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Manufactures of silk, or of silk mixed with metal, or any other material, produce of Europe, viz. :—

Silk or satin, plain, striped, or brocaded, viz. :—

Broad stuffs, the lb.

Articles thereof, not otherwise enumerated, the lb.

or, and at the option of the officers of the Customs, for
every 1001. value

Ribbons, the lb.

Silk gauze or crape, plain, striped, or brocaded, viz. :—
Broad stuffs, the lb.

Articles thereof, not otherwise enumerated, the lb.

5s.

6s.

15 per cent. 6s.

9s.

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10s.

15 per cent.

11s.

9s.

9s.

or, and at the option of the officers of the Customs, for
every 1001. value

Ribbons, the lb.

Gauze of all descriptions, mixed with silk, satin, or any other ma-
terials, in the proportion of one-half part of the fabric, the lb.
Articles thereof, not otherwise enumerated, the Ib.

or, and at the option of the officers of the Customs, for
every 1001. value

Velvet, plain or figured, the lb.

Articles thereof, not otherwise enumerated, the lb.

or, and at the option of the officers of the Customs, for
every 1007. value

Ribbons of silk, embossed or figured with velvet, the lb.
Manufactures of silk, or of silk and any other material, called
plush, commonly used for making hats, the lb.

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Fancy silk net or tricot, the lb.

Plain silk lace or net, called tulle

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88.

Manufactures of silk, or of silk mixed with any other materials, not particularly enumerated, or otherwise charged with duty, for every 1001. value

15 per cent.

Millinery of silk, or of which the greater part of the material is silk, viz. :

Turbans or caps, each
Hats or bonnets, each
Dresses, each

or,

and at the option of the officers of the Customs, for
every 100%. value

Manufactures of silk, or of silk and any other materials, and
articles of the same wholly or partially made up, not particu-
larly enumerated or otherwise charged with duty, for every
1007. value

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3s. 6d. 7s. 11. 10s.

15 per cent,

15 per cent.

THE BROAD AND NARROW GAUGE.
EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS.

MAY it please your Majesty,-We,
the Commissioners appointed by
writ, under your Majesty's Privy
Seal, bearing date the 11th of
July, in the ninth year of your
Majesty's reign, to inquire whether,
in future private acts of parliament
for the construction of railways,
provision ought to be made for
securing an uniform gauge, and
whether it would be expedient and
practicable to take measures to
bring the railways already con-
structed, or in progress of con-
struction, in Great Britain, into
uniformity of gauge, and to inquire
whether any other mode could be
adopted of obviating or mitigating
the evil apprehended as likely to
arise from the break that will occur
in railway communications from
the want of an uniform gauge, beg
dutifully to submit, that we have
called before us such persons as
we have judged to be, by reason
of their situation, knowledge or ex-
perience, the most competent to
afford us correct information on the
subject of this inquiry; and we have
required the production of such books
and documents from the various
railway companies as appear to us
to be the best calculated to aid our
researches.

The Commissioners then proceed to investigate the inconveniences attending a break or interruption of gauge: 1st, as applying to fast or express trains; 2nd, to ordinary or mixed trains; 3rd, to goods trains; 4th, to the conveyance of Her Majesty's forces. With regard to all of which the Commissioners express in strong

terms their sense of the delay, inconvenience, and damage arising to the public in the three former cases, and the danger which may occur to the state in time of war, and of expense and inconvenience in time of peace, in the latter.

The Commissioners proceed, in the second place, to discuss the various means proposed for obviating these evils, in cases where the break actually exists, or where, in the course of construction of railways of different gauges, it may hereafter occur.-The plans proposed are four in number, viz. :—

1. What may be termed telescopic axles; an arrangement of the wheels and axles of carriages permitting the wheels to slide on the axle, so as to contract or extend the interval between them in such a manner that they may be adapted to either of the gauges.

2. A form of truck adapted to the broad gauge, but carrying upon its upper surface pieces of rail 4 feet 8 inches asunder, so that a narrow gauge carriage may be run upon these rails without any dis

turbance of its wheels.

3. A method of shifting the bodies of carriages from a platform and set of wheels adapted for one gauge, to a different platform and set of wheels adapted to the other gauge.

4. A proposal to carry merchandize and minerals in loose boxes which may be shifted from one truck to another, and of which only one would probably be carried upon a narrow gauge truck, while two would be conveyed on a broad gauge truck.

All these plans the Commissioners unequivocally condemn.

The Commissioners proceed, thirdly, to consider the general policy of establishing an uniformity of gauge throughout the country. The Commissioners say :

We approach this momentous question with a full conviction of its importance, and the responsibility that rests upon us.

That an uniformity of gauge is now an object much to be desired, there can, we think, be no question. In the earlier period of the railway history of this country the great trunk lines were so far separated as to be independent of each other, and, as it were, isolated in their respective districts, and no diversity of gauge was then likely to interfere with the personal convenience or the commercial objects of the community; but now that railways are spreading in all directions, and becoming interlaced with each other in numerous places, that isolation is removed, that independence has ceased, and the time has arrived when, if steps cannot be taken to remove the existing evil of the diversity of gauge, at least it appears to us imperative that a wider spread of this evil should be prevented.

If we had to deal with a question not affecting the interests of parties, who are not only unconnected, but who are opposed to each other in a spirit of emulation, if not of rivalry; or if we were dealing with the property of the public, and not of private trading companies; we should merely have to consider whether that uniformity of gauge which we deem to be so desirable would be too dearly purchased by an alteration of one gauge to suit the other, or of both to some fresh gauge

which might be considered preferable to either, if any such there be.

But our position is different from this, since we have to consider not only the relative length of the different systems, the comparative mechanical efficiency of each, the general superiority of one above the other, their adaptation to the wants of the country, and the possibility as well as the policy of a change, but also the pecuniary means of effecting it. We have further to look to the consequences of an interruption of the traffic during the progress of an alteration.

There is still another view of the question; that is, the expediency of having, on lines of railway, additional rails, so as to afford the facility of using engines and carriages on both gauges.

But

This expedient, in whatever form adopted, cannot be considered as free from difficulties. If two rails, forming a narrow gauge way, are placed between the two rails which form a broad gauge way, carriages of the different gauges may run in the same train without alteration even of their buffers, which in the ordinary construction of the carriages correspond exactly on the broad and narrow gauges. the expense of such an insertion would probably be not less than that of an entire change of gauge, including, in the latter, the change of engines and carrying stock; and the complication which it would introduce at the crossings might produce danger to rapid trains, unless their speed were diminished at approaching such points. The difficulty of packing the rails, if longitudinal sleepers were used, would also be much greater than if rails

of only a single gauge were employed. If a single rail were inserted eccentrically in a broad gauge way, so as to form, in conjunction with one of the broad gauge rails, a narrow gauge way, the expense of the insertion, and the danger of the crossings, as well as the difficulty of packing the rails, would be somewhat diminished, but it would be imprudent to run carriages of the different gauges in the same train; and as it would probably be the policy of the railway company to adopt for their own stock of engines only one of the two gauges, and to interpose those difficulties which amount to a prohibition of the use of other companies' engines, the inconveniences of a break of gauge would exist in almost all their force at every junction of a branch railway on a different

gauge.

We consider, therefore, that the general adoption of such a system ought not to be permitted.

We remark, however, that the difficulties to which we have alluded may be greatly diminished on any railway where the system of combined gauges is cordially taken up by the company; and we think that great respect ought to be paid to the rights which the companies may be supposed to possess in the methods or systems which they have devised or adopted. At the same time, we lay it down as the first principle, that intercommunication of railways throughout the country ought, if possible, to be secured. If, to obtain the last-mentioned object, it should be necessary to alter or make a change in any existing railways, we think that it may be left as a matter of ulterior consideration for the Legislature, whether in these limited

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1. We will commence with the question of safety.

We are of opinion that experience will, in this matter, afford a better test by which to compare the systems of the broad and the narrow gauge than any theory; and we, therefore, have made inquiry into the nature of the accidents recorded in the official reports of the Board of Trade, as well as of such as have happened since the last report was published.

We find that railway accidents arise from collisions, obstructions on the road, points wrongly placed, slips in cuttings, subsidence of embankments, a defective state of the permanent way, loss of gauge, broken or loose chairs, fractures of wheels or axles, &c.; and, lastly, from engines running off the line from some other cause.

Of these several classes of accidents, all except the last are obviously independent of the gauge; and with reference to this last class, we have thought it right to endeavour to determine whether

the advocates of either gauge could fairly claim, in regard to these accidents, a preference for their respective systems, on the score of greater security to the traveller. In these lists we find only six accidents of the kind we are considering recorded from October 1840 to May 1845; whereas there have been no less than seven within the last seven months, and these are all attributable to excessive speed, the majority having happened to express trains. Of the whole number of these accidents, three have occurred on the broad gauge, and ten on the narrow; the former, however, differ in their character from the latter, the carriages only, in the last two cases, having been off the line, whereas, in all the ten narrow gauge cases, the engines have run off, and the consequences have been more fatal. We must here observe, however, that the extent of the narrow gauge lines is 1,901 miles, and that of the broad only 274; therefore, the comparison would be unfavourable to the broad gauge if considered merely with regard to their relative length; but it must be borne in mind, that the general speed of the Great Western considerably exceeds that of many of the narrow gauge lines, and that some consideration is on that account due to the broad gauge.

The primary causes of engines getting off the rails appear to be over-driving, a defective road, a bad joint, or a badly balanced engine. If, in consequence of heavy rains or other unfavourable circumstances, any part of the road becomes unsound, the engine sinks on one side as it passes along such part of the rail, suddenly rises again, and is thus thrown into a

rocking and lateral oscillatory motion, with more or less of violence according to the rate of speed; and a very similar effect is produced in passing at high speeds from one curve to another of different curvature. A succession of strains is thus thrown upon the rails, and if, before the rocking subsides, the wheel meets with a defective rail or chair, which yields to the impulse, the engine and train are thrown off as a necessary consequence; but, as far as we can see, such casualties are equally likely to happen on either gauge, other circumstances being similar.

It has indeed been stated, by some of the witnesses whom we have examined, that the broad gauge is more liable to such accidents, from the circumstance that the length of the engine, or rather the distance between the fore and hind axle, is less in proportion to its breadth than in the narrow gauge engines, and that therefore the broad gauge engine is liable to be thrown more obliquely across the lines, and, in case of meeting with an open or defective joint, more liable to quit the rail; but we cannot admit the validity of this objection against the broad gauge lines. It may be that the proportion between the length and breadth of the engine has some influence on its motion, and that the motion is somewhat less steady where the difference between the length and breadth is considerably diminished; but practical facts scarcely lead to the conclusion that the safety of the trains is endangered by the present proportion of the broad gauge engines; for it appears that on the London and Birmingham Railway, where the engines hitherto employed have been, generally,

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