placing that city in as favorable connexions with the proposed line to Lake Erie as Philadelphia.

An important line of road is soon to be commenced, extending from Harrisburg up the valley of the Susquehanna to Elmira, in the State of New York. This work may be regarded as a Baltimore project, and is sufficiently described in connexion with the Baltimore and Susquehanna railroad.

In the western part of the State, the leading work in progress is the Alleghany Valley road, extending from Pittsburg in a generally northeastern direction to Olean, on the New York and Erie road, which is the probable terminus of the Genesee Valley and the Buffalo and Olean roads. The length of the Alleghany Valley road will be about one hundred and eighty miles. Its gauge will probably correspond to that of the New York and Erie road. In connexion with this, it will form a very direct and convenient route between the cities of New York and Pittsburg, and also between the latter and the cities of Albany and Boston, through the Albany and Susquehanna road. By the above lines, the Alleghany Valley road will connect Pittsburg with Lakes Erie and Ontario, and with the Hudson river. The road will traverse one of the best portions of Pennsylvania, possessing a fertile soil, and abounding in extensive deposites of coal and iron. The project has the warm support of Pittsburg, and when the inducements to its construction are considered, and the means that can be made applicable to this end, its early completion cannot be doubted.

Another road in progress in western Pennsylvania is the Hempfield, extending from Greensburg, on the Pennsylvania road, to Wheeling, a distance of about 78 miles. One of the leading objects of this road is to connect the great Pennsylvania line with the roads centring at Wheeling. It derives its chief public consideration from this fact, although its line traverses an excellent section of country, which would yield a large local traffic. This project is regarded with much favor by the people of Philadelphia, from the supposed favorable connexions it will make with the Ohio Central and the northern extension of the Cincinnati and Marietta roads. When completed, it will undoubtedly become an important avenue of trade and travel.

The Pittsburg and Steubenville road resembles the Hempfield, both in its objects and its direction. It was proposed as a more direct route to central Ohio than that supplied by the Ohio and Pennsylvania railroad. One of the leading motives for its construction was to counteract any influence that the Hempfield road might exert prejudicial to the interests of Pittsburg, by placing that city on one of the shortest routes between the East and the West. At Steubenville, it will connect with the Steubenville and Indiana road, now in progress from that city to Columbus, the capital of Ohio.

The proposed Sunbury and Erie railroad is intended to bear the same relation to Philadelphia, in reference to the trade of Lake Erie and the West, as does the Erie railroad to New York. Its length will be about 240 miles. Active measures are in progress to secure the necessary means for this work, which promise to be successful. The whole distance by this route, from Philadelphia to Lake Erie, will be about 420 miles; somewhat less than that from New York.

There are a number of canals in the State, owned by private companies, the most important of which are the Schuylkill and Lehigh canals, which have been constructed for the purpose of affording outlets for the anthracite coal-fields of that State. They derive their chief consequence from their connexion with the coal trade, although they have a large traffic in addition. These works, though of great utility and importance, from the relations they sustain to the varied interests of the country, in supplying them with fuel, are of a local character, and do not form portions of any extended routes of commerce.

The Tidewater canal has been briefly alluded to in the notice of the "State works," to which it supplies a communication with Chesapeake bay, and with the cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia, by a continuous water-line. It is a valuable improvement, and forms the outlet for a large and important section of the State, and for a portion of the commerce passing over the State works. It is a work of large capacity, and is in possession of an extensive trade. It is also a chan nel through which a large quantity of coal is sent to market."

DELAWARE.

Population in 1830, 76,748; in 1840, 78,085; in 1850, 91,532. Area in square miles, 2,120; inhabitants to square mile, 43.17..

The only road lying entirely in this State is the Newcastle and Frenchtown, connecting the Delaware with Chesapeake bay, by a line of 16 miles. This road was once of considerable importance, as it formed a part of the route of travel between the East and the West, which has since been superseded by the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore railroad. It may now be regarded only as a work of local

consequence.

Chesapeake and Delaware canal.-The only improvement of any considerable importance in Delaware is the Chesapeake and Delaware canal, connecting the above-named bays. This work is 13 miles long, 66 feet wide, 10 feet deep, with two lift and two tide locks. It cost nearly $3,000,000. A very considerable portion of its cost was furnished by the general government, in donations of land. The work bears a similar relation to the commerce of the country with the Raritan canal, and makes up a part of the same system of internal water-navigation. It is also the channel of a large trade between Chesapeake bay and Philadelphia and New York.

The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore railroad lies partly within the State of Delaware, and has been sufficiently described under the head of "Pennsylvania."

MARYLAND.

Population in 1830, 447,040; in 1840, 470,019; in 1850, 583,035. Area in square miles, 9,356; inhabitants to square mile, 62.31.

Influenced by similar objects to those which actuated the people of Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and the eastern States, in their immense expenditures for works that facilitate transportation, the people of Mary

land, at an early period, commenced two very important works, the Chesapeake and Ohio canal and the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, for the purpose of attracting the trade of the interior, and of placing themselves on the routes of commerce between the two grand divisions of the country. By the deep indentation made by the Chesapeake bay, the navigable tide-waters are brought into nearest proximity to the Mississippi Valley in the States of Maryland and Virginia. To this is to be ascribed the fact, that before the use of railroads, the principal routes of travel between the East and the West were from the waters of that bay to the Ohio river. The great National road, established and constructed by the general government, commenced at the Potomac river, in Maryland, and its direction was made to conform to the convenient route of travel at that time.

No sooner had experience demonstrated the superiority of railroads to ordinary roads, than the people of Baltimore assumed the adaptation of them to their routes of communication, and immediately commenced the construction of that great work, the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, which, after a struggle of twenty-five years, is now on the eve of completion.

This road was commenced in 1828, and was one of the first roads brought into use in the United States. At the early period in which it was commenced, the difficulties in the way of construction were not appreciated. These obstructions, now happily overcome, for a long time proved too formidable to be surmounted by the engineering skill and ability, the experience in railroad construction, and the limited amount of capital which then existed in the country. Though for a long time foiled, its friends were by no means disheartened, but rose with renewed vigor and resolution from every defeat, until the experience of successive efforts pointed out the true pathway to success.

The Baltimore and Ohio railroad extends from Baltimore to Wheeling, on the Ohio river, a distance of 379 miles. Its estimated cost is $17,893,166. It crosses the Alleghany mountains at an elevation of 2,620 feet above tide-water, and 2,028 feet above low water in the Ohio river, at Wheeling. In ascending the mountains from the east, grades of 116 feet to the mile are encountered on one plane, for about fifteen miles, and for about nine miles in an opposite direction. Grades of over 100 feet to the mile, for over ten miles, are met with on other portions of the line. These grades, which only a few years since were regarded as entirely beyond the ability of the locomotive engine to ascend, are now worked at nearly the ordinary speed of trains, and are found to offer no serious obstacle to a profitable traffic. Occurring near to each other, they are arranged in the most convenient manner for their economical working, by assistant power. With the above exception, the grades on this road will not compare unfavorably with those on similar works.

The road is now opened to a point about 300 miles from Baltimore, and will be completed on or before the first day of January next.

Whatever doubt may have existed among the engineering profession, or the public, as to the ability of this road, with such physical difficulties in the way, to carry on a profitable traffic, they have been removed by its successful operation. That grades of 116 feet to

the mile, for many miles, had to be resorted to, is full proof of the magnitude of the obstacles encountered. Its success in the face of all these, of a faulty mode of construction in the outset, and of great financial embarrassment, reflects the very highest credit upon the company, and upon the people of Baltimore.

As before stated, the first route of travel between the East and the West, was between the waters of the Chesapeake and the Ohio. The opening of the Erie canal, and, subsequently, of the railroads between the Hudson river and Lake Erie, diverted this travel to this more north ern and circuitous, but more convenient route. This diversion seriously affected the business of Baltimore, and materially lessened the revenues of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, since its opening to Cumberland. All this lost ground the people of Baltimore expect to regain; and with it, to draw to themselves a large trade now accustomed to pass to the more northern cities. Assuming the cost of transportation on a railroad to be measured by lineal distance, Baltimore certainly occupies a very favorable position in reference to western trade. To Cincinnati, the great city of the West, and the commercial depot of southern Ohio, the shortest route from all the great northern cities will probably be by way of Baltimore, and over the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. To strengthen her position still farther, the people of this city have already commenced the construction of the Northwestern railroad, extending from the southwestern angle of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad to Parkersburg, on the Ohio river, in a direct line towards Cincinnati. The dis tance from Baltimore to Parkersburg, by this route, will be about 395 miles, and about 580 to Cincinnati, by the railroads in progress through southern Ohio.

From Wheeling. the main trunk will be carried to the lakes by the Cleveland and Wellsville railroad, now completed to Wellsville, 100 miles, and in progress from Wellsville to Wheeling, 36 miles; and through central Ohio to Columbus, by the Central Ohio railroad, now in operation from that place to Zanesville, a distance of about 60 miles, and in progress east to Wheeling, about 82 miles. When the Ohio, therefore, is reached, Baltimore will be brought into immediate connexion with all the avenues of trade and travel in the West, and will be in a strong position to contend for the great prize-the interior commerce of the country.

The local traffic of this road assumes a great importance from the immense coal trade which must pass over it from the extensive mines situated near Cumberland. The superior quality of this coal will always secure for it a ready market, and there can be no doubt that the demand will always be equal to the capacity of the road. Already has this trade been a source of lucrative traffic, and contributed not a little to the success of the road before the western connexions, upon which complete success was predicated, could be formed. But for this traffic the credit of the company could have hardly been maintained, at a point necessary to secure the requisite means for its prosecution to the Ohio river.

Baltimore and Susquehanna railroad and its connexions.-The next great line of public improvement in Maryland is the Baltimore and Susquehanna railroad, by which that city secures a communication

with the country lying to the northwest, and with the public works of the State of Pennsylvania, as she will ultimately with those of New York. As far as distance is concerned, the city of Baltimore occupies as favorable a position in reference to the public works of Pennsylvania, and the various lines of improvement connecting with them, as does the city of Philadelphia; the former being only 82 miles from Harrisburg, while the latter is 107 miles. Such being the fact, Baltimore is making the most vigorous efforts to perfect and extend the works by which these important communications are maintained. She is especially occupied in pushing a line up the Susquehanna river, with a view to its extension to Elmira, the most considerable town on the Erie railroad between Lake Erie and the Hudson. This town is also connected with all the railroads running through central New York, with Lakes Erie and Ontario at various points, and by a water-line with the Erie canal. By reaching this point, the Baltimore lines of improvement will be brought into direct connexion with the New York system of public works, which have thus far monopolized the interior trade of the country. To divert this trade from its accustomed channels, and to turn a portion of it at least to Baltimore, is one great object that induces her to lend her aid to the Susquehanna road in Pennsylvania, through which this object is to be effected.

The trunk of this great line is the Baltimore and Susquehanna railroad, which extends from Baltimore to York, Pennsylvania, a distance of 56 miles. In its original construction it received important aid from the State. It has not been a successful work, in a pecuniary point of view, owing to a faulty, mode of construction and to the want of suitable connexions on the north. But these drawbacks to its success have been removed, and its business prospects are now rapidly improving. From York it is carried forward to Harrisburg, by means of the York and Cumberland road. Beyond this point no railroad has been constructed up the Susquehanna valley. It is the construction of this link that is occupying the especial attention of the city of Baltimore, and toward which, in addition to private subscriptions, she has extended aid in her corporate capacity to the amount of $500,000. The distance from Harrisburg to Sunbury, the route occupied by the Susquehanna company, is about 50 miles. From Williamsport to Elmira the distance is about 75 miles. A portion of this last-named link is in operation; and should the road from Williamsport to Ralston be adopted, as a part of the through route, it will require only the construction of some 20 miles to complete the last-named link. Vigorous measures are in progress for the commencement of operations upon the unfinished portion of the above line, and the whole will be completed, as soon as this can be done, by a prudent outlay of the means that can be made applicable to the work.

When the works in which the city of Baltimore is now engaged shall be completed, she will occupy a favorable position, as far as her proximity to the great interior centres of commerce is concerned. She will probably be on the shortest route between the great northern cities and Cincinnati-she will be nearer to Buffalo than even New York or Boston. She expects to realize in results the strength of her position in the abstract. Assuming cost of transportation to be measured by lineal