The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1871-07-27


bod, He came back q short while ago,
greatly impsoved BY his residence abroad.
hut always the aane cordial, frank, warm
hearted boy. In his loss the already fear.
fully bereaved family will suffer . new and
deep afiioion, and the world, which never
did and never will know him, will not With
hold tribute Of n greet for the child whose
gayety and affection cheered more than any
thing else the worn and weary heart OF the
great President through the toilsome years OF
the war. .
T..s Railways Of she Futnre.
FroL5 The Philadelphia Pres.
We are about entering into new and
msst important era in The history OF rail-
way Construction. During the faist iorty
years the development Of the railway system
over she different regions of the earth has
been truly wonderful, aud yet it Is very re-
markable that 70 long \ time should eiaise
before the discovery was made BY civil en-.
ginee1s Of the useles expenditure Of untold
millions from the adoption Of gauge wider
than WIS necessary. 1t may be said without
exaggeration that railroads in general have
been built =, cost greater by oue-half than
was actually required. $3.50. /.
Any reform, therefore, promising to re-
duce materially the cost Of railway coustruc-
ton, and ye. furnishing a. good results as
the older methods, must he entitled to our
most serious consideration. At an early
period in the history of railroad enterprises,
q prejudice, not YET entirely without Its in.
fiuence, existed in favor Of broad gauges.
Al that time proposition 70 build rail-
road on gauge Of three fees would have
been treated with ridicule without limit.
Now, if We look at the financial history Of
nearly all the brosd-gzuge railroads, that Is,
those above 4 tee1 81 inches, We find but one
result-no dividends for stockholders, and in
many cases complete bankruptcy. The
same ll-iortune has happened also to large
portion of the roads built with the prevail
ing width Of track, that is, four feet eight
and half inches, and too Otter has it &C.
Cured that roads have been finished and
put into successful operation only by sacri-
ice CT the interests of he original stock
holders. 1t has become almost maxim in
railway ethics that first stockholders have no
rights that any one Is bound 10 respect.
Tie result Of all this is that men are reluc-
tant to embark in such improvements, even
when the demand for u road Is almost a
pressing necessity. Years Of delay occur
and rich section remains undeveloped, be-
cause sad experience has taught men extreme
caution. ---
At the breaking Of the ground ON the
lire Of the Wilmington l. Weston Railroad
al the Brandywine Springs, on Saturday
last the President of the company, in pub
lie speech, spoke with some feeling Of the
arduous lab0s OF himself and others, for
nearly two years, to raise Subscriptions
large enough TO guarantee the completion Of
the work. Now, We feel Satisfied that if the
true merits of the narrow-gauge system had
flied by this railroad, that money enough To
build the entire line could have been raised
in ten days without serious difficulty. For
a narrow-gauge road can be built for ten or
twelve thousand dollars a mile which will
do the same amount of work that is actually
performed BY railroads costing $50, 900 per
mile. Many are reluctant to believe this,
but let us look At the facts.
On the western coast OF Wales, in Meri-
oneshire, there is railway running from
Pormadoc to Festiniog, up the river valley
and along the sides of the mountains,
q distance of about thirteen and half miles.
This track is only tweniy-three and half
inches wide, and over it daily run several
trains of cars, drawn by diminutive Fairiie
engines, which At distance, 40 you stand in
the beautiful valley below, look as it they
might belong to Gullivef's famous kingdom
OF Liliiput. Or, if you desire = pleasant
ride, take passage On one of these Lilliputian
trains on a fine summer day and enjoy the
sublime prospect OF old Snowden and the
other mountains to the north, and the spark
ling waters Of Cardigan Bay towards the
setting sun. To examine this road and
consult It's chief engineer and manager,
Mr.. C. Z. Spooner, commissioners have
been sent by thu. leading nations of Europe
and 10 report thereupon to their respective
COVE .nments at homa. These reports have
been uniformly favorable; and already in In
Ola the British Government has taken steps |
TO establish the narrow gaute instead Of
the broad and expensive track upon which |
80 many millions have been almost useles<ly !
thrown away. i--IHf# -'r
Join, committee OF the two houses Of |
he Massachusetts, Legislature has also re-
Gently made the statement in their report
hat this Welsh Railway actually allowed
more than double the traffic per mile than
lid the Connecticut River Railroad, fair
Example of the thrifty roads of Massachu-
etts.
The Festiniog Railway pays an annual
dividend of twelve and half per cent. be-
ides the most liberal expenditure in inn
proving and stocking the road. st..s I
/. Our bsst engineers already 81 thai, il We
re 10 make our railways paying Institutions,
re mus, do 80 by reducing the original cost,
nd then by new system reducing the wear
nd tear, and also at the same time the ex-
lenses Of operating them. -...r
General Rosecrans recently made re-
,orf in which We find the following pas
age: -, --......- -.
Regarded economically railway is haul
ne machine, Every unnecessary expense
at upon this machine adds TO the cost OF
auiing done by it. This cost comes out of
ne people. Every unnecessary COS, in the
and equipment Of railways is q
ublic evil. Ii matters not whether this
Mt results from blunden in engineering.
lunders in management, or rascality in
perafing the road or watering the stock, the
tople have the interest on IT. In this
lew, why should we pay for building
road gauge if narrow gauge will do all
&c work likely to be required? Evidently c
would be public wrong for the owners Of
,iivay franchises to build broad gauge
hen narrow gauge will do the work; and I
'e public have . right to zee that it is done, c
I'd 10 hold those who thus prepare needless =
lrdebs responsible for it. .a GO.
The question comes up, therefore, with e
'ery new railway line, and should be asked
the people. Will q narrow gauge do the b
Drk The data for this answer are to be
ught In reason and experience; but I will i
(, Has the most crowded four-ieet-eisht- b
gauge railway in the United
ates more work than Il can do /? II that q
Ne Of road with this guage, which has the d
eatest traffic in the world, does les than il b
n, and YET carries Eve times as much 81
light over each mile a. does the most y
avily worked road in the United States, q
" does the latter need 20 much more G
paci,y than ii has work? If the heaviest Il
,rked road in our country has ten times q p
1ch to do n the average of roads in new &
nntries can expect for the next twenty 8
ars, Why should they be made to COT %
,ch Why should our new roads be con- j
ucted with a carrying capacity City times u
.ater than the work they viii Be called
On 70 do? Any man Who eaa show that m
y should be Constructed, can prove thst al
! ought 70 eet q Gx-horss Concord coacA re
give habpn airipg. m
We mux defer for Tie pssssne tie main
= and arguments which can be brought M
ward to show Why The saEFow Rnee a m
zee feet u 10 Be The great nilvay q TIE Of
ufe. We venture this simpse pssdieGioa, VI
1 before twenty ye.ss the psevailisg g.ase tn
,uvhr,rt the civilized voeA vsu h tkso> nc