Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1897-02-18
NEWS OF THE RAIL.

The Southern Railway company has
just completed a deal for an immense
amount of steel rails sufficient to cover
fully twice the distance from this city TO
Atlanta. The deal is referred to by the
Constitution as follows:
The Southern railway has just bought
$4,000 tons of heavy steel rails
This amount viii relay from ESQ to Soo
miles of track 1t will take more than
1000 cars to haul the rails, and IL they
were all coupled together they would
make a train more than ten miles long.
Some of these rails will be put between
Atlanta and Charlotte. The Southern
relaid a long stretch of the line between
Washington and Atlanta with 75-pound
steel rails last year The company pro-
poses to raise this track to the highest
American standard. 1t has to be nigh
class track to stand the passenger ser
vice which passes over it, the recent
break in the price of steel rails to $50 a
ton at the mills has resulted in numper
of large railroad companies placing
heavy orders. One year ago rails were
bringing from $25 to s2S at the mills. The
pool was broken recently, and prices
dropped So ton in one day. The figure
which the Southern pays has not been
learned here, but 1t is probable about Sl5
ton at the mills. Plttsburg or Bethle-
hem probably got the order"
A VALUABLE INVENTION
The Courier-Journal has the following
in reference to the skill of young
Louisvillian who seems destined to make
mark in the electrical railway world
"a Victor Cheat ham, q young inVen-
tor, living at 1912 Frankfort avenue, has
been at work pemecting an electric street
car switch for over two years and now
thinks his invention will be success in
every particular Some time ago Cheat
ham went to Mr.. I. J. Minary, general
manager of the street railway company,
and told him of his invention. Mr..
Minary was DESTROYS of encouraging The
young inventor and granted him the
privilege of making test OF the new
switch at Preston and Main streets The
switch proved unsuccessful, but its IN
ventor was not discouraged by the first
failure Last week he went to Mr..
Minary again and told him that he was
anxious to be given another trial. Mr..
Minary told him to make the test at First
and Market streets. The test has been
made and SO far the apparatus has prov
ed successful. The switch now working
was made in Johnstown, Pa. and is sim
ply constructed. 1t is worked on the
principle of the reversible current and
magnet. The trolley wheels of the diff
ferent lines are differently shaped so that
they work on BLOCK fastened to the
trolley wire when approaching the switch.
In that way the current is changed each
time from positive to negative, and the
magnet, which is of three horse power,
now but two cars provided with the nee
essary appliances"
OF INTEREST 80 Actors.
The following from the Memphis Scim-
itar will prove of interest to theatrical
company managers: Chairman Caldwell
has handed down a new ruling on the
transportation of theatrical baggage.
The provision of the present association
agreement is that the charge for this SER
vice shall be 15 cents per mile per car,
with minimum charge of $40 for each
movement Some of the roads con-
strued this to mean that where number
of stops were made the $40 per movement
rule should apply to each stage, and the
15-cent rule should be ignored on the
total mileage. The chairman rules that
| this Interpretation of the rule is wrong,
and that the $40 rule shall apply only
when the 15-cent rule shall not amount to
$40. The roads are not to transport bag
gage for less than So and shall apply the
15-cent rule when they have a chance of
| making more than $40.