or, and at the option of the officers of the Customs, for every 100l. value ... Ribbons, embossed or figured with velvet, the lb. or, and at the option of the officers of the Customs, for every 1007. value ........ and further, if mixed with gold, silver, or any other metals, in addition to the above rates, when the duty is not charged according to the value, the lb. Fancy silk net, or tricot, the lb. Plain silk lace, or net, called tulle, the square yard Manufactures of silk, or of silk mixed with any other material not particularly enumerated, or otherwise charged with duty, for every 1002. value 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 VOL. LXXXVIII. 30 per cent. 11. 7s. 6d. 30 to 45. 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 Ribbons, the lb. Silk gauze or crape, 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 Ribbons, the lb. Gauze of all descriptions, mixed with silk, satin, or any other ma- or, and at the option of the officers of the Customs, for 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 Ribbons of silk, embossed or figured with velvet, the lb. Fancy silk net or tricot, the lb. Plain silk lace or net, called tulle Manufactures of silk, or of silk mixed with any other materials, not particularly enumerated, or otherwise charged with duty, for every 1001. value 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 Manufactures of silk, or of silk and any other materials, and THE BROAD AND NARROW GAUGE. MAY it please your Majesty,-We, 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 disturbance 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. 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. But 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 |