inquire whether it is really an improvement on their That the sum first above mentioned has been placed City Treasurer's Office, Sept. 6, 1832. The subjoined communication from the Sanitary Committee was received, and ordered to be printed SANITARY BOARD, Aug. 19, 1832. Fothe Presidents of the Select and Common Councils. Gentlemen,--The inclosed communications from the medical committee of consultation, were received on the 27th and 29th insts, and the following resolution was this day adopted: Resolved, That the communication received this day from the committee of consultation upon the subject of a permanent cholera hospital, with that received upon the 27th inst. upon the same subject, be presented to the Select and Common Councils, with a request that they take immediate order upon them. Very respectfully. Secr'y of the Sanitary Board. SAML. DAVIS, SELECT COUNCIL CHAMBER, Aug. 29, 1832. The committee of the Medical Council, charged with a reply to the resolution of the Sanitary Committee on the establishment of a permanent cholera hospital, report the following suggestions and recommendations as most suitable to the present state of this business. 1st. That an hospital or infirmary of forty beds be provided. 2d. That this infirmary be on a large and well ventilated lot, not far from the centre of the plot of the city. 3d. That if a building already erected, and thus cir cumstanced cannot be procured, and remodelled so as to make it fit for the purpose indicated; that a new one on a plain but substantial plan be erected without delay. 4th. That when the building itself, its size, and position shall be determined on by the proper authorities, your committee will be ready to report on the details of its interior arrangement, and on the plan of its ope rations. The committee would further add, that from the size and location of the hospital recommended, it is obFrom the Philadelphia Gazette. viously calculated only to meet the exigencies of the PROCEEDINGS OF COUNCILS. city under ordinary visitations from the cholera; and is an economical substitute for the present extensive plan Thursday, Sept. 6th, 1832. SELECT COUNCIL.-A communication from the niture. But should this disease ever become very extenof accommodation, and also a deposit for hospital furcity commissioners and city clerk was received, and re-sive, it will of course be expedient to establish tempoferred, in relation to accounts, and purchase of paving stones; also one from the city clerk submiting printed statements of his receipts for entries of hackney coaches, wagons, carts, drays, wheelbarrows, and handbarrows, and for permits for placing building materials during the last quarter, together with an account of his payments to the city treasurer for the same period. The annexed communication from the city Treasurer was received, and referred to the committee of ways and means. The Presidents of the Select and Common Councils. Gentlemen-I beg leave to inform you that on the 8th ultimo I received from the executors of Stephen Girard the sum of nine thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars, which with two hundred and fifty dollars retained by them for the state tax of 24 per cent under the collateral inheritance law, making together a total of ten thousand dollars, being the amount bequeathed by Mr. Girard to the mayor, alderman and citizens of Philadelphia in trust safely to invest the same in some productive fund, and with the interest and dividends arising therefrom to purchase fuel for poor white house keepers and room keepers, &c." rary hospitals, which could be done according to the actual necessity of the occasion, from the stores of the permanent infirmary, one hospital after another being organized, according to the progress of the epidemic. adopted, and a resolution passed that they be handed in SAMUEL JACKSON, Sęc'ry. Gentlemen:-On behalf and by the direction of the committee of Kensington District of the Northern Liberties, appointed by the commissioners thereof, on the subject of the introduction of the Schuylkill water into said district, it is my duty to state that since our former communication meetings have taken place between the watering committees of Councils, Northern Liberties, and Kensington, and we regret to say, that the results of those meetings are not so favourable to our district as 1832.] we had reason to anticipate. We were aware that the most direct, and perhaps the most economical mode of introducing the water into our district would be by a continuation of the main pipes, now laid through the whole extent of the district of the Northern Liberties, into Kensington. On an interchange of opinions with the committee of the Northern Liberties, we are apprehensive that this mode of introducing said water cannot be effected. The committee of the Northern Liberties require for the privilege of attaching to their pipes a bonus of twelve thousand dollars. This sum we are not authorized by our board to yield. By the contract between the city and the Northern Liberties, the city expressly reserved the right of contracting with any and all the neighbouring districts, for supplying them with said water. It is easily to be perceived that the city may be deprived of the benefit of this reservation, and the adjoining districts of the use of the water, if either of the districts now supplied should demand an exorbitant sum for the use of their pipes of conduit. The situation of Kensington is peculiar in this respect; it lies north and east from the Northern Liberties and Spring Garden, and should the Schuylkill water ever be introduced into this district; it must, in all probability, first pass through one or other of those districts. The committee of Kensington beg to state that their district is large, populous and increasing. The rents to arise from the use of the water would now be considerable, there being many extensive factories within its limits all or many of which would be benefitted by the introduction of the Schuylkill water, independently of the great number of private persons now desirous for its use. With these considerations they have conclud. ed to offer the Northern Liberties the sum of six thousand dollars, that being the extent of their instructions, and respectfully ask from Councils their aid as to the balance of the sum required by the Northern Liberties. Signed on behalf and by order of the Committee of HUGH CLARK. Kensington. Chairman of Watering Committee. Kensington, Sept. 1st, 1832. MB. Guoves called up for consideration the report of the committee, relative to the Rail Road along Broad street, which was re-committed to the same committee, and Mr. Horn was substituted in the place of Mr. Johnson, resigned. MR. DUANE called up for consideration the ordinance reported by the Girard committee, which after being amended, passed its first and second reading. COMMON COUNCIL.-MR. BAKER, as chairman of the paving committee, made two reports and resolutions, in favor of paving Paper Alley from Juniper to Broad street, and Madison street, which were adopted by the Common Council, but were laid on the table in the Select Council. MR. OKIE, as chairman of the committee of accounts, made the annexed report. The committee of accounts repart-that they have examined the accounts of the city treasurer for the quarter ending 30th June last, and compared the same with the proper vouchers and bank books, all of which they found to be correct. The following communication from Messrs A. Russell and Co. was received, and referred to the Committee on the rents of Girard estate. Philadelphia, Aug. 23d, 1832. James Page, Esq. President of the Common Council of the city of Philadelphia. Sir-In consequence of the great decline of trade and the necessary fall of rents generally, we who occupy the building No. 104 Chesnut street, beg leave to state that our present rent (say $1600 per annum) is greater than our business will warrant us in paying. We therefore request that you will lay the subject before Councils, earnestly entreating that they will adapt the said rent to the times, by having it reduced to what may be considered reasonable. Very respectfully, your obe- Resolved, that the city commissioners be and they are hereby authorized to purchase two thousand dollars worth of paving stones, in addition to those already contracted for, and that the expense be charged to appropriation No. 19. MR. HORN offered the following resolutions, which were passed by the Common Council but were laid on the table in the Select Council, it being late when they were received. Resolved, by the Select and Common Councils of the City of Philadelphia, That the Mayor be requested to draw his order on the city treasurer in favour of Doctors Samuel Jackson, Richard Harlan, and Charles Meigs, the three gentlemen composing the commission sent by the city to visit Canada on an investigation of the epidemic cholera, as a compensation for expenses and services in relation to said commission, for the sum of four hundred dollars to each commissioner and that the same be charged to appropriation No. 21. Resolved, That the thanks of the citizens of Philadelphia be presented to the above named gentlemen for their worthy and patriotic zeal and promptitude in repairing at the call of the city to the scene of pestilence and danger to subserve the cause of humanity. Days of the Month.) 1|Wednesd|68|76|77|74||29.53|56|54||29.54||S W 2 Thursd'y 69 77 75 74 6 Monday 70 78 7875 20 Monday 66757672 17686|80|81| 52 55 54 54 N 53 S W Barometer. 19° Difference 29.54 in .17 in 29.44 in Wind. ingdon county; and passes up the narrow valley of Black Gap Run, ten miles, to the summit of the mountain at Blair's Gap; which is passed by a cut twelve 63° Min. on the 31st 29.37 in feet deep. The line then runs along the western slope of the mountain to the head of Conemaugh, and follows the valley of that stream to the borough of Conemaugh, commonly called Johnstown, in Cambria county, where the rail-road ends, and the western division of the Pennsylvania Canal commences. This canal is now naviga ble throughout the whole course to the city of Pittsburgh. N NE E SE S S W Thermometer. Maximum on 15th 82° Max. on the 1st Difference Mean 73° Mean Days of the Month. Fair Fair 2 days Rain 1 day Show'y 3 days Rain 26, 29, 30, 1, 27, 31, 4, 5, 8, 16, 7,9, 17, 22, 2, 18, 19, 28, W N W Morning. Afternoon. Cloudy The most prominent works on the line of the rail-road are the following: A stone viaduct over one branch of the Juniata, at Hollidaysburgh, which has two eliptical arches of 40 feet 4 inches span. As the line crosses the stream obliquely, the arches are skewed, so as to vary 35 degrees from right angles with their abutments; these arches are being built of cut stone, the beds of which are warped surfaces. The scenery in the vicinity of the great viaduct over the Little Conemaugh river, is of singularly wild and striking description. The river forms a loop, about Rain two miles in extent, around the base of a mountain, reCloudy turning almost to the place of beginning; at this point Cloudy there is a very narrow gap in the dividing ridge through Show'y which the rail-road passes. In running this distance Rain the river falls about forty-five feet, and, as the rail-road cuts off the bend, a viaduct seventy feet high, above the water, becomes necessary. This is now being built of sand stone, in the most substantial manner, with a semi-circular arch of eighty feet span. ALLEGHENY PORTAGE RAIL-ROAD. The leading article of the Philadelphia Gazette, of August 1st, was a notice of the Allegheny Portage Rail-road, which, from the extensive circulation of that paper, has been copied into various journals throughout the state, and also in New York and Boston. In that account the rails of the Portage Road are stated to be of cast iron, which is incorrect. They are to be of rolled iron, in lengths of fifteen feet. They will weigh forty pounds per yard; and resemble, in their general form, those used on the Preston and Wigan Railway, in England, which are stronger, and less liable to be displaced, than the rails of the Liverpool and Manchester Road. The stone blocks contain 34 cubic feet each, weighing about a quarter of a ton. They are placed three feet from centre to centre, surrounded by broken stone, and the cast iron chairs which support the rails are firmly spiked to them. Contracts have been made for furnishing the rails and chairs, and for laying a single tract of railway, with the necessary turn-outs, throughout the line from Hollidaysburgh to Johnstown, a distance of thirty-six miles and twothirds. The graded bed of the rail-road is 25 feet wide, with appropriate side ditches and drains. A considerable part of the grading is done, and a force of about two thousand men is now employed upon the line. The tunnel, through a spur of a mountain four and a half miles from Johnstown, will be 880 feet long, through rock, and will save about two miles in distance. When finished, it will be twenty feet wide and nineteen feet high in the middle:-it is now cut larger, in order to admit of an arch; and about one half of the excavation of the tunnel is now done. As the Portage Rail-road will form an important part of the main line of Pennsylvania state improvements, it has been deemed advisable to make it in the best and most permanent manner. The country, through which much of it passes, is extremely wild and ragged, rendering expensive cuttings and embankments necessary; and all the drains, culverts, and bridges are of stone. Stationary steam power is intended to be used at the Inclined Planes, and either horses or locomotive engines on the other parts of the road. The road is expected to be open for travelling next summer, with a double track upon the planes and at the turn-outs, and with a single track for the rest of the distance; the remainder of the double track can be afterwards advanta geously laid. When this road is open, there will be a complete and direct channel of communication by canal and railway, from the city of Philadelphia, through the state of Pennsylvania, to the city of Pittsburgh, at the head of the Ohio, the great highway of the west; and, in a short time afterwards, politicians will not think it their interest to dispute such an investment of the funds of the commonwealth. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. S. A brief notice of the first part of a report of a geologi cal survey of Massachusetts, by Edward Hitchcock, A. M. professor of chemistry and natural history, Amhurst College. By Peter A. Browne, of Philadel phia. The ascent on the eastern side of the mountain is 1,399 feet, and the descent on the western side 1,172 feet. There are five inclined planes on each side, varying in length from 1,500 to 3,100 feet. They are all straight, and their inclination with the horizon is be-ance amongst us. tween four and six degrees. The Allegheny Portage Rail-road connects with the Juniata Canal, at the town of Hollidaysburgh, in Hunt (Written for the Bucks County Intelligencer.) The above publication has recently made its appear The learned gentleman to whom we are indebted for the pleasure of its perusal, proposes to divide his labors into four parts. The first and the only one which has yet been published, purports to embrace the economical geology of the state, or an account of the rocks, soils, and minerals that may be applied to useful purposes, and thus become sources of pecuniary profit; and so far as I am able to judge of it, without having had lately the advantage of passing over the ground, it is executed, generally, in a manner highly creditable to its author. The second is to embrace the Topographical geology. The third part is to consist of the Scientific geology, and the fourth part will embrace catalogues of the native mineralogical, botanical, and zoological productions of that commonwealth. should the remaining parts be executed with equal care and ability, the whole report will present a valuable addition to the American Library, which should find its way to our seminaries of learning, and which ought to be placed in the hands of the rising generation of both sexes. Some may perhaps suppose that, as Pennsylvanians, this work will be no further interesting to us than the pleasure we take in contemplating the increasing prosperity of a sister state; but when we consider that the rocks of this continent form a general, though not a continuous line of formations, crossing the United States in a direction nearly from north-east to south-west, the study of the geology of Massachusetts assumes an importance not at first anticipated, and invites our study in a degree we had not originally imagined. The survey, it seems, was made under the authority of the legislature, and is to be accompanied by a geological inap of the state, which we are informed is now in progress, and a collection of specimens of every variety of rock found in the commonwealth, which are to be placed at the disposal of that body. This is an example which would be highly creditable to the representatives of Pennsylvania. Professor Hitchcock commences his report with a brief notice of the soils, in doing which he has adopted and explained the distinction made by Messrs. Conybeare & Philips, between allurium and diluvium, which, in the United States as well as in Europe, is a very obvious one. Of the former valuable soil, Massachusetts has a much less proportion than our state and the state of New York. The principal part, as will be seen by casting the eye over the preliminary map which accompanies the report, lies along the Connecticut river. This appears very inconsiderable when compared with the fine alluvials, or "river bottom lands" as these are sometimes called of the Delaware, the Schuylkill, the Susquehannah, the Alleghany, and the neighborhood of Lake Erie. We look also in vain to Massachusetts for those extensive limestone districts that render so estimable the farms of Whitemarsh, in Montgomery, Lancaster, Cumberland, Franklin, and other counties in Pennsylvania. Nevertheless, Massachusetts is by no means deficient in soils.-The new red sand stone, says our reporter, though not equal in fertility to that of its corresponding rock in England is of a "superior quality." It is peculiarly adapted to fruit, and the grass grown upon it is excellent. In the western part of Worcester county the ground, for a width of several miles, is highly impregnated with oxide of iron, and there is no doubt but that the presence of this ingredient has a beneficial influence upon the soil. The magnesian rocks are in Massachusetts of very limited extent. The soils derived from these rocks are, in Europe, generally considered of an inferior quality, but for the proof that in the hands of good farmers they can be made exceedingly productive, we refer with confidence and with no small degree of pleasurable feeling to the fine farms of the county of Chester in this state. Time will not permit us, whatever may be our inclination, to dilate upon the other soils noticed in the report. If Massachusetts cannot compete with some other states of the Union in the richness of her soils, she can vie with them in the variety and beauty of her granites, her sienites, her porphyries, and her serpentines. Mr. Hitchcock mentions that most of the rock that is there generally described as sienite is a variety of granite; whereas here nearly all the sienites are called granite. This confusion in names should be avoided as much as possible. But I cannot agree with him that wherever the granite admits of hornblende into its composition, that it should be called "sienite;" that would lead to much greater difficulty. We have no granite in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, except in veins of gneiss of Micaceous Schistus, or in boulders found in the diluvium; but we have the most beautiful and durable sienite, which will answer every purpose of the eastern granite. and in the talcose formation, a short distance south of the Paoli, in Chester county, the preparations for making the Columbia rail-road, have displayed a quarry of serpentine that promises to be very useful and ornamental to Philadelphia. Our author remarks that in regard of hornblende slate he does not recollect to have seen it employed in Massachusetts for any useful purpose, except for the construction of common stone walls. Near the Schuylkill, at a distance of 7 or 8 miles from our city, is a quarry of hornblende slate, which is equal to any perhaps in the world. The rocks which lay at an angle of about 45° may be readily split in the direction of their natural joints, in slabs of almost any length and width that can be managed by the workmen, and with perfectly even and smooth surfaces. Anthracite and bituminous coal are also quoted, but whether they occur in sufficient quantities, and of such quality, as to render them of any statistical value, is made a question. In speaking of the former combustible, our author has, as I conceive, inadvertently fallen into an error of the other hemisphere, where they know very little about anthracite, in saying that it is "sometimes found in the primitive rocks." He has certainly spoken unadvisedly when he asserts that it is so found in this country. His facts are at variance with the assertion. States, at least three extensive deposites of anthracite: "We have," he says, "in the United the largest in Pennsylvania; the next largest in Rhode have examined them all, and have come to the concluIsland; and the smallest in Worcester, Mass." "I sion, that all the rocks containing this coal, are at least as low down in the series as the TRANSITION class." But what authority is this for placing them still lower down in the primitive? In what immediately follows, the proafter having asserted that he had "examined them all," professor is uncommonly obscure and contradictory, for and that "ALL the rocks containing this coal are at least as low down in the series as the transition class," he adds, "I suspect that the Pennsylvania anthracite occurs in the higher beds of the grauwacke', perhaps even in the mill-stone grit:" thus, so far from tracing the anthracite to the primitive, placing it in the higher ranks of the transition, or even in the secondary. Baron Humboldt, whose opinions Professor Hitchcock, in page 46, justly quotes with confidence, gives no countenance to the opinion, that anthracite belongs to the primitive rocks, but on the contrary considers graphite or carburet of iron, which is found in the primitive rocks, as a more ancient formation.* the great variety of ores, the argillaceous oxide is the Massachusetts appears to be very rich in iron; among most abundant and most extensively used. Lead, copper, zinc, and manganese have been discovered in various places. In the talcose slate formation in the state of Vermont, gold has been found, and there is nothing improbable in the expectation of finding that precious metal in the same formation in Massachusetts, as Professor Hitch cock remarks. Upon the whole I am persuaded that this report will amply repay the trouble of a perusal. In Bucks county, Pa. carburet of iron is found abundantly in primitive lime rock, the last of the primitive series. |