specially by him, were to be controlled by his judgment.

Accepting the position offered to him in so flattering a manner, he sailed
for St. Petersburg about mid-summer in 1842, being accompanied on his
voyage by Major Bouttattz, of the Russian Engineer Corps, who had been sent
to this country by the Emperor as an escort. Arriving in St. Petersburg,
and having learned the general character of the proposed work, he traveled
partly by horse and partly on foot over the entire route, and made his
preliminary report, which was at once accepted.

The plan contemplated the construction of a double track railroad 420 miles
long, perfect in all its parts, and equipped to its utmost necessity. The
estimates amounted to nearly forty millions of dollars, and the time for
its construction was reckoned at seven years. The line selected for the
road had no reference to intermediate points, and was the shortest
attainable, due regard being paid to the cost of construction. It is nearly
straight, and passes over so level a country as to encounter no obstacle
requiring a grade exceeding 20 feet to the mile, and for most of the
distance it is level. The right of way taken was 400 feet in width
throughout the entire length. The roadbed was raised from six to ten feet
above the ordinary level of the country, and was 30 feet wide on top.

One of the most important questions to settle at the outset in regard to
this great work was the width of the gauge. At that time the opinion in
England as well as in the United States among engineers was setting very
strongly in favor of a gauge wider than 4 feet 8½ inches, and the Russian
engineers were decidedly in favor of such increased width. Major Whistler,
however, in an elaborate report to the Count Kleinmichel argued very
strongly in favor of the ordinary gauge. To this a commission of the most
distinguished engineers in Russia replied, urging in the most forcible