Evening star., 1894-12-15

.d&sIxE<eSt~~~h ing from the car
aNHAE%/ window, as he Is
,rraSLSsoI IzAAETya[. rushed through the
~SkME NSlNYEyl- country, an unusual
AN/MrGESEIftT, aspect of things is
TX XSzsHS{EYW noticeable. The bal
% ~STSStNNK last stone is all in
place, packed regular
ly close to the ends of the cross-ties; rotted
ties have been burned, dried grass and de-
cayed weeds scraped together and hauled
away, the numerous station houses and
telegraph towers given a new dress Of
paint, and in many different ways the
roads have been put in shape to Withstand
the hard usage of the winter months.
This is all brought about through the an
nual fall inspection, and all employees. from
the superintendent down, are anxious that
their divisions shall make a good showing
in the final summing up. For months past,
in fact, since the breaking of spring,
preparations have been going on perfecting
details for this inspection, and new ideas
looking to the betterment Of the roads are
given full sway. Cars, intended for the
inspection trip, are fitted up with all sorts
Of apparatus Last year the dynograph had
the call up north, and this year the south
ern roads successfully experimental with
oh ingenious oppoA AotdS Aoi niiihS SAooS
alongside the tracks by electricity.
Corporations like the Baltimore and Ohio,
the Pennsylvania or the great Southern, OF
course, have many divisions, and each di
vision superintendent. These superinten-
dents desire to make good showings and
prizes are offered to the track foreman for
the best subsections of road at the time
the test car passes over them. The dyno-
graph decides this contest through delicate
lines drawn on paper, the pen that does
,rrr,. 4tAA tho
wheels under the car. Each little defect
is registered, and the foreman having the
least number of these defects charged
against him secures the prize, which Is
usually hundred dollar bill.
The Annual Trip.
To the hundred and one attaches Of the
railroads who make the inspection 1t Is a
sort Of a holiday outing They are seated
in open cars, the only slight Inconvenience
attached to the tour, which are pushed
over the road In front of the locomotives,
and they jot down on handy tablets fleet-
ing Ideas that are brought out during the
trip which they believe may be OF benefit
to the roads in the future. The best hotels
are patronized. and an air Of hearty good
fellowship pervades the entire party.
Every nook and corner of the roads are
visited, and 1t frequently occurs that two
weeks slip by before the inspection is COM
pleted.
1t would be a hard matter to decide
which corporation was the first to inaugu-
rate these fall Inspections but at the pres
ent time the road that does not make them
Is in the hands of a receiver, and cannot
be called first-class. In fact, as an old
railroad official put IT., the absence OF
these inspections no doubt contributed to
the financial difficulties OF the road, as good
housekeeping is as necessary in big corpo-
rations as in private life. All our proni-
nent railroad officials today were,no doubt,
schooled in their earlier years by one or
the other Of the big eastern roads. and no
matter whether the railroad they overlook
is in South America or Arizona, 1t can
safely be said that the fall inspections
are a regular feature under their watchfui
eyes
The winter months are hard on the best
Of roads and to keep them clean during
the season of snow and Ice Is next to i'm
possible To see a road emerge from Its
mantle of slush and mud in the spring In
fairly good condition Is all a thoroughbred
railroad president can ask Then the re-
pairs to roadbed set in and are kept up
until the following fall, the prize OF 800
being an object always held In view by the
Willy track foreman.
The inspection this fall was full OF in
terest owing to the many novelties being
tried, and one and all received favorable
Endorsement.
New Devices Tried.
The automatic electric signaling appara-
tus has worked we'll for months and only
awaits the winter season to substantiate
it's full value. These signals reduce the
chances Of collisions fully 40 per cent.
Likewise the automatic alarm signal for
drawbridges or tampered rails will be test
ed, snow and sleet being hard factor for
electricity to overcome.
Glass crossties are proving their worth,
and when wood becomes scarce, or In sec
tions where that article Is already hard to
obtain, they will no doubt be generally
adopted.
Stringent money markets have retarded
the work Of Strengthening the roads all
over the country, but. Notwithstanding.
many miles of curves have been taken out
and the distances between cities greatly
lcssened. This kind Of work will be a feat
ure the coming year. the two roads between
Washington and Baltimore being extremely
fortunate in this respect. 1t Is conceded
that one Of the roads will save fully
mile in distance traversed while the other
may perhaps save three. Forty five min
ute trains may yet become very ordinary.
The feature of this falls inspection, down
on the southern roads, has been the re-
suits obtained through the electric ma
chine for killing grass. Railroads all over
the country have moro or less trouble with
grass in the roadways. In the south, es-
pecially, the growth is very luxuriant. and
a heavy expenditure is required in order to
abate the nuisance. In the past the only
effectual remedy was the use Of the pick
and shovel and hoe This proved extreme
Iy costly and the relief obtained was only
of temporary character. since the de-
struction of a crop was uniformly followed
by the growth of a new one. Experiments
had been made with boiling water and with
steam, but the results did not prove salts
factory owing to the heavy cost. The item
of expense also precluded the application
of alkalies, although, in some instances.
railroads have used salt along their road
ways. But this had to be discontinued for
the reason that live stock was attracted by
It, and what was gained by the extermna-
ton of grass and weeds was lost by rhe
killing of horses or cows and other domestic
animals, to say nothing of the close shaves
from disastrous wrecks.
An Electric Grass Killer.
Mr.. Albert Sharp, division Superintendent
of the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley ROAD
has the honor of being the inventor of this
electric grass killer, and. being no electri-
clan, the result of his ideas may be classed
as coming under the head of necessity is
the mother of invention" He has been
connected with railroads for the past
thirty years, majority Of which
has been passed I'm country much
troubled with the grass problem. A
the time his invention first took definite
form he was connected with the operating
department, having charge of the MAIN
tenance of the roadway, and the heavy
outlays required for clearing the track of
ueads apd grass naturally made a vivid