Iron Trade of the United Kingdom. Total exports from the United Kingdom in 1852: Leaving tons, 368,290 for the requirements of the rest of the world.* We insert the following table from page 331 of the first edition on the Annual Production of Pig and Cast-iron in Great Britain, France and other European countries, and in the United States of America: Years. G. Britain. France. Belgium. Zolleve- U. States. Austria. Sweden. Russia. Tons. After passing from coal to iron, we are almost unavoidably tempted to diverge yet further, to the subject of railroads, steam-engines, and steam vessels, so closely do all these matters seem interwoven with each other, being at one and the same time both cause and effect, in relation to the enormous increase of coal production, in all parts of the world. Thus we are impelled to notice the astonishing extension of railroads in our day, whereby the coal, the iron, and the other minerals have become more generally accessible, and consequently more valuable, in proportion as they can be transported with cheapness and rapidity to their several markets. London Mining Journal, April 1st, 1854. The following statement shows the actual number of miles of railway finished and in progress in Europe and America, in 1844. In England, in 1845, there were obtained from Parliament new railroad acts for 3543 miles; up to 1846, the total number of miles authorized to be made in Great Britain was 7494 miles, and to January 1st, 1847, 8384 miles, besides 1862 miles already made. In France, in the same year, the number of miles completed, commenced, and proposed, was 3874-whose estimated cost was $297,220,000, or £61,600,000 In Belgium, there were 282 miles of railroad in operation in 1842, 348 miles in 1844, and 386 miles in 1846,-costing £5,789,872. In the Zollverein, there were completed 24 railroads in 1843, of the length of 1730 miles. In all Germany, in 1844, 3565 English miles, in 43 railroads. United States of America.-By an unofficial article, dated June, 1846, it appears that there were then in operation in the United States an aggregate length of 4731 miles, which was constructed at the cost of $127,417,758, equivalent to £26,325,983. From the data furnished up to that time, we collect that the capital invested in railroads alone, independent of private and local undertakings, had augmented nearly five-fold in ten years. During the year 1846, the total amount of completed railroads in the United States had reached the aggregate of 4864 miles. In the beginning of 1847, there were, according to the report of the postmaster-general, of finished railroads 4752 miles; in progress and projected, 264 miles; total, 5016 miles. Omitting the gigantic project of the Oregon railroad. Thus, at the commencement of 1847, we find that the number of miles of completed and partly finished railroads in the principal countries of Europe and America, amounted to no less than 20,000 miles; being within a few thousand miles of the entire circumference of the globe. Those in Europe were supposed to require 6,157,000 tons of iron. Added to this, the government of British India has had surveys undertaken for 2000 miles of railroad, with a view of commencing a general system of railway in that extended empire. 1853. The number of miles of railway now in operation upon the surface of the globe is 34,776, of which 16,180 are in the Eastern Hemisphere, and 18,590 are in the Western, and which are distributed as follows: Steam Engines employed for purposes of industry, and also in mining enterprise, exclusive of that employed in navigation and locomotives. Hence, it is shown that the amount of horse power employed in mining and manufacturing enterprise in France increased 257 per cent. in ten years; and in Belgium 94 per cent. in only five years. Our English returns are incomplete. Steam vessels of Great Britain, the United States, France and Russia, chiefly engaged in Commerce. The steam marine of the United States is immense, amounting in 1852, according to Andrews's Report, to 1390 vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 417,226, of which 96 (tonnage 91,475 %) were ocean steamers, 529 were coast steamers, (tonnage 121,025), 765 were interior steamers, (tonnage 204,725 13), of which 601 (tonnage 135,559 ) were on the rivers.‡ The Mercantile Marine of Great Britain and United States. During the year 1853 there were built and registered in the United Kingdom 645 sailing vessels, of a collective burden of 154,956 tons; 153 steamers, with a tonnage of 48,215, making the total aggregate of ships building during the year of 203,171 tons, independent of the vessels built in the colonies. A striking fact in the ship building of the United Kingdom, is the rapid increase of iron ships. Of the 153 steamers built last year, 117 were of iron. Of the sailing vessels, 10 were built of iron, averaging 857 tons each. On the Clyde, which is one of the finest ship yards in Great Britain, more than half the vessels now on the stocks are of iron. Over 250,000 tons of shipping were built in the United States in 1852, and a still greater amount in 1853. At present the aggregate amount of tonnage owned by each of the two countries does not materially vary.§ Great Britain and Ireland have a navy of 678 vessels and 18,000 guns. France,. Russia,. Turkey, 328 vessels and 8,000 guns. 175 vessels and 7,000 guns. 74 vessels and 4,000 guns. Official Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, 1847. Report of the Societé Maritime, 1846. U. States Gazateer, 1854. New York Tribune. Map of Europe embracing latest Statistics, published by Cowperthwaite, Desilver & Butler, Phila. 1854. Such are the results which our recent investigations have disclosed, while seeking to trace the onward march of productive industry, in opposite hemispheres. However rapid may have been that advance in the Old World, in energy and perseverance-in inventive genius and mechanical skill-in an extended application of the useful arts— in the employment of mighty agencies known to us but as yesterday -and, above all, perhaps, in the adaptation of the wonderful powers of steam-the New World has by no means suffered herself to be left behind. It is but justice to the latter to show how fully she appreciates and avails herself of this newly acquired knowledge, by her rapid advancement in the operative and industrial arts, in so wide a field for human enterprise. We cannot perform this duty so efficiently as in the language of one of her own citizens and most distinguished engineers. The admirable and truly eloquent address, from which we take the following extracts, was delivered at the successful termination of one of the most important undertakings in the system of internal improvements in Pennsylvania. It reached us soon after we had embodied in the preceding pages the statistical results which were elicited during the preparation of the present volume.* "We have already alluded to the indications which past experience affords of the probable future consumption of coal in this country. The subject is of primary interest, and we may, therefore, venture still to add some reflections upon the causes which are now at work to extend this consumption. "In estimating the probable growth of this trade, we must, to some extent, endeavour to free our minds from the shackles of old opinions, and the influence of ancient example. We must learn to feel the truth, that we live in an age that bears little resemblance to the past, and the progress of which cannot be safely judged by the history of the past. "This is essentially the age of commerce and of steam-the foundations of which are our coal mines. "In the machine-shop and factory-on the railroad and canalon the rivers and the ocean-it is STEAM that is henceforth to perform the labour, overcome resistance, and vanquish space. And it is not for human intellect to assign a limit to the application of this power, in a country like that which it is our fortunate lot to inhabit— intersected by noble rivers, and penetrated by numerous bays-with an extensive sea-board, lined by flourishing cities, and possessing, along with boundless enterprise, all the elements of national wealth. "But, look where we will, the evidence of the truth, that we live in an age of which the progress is not to be measured by examples from the history of the past, is prominent before us. "Taking the iron trade as an example, we find that the mere increase of the production of this metal, in the valley of the Schuylkill alone, during the last eighteen months, exceed the entire production of the furnaces of Great Britain, ninety years ago. The manu Report to the Stockholders of the Schuylkill Navigation Company, by Charles Ellet, Esq., President, January 4th, 1847. |