Tram-Caes And Omnibuses.

nuts freedom of flange , reducing resistance about one-third . Life of Tram-cars . —We have no data as to the life of American top-seat cars , as cars of that kind are not used there ; but the cars of this character used on the tram-Avays of Great Britain , of " home make , "

have performed service of five years . We also understand the cars sent by Messrs . J . Stephenson and Co . to Liverpool and London , for the opening of those tramways in 1869 , are yet in good condition and likely to do many years' service . The American cars are calculated good for tAventy-five to thirty yeaTS of such , service as Ave have named . The cars referred to

are on a tramway connecting the business centre of NOAV York with the Grand Central Depot , from which radiate the great railway lines running east , north , and Avest , therefore the tram-cars at "traintime" are subject to the most excessive loads . These cars have been in such

service for nearly twenty years , the platforms , hoods , and ventilators have been modernised , and they are now said to be good for tAvelve to fifteen years more . Cost of Horses . —Average about 150 dollars ( £ 31 5 s . English ) . This sum will

IIOAV buy the best class . It is the custom in America for the horse merchant to furnish his tranvway company with horses at a price agreed upon , and the tramway officer will pick from each neAV drove of horses such as he fancies ; and should a feAV days develope inefficiency in a horse ,

it may be returned to the dealer as often as desirable until a satisfactory horse is obtained . After horses become unfit for tram service , they are sold at reduced prices to farmers or others . Cost of Cars . —The best top-seat cars cost on an average about 1100 dollars

, ( £ 229 English ) , and the cost of cars as used in NeAV York is about 1 , 000 dollars ( £ 201 6 s . English ) each . The lighter cars cost less . The car bodies , with its appertenances , constitute the most durable part of the car .

The Avheel , costing 6 dollars each ( 25 s . English money ) , performs an average service of about 30 , 000 miles ; the axles 200 , 000 to 300 , 000 miles . The best wheels for tramway cars are cast-iron wave-plate wheels ; this allows the outside rim to cool while the centre

Tram-Caes And Omnibuses.

portion is not placed in tension . Car wheels wear much longer in America than in England , on account of the form of rail spoken of above . The orig inal street car manufactured in 1831 by John Stephenson , New York , shoAVS in the drawing that leather springs were then used , and was in appearance much like the old coaches before the advent of railways .

Wonders Of Operative Masonry.

WONDERS OF OPERATIVE MASONRY .

V . WE continue our description of leading Abbeys and Cathedrals in Great Britain and Ireland , premising that in another and final article we shall conclude the series with an account of the exact

connection of the Freemasons of the middle ages with the construction of these imo portant edifices . SALISBURY CATHEDRAL , on the river Avon , 81 miles south-west from London , is a splendid Gothic structurein the form

, of a Greek Cross , 419 feet long , Avith transepts of 232 and 172 feet respectively : It was erected in the reign of Henry III ., A . D ., 1220 , about the same time as Westminster Abbey , Avith Avhich alone it can be compared in grandeur . The west

front is a beautifully enriched specimen of pointed architecture , and has niches filled with many statues . The tower , Avith spire , is exceedingly lofty , the Avhole height from the pavement to the top of the cross being 400 feet . The following lines convey a popular description of the interior of this cathedral :

" AB many days as in one year there be , So many windows in this church we see ; As many marble pillars here appear , As there are hours throughout the fleeting year ; As many gates aB moons one year does view—Strange tale to tell , yet not more strange than true . "

Its front , with tall spire and multitudinous pinnacles and towers , is as beautiful as that of York Minster . Among the ancient tombs in the aisles is that of