Arizona weekly citizen., 1890-12-13
SWIFT TRAVELLING.
ARGUMENTSAGAINsT GREATER SPEED
 ON RAILROADS.

| The Limit Reached Is 100 Miles an Hour.
 To Do Better Will Require Larger Lo-
 comOtive Boilers. Bigger Wheels and Wider Tracks-The Danger Is Great.
 My opinion is that the speed limit of the locomotive engine has been reached with the present gauge of track and diameter of driving wheel said Expert Watkins at the National museum. ''l have been given to understand on very credible authority that an engine on one road has already made a record of 100 miles an hour-of course over a very short distance of perfectly straight and level track
 If that is to be beaten it will only be done by increasing the size of the boiler, to begin with. To get a greater capacity of boiler it will be necessary to widen the locomotive and therefore the track If speed of anything like 120 miles an hour is to be obtained in the future the track must be widened. not by inches but by feet, and the size of the driving wheel proportionately.
 Naturally the question of safety is the first one brought up in connection with discussion of this subject, and it is asked, Gun trains be run with as much security to life and limb at 150 miles an hour as at fifty? My answer to this is No. Take given stretch of track, in perfect condition, with nothing in the way, and train is more likely to run of the rail when going at 150 miles an hour than when travelling at sixty. But such ideal conditions are not usually found in railroading
 FACTS TO CONSIDER
 You must consider that there are such things as frogs and switches which get out of order or misplaced, as well as multitude of other things more difficult to look out for the more rapidly trains are going Most important to think of too. is the f1ct tI.,: f ::I a;.cident doe. occur the train that meets with it is going to suffer in proportion to the speed at which it is going at the moment of interruption Two trains each going at the rate of 120 miles an hour and coming into collision would Quickly be reduced to kindling wood. if not to tooth picks
 Another thing worth inquiring about is the number of men that are going to be required to run one of these engines of the future that are to travel 120 miles an hour Jump on board one of the fast flying locomotives at Jersey City that carries you to Philadelphia at the rate of nearly q mile minute. Do nothing but watch the signals as you pass with lightning speed through city after city at grade and cross railway after railway intercepting You will find that it takes about all your time to catch them
 How much leisure has the engineer then. to look after his steam gauge and water gauge to see to his airbreak, to make sure that every part of his mighty machine Is in order. 10 keep in touch with the train dispatcher's office and to identify snyextr;i trains as they pass him so that no mistake shall be made2 So tremendous is the strain upon this mans nerves that as measure of economy the company only permits him to work four days e;.eh week and De spends the re- maining three in resting and bracing up for further contests with space and time
 PERCENTAGE OF DEATHS
 Trains in England. on an average. run faster than in this country Their cars or carriages are not nearly so heavy as ours. they have not nearly 50 many heavy grades and sharp curves. and Ile law gives tha railway exclusive rights
 ,f which IS punished by fines and imprisOn- ment In England one person out of every 5. .250, 900 carried is killed To ride on the railway in France is more than twice as dangerous. inasmuch as one out of every 2.O00,000 passengers is killed Belgium Is much s;lfer thin England in this respect. only one out of every 5000 900 Is killed on it's roads. Safest of all by far are the railways of Prussia, which only Eill one ont of every 21.50O. .O00 people carried
 There are many a3vOcS-es in favor of making our railroad cars much lighter, the argument being that it is absurd to drag a whole row of houses over the rails in order to transport a lot of con- paralveIy nSce packages m the shape or people But it is very certain that heavy cars have the advantage to safety in pro portion to their weight. You will notice that the passengers in the heavily built parlor cars always get off with very much less damage in an accident than do the occupants of the ordinary cars, which are usually telescoped by the Pullman or Wagner coaches.
 Extra heavy weight to draw means extra expense for the railway companies, but safety for the passengers they carry means saving of money in damages in these days Of course you read in the about the running of Boyn- tons bicycle engineat Brighton Beach at the ra,~ of mile in thirty-two seconds, or | l12 miles an hour That may give no ion of the future of railroading as re- gards speed. but l am not myself of the opinion taat the bicycle idea will work l any revolution in the business of trans y,r,r.4 ..tiOr, bv r.lil - " SbiDoT0D Sfar