| | ton-miles. | ton-mile. |
----------------------------------------------------------------
Paddle | 1879 | 31,862,858 | 0.1272 | 0.686
" | 1880 | 31,467,422 | 0.1305 | 0.638
" | 1881 | 28,627,049 | 0.1245 | 0.537
Wire Rope | 1879 | 15,407,935 | 0.1167 | 0.614
" | 1880 | 17,289,706 | 0.1056 | 0.615
" | 1881 | 17,593,181 | 0.0893 | 0.536
================================================================

The last column in the above tabular statement, headed "Degree of
Occupation," may require some explanation. It is calculated on the
assumption that a tug could do 3,000 hours of work per annum, and this
is taken as the unit, the time of actual haulage being counted as full
time, and of stoppages as half time. The expenses included in the
statement of cost of haulage include all working expenses, repairs,
general management, and depreciation. The accounts for 1882, which are
not completely available at the time we are writing, show much better
results than above recorded, there being a considerable reduction of
cost, while the freight hauled amounted to a total of 54,921,965
ton-miles.

[Illustration: WIRE ROPE TUG BOAT, RIVER RHINE.]

As regards the wear of the rope, we may state that the relaying of the
first rope between St. Goar and Bingen was taken in hand in September,
1879, while that between Obercassel and Bingen was partially renewed the
same year, the renewal being completed in May, 1880, after the rope had
been in use since the beginning of 1876. The second rope between Bonn
and Bingen, a length of 743/4 miles, is of galvanized wire, has now been
23/4 years in use, during which time there have been but three fractures.
The first rope laid was not galvanized, and it suffered nine fractures
during the first three years of its use. The first rope, we may mention,
was laid in lengths of about a mile spliced together, while the present
rope was supplied in long lengths of 71/2 miles each, so that the number
of splices is greatly reduced. According to the report of the company
for the year 1880, the old rope when raised realizes about 16 per cent.
of its original value, and allowing for this, it is calculated that an
allowance of 18.7 per cent. per annum will cover the cost of rope
depreciation and renewals. Altogether the results obtained on the Rhine
show that in a rapid str