Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1899-12-27
NEW wAy ot sTopplNe raAlNs.
Their steam ]. cnt OF when DANCE.

Their Steam 10 Cut OF When Danger
of Disaster IL Ahead.
Judge Albion w. Tourgee, who is now
consul at Bordeaux, France, writes to
the state department of q recent impro-
cement upon the .block system" on rail-
roads designed by French inventor,
which, 1t is claimed, will greatly lessen
the danger of collisions on railways.
The fact that the United States Is the
most profitable field for the exploitation
of useful inventions" writes the judge,
"has taken firm hold upon the inven-
tive minds Of other countries, and the
first thing man does who has n novel
idea Of any sort is to seek to have 1t
patented in the United States. That
this is especially true Of Inventions
pertaining to railway appliances is only
natural when one contemplntes the fact
that the United States, with its 1S3, 900
miles of railway track. has six times
the mileage of any other country in the
world.
French inventions are usually de-
fective in the mechanical character Of
the means by which the end sought to
be effected is attained. This is, no
doubt, due to the fact that SO small a
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 occupation are
fairly skilled workers, and those who
have inventive tendencies are not
ashamed to devote their leisure time to
the requirement of technicalskill neces-
sary to prepare their working models
and perfect their Inventions. In
France, on the contrary, such knowledge
Is considered derogatory to anyone in
the higher walks OF life. A clerk will
not close shutter nor dust OF the top
of the desk at which he works, since
that is the business OF nm .ouvrier,' nor
will man who moves In good society
permit himself to be seen carrying q
package Of any sort along the street,
Zone result Of this exclusive use OF
tools by laborers is that French inven-
tion usually has. to mn American. a
certain sense of awkwardness in its
mechanical application. The idea mar
be 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, am almost
always struck by this lack OF directness
of application, which leaves them open
decomposition, thus destroying the value
of the invention by improvement Of
application OF principle.
This does not apply to an invention
BY Pierre Paul Gutbert of MILAN. depart
ment of Aveyron. France. intended to
prevent railway collisions. 1t is. in
effect, simple and natural application
of the block system; but, instead Of
merely displaying q signal at each end
of a section Of track showing that the
same is occupied. Mr.. Guibert's system
acts also on the engines of the APP
preaching locomotives, and, by cutting
OF steam automatically. brings the
train to standstlll.
AS preventive Of head-on collisions
this invention would seem positive
Improvement on the block system,
through 1t Is quite possible that the in
creased cost0f installation may prevent
its general adoption. ] send inclosed q
set of drawings and copy of the speci-
ficatlons for his patent, which MIR.
Guibert was kind enough to send me.
Whether his system is of practical Inn
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