r, 1873, not less than
70,651 miles were in operation, of which 3916 had been made during that
year. One of the most extensive trunk-lines is the Great Pacific
Railroad, connecting the lines in the valleys of the Mississippi and the
Missouri with the city of San Francisco on the shores of the Pacific, by
means of which it is possible to make the journey from England to Hong
Kong, via New York, in little more than a month.

* * * * *

The results of the working of railways have been in many respects
different from those anticipated by their projectors. One of the most
unexpected has been the growth of an immense passenger-traffic. The
Stockton and Darlington line was projected as a coal line only, and the
Liverpool and Manchester as a merchandise line. Passengers were not
taken into account as a source of revenue, for at the time of their
projection, it was not believed that people would trust themselves to be
drawn upon a railway by an "explosive machine," as the locomotive was
described to be. Indeed, a writer of eminence declared that he would as
soon think of being fired off on a ricochet rocket, as travel on a
railway at twice the speed of the old stagecoaches. So great was the
alarm which existed as to the locomotive, that the Liverpool and
Manchester Committee pledged themselves in their second prospectus,
issued in 1825, "not to require any clause empowering its use;" and as
late as 1829, the Newcastle and Carlisle Act was conceded on the express
condition that the line should not be worked by locomotives, but by
horses only.

Nevertheless, the Liverpool and Manchester Company obtained powers to
make and work their railway without any such restriction; and when the
line was made and opened, a locomotive passenger train was advertised to
be run upon it, by way of experiment. Greatly to the surprise of the
directors, more passengers presented themselves as travellers by the
train than could conveniently be carried.

The first arrangements as to passenger-traffic were of a very primitive
character, being mainly copied from the old stage-coach system. The
passengers were "booked" at the railway office, and their names were
entered in a way-bill which was given to the guard when the train
started. Though the usual stage-coach bugleman could not conveniently
accompany the passengers, the trains were at first played out of the
terminal stations by a lively tune performed by a