “Our Iron Roads: their History, Construction, 
 
 2 * 
 
IB 
 
 and Social Influences, by F. S. Williams.” It contains a vast amount of informa¬ 
 tion respecting tunnels, viaducts, bridges, &c., with pictorial representations of 
 many of the most important engineering structures in England, which enables us 
 to draw a comparison with the Hoosac Tunnel. 
 
 The cost of railroads in England, as compared with those in this country, is 
 most striking. There are two that cost, per mile , as follows: 
 
 Greenwich Railroad, <£'*270,000, or $1,350,000. 
 
 Black wall 44 <£266,000, 44 $1,330,000. 
 
 The Dock and Birmingham Junction cost about $500,000 per mile. 
 
 The average expense of nine railroads, (not including the above,) is given as 
 $284,575 per mile. 
 
 The cost of land damages merely on three lines, averaged about $70,000 per 
 mile. This is more than the whole cost of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad, 
 from Greenfield to the New York line, including the tunnel. 
 
 There are many deep cuttings on the English railroads, which far exceed in the 
 amount of excavation that of the Hoosac Tunnel. 
 
 The Olive Mount Cutting , on the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad, on some 
 parts is more than 100 feet deep, and 4^0,000 cubic yards of solid rock was 
 excavated; 118,500 yards more than in tfte Hoosac Tunnel. Tunnelling would 
 have been cheaper, but in this case the material was required for an embankment 
 in the vicinity. 
 
 The Blisworth Cutting passes through limestone and clay, and upwards of 
 1,000,000 cubic yards of earth had to be removed, (nearly three times as much 
 as Hoosac,) about one-third of which was limestone, nearly as hard as flint — 3000 
 barrels of gunpowder were used in the blasting. The cost was about $1,250,000. 
 
 The Tring Cutting, on the London and Birmingham Road, passes through 
 chalk nearly 24 miles long, average depth 40 feet, crossed by four bridges with 
 arches. Amount excavated, 1,400,000 cubic yards, nearly four times the amount 
 of the Hoosac Tunnel. 
 
 The New Cross Cutting , on the Corydon line, is 85 feet deep. There was one 
 land slip in the highest part of 50,000 cubic yards, which covered both lines of rails 
 nearly 12 feet deep, and 360 feet long. Other slides occurred, making in all 
 250,000 cubic yards which had to be removed, making an amount equal to two- 
 thirds of the Hoosac Tunnel excavation. 
 
 In the Haslington Cutting, nearly 500,000 cubic yards of peat, sand, and 
 gravel, had to be removed, — nearly one-third more than the Hoosac. 
 
 There is a Sand Cutting through the Cowran Hills, 110 feet deep. 
 
 Blasting Rock Down Cliff. —The railway from Folkestone to Dover, passes 
 the chalk cliff’s some five miles in extent, of which the celebrated Shakspeare’s 
 Cliff is a part of the range. The Rock Down Cliff was a protuberance into the 
 sea 375 feet high, 300 feel long, and 70 feet in thickness, directly in the way of 
 the railway. To tunnel it, or to dig it down, would have caused delay. The 
 engineer, William Cubitt, conceived the idea of removing it at one blast. He there¬ 
 fore sunk a shaft and placed in it 19,000 pounds of gunpowder, and by the aid of 
 galvanism, discharged the whole at once. A dull, muffled, booming sound was 
 heard, accompanied for a moment by a heavy jolting movement of the earth, 
 which caused the knees to smite. In an instant, the bottom of the cliff appeared 
 to dissolve, and to form by its melting elements a hurried sea-borne stream. The 
 superincumbent mass, to the extent of about 500 feet was then observed to sepa¬ 
 rate from the main land, and gradually sank to the beach. The stream of debris 
 extended a distance of 1200 feet, and covered a distance of more than 15 acres! 
 
 “■Nothing,” says Sir John Herschel, 44 can place in a more signal light the exact¬ 
 ness of calculation which could enable the eminent engineer, by whom the whole 
 arrangements are understood to have been made, so completely to task to its 
 utmost every pound of power employed as to exhaust itself in useful work 
 
19 
 
 — leaving no superfluous power to be wasted in useless uproar, or mischievous 
 dispersion, and thus saving at a blow not less than $35,000 to the railway com¬ 
 pany.” 
 
 A million tons of weight, and a million tons of cohesion, were thus severed at 
 a blow—an amount nearly, if not quite equal to the whole excavation of Hoosac 
 Tunnel! 
 
 The earth works of some of the English railways are enormous. Thus the 
 South Western Railway was estimated at 16,000,000 cubic yards, or 200,000 
 cubic yards per mile, or considerably more than one-half the amount of the Hoosac 
 Tunnel, for each and every mile. 
 
 The London and Birmingham Railway is represented as the greatest public 
 work ever executed in ancient or modern times. Mr. Lecomte has made some 
 interesting calculations in illustration of the labor involved in its construction. 
 For this purpose he institutes a comparison between the railway and the great 
 Pyramid of Egypt. After making the necessary allowances for the foundations, 
 galleries, &c., and reducing the whole to one uniform denomination, it will be 
 found that the labor expended on the great pyramid was equivalent to lifting 
 15,733,000,000 cubic feet of stone, one foot high. This labor was performed, 
 according to Herodotus, by 100,000 men in 20 years. The same rule applied to 
 the London and Birmingham railway, shows 25,000,000,000 cubic feet of material 
 lifted one foot high, or 9,267,000,000 more than in the pyramid ; and which was 
 performed by 20,000 men in five years. 
 
 The above calculation omits all the tunnelling, culverts, drains, ballasting, 
 fencing, &c. Another mode of comparison to show the magnitude of the work 
 is as follows: “Take the circumference of the earth in round numbers, at 
 130,000,000 feet. Then, as there are about 400,000,000 cubic feet of earth to 
 be moved in the railway, we see that this quantity of material alone, without look¬ 
 ing at anything else, would, if spread in a band one foot high, and one foot broad, 
 more than three times encompass the earth at the equator.” 
 
 The Viaducts in England are numerous, and altogether more difficult and 
 expensive than tunnels. 
 
 The celebrated Britannia Tubular Bridge is but 1492 feet long. Height of 
 one of the towers 230 feet, and cost $2,500,000. 
 
 There is another tubular bridge at Chepstow, 610 feet long. 
 
 Also, 1 Viaduct, 1^00 feet long, 90 feet high, on 26 arches. 
 
 1 “ * 114 “ “ 
 
 1 “ 125 “ “ 120 “ “ 
 
 1 “ 1530 “ “ 150 “ « 
 
 1 “ near Rugby, with 200,000 feet of stone used, &c. &c. 
 
 Mr. Stephenson, the engineer of the tubular bridge, visited Montreal the last 
 season, to examine and give his views on bridging the St. Lawrence at that 
 city. His report was that it might readily be done, and that the cost would be 
 $5,000,000. 
 
 Ventilation of Tunnels. — On this subject the same timidity was formerly felt in 
 England 5s is now felt here, and before the opening of the London and Birming¬ 
 ham line, it was resolved that the subject should receive a thorough investigation; 
 and this was accordingly entrusted to Dr. Paris, Dr. Watson, Messrs. Lawrence 
 and Lucas, Surgeons, and Mr Phillips, Lecturer on Chemistry, who made their 
 observations on Primrose Hill Tunnel. They reported that the air for many feet 
 above their heads was dry, clear, of an agreeable temperature, and free from un¬ 
 pleasant smells, and that the sensation experienced, as they passed along in a 
 train, was precisely that of travelling in a coach by night between the walls of a 
 narrow street. “Judging from this experiment,” they said, “and knowing the 
 ease and certainty with which ihorough ventilation may be efFected, we are decid¬ 
 edly of opinion that the dangers incurred in passing through well-constructed 
 
20 
 
 tunnels, are no greater than those incurred in ordinary travelling upon an open 
 railway, or upon a turnpike road ; and that the apprehensions which some have 
 expressed, that such tunnels are likely to prove detrimental to the health, or incon¬ 
 venient to the feelings of those who go through them, are perfectly futile and 
 groundless.” 
 
 Mr. Ure gives a comparative table of four celebrated Mines in Europe and 
 America, by F. Burr, Esq., 1835, from which I have made the following abstract: 
 
 Consolidated and United Mines , the richest in Cornwall. Their surface is from 
 200 to 300 feet above the sea, and the Mines are sunk to 1370 feet below the sea. 
 
 The water raised varies from 2 to 3000 gallons per minute, or over 4,000,000 
 gallons per day — equal to about one half the daily supply to the city of Boston. 
 
 It is raised 1380 feet. Nine steam engines are used, equivalent to 4500 horse 
 power, 1500 of which are constantly at work. 
 
 About 2500 men are employed, of whom 1450 are employed under ground. 
 
 16,400 tons of copper and a few tons of tin, are produced annually. 
 
 Average annual expense for drainage, 863,000. 
 
 The interest on capital invested was 280 per cent, after paying back the original 
 capital. 
 
 Vela Grande Mines , the richest in Mexico. Elevation about 6000 feet above 
 the level of the sea, and about 1000 feet deep. 
 
 The water is raised about 930 feet, at the rate of about 80 gallons per minute. 
 
 21,380 tons of silver ore produced annually. About 9i)0 men are employed — 
 600 under ground. 
 
 Annual expense of drainage, $100,000. 
 
 Interest on capital employed nearly 700 per cent, after paying back the original 
 capital. 
 
 Mine of Valencia., in Mexico. Elevation 7617 feet above the sea, and nearly 
 2000 feet deep. 
 
 Water raised about 1860 feet, at the rate of about 110 gallons per minute. 
 
 32,500 tons of silver ore are produced annually, at a value of $3,000,000. 
 
 3100 Indians and Mestizoes are employed, of whom 1800 are employed under 
 ground. 
 
 Average annual expense for drainage, $200,000. 
 
 Mine of Himmelsfurst, richest in Saxony. About 1100 feet deep. The water 
 is raised about 798 feet by water wheels, at the rate of about 50 gallons per minute. 
 630 tons of silver ore are annually produced. 700 miners are employed, of whom 
 550 are under ground. 
 
 A recapitulation shows that in these four mines 7200 men were employed, of 
 whom 4400 were employed under ground. 
 
 Boston , Friday, Feb. 3, 1854. 
 
 The committee met in the Senate Chamber, and were called to order at 3J- 
 o’clock, P. M., when a quorum of the members responded to their names. 
 
 E. H. Derby, Esq. for the petitioners, introduced Shadrack Robinson, Esq. as 
 a witness, who being sworn, testified as follows : — 
 
 MR. ROBINSON’S TESTIMONY. 
 
 Resides in Boston. Is, and has been for the last twenty years engaged in the 
 flour and grain business. Ships annually from the West from 13*1,000 to 150,- 
 000 barrels of flour. His shipments of last year were some 130,000. of the year 
 before nearly 200,000 barrels. He disposes of flour at places on all the roads 
 between here and Ogdensburg, and between here and Albany, also on the routes 
 from the West to Portland. He goes to the West in the summer and fall for 
 the purpose of purchasing flour, and makes his purchases at Cleveland, Toledo, 
 
21 
 
 Sandusky, Detroit, &,c. He avails himself of the canals and railroads between 
 here and these points for the transportation of his flour. During the past year 
 he has shipped by all routes — byway of Buffalo, Oswego, Ogdensburg, over 
 the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Road, to Portland, &c. Shipments by the way 
 of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Road have to go down the river in barges. This 
 route came into operation in July last. He had made a contract for 14,000 or 
 15,000 barrels, to come to Boston by the way of Portland. This amount had not 
 all come through, the early cold weather having cut off some of the vessels. 
 Two vessels laden through were frozen up and had to unload at Ogdensburg. 
 The route by the way of Portland is the cheapest; by it he saved from thirteen 
 to fifteen cents a barrel. The most of it, however, was sold at Portland. By 
 the contract rates, all the way to Boston, he saved from twelve to fourteen cents 
 a barrel. There may be some tendency towards Portland’s becoming a large 
 exporting port. Dealers shipped last fall from the lakes to Portland as cheap as 
 they can to New York. It costs four or five cents more per barrel to send flour 
 to Ogdensburg than if it stopped at Oswego, and ten cents additional if it is sent 
 to Montreal — that is, fifteen cents more to Montreal than to Oswego. The rail¬ 
 road from Montreal to Portland, if he recollected rightly, is 294 miles long. 
 
 Question. — Now, Sir, assuming that in coming with your flour you are at 
 Oswego, or at Sacketts Harbor, which is close by I think on the lake, you were 
 to meet with a railroad coming down to Troy, and thence by the way of the 
 tunnel through to Boston, only 335 miles long, how could flour be shipped in 
 that direction ? 
 
 Answer. — It must be at a much less cost. Provided you charge the same 
 per mile on that road, it would certainly save twelve and a half cents per barrel 
 at least, over the route by way of Portland. It would give Boston an advantage 
 of twelve and a half cents over Portland. 
 
 Question. — And if the price is the same for transportation to Portland as to 
 New York, it would give the same advantage over New York, would it not ? 
 
 Answer. —The prices vary to New York. Last fall the prices went up on the 
 canal, as it generally does in the fall. The price rises as the fall approaches 
 on all routes, canals and all. We paid eighteen cents per barrel from Albany 
 to New York last fall, — shipped from 15,000 to 18,000 or 20,000 barrels. 
 
 There have been large shipments made during the past season to Europe. 
 The European demand has increased during the past season more than we can 
 supply. All the avenues from the west to the eastern seaboard have been over¬ 
 flowing, and it was impossible to get it along in season. As far as I have been 
 acquainted with it, there is no mistake but the western trade is increasing faster 
 than the facilities for getting stuff forward. For the last two years the facilities 
 have been unequal to the trade. It has sometimes occupied nearly two months, 
 to get flour brought even from Ogdensburg. It would depend some on the com¬ 
 petition between the routes from Boston to the Hudson river, whether a very large 
 portion of the Western flour on the way to Europe could be diverted to this port 
 if the tunnel should be built. If the rates on the Hudson were eighteen cents a 
 barrel from Albany to New York he thought we might compete equally, but that 
 is a high freight on the North River. Vessels could be freighted from this port 
 to Europe easier than from New York. We have had the whole trade of Maine 
 formerly, since he has been in the business, but we have now lost the most 
 of it. If this tunnel should be completed and a reduction effected of from twen¬ 
 ty to forty-five per cent on transportation, no doubt it would increase and enlarge 
 trade here. There is no reason why we could not ship to Europe in proportion 
 with New York, if flour is brought to us as cheap as it is carried to New York. 
 If it is brought here even a little higher we could supply the Provinces and Maine, 
 as it would cost less to carry flour to Europe from here than from New York. 
 Even now some considerable shipments are made to Europe from this port. A 
 
22 
 
 difference of over two or three cents per barrel in the cost of transportation would 
 be very important. It would make a difference of 2000 or 3000 dollars a year 
 in his business. The trans-shipment of flour is a damage. It injures it at 
 least three cents a barrel, for cooperage, &c. 
 
 He has been acquainted in Canada West, having bought flour there six years 
 ago. He paid a duty on it, and brought it into market. Canada West is as good 
 a flour region as our own. Our trade with them is increasing very rapidly. This 
 western road, now open to Detroit, goes right through the western portion of 
 Canada. Great quantities of flour are shipped on that road from all the way to 
 Detroit. 
 
 If the western produce comes here, it will have a tendency to bring trade with 
 it. People will come to purchase merchandise, &c. They will naturally wish to 
 exchange, and buy where they sell. A few cents difference will sometimes 
 change entirely the course of trade. Last fall the price for carrying grain from 
 Ogdensburg to Lowell, Manchester, and Nashua, was 17 cents per barrel, and was 
 raised to 22 cents. This cut dealers off entirely, and they had to take it up to 
 these places from Boston. The rise completely turned the trade. One dealer 
 before sold on an average of 300 bushels per day at Lowell, but the rise from 17 
 to 22 cents for transportation entirely broke it up, and our firm had to sell at a 
 loss what was on the way. Afterwards, the Low r ell dealers got their supplies by 
 shipping. I think all this business which comes forward from the West and then 
 goes back, should be left on the road. There is much of this kind of business. 
 If the distance is by this road reduced between Troy and Greenfield to 81 miles, 
 and Greenfield is made the distributing point, the road would supply all the south¬ 
 ern part of Vermont, and he did not know but all northern Massachusetts, and the 
 southern part of New Hampshire, — from Walpole down to Hadley Falls, and 
 towards Manchester, as well as along the route from Fitchburg to Boston. Flour 
 now comes to Massachusetts by the way of the St. Lawrence, and then goes on to 
 Haverhill, Salem, Portsmouth, and other towns in that direction. It may come as 
 cheap by way of Concord, down as far as Portsmouth, as it would by this new 
 route. The facilities are not now enough to accommodate the trade of the West 
 with Boston. Traders have not found it so this fall and winter. There has been 
 trouble for two years past. Some difficulty is occasioned by the cold on the 
 northern routes. For two months last winter, and a month or six weeks already 
 this winter, it has been impossible to get our property from Ogdensburg. 
 
 [Mr. Derby then introduced Mr. George Millard who was sworn.] 
 
 MR. MILLARD’S TESTIMONY. 
 
 Is a resident of North Adams, and a Director of the Troy and Greenfield Rail¬ 
 road. Between six and seven miles (not quite seven) of the line beyond North 
 Adams, and touching the State line between Williamstown and Pownal (Vermont) 
 is now graded and nearly ready for, the rails. A section of six miles in Vermont 
 remains to be constructed over the interval in the valley of the Hoosac River. 
 
 Mr. M. referred to an arrangement by which the Troy and Boston Railroad 
 Company are to give a guarantee bond for 6 per cent, on the stock of this portion 
 in Vermont, for twenty years after it goes into operation. In company with Mr. 
 Crocker he went to see them, to make an arrangement for completing the road as 
 far as Adams, and making it a paying road. They found a little link there with 
 a separate charter, and the Troy people proposed this bond, to induce the people 
 of Pownal and others to take hold of the stock. 
 
 From that point there is seven miles more in New York, following the same 
 valley along the river, and easy to build. A fraction of this is now in use. The 
 Troy and Boston Road branches off at the junction towards Adams, and two or 
 
23 
 
 three miles of it is completed, and is now run by horse-power. It is in the direc¬ 
 tion of Adams, and extends to Hoosac Falls. 
 
 With regard to the business of this part of the line-—from North Adams through 
 Williamstown, and over this section — he had made an estimate, at the time, 
 that it would give $10,000 a year to the stockholders under the arrangement 
 referred to by Mr. Crocker with the Troy and Bosioti Co., by which they were 
 to run the road and keep it in repair without charge to the corporation till the 
 tunnel is completed. The arrangement with the section in Vermont is for 20 
 years. 
 
 There is an offer from the Vermont and Mass. Railroad Co. to run that part 
 of the line east of the tunnel as many miles as can be completed, and pay the 
 Troy and Greenfield Co. 50 per cent, on the gross receipts — 50 per cent, of the 
 whole income. 
 
 The Deerfield valley is a flourishing region. He could not say what the local 
 business would be, but thought it must be considerable, as they were offered one 
 half the entire income, for the privilege of running the road through it. They 
 thought there was no risk to be run in moving along with the road, because by 
 these arangements they would receive the interest on every dollar expended, on 
 either side of the mountain. That is, the local business would pay all the ex¬ 
 penses of moving forward with the road, and interest. 
 
 There is not now a suitable depot at Troy for the Troy and Boston Road, but 
 a splendid and costly one is being built, which will be completed in about a 
 month. It is to be far ahead of the depot at Springfield, covering perhaps twice 
 or three times as much ground. Four several roads are expected to run into this 
 depot. The arrrangement will be to run into Troy by steam-power. They are 
 now building a strong bridge, on which a double track will be laid, to run into the 
 city by steam-power; and then the same depot is to accommodate the Hudson 
 River Railroad to New York. This bridge is to be completed in about a fortnight. 
 The contractors are to pay a penalty of $50 for every day the work shall be 
 delayed beyond the time fixed for its completion ; and to receive a reward of $40 
 for every day within that time. They are also tunnelling in the lower part of 
 Troy, and making some deep cuts for the purpose of obtaining a good grade 
 towards Greenbush. 
 
 There is much solicitude in Adams and Williamstown in regard to the tunnel. 
 They are very anxious indeed to increase the facilities for communication with 
 Boston. If the tunnel should be completed, they think their real estate would 
 more than double immediately. There is also much interest felt in the West — 
 at Sacketts Harbor, Oswego, and throughout Central New York. Whenever he 
 visits those regions they inquire, — “ How comes on the tunnel ? Have you made 
 any progress ? How soon are you going to build it ? ” There is a deep interest 
 in New York — more than in this State. They say if we will only move the 
 mountain over into York State they will tunnel it for us. He saw a gentleman 
 from Buffalo, some time since, who expressed a deep interest in relation to this 
 subject. He said he forwarded a great deal of freight to Boston, and was very 
 anxious indeed that there should be more facilities for, and less expense in getting 
 freight through to Boston. 
 
 There is some hostility of feeling in the West towards the Western Railroad, in 
 relation to the hindrances of freight at Greenbush. The people of Albany are 
 dissatisfied; he had spoken with gentlemen of Albany and of Pittsfield on the 
 subject. The people of Pittsfield think they are not fairly dealt with because 
 through freight is preferred to their own. 
 
 The inhabitants on the line of the Western Road have not so much hostility 
 towards the tunnel as formerly. He had a letter from a member of the House last 
 year — Mr. N. F. Orcutt, of Cummington — who voted against the tunnel loan, 
 
24 
 
 and who now expresses himself in favor of the road, and thinks it would not injure 
 the Western Road even if it were a parallel line. 
 
 Mr. Millard then identified a specimen of rock on the table as having been t 
 
 brought from the mountain, where it was taken from under the mouth of the 
 machine where the cut was 25 feet deep. He considered this as a fair sample 
 of the rock at the tunnel. 
 
 A letter was then introduced from Mr. Hiram Slocum, who is represented as 
 being as heavy a dealer in pork and beef as any in Troy. Mr. Slocum thinks 
 that the tunnel would be an annual saving of a half million to Massachusetts, and 
 speaks of the Legislature of New York as not only loaning the credit of the State 
 to projects for internal improvement, but as having actually given to the Sackett’s 
 Harbor Road 250,000 acres of land. 
 
 A letter was also read from Mann, Vail & Co., forwarding agents at Buffalo. 
 They speak of the hindrances at Greenbush, which would be obviated by the 
 tunnel route. In relation to these hindrances, they say they have been charged 
 sometimes five cents a barrel for the transit, and it damaged their barrels upwards 
 of one cent each, on an average, for cooperage, &c. 
 
 Mr. Derby then put into the case some documentary evidence including a 
 report of the proceedings of last year with passages marked. The Western Kail- 
 road, he said, did not appear this year — but they did last — and he could not 
 afford to part with them, as he considered their evidence and arguments very 
 useful to his clients. He should therefore submit to the committee the printed 
 report of the proceedings of last year, containing the evidence and arguments of 
 the petitioners, and the evidence and answer of the Western Railroad, which 
 documents he thought would greatly abbreviate and aid the labors of the com¬ 
 mittee. This document was then tendered and distributed. 
 
 Mr. Derby also put in extracts from Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine with tables, 
 showing the increase of the exports of breadstuffs; also, tables showing the prices 
 of transportation on the Hudson River, which average nine cents per barrel for 
 flour. By the tables from Hunt’s Magazine, it appears that the annual increase 
 of the exports of breadstuffs from this country is very great, amounting in the 
 case of the port of New York alone to an equivalent of 1,500,000 barrels of 
 Hour. The whole exports from New York for fast year down to December 16th. 
 were 6,714,871 bushels of wheat, 943,935 of corn, and 1,953,164 barrels of 
 flour. 
 
 He then introduced Mr. Clapp, of Boston, to explain some tables he had pre¬ 
 pared, and give other information to the Committee having a bearing on tha 
 subject. He had delegated this duty to Mr. Clapp in consequence of another * 
 hearing, at which he was himself compelled to attend, and which could not be 
 delayed. This he thought would complete the evidence for the petitioners until 
 after the visit of the committee to the tunnelling machine at New York, for which 
 arrangements had been made. One of the newspapers had, he thought, rather 
 ungenerously endeavored to convey a wrong impression as to the object of this 
 visit, by saying it was for the ostensible purpose of visiting the machine. It was 
 not only for the 44 ostensible,” but for the express purpose of witnessing the ope- ^ 
 ration of this ingenious piece of mechanism, that the visit to New York was 
 proposed. The machine is in successful operation, and, as the petitioners cannot 
 bring it before the committee, the only course is for the committee to visit the 
 machine. Tickets would be placed in the hands of the chairman of the com- * 
 mittee, on Tuesday morning, and then it would be decided what route they were 
 to take. It would be one of the best routes to the city of New York. 
 
 Mr. Derby then retired, and Mr. Otis Clapp, of Boston, proceeded to address 
 the committee. 
 
25 
 
 The first table he should present to the committee was one relating to the equip¬ 
 ment of several roads. He would present this for the purpose of enabling the 
 committee to judge of the capability of roads to do a certain amount of business. 
 
 Equipment on Railroads compared. 
 
 
 
 Engines. 
 
 Pass. Cars. 
 
 Freight Cars. 
 
 Western, 
 
 1850, 
 
 65 
 
 39 
 
 856 
 
 ti 
 
 1851, 
 
 65 
 
 41 
 
 856 
 
 u 
 
 1852,- 
 
 59 
 
 45 
 
 856 
 
 N. Y. Central, 
 
 1852, 
 
 145 
 
 318 &, baggage 
 
 , 1,173 
 
 Erie, 
 
 1852, 
 
 142 
 
 91 
 
 1,834 
 
 
 
 
 16 2d class. 
 
 
 u 
 
 1853, 
 
 147 and 60 
 
 more engaged to be ready in 
 
 Reading, 
 
 1852, 
 
 103 
 
 
 5,241 
 
 t; 
 
 1853, 
 
 103 
 
 
 5,476 
 
 Balt, and Ohio, 
 
 1853, 
 
 167 
 
 
 3,300 
 
 Lond.&N. Western, 
 
 1851, 
 
 582 
 
 1495 
 
 14,747 
 
 ft. 
 
 “ whole rolling machinery, 18,359. 
 
 Length, with branches, about 600 miles. 
 
 The cost of the rolling machinery of the Erie road is 83,156,033.52, and yet 
 their last report says, “ The constant increase of the business of the road has al¬ 
 ways exceeded the capacity to transport.” 
 
 Cost of the rolling machinery of the Baltimore and Ohio Road, $3,013,162. 
 This road had 1642 cars built to be in readiness for their anticipated business on 
 their opening. 
 
 The Reading Road has, during the last year, disposed of six old engines, and 
 supplied their places with new ones. It is about 100 miles long. 
 
 lie then introduced some tables, which were abstracts from the “Report of I. 
 D. Andrews, on the trade and commerce of the British N. A. Colonies, and upon 
 the great lakes and rivers,” &c., a work of nearly 1000 pages, and abounding in 
 information relating to the resources of this country, the Canadas, &c. 
 
 Value of the Lake and River Commerce of the United States , compared with 
 foreign imports and exports. 
 
 1851 — Lake Commerce, $314,473,458. Tons, 3,971,126. 
 
 1851—River Commerce, 3^9,502,744. Tons, 4,066,800. 
 
 Total, 
 
 Imports for 1852, 
 Exports “ “ 
 
 653,976,202 
 
 $252,613,282 
 
 192,368,984 
 
 Total, $444,982,266 
 
 Excess of Lake and River Commerce, $208,993,936. 
 
 The increase of tonnage on the Lakes has been in the following ratio : 
 
 1820, 3,500 tons. 
 
 1830, 20,000 “ 
 
 1840, 75,000 “ 
 
 1850, 215,787 “ 
 
 Mr. Andrews remarks, “ It is for this wealthy commerce of the interior that all 
 the Atlantic cities are now striving, in earnest competition, by the creation of new 
 outlets and avenues, for its transactio i ; and this very competition is good evidenco 
 that all the Eastern or New England and Middle States are in some sort more or 
 less affected by it.” He gives a table to show “that the increase of the popula¬ 
 tion in the Atlantic States, and that of the tonnage of the West, have kept pace 
 with each other.” 
 
 
 3 
 
26 
 
 Superior, 
 
 square 
 
 Extent 
 
 miles 
 
 of the Lakes. 
 32,000 
 
 length 
 
 355 miles 
 
 Michigan, 
 
 a 
 
 tt 
 
 22,000 
 
 a 
 
 320 4 ‘ 
 
 Huron, 
 
 u 
 
 it 
 
 20,400 
 
 tt 
 
 200 “ 
 
 Erie, 
 
 it 
 
 ii 
 
 9,600 
 
 a 
 
 240 44 
 
 Ontario, 
 
 it 
 
 it 
 
 6,300 
 
 a 
 
 180 4 
 
 Total 
 
 ii 
 
 
 90,300 
 
 
 
 Equal to nearly 12 times the extent of Massachusetts. These lakes are esti¬ 
 mated to drain an entire area of 335,515 square miles. 
 
 Value of Lake Commerce. 
 
 Lake Ontario in 1851 was $30,000,000 
 
 “ Champlain in “ “ 20,000,000 
 
 “ Erie in 44 “ 209,712,529 
 
 The whole traffic of the five lakes above named is estimated by Mr. Andrews, 
 in 1852, at $336,000,000, employing 74,000 tons steam, and 138,000 tons of 
 sail, an aggregate of 215,000 tons burthen ; whereas previous to 1800 there was 
 scarcely a craft larger than an Indian canoe. 
 
 The number of steamers, on lakes Champlain, Ontario, Erie, Straits, and 
 Michigan, is 174. In 1851, the average of v5 of the largest of these steamers 
 fell little short of 1,000 tons, while in 1841, the same average was 449 tons, and 
 it is asserted by Mr. A. that 10 steamers can therefore do four times as much 
 business now as in 1841. 
 
 The whole area of district, the trade of which concentrates at the end of Erie, 
 is equal to 330,000square miles. This, with Canada West, contains from 6 to 7 mil¬ 
 lions of inhabitants, and their natural and animal products exceed 15,000,000 tons. 
 
 A ship canal is now chartered by the State of New York to enable vessels to 
 pass from lake Erie to lake Ontario. This will enable vessels to pass from the 
 upper lakes to Ontario, by which freight can be brought just about as near to 
 Boston as to New York. The proposed canal will be about 9 miles long, while 
 the Welland Canal is about 27 miles long. Even this canal is rapidly turning the 
 trade of Erie'into Ontario. 
 
 Its tonnage in 1850 was 399,600 tons 
 
 “ “ 44 1851 “ 691,657 “ 
 
 “ 44 44 1853 44 1,050,000 44 
 
 According to the report of Mr. McAlpine, Surveyor General of New York, the 
 estimated expense of carrying 1 ton 1 mile per canal is 6 mills, and for the same 
 on the lakes 2 mills. It is the opinion of some experienced engineers and railroad 
 men, that railroads can, under favorable circumstances, compete successfully with 
 canals, and this opinion seems to be confirmed by the results of the Reading 
 Railroad. The actual expense to them in 1852 per round trip of 190 miles from 
 coal region to tide-water and back with empty cars, is 35 , 3 ¥ 6 ^ cents per ton, and 
 they actually charge the whole expense for the year at 54 j 6 0 4 ^ cents per ton, or 
 about a mill less than Mr. McAlpine’s estimate per canal. For 1853, the 
 report of which is just received, they represent the road as in an extremely pros¬ 
 perous condition, and the cost per ton per mile as still less than the year pre¬ 
 vious, viz. 
 
 Value of property sent from the seaboard to the interior. 
 
 via. 
 
 Hudson River, and 
 
 via. Mississippi River. 
 
 1851 
 
 $80,739,899 
 
 $38,874,*/82 
 
 1850 
 
 74,826,999 
 
 33,667,325 
 
 1849 
 
 78,481,941 
 
 30,152,091 
 
 1845 
 
 55,453,998 
 
 21,035,030 
 
 1841 
 
 56,798,447 
 
 30,768,906 
 
 
27 
 
 From this it appears that the increase in 10 years, via Hudson, is $23,941,452, 
 while via Mississippi, the increase is but $8,105,816. 
 
 The following table is introduced to show what cities have loaned their credit, 
 for the purpose of aiding internal improvements for their own benefit, and the 
 sums so loaned. 
 
 City Debts for Railroads . 
 
 Philadelphia, 
 
 Pittsburg and Allegh. Co. 
 Wheeling and Ohio, Co. 
 Baltimore, 
 
 St. Louis, 
 
 [From the N. Y Railroad Record ] 
 
 $3,150,500 
 
 3,450,000 
 
 1,100,000 
 
 7,800,000 
 
 2,400,000 
 
 Cincinnati, 
 Louisville, 
 New Orleans, 
 Covington, 
 
 1,650,000 
 
 1,500,000 
 
 3,500,000 
 
 200,000 
 
 Since this was published, the City Council of Philadelphia have voted to loan 
 the credit of that city to the Sunbury and Erie Railroad, for $3,000,000. 
 
 The City Council of Baltimore have also voted to guarantee the bonds of the 
 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, to the amount of $5,000,000, in addition to the 
 sums named above. 
 
 Portland has now a rival road to the St. Lawrence and the West, carried 
 through by the aid which she afforded in loaning her credit. 
 
 Tuesday, Feb . 14 tli, 1854. 
 
 Several witnesses were then sworn, and Mr. James Hayward, who is President 
 of the Boston and Maine Railroad, was first examined. 
 
 MR. HAYWARD'S TESTIMONY. 
 
 Pie testified in this case last year, and having read the printed report of his 
 testimony (in the hands of the committee) found it to be substantially correct. 
 Had discovered no instance where it misrepresents his statements. He testified 
 last year that he had passed through the large tunnel near Marseilles, called the 
 Nerthe Tunnel, and gave certain statistics in regard to that work. On that occa¬ 
 sion he spent two or three days with the engineer of that tunnel, and learned 
 from him the facts to which he had testified. A profile view of that tunnel was 
 exhibited last year. There are twenty-six shafts, the deepest of which is over 
 six hundred feet. He had made inquiries with regard to the tunnelling of the 
 Alps, and had examined the report of Chevalier Maus on the subject. That tun¬ 
 nel was to be excavated entirely without shafts, the work to be carried on by 
 means of machinery carried by water power at each end. A stream of water 
 passes at each end of the proposed tunnel, and the power will be carried to the 
 place where the work is to be done by an endless rope. The whole distance 
 through is about 7§ miles; and it is proposed to carry the power in this way from 
 each end to the centre ; thinks there is no difficulty in carrying power in this 
 way ; it is so carried in practice abroad. It is carried a great distance, but could 
 not now recollect the greatest distance. Had seen several inclined planes on 
 railroads worked by this endless rope. 
 
 Mr. Derby suggested that this power was successfully used on Atmospheric Rail¬ 
 ways at a distance from the engine, one of these railways being still in operation 
 near Dublin ; but the witness was not familiar with these railways. 
 
 He had no doubt of the entire practicability of carrying power to a great dis¬ 
 tance. Nothing has occurred since the hearing of last year to shake his belief 
 in the practicability of constructing the Hoosac Tunnel. Had not measured the 
 distance to which power had been carried by the endless rope, but according to 
 the report of Chevalier Maus, it is to go between three and four miles in the 
 tunnel through the Alps; and, from his knowlege of mechanics, he had no idea 
 that there would be any difficulty in accomplishing this. There are several rail¬ 
 roads worked by this means, a distance of a mile and a quarter. The Black- 
 
28 
 
 wall Railroad, in London, extending several miles from the neighborhood of the 
 Bank to Blackwall and down to the docks, has been worked for a series of years 
 by a stationary power and the endless rope. 
 
 Doct. James E. Bartlett, of Somerville, was the next witness who introduced 
 and explained a plan of contemplated wharf improvements in Charlestown, on 
 the north side of Chelsea bridge, and which have already been chartered by 
 the legislature. These improvements consist of two long ranges of wharves, 
 one opening into the centre channel of the Mystic River, and the other into the 
 inner channel next to Charlestown. It is proposed to convert the inner chan¬ 
 nel into a large basin, with tidal gates at the entrance, south of the bridge. The 
 water would be at all times from twenty-two to twenty-five feet in depth within 
 the basin. A railroad is to be run between the ranges of wharves, and on the 
 wharves, where will be large store-houses erected. The railroad will connect 
 with the Fitchburg Railroad by means of the Grand Junction Railway. There 
 will be 15,000 feet of wharf frontage inside of the tidal basin, and 7500 outside, 
 equal in all to nearly 4J- miles, and eighty ships of the largest size could load at 
 once. These facilities will be sufficient to accommodate all the freight for export 
 that can be brought from the West over the tunnel, or any other route. This basin 
 is now from 10 to 25 feet in depth. 
 
 This plan was then placed in the hands of the chairman of the committee. 
 
 Mr. Otis Clapp, of Boston, was recalled to give some additional facts in regard 
 to the tunnel at Cincinnati. He saw a friend from Cincinnati a few weeks ago, 
 and had a conversation with him in regard to the tunnel. This gentleman told 
 him that he was acquainted with all the parties interested, and if he, (Mr. C.) 
 wanted to obtain information on the subject, he was the one to apply to for it. Sub¬ 
 sequently, Mr. Clapp wrote to this gentleman for exact information as to its progress 
 up to that time, telling him that he understood the opponents of the Iloosac Tun¬ 
 nel had sent on an agent to get information. In reply, he had received two letters, 
 the last of which is as follows: 
 
 Otis Clapp, Esq. Cincinnati, Feb. 4, 1854. 
 
 Dear Sir , — On the presumption that Mr. Sever was the person you alluded 
 to as having been sent out by your opponents, my friend, E. Gest, has taken the 
 trouble to have copies made of all the documents furnished him, which you can 
 make any use of you think proper. This information was given him at some 
 trouble, being favorably introduced, and leaving the impression that he was work¬ 
 ing in favor of your project. Yours respectfully, 
 
 Geo. Escol Sellers. 
 
 To James W. Sever, Cincinnati , November 20, 1853. 
 
 Dear Sir , — In reply to your interrogations in reference to the tunnel now 
 constructing by the Dayton and Cincinnati (short line) Railroad Co., in the north¬ 
 eastern part of the city of Cincinnati, I respectfully submit the following. 
 
 The length of the tunnel proper is 7903 feet. 
 
 Length of cut at south approach is 850 feet; depth of cut at breast, 50 feet. 
 
 Length of cut at north approach is 900 feet; depth of cut at breast, 55 feet. 
 
 The nature of the soil or overlay is common earth, clay and gray marl, under¬ 
 laid with blue marl and fossiliferous limestone, lying in strata. 
 
 For cross section, see diagram “ A,” which represents it in detail. Total width 
 of excavation, 29 feet; height, 22£ feet. 
 
 The tunnel lies in a north-easterly and south-westerly direction. Its axial line 
 is straight, with an inclination rising from the city — or in a north-easterly direc¬ 
 tion of 39^ feet per mile. 
 
 The greatest depth below surface to grade is 238 feet. For profile, position of 
 shafts, &c., see diagram “B.” 
 
 The geological formation is what is termed the blue limestone; and the par- 
 
29 
 
 ticular hill through which the tunnel is being constructed, is composed of layers 
 of limestone and indurated marl, lying nearly or quite horizontal. At the level 
 » of the tunnel, which is near what may be termed the base of the hill, the marl 
 largely predominates; and in the height of the tunnel (22 feet) only three layers 
 of limestone occur, one about six inches thick, one eight, and another ten inches, 
 separated from each other by layers of marl from six to eight feet thick. These 
 strata are consequently cut at an angle, owing to the grade of the tunnel, ascend¬ 
 ing as heretofore stated. 
 
 There is not enough water found, either in drafts or shafts, to supply the 
 drills, which is owing to the compactness of the marl, and the seams all being 
 level or nearly so; consequently the water cannot and does not penetrate below 
 the surface more than 30 to 50 feet. Water for wells is procured by excavating 
 some thirty feet, but in limited quantities — generally mere percolations. In our 
 entire excavations, we have encountered only two springs, one in the north 
 approach, the other in the first shaft, both, however, within ten or twelve feet of 
 the surface. Neither occasioned any inconvenience. The one in the shaft was 
 ** disposed of by connecting the natural orifice with a lead pipe, and thus artificially 
 restoring its channel; the other was easily drained through the approach. Another 
 peculiarity is the absence in a great measure of carbonic acid or other noxious 
 gas. This is probably owing to its existence in large quantities in a fixed state ; 
 the limestone being composed of nearly 45 per cent, of carbonic acid, neutralizes 
 it as a fluid. 
 
 No other material than the marl or rock has been found, and all apprehensions 
 of a change of material are removed. 
 
 Ground was broken at shaft No. 2, Dec. 16th, 1852 ; at shaft No. 1, and at 
 north approach, Dec. 20th; at shaft No. 3, Feb. 15th, 1853, and at south 
 approach, April 10th. All the shafts were completed to the level of the crown 
 of the arch between June 5th and 20th. 
 
 North heading commenced 
 At shaft No. 1, heading begun 
 
 u u ^ u 
 
 U U 0 u 
 
 South heading M 
 
 April 28. 
 June 20 
 
 ti u 
 
 u «c 
 
 July 20 
 
 Amount done Nov. 20, 368 feet. 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 a 
 
 “ 336 “ 
 
 “ 336 “ 
 
 “ 300 “ 
 
 “ 268 “ 
 
 Total heading done, Nov. 20, 1608 feet, 
 
 that is, the heading is over one fifth done. 
 
 Total length of south approach, all of which is to be walled and arched, 1525 feet, 
 do. north approach, do. do. 583 “ 
 
 Total of arched approaches, 
 Between approaches, 
 
 2108 “ 
 7903 “ 
 
 Total length of tunnel, 10,011 feet, 
 or nearly ly 9 ^ miles, — of which the approaches will be arched with stone, and 
 the perforated or intermediate section with brick. Nearly all the excavation and 
 about three-quarters of the masonry in south approach is done, and about 500 
 feet of it finished, being arched and covered up. All the excavations and the 
 side walls of the north approach have been completed, — only the arch remaining 
 4 undone. 
 
 Besides the heading enumerated, about 550 feet of the ledge has been com¬ 
 pleted. The entire tunnel will be arched. The brick arch was only recently 
 begun, and only 45 feet of it has been done, which, with the 5J0 feet of approach 
 • finished, makes .545 feet of the tunnel entirely finished. 
 
 The shafts are three in number, (see diagram u B, 1 ’) and are respectively 199, 
 3* 
 
 / 
 
30 
 
 194, and 152 feet deep to the floor of tunnel. They are elliptical, the transverse 
 axis 20 feet, the conjugate 12 feet — the transverse lying with the line of road. 
 Except the upper 15 feet, are through marl and rock of similar quality to that 
 at level of tunnel. At each shaft and end there is a steam-engine of about 15 
 horse power; with the exception of that at the south end, they raise the material 
 vertically, and are rigged with double buckets, one descending as the other 
 ascends. Each bucket holds about two-thirds or three-quarters of a yard. At 
 the south end the material is drawn out in cars, on an inclined plane. At each 
 shaft and end is a fan to clear the drifts of smoke, &c., and driven with a small 
 
 independent engine. 
 
 The present estimate of tunnel, as 
 South approach, 
 
 Shafts, 
 
 Body of Tunnel, 
 
 North approach, 
 
 near as can be estimated, is as follows 
 
 $75,000 
 
 21,000 
 
 645,000 
 
 32,000 
 
 
 Total, $773,000 
 
 equal to $72.20 per lineal foot. 
 
 It is nearly impossible to arrive at a fair comparison with the former estimates, 
 since the tunnel as now constructing is in a different position, as to elevation and 
 location, from that reported in the printed or original report of January, 1852; 
 nor with the estimate made in September of the same year, as the tunnel and 
 approaches were subsequently lengthened 750 feet, since which no estimate has 
 been made, excepting the one to answer your interrogatory. The depression and 
 elongation had the effect of increasing, more than proportionally, the cost of 
 working. 
 
 Original tunnel, 
 
 Length. 
 
 7,700 ft. 
 
 Total cost. 
 
 $412,178 
 
 Cost per ft. 
 
 $o4 
 
 Estimated tunnel of September, 
 
 9,250 41 
 
 563,349 
 
 61 
 
 Estimate for Mr. Sever, 
 
 10,011 44 
 
 773,000 
 
 77 
 
 The latter elongation became necessary, from a supposed corresponding les¬ 
 sening of the expense for right of way ; also from the fact that the city elevated 
 the grade of the streets on each side of the approach, much above the present 
 improved streets. 
 
 Subsequently to the September estimate and about the time the work was let, 
 commenced the rise in labor, material and provision, and the difference between 
 the present estimate and the former is not probably greater in proportion than the 
 difference in cost of such articles at this time and at the former period. 
 
 The original contract prices are as follows : 
 
 Excavation in tunnel proper, $2.20 per cubic yard. 
 
 44 44 surface shafts, 
 
 1 50 44 
 
 it 
 
 It 
 
 44 44 under 44 
 
 3.00 44 
 
 it 
 
 ti 
 
 Earth, clay and gray marl in approaches, 
 
 50 44 
 
 tt 
 
 It 
 
 Indurated marl and rock, 
 
 70 44 
 
 tt 
 
 It 
 
 Packing over arch, 
 
 1.00 44 
 
 tl 
 
 it 
 
 Masonry in lining shafts, 
 
 3.00 per perch. 
 
 
 44 44 side walls and arch of approaches, 3.50 44 44 
 
 Brick in arch of tunnel, in cement, 11.50 per thousand. 
 
 Nothing was to be allowed to the contractors for timbering, or for any excess 
 taken out from beyond the regular lines — they running risk of caves, careless¬ 
 ness, &c. 
 
 About the first of October, of this year, a modification was made in the contract 
 by mutual agreement, whereby an allowance was made to the contractors of 
 $40,000 for all timber, or other lumber that had been or might be used during 
 the construction of the work ; the company also to pay for any excess taken out 
 
31 
 
 beyond the regular lines in drifting, — also, an addition of $1 -t 5 tj°u to the price per 
 perch of masonry, the other items in the contract remaining the same. 
 
 The prices, from actual working, are now known to be fairly remunerative if the 
 work is prosecuted with reasonable skill and energy. During eleven weeks, 
 commencing August 15th, and ending October 29th, an accurate account of the 
 labor, &c was kept in the mining department, when 8588 cubic yards of heading 
 was removed at the cost of $2.20^ per cubic yard, and 6046 cubic yard ledge at 
 the cost of $.22 r 7 ^ per cubic yard. Total amount removed, 14,634 cubic yards, 
 at an average cost of $1.82 T 5 ^ per cubic yard — whence it will be seen, that when 
 the ledge and heading is completed, there being over two cubic yards of the for¬ 
 mer to one of the latter, that the average cost per cubic yard of excavation in body 
 of tunnel, will be not far from 81.50, showing a profit of 70 cts. per cubic yard, 
 or $15. T 4j£j per lineal foot on tunnel proper. 
 
 The contract was entered into Dec. 10, 1852, and was to have been completed 
 by the 20th of October, 1854. At no time has there been more than half a force 
 employed, and now only one-third of a full force is engaged on its construction 
 — owing partly to a scarcity of miners and common laborers, without which it is 
 impossible to proceed with the maximum degree of rapidity. The working here¬ 
 tofore indicates the practicability of- advancing the heading at least 2£ feet in 
 twenty-four hours, or with operations at the eight points, a total of twenty feet in 
 twenty-four hours, or the entire length in twenty months. The arching and ledge 
 would necessarily lay back of the drifting about three months, — consequently the 
 whole could be done in less than two years. 
 
 The Ohio river is bound on either side by a rough, broken country, whose more 
 elevated portions or hills vary in height from 300 to 500 feet. At this point they 
 are about 400 feet above low water. Cincinnati is built upon two natural terraces; 
 the lower one forms the river bank, is about a quarter of a mile wide, and sixty 
 feet above low water, — that is, it is about .three feet below the extreme flood line ; 
 the upper terrace is about 110 feet above low water, or fifty feet above the first, 
 with an average width of one mile. The rear or outer line of this terrace is the 
 base of the hills, which for a distance of two miles along the river bank thus recede 
 from the water, and form the two planes or terraces above described. This range 
 of hills bounding the river, is only broken through at intervals of many miles by 
 the valleys of the tributaries of the Ohio; and at Cincinnati, and only one point, 
 by the valley of Mill Creek, and that too at the extreme western border of the city, 
 one and a half miles away from its commercial or great business mart. About six 
 miles from Cincinnati, the range is broken by the Little Miami River, and twenty 
 miles west by the Great Miami. It will hence be seen, that Cincinnati can be 
 reached from the north and north-east only by the Valley of Mill Creek or of the 
 Little Miami ; but the roads following them to their mouths are necessarily owing 
 to their circuitous course much longer than air lines. The Mill Creek Valley en¬ 
 circles the west and north sides of Cincinnati, and the hills alluded to form a 
 tongue or high range of land along the northern side of the city ; to break through 
 this ridge and arrive directly at its business heart, is the object of this tunnel, as 
 well as to afford a much shorter railway connection with all points north-west, 
 north, or north-east, than any oiher yet established. And so effectually does it 
 attain it, that the distance saved by the Dayton and Cincinnati road and its con¬ 
 necting branches, over either of the finished roads, is from seven to twelve miles 
 for all points beyond fifty miles from Cincinnati, and proportionally for interme¬ 
 diate points. 
 
 In the printed specifications you will find the working detail for the construction 
 of the road. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 E. Gest. 
 
To James W. Sever, 
 
 Cincinnati, Jan. Ibth, 1854. 
 
 Shakt 
 
 Berlin 
 
 February 1 
 
 March 1 
 
 1 April 1. 
 
 | May 1 
 
 June 1 
 
 Computed 
 
 N^ l. 
 No. 2. 
 No. 3. 
 
 Jan. 1.-53 
 ec. 1852 
 Feb. 1853 
 
 ;0 Feet deep | 
 23 44 “ 
 
 40 Ft. deep 
 40 “ 44 | 
 1 0 44 “ 1 
 
 77 Ft. deep'132 Ft. deep 
 77 “ 44 130 “ “ 
 
 35 44 “ 1 70 “ 44 
 
 165 Ft. deep 
 17 0 44 “ 
 
 108 4 4 44 
 
 June. 
 
 June. 
 
 June. 
 
 Showing that the least month’s work was 17 feet, and was when nearest the 
 surface,— the greatest month’s work was 55 feet. 
 
 The material in the shafts (with the exception of 12 or 15 feet at surface, 
 which was yellow clay and soil) was similar to that taken from the main body of 
 the tunnel when you visited it, viz. — indurated blue marl with a few layers of stone. 
 
 The following is the cost per cubic yard for excavating shafts during April and 
 May, with an allowance of $8.50 per day for wear and tear of engines, ropes, 
 tolls, water, oil, fuel, candles, and blacksmith’s — work 24 hours are rated as 
 a day. 
 
 Shaft No. 1 
 
 Was sunk 87J feet in 52 days from a point 90 feet below surface — or 13 ^ 
 
 cubic yard, material removed per day. 
 
 Cost of force, all kinds employed about it and in attending 
 
 Engine, per cubic yard, . . . . $2.58 
 
 Cost proportionate per yard of the $8.50, . . 61 
 
 44 of powder, ..... 15 
 
 Total cost per yard, $3.34 
 
 Shaft No. 2 
 
 Was sunk 89 feet, from a point 85 feet below surface. Time 52 days — or 
 14 cubic yard, material per day removed. 
 
 Cost of force — all kinds .... $2.34 
 
 44 44 other charges, . . . 60 
 
 44 44 powder, ..... 15 
 
 Shaft No. 3 
 
 $3.09 
 
 Was sunk 73 feet from a point 45 feet below surface— 11 T 7 ? cubic yards 
 of material removed per day. 
 
 Cost of force of all kinds, .... $2.23 
 
 4 4 44 other charges, . . . . .73 
 
 44 44 powder, . . . . . 15 
 
 Cost per cubic yard in shaft 1, 
 
 It tt tt It It t( 2 
 
 tt tt tt tt tt <t 3^ 
 
 44 44 44 44 on average, 
 
 $3.34 
 
 3.09 
 
 3.11 
 
 $3.11 
 
 Each day of 24 hours is divided into two shifts, and each shift works 11 hours. 
 When full handed there worked in each pit 8 miners, 3 breakers and 1 fore¬ 
 man ; at the surface 1 engine driver, 3 men at mouth, or dumper — a total of 
 16 men per shift. 
 
 Engine men, .... $35 to $40 per month 
 
 Foreman, .... $50 4 4 44 
 
 Men in pit, ..... $1.25 per day 
 
 44 at surface, .... 1.00 4 4 44 
 
33 
 
 There would have been no difficulty in sinking the shafts at the rate of 3£ 
 feet per day of 24 hours, had they been worked with regularity, full handed and 
 * systematically, which would have reduced the cost per cubic yard materially, as 
 the expense of engine men at the mouth of the pit, and foreman, would have 
 been no greater than it was, while more work would have been done. 
 
 Shafts of double the depth of ours would cost the same per yard for labor, 
 lights, &c.— the only extra expense would be for additional fuel, water and oil 
 for engine, wear and tear of rope, provided it be a dry shaft. If water be en¬ 
 countered, the cost of its removal would be materially increased as the shaft 
 descends. The expulsion of much foul air would also increase the cost somewhat. 
 
 I should not feel safe in sinking shafts to twice the depth of ours of less dimen¬ 
 sions than 20 by 12 feet, unless I was certain of not being troubled with water 
 and foul air. Had I to sink our shaft over again, I would make them with the same 
 transverse axis 20 feet, but only 10 feet wide, which would involve the necessity 
 of running the buckets during the sinking of the shaft fore and aft, after which 
 they could be changed to abreast, by running them in guides or tubes, which 
 should be done in all cases. I consider the length not only essential for the pur¬ 
 pose of insuring accuracy in the transfer of the lines from the surface to the 
 tunnel, but necessary, should much water and foul air be encountered. 
 
 By reference to the Scientific American for Oct. 23, 1852, last page, you will 
 see a mode for hoisting, which I think could be modified, so as to be made decid¬ 
 edly preferable to any other mode, and should it succeed, the shaft might be 
 reduced to six feet in width, and increased in length to 24 feet. 
 
 On the 1st of January, 
 
 The heading removed was . . . 2118 lineal feet. 
 
 “ ledge “ equal to about . . . 725 “ “ 
 
 During the month of December I succeeded in having full gangs worked in 
 two different headings and one ledge, and the result was that each of the headings 
 was advanced 89 feet, and the ledge 90 feet. From which you can judge what 
 could be done with a full force at work at all points at the same time. 
 
 Very respectfully, E. Gest. 
 
 To Geo. E. Sellers. Cincinnati , Feb. 2d , 1853. 
 
 Dear Sir, — The foregoing is a copy of the information furnished James W. 
 Sever, which 1 suppose will furnish all the information you desire. 
 
 I am yours, &,c. E. Gest. 
 
 Mr. Derby remarked that these documents had been prepared with very great 
 care, and showed a great many items of expense which will be entirely dispensed 
 with in building the Hoosac Tunnel. 
 
 Mr. Clapp was then called up to give some account of the London, and other 
 docks, as compared with the Mystic River docks at Charlestown. 
 
 The docks of London are six or eight in number, and are on a vast and expen¬ 
 sive scale. Their object is to accommodate the shipping, which, if confined to 
 the wharves on the river, would completely blockade the passage. They are 
 therefore excavated on the sides of the river, with channels leading into it. 
 
 The West India Docks were incorporated in 1799, and cover 59 acres, and will 
 hold 600 vessels. The capital stock is <£1,200,000, or $6,000,000. 
 
 The London Docks were incorporated in 1800, and cover 23 acres. Capital, 
 % £3,200,000, or, $17,000,000, of which over $3,500,000 were paid for land 
 
 damages. 
 
 The East India Docks were incorporated in 1829, and cover 30 acres. Capital 
 f stock, £600,000, or $3,000,000. 
 
 The St. Catherine Docks were incorporated in 1824, and cover 14 acres. Cap¬ 
 ital stock, £2,152,800, or $10,764,000. In 1830, 893 ships loaded and unloaded 
 
34 
 
 with 141,751 tons. The walls are 36 feet high, and the piles are driven 15 feet 
 below them. 
 
 The water area of the various London docks is 188 acres. Capital stock, 
 $42,000,000. 
 
 A dock at Kingston was begun in 1774. It covers 10 acres, and holds 100 
 vessels. The excavation was 19 feet deep, and amounted to 300,000 cubic yards. 
 
 The Docks at Liverpool , I am informed, are nearly the same in extent as those 
 in London. 
 
 \ A letter has just been sent me, making the following comparison between the 
 Atlantic Dock, Brooklyn, N. Y., with the Mystic River Dock: 
 
 Frontage. Water area. 
 
 Atlantic, 1^ miles. 45 acres. 
 Mystic, 3 44 37 “ 
 
 Vessels alongside 
 wharves. 
 
 30 
 
 80 
 
 Vessels in 
 open space. 
 
 50 
 
 75 
 
 Depth of water. 
 
 25 to 30 feet. 
 18 44 25 44 
 
 \ 
 
 Tonnage, Revenue, and Value of Commerce , on the New York Canals. 
 
 1848, 
 
 Revenue. 
 
 3,204,070 
 
 Tons. 
 
 1,447,905 
 
 Value. 
 
 50,888,907 
 
 1849, 
 
 3,442,906 
 
 1,579,946 
 
 52,375,521 
 
 1850, 
 
 3,486,172 
 
 2,033,863 
 
 55,474,637 
 
 1851, 
 
 3,179,145 
 
 1,977,151 
 
 58,927,508 
 
 1852, 
 
 3,168,546 
 
 > 2,234,822 
 
 '66,893,102 
 
 Receipts of the three lines of Railroads , Erie, Central, and Ogdenshurg, width 
 
 compete with the Canals. 
 
 Freight. 
 
 Passengers. 
 
 12,386,023.54 
 
 3,412,052.28 
 
 3,825,700.56 
 
 Total. 
 
 ,122,432.73 $3,408,456.27 
 
 2,102,453.04 5,514,505.32 
 
 3,336,260.80 7,191,981.36 
 
 i Estimated by the ) 10,000,000 
 
 ( Canal Auditor, ) 12,000,000 
 
 be seen that while the Canal revenue remains <£om* 
 paratively stationary, the increase on the railroads in both passengers and freight 
 is enormous. 
 
 1850, 
 
 1851, 
 
 1852, 
 
 1853, 
 
 1654, 
 
 me 
 
 From these tables it w 
 
 The receipts of the Erie Road for 1853 were $4,800,000, an increase of more 
 than $1,100,000 over 1852, and they estimate the amount for 1854 at 5J millions 
 of dollars. 
 
 The increase of the Central Road was $538,841 in five months, or an average 
 of $107,768 per month. 
 
 Mr. Clapp then read a few extracts from the Erie Railroad Report for 1853, 
 which Report, he said, gave a history of the construction, prospects, connections, 
 &,c., of that road, going over the whole ground, and presents facts equally appli¬ 
 cable to this region as to theirs. 
 
 The extract is as follows: 
 
 44 The trade between the Atlantic sea-board and that fertile region of the great 
 West, which lies north of the Ohio, is already taxing the existing channels of com¬ 
 merce to their utmost capacity. 
 
 44 The annual agricultural and animal productions of this region, exceed twenty 
 millions of tons ; and its surplus products, requiring transport to an Atlantic mar- • 
 ket, together with the return freight, is believed to be over fve millions of tons. 
 
 The New York and Pennsylvania Canals and Railroads now convey about three 
 millions of tons of this trade annually. 
 
 44 Enlarged channels, for this vast internal commerce, have become indispensa- * 
 ble. The State of New York has already taken steps to complete the enlargement 
 
35 
 
 of the main artery ; but before this is accomplished, the State and private works 
 already constructed, will be found inadequate. 
 
 * N “ When the Erie Canal is enlarged, the increased facilities and diminished cost 
 of transport, which it will afford, will vastly increase the trade through this State, 
 and will, by these means, also correspondingly increase the travel which must pass 
 over the main lines of railroads. 
 
 “ Those articles of freight which require, or will hear the expense of railroad 
 transport, will also be increased to an extent that will*tax to their full capacity all 
 the railroads now built between the Atlantic and the West. 
 
 “ West of the Mississippi there are not now one hundred miles of railroad in 
 operation. 
 
 “ The well-informed men of that region confidently assert, that within ten years, 
 they will construct more than five thousand miles. 
 
 “ Railroads are rapidly taking the place of the common highways of the 
 country, and especially through the Western States, where the soil, so admirably 
 adapted for agricultural purposes, for that reason, is generally unfitted for the con¬ 
 struction of even passable turnpikes. 
 
 “ The high value of the time of the traveller in this country, and the circum¬ 
 stances before stated, have rendered the railroad an element of necessity. The 
 passenger by railroad, travels six times the distance per day that he does by stage 
 coach. The average value of the daily time of railroad travellers, is not less than 
 two dollars per day. The saving is therefore ten dollars a day on each, which 
 applied to the whole railroad travel of the United States, would be sufficient to pay 
 the interest on the cost of all the Railroads that have been built in the Union. 
 
 “Railroads have penetrated regions which were inaccessible to canals, and by 
 cheapening the cost of transport, have increased the value of the adjacent property 
 j equal to their cost. 
 
 “The difference in the cost of transport of agricultural products, saved by rail, 
 over the common highway, is equivalent to adding to the adjacent farms, ten cents 
 per acre for every mile of distance that such commodities are moved on rail, in¬ 
 stead of the common road. If the farmer, before a railroad was built, had been 
 obliged to convey his products one hundred miles over a common road, the build¬ 
 ing of a railroad, for this distance, would be equivalent to increasing the value of 
 his farm ten dollars an acre. These railroads have already produced an important 
 effect, in equalizing, to a certain extent, the summer and winter prices of agricul¬ 
 tural products on the Atlantic, and of merchandise and manufactured articles in 
 the interior. 
 
 “ The crops of the country are harvested so late, that a large portion of them 
 cannot be sent to market until the following season, in consequence of the water 
 lines being then either thronged with business, or closed by ice. The railroads 
 afford a constant communication for the whole year, and by means of their rapid 
 transport, enable the producer to avail himself of the advanced prices, which fre¬ 
 quently take place after the water lines are closed. These are additional reasons 
 for believing that the main trunk lines will he hereafter occupied to their full ca¬ 
 pacity, and at remunerative prices.” pp. 18-22. 
 
 Mr. Clapp remarked that the cost of the Erie Railroad in 1852 was $27,551,205, 
 and in 1853 it was $31,222,834. 
 
 The cost of the Central Road also in 1852, was $27,810,787, and 1 have reason 
 to believe the increase is equal to that of the Erie, which would make the cost of 
 the two upwards of $52,000,000. 
 
 While the committee were in New York, some facts were stated regarding a 
 long tunnel in Spain , and as but a portion of the committee were present, it may 
 y be well to state them here. 
 
 The tunnel is through the Pyrenees, and is to be eight miles long. It is on a 
 road now building 80 miles from Madrid. The parties concerned have made 
 
36 
 
 application to C. T. Sheljon, Esq., for his machine, and offer to pay him, among 
 other conditions, one-quarter of the net profits above what is saved by the old 
 method of hand labor. 
 
 Another account was furnished of a tunnel through the Alps, as follows: — 
 
 “On the 15th of October last, the Council of the Canton of Ticino voted, by a 
 majority of 90 to 11, the concession of the projected railroad through the Alps, 
 from Lake Maggiore to Lake Constance, to unite the Piedmontese line with ihat 
 of Central Germany. The concession is granted to Mr. John Gurney, Mr. John 
 Brett, and M. Curti, acting on behalf of Messrs. Masterman, Sadleir, Laing & 
 Co., of London. This railroad will have a tunnel 25,000 metres, or 16 miles 
 English, and will be lighted and ventilated by 50 shafts.” 
 
 The counsel then presented the following letter from an extensive and well 
 known Hour dealer of Rochester, which was read to the committee. 
 
 Honorable E. H. Derby, Boston, Mass. 
 
 Dear Sir,. — Your favor of the 26th inst. was received yesterday. The recent 
 changes of our State officers who form our Canal Board — together with the very 
 strong Whig majorities in both branches of our Legislature, are sure guarantees 
 for the enlargement of the Erie, and the finishing of the Black River and Gene¬ 
 see Valley, and the final improvement of the Oswego Canals, in the shortest 
 practicable time ; all will be finished in three years, perhaps less time. Our locks 
 were all enlarged last autumn ; boats carrying lfoO barrels flour, drawing but three 
 and a half feet water navigated it from Buffalo to Albany. When finished, barges 
 carrying 2,500 barrels flour will be used upon it, towed in fleets of six or more 
 by steam tugs. Careful investigations show that the transportation of flour can be 
 done for 12} cents per barrel over canal tolls, (this is now 24 cents per barrel, 
 but the lapse of a few years will reduce it to ten cents,) and all other articles of 
 produce in proportion. It is also certain , that all tolls on the productions of the 
 soil of this State will be forever abolished. You have doubtless before you the 
 annual exhibits of property reaching tide-water through our canals. Of late 
 years the increase has not been as rapid as in the first 28 years of its use, which 
 is accounted for by the competition of the N. Y. and Erie, and the Ogdensburgh 
 Railroads, and by the high rates of freight in autumn on the canal where the 
 capacity of it has been attained. It is not to be expected that its business will 
 hereafter increase to much extent, till the enlargement is completed and new 
 applications adapted to its capacity are in general use, with steam as a propelling 
 power. These will be introduced within two years after completion of the 
 enlargement, ample to meet all exigencies. From that period you may rely with 
 entire confidence on the annual increase of produce descending our canals, ex¬ 
 ceeding by far any former ratio of increase. The cheapness of this transporta¬ 
 tion will tend to stimulate production throughout the entire West, and enlarge the 
 circle from which produce will be drawn. The cotton of Tennessee, the tobacco 
 and pork of Kentucky will seek the sea-board by this route. Indian corn now 
 oultivated in the Western States to be harvested by hogs will seek this avenue 
 for exportation to the British Islands, not for their population, but to feed their 
 slock. The power of production of this article is without limit, as will also be the 
 market when we can lay it down in our seaports a cheap article. It should not 
 be forgotten that the improvements now going forward in agriculture give good 
 promise of increasing our productions from the same land at least 50 per cent, 
 in a very few years. There is a principle connected with the movements of pro¬ 
 duce which has long been demonstrated, but is not duly apprecia'ed by all. 
 Whatever route by which produce seeks a/market, the travel follows in its wake , 
 and manufactured goods will seek it in pursuit of their customers . The State of 
 Massachusetts can draw to its interior and its seaports jusl -j much this im¬ 
 mense volume of produce as they see ft to provide facilities for transportation. 
 
37 
 
 That it will increase far beyond the power of the State and its inhabitants to lay 
 
 f down tracts to move it, is certain. As the State may multiply roads connecting 
 with the eastern terminus of our canal, just so fast will they be filled up with pro- 
 
 * duce ; especially will this prove true in case the principle of low freights be estab¬ 
 lished. Last autumn and one year ago, your Western Road, your Rutland Road, 
 
 t and your Ogdensburg Road, were blocked up for months with property they 
 
 could not transport, nor even provide storage therefor. Interested parties may 
 deny this, but the facts can be substantiated by hundreds of witnesses. Had the 
 contemplated road been finished last September to Troy, it would have had as 
 much produce as it could transport during October, November and December, 
 and this without interfering with the business of the Western Road. 
 
 The State of Massachusetts owes it to her high standing in the Union — to her 
 sister States — and to the best interests of all her citizens — to put forth the 
 strength of her right arm for the accomplishment of this great work of another 
 and better avenue to connect her seaports with the eastern terminus of our mighty 
 artificial river. In the West we need your manufactured goods, which you can 
 make cheaper than we can ; we want your fish, which are the best the ocean 
 produces. You want— (what we can give you cheaper than you can raise your¬ 
 selves) — our flour, corn, oats, pork, lard, butter, cheese, poultry, wool, &c. &c. 
 All we need, all we ask of you, is to do east of the Hudson, what we have done 
 and are doing west of it — provide the avenues by which these interchanges can b& 
 effected. Do this, and as surely as water runs down hill, so surely will this trade 
 increase, and enrich you and the Western States. In my best judgment, if the 
 State of Massachusetts should incur the entire expense of tunelling the Hoosac 
 Mountain, the lapse of ten years would see the State enriched more than double 
 its cost. It will be an everlasting disgrace to that noble State if in this hour of 
 need it withholds its aid. As a native of that State I will not indulge the idea for 
 one moment, that it can be so blind to its true interests as to withhold that which 
 is so important to the best interests of its citizens. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, very respectfully, yours, H. ELY. 
 
 Rochester, ISew York, February 1, 1854. 
 
 The Annual Report of the Troy and Boston Railroad for 1853, was then in¬ 
 troduced, to show that twenty-seven miles of the first section of the route has 
 earned seven per cent, on its cost merely as a local road. Mr. Derby said this 
 was the most expensive portion of the line, with heavy embankments, and .a deep 
 cut upon it. The Report of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Co. for De¬ 
 cember, 1853, was also introduced, to show the cost of transporting coal 95 miles' 
 from Pottsville to Philadelphia was 53 cents per mile. 
 
 Mr. Derby also presented a copy of Colton’s Railroad Map, explaining the dif¬ 
 ferent lines of road diverging from the Greenfield route to Boston, so that it would 
 be almost as easy and direct to run cars to Lowell, Salem, and Newburyport, and 
 other places in the north-eastern parts, and in fact the whole eastern part of the 
 State, as to Boston itself. This was not the case with the Western road, as the 
 lines connecting with it generally branch off nearly at a right angle. 
 
 Mr. Derby said, with the exception of a single witness, this would conclude the 
 evidence for the petitioners in the case. He had notified Mr. Abner Pierce, an 
 extensive pork and produce dealer in Boston, to be present this afternoon, but ass 
 
 * he had not yet appeared, it might be as well to proceed to the summing-up of the 
 case without him. This gentleman was expected to speak particularly of the i»- 
 terruption of the ferry at Greenbush, and of the losses and diminution of value 
 that freight undergoes in consequence of this break at Albany. Should the wit* 
 
 * ness appear before the termination of the hearing, his testimony, by permission, 
 of the committee, might then be taken. 
 
 4 
 
38 
 
 ARGUMENT OF MR. KEITH. 
 
 The following is a brief summary of Mr. Keith’s argument: — 
 
 He congratulated the committee upon the brief space occupied in the hearing 
 compared with former years. They had presented the published evidence and 
 arguments of last year, for and against the reports of former committees, and 
 had produced new additional testimony. The committee had besides had an 
 opportunity to witness the operations of a tunnelling machine, unattended and 
 uninfluenced by counsel. The counsel and friends of the petitioners had been 
 content to try the case openly before the committee: yet they had not escaped 
 imputations of resorting to improper appliances and undue influences. 
 
 He contrasted the course pursued by the friends of the Western Railroad when 
 seeking State aid. In 1839, after having received State aid to the amount of 
 $3,100,000 in former years, they applied for a further loan of $ 1,500,000, and 
 at a public meeting held in Faneuil llall a committee of forty-seven was appoint¬ 
 ed u to aid the directors in their application.” Again in 1841, when applying for 
 a further loan at a similar meeting, a committee of sixty-five was appointed to 
 aid the directors, making with the directors a body of seventy-two men actively 
 employed in urging the loan upon the legislature ! ! Yet these are the men, who 
 accuse the friends of the Troy and Greenfield Road, prosecuting their petition 
 single-handed before the committee, of undue influences. 
 
 The result of the hearing before the Joint Standing Committee in 1851, had 
 been an unanimous report in favor of the loan. The bill that year passed the 
 Senate by a very large majority, but was lost in the House. In 1853, a joint 
 special committee of seventeen, originally adverse to the project, after a laborious 
 investigation, had reported in favor with only two dissenting voices. 
 
 He traced the policy of the State in regard to railroad enterprises at different 
 periods. At first a liberal spirit prevailed ; the State was the pioneer in these 
 projects. Afterwards when the main trunk roads had been established, the men 
 interested in them became the strong opponents to similar new projects, and an 
 ultra conservative spirit ruled for a time. Of late, a more liberal and progres¬ 
 sive spirit has prevailed, and it is considered the right of the people to have a 
 charter wherever it is necessary for their convenience and the development of the 
 resources of the country. 
 
 He enumerated the railroads aided by State aid at different periods as fol¬ 
 lows : — 
 
 1836, 
 
 Western Railroad, 
 
 $1,000,000 
 
 1837, 
 
 Andover and Haverhill, . 
 
 , 100,000 
 
 U 
 
 Eastern, 
 
 500,000 
 
 (t 
 
 Norwich and Worcester, 
 
 400,000 
 
 1838, 
 
 Western, 
 
 2,100,000 
 
 it 
 
 Eastern, 
 
 90,000 
 
 u 
 
 Nashua, 
 
 50,000 
 
 1839, 
 
 Western, 
 
 1,200,000 
 
 1841, 
 
 Western, 
 
 700,000 
 
 U 
 
 Boston and Portland, 
 
 50,000 
 
 
 Total, 
 
 $6,190,000 
 
 He stated, that among the advantages to be derived by the completion of the 
 tunnel, was the development of the resources of the northern section of the State, 
 now without railroad accommodation — the opening of a highway to, and a union 
 with, the boundless West — shortening the distance by more than twenty miles, 
 cutting down the grades one half, and avoiding seven circles of curvature as 
 compared with the Western road. 
 
 These advantages would enable them to transport freight in large quantities, 
 i.nd at diminished rates. 
 
c9 
 
 To show the effect of low fares on the transmission of freight, he referred to 
 the Report of the Ogdensburg Railroad for 1853, and read a statement of the 
 receipts of that road in corresponding months in 1852 and 1853, as follows: — 
 
 January, 
 
 February, 
 
 March, 
 
 April, 
 
 May, 
 
 1852. 
 
 817,578.53 
 
 12,942.37 
 
 14,631.60 
 
 23,974.74 
 
 57,196.85 
 
 1853. 
 
 828,821.20 
 
 24,952.45 
 
 22,680.21 
 
 38,112.94 
 
 45,012.22 
 
 It will be observed that the receipts in 1853 are more than 50 per cent, greater 
 than in 1852, up to May ; and had the receipts of that month continued to increase 
 in the same ratio, the receipts for May, 1853, would have been more than, 
 885,000, instead of 845,012.22, the actual receipts. The directors state the rea¬ 
 son of this change in the receipts as follows: — 
 
 “ The regular and rapid increase in the income of the road was first checked in 
 May, of the present year. This check was occasioned principally by the increased 
 rates adopted for the transportation of western freights towards Boston, which were 
 too high to admit of the freight taking this route. These rates were acceded to by 
 us, at the urgent desire of the lower roads ; but on testing their effects, they have 
 been modified, and for flour, the ruling rate of last year has been within a few 
 days restored. 1 ’ 
 
 The objections to the tunnel project are, first, that it is not feasible. This 
 objection is only urged by those who have no knowledge on the subject. All 
 engineers agree in its feasibility. The hundreds of miles of tunnels in Europe, and 
 the scores of miles of tunnels in this country, demonstrate the fact that there is no 
 insurmountable obstacle in the way of perforating the mountain. The way to do 
 the work is well understood by scientific men, and the means only are wanting to 
 secure its accomplishment. 
 
 But it is said, in the second place, that it will injure the Western Railroad by its 
 competition for through freight. Any one who has this impression must be dis¬ 
 abused of it by a glance at the through freight business of that road since 1847, as 
 follows :— 
 
 Number of tons transported through from Albany to Boston, 
 
 1847, 
 
 88,438 tons. 
 
 1848, 
 
 63,667 “ 
 
 1849, 
 
 58,217 “ 
 
 1850, 
 
 60,900 “ 
 
 1851, 
 
 47,057 “ 
 
 1852, 
 
 44,386 “ 
 
 1853, 
 
 59,018 “ 
 
 Thus it appears, there has been a constant diminution in their through business 
 since 1847, without the competition of the Troy and Greenfield road, although, in 
 the mean time, the number of tons of freight reaching the Hudson from the West 
 has increased annually from 400,000 to 600,000 tons; and statistics show that the 
 total freight arriving at the Hudson the past year was 4,000,000 tons. 
 
 These facts demonstrate the utter incompetency of the Western road to meet 
 the wants of the freighting business. But though the through business of the 
 Western road has been of little value to them, such has been the increase of 
 local business, that their gross receipts augment largely every year, as appears by 
 the following table taken from their report of 1853: — 
 
 “ The gross receipts of the year, on the main line, as compared with the 
 receipts of 1852, will stand thus : — 
 
40 
 
 Years. 
 
 1852 
 
 1853 
 
 Passengers. 
 
 $615,481 
 
 693,290 
 
 Freight. 
 
 $685,062 
 
 786,215 
 
 Other sources. 
 
 $39,229 
 
 45,718 
 
 Total. 
 
 $1,339,873 
 
 1,525,223 
 
 Increase, 
 
 $77,809 
 
 $101,153 
 
 $5,389 
 
 $185,350.” 
 
 He cited another passage 
 condition : — 
 
 from the same report, 
 
 to show further their prosperous 
 
 “ In conclusion, the directors think the stockholders should be satisfied with the 
 present condition of their property, and with the general results of the work of 
 the past year. Seven per cent, in dividends on the capital stock has been paid ; 
 one per cent, on the capital has been paid into the two sinking funds; $51,476, 
 constituting the surplus earnings of the year, has been carried to the contingent 
 fund ; and the corporation has no floating debt. 
 
 44 The two sinking funds amounted, on the 30th November, 1853, to $1,247,837, 
 and the contingent fund, on the same day, to $188,889; together, to the sum of 
 $1,436,726, or to $27.90 on each share of stock.” 
 
 It is evident therefore, said he, that the construction of the tunnel cannot injure 
 the Western road, and the increase of their sinking fund will meet their liability to 
 the State by the time their indebtedness matures. 
 
 What obstacle, then, is there in the way of the loan sought ? The past policy 
 of the State favors it — the prosperity resulting from such policy sanctions it — 
 the present and prospective growth of the State require it — the public voice, in 
 view of the mighty tide of untold wealth constantly pouring in from the exhaust¬ 
 less West, demand it — and Massachusetts will not be true to the spirit of the age,, 
 nor to her past history, until it is generously accorded. 
 
 E. H. Derby, Esq., then submitted the closing argument for the petitioners, 
 principally enforcing the arguments of the former hearings, but bringing up a 
 number of new points not then touched upon. He referred to the origination of 
 the idea of tunnelling Hoosac Mountain some twenty-seven years ago, by 
 Loammi Baldwin and Gen. Dearborn, and to the fact that the plans and estimates 
 of those distinguished engineers met with the approval of the celebrated Gen. 
 Bernard, who had formerly been an engineer in the service of Napoleon the 
 "Great. He also mentioned the fact that Messrs. Baldwin and Dearborn went to 
 their graves with a firm belief that this tunnel was destined ultimately to be built. 
 
 He then gave a brief history of the progress of the various sections of the great 
 line to the West, of which the tunnel road is to form the connecting link, and 
 urged the increasing importance and extent of the trade which the road will secure 
 to the State of Massachusetts. He congratulated the committee on the fact that 
 they were so impartially selected, representing all portions of the State. He felt 
 that this year at least the petitioners had no right to complain of the appointment 
 of the committee ; and in presenting a case which would redound to the honor, and 
 promote the prosperity of the whole Commonwealth, to this committee, he felt as 
 though he were presenting it to the State itself. 
 
 He alluded, as a preliminary consideration, to the change of policy which had 
 taken place in our government in regard to foreign commerce, and showed its 
 effects upon our own State. A more liberal course towards foreign countries than 
 formerly, was being pursued. The granaries of Europe were being thrown open 
 to our produce, and this courtesy our own country was reciprocating by removing 
 to some extent the restrictions on foreign manufactures. The influence of this 
 change had placed Massachusetts in a transition State. She had formerly been a 
 navigating and commercial State, then a manufacturing State, and now the ten¬ 
 dency is to return to her former condition as a navigating and commercial State. 
 But Massachusetts had ever held herself in readiness to meet all these emergen¬ 
 cies, and in whatever enterprises she might engage she would continue to win to 
 herself honor and prosperity as she had ever done before. 
 
41 
 
 He then proceeded to examine the question under two aspects: — First, the ques¬ 
 tion of construction — the practicability and cost of the proposed tunnel, and the 
 time required to make it. Second, the question of utility, or the commercial 
 question — What important commercial advantages it will secure, and how far it 
 will make a return to the State ? These, he said, were the important questions to 
 be considered by the committee, and he proceeded at some length to elaborate his 
 views upon these topics, and urge them upon the attention of the committee. 
 
 Mr. Derby then explained the provisions of the bill for which the petitioners ask, 
 showing that ample security would be given to the State, as the different portions 
 of the loan, and the sections of the road and of the tunnel were to be advanced 
 together. Before the State will have advanced $800,000, the company will have 
 furnished security to cover a million, and the tunnel would be reduced to three 
 miles; and as further security as they continued to advance, the whole road and 
 tunnel were to be mortgaged. They had the precedent of the Western road for 
 asking their loan in advance, but they did not ask it. They would not attempt to 
 say to the State, “ You have put your foot in it, and now you must pay more or 
 lose what you have already invested; ” they were willing to pay as they went, 
 and to give security in advance. 
 
 He expressed regret at the absence of the Western road during this hearing, 
 but considered that they were present in fact by their arguments and evidence of 
 last year. He then replied to some of the objections formerly made by the 
 Western road. The Troy and Greenfield road could not be considered a com¬ 
 peting line in regard to local business, since it nowhere ran within 20 miles of the 
 Western road, while in some sections of the State roads are built running within 
 three miles of each other; nor in regard to through traffic, since the Western line 
 is already losing its through business, and relies upon the local trade, for its large 
 income does not command a sixtieth part of the business from the West. He 
 would submit then that the Western road would be safe, and that the State would 
 be fully secured from all loss. From the absence of the Western road, he was 
 warranted in one of two conclusions: either that they considered the case of the 
 petitioners such as would do them no injury, or that it was so good that opposition 
 would be unavailing, and a useless expense. He would not attribute to them here 
 a secret newspaper opposition. 
 
 The action and discussions in the Legislature last year and in the late Conven¬ 
 tion, together with the late course of political action in the Commonwealth, he 
 contended, showed that this measure was demanded by the popular voice. This 
 Legislature had come up fresh from the people, and from some counties almost 
 instructed to vote for this measure, and he came now to ask that this great boon 
 may be conferred, not only upon these petitioners, not only upon some particular 
 sections, but upon the whole Commonwealth, even to Nantucket and the sandy shores 
 of the Cape. 
 
 Were he a member of this Legislature, he should feel that, in contributing 
 towards the removal of these physical impediments, he was taking away the 
 restrictions upon the native energies and commercial prosperity of the State, and 
 would be ready to exclaim with the poet of old, “ I have raised a monument more 
 durable than brass.” 
 
 The report of the Railroad Committee of 1851 was then put into the case, after 
 which the committee adjourned. 
 
42 
 
 NOTE TO MR. CLAPP’S TESTIMONY. 
 
 The following was accidentally omitted in its proper place. 
 
 In a recent interview with M. Newell, Esq., Engineer, formerly of this State, 
 but now superintending the building of one or more tunnels in Kentucky, he in¬ 
 formed me that a tunnel is now constructing on the Louisville and Knoxville Rail¬ 
 road, 1000 feet long, and 14 feet wide, under a contract at $2.50 per cubic yard. 
 
 A tunnel on the Lexington and Frankfort Railroad has been finished, 550 feet 
 long, through hard limestone, 11 feet wide, at $1.67J per cubic yard. The reason 
 this was taken so low was that there was a great deal of competition, and the 
 person who obtained the contract was determined to have it. He paid his way, 
 even at this price, in everything except his own time. 
 
 There is a tunnel now constructing on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad 
 1700 feet long, and 16 feet wide, the contract price of which is $3.50 per cubic 
 yard. The reason for the price being so high, is because it is on a 70 feet grade, 
 is quite wet, and will cost a good deal to pump out the water. 
 
 There are 3 tunnels on the Lexington and Covington Railroad. 
 
 An engineer who resides in Cincinnati, informed me that he had been into a 
 tunnel ten miles long in the hills of Devonshire, England, made for the purpose 
 of obtaining limestone to be used in the manufacture of iron. The stone is trans¬ 
 ported in canal boats. 
 
 s 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Argument, Abstract of, J. M. Keith, Esq’s. 38 
 “ “ E. H. Derby, Esq’s. 40 
 
 Baldwin, Loammi, opinion of .7 
 
 Breakwater at Cherbourg, France, . 17 
 
 u Portsmouth, Eng. . . 17 
 
 Committee, Names of the . . 2 
 
 Canal, Grand Ship, of North Holland . 16 
 
 “ St. Quentin ... 17 
 
 “ Marseilles . . . .17 
 
 Derby’s, Mr., opening ... 3 
 
 Drainage Gallery miles long . . 14 
 
 (t by Pumps ... 20 
 
 Docks .... 33,34 
 
 Equipment of Railroads, compared . 25 
 
 Erie Railroad Report, Extracts from . 34 
 
 “ “ Cost of . . . 35 
 
 Letter from H. Ely, Rochester, N. Y. . 36 
 
 Lake and River Commerce, value, compared 25 
 Lakes, Extent of the . . .26 
 
 Increase of Tonnage on the . 25 
 
 Mines ... 13, 14, 15, 20 
 
 Persons employed under-ground . 20 
 
 Revenue, Tonnage, &c. on N. Y. Canals . 34 
 
 Receipts on 3 Lines N. Y. Railroads . 34 
 
 Stelvio Pass over the Alps . . .12 
 
 Shafts . . . .13, 14, 15, 20 
 
 Testimony of Alvah Crocker . . 5 
 
 Testimony of President Hitchcock . 8 
 
 “ Andrew Ellison, Jr. . . 11 
 
 “ Jno. A. Carpenter . 12 
 
 “ Edwin Faxon. . .12 
 
 “ Otis Clapp . 13, 24, 28, 33 
 
 “ Shadrach Robinson . . 20 
 
 “ George Millard . . 22 
 
 “ James Hayward . . 27 
 
 “ James E. Bartlett . 28 
 
 Tunnels in Virginia . . -.11 
 
 Tunnel 24 miles long, in Saxony . 14 
 
 Tunnels . . . .14, 15, 16 
 
 “ on Yerviers Railway . . ]6 
 
 “ on Railroad over Semmering Pass . . 15 
 “ in Salt Mines ... 15 
 
 “ on Marseilles Canal . .17 
 
 “ on St. Quentin ... 17 
 
 “ in France . . . .16 
 
 *• at Cincinnati . . .28-33 
 
 “ in Spain . . . .35 
 
 11 at Ticino ... 35 
 
 Viaducts in England . . .19 
 
 Ventilation of Tunnel ... 19 
 
 Value of Lake Commerce . . .26 
 
 “ “ Property sent to the Interior . 26 
 
 Welland Canal, Tonnage of . .26 
 
3 0112 105220716