The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1896-03-19
Catching Birds with Chaff.
No. 5.
RAILROAD MANAGEMENT.

laid by the coal miners of England it was
looked upon as a great thing. 1t was, in
deed, great advance over dirt roads, for
by its use horses were enabled to draw
three times as great load as before and
at saving of time. The most visionary
of men at that time could not imagine
that the wooden tramway would prove to
be the forerunner of the worlds great
railway system as it exists to-day. Step
by step has the advance been made; little
by little has the world added to it's sum
of knowledge, until we have reached a
height that would have been looked upon
by the people of the seventeenth century
as unattainable.
1t may not be out of place to notice
briefly the several steps in the march of
progress that have brought us thus far in
our journey over the field of railroad con-
| struction.
Following the wooden way came the
same improved by having strips of iron
nailed upon the tops of the rails. This
| ICuuCCu luC II lClloH tuu SICdlly oClCuS
ened the road. In it's day it was looked
upon as great advance, and viewed in
the light of two hundred years ago it was
a change of great value.
Next came the cast-ron railway, which
! consisted of parallel rails placed upon the
wooden sleepers. This was the railroad
of to- day, as it was in its earlier life. The
principle of railroad management may be
said to have had its birth at this time; for
the first time the world saw a railway
train as it was drawn along this road. 1t
! consisted of several carriages linked to-
gether and drawn by horses.
Time and space will not permit me to
go into detailed description of the earlier
roads, nor of the successive steps by which
the present high degree of perfection has
been reached. | will refer briefly to the
application of steam as a motive power
for trains and then pass on to a consider
alton of the political side of my subject
1t is a great mistake on the part of
many people to believe that steam power
| is a recent discovery. In fact while the
practical application Of steam to the in
/ dustrial life of the world is of compare
lively recent date, it has been known as a
| motive power for more than twenty cen
turieS.
But it was not until the opening of the
present century that the locomotive came
into being. Looked at in the light of
present knowledge, the first railway en-
CINE appears crude and impractical The
modern engineer, who drives his machine
at the rate of a mile minute, would turn
with disgust from Trevithick' engine,
! which was only capable Of five miles per
| hour and was so feeble that it could draw
but ten tons. To what giant has the
small and feeble child grown.
| After it had been demonstrated that it
| power on the roads, improvement was
rapid. Men saw that there were great
possibilities lying in wait to be taken
advantage of. Inventive genius was call
ed upon and nobly responded; capital was
asked to exert itself and seek for profit
able investment in the new life of the
world; abor was told to be active and it
should have its just reward. Genius,
capital and labor have been the three
giants that have stood behind the world
and pushed it ahead to greater and
better things.
To-day, the civilized world is woven to-
! gether by network of iron roads which
i are better means of gauging the indus
! trial life of the people than any other
single standard that can be found.
! How did the people regard the railroads
in their infancy? How do they regard them
/ to-day when, giants growp, they bind the
earth? Everything new meets with more
! or less opposition. 1t is only just that
! new theories and inventions be asked to
/ demonstrate their practical worth before
| the people will accept them. Men looked
upon the railroad and the locomotive with
distrust. They were thought to be al
together impracticable and no doubt there
were not wanting those who shook their
heads and sighed pityingly for the poor
brain cracked men who did believe in
them. knowledge often draws tribute
from ignorace in the coin of derision; but
when it has established its right to exist,
and to be heard and felt, it then receives
tribute in the pure gold of respect rever-
ence and acknowledged superiority.
day the world does homage to those
who were looked upon as visionary and
deluded while they lived. We regard the
inventors and protectors of our railway
service as great and wise men, We look
upon the results of their work as of ines
| Unable advantage to the world The
world would not part with its railroads
unless given something better in their
| stead
| Railway service has reached it's highest
perfection in this country. We are more
| dependent upon the railroads for orr con-