Telegram-herald., 1889-06-24

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ttrcis SafSf 1 &~A@1 CI TIE 4os- AAa@4~<f
a Depes. ~A2c II -. Ia -AAt Lac VI
osyelopnaeat ~all tns IL pTovSLaSnts c0aasl
k0r Instance. ~sll there ever ss car mace
tEAg on roll e9va al snb4akmsatg'
Ne. sad TIE gFe2s mAa. pleasantly,
10 answer tie ls-sG QEzstl0a Irst. theirs
cao bs 20 sUeh t5inx. As ~ the others
the - Stem u passenger transportation 4
not ~ COARSE perfect Tor u - Of human
05gisilZ aud human h2D1iNorks sud ne
human Work csa ever Be perfect " eso
approach perfection. however. by continual
improvements. zad @s are, - s@y TIE
least. very much nearer perfection n0~
ta4n We used ~ BE-
The dangers 10 De guarded against Is
operating railroads. be continued, are oi
thtSs kIuCs. They are collisions. cerali
meat aud ire Ia regard 10 fiFe. We be
heve that Nc are doing s~sy with thai
peril entlFely. or practically 80, by aOOl-
l.aln2 the car stove. or course the tray
eiling public mast DC kept warm not only
Ia winter. but also Ia that more trying
transitional period between the cold aud
hot seasons A. 10 the final successor Of
the ear stove, have no opinion 10 offer
Our ablest inventors and scientists are.
aud for twenty years have been busy find.
ing substitutes TOR it, but thus far their
results, though satisfactory 10 al extrems
degree. have not met th. want. The ten
dency at present Is 10 employ steam heat.
ing. But besides this system are others
which promise even better things.
Electric storage batteries, electric stoves.
chemical stoves. and compression engines
are among these novelties.
"One scientist has a plan whereby efec.
n.sru = 4 =.
gathered up by the moving train just as
the New York Central engines take up
water when Al full speed The electricity
is taken from a wire or other conductor
alongside OF tte rails, is stored in accumu.
lators on the train and Is converted into
heat by a mysterious apparatus Oh board
of 60 b car.
"As TO the peril of collision that is in a
great measure done away with, by the
use of our newest cars which are heavy and
strong enough To withstand any shock
that in ordinary practice they are liable
To receive; by the Miller platform, the
latest improved couplings. and buffers.
the telescoping of cars which was form
erly usual incident of coils ions is al
most unknown now, and the horrors of
such accidents are practically things of
when a train smashes into anoyner one.
the passengers In the rear car
will get out 10 see what the
matter l., and why the train has stopped,
and when they 90 forward, find ont that
the locomotive is shattered TO fragments.
1T has even been suggested To provds
the engine with buffer attachment OF
steel and iron, so constructed a. TO convert
the locomotive into what might be called
mechanical ram. The buffer principle
Is still in the infancy of its development
and will eventually do away with any
possible danger from collision.
"As 10 derailment, il comes from one Of
two causes. In default of the occurrence
of one OF these, there is little danger of
derailment. 1t is always possible that a
switchman may by an error, or by neglect
of his duty, throw the train off the track
at "A switch. This is n danger that can
never be entirely done away with. You
must in any operation run up against
human judgment, and you must rely on
il. 1t is manifestly impossible to have
everything automatic. This danger grows
smaller every day with the extension Of
the automatic system This calls the
attention of engineer and bystander TO
fact which before was noticed only
by switchmsn. While an average man
is just as careless as any other the prob
abilities of two or more average men being
careless upon the same point, at the same
time, in the same way and under the same
circumstances is minute fraction of that
in regard To one man. The ever-increasing IL
use OF electrical appliances enables a
company to keep a dozen watches upon
every danger point and so To still further
diminish the chances Of carelessness and
consequent loss.
"The second cause OF derailment Is r
broken rail. The improvement by which
we seek to obviate this l. the use of steel
rails, and these steel rails are being made
heavier from time TO time, and conSe-
quently stronger When we began using
them, the standard weight was forty five
pounds. 1t was not long before this
standard was raised TO sixty five pounds,
and the last we are using are eighty
pounds. Besides this great increase in
weight and cOncomitsnt strength and
durability. there Is an improvement in the
manufacture of both the rail and the raw
steel from which it is made. The use Of
this material in the place OF wrought iron
* the consequence of the inventions and
discoveries of Bessemer, Liemens and
Thomas. But the output made under
their processes was very crude aud poor at
the outset. Competition has changed
this 10 20 great an extent that the forges
OF to-day produce A metal that Is A. dif.
ferent from what they did twenty years
ago ~ day from darkness. Much ofthe new
made steel i 81 fine ~ that produced BY
the slow and expensive processes of the
past. This : the chief reason why you
never hear any more OF rails cracking like
glass in frosty nights. breaking mp into
splinters like worn ont brOoms or wearing
away at points into hills and hollows Ike
the patent payements Of New York city
'Of course. derailment may occur, when
their l. neither broken rail nor IN open
switch. There NAV be. for instance. "a
broken axle. or defective wheel Against
such accidents a. these there seems to be
no possibility Of establishing any perfect
safeguard II is always possibl that 2
flaw may exist ia iron. or that some d
feet Of workmanship may be overlooked
and the only way 10 fight against such
dangers i bY the constant exercise %
judgments and vigilance.
Improvements in any human system
are always possible and probably improve
ments III continue - be made, from
time 90 time in railway service. bit do
not know that there ia any line of i'm
provemsnt possible excepting those iu
which We are continually striving % pro
Crsss. and those have Indicated ~ least
ia outline FAIFs Curtis.
II VA. . FInI.h.d address
story &. told of = youas man rho
went out 20 deliver a. address Re took
Al old friend ~fth bin 20 bear him
When ha got rhrsush be turned 20 Dis
friend ars ssff 20 him. Wei. don't you