The above cut shows how one man can easily tow alone. The light regulating string, B, passes from the stern of the boat to one hand of the person towing, T. The tow line, A, is attached a little in front of the center of the boat. Hence when B is slackened the boat approaches the shore, while a very slight pull on it turns the boat outward. The person towing glances back "ever and anon" to observe the boat's line of travel. * * * * * RAILWAYS OF EUROPE AND AMERICA. The following table, which has been prepared by the French Ministry of Public Works, gives the railway mileage of the various countries of Europe and the United States up to the end of last year, with the number of miles constructed in that year, and the population per mile: Total Built in 1881 Population per Mile Germany 21,313 331 2,154 Great Britain 18,157 164 1,939 France 17,134 895 2,170 Austria-Hungary 11,880 262 3,200 Italy 5,450 109 5,321 Spain 4,869 176 3,492 Sweden & Norway 4,616 273 1,408 Belgium 2,561 48 2,203 Switzerland 1,557 22 1,831 Holland 1,426 83 2,885 Denmark 1,053 25 1,919 Roumania 916 56 5,860 Turkey 866 - 2,891 Portugal 757 8 5,870 Greece 6 - 28,000 ------- ----- ------ Total 107,306 2,455 3,168 United States 104,813 9,358 502 It appears from this that the United States mileage was only 2,493 less than the total of all Europe, and at the present time it exceeds it, as the former country has built about 6,000 miles this year, whereas Europe has not exceeded 1,500. The difference in the number of persons per mile in the two cases is also very great, Europe taking six times as many persons to support a mile of railway as the States, and can only be accounted for by the fact that American railways are constructed much cheaper than the European ones. * * * * * BEFORE IT HAPPENED.