t of
clerks and porters to superintend and effect the transhipment, but, in
the hurry of business, mistakes occur; goods destined for Hull are
perhaps put into the Manchester truck; boxes are bruised, packing
torn, furniture and brittle articles damaged. There is the chance of
mistake in the re-invoicing of goods; the other day, for instance, a
bale for Bristol was laid hold of by a carrier at Gloucester and taken
to Brecon, a claim for some 30_l._ being instantly made upon us.

"In short, all the inconvenience, delay, and expense attending an
unloading and reloading of goods have to be encountered, and there is
nothing the senders of goods so much dread as this. The expense
involved is very considerable: there is the expense of porterage,
which varies from 3_d._ to 6_d._ per ton: the expense of clerks
employed in inspecting and invoicing the goods, the expense of
shunting the waggons, the waste of premises, the additional carrying
stock it obliges the Companies on each gauge to maintain, and, above
all, the loss of trade which is sure to result from the delay and risk
attending the change, and the advantage which uninterrupted
communications, whether by Water or Railway, are sure to have over you
in competition.

"Much of this expense and delay, it may be said, can be obviated by
better arrangements and more care; by ample station accommodation, by
abundant carrying stock. No doubt some of it may be prevented, but
this is only another name for expense. The care, too, which is
required must not be confined to the Railways immediately affected,
but must commence on a Railway a long way off. The goods from Leeds
for Bristol, for instance, must be duly placed together at Leeds,
packed in such a manner as will enable you at Gloucester to get at
them in the best manner. They must be forwarded from Leeds, and again
from Birmingham, in such quantities as will be convenient at
Gloucester. The arrangements, in short, by which our interests at
Gloucester will be best consulted, will have to be made by another
Company, often not interested in the matter, and whose convenience may
suggest another course. You cannot, therefore, look forward to
remedying many of the difficulties attending on change of gauge, which
are of this nature."

To the above summary of the practical inconveniences mentioned, we have
only to add,