gallons of water daily; under a head of eight feet, thirty-eight millions, and under a head of eighteen feet, fifty-seven millions. The velocities for these quantities will be 1.4 miles per hour under a head of two feet; 2.3 miles under a head of eight feet, and 4.2 under a head of eighteen feet. It will be competent, under the latter conditions, to supply a million of people daily with fifty-s -seven gallons each. The cost of this work has been about six hundred thousand dollars.

The people of Chicago have now undertaken another enterprise; that of a tunnel under the river. The contractors have agreed to finish the tunnel for $271,646 04. They propose to complete it in March, 1868. The tunnel is to be on Washington street, about 1,800 feet long, and resting on a foundation of concrete two feet thick. The masonry will be protected by a heavy sheathing of lead. That part of the tunnel beneath the bed of the river will be thirty-two feet below low water mark. It will be constructed in sections in coffer dams, so as to obstruct the channel of the river as little as possible. There will be two passage-ways for trains, eleven feet wide and fifteen feet high, and in the part under the river will be also a passage way to be reached by stairs at each end. The project is the first of the kind ever attempted in the United States.

In London the tunnelling enterprise has been perfectly successful. There were engineering difficulties to overcome such as are hardly to be expected elsewhere, the expansive character of the clay, the frequent occurrence of beds of sand and gravel, the sewers and drains—particularly the Great Fleet sewer, the gas and water pipes, the Grand Junction Canal, etc. But it was done at a total cost of $14,000,000, or $5,500,000 per mile, including the outfitting and stocking of the railway. The enterprise yields dividends; 5 per cent in 1863; 6 in 1864, and 7 per cent in 1865. The number of passengers carried in the first six months of 1863 was 4,823,457; in six months of 1864, 5,104,385; in six months of 1865, 7,462.823; in six months of 1866, 10,303,305. The revenue has increased; in the first six months of 1863 it was £53,058, and in the first six months of the present year, £102,947. These figures would seem to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed tunnel under Broadway as a remunerative enterprise.

The excavation of mountains to permit the carrying through them of railroad tracks is now a matter of every day occurrence. We may very properly denominate this the Tunnel Age. The Appenines of Italy, the mountains of Provence, the numerous hills of England and Wales have been disembowelled for this purpose. The Bergen Tunnel, near Jersey City, is the admiration of engineers. The Sand Tunnel on the Pittsburg and Connellsville Railroad has just been cut through, a length of 4,700 feet, a thousand more than the long tunnel on the Pennsylvania Central Railway through the Alleghanies between Altana and Cresson. A tunnel is projected through the Sierra Nevada in California, a length of 1,700 feet for the accommodation of the Pacific Railroad; and fourteen months have been assigned for the time to be consumed in the undertaking.

The Hoosac Tunnel, considered by many to be the Massachusetts Folly, is after all the greatest bore of the Western Continent. Under the auspices of Governor Andrew, the State of Massachusetts has undertaken the work, and is prosecuting it with energy. The cost has been more than three millions of dollars, a pretty serious matter for a little common

wealth of a million and a quarter of inhabitants, and as much more will be required. But it will go through.

The tunnel now in progress under the Alps at Mont Cenis is the bold. est work yet undertaken. Heretofore the iron horse had not been able to emulate Hannibal and scale this barrier, although this may yet be done; but the engineer is fast opening for him a way without filling up the valley or bringing low the mountain. When finished it will be a lasting monument to the statesmanship of Cavour. At the time of the cession of Savoy to France ten million francs had been expended in the work; sixty-five millions being the estimate for the whole. A convention between the Governments of France and Italy reserved the right to the latter country of completing the tunnel, both countries dividing equally the expenditure. In the event of the earlier completion of the work than the time contemplated, France will pay a premium. A short time since it had reached 7,600 feet on the French side and 11,800 on the Italian. A thousand workmen are employed at each end of the perforation, divided into three gangs relieving each other every eight hours. They were making their way through quartz at a very slow rate; but the engineers were hoping to reach gypsum, when the work might go on faster. The entire extent of the proposed tunnel is 12,220 metres, of which on the first day of January last 6,900 remained to be perforated. Unless unforeseen circumstances happen, it is hoped that the entire perforation will be completed in three years more, and that the tunnel will be passable from one end to the other on the 1st day of January, 1870. There lies an obstacle, however, in the way of the construction of these tunnels which bids fair to preclude future undertakings of the sort. They are too costly for private enterprise to undertake them. The tunnel through the Alps would never have been undertaken except for the boldness of Count Cavour, backed by the treasury of the Sardinian, afterward the Italian Government, aided by subventions from France. The Hoosac Tunnel would have been abandoned by the company undertaking it but for the aid granted by the State of Massachusetts. The improvements in the construction of railways and rolling-stock enable the ascent of mountains to be made. A road has already been constructed over Mont Cenis, and is about ready for travel. A part of it which has been already completed on the slope along the carriage road was passed over by a train consisting of several carriages at a rate of 11 miles an hour in ascending, and 9 in coming down. The incline sometimes attains 8 feet in the one hundred, and some of the turnings have a radius of only 133 feet.

Great as the importance of those projections will be to travel and commerce, there is likelihood that future undertakings of this character will be superseded by improvements in railway construction.

It has been suggested by engineers that a railroad over Hoosac Mountain would be feasible, which would, if it did not supersede altogether the occasion for the completing of the tunnel, answer for use till that event should take place. The plan of Mr. Fell for the application of steam traction to ordinary carriage-roads would answer this case admirably. Nevertheless, with all these advantages of economy of construction and earlier completion, our preference remains for the tunnel, wherever it shall be practicable, as being cheaper in the long run, safer to use, and of more permanent benefit.

RAILROAD EARNINGS FOR NOVEMBER.

The gross earnings of the following railroads for the month of November 1865 and 1866 comparatively and the difference (increase or decrease) between the two months are exhibited in the following statement:

The earnings of the Erie Railway for November, 1866, do not include those of the Canandaigua & Elmira Railroad which, since November 1, has been operated under contract by the Northern Central Company. Had these been included the decrease would have been much less than

is apparent.

The earnings of the same roads for the eleven past months of the same years, are shown in the following tabulation:

The aggregate earnings of these sixteen roads for November, as compared with those of the previous month, show the following result :

The net aggregate result of the eleven months shows a falling off from the same months last year of $1,881,712, or 2.66 per cent. The decrease of November, 1866, from November, 1865, is 2.51 per cent.

TRADE OF GREAT BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES.

COTTON, BREADSTUFFS, PROVISIONS, ETC.

The British Board of Trade returns for the month of October and the ten months ending October 31, received by the last mail, show more conclusively the effect of the recent panic on the trade of the United Kingdom. A high rate for money is said to stimulate exports and to discourage imports, and the statements now at hand show precisely these results. In the export trade of that country, there is a very large increase this year as compared with 1865, viz.: of about twenty-three millions sterling, and the total for the month of October is £1,600,000 greater than in the corresponding month in 1865. With regard to imports a decline has taken place as the year has progressed, viz., from £23,243,701, the highest point touched in the month of June, to £18,356,015, the total for the month of September. Taking, however, the returns as a whole, the trade for the first ten months was most satisfactory in its extent, but it does not appear to have been so remunerative as in former years. Many branches, however, have evidently been carried on at a considerable profit, for unless large profits had been made we should certainly have heard of more numerous failures from the other side.

The declared value of the exports of British and Irish produce and manufactures during the month of October was £16,895,894, against £15,547,225 in 1865, and £12,871,491 in 1864. For the ten months, the aggregate value of the shipments was £158,832,792, whilst in the corresponding period in 1865, the total shipments were valued at £185,264,602, and in 1864 at £136,275,652. The figures for each month in each of the last three years are subjoined:

The computed real value of the imports of the principal articles of merchandize in the month of September was £10,356,015; against £21,632,731 in 1865; and £19,961,633 in 1864. The total for the nine months is £174,167,605, against £137,303,165 last year, and £160,974,110 in 1864 The following figures show the total value for each of the first nine months of the present and last two years:,

With regard to this country, the following is the total value of the exports during the nine months ending Sept. 30:

COTTON.

The imports of cotton in October were 36,000 cwts. less than in 1865, but from the United States, the arrivals showed an increase of 27,000 bales. The arrivals from Mexico and the West Indies have now ceased, and from Egypt only a small quantity of the new crop has as yet been received. Our latest advices from Egypt state that the crop had been overestimated, the total growth being expected to reach a total of 400,000 bales, or 200,000 bales less than the estimates first put forward. In the East Indies the crop is said to be looking well. The import of cotton into the United Kingdom during the ten months ending October 30 was 10,610,271 cwts., against 6,315,565 cwts. in 1865, and 6,146,796 cwts. in 1864. The particulars of these imports are subjoined:

IMPORTS OF COTTON INTO GREAT BRITAIN IN NINH MONTHS.

-and the computed real value of the imports for the nine months is as

The exports of cotton from Great Britain are about 950,000 cwts. in excess of last year, all importing countries having taken an increased supply. The total for the ten months is 3,032,450 cwts. against 2,186,456 cwts. in 1865, and 1,876,040 in 1864. These amounts are thus distributed :

This market has now assumed an important position throughout the world, and a considerable rise has taken place in prices since the 1st of September. In England the rise is as much as 17s. 6d. per quarter of eight bushels, and in other countries the advance is equally important.