Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1871-08-19

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NAnnoW GAu0E RAILROADS.
LooxoUr MOUNTAIN, !
Aug. Is, 1871. Y
n EDIToRs CHRONIclE: My atten
Non has been called 10 an article u
the CHRONICLES, Onthe subject OF mar
row gauge railroads, by 20. e. B. In
whose initials / recognise an eminent
civil engineer Of your city. 20. G.
b. quotes this sentence from the
Railroad Register 1.-THE great ar
gument In favor of the narrow gauge
lines is the decreased Gust Of construc-
ton, the lighter and cheaper charac-
ter Of the rolling stock, and therefore
the cheap cost Of 0pcration''--and
says, "and we would add that Is not
only the great argument, but all the
argument that can be adduced In
their favor" And / would add, no
other argument Is necessary, since
this comedies the very thing claimed
for the narrow gauge, viz: reduced
cost Of construction, greater economy
Of operation, with capacity for the
heavie demands Of trade and travel.
That there h some radical error in
our railroad system, Is painfully man.
ifest 10 the stockholders Of large
majority, perhaps nine-tenths Of our
railroad companies. Dividends are
almost unknown to them, and yet
the charges for freight and travel are
high enough In all reason, and busi-
ness sufficient to pay handsome divi-
dentls III there were not some fatal
defect In thesystem. Will q. T.. b.
tell us what 1t is, and how to remedy
IT.? Practical railroad managers tell
us the average result of our railroad
operations, under the present system,
Is about four tons non-paying train
load hauled to Que ton 0f paying
freight, aud about twenty tons oi
non-paying train load hauled ta one
ton Of passengers. What would be
thought Of q farmer who would en-
ploy six horse wagon to haul ten
bushels of corn or wheat to market !?
And yet IL Is not more extreme case
than the disproportion between the
weight Of train and weight Of paying
freight OH our railroads. A little
common sense would soon teach the
farmer to discard the cumbersome
six-horse wagon for light two-horse
wagon, and II ought to teach rail-
road managers to discard the ponder
Gus locomotives and cara that go
laundering over the track, to their
own and the rails destruction, and
adopt machinery more nearly pro-
portioned to the service required.
"G. g. B." will not deny that this
evil exists to fearful extent. Can
he suggest any better remedy for Il
than reduction Of gauge? II 30, let
US have II. Many years ago this
same battle Of the gauges was fought.
It was cOntended on the one side
then, that nothing less than seven
feet would be safe, or capable of per-
forming the service required, while
on the other side It was claimed that
a or 8 feet was ample both for safety
and service. A few years experience
demonstrated the superiority Of the
4 feet 81 inches gauge as compared
with the 9 feet orr feet gauge, and
now, no company could be induced
to adopt q feet gaugue. But the
other day, the Ohio and Mississippi
River road, a O feet gauge, from Gin
long, was changed into 4 feet - inch
gauge, the prevailing gauge Of the
northern States. se
/ admit that many extravagant
and fallacious statements have been
published as regards the difference In
cost between the feet and 4 feet 81
Inch or 5 feet gauges. It con not be
30 much rs many writers have
claimed, and especially In regions
where the absence of mountains pre-
cludes the necessity ofsharper curves.
/ condemn as severely as 10. Q. b."
any attempt to mislead the public In
this thing, but there is difference In
favor Of the 8 feet gauge In first cost,
and very great difference In the
economy of its operation, and this
latter Is the chief argument for its
adoption. 80. g. b." has totally
misconceived my meaning In what I
said about 81 degree curves. No
employment in this country, and un-
der no circumstances would l use
them on important lines OF road, but
the question was asked whether the
3 feet was as safe as the 8 feet gauge,
and answered 1t by an extreme ex-
ample-the Festiniog road on which
they have73f feet grades, and 81 de-
gree curves, over which the Falrlie
locomotive has been run at the rate
of 80 miles an hour. ! am not sur
prised at G.. G. BIS skepticism of this
fact, but 1 have had my conceptions
of the impossible too often overturned
by accomplished factsn to dispute
authoritative statements from such
standard journals Us "London Enyin-
eering" and Van Nostrand. Arrago
says that he IL rash man, who, out
side of pure mathematics, pronounces
the word "inpossi6te." 1t is said
that Lardner demonstrated mathe-
matically that no vessel could trans
port coal enough to propel itself
across the Atlantic, and few years
later crossed II IN steamer. Fulton
and Morse, each In his day, were pro-
nounced insane, but steam and light
ming, the obedient servants of man,
now perform daily impossibilities.