The record-union., 1892-08-13
GROWTH OF RAILROADS.
Some OF the Wonders Developed in
SiXty-SeVen Years.
The First Train Ran In 1925, It's Speed
Being Twenty Miles an Hour-Feat-
ure of the Advancement Made
Two Hundred Miles without a
Curve.
Curve.

ure of the Advancement Made
Two Hundred Miles without a
Curve.
The United States are known to be
! somewhat Of a railway country, but it is
not generally understood that they pos
/ sess nearly one-haIf of the total railway
mileage of the whole world. Consider
ing that more than four-fifths OF this
! present gigantic system of railways has
! been constructed since the close of the
! civil war, the New York -AdUegtiser re-
! CARDS this fact as the more significant
The United States have outstripped other
countries il many things, but more than
all in the matter OF railways.
The operation of steam railways began
in England by the opening of the Stock
ton and Darlington line September "a,
/ 1925. The world then saw the commence
ment Of most gigantic enterprise-one
/ that has extended to every civilized and
TO almost every uncivilized country on
4 the globe, and which has become the
/ greatest OF all enterprises or industries
and whose magnitude is greater than any
! Other single interest in the world. This
Stockton and Darlington road was a sim
! gle-track affair, thirty-eight miles in
length, and the greatest speed attained
upon it was twenty miles an hour.
-Four years after the opening of this
road the first line was opened for general
traffic in the United States, August g.
lo29-the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad
| The first locomotive used on this line
and consequently the first that ever
! turned wheel in the Western Hemis-
phere, was the Stourbridge Lion, i'm
ported from Stourbridge, England, by
| the Delaware and Hudson Canal Com
pany IN May, 1929. The second road in
| America upon which locomotive was
! ever run was the Charleston and Ham
| burg of South Carolina, which also had
| the honor OF being the first regularly OPP
Grated passenger road in this country,
and the trsC to adopt the locomotive as
J definite motive power. The engine used
on this road was the Best Friend, the
first machine OF the kind constructed in
this country, and was built in West Point
! foundry. 1t made its trial trip III No
Yember, 1880.
SLOW PROGRESS IN CHINA AND JAPAN.
at the beginning of the present year
| l66,Sl3 miles of railway were in operation
in the United States.
1t is astonishing how slow many coun-
tries have been in adopting this means Of
| IOcomotion. China, for instance, up TO
! track. The first line in that country was
laid along strip of land between Shang-
| hai and WoOsung, a distance OF nine
miles. Although the line met with favor
among the natives during the short time
| 1t was IN operation, yet, in consequence
| OF official jealousy and disagreement re-
| garding it, the rails were thrown into the
| sea III October, 1877. In 1850 permission
was given to construct railway twenty
nine miles long Tor the purpose of oper-
aJlng the coal mines at Tongsan. The
! locomotive was built of odds and ends in
the shops OF the coal company, and on
! November 8, 1881, party of officials
were taken over the line at a speed Of
twenty miles an hour.
No very great progress has been made
in railroading in China since then. and il
will likely be many years before all the
obstacles TO the steam railway entirely
disappear. Japan has been much more
enterpriSing than her celestial neighbor.
In 1872 the first railway was opened
there-the Toxic yokohama line-eign-
teen miles in length, and now railways
are to be found in nearly every part of
! the empire.
The first small line of railway in Rus
STA was opened in April, 1888. That
country now ranks IN the fifth order of
railway importance. The completion of
the great line across Siberia (Which will
be the longest single line in the worldl,
extending from Mask to VladiVostock. a
distance 4, 7S5 miles, and other railway
extensions, will probably place Russia
next to the United States in the length of
its railways.
INVADING THE SLEEP OF EGYPT
The Egyptians saw their first railway
opened in January, 1856, since which
time much progress has been made there
with steam travel. The line from Cairo
to Alexandria is l3l miles in length, with
an almost perfectly level track for nearly
the entire distance. Owing to the pecu-
liar condition Of the country this level
railway proves q misfortune rather than
otherwise, as it is made the highroad for
camels and drOveS OF cattle and foot pas
sengers, and these ofteutimes interfere
With the proper running and speed of
the trains. The best expresses, however.
are calculated to make thirty-SeYen miles
an hour. Four millions six hundred and
ninety-siX thousand two hundred and
elghty-siX passengers were carried on the
Egyptian railway last year, when $50
miles OF line were open.
1t would be difficult, no doubt to imag-
Inc perfectly straight line of rail for the
entire distance from New York to Bos-
ton, but such railway with such a
straight stretch does, however, actually
exist in the new Argentine Pacific Rail
way from Buenos Ayres to the foot of the
Andes. For distance of I'll miles the
line is laid without curve. The level
nature of the country will be evident
from the fact that there is neither cut
ting nor an embankment deeper or higher
than three feet. This is the longest straight
stretch OF railway in the world.
Another wonderful piece Of railway in
South America is on the CaIlao, Lima and
Croya line, running from Areduipa.
Peru, to La Paz, Bolivia. This is a rail
way in the clouds, for it reaches point
"A 500 feet, or nearly three miles, above
the level OF the sea. The whistle of a To-
connective is heard at no higher point on
the globe. Near the highest elevation of
this railway tunnel 3,S47 feet long is be-
ing bored through the peak OF the mount
ain, 600 feet above the perpetual snow
line. The railways of the Andes ex-
hibit some Of the most remarkable re-
suits Of engineering skill which the world
contains.
The new railway-the Brienzer Roth
hornbahn-which was begun October l,
1880, and has just been completed and
opened is the highest railway in the Alps,
and also in all Europe. 1t is 1856 feet
high at the summit level, where it com
mands magnificent views.
SNOWSLIDES ON THE CANADIAN PACIFIC.
The Canadian Pacific Company has
spent over a million of dollars in protect
ing It's line against snowslides In the
Selkirlz Mountains, through which the
To Checked = the
--------- of Scrofula and