The great rail-road between Liverpool and Manchester being now nearly completed, the directors of the undertaking sometime ago announced that they would give a premium of £500. for the locomotive engine, which should, at a public trial to be made on the 1st of the present month of October, (afterwards postponed to the 6th) draw on the railway a given weight with the greatest speed at the least expense. The offer of so handsome a premium, and the brilliant professional prospects which the winning of it presented to mechanical men, naturally exerted a very lively spirit of competition among them. In almost every quarter of the country, engine makers and engine inventors set themselves to work to secure the prize, and the result, we are happy to say, has been such as to furnish a lasting example of the wisdom of calling into action, and giving fair play to the general talent of a country, when any great public object has, as in the present instance, to be accomplished.

At all hands, the directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, deserve thanks for their conduct on this occasion, from their constituents, for the good sense and liberality which dictated a competition by which the capability of the railway, to do all that was promised, and much more, has been at once placed beyond all doubt, and the chances of a profitable return for the money invested in it increased at least tenfold; from the owners of the competing engines, for the liberal encouragement by which they were induced to start for the plate, and the impartial spirit, (divested of all local and personal influences) in which the competition has been conducted, and from the nation at large, for the powerful impulse which this demonstration of the extraordinary celerity with which carriages may be propelled on railways, must give to the more extensive adoption of this mode of conveyance throughout the kingdom.

The principal conditions on which the prize was offered were these:—

• 1st That each engine entered for the competition should weigh not more than six tons, and be capable of drawing after it, day by day, on a level plain, a train of carriages of a gross weight, equal to three times the weight of the engine itself, at a rate of not less than ten miles per hour, with a pressure of steam in the boiler not exceeding 50lb. on the square inch.

• 2. That the engine and boiler should he supported on springs, and rest on six wheels, and the height from the ground to the top of the chimney should not exceed 15 feet.

• 3. That the engine should "effectually consume its own smoke;"

• and 4. That there should he two safety-valves, one of which should be completely out of the reach of the engine-man's interference.

The gentlemen appointed by the directors to act as judges on the occasion, were J. U. Rastrick, Esq., of Stourbridge, civil engineer, Nicholas Wood, Esq., of Killingworth, civil engineer, (author of the excellent work on railways) and John Kennedy, Esq., of Manchester.

The portion of the railway chosen for the "running ground" was on the Manchester side of Rainhill Bridge, (about nine miles from Liverpool) where the railway runs for two or three miles on a dead level.

Early on Tuesday, the day of competition, great crowds of people were assembled from all parts, to witness the sight. There were many individuals who had come hundreds of miles for no other purpose; and, as may readily be supposed, these were not idle spectacle hunters, but chiefly engineers and men of science capable of appreciating, in its full extent, the great importance of the exhibition.

The number of competitors was at first reported to be ten, and we have reason to know there was at least as many engines as this in preparation. In this new sort of race, however, as in others' there were some withdrawn, and some prevented by accidents from making their appearance; and the number was reduced on the morning of trial, to five, who were thus described in the official list of the running coaches:—

• No. 1. Messrs. Braithwaite and Erickson, of London; "The Novelty" copper and blue; weight, 2 tons 15 cwt.

• 2. Mr. Ackworth, of Darlington; "The Sans Pareil;" green, yellow, and black; weight, 4 tons, 8 cwt. 2 qrs.

• 3. Mr. Robert Stephenson, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; "The Rocket;" yellow and black; white chimney; weight, 4 tons, 3 cwt.

• 4. Mr. Brandreth, of Liverpool; "The Cycloped;" weight, 3 tons, worked by a horse.

• 5. Mr. Burstall, Edinburgh; "The Perseverance;" red wheels; weight, 2 tons, 17 cwt.

The engine which made the first trial, was the "Rocket" of Mr. Robert Stephenson (the son, we believe, of Mr. George Stephenson, the engineer of the railway.) lt is a large and strongly-built engine, and went with a velocity, which, as long as the spectators had nothing to contrast it with, they thought surprising enough. It drew a weight of twelve tons, nine cwt. at the rate of ten miles four chains in an hour, (just exceeding the stipulated maximum,) and, when the weight was detached from it, went at a speed of about eighteen miles an hour. The faults most perceptible in this engine, were a great inequality in its velocity, and a very partial fulfilment of the condition that it should "effectually consume its own smoke."

The next engine that exhibited its powers was "The Novelty" of Messrs. Braithwaite and Erickson. The great lightness of this engine, (it is about one half lighter than Mr. Stephenson's) its compactness, aud its beautiful workmanship, excited universal admiration; a sentiment speedily changed into perfect wonder, by its truly marvellous performances. It was resolved to try first its speed merely; that is at what rate it would go, carrying only its compliment of coke and water, with Messrs. Braithwaite and Erickson to manage it. Almost at once, it darted off at the amazing velocity of twenty-eight miles an hour, and it actually did one mile in the incredibly short space of one minute and 53 seconds! Neither did we observe any appreciable falling off in the rate of speed; it was uniform, steady, and continuous. Had the railway been completed, the engine would, at this rate, have gone nearly the whole way from Liverpool to Manchester within the hour; and Mr. Braithwaite has, indeed, publicly offered to stake a thousand pounds, that as soon as the road is opened, he will perform the entire distance in that time.

It was now proposed to make a trial of the "Novelty," with three times its weight attached to it, but through some inattention as to the supply of water and coke, a great delay took place in preparing it for its second trip, and by the time all was ready, the day was drawing so near to a close, that the directors thought it proper to defer the prosecution of the competition till the following day.

[The preceding report brings the proceedings of this interesting competition down to the date of the latest arrivals from Liverpool, previous to the time of our weekly sheet going to press. In our next Number, we shall give the conclusion, with a full description, and engravings of Messrs. Braithwaite and Erickson's engine. EDIT.]