The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-11-28
NEW WAY OF STOPPING TRAINS.
Their Steam Is Cut or When Danger of
Disaster Is Ahead.

Disaster Is Ahead.
From the Chicago Chronicle. U
Judge Albion w. Tourgee, who is now
consul at Bordeaux, France, writes to
the state department of recent i'm
provement upon the "block system
on railroads designed by French in
ventor, which, 1t Is claimed, will great
ly lessen the danger of collisions on
railways. The fact that the United
States is the most profitable field for
writes the judge. has taken firm
hold upon the inventive minds of other
countries, and the first thing man
does who has a novel idea of any sort
Is to seek to have it patented in the
United States. That this is especially
appliances is only natural when one
contemplates the fact that the United
States, with its $4,000 miles of rail-
way track, has six times the mileage of
any other country in the world,
THE French inventions are usually
of the means by which the end sought
to be effected Is attained. This is, no
doubt, due to the fact that so small
proportion of the population have any
practical mechanical knowledge. AL
most every man in the United States
knows the use of tools. Very many
who have no manual occupations are
fairly skilled workers, and those who
have inventive tendencies are not
ashamed to devote their leisure time to
the requirement of technical skill nee
essfry to prepare their working models
and perfect their Inventions In
France, on the contrary, such knowl-
in the higher walks of life. A clerk will
not close shutter nor dust off the
top of the desk at which he works,
since that is the business Of the ''ouv-
rier." nor will a man who moves in
good society permit himself to be seen
carrying a package of any sort along
the street.
One result of this exclusive use of
tools by laborers Is that French inven-
ton usually has, to an American, a
certain sense of awkWardness in its
mechanical application. The idea may
be q good one. but there is very seldom
any of the hardness which one finds
in an American invention. In the many
cases of application for American pat
ents which come before me, I am al
most always struck by this lack of di-
rectness of application. thus destroying
ment of application of a principle.
This does not apply to an invention
by Pierre Paul Guibert of Millau, de-
partment of Ayeryron, France, intend
ed to prevent railway collisions. It is,
in effect, a simple and natural applica-
lloti VI luc UtoCh system DuC, IN
stead of merely displaying a signal at
each end of o section Of track showing
that the same is occupied. Mr.. Guibert's
system acts also on he engines of the
approaching locomotives, and, by cut
ting off steam automatically, brings the
train to a standstill.'
AS a preventive of head-on collision
this invention would seem positive
Improvement on the block system,
though 1t Is quite possible that the in
creased cost of installation may pre-
vent its general adoption. / send in
closed set OF drawings and d copy of
the specifications for his patent which
Mr.. Guibert was kind enough to send
me. Whether his system is of practical
Importance or not. 1t serves 10 show
how the United States is regarded by
the inventors of Europe. who make
haste to secure protection under our
law, so as to take advantage of the
wonderful market it opens to really
meritorouS devices"