manner and upon the same terms as is provided for the appropriation of the property of individuals, by the 10th section of this act. SEC. 13. Such corporation may demand and receive for the transportation of passengers on said road, not exceeding three cents per mile, and for the transportation of property, not exceeding five cents per ton per mile, when the same is transported a distance of thirty miles or more; and in case the same is transported for a distance less than thirty miles, such reasonable rate as may be from time to time fixed by said company, or prescribed by law. SEC. 14. Such company shall have power to borrow money on the credit of the corporation, not exceeding its authorized capital stock, at a rate of interest not exceeding seven per cent per annum, and may execute bonds or promissory notes therefor, in sums of not less than one hundred dollars; and to secure the payment thereof, may pledge the property and income of such company. SEC. 15. Such company may acquire by purchase or gift, any lands in the vicinity of said road or through which the same may pass, so far as may be deemed necessary or convenient by said company to secure the right of way, or such as may be granted to aid in the construction of such road, and the same to hold or convey in such manner as the directors may prescribe; and all deeds and conveyances made by such company shall be signed by the president, under seal of the corporation; and any existing railroad corporation may accept the provisions of this act, and after such acceptance all conflicting provisions of their respective charters shall be null and void. SEO. 16. It shall be lawful for such corporation whenever it shall be necessary, in the construction of such road, to cross any road or stream of water, to divert the same from its present location or bed; but said corporation shall without unnecessary delay, place such road or stream in such condition as not to impair its former usefulness. SEC. 17. Such corporation shall, as soon as convenient after its organization, establish a principal office at some point on the line of its road, and change the same at pleasure, giving public notice in some newspaper of such establishment or change. SEC. 18. Every company organized under this act, shall be required to erect, at all points where their road shall cross any public road, at a sufficient elevation from such road to admit of the free passage of vehicles of every kind, a sign with large and distinct letters placed thereon, to give notice of the proximity of the railroad, and warn persons of the necessity of looking out for the cars; and any company neglecting or refusing to erect such sign, shall be liable in damages for all injuries occurring to persons or property from each neglect or refusal; and each railroad company shall be required to fence its roads with a good substantial wooden fence, under such rules as the county commissioners of the several counties through which the same may pass, may prescribe. SEC. 19. That each and every railroad company, incorporated under this act, shall annually, in the month of January, make a full report of the condition of its affairs to the auditor of State, showing the amount of capital stock of such company, the gross amount of tolls or receipts during the previous year, the cost of repairs and incidental expenses, the net amount of profits, and the dividends made; with such other facts as may be necessary to a full statement of the affairs and conditions of such road; and the auditor shall annually present an abstract copy of such report to the general assembly. SEC. 20. That whenever the line of any railroad company now existing, or which may hereafter organize under this act, shall cross any canal, or any navigable water, the said company shall file with the "board of public works," or with the acting commissioners thereof, having charge of the public works where such crossing is proposed, the plan of the bridge and other fixtures for crossing such canal or navigable water, designating the place of crossing; and if the said board or acting commissioner there of shall approve of such plan, he shall notify such company, in writing, of such approval; but if the said board or acting commissioner shall disapprove such plan or fail to approve the same within twenty days after the filing thereof, then it shall be lawful for such company to apply to the court of common pleas, or any judge thereof, in vacation, and upon reasonable notice being given to the board of public works, or said acting commissioner, said court or judge shall, upon good cause shown, appoint a competent disinterested engineer, not a resident of any county through which said road passes, to examine such crossing, and prescribe the plan and condition thereof, so as not to impede navigation; and such engineer shall, within twenty days from his appointment, make his return to the court of common pleas of the county where such crossing is to be made, subject to exceptions by either party, and thereupon the court shall at the next term after the filing of said return, proceed to examine the same, and unless good cause is shown, shall approve and confirm the same; and such order or confirmation shall be sufficient authority for the erection, use, and occupancy of such bridge, in accordance with such plan; provided, that no railroad company shall be authorized to construct a permanent bridge over any canal of this State which shall be less than ten feet in the clear above the top water-line of said canal; and the piers and abutments of such bridge shall be placed so as not in any manner to contract the width of the canal, or interfere with free passage on the towing path. SEC. 21. That whenever the lines of railroad of any railroad companies in this State, or any portion of such lines, have been or may be constructed, so as to admit the passage of burden or passenger cars over two or more of such roads continuously without break or interruption, such companies are hereby authorized to consolidate themselves into a single corporation, in the manner following: 1. The directors of said two or more corporations may enter into an agreement, under the corporate seal of each, for the consolidation of the said two or more corporations, prescribing the terms and conditions thereof; the mode of carrying the same into effect; the name of the new corporation; the number of the directors thereof, which shall not exceed thirteen; the time and place of holding the first election for directors; and the number of shares of capital stock in the new corporation; the amount of each share; the manner of converting the shares of capital stock in each of said two or more corporations into shares in such new corporation; the manner of compensating stockholders in each of said two or more corporations who refuse to convert their stock into the stock of such new corporation; with such other details as they shall deem necessary to perfect such consolidation of said corporations; and such new corporation shall possess all the powers, rights, and franchises, conferred upon such two or more corporations, and shall be subject [to] all the restrictions and perform all the duties imposed by the provisions of this act; provided, that all the stockholders in either of such corporations who will refuse to convert their stock into the stock of such new corporation, shall be paid at least par value for each of the shares so held by them, if they shall so require, previous to said consolidation being consummated. 2. Such agreement of the directors shall not be deemed to be the agreement of the said two or more corporations, until after it has been submitted to the stockholders of each of said corporations, separately, at a meeting thereof; to be called upon a notice of at least thirty days; specifying the time and place of such meeting, and the object thereof, to be addressed to each of such stockholders, when their place of residence is kuown, and deposited in the postoffice, and published for at least three successive weeks in one newspaper, in at least one of the cities or towns in which each of said corporation has its principal office of business, and has been sanctioned by such stockholders, by a vote of at least two thirds in amount of the stockholders present at such meeting, voting by ballot, in regard to such agreement, either in person or by proxy, each share being entitled to one vote; and when such agreement of the directors has been so sanctioned by each of the meetings of the stockholders separately, after being submitted to such meetings in the manner above mentioned, then such agreement of the directors shall be deemed to be the agreement of the said two or more corporations. SEC. 22. Upon making the agreement mentioned in the preceding section, in the manner required therein, and filing a duplicate or counterpart thereof in the office of the Secretary of State, the said two or more corporations mentioned or referred to in the said first section, shall be merged in the new corporation provided for in such agreement, to be known by the corporate name therein mentioned, and the details of such agreement shall be carried into effect as provided therein. SEC. 23. Upon the election of the first board of directors of the corporation created by the agreement in the twenty-first section of this act mentioned, and by the provisions of this act, all and singular the rights and franchises of each and all of said two or more corporations, parties to such agreement, all and singular their rights and interests, in and to every species of property, real, personal, and mixed, and things in action shall be deemed to be transferred to and vested in such new corporation, without any other deed or transfer; and such new corporation shall hold and enjoy the same, together with the right of way, and all other rights of property, in the same manner, and to the same extent, as if the said two or more corporations, parties to such agreement, should have continued to retain the title, and transact the business of such corporations; and the titles and the real estate acquired by either of said two or more corporations, shall not be deemed to revert or be impaired by means of any thing in this act contained; Provided that all rights of creditors, and all liens upon the property of either of said corporations, parties to said agreement, shall be and hereby are preserved unimpaired; and the respective corporations shall continue to exist so far as may be necessary to enforce the same; and provided further, that all the debts, liabilities, and duties of either company shall henceforth attach to such new corporation, and be enforced from the same, to the extent and in the same manner, as if such debts, liabilities, and dues, had been originally incurred by it. SEC. 24. Any railroad company heretofore or hereafter incorporated, may at any time, by means of subscription to the capital of any other company, or other wise, aid such company in the construction of its railroad, for the purpose of forming a connection of said last mentioned road with the road owned by the company furnishing said aid; or any railroad company organized in pursuance of law, may lease or purchase any part or all of any railroad constructed by any other company, if said companies' lines of road are contiguous or connected as aforesaid, upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed on between said companies respectively; or any two or more railroad companies whose lines are so connected, may enter into any arrangement for their common benefit, consistent with and calculated to promote the objects for which they were created; Provided that no such aid shall be furnished, nor any such purchase, lease, or arrangement perfected, until a meeting of the stockholders of each of said companies shall have been called by the directors thereof, at such time and place, and in such manner as they shall designate, and the holders of at least two thirds of the stock of such company represented at such meeting, in person or by proxy, and voting thereat, shall have assented thereto. SEC. 25. The commissioners of any county, the city or town council of any city or town, and the trustees of any township, which county, city, town, or township has heretofore subscribed to the capital stock of any railroad company, or turnpike, or plank-road company, and have issued, or may hereafter issue any bonds for the payment of such subscription, are hereby authorized to sell the said stock, or any part thereof, and on such terms as they shall deem to be the interest of said county, city, town, or township, respectively, and may apply the proceeds of such sale to the pay ment of the bonds by such county, city, town, or township, respectively, subscribed. SEC. 26. That every railroad company in this State shall cause all its trains of cars for passengers, to entirely stop, upon each arrival at a station advertised by such company as a station for receiving passengers upon such trains, at least one half of one minute; and every company, and every person in the employment of such company, that shall violate, or cause or permit to be violated, the provisions of this section, shall be liable to a forfeiture of not more than one hundred dollars, nor less than twenty dollars; to be recovered in an action of debt, upon the complaint of any person, before any justice of the peace of the county in which such violation shall occur; and in all cases in which a forfeiture may occur under the provisions of this section, the company whose agent shall cause or permit such violation, shall be liable to the amount of such forfeiture, and in all cases, the conductor upon such trains shall be held prima facie to have caused the violation of this section, which may occur upon the train in his charge; said forfeiture to be recovered in the name of the State of Ohio, for the use of common schools. LIABILITIES OF STEAMBOATS. A case of some importance was recently tried at Cleveland, Ohio, in which the liability of steamboats was set down by the decision of the bench. A gentleman brought suit against the Niagara for the loss of a trunk containing wearing apparel, and $2,500 in gold. The judge held that money, except an amount actually designed for traveling expenses, contained in a trunk, was not recoverable in case of loss, except as baggage. That in order to create such liabilities on the part of a boat or transportation company, the unusual contents of such trunk should be made known to the carrier, so that freight, if demanded, might be received in proportion to the risk--that where a trunk, with such contents was received, not as mere baggage, but as freight, the carrier would be liable, although he had no notice of the particular contents of the trunk: but that a mere gratuity paid to the porter, as a perquisite for taking care of a trunk, did not, in the absence of any other proof, vary the liability of the carrier. The court further held, that if it appeared from the evidence that his money was being tranported for purposes of future investment, and no part of it was intended to be used as traveling expenses, that under the circumstances the boat would not be liable for any portion of the money. The jury, under the charge of the court, returned a verdict for $309, the value of the wearing apparel, disallowing the $2,500, claimed for loss of money in the trunk. BRITISH AND NORTH AMERICAN STEAMSHIP COMPANY. The following are the sizes and horse-power of the steamships of the Messrs. Burns, of Glasgow, and Mac Iver, of Liverpool: Total: paddle, 19; screws, 10; barges, 2-31. Total tonnage, 37,755. Total horse-power, 11,108. MAMMOTH LOCOMOTIVES. In despite of the fact daily demonstrated on the English lines of the greater comparative cheapness of small locomotives, says the Railway Times, we notice that our railway managors are increasing the weight of their engines very materially. Very likely for some kinds of traffic the heavy locomotive is more convenient and perhaps economical, and perhaps in some cases indispensable; but we fear that, as a general matter, our railway managers are too ready, from some spirit of emulation, to order engines of too great weight. Where the locomotives are light and well constructed, there is a very great saving in wear and tear, and vastly more public accommodation, especially in the passenger traffic. With light locomotives, more trains can be run at a less aggregate cost, as we think has been sufficiently demonstrated by the results on some of the English lines, the accounts of which have been published in the American Railway Times at different periods. We believe that we are only repeating the decided opinions of the great majority of our best informed railway managers, when we say that the use of these very heavy locomotives is far from being economical. A locomotive of from thirty to forty tons weight is quite a curiosity in its way, and well worth being shown and looked at, but if they are destructive of the profits of the company, as we apprehend in many cases they must be, our managers ought to dispense with the expense of these extraordinary instances of mechanical skill for sightseeing. The rapid depreciation of the engine itself, the extra wear of the rails, hedges, and superstructure, from the use of these mammoth affairs, is worthy of attention. We now give an account of a mammoth locomotive which has been built at Trenton for the Camden and Amboy road. It weighs thirty tons, and is equal to 350 horsepower, and is designed for burning coal. A trial trip at Bordentown, on Tuesday, was attended with satisfactory results. The Trenton American gives an account of the mechanical peculiarities of this engine as follows: "This engine differs from other locomotives in several particulars. The first is, the manner in which the motive power is communicated to the wheels, namely by connecting the cross-head by a rod, with a pendulum or long lever suspended from a shaft, supported by pedestals fixed on the top of the boiler. This lever, vibrating, gives a very slight angle to the first connection rod, and consequently occasions very little friction, between the cross head and guide. The main connection takes hold with a fork, at the lower extremity of the first connection, and passes back to a wrist in the third pair of wheels; from this passes another connection rod to the fourth or rear wheels-then, to complete the arrangement forward, the third pair of wheels has fixed upon the center of the axle a spur gear, communicating through an intermediate Building at Dumbarton for Cunard Line. For loading steamers in Mersey. + Building at Dumbarton. wheel to another fixed on the axle of the second pair or rear truck wheels; these wheels are connected by side-rods to the front truck wheels, making the whole eight wheels, or four parts, driving wheels. Another striking peculiarity of this engine is the manner of heating the water before it enters the boiler. In the first place the tank is connected by hose to the ashpan, which is made with a double bottom, so as to form a space of three inches between the sheets, to contain water; from this the water passes through an internal pipe, inclosed by the exhaust pipe; thence to the smoke-box, where it passes out to pumps, which are vertical, and fixed on the outside of the smoke box, and worked from an arm fixed on the pendulum shaft; by this arrangement the water is heated to nearly the boiling point before it enters the boiler. "The engine is calculated for freight trains, having wheels only four feet in diameter. The boiler is twenty-four feet in length, and fifty inches in diameter, tapering each way, forming a line on the bottom. The furnace is forty-seven inches wide, and seven feet long, having a bridge twelve inches from the tube sheet." GALENA AND CHICAGO UNION RAILROAD-EARNINGS, ETC. From the report of N. K. Towner, Esq., Secretary of the Operating Department of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, we are enabled to present our readers with a tabular statement of the earnings of the road for the fiscal year ending May 1, 1853. Of the freight, mails, and incidentals, the following exhibit the total of each :— Freight.. $272,406 16 The number of passengers carried on this road for the year was 140,016. The lowest number in one month was 9,127, in February, and the highest, 14,661, in October. RAILROADS IN CANADA. The Montreal Herald publishes a railroad table, of which it says:-“ By this table it will be seen that of 2,051 miles of road, we have already in operation 225 (for the Rawdon and Industry line, of 20 miles, is completed) miles, 608 miles under construction, and 1,211 miles for which charters have been obtained. Of these last, however, 523 miles-the Main Trunk, from Trois Pistoles to Quebec, and from Montreal to Hamilton-are now contracted for, and their construction may be considered secured-leaving 688 miles of chartered road not yet contracted for. Of the 225 miles of completed road, 192 miles are in Lower, and 27 in Upper Canada. Of the 1,131 miles, under construction and contracted for, about 330 will be found to be in Lower Canada, and 800 in Upper; and of 688 miles of chartered roads not yet contracted for-with the exception, say of 60 miles of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Grand Junc tion Road-the whole are in the upper section of the province. Thus, when all the roads under construction, contracted for, and chartered, are completed, Upper Canada will possess 1,465, and Lower Canada only 586 miles of road." |