San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-01-13
INCREASING SPEED OF TRAVEL

The Record by Rail and Steam.
ship is Broken Frequently.
Baltimore Sun;
When the late John W. Garrett
predicted, fifteen years ago, that in
| the course of twenty years the trip
between New York and Washington
would be made in five hours it was
asserted that the thing was impossi-
| BILE. Not only has 1t become possible,
but Ii Is announced that the Penn.
sylvania Railroad Company will in q
few months put on train that will
make the run in four hours and q
half. From New York to Philadel-
phia the speed will be at sixty miles
al hour; from Philadelphia toWash-
ington at the rate of fifty miles an
hour The Baltimore and Ohio will
OF course work up to this time as
soon as its tunnel under the city 2.
comp eted. An express train on the
Philadelphia and Reading railroad
made, about month ago, q run Of
one mile In thirty-seven seconds,
which would be equal to fraction
over ninety-seven miles an hour. This
is the highest speed ever made by b
locomotive. We are entering upon q
period when all former records will be
broken, not only on railroads, hut on
transatlantic steamships and by fast
trotters. The ideal limit set for rail-
roads running light express trains is
100 miles an hour, of Atlantic steam-
ships five days from New York to
Queenstown, and of the trotter q mile
in two minutes. In all three it is pre-
dicted.tha in the course of compare.
lively short time these several speeds
will be attained. "There are two or
three directions" says q contempo-
rary, "in which we may look for the
development of the speed of the loco
motive before the .miles-an. hour
record can be established. One of the
chief factors in the attainment OF high
speed is the compound engine, by
which the propulsive power is greatly
enlarged. The record breaking en-
CINE on the Central is OF this type,
which mas become very common, both
On American and European railways.
No doubt the geninses who live in
the world of mechanics and machine
~ will create in time some new
form of compound engine which
will greatly accelerate the speed
of the locomotive. Another fac
tor. largely an experimental one,
is the driving wheels. The tendency
is now toward wheels of very large
diameter. The wheels of the record.
breaking locomotive were 6 feet 6
inches in diameter, and this size is
generally used, although expert
ments are being made with much
larger wheels, and the New York
Central and the Pennsylvania are now
trying 7.foot Wheels" But every
improvement in the speed of steam
ships and OF railroads implies addi-
tional danger to the passengers. In
steamships there is the peril of break
ing the shaft and of collisions with
other ships or Icebergs But SO
thoroughly are the yeven now pros
tected by their water-tight compart-
ments that the danger of laundering
is reduced to q minimum. They may
be disabled, but they will still be
kept, afloat so long as the greater
number of water-tight compartments
remain intact. With the "fast.flyers
by rail" everything will depend on
the condition of the roadbed and on
the perfection OF the brakes and the
signal system. With these in conn.,
plete order, it would be possible to
run al speed of 100 miles an hour
with esse and safety, provided that
the wheels and axles are sound and
the rails well fastened to their ties.