RAILROADS OF CONNECTICUT. We give the result of the operations of the railroads of Connecticut from the opening of the first road to the present time. The aggregate result may be stated as follows:-Total investment, (the cost of the several years being added together,) $245,377,737; total earnings, $30,536,182; expenses of operating roads, $7,732,718; net earnings, $12,803,464. The percentage of gross earnings to cost has been 12 per cent; net earnings, 5; operating expenses, 77. The operating expenses are increased by the amounts paid by the New York and New Haven, and Hartford and New Haven railroads, on the lease of the New Haven and Northampton Railroad, which have averaged, since 1849, $33,193 over the earnings of this road. Toward this excess the Hartford and New Haven Railroad has contributed $12,000 annually, and the New York and New Haven Railroad, 21,193 annually. The sum charged annually to expenses has been further increased by the amount paid by the Housatonic Railroad to the Berkshire, the Stockbridge and Pittsfield, and the West Stockbridge railroads, leased by it, and amounting to the sum of $845,000 in the aggregate. Three-fourths of this amount has probably been lost to the Housatonic Railroad. The amount now annually paid it for its leased lines has averaged for nine years past $74,212. The leases are perpetual, and are the great drawback to the success of the Housatonic Road : We give herewith, says the Railroad Journal, a statement of the railroads of Maine. The roads described embrace all the lines of the State, with the excep tion of the Buckfield Branch, 13 miles, the Great Falls and South Berwick, 3 miles, and the Franklin Railroad, 9 miles. The first two are not in operation. The former is owned by one person, and may, we presume, be considered as abandoned as a public highway. It has been in use only a portion of the time since it was opened, and no statistics are obtainable in reference to it. The Great Falls and South Berwick Railroad has, we believe, never been in operation, and will very probably be abandoned. The Franklin Railroad belongs to a manufacturing company, and is used in the transportation of lumber, and cannot be regarded as a public highway. The aggregate result of the operation of the railroads of the State since the opening of the first road in 1837, may be stated as follows:-Total cost, (that of the several years being added together,) $129,151,337; gross earnings, $10,795,861; current expenses, $6,073,643; net earnings, $4,722,218. The general result is not a favorable one. The percentage of gross earnings per cent; net earnings at the rate to capital invested has been at the rate of 8 of 3 per cent. The large addition, from earnings, to construction, by some of the roads, particularly by the Atlantic and St. Lawrence, is one reason for the comparatively small ratio of net earnings. All the railroads of Maine, with the exception of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence. have a very light traffic in freight, owing to the almost unrivaled facilities for communication by water which the State possesses :- ST. MARY'S FALLS SHIP CANAL. REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE ST. MARY'S FALLS SHIP CANAL. ST. MARY'S FALLS SHIP CANAL OFFICE. Į To the Hon. the Board of Control of the St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal, Lansing, Michigan: GENTLEMEN -Agreeable to request of the Governor of this State, I herewith transmit to your honorable body a condensed statement of the business of the canal for the past season, also a comparative one for the years 1855 and 1856, as presented by my predecessor, in the 13th report, of November 30th, 1856. adding a few suggestions relative to its future business and safety, resulting from a careful observation of its workings the past season :— STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS FROM TOLLS, FROM THE OPENING OF THE CANAL, JUNE 18th, 1855' TO NOVEMBER 30TH, 1857. ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF FREIGHT FOR THE SAME PERIOD, AS TAKEN FROM BILLS OF LADING, FURNISHED BY THE MASTERS OF VESSELS; ALSO, THE ESTIMATED VALUE OF THE SAME Value of merchandise not included in the above for the same period Estimated value of barrel, bulk, and tons for 1857... 1,000,000 1,375,050 550,700 66 .... 46 1857..... $2,875,030 8,005,775 Copper, tons Iron ore, tons.. Estimated value, including iron blooms, fish, etc., for 1855-56 Number of passages, 431; tonnage, 190,000. The number of passages and tonnage not being given by my predecessor in his report, and the register not being at hand, I am unable, at this time, to give the comparative statement for the years 1855 and 1856; but you will at a glance be able to see the comparison by reference to the table of receipts. You will readily see, by reference to the statistics, for the three years that the canal has been in operation, that the amount of shipping passing through the canal has increased at a rapid rate. As the facilities for shipping have increased, new mines in the copper district have been opened and worked, and large forces put upon those that have been in operation previous to the completion of the canal, and judging from developments constantly being made, the business of mining in the copper district is but in its infancy; but we need only turn our attention to the iron mines to become satisfied that they furnish an inexhaustible fountain of wealth, and will furnish a demand for shipping not equaled by any other trade in this country. By reference to the annexed table, it will be seen that the amount of ore shipped the last season. is a little more than double that of the two preceding years added-and yet it is far short of what it would have been but for the sudden and unexpected revulsion in financial matters, and the want of proper facilities to transport it from the mines to the docks, which difficulty is now removed in the completion of the Iron Mountain Railroad, extending from the lake back to the mountain. When we look at the vast amount of mineral wealth, and the extensive fisheries of the Lake Superior country, which are but in their infancy, saying nothing of the agricultural interest, (which will be by no means small,) and consider that the success of each of these depend almost entirely upon the permanency and durability of the St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal, hence, the necessity of the whole work being made sure beyond a contingency. Although it is perhaps as good and permanent a work of the kind as there is in this or any other country, yet, after a practical experience of seven months, and a close observation of the workings of it, I am satisfied that it is in a very unsafe condition, not only to itself but to such shipping as may be compelled to pass through it, and consequently would suggest, and urge the importance of, a few of the safeguards that seem to be most necessary, viz., the extension of the pier at the west end and north side of the canal; also the removal of a part of a dock, and a sunken crib, at the east end, and near the entrance of the locks; also the strengthening of the artificial, or made, embankment above the locks, which extends about one thousand feet; but the one which I consider of more importance than any other, is the construction of a good set of guard gates, to be placed at some point above the artificial embankment, in order not only to protect that part of the work, but as a matter of convenience, in making such repairs as may be necessary from time to time about the locks, which we cannot now do, as we have no facility for shutting off the water. For more full particulars in reference to this work, and its necessity, I would refer you to my annual report to the governor in December last, but, as this cannot be done from the tolls collected, as they cannot be made sufficient, and as I see that a bill asking for an appropriation for that purpose has been introduced into Congress, by one of the members from this State, Hon. D. C. Leach, whose company I had the honor of enjoying in August last, at the time of the break, and who had a chance of not only examining the work, but seeing the practical workings of some of the fixtures belonging thereto, and to whom I would refer in relation to the suggestions here made, and of the importance of immediate action upon the subject. All of which is respectfully submitted. Your obedient servant. JOURNAL OF MINING, MANUFACTURES, AND ART. FASTENING SHIPS' FLOOR-TIMBERS. As late as fifteen years ago, every ship had her floor-timbers fastened through the keel with copper, but when copper advanced in price, yellow metal or ironmore frequently iron-were substituted, except in a few cases where merchants built vessels for a particular trade, or where they prided themselves in having the best ships that could be built, without regard to cost. But as a general rule, iron, not copper, has been and still is used to fasten not only the floor-timbers, but the butts and bilges of all large ships. Since the introduction of iron for such important purposes, we have not heard anything of its merits or demerits. It is well known that iron is much stronger than copper, but iron exposed to salt water corrodes fast, whereas copper will last for ages. It is the endurance of copper which constitutes its chief merit. We have been induced to make these remarks in consequence of having recently inspected a ship undergoing repairs, the floor-timbers of which had been fastened with iron. The bolts when first driven were inch and a quarter, but had been corroded in most places to a quarter of an inch. Thus, the keel and garboards had become loose, the oakum had worked out of the seams, and the vessel was very leaky. Had she touched the bottom her keel must have dropped off, such was the decayed state of its fastening. And yet this ship was not more than seven years old. It is evident that iron is not safe fastening for the floor-timbers of a ship. Iron may last eight or ten years, but after that age, all vessels the floors of which have been fastened with iron, ought to be refastened. It is not safe to run such vessels. We fear that many missing ships have been lost through springing a leak in their garboards, and that such leaks have been caused by iron fastening, which has been corroded by salt water. Another fact in this connection suggests itself. When a ship which is imperfectly fastened below, strikes bottom, the keel is the first part of her to give way. Now, a keel when properly fastened, may be ground off like oakum, but will not be torn off in logs, like that of one which has been iron fastened; that is if the vessel is three or four years old. Butt and bilge-bolts of iron are driven well in and plugged over, to prevent contact with the copper or yellowmetal sheathing, but still they are exposed to the action of bilge-water inside, and wear even more rapidly than the floor fastenings. Thus the whole foundation of a modern ship, after a few years, is liable, through imperfect fastening, to give way, and this accounts for so many large vessels springing a leak at sea. We have little doubt that many valuable cargoes and many precious lives have been sacrificed to economy in fastening. Our underwriters ought to wake up on this subject, and instruct their marine inspectors to note particularly all vessels the floors and bilges of which are fastened with iron, and also those vessels which are deficient in through fastening. The materials of which our vessels are built, are good; but the general style of their fastening is very bad. We have heard it stated that the reason our underwriters take so little interest in the ships they insure, arises from the fact that most of them are gentlemen of |