Daily Republican., 1881-06-20
CAR COUPIEkS.

eF1nk human L1fe--One invented
by w. v. Perry Meets the DE
J mand.
Ever since the invention of railroad
and the running of railroad trains by
steam, the brain of man has been Tacke(
and put upon the strain to invent som,
plan for coupling cars which would in
/, sure safety to the lives of brakesmef
and expedition in the coupling, shift.
ing and changing Of cars. There is nc
j other branch of railroading so fraught
. with danger to human life as that OF
. car coupling and more men
+ have lost their lives and became hope.
r ieSs y MANNED by coupling cars than by
all other railroad accidents combined,
even including Wholesale slaughters by
} being thrown from embankments and
falling through treste br dges and
draws into rivers. There is hardly a
, DAY passes in which news does not come
over the wires, of a number of brakes
men being either killed outright or
being so badly Y MANNED as to ever after
make life burthen. The brakesman
at all times occupies the post of danger
and every time he steps between the
tracks to couple cars he takes his life in
his hands and knows not whether he
will come out alive or without ampu.
tated arms or fingers.
After testing the ingenuity of man
for many years, hundreds of models for
railroad cOuplers have been invented
but they have failed to stand a useful
and practicable test. There has always
been some fault somewhere or some
| al Ir -lnr Il ;nh ;tl l,;,
utility and rendered them practically
useless.
Constant trial and determination to
succeed has at last, however, brought
forth the man for the times and rail
road car coupler that meets the de-
mandS OF the times and must result in
the saving of thousands of human lives.
1t was not until McClelland, Hooker,
Pope and Burnside had failed to reach
Richmond in the late rebellion that the
right man was found in the person of
General Grant to lead the Union Army
on to victory, and it was not until
hundreds of others had failed that the
right man was found in the person of
w. Voorhees, Perry, of Beaver Dam,
WincOnSin, to invent q car coupler
which combines all the elements of
success and takes its place in the his
tory of railroading as d great saver of
the lives and limbs of the tens of
thousands of brakesmen whose lives
are all the time in jeopardy.
Mr.. Perry being gentleman in whom
the finer feelings of lcve for humanity
prevailed, shocked at the constant
slaughter of braknsmen was impelled
20, L., l., . -
that could be worked and operated
from outside the railroad tracks and in
such manner that there could be mo-
occasion for brakeman to expose
himself to danger. Seven years ago he
commenced his labor, and though he
has met with all kinds of discourage
ments and opposition, and has spent al |
his little fortune in the undertaking, he |
persevered until at last success crowned |
his efforts. There are many in this city
who will recollect Mr.. Perry as he
hOvered around the machine shops try
ing to get his invention perfected and to
organize a company to more Conve-
niently further his project. Being in
Wilmington during the Temperance re-
vival, Mr.. Perry was an active worker
III IhN IduSt, illtl W IltiltNtl any StO'l
work was undertaken he was always on
hand not only with words but with dol
lars. Mr.. Perry did not succeed in per-
fecting his coupler in Wilmington,
though he made some advancement,
The finishing touches were left for Il
western town. However, at the end OF
a seven years struggle, the invention is
complete, and has been adopted already
by several western railroads Centering
in Chicago. A company has been
chartered called the Perry Safety Car
Coupling Company, of Chicago, Illinois,
of which Mr.. W. V. Perry is President
Amo ugst the board of nine directors is
Charles w. Rowland, Of this city, who
extended to Mr.. Perry much needed
help and sympathy while he was in
this city, and who has full faith in the
success of the enterprise. In referring
10 his invention, Mr.. Perry says:
"More than 1900 pounds of iron have
been put into the scrap pile and over
six years of constant physical and men
tai labor, besides not less than $24,.
900 have been expended in the proving
of these inventions" Mr.. Perry has {
the most implicit faith in his invention,
and in recommending it he says in his
own emphatic language : "I tell you
it has been done. Other railroad men i
have tried it and find it does far better
than they had expected. Over 1000 of
these couplings are now in constant {
use, and the fact that they are a asuccess |
mas been as clearly established as if {
here were 200 900 in USE" a
In addition to the coupler Mr.. Perry
las Invented draw spring protector Il
\ hich prevents all good draw springs
rom breaking, and will cause a greater
aving to railroads than any other i'm" v
of equal cost ever brought to g
he attention of railroad men. t
Amongst the western railroads which
AVE made satisfactory trials of the t
oupler are the Chicago East Illinois
g. r a Is months trial; The Evans
lille, & Terra Haute r. r., II months o
,hicago ~ Rock Island II. r., 2 years, z
nd have adopted it. The Vandalia r ii
; is using it, and the St. Paul's M. u d
4. railroad have ordered lot on trial. IL
Ir Perry passed through Whining on
few days ago to the East to Introduce. N
is invention to some of the Eastern tt
tates railroad companies. &C
AS an evidence of the success of Mr. d.
erry's coupler, the following answers pi
, the questions propounded, by A.
ook, Master Mechanic of the Chicago r.
asst Illinois Railroad, will show: -
l. What has been the record of the
erry car coupler, bad, good or very Sc
)od? ar
Answer--Very good. ar
2. How many heads of drawbars IN
ave been broken? IN
A-None. Il
3. How many stems of drawbars have az
zen broken? 90
A-Two, and one in the pocket. ga
4. How many coupling pins have @ on
zen broken by direct draft? SCI
A--None. 'ta
5. Ifthe coupling pin is put in prop e